I’ve
recently been honored with a shout out on one of my favorite blogs: The Equestrian Vagabond.
Thank you Merri
for including me in your newly formed Equestrian Vagabond newsletter.
If
you aren’t already a big fan of this blog check it out.Merri is a talented writer who has a new book
coming out soon, Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond.Her blog is very interesting as well as having stunning horse
photography.There’s so much this gal
has done and is currently doing that I wouldn’t do it justice here. Her profile
says it all.Happy reading!
We
still are without power or phone service but miraculously our cable came back
on last night.My computer is working
and I’m happy to be able to watch some real TV shows instead of DVD
movies.Our town has been making
progress and half of the residents had power as of this morning.Fully expecting to have power restored to
the rest of the town today I was optimistic.
Alas,
it was not meant to be.This morning
around 9 a.m. a landscaper’s truck hit a pole with a power line that had most of the town
running.So power has now been knocked
out here in our town once again and parts of the next town over. The schools, police department and town hall
are now running on generators once more.They have 35 new crews who just arrived from Massachusetts and a few
crews from Quebec working on the problem.
Hard
to believe but truth is stranger than fiction. Without a sense of humor I’d
most likely be headed to an insane asylum by now.You just can’t make this stuff up!
Until
next time
Quote for Today
Things
are never so bad they can't be made worse. ~From the movie The African
Queen
The other day when I was switching the word verification for comments to off I made a really huge mistake that can’t be corrected. Computer genius that I am, I managed to delete every single comment on all my posts since I started this blog in 2007. This was no easy feat and it took me quite some time, as there were roughly about 9,000 comments. Even though it was time consuming, I bravely forged ahead. Why did you do that, you might ask? Suffering slightly from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), I usually go through my accounts and delete unnecessary e-mails once a week or so.
I thought I might let you all in on how I did this so you don’t make the same mistake. After I turned off the word verification that was making us all question our eyesight, I went to the comment moderation page. There are tabs for "Spam," "Awaiting Moderation" and a "Published" button. I had a few spammers that I deleted, a comment or two that I published and then I hit the "Published" tab. Up popped all the comments ever left and in my infinite wisdom I figured since they were already published on my blog posts I might as well delete them and clear up some disk space. Seems reasonable right?
That’s the story of how I deleted every single comment since 2007. I know I’m not the least bit computer literate but I think blogger should have stated somewhere that if you delete your published comments in this tab they also disappear from your blog where idiots like me can understand what will happen when we do things like this. I also think there should be a way to recover the deleted items. They could go into a trash bin or recycle bin where they can be retrieved. Not Blogger; once they’re deleted they’re gone and there’s no way of retrieving them. Unless you have them in g-mail, which I didn’t because of my previous mentioned OCD.
I’ll miss my comments because there were many good discussions in the comment section. There were also some good ideas and solutions to problems and how others coped with certain situations. So there you have it, I can officially go down as computer illiterate and not fit to be near electronics.
Until next time
Quote for Today
Nothing is foolproof to a properly motivated fool.
I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of my blogging friends in the equine community for your kind and caring comments. I’m not surprised that people who love and care for horses also care for other equine enthusiasts even though most of us have never met in person. My injuries are healing but are still sore. I’m guessing it’s an age related thing, the older you get the slower bruises heal. Just a fact of life but I’ll deal with it. Thank you again your kindness touched me and makes the healing process easier.
Falling into the category of more bad luck this past Monday continued to bring unwanted injuries to our family. My daughter Jacquie was in a very serious auto accident on her way to work. She is okay and is at home recuperating with some very colorful and painful bruises from head to toe. The front of her car was involved and the car is now totaled. I’m very thankful for seat belts and air bags, without them I’m not so sure she would have survived the crash. It’s every parent’s nightmare to get the call saying, “There’s been an accident.” She was very lucky and we’re grateful that she’s going to be fine.
It could be a while before I’m back to blogging but I will try to visit you all and keep up to date by visiting when I can.
I thought I might list the good habits I use to counteract my (sometimes) bad habits from my last post and perhaps to redeem myself somewhat.
·There has never been one time that I did not wear a helmet when riding a horse. I’ve never let anyone on the property not wear one either.
·I’ve always worn the proper boots when riding, a tall boot or paddock boot with a heel for safety’s sake.
·I’m obsessed about having the gates to the roads/driveways shut and secured.
·There is always the possibility of startling a horse so I always let them know I’m coming into their stall by speaking to them first. Or when they are on cross-ties I’ll let them know someone is behind them etc.
·While riding I will always reward my horse for doing the right thing. Usually by patting the neck gently or rubbing the mane with a verbal “good girl/boy.” One of my pet peeves is watching someone who just had a good ride over a course or in a dressage ring slapping the crap out of their horse’s necks. This isn’t a reward to me; it’s a smack. Standing as a spectator during a show, a young girl was next to me and asked me why the riders were “hitting” their horses; “were they being bad?” This statement brought it home to me how we must look to “uneducated “ horse people.
·I’m diligent about checking out my tack. This includes proper fit for each horse and cleaning it on a regular basis. Having had a rein break loose from the bridle over a jump once and a stirrup disintegrate another time, creating a dicey situation, it’s in my best interests to check my tack for wear and tear. You’d be surprised at how stitching can breakdown and it’s something not many people think about before mounting.
·I feel if I wouldn’t want to wear a dirty, sweaty blanket why would my horses want to wear a filthy saddle pad, sheet, cooler, wraps or blanket. So I do try my best to keep them clean. Although, some of our better mud rollers make this a real chore.
What are some of the good habits you use around horses?
I was going to post pictures taken during our ice storm last week from my "Fortress of Solitude", but then I received these in an e-mail and my little ice pictures don't seem so special anymore.
"The Icicle Jail "
I don't know how they carve these sculptures but whoever the artists are have the talent for creating beauty out of snow and ice.
Check out the scale of these sculptures compared to trees and people in the photos...
Photos taken and shared from the incredible ice sculptures submitted at the:
Fairbanks Ice Festival
Fairbanks, Alaska
Until next time
Quote for Today "Some say the world will end in fire, some say ice." Robert Frost
This is a pared down list of a few of the books I’ve read over time that are either informative or thought provoking. Some I liked very much on my quest to understand what real horsemanship is all about. There are many opposing views to mine but it’s always good to educate oneself on different methods whether I agree with them or not. I don’t subscribe to any one hard and fast rule with training horses. I believe that to actually become a better horse person you must research many different philosophies from myriad factions.
In my opinion, the more you familiarize yourself with different philosophies concerning horses and their training, the easier it is to sort through differing viewpoints and keep what makes sense and throw out what doesn’t make sense or can’t possibly work for the good of the rider and horse. For example, the Duke of Newcastle is often looked upon as a classical master, and trainers today continue to refer back to his methods, many of which are sound; but if you were to read more thoroughly about his methods you would find that some of them were, shall we say, less enlightened than we might find tolerable today. For example if a horse went around with his tongue hanging out of his mouth (a sign of resistance), he simply hacked it off. Problem solved! I guess that’s one way to “deal” with resistance, but that’s just a little too extreme for me. So, no one master or school of thought is infallible and I’ve made the choice to view them all with a critical eye - to take the good and discard the bad.
So even though this is not by any means all of the books I’ve read, it’s a small sampling which I think has been useful in educating me on the history and development of horsemanship through the ages, as well as the array of philosophies available, some compatible and some contradictory. From there I’m able to compare and weigh all the options and choose those methods which make the most sense for me and my horses.
Hope you find something you might like to read over the winter.
My Horses, My Teachers - Alois Podhajsky
Complete Training of Horse and Rider - Alois Podhajsky
The Art of Horsemanship - Xenophon
Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage: A Search for a Classical Alternative - Philippe Karl
Long Reining: the Samur Method - Philippe Karl
Classic Show jumping-The De Nemethy Method – Bertalan De Nemethy
Reflections on Riding and Jumping – William Steinkraus
School of Horsemanship - Francois Robichon de la Gueriniere
The Art of Classical Horsemanship - Egon von Neindorff
Dressage in Harmony: From Basic to Grand Prix - Walter Zettl
Falling for Fallacies: Misleading Commonplace Notions of Dressage Riding -Jean –Claude Racinet
Racinet Explains Boucher –Jean-Claude Racinet
Tug of War: Classical vs. Modern Dressage – Gerd Heuschmann
Total Horsemanship – Jean-Claude Racinet
If Horses Could Speak by Gerd Heuschmann
Understanding Equitation – Jean Saint –Fort Paillard
Academic Equitation – General Decarpentry
The Way To Perfect Horsemanship – Udo Burger
Francois Boucher-The Man And His Methods – Hilda Nelson
Alexis-Francois L’Hotte, The Quest For Lightness In Equitation – Hilda Nelson
Horses Are Made To Be Horses – Franz Maringer
Dressage- A Guide Book For The Road To Success- Alfred Knopfhart
The Principle Of Riding- Official Instruction Handbook of the German National Equestrian Federation
Advanced Techniques of Riding – Official Instruction Handbook of the German National Equestrian Federation – Book 2
Principles of Dressage- Brigadier General Kurt Albrecht
The Gymnasium of the Horse by Gustav Steinbrecht
Manual of Equitation of The French Army for 1912 (basically it’s the French cavalry manual. When we in the US were looking to develop our own system of horsemanship we adapted our system from this particular manual. Of course, over the years it has been bastardized beyond recognition.)
Until next time
Quote for Today
In training horses, one trains himself - Antoine De Pluvinet
As everyone who reads this blog knows, Mellon, my daughter’s 23 year old Trakehner, has injured his tendon. Actually, it’s more like he’s almost severed it in half by his knee. Mellon may be getting on in years, but if you were to see this horse moving and interacting with the herd you would definitely not put him above a 12-15 year old, and neither would he. Perhaps this is because he was a jumper who attacked the jumps, or because being the herd leader for the past twenty years has kept him fit. I should also mention he has quite the attitude and acts like a youngster still.
The vet also checked on him the other day when he was here and cannot believe how well he is healing and how quickly for a horse his age. We originally thought he would be in his stall for at least 4-6 months. It’s been about 2 months since his injury. He can be turned out with Dusty in a small grass paddock near the barn - much to Dusty’s dismay, as she really detests him and his egotistical attitude. She’s not one for being told what to do and clearly resents his domineering ways. We feel we can attribute his speedy recovery to cold therapy, laser boots, wrapping and general good all around care. In Mellon’s case, stall rest has been of little help because all he does is weave and pace, putting more stress on the injury than his light grazing in a small paddock.
However, we seem to think, along with the vet, that the laser boots are helping. When we had a small boarding/training operation we took in a lot of rehab horses, many from the track. Their injuries usually included some sort of ligament or tendon injury, splints, etc.. We used laser boots because they did seem to speed the healing process. I’m not sure why, thought there are many theories. Among other things, it could be that they increase circulation, which seems to benefit most injuries. It is also said to increase nitric oxide production which is important in tendon healing especially. We often apply an ice boot first to remove heat and calm any inflammation before treatment.
What I like about this particular laser equipment is that it automatically cycles between frequencies and automatically shuts off after 15-20 minutes, so there is no fear of over-doing it. So far we’ve only got the hock, ankle, knee and tendon savers. They are quite expensive to begin with, but I feel that they are worth the price because they do work in speeding along the healing process. They are also easy and convenient to use, unlike traditional cold laser units that are hand held and can only be applied over a small area at a time. If you’re interested at all in this form of therapy here’s the site where we purchased our equipment: Bio Scan.
I’d love to have all of their equipment but for now we’ve got enough going on around here costing a leg and a hoof so more equipment will have to wait.
Until next time
Quote for Today
If a horse stands on you it’s because you’re in the way.
