Merri from The Equestrian Vagabond and Golden The Pony Girl and Jane from The Literary Horse have graciously bestowed the Beautiful Blogger award on me. Thank you so much girls, I’m honored. The challenge to this award is to share 7 things about myself that most don’t know about, which will be hard since I’ve done this sort of list a few times in the past. It’s hard to talk about yourself and find new and interesting things. I’m not that complex or interesting, but I’ll give it a shot.
I’m also supposed to pass this award onto 15 other deserving bloggers. Now since I’ve gotten this award twice I think that would mean (and I’m not much good at math) that instead of 15 blogs I should do 30. I know there are lots of blogs out there that are more deserving than me, and you know who you are, so please feel free to take this award for yourself with a gigantic pat on the back for a blog well written and deserving. A link back is appreciated although not mandatory; enjoy your award if you decide it’s for you.
One for the money, two for the show three to get ready and away we go…
1.I don’t have a favorite color but this year I’m sure it will be green. Any green will do; as long as I see no more white for a while I will be a happy camper.
2.Mucking stalls doesn’t bother me. I like it, especially the days the stalls get new fluffy shavings. The only downside is emptying the wheelbarrow. Now if I could think of a way to muck onto a conveyor belt that would empty into a dumpster that would be divine.
3.Cleaning tack is one of my favorite barn jobs. Why you ask? I find the time spent cleaning and polishing very peaceful, the smell of leather and nice music in the background relaxing.
4.I love all kinds of music except rap and opera, and I love to dance.
5.One of the most beautiful things to me is a clear, crisp brilliant night sky with star constellations visible. The most incredible night sky I have ever seen was while camping in Organ Pipe campground in Arizona. The stars looked close enough to touch.
6.It’s hard for me to decide which area of the country I like the most. I’ve always loved the Southwest deserts but also find the pull of the ocean irresistible. I need to live near water for some reason.
7.I’m hoping to someday take a riding vacation in Europe. Ireland and Scotland are tops on my list for my first vacation. There are just so many great spots, though; France, Greece, and Spain, they all look so wonderful it will be hard to make a decision. If I really do get there one of these days… *sigh*
Until next time
Quote for Today
Horseback riding is life, the rest is just details
It’s that time of year again when I begin to get restless and start looking around the barn for what needs to be done to get it organized for the coming warmer weather. Spring-cleaning the barn after a winter of, shall we say, less-than-perfect weather takes a toll on everything, the tack room especially. So that’s where I usually put my organizational skills to work. Sounds impressive doesn’t it? Don’t get too excited about it; I’m certainly not.
First, I usually start by cleaning out the refrigerator. I don’t know how we wind up with teeny little pieces of carrots, mushy apples and half bottles of tea or water, but we manage quite nicely to make a mess of it. Then it’s on to the cabinets where the medicines are stored, and the drawers that collect lots of junk. Basically, I throw out any thing that can’t be used. Do you know how many pieces of useless twine and bits of paper collect in a tack room? Well I do, and it’s not a pretty picture. Next, all the wraps and saddle pads get washed and properly stored (you know, instead of left hanging on any random hook or in a tangled pile on top of a tack trunk, where they spend most of the winter.) All the tack gets cleaned: saddles, bridles, halters, lead ropes etc…The fronts of the stalls get a good washing with Murphy’s Oil Soap and the barn, including the loft, gets dusted and/or vacuumed and cobwebbed. All the light fixtures get vacuumed and dusted too. The wash stall, which seems to collect wheelbarrows and shavings bags, gets cleaned out and made ready for spring baths. The trash man loves me, I’m sure.
The hardest job is of course stripping the stalls and cleaning and disinfecting under the rubber mats. Then it’s on to the stall walls; they can be a real mess but Murphy’s Soap does the trick. I probably won’t be blogging for about a week during this messy job. But I’ll try to get before and after pictures, just because I’ll be so proud of myself I wont be able to resist sharing what a cleaning machine I can be when I put a little effort into it. Or, as my mother used to say, “use a little elbow grease.”
If I’ve missed something let me know or tell me what your spring routine for cleaning and organizing is, I’d love to hear about it. See you next week. Or maybe not, I’m hoping the weather warms up enough for us to start painting some jump standards and rails before we set them up. I’m being optimistic and hoping that the jumps get their fresh coat of paint coinciding with a weather change for warmer riding. Keep a good thought!
Until next time
Quote for Today
Dog lovers hate to clean out kennels. Horse lovers like cleaning stables. - Monica Dickens
Since I appear to be living in a snow globe and Mother Nature keeps turning it upside down and shaking it, I've decided to be enchanted with this weather until Spring. Which ,of course, can't arrive fast enough!
The day of the snowstorm our barn worker couldn’t make it to muck so my daughter did it herself. Other than finding out just how much stuff this guy doesn’t do (that he’s supposed to on a daily basis) mucking out for her is no big deal, because she used to do this for a living. Until she got a real job, as my husband says. Well the barn took a few more hours than usual to get back to acceptable conditions and I’m sure she was very ticked off by the time she finished.
We have a few water buckets for some of the horses that don’t have automatic waterers. Unfortunately, our worker hasn’t been scrubbing them out properly either. So in the course of scrubbing and dumping out the dirty brown water my daughter had an incident. On her way to dump a large bucket, she hit a patch of ice outside the barn doors and wound up slipping onto her butt. As if that wasn't bad enough, in mid-air, as her arms were flailing trying to catch her balance, she managed to throw the dirty brown water right in her own face, soaking her clothes and herself with brown slime. And, as she lay on the ground, the bucket landed on her head. By this time she wasn’t wearing a coat because barn work makes you warm and she had taken it off, so it was a thorough soaking.
I’ve asked her repeatedly if I could please put up a barn cam so as not to miss any of these mishaps she has on a regular basis. The truth is I’m glad she wasn’t hurt but I do hate to miss a good fall.
Following constructive debate at the FEI round-table conference at the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne today (9 February), the consensus of the group was that any head and neck position of the horse achieved through aggressive force is not acceptable. The group redefined hyperflexion/Rollkur as flexion of the horse’s neck achieved through aggressive force, which is therefore unacceptable. The technique known as Low, Deep and Round (LDR), which achieves flexion without undue force, is acceptable.
The group unanimously agreed that any form of aggressive riding must be sanctioned. The FEI will establish a working group, headed by Dressage Committee Chair Frank Kemperman, to expand the current guidelines for stewards to facilitate the implementation of this policy. The group agreed that no changes are required to the current FEI Rules.
The FEI Management is currently studying a range of additional measures, including the use of closed circuit television for warm-up arenas at selected shows.
The group also emphasised that the main responsibility for the welfare of the horse rests with the rider.
The FEI President HRH Princess Haya accepted a petition of 41,000 signatories against Rollkur presented by Dr Gerd Heuschman.
The participants in the FEI round-table conference were:
Take what you will from these results of the conference on Rollkur. I for one am skeptical that anything at all has changed and it certainly hasn't been resolved. There may be some fancy footwork involved here.
'The technique known as Low, Deep and Round (LDR), which achieves flexion without undue force, is acceptable'.
I'd like to ask who is going to deem what exactly is acceptable concerning LDR. The judges? The trainers? The riders?
I do give them credit for having made some progress and addressing this issue. I think having 41,000 signatures on a petition against Rollkur certainly helped. In the future I don't think those of us opposed to this or any other abusive practice should stop voicing our opinions and making our voices heard. Now that they have made the statement that the Rollkur issue has been 'resolved', if they don't implement some backlash against those who use it, perhaps keeping the heat on the FEI is in order.
Tuesday- February 9th the FEI will be having a closed door meeting concerning Rollkur or hyperflexion as it is sometimes called. Dr. Gerd Heuschmann will be the only advocate for the horse as far as we've heard. He will certainly describe the many negative effects this torturous practice has on these special animals. Whether or not his voice will be listened to and taken to heart is another story. So many of these so called horsemen and women will more than likely turn a deaf ear to his expertise and one can only wonder why? Are they so uneducated as to condone this practice or are they simply uncaring about the distress this places on the horse. If they are uncaring the question again is, why? Is it fear of losing sponsor monies or perhaps simply not 'rocking the boat' with the celebrity riders (if one can even call them riders). I'm baffled that anyone, be it a celebrity rider, trainer or equestrians like the 'simple every rider' would even consider taking an abusive shortcut like rollkur, and not be proud of the joy and mutual partnership forged between horse and rider in training a horse properly and humanely through the levels. That's what horsemanship is supposed to be all about. I'm sure everyone will be sending good thoughts to Dr. Heuschmann and wish him success in making this abhorrent practice illegal.
Billie over at camera-obscura has put up some videos that show Rollkur in action. Please give her blog a visit if you haven't already . She also suggested in a previous post that perhaps if we all put up the above logo of 'NO ROLLKUR' it might be seen and heeded to let the powers that be know we are not at all happy with their past decisions regarding this black spot on the sport of dressage and we do not support their decisions to date.
' The sadness and pain in the horses eye is all the discussion needed'
' Right '
'Wrong'
Until next time
Quote for Today
What the horse does under compulsion...is done without understanding...and there is no beauty in it.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately and that’s when I usually get in trouble, but I’ve forged on regardless. This time my thoughts have turned to adapting our behavior to fit our horses’ individual characteristics. If we are to be better horsemen, making our horse’s welfare the top priority, then it’s possible we may have to adjust our behavior and not necessarily the horses.’ I don’t think it’s possible to change the horse’s intrinsic nature, but I do think we can adapt our personalities to complement and embrace their natural behavior patterns. I’m not advocating Natural Horsemanship because in my opinion that particular label is an oxymoron simply because there is nothing natural occurring between horses and humans. They are the prey and we are the predators. The goal is to get them to trust us enough so we can work together and form a partnership that is good for both of us.
In other words, we need to almost become therapists for our horses. Assessing their personalities, temperaments and behaviors, then figuring out what they need and acting on it. For example, if you have only one horse to deal with you may already have an insight into what he or she needs and how to achieve it to make yours a lasting productive relationship. However, if there is more than one horse in your life it may take many twists and turns in order to distinguish all the diverse traits that create the uniqueness of a particular horse and the best way in which to approach that individual horse.
Nervous personalities in humans may click better with a ‘steady eddie’ and on the flip side if you are calm and unflappable you may be the perfect type for a horse who needs quiet direction. This is what I mean by adapting our behaviors to enhance our relationship with our horses. Working with many horses over the years it has become apparent that each horse is an individual with different needs that should to be addressed on an individual basis. The basics are the basics but some horses need special treatment to help them get through their lives happy and comfortable with themselves.
The question is what type of horse do you have and is your personality in tune with what your horse needs. Compatibility is a key ingredient to a healthy relationship. Are you compatible with your horse? And if not how are you dealing with the differences in your temperaments; are you adapting to your horse or trying to work with your horse to make him adapt to you?
Below are just a few examples of some of our herd’s distinctive behaviors. Each one is different but, when worked with correctly, they shine like the stars they are.
Mellon is a very sensitive and nervous type of horse. If he were human I’d say he has a Type A personality. He lives a very stressful life all due to his sensitive nature and a history of distrust and abuse when he was very young. He can’t change himself so my daughter had to adapt to his behavior. When working with him - and it’s been years - she is always the calming force in his life.
Nate is very sweet but also quite lazy to the point of stubbornness and there is no changing his natural instincts.
So, my daughter again had to adapt her behavior to his training. The gentle, patient-calming approach taken with Mellon wouldn’t work for Nate. She had to train him with a slightly more energetic and assertive tone.
Donnie is a nervous type who has difficulty trusting and doesn’t like sudden movements or changes in his environment, so he can’t be rushed or pushed too hard, but at the same time, working too cautiously around him makes him more suspicious, so he needs someone to be calm and reassuring, but also confident enough to be firm but fair and take charge when he panics.
Dusty is totally different from any horse I’ve ever ridden. She’s enthusiastic, adventurous, interested in learning new things and tries hard to get it right. So she and I are very compatible because we basically have the same personalities.
Blue is very laid back, even lazy, and needs to be motivated in order to work productively. Being calm and laid back as a rider doesn’t necessarily work with him either. He reminds me of my Erik who had the same basic laziness. Where Blue is not a spooky type, I ride him differently than I did Erik who spooked at many things. Erik needed a combination of sympathy and firmness to get him through his worries. I had to adapt my riding to work with each of these horses too.
These are just a few examples of the different nature of horses that needed different adaptations to their personal quirks. It got me thinking that, maybe what makes a good rider, and a good horseperson in general, isn’t so much about talent or technique or even level of training. Maybe it’s something as basic as the ability to understand what each individual horse needs us to be and adapting our own behavior to that when working with them. Too many training methods focus solely on modifying the behavior of the horse to suit our needs, some to the point of removing all personality from the horse and making it little more than a machine to do our bidding. Seldom does a training method take into consideration the handler/rider’s ability to adapt to the horse. To the extent that we are able to adjust our behavior, why shouldn’t we? Maybe this is at the heart of what it means to be a good horseman.
Until next time
Quote for Today
In training horses, one trains himself - Antoine De Pluvinet
In my opinion, horse people are some of the funniest people and have the best sense of humor. I don’t know if the perspective provided by being with horses somehow makes us witty or amusing, or if we’re just inherently born with an ability to find humor in the oddest of places right from the beginning. Over the years, I’ve been privy to some of the funniest stories and experiences that have left me gasping for air. It seems that un-horsey people just don’t have as much fun as we do. Don’t you agree? How many people can actually laugh about having a horse stand on your foot - and then when it turns Technicolor find that comical? Or, find the absurdity of cleaning out a sheath and doing a “jelly bean” counter commentary while you’re up past your wrist in unmentionable places…
There’s always a story that begins with: “remember the time when…” and then the most hilarious tale comes spilling out about some mishap involving a horse or riding. Even if the anecdote isn’t all that funny or embarrassing, it’s in the telling. Horse people just have a droll manner of relaying an equine episode. I’m sure there must be a favorite story that has happened to you and your horse. One of those times when you looked around after doing something really stupid to make sure no one actually saw that particular catastrophe (of course, you probably couldn’t wait to get back in the barn and tell someone about it, though!) Or perhaps it was something so out of your control that it led to a “whew, glad I made it through that alive!” I would love to hear your tale and I’m sure everyone else would too. At this time of year when the winter seems to be dragging on and on and we’re all looking forward to Spring, I think if we all shared our most embarrassing or humorous stories on our blogs, at least we could roam around the blogosphere and get a chuckle or two to brighten up the days. To get it started here are a few amusing moments or blasts from the past that I find memorable:
Some Amusing Falls
--Here’s one that stands out in my mind. My eldest daughter was in a lesson when the horse stopped dead in front of a jump. She gracefully somersaulted over his head, landed on the other side of the jump and stuck the landing; still holding the reins and facing the horse, she took a bow and said “Tah, Dah.”
--One of our trainer's daughters was a bit of a know-it-all, and was showing off one day when she was unceremoniously deposited in a manure puddle face first. Should I have laughed…..probably not? But even her own mother did, and turned to us to ask with a mischievous chuckle, “do you suppose she’s swimming, or drowning?”
--Then there was the time my daughter was too lazy to walk her horse in from the back paddock. The setup: one very hot day, slick wet grass, riding bareback on Mellon, of all horses, with halter and rope. The deed: Riding at a leisurely walk towards the gate, all the other horses think it’s time to come in and start galloping towards the gate; he decides to join the herd. You know how when you’re riding bareback and you feel yourself slipping you instinctively grip extra hard with your legs? Well, when you do that on Mellon he starts bucking like a madman. In a flash, she is flying through the air faster than a speeding bullet, just like superman, landing and sliding tummy first on the wet grass, hands splayed in front of her. Really, she just needed the cape. He launched her so far, she made it to the gate before he did. Naturally, the construction crew working on the barn really appreciated this to break up their day.
--Although it wasn’t laughable at the time, I can appreciate the humor of it now. During a jumping lesson my horse Erik pulled out of a jump and stopped for a split second. I sat back to regroup when, from almost a standstill, we then sailed brilliantly over the 4ft. standard beside the jump. I slid off his back to land on mine. My helmet took the impact to my head before ricocheting across the arena. The truth is I never wore a helmet with a harness for vanities sake; the look just didn’t do it for me. Since that day, I have always worn a helmet with a harness.
--One more, uh, incident: the time Dusty cantered off as I was mounting; of course, I landed in the dirt. When my head hit the frozen ground, I bit down hard on my tongue. While I was still lying there in agony, she came over and stomped on my foot. Nice mare. I thought she was trying to help me get up, sort of like stepping on the tines of a rake or one of those punching dolls.. With my swollen tongue and throbbing foot, it was not my best day. With the limp and the lisp everyone probably thought, “poor thing, she must have had a mild stroke.” --Then there was the time my daughter was riding along a wooded trail; to the right of the path was a fallen tree, with the branches at the top of the tree pointing toward them as they approached. Just as they were passing, her horse (in this case, Mellon again) spooked sideways into the tree. She was caught in the fork of a branch just below the waist and was lifted off the back of her horse and hung suspended in the tree as the horse continued along the path; she flailed around a bit and then promptly fell out of the tree. To this day she does not count it as a fall as, technically, she fell out of a tree. Luckily, her horse eventually stopped and just stood there eyeing her with a mix of confusion and horror, especially when she climbed back onto the tree to use it as a mounting block. Her riding companion could certainly have helped, but unfortunately, she was laughing so hard she could barely stay on her own horse, so aiding my daughter was impossible. --A friend of mine once used the “grab mane” technique in the most unusual way, but it kept her from hitting the ground. Jan had lost her balance and was hanging off the side of her horse. What did she do, you ask? She grabbed mane - with her teeth - and pulled herself back up into the saddle. This may be the single most inventive way of grabbing mane, but it worked. At times, you have to do whatever it takes to save yourself. --I took great care in tacking up for my lesson: saddle in correct spot? Check. Clean pads? Check. Clean horse? Check. Bridle on? Check. Standing on the mounting block, about to put my foot in the stirrup, Lifeguard put his head down to scratch his nose and the bridle fell right off of his head, reins still hanging around his neck. That horse could give you a look, and this time it was priceless, almost as if to say, “You know that was really stupid of you not to buckle the throatlatch!” Anyone who thinks a horse can’t be sarcastic never met Lifeguard.
Of course, there are many more stories, but I thought this was a decent start to some funny anecdotes. If you’re interested in sharing why don’t you put up your most amusing anecdote on your blog or comment here? I hope lots of you decide this would be a fun way to become more acquainted with each other. The sharing of good and bad times always seems to bring people together. Looking forward to your stories.
Until next time
Quote for Today
There are only two emotions that belong in the saddle; one is a sense of humour and the other is patience.
