Just a silly for the holidays. What's YOUR horse's t-shirt slogan?
HRH Avery's was "You want control? Get a remote."
Quattro's is "What's your name? Mine's 'Whoa, Dammit'."
He was feeling extremely... "perky" shall we say - when I lined him yesterday, and we had to argue about "Whoa, Stand" on the lines for at least half an hour. Honestly I ran out of ideas for outwitting him. He's pretty good about what I call "applied halting", meaning that if he thinks there's a good reason to whoa, he'll be a good boy and stand there for as long as it takes. But "whoa" just because the trainer said so? Not so much...
I'm going to have to resort to a header with a lunge whip, and sooner rather than later. For carriage driving, a horse MUST have a good whoa/stand - it's the most important thing. This Twinkletoes routine ain't cutting it. And I have a feeling it's going to be the hardest thing to teach him!
The adventure continues.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Anniversary.
AVENELL ROAD, a/k/a "HRH Avery"
June 13, 1986 - December 5, 2008.
Gallop free, my brave TB. I love you and miss you so much. You truly were "The Mostest Hoss." I daresay we'll meet again soon enough...
EDIT:
Me: "Sorry, Avery. Me being me, I got the date wrong."
HRH Avery: "I told you, ya stupid fool Twolegs, you really should NOT be let loose without a Smart TB at the other end of the leash!"
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Hanging Up My Boots.
The good news: I rode Quattro myself today for the very first time!
The better news: He was a little rockstar. WHAT a nice young horse he is; I'm so lucky to have him.
But now, for the bad news: I'm hanging my riding boots up. It's time.
For those who don't know me, the backstory is that twenty years ago, I had the Big H/J Wreck: pulled a rather large paint mare down on top of me and broke my hip in 2 places, my pelvis, and two vertebrae. HRH Avery broke two more for me spooking at a Mini about five years ago, so that makes a total of four vertebrae (L1 through L4, if you're into keeping track of that kind of thing) that are fused and don't work at all, as well as the fact that the hip and pelvis healed all funny and I'm 37% range of motion disabled laterally, meaning my hip (usually) works fine going forward and back, as when walking, but I can't stretch my right leg to the side for more than a couple of inches. But enough of my medical problems; I can't stand old people who go on about their medical problems. I'd rather tell you briefly, if I may, about a couple of very special horses...
There's a saying that goes "There is no secret so deep as that between a man and his horse." HRH Avery, my late and sketchily-sound Thoroughbred, and I shared that secret. In public, he'd do his best to pretend he was still a Good Horse and I'd do my best to pretend I was still a Good Rider - but we were FAKING IT, and the unspoken secret between us was "Yeah, this hurts like blazes, but don't tell anybody!" He understood totally that it was his job to Take Care Of Me, the same way I did him: Thoroughbreds have an exceptional sense of quid pro quo; it's their best trait. We pottered on for years doing what little we could do; sometimes once around W-T-C in the ring on good footing, sometimes an hour's trail ride; other times I'd scramble aboard and grit my teeth with the pain and he'd take four lurching steps and we'd stop and look at each other and say "Uhhhhh... NO." and I'd scramble off, stick his halter and "lunch line" on him, and lead him out to eat grass while I lay under an apple tree.
The one-year anniversary of HRH Avery's death is this coming Wednesday. He was my Mostest Hoss, who guarded my secrets well, and I miss him deeply.
When I was sixteen and a hotshot Big Eq. rider who could and would get up on absolutely anything and probably manage to squeeze a decent trip out of it (like Catch Rider Hannah is now!), I used to wonder how people could STAND to "just" be The Owner. How could anybody STAND to have a super-nice horse and never ride it? It just didn't compute in my head.
Now, at the age of 51, I understand completely. The answer is simple: You give up riding when (a) it's no longer fun, and (b) when it's the best thing for the horse. Not necessarily in that order.
For me, both (a) and (b) are now true.
I got away with riding a lot longer than I should have because HRH Avery was so wise, as well as being a mature horse who was 17.2 hands and built like a tank so he could more easily tolerate, in the physical sense, any unevenness from his rider.
For Quattro, this is NOT the case. He's a narrow 15.1 and he is green, green, green. He's still trying to find his own balance let alone help me with mine. He was quiet and perfectly well-behaved when I rode him today, but I swear I could *feel* his left stifle popping out when we trotted. And then came the calamity that really drove it home that I do NOT need to be riding any more: I couldn't dismount. My bad right hip had absolutely turned to water and I couldn't move my right leg at all. Marisa had to actually leave me on him and go for help! It took two people and an exceptionally kind Saddlebred to get me off him, and it very nearly took a truck!
I got off him and said to myself "Yep - time to hang the boots up." And I gave my little Q a huge hug and a bunch of cookies for being, in all likelihood, the last horse I'll ever ride, and being SUCH a good boy about it!
No sympathy, please. I'm blessed. As regular readers will recall, I saw this coming at least a year ago, and took Quattro in with the express intent that whatever he ended up doing under saddle, he would also cross-train into carriage driving for me. I just want to make sure he gets some good under-saddle mileage first, and finishes growing both physically and mentally. He is a LOVELY little horse, and I'm so lucky that in what is really a pretty NON-huntery-jumpery part of the USA, I've found such great trainers and catch riders who can ride and show him for me.
And you know what? It's not really all that BAD being "just the owner". I'm still pretty hands-on with the boy, and will be for quite some time, since his driving training will be done by me and all his show prep and whatnot still is, too. It's not like I'm going to be sitting in some foreign country just writing the checks. I'm also a big believer that everything you ever do to/around a young horse teaches that horse something; every handwalk or ground drive he goes on with me will make him a lot easier and more reliable for Hannah and Marisa. Just today, for example, Quattro met FIRE for the first time - there was a cookout at the barn, and he nearly had a meltdown at the smoke and crackling wood, but I managed to talk him out of it, and taught him to walk past it quietly and calmly. That's one MORE future potential carriage driving wreck averted!
So that's it really - I'm hanging the boots up, and will watch with great pride and excitement as Amy, Hannah and Marisa take my little Tony the Pony to the next level.
The adventure continues!
The better news: He was a little rockstar. WHAT a nice young horse he is; I'm so lucky to have him.
But now, for the bad news: I'm hanging my riding boots up. It's time.
For those who don't know me, the backstory is that twenty years ago, I had the Big H/J Wreck: pulled a rather large paint mare down on top of me and broke my hip in 2 places, my pelvis, and two vertebrae. HRH Avery broke two more for me spooking at a Mini about five years ago, so that makes a total of four vertebrae (L1 through L4, if you're into keeping track of that kind of thing) that are fused and don't work at all, as well as the fact that the hip and pelvis healed all funny and I'm 37% range of motion disabled laterally, meaning my hip (usually) works fine going forward and back, as when walking, but I can't stretch my right leg to the side for more than a couple of inches. But enough of my medical problems; I can't stand old people who go on about their medical problems. I'd rather tell you briefly, if I may, about a couple of very special horses...
There's a saying that goes "There is no secret so deep as that between a man and his horse." HRH Avery, my late and sketchily-sound Thoroughbred, and I shared that secret. In public, he'd do his best to pretend he was still a Good Horse and I'd do my best to pretend I was still a Good Rider - but we were FAKING IT, and the unspoken secret between us was "Yeah, this hurts like blazes, but don't tell anybody!" He understood totally that it was his job to Take Care Of Me, the same way I did him: Thoroughbreds have an exceptional sense of quid pro quo; it's their best trait. We pottered on for years doing what little we could do; sometimes once around W-T-C in the ring on good footing, sometimes an hour's trail ride; other times I'd scramble aboard and grit my teeth with the pain and he'd take four lurching steps and we'd stop and look at each other and say "Uhhhhh... NO." and I'd scramble off, stick his halter and "lunch line" on him, and lead him out to eat grass while I lay under an apple tree.
The one-year anniversary of HRH Avery's death is this coming Wednesday. He was my Mostest Hoss, who guarded my secrets well, and I miss him deeply.
When I was sixteen and a hotshot Big Eq. rider who could and would get up on absolutely anything and probably manage to squeeze a decent trip out of it (like Catch Rider Hannah is now!), I used to wonder how people could STAND to "just" be The Owner. How could anybody STAND to have a super-nice horse and never ride it? It just didn't compute in my head.
Now, at the age of 51, I understand completely. The answer is simple: You give up riding when (a) it's no longer fun, and (b) when it's the best thing for the horse. Not necessarily in that order.
For me, both (a) and (b) are now true.
I got away with riding a lot longer than I should have because HRH Avery was so wise, as well as being a mature horse who was 17.2 hands and built like a tank so he could more easily tolerate, in the physical sense, any unevenness from his rider.
For Quattro, this is NOT the case. He's a narrow 15.1 and he is green, green, green. He's still trying to find his own balance let alone help me with mine. He was quiet and perfectly well-behaved when I rode him today, but I swear I could *feel* his left stifle popping out when we trotted. And then came the calamity that really drove it home that I do NOT need to be riding any more: I couldn't dismount. My bad right hip had absolutely turned to water and I couldn't move my right leg at all. Marisa had to actually leave me on him and go for help! It took two people and an exceptionally kind Saddlebred to get me off him, and it very nearly took a truck!
I got off him and said to myself "Yep - time to hang the boots up." And I gave my little Q a huge hug and a bunch of cookies for being, in all likelihood, the last horse I'll ever ride, and being SUCH a good boy about it!
No sympathy, please. I'm blessed. As regular readers will recall, I saw this coming at least a year ago, and took Quattro in with the express intent that whatever he ended up doing under saddle, he would also cross-train into carriage driving for me. I just want to make sure he gets some good under-saddle mileage first, and finishes growing both physically and mentally. He is a LOVELY little horse, and I'm so lucky that in what is really a pretty NON-huntery-jumpery part of the USA, I've found such great trainers and catch riders who can ride and show him for me.
And you know what? It's not really all that BAD being "just the owner". I'm still pretty hands-on with the boy, and will be for quite some time, since his driving training will be done by me and all his show prep and whatnot still is, too. It's not like I'm going to be sitting in some foreign country just writing the checks. I'm also a big believer that everything you ever do to/around a young horse teaches that horse something; every handwalk or ground drive he goes on with me will make him a lot easier and more reliable for Hannah and Marisa. Just today, for example, Quattro met FIRE for the first time - there was a cookout at the barn, and he nearly had a meltdown at the smoke and crackling wood, but I managed to talk him out of it, and taught him to walk past it quietly and calmly. That's one MORE future potential carriage driving wreck averted!
So that's it really - I'm hanging the boots up, and will watch with great pride and excitement as Amy, Hannah and Marisa take my little Tony the Pony to the next level.
The adventure continues!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Quattro's First Horse Show!
I am now more than halfway convinced that Saddlebreds have "horse show" embedded deep in their collective unconscious the same way other horses have "snakes are predators" collectively embedded in theirs. At his very first horse show, Quattro had his game face on the WHOLE time. He was an absolute pro, and tried his very best for us. I'm so proud!!
Our barn took (if memory serves) 8 horses, ranging from baby greenies at first show to seasoned professionals. The horse stabled next to Q had never even been in a stall before - THAT's how green we're talking. Quattro has already long since given me to understand that pasture board in the rain is NOT his idea of a good time, so he marched right into a strange new stall in a strange new barn with a look on his face that said, "Well, THIS is more like it!" He tested the bed by having a nice roll and calmly settled down to eat hay and spent most of the rest of the two days attempting to look sufficiently cute to cadge edibles off any passing human:
For those of you who are Saddlebred people and may not be familiar with this scenario, I'll just point out that H-J shows at Wills Park are busy. And I mean BIZ-ZY!! You really haven't had the full-on Wills Park Experience until you've seen all five rings going at once, with people trying to mow each other down in the warmup rings while trying NOT to crash into the infamous TREE in the lower one; until you've had to school at close on midnight and again before six a.m. just so you can work the young ones quietly and safely; until you've had to share the warmup rings w/ the maintenance crew on tractors trying to drag the footing (who were, actually, really, REALLY nice and gave us every opportunity they could to move from ring to ring while they dragged the ones we'd just left - THANK YOU GUYS, you are such a huge part of what makes these shows work!).
This is only one pic but it should give you the general idea: almost every square foot of space anywhere on the grounds has a horse parked on it!
Why are they all standing around doing nothing, you Saddlebred people might ask? Because here is the key difference between H-J shows and Saddlebred shows. H-J shows do NOT run on time. Not ever. Not even close. Trainers have conflicts from ring to ring, so Ring A will be on hold while Trainer A coaches students in Ring B, then Trainer A rushes to Ring A and Ring B is on hold. And so on. And so forth. World without end, amen!
So the one CRUCIAL thing that a young H-J horse can learn at its first show really isn't to perform well in the ring: that, believe it or not, is almost beside the point. The most crucial skill for a putative hunter horse is learning to Hurry Up And Wait. Because that break listed in the prize list as absolutely positively GOING to happen at 9:00 a.m. so you better be ready really isn't going to happen until around noon... As indeed proved to be the case.
If there was one thing I would have expected Q to have problems with, it would have been the Hurry Up And Wait. He's a Twinkletoes at the best of times and really can't keep his feet still; I really thought asking the lad to hang around for hours between four scary rings in a crowd of peeps and heese might stretch his baby greenie brain to the breaking point.
Ummmm, NOT:
I honestly was more pleased with that than almost anything else he did at the whole show! It bodes well: sooner or later he'll learn to be like HRH Avery, who upon arrival at any in-gate anywhere in America would simply happily settle down for a snooze.
Quattro also got to learn about that other staple of Planet H-J, The Last-Minute Add. You Saddlebred folks are lucky - you go to a show, you enter your division, it runs when you think it's going to run, you show in it, you're done. On Planet H-J, not so much. We had intended to show Q only in Green Horse Walk-Trot (ideal place to school a baby greenie). But he kept his wits about him and was so well-behaved that his talented young catch-rider Hannah (brave girl!) and I decided, and convinced Trainer Amy, to put him in for another flat class where he had to canter! So horsie thinks he's done but he's really not; instead he gets another x minutes/hours of Hurry Up And Wait practice while Owner races to Show Office to do The Last Minute Add and get the add slip back to Ring B. Then he goes in again.
Quattro would have been completely forgiven, in my opinion, for concluding that this Horse Show Stuff Is Nucking Futs and simply going on strike.
Ummmm, NOT:
Like I said: He tried his brave little Saddlebred heart out. The thing that tickled me the most was that my twinkletoed little greenie who really CAN'T stand still at home not to save his life marched right into the lineup in both of his (huge) classes and did the most perfect dressage halt there has ever been (Anky, you listening?) and the feet did NOT move!!
See? I can prove it! Even Trainer Amy was laughing at him at this point; he was just TOO perfect:
OK, so his classes were huge (about 20) and he made a baby greenie mistake in each one - a teenytiny buck in the first class and a teenytiny wheelie in the second, so we were out of the running, but you know what? He stayed sane, he stayed safe, he obeyed orders, and nobody got hurt, maimed or killed. And that is truly the result you want for a young horse at its first show.
I have, at this point, to give a shoutout to the other members of Team Quattro, who made all this possible:
Trainer Amy (seen here watching a student while doing the Hurry Up And Wait for her own class):
I am so very lucky to have found a trainer who likes Saddlebreds, understands the mentality, and is willing to take the time to work with the rather unusual set of issues the breed presents. THANK YOU AMY!!
Catch-rider Hannah, an exceptionally talented junior, who gave Quattro a superbly intelligent, tactical ride with the goal of just keeping him forward, light and consistent and staying safe, and who managed to fool a whole show ground into thinking the little horse actually has canter leads, when the reality was he'd been cantering all of three weeks, really didn't, and had never cantered in a group, let alone in a group of 20! Hannah is a young lady who is smart enough to realize that giving a baby greenie the perfect ride at its first show is way more important than winning ribbons. I'd go on and on about her graciousness and good sportsmanship, but I think the smile of accomplishment says it all. THANK YOU, HANNAH!
Last but not least - let us not forget the Horse Show Parents. Not just Hannah's - although I think they are pretty special folks for allowing their daughter to catch-ride a baby greenie of a breed that has the rep on Planet H-J of being "psycho"! - but ALL the horse show moms and dads out there who devote so much time and effort to all these wonderful kids and pretty much keep this sport going. This pic kinda says it all too:
In summary, I think we'd have to call this horse show a raging, roaring success.
Quattro, like all good Saddlebreds, is now on winter vacation and will be back in training in the spring.
The adventure continues!
Our barn took (if memory serves) 8 horses, ranging from baby greenies at first show to seasoned professionals. The horse stabled next to Q had never even been in a stall before - THAT's how green we're talking. Quattro has already long since given me to understand that pasture board in the rain is NOT his idea of a good time, so he marched right into a strange new stall in a strange new barn with a look on his face that said, "Well, THIS is more like it!" He tested the bed by having a nice roll and calmly settled down to eat hay and spent most of the rest of the two days attempting to look sufficiently cute to cadge edibles off any passing human:
For those of you who are Saddlebred people and may not be familiar with this scenario, I'll just point out that H-J shows at Wills Park are busy. And I mean BIZ-ZY!! You really haven't had the full-on Wills Park Experience until you've seen all five rings going at once, with people trying to mow each other down in the warmup rings while trying NOT to crash into the infamous TREE in the lower one; until you've had to school at close on midnight and again before six a.m. just so you can work the young ones quietly and safely; until you've had to share the warmup rings w/ the maintenance crew on tractors trying to drag the footing (who were, actually, really, REALLY nice and gave us every opportunity they could to move from ring to ring while they dragged the ones we'd just left - THANK YOU GUYS, you are such a huge part of what makes these shows work!).
This is only one pic but it should give you the general idea: almost every square foot of space anywhere on the grounds has a horse parked on it!
Why are they all standing around doing nothing, you Saddlebred people might ask? Because here is the key difference between H-J shows and Saddlebred shows. H-J shows do NOT run on time. Not ever. Not even close. Trainers have conflicts from ring to ring, so Ring A will be on hold while Trainer A coaches students in Ring B, then Trainer A rushes to Ring A and Ring B is on hold. And so on. And so forth. World without end, amen!
So the one CRUCIAL thing that a young H-J horse can learn at its first show really isn't to perform well in the ring: that, believe it or not, is almost beside the point. The most crucial skill for a putative hunter horse is learning to Hurry Up And Wait. Because that break listed in the prize list as absolutely positively GOING to happen at 9:00 a.m. so you better be ready really isn't going to happen until around noon... As indeed proved to be the case.
If there was one thing I would have expected Q to have problems with, it would have been the Hurry Up And Wait. He's a Twinkletoes at the best of times and really can't keep his feet still; I really thought asking the lad to hang around for hours between four scary rings in a crowd of peeps and heese might stretch his baby greenie brain to the breaking point.
Ummmm, NOT:
I honestly was more pleased with that than almost anything else he did at the whole show! It bodes well: sooner or later he'll learn to be like HRH Avery, who upon arrival at any in-gate anywhere in America would simply happily settle down for a snooze.
Quattro also got to learn about that other staple of Planet H-J, The Last-Minute Add. You Saddlebred folks are lucky - you go to a show, you enter your division, it runs when you think it's going to run, you show in it, you're done. On Planet H-J, not so much. We had intended to show Q only in Green Horse Walk-Trot (ideal place to school a baby greenie). But he kept his wits about him and was so well-behaved that his talented young catch-rider Hannah (brave girl!) and I decided, and convinced Trainer Amy, to put him in for another flat class where he had to canter! So horsie thinks he's done but he's really not; instead he gets another x minutes/hours of Hurry Up And Wait practice while Owner races to Show Office to do The Last Minute Add and get the add slip back to Ring B. Then he goes in again.
Quattro would have been completely forgiven, in my opinion, for concluding that this Horse Show Stuff Is Nucking Futs and simply going on strike.
Ummmm, NOT:
Like I said: He tried his brave little Saddlebred heart out. The thing that tickled me the most was that my twinkletoed little greenie who really CAN'T stand still at home not to save his life marched right into the lineup in both of his (huge) classes and did the most perfect dressage halt there has ever been (Anky, you listening?) and the feet did NOT move!!
See? I can prove it! Even Trainer Amy was laughing at him at this point; he was just TOO perfect:
OK, so his classes were huge (about 20) and he made a baby greenie mistake in each one - a teenytiny buck in the first class and a teenytiny wheelie in the second, so we were out of the running, but you know what? He stayed sane, he stayed safe, he obeyed orders, and nobody got hurt, maimed or killed. And that is truly the result you want for a young horse at its first show.
I have, at this point, to give a shoutout to the other members of Team Quattro, who made all this possible:
Trainer Amy (seen here watching a student while doing the Hurry Up And Wait for her own class):
I am so very lucky to have found a trainer who likes Saddlebreds, understands the mentality, and is willing to take the time to work with the rather unusual set of issues the breed presents. THANK YOU AMY!!
Catch-rider Hannah, an exceptionally talented junior, who gave Quattro a superbly intelligent, tactical ride with the goal of just keeping him forward, light and consistent and staying safe, and who managed to fool a whole show ground into thinking the little horse actually has canter leads, when the reality was he'd been cantering all of three weeks, really didn't, and had never cantered in a group, let alone in a group of 20! Hannah is a young lady who is smart enough to realize that giving a baby greenie the perfect ride at its first show is way more important than winning ribbons. I'd go on and on about her graciousness and good sportsmanship, but I think the smile of accomplishment says it all. THANK YOU, HANNAH!
Last but not least - let us not forget the Horse Show Parents. Not just Hannah's - although I think they are pretty special folks for allowing their daughter to catch-ride a baby greenie of a breed that has the rep on Planet H-J of being "psycho"! - but ALL the horse show moms and dads out there who devote so much time and effort to all these wonderful kids and pretty much keep this sport going. This pic kinda says it all too:
In summary, I think we'd have to call this horse show a raging, roaring success.
Quattro, like all good Saddlebreds, is now on winter vacation and will be back in training in the spring.
The adventure continues!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Quattro's off to his first show! Did I forget anything??
Long time, no blog! Been a bit busy, since Quattro has been away getting started under saddle and it's a bit of a hike there. But I'm pleased to announce Trainer Amy has determined he is ready for his very first HORSE SHOW!! It's at Wills Park, which will be familiar to the ASB peeps as the home of the superb Olde Milton ASB show series, so excellently run by ASHAG peeps John Goda and Paula Yeska.
Sadly, however, Quattro is not quite ready for THAT much prime time yet (he has never hand-galloped in a group, for openers, and that is one experiment we will not be trying for the first time with Mr. Go Mo' Faster in the show ring with a bunch of horses and riders we don't know!). Thus, we are doing the Rolling Hills Saddle Club show the day before Olde Milton.
As of right now, Quattro is scheduled to do the Green Horse Division, which is an awesome way to start a baby greenie. It consists of 3 back-to-back flat classes in the Hunter Ring: the first class is walk-trot; then if he seems sane, he'll flat at all 3 gaits in the second, and if he is REALLY worked in and REALLY behaving himself, one of Trainer Amy's team of exceptionally talented Interscholastic Equestrian Association juniors will ride him in the third class, which is a Hunter Seat Equitation class. I just love being at an eventing barn, where Da Kidz are up for crazy escapades like this!
If I seem unreasonably overexcited about Q's first show for someone my age, have mercy upon me: remember that for the last 12 years I haven't had a showable horse. HRH Avery, my late Thoroughbred, was the best horse I have ever had or ever will have, and I don't begrudge him one single millisecond of that twelve years of retirement - he earned every bit of it and more. I could never repay that horse for what he gave me in a million years. But the bottom line is that he was so expensive to maintain that I simply couldn't afford another horse who was showable, and I've been sidelined for WAY too long! I'm over the moon that Quattro will round out his three months of under saddle training with his first-ever horse show. After that, he goes to my friend Marisa's boarding barn to take the winter more or less off, start learning to trail ride, and finish growing; he'll go back to Trainer Amy in the spring.
We leave for Wills on Friday (thank you to my wonderful attorneys for giving me the day off, in case they're reading this, which I bet they are), but as always when this many heese are shipping out (it was 10, last I heard), it will be a mad rush, so I've already started packing.
Here's what I've got so far:
Buckets: feed, water & grooming
Tack: Halter, leather lead, Q's saddle, pad, and every girth and bridle I have in the house (lots) b/c some of the students are low on tack, and we may be shifting stuff around.
Blankets: Lightweight waterproof turnout, show scrim, Irish knit, fleece dress sheet, waterproof quarter sheet.
Protective: head bumper, pillow wraps (thank you Lori from Sunkissed Acres!), standing wraps, tail wrap.
Feed: Way too much, since I'm bringing feed for him at his new place as well.
Meds/Show/Grooming Supplies: Brush box, Braiding box (I've changed my mind and am not planning to braid him, but someone else in the barn may want to braid their horse and I've got both bay & chestnut stuff in there I can share), Vetrolin (legal here, it's nonrated), baby wipes, Vetrolin Shine, WISK detergent (great for white feet and silver tails), creme rinse, Cowboy Magic Mane/Tail Conditioner, hair spray, and - in case of emergencies - Bute, wound cream, a few gauze pads, a Vetwrap roll and a roll of Elastikon.
Stable Supplies: rub rags, cross ties, portable tack racks, bucket heater, clippers, extra halter & lead, lunge line; notebook w/ copies of class list, his Coggins & his papers.
Still need to get a baby thermometer, a big sponge and an outdoor power cord; forgot 'em last trip!
If you notice anything glaringly missing from the list, feel free to chip in! Tomorrow night I do laundry, gas the truck up, and pack ME, and then we're off to Baby's First Horse Show!
The adventure continues (and how). If you see a chestnut Saddlebred careening down Georgia 400, Tweet me; it's mine! :-P
Sadly, however, Quattro is not quite ready for THAT much prime time yet (he has never hand-galloped in a group, for openers, and that is one experiment we will not be trying for the first time with Mr. Go Mo' Faster in the show ring with a bunch of horses and riders we don't know!). Thus, we are doing the Rolling Hills Saddle Club show the day before Olde Milton.
As of right now, Quattro is scheduled to do the Green Horse Division, which is an awesome way to start a baby greenie. It consists of 3 back-to-back flat classes in the Hunter Ring: the first class is walk-trot; then if he seems sane, he'll flat at all 3 gaits in the second, and if he is REALLY worked in and REALLY behaving himself, one of Trainer Amy's team of exceptionally talented Interscholastic Equestrian Association juniors will ride him in the third class, which is a Hunter Seat Equitation class. I just love being at an eventing barn, where Da Kidz are up for crazy escapades like this!
If I seem unreasonably overexcited about Q's first show for someone my age, have mercy upon me: remember that for the last 12 years I haven't had a showable horse. HRH Avery, my late Thoroughbred, was the best horse I have ever had or ever will have, and I don't begrudge him one single millisecond of that twelve years of retirement - he earned every bit of it and more. I could never repay that horse for what he gave me in a million years. But the bottom line is that he was so expensive to maintain that I simply couldn't afford another horse who was showable, and I've been sidelined for WAY too long! I'm over the moon that Quattro will round out his three months of under saddle training with his first-ever horse show. After that, he goes to my friend Marisa's boarding barn to take the winter more or less off, start learning to trail ride, and finish growing; he'll go back to Trainer Amy in the spring.
We leave for Wills on Friday (thank you to my wonderful attorneys for giving me the day off, in case they're reading this, which I bet they are), but as always when this many heese are shipping out (it was 10, last I heard), it will be a mad rush, so I've already started packing.
Here's what I've got so far:
Buckets: feed, water & grooming
Tack: Halter, leather lead, Q's saddle, pad, and every girth and bridle I have in the house (lots) b/c some of the students are low on tack, and we may be shifting stuff around.
Blankets: Lightweight waterproof turnout, show scrim, Irish knit, fleece dress sheet, waterproof quarter sheet.
Protective: head bumper, pillow wraps (thank you Lori from Sunkissed Acres!), standing wraps, tail wrap.
Feed: Way too much, since I'm bringing feed for him at his new place as well.
Meds/Show/Grooming Supplies: Brush box, Braiding box (I've changed my mind and am not planning to braid him, but someone else in the barn may want to braid their horse and I've got both bay & chestnut stuff in there I can share), Vetrolin (legal here, it's nonrated), baby wipes, Vetrolin Shine, WISK detergent (great for white feet and silver tails), creme rinse, Cowboy Magic Mane/Tail Conditioner, hair spray, and - in case of emergencies - Bute, wound cream, a few gauze pads, a Vetwrap roll and a roll of Elastikon.
Stable Supplies: rub rags, cross ties, portable tack racks, bucket heater, clippers, extra halter & lead, lunge line; notebook w/ copies of class list, his Coggins & his papers.
Still need to get a baby thermometer, a big sponge and an outdoor power cord; forgot 'em last trip!
If you notice anything glaringly missing from the list, feel free to chip in! Tomorrow night I do laundry, gas the truck up, and pack ME, and then we're off to Baby's First Horse Show!
The adventure continues (and how). If you see a chestnut Saddlebred careening down Georgia 400, Tweet me; it's mine! :-P
Thursday, October 22, 2009
This Little Pony Ain't Playin'.
Well... So much for that dressage career. Quattro will, as planned, compete at Intro A/B next year while he trains for other things. He will then go and DO those other things.
The reason for this can be found here. If you can't stomach watching the video (I've tried several times and can't finish watching it), then read the accompanying article.
Sorry, but I have no intention of playing on the same playing field as anyone who thinks the video I linked to does not constitute horse abuse of the first magnitude.
KNOWING that your abusive training tactics have turned your horse's tongue BLUE with tissue hypoxia, SHOVING IT BACK IN HIS MOUTH and carrying on with your torture for TWO MORE HOURS does not make you a Great Rider, a Great Trainer, or a Champion. It makes you a loser, an a*shole, and an embarrassment to the sport. It brings your sport into such disrepute that, frankly, I want no part of it.
After watching the video, I felt a compelling need to go hug my horse. So after work, I drove 100 miles out of my way up to the trainer's and did exactly that. On the way there, I reminded myself of one of the best pieces of advice I ever got, which came from a fellow COTHer: "The horse doesn't care if he moves up the levels."
It's very true. And I don't think I do either, any more. All I really want out of my equestrian life, at this late date, is to have Quattro stay EXACTLY as he is right now: a happy, healthy little horse who enjoys life and likes his work, and hears my beat-up old car rattling into the driveway, trots up to the fence rail, and stands up happily nickering and making "Saddlebred ears".
So USDF, you're not getting my money. GMOs, you're not getting it either. USEF - Tony the Pony won't be competing at rated dressage events. It's time for the FEI to grow a set and put a stop to this. It's time for USEF and the USDF to take a stand. It may, indeed, even be time to start thinking about and planning a massive protest at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky next summer. But that's another story for another blog. If you want to be in on the planning stages of the campaign, ultimatedressage.com is where you want to be.
The adventure continues.
The reason for this can be found here. If you can't stomach watching the video (I've tried several times and can't finish watching it), then read the accompanying article.
Sorry, but I have no intention of playing on the same playing field as anyone who thinks the video I linked to does not constitute horse abuse of the first magnitude.
KNOWING that your abusive training tactics have turned your horse's tongue BLUE with tissue hypoxia, SHOVING IT BACK IN HIS MOUTH and carrying on with your torture for TWO MORE HOURS does not make you a Great Rider, a Great Trainer, or a Champion. It makes you a loser, an a*shole, and an embarrassment to the sport. It brings your sport into such disrepute that, frankly, I want no part of it.
After watching the video, I felt a compelling need to go hug my horse. So after work, I drove 100 miles out of my way up to the trainer's and did exactly that. On the way there, I reminded myself of one of the best pieces of advice I ever got, which came from a fellow COTHer: "The horse doesn't care if he moves up the levels."
It's very true. And I don't think I do either, any more. All I really want out of my equestrian life, at this late date, is to have Quattro stay EXACTLY as he is right now: a happy, healthy little horse who enjoys life and likes his work, and hears my beat-up old car rattling into the driveway, trots up to the fence rail, and stands up happily nickering and making "Saddlebred ears".
So USDF, you're not getting my money. GMOs, you're not getting it either. USEF - Tony the Pony won't be competing at rated dressage events. It's time for the FEI to grow a set and put a stop to this. It's time for USEF and the USDF to take a stand. It may, indeed, even be time to start thinking about and planning a massive protest at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky next summer. But that's another story for another blog. If you want to be in on the planning stages of the campaign, ultimatedressage.com is where you want to be.
The adventure continues.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Quattro now has a YouTube channel.
I just thought it would be interesting to kind of collate all of his videos in one place, so I created Quattro his own video channel. They're not in the right order, but you're all horse people, you'll figure it out! The commentary kinda tells you what was going on at the time each video was shot. Sadly I doubt if I'll be able to add any more this week b/c trainer will be off at a show, but I'll post some more under saddle as soon as I get it.
After I was done loading all the vids, I kind of wished that I had some BAD Quattro video. Watching the vids makes it look as if the training process was easy and effortless, which it most definitely was NOT: remember the 3 months of "Me Want Go Mo' FASTER" and him belting around with his nose in the air Looky-Lou'ing at everything, while I gritted my teeth and kept trying to get him to RELAX, slow DOWN, and use his back and neck? I sure do! :-P
Unfortunately, on days when he was in "Go Mo' Faster!" mode, the absolute LAST thing I felt like doing was trying to free up a hand to try to shoot video of it.
But for first-time visitors or those who need reminding, when you think that we've managed to go from HERE... (TOTALLY inverted - and he was actually way worse than that on occasion, trust me!)
...to HERE... which is far more acceptable...
...it's clear we're on the right track.
The adventure continues.
After I was done loading all the vids, I kind of wished that I had some BAD Quattro video. Watching the vids makes it look as if the training process was easy and effortless, which it most definitely was NOT: remember the 3 months of "Me Want Go Mo' FASTER" and him belting around with his nose in the air Looky-Lou'ing at everything, while I gritted my teeth and kept trying to get him to RELAX, slow DOWN, and use his back and neck? I sure do! :-P
Unfortunately, on days when he was in "Go Mo' Faster!" mode, the absolute LAST thing I felt like doing was trying to free up a hand to try to shoot video of it.
But for first-time visitors or those who need reminding, when you think that we've managed to go from HERE... (TOTALLY inverted - and he was actually way worse than that on occasion, trust me!)
...to HERE... which is far more acceptable...
...it's clear we're on the right track.
The adventure continues.
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