A feel-good video for a great day!

At 2:41" on the video  this guy is worth waiting for, believe me.

A lot of you have probably seen this inspired Call Me Maybe video parody, but I'm posting it here for the uninitiated. First, I  love Carly Rae Jepsen's song, Call Me Maybe. It's not a song for the ages, and it's not horse-oriented, but it makes me happy -- and that makes me think of my horses, and all the joy they bring.  The song, and these amazing military guys,  remind me that...

1.  The world is alive with possibility.
2. Lighten up!  If these men can make their own fun where they are, we should take their cue.
3. Guys can dance in women's scarves and still be pretty hot (see screen shot, right).

I've had my fill of winter, and cold, and negative energy around me. It's time to laugh.  

Show the video, already!

The full video, which I recommend, can be viewed only on youtube (embedding does not work) --  go watch it on Youtube. After that you may be interested in seeing a side by side of both the original Miami Dolphins Cheerleader version and the military parody -- view that video here.

Freak injuries are not so freakish

Photo from hollypayne.com

"The safest place to be is on their back," someone once said to me. At the time I was working with my year-old Riley in hand and felt like a big weenie. As I practiced trotting the triangle,  I was afraid Ri might knock me down. He did knock me down once, and there were some near misses. And of course, there is my "finger incident" -- I now believe it is broken, and will be going to urgent care on Friday.

 I'm writing about this because Eventing Nation just reported that Holly Payne was badly injured in a freak horse accident -- one that did not involve riding and did not result from carelessness. Essentially, a young horse she was leading spooked and ended up injuring her foot badly (the word "shattered" is used, nuf said). I am thinking good thoughts for this young, talented woman.

Reduce your risk!
Accidents like this should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. Like everyone, I occasionally take chances -- but now, in my fifties, I'm smarter and better at avoiding stupid risks. This post is a reminder to be careful as you work around your horse. Don't sit in the grass while your horse hand-grazes next to you, don't walk him in a cooler outside in high winds, don't let yourself get tangled in a lunge line. Wear a helmet. For once, imagine the worst case scenario and don't deny that it could happen to you.

No one is immune to harm. We are not immortal. Act accordingly.

Love you all.

"Can Akhal Tekes really take weight on their hind legs?"

You might be wondering if Akhal Tekes can do dressage -- and a reasonable question is, can these horses really take weight on their hind legs? I'd say yes.

Would I want my own horse doing this? No. But these seem to be amazingly game and agile horses...

Kambarbay goes eventing

More evidence of the nice character of this lovely horse -- so game and so handy! Beautifully ridden -- the rider is just motionless and solid...

Delorean: Ri's relative and hunter extraordinaire

I think that you can refer to two horses with the same dam as half-brothers or half-sisters -- but not if they share the same sire. So I can't say Delorean and Riley are half-bros, but they do share the same sire (Delaurentis). Delorean was recently written up in the Chronicle for winning a hunter derby at the Great Southwest Winter Series II.

And a fat chunkster he is! Lovely boy, yes? He's two years older than Riley, and he must have been one of the first foals by De Laurentis.

 I do believe they share the same -- as Bob would call it -- snout. The shape of their muzzle is the same. And while Ri is not as chubby as Delorean, they look similar in type.

Akhal Teke Stallion Oyun Shael

Couldn't resist just one more Akhal Teke video. This boy looks like he has a great work ethic. He isn't what you'd call short-backed but his gaits are lovely, and he is doing some pretty advanced work without laboring. Love the work ethic, too -- through these fairly long, intense sessions he maintains his concentration and looks to be enjoying himself. Horse and rider make a pleasant picture, don't they?

2007

A La Dressage: Aptly named

This amazing little guy by Ampere "smashed" the auction record at the Oldenburg elite foal auction last August. Somehow I missed the announcement and footage, but here it is now. Talk about round knee action!!

Akhal Teke: Dressage stallion Makka Shael

Even among animals that are the same breed, there are certainly variations in type. The stallion does not seem to have some of the distinguishing characteristics of the breed -- but he is what he is. Maybe doing dressage work, and fattening him up, make him less identifiable as an Akhal Teke...

"I don't lunge every day..."

"I don't lunge Riley every day -- but when I do, it's exciting."

Ouch. The no-turnout Riley is a different kind of horse to lunge. As I said on Facebook, he was cantering pretty nicely, and suddenly bolted, cutting across the circle bucking and farting. There I was, holding a slack line, and looking at the powerhouse of a horse careening away. I felt like Wile E. Coyote holding the rope attached to the anvil that was just tipped over the edge of a cliff.

Jolt! Zing! Boingg......

I did hold on through quite a jolt, and Riley cam back pretty readily, but despite my wearing thick gloves and a helmet, I managed to bugger up my ring finger. I rode Riley the next day with a claw for a left hand, and while Riley was okay it hurt. I lunged him the next few days, and his behavior was marginal until I finally just had a little tantrum of my own. It's amazing how quickly this horse backs down -- my own fault for not setting a tone sooner.

But how fortuitous is it that Redmond Equine sent me their First Aid for Horses bentonite clay at the height of the bruising and swelling?  I don't know much about it but I tried it tonight. At the moment it feels cool and soothing.  Stay tuned for an update on how I like the product -- and a  giveaway.

More Akhal Tekes: I can't stop myself

Check out the Akhal Teke video below -- one of a series I'll be publishing in the next few days. This first one has some lovely dressage footage, but I love the beginning closeup of Kambarbay's face. What a lovely eye and expression -- there is such wisdom and kindness in his demeanor. And that luminous color! I'd love to see him in person.  Sigh.

The music is great too... Oh, and the rider is awesome, and also easy on the eye.

Pondering Harv's birthday (March 7)

From the art of the cookie.  

What do you think? Harv's birthday? In addition to the cake of course...

Absorbine One Step -- winners!

Brown saddle, ho! Anyone know where it is from?
I found it on Tumblr.com

Remember the contest we had last week? Here are the winners of the Horseman's One Step spray leather cleaner! Congrats folks -- send me your mailing addresses!

• Nancy K of Bucks County (facebook post)
• Net 
• race.ride.jump
• wileyaa
• j. bowers 

Thanks to Absorbine for graciously offering these freebies -- and note that this is a very reasonably priced product. That is something all horsemen appreciate...

Enter at A -- Harv's horsehair bracelet!

Well -- it's not Harv's bracelet (it's mine), but it is Harv's hair. The orange is the perfect shade, the hair looks great, and the quality and workmanship is a steal at $20.  Enter at A Jewelry's web site does not seem to show the bracelets but you can see them on the Facebook page.

Stacey Kimmel likes

Enter At A, LLC

Create your Like Badge

Front of the bracelet

Buckle

From Scratch to Four-star

A big round of applause goes to Doug Payne for taking the time to pull together this time-lapse video of the Rolex **** horse Running Order. The video starts with photos of RO just off the trailer (the end of a trip from Ireland), and follows is progression in training through the international level. RO was recently sold to William Fox-Pitt, I believe.

This video is not promotional, but educational. It's clearly a labor of love, and it's a gift to us.

Heart Horseshoe: Etsy pick for a Happy Valentine's Day

I love this Heart Horseshoe. What a great valentines day present! Available via Etsy.com. Bob hates shopping, and this year we went practical on our Valentines gifts. No matter. I enjoy shopping for cool stuff....

And even the questionable stuff, like this Etsy Regretsy...

Prince as purple horse leaping

Simon and me in 2003

Here is a picture taken pretty much off the trailer when I brought Simon home. I was so happy, he was such a sweetie. This concludes my tribute to Simon, AKA Always, Always.

Simon: Lo, the mighty hunter!

The owner shared this photo with me years ago.

I love the photo on the right.  Simon looks gorgeous -- look at that filled out hiney! He looks so mature and in good condition.

While his owner still rides him, I wonder if he might also be used in lessons or in a leasing program too.  Below is a photo taken at a clinic. The young rider seems to be doing a nice job.

How fortunate I have been with my horses. Ri and Harv are just plain wonderful, and Simon is a lovely horse that has found a great situation.  His owner adores him and she knows and plays to his strengths.

This photo was on the barn's Facebook page

Simon, the great all-rounder

Kind eye, honest face, good heart

IMHO, Simon is the kind of horse that any barn would be happy to have. He's not an A-circuit hunter or a Grand Prix dressage horse, but he's a good all-rounder and an appealing horse. I sold him in about ten days. The first buyer, from Massachusetts, was scared away by some mild spurring that my vet had also found, but she was unconconcerned -- thought they were typical warmblood x-rays. Luckily for me, the second buyer was waiting in the wings, and she  snapped him up. Simon is still with this nice lady. I think he is now 12 years-old, and he is still going strong.

What makes an all-rounder?
So take a look at Simon's conformation shot, below.  I think he is around four years old here.  On the positive side, I think he is pretty harmonious and proportional for a big young horse. Each part individually is average or better -- nothing is awful. He's not terribly muscled over the croup, but you'll see no sign of this in a mature horse photo of him (to be shown in another post). At this stage he is a little short through the hindquarter here, and his gaskins appear a little thin. His shoulder is straight-ish, and a little muttony. That shoulder does not usually produce an expressive front leg, and he had fairly straight hunter action. He was very correct in his movement. His head is a little large but a lovely honest eye makes you forget about it :-).  His neck is set reasonably well and he's level, but not particularly uphill. Conformationally, I don't think dressage would be precluded. But in the end, I think his temperament and his huge, ground-eating canter made him an ideal hunter type, or maybe a foxhunter. He didn't have the fire in the belly to event. I dunno, what do y'all think? Am I right?

Simon: My first 3 year-old

Simon and me circa, 2003?

From my last blog post, someone pointed out that I have never mentioned Simon, a horse I owned for a few years. How can it be that I have never mentioned this big, lovely boy? Here's the scoop...

I thought I needed an up-and-comer...
When Harvey was sixteen years old, I looked into my faulty crystal ball and worried that Harv's riding days were nearing an end. Harv actually remained a riding horse till he was 24, and even then he could have gone longer. Anyhoo -- in preparation for Harv's retirement, I bought a three-year-old Danish warmblood cross, Simon. Simon was by a stallion named Aleutian. I gave Simon the show name Adirondack.  At three years, he was 16.3 hands.  When I sold him at about age five he was 17.1 hands or so, and last I heard from his owner, he was 17.3.

Big and beautiful, and curious
I found Simon in Sunbury, PA. When I first went to look at him, he distinguished himself  by

1.  twisting himself around in loosely hung cross ties till the ties were tightly wound around his neck, and 
2. carting me calmly around the indoor during a hard-driving, deafening rain. 

Big horse, good mind, nice gaits, and he was easy and fun even at age three, even for amateur with no young horse experience. I learned a lot riding him, and he took care of me -- really, he never took a wrong step. If he was oblivious to my most stern corrections, he was also kind and  unflappable.

So why'd I sell him?
In the end, I liked riding my sensitive-boy Harv more than Simon, and Simon seemed to want to be a hunter.  I sold him to a woman who pretty much made an offer on him over the phone, based on my equine.com ad with the photo below. She still has him, loves him, and she named him Always, Always because she swears she will never sell him. She put him in training with a big name hunter rider, put him in aluminum shoes, and she sometimes takes  him to Devon to do local hunters. Simon's owner has a riding facility, and some friends of mine show at their small shows. They report that Simon is HUGE, built like a war horse, fat happy, and doing well. I think his owner rides him, but they may lease him to advanced riders too. I'm so glad that he has a great home and is thriving. He deserves it.

Hair Netiquette from Sharon White

Wow, what a game lady eventer Sharon White is. Kudos to her for trying to promote the most staid and unloved part of ladies equestrian garb, Ye Olde hairnet. I was compelled to wear them in high school when my long-haired self rode hunters and foxhunted -- but does anyone still wear these? She makes a good case for them. My favorite part of the video is seeing Sharon donning the old-style, traditional hairnet -- and then wrapping an orange scrunchy around it. You go girl!

Thanks to Bit of Britain and Aerborn Hairnets, and to Sharon White, unapologetic wearer of orange.

I'm almost convinced.

Breeches on sale! My romp with Romfh

I love Romfh products. The fabric is especially nice; usually it feels stretchy and comfortable but still offers a little structure, so that you don't feel like you are wearing hose in public. The colors are unusual but not gaudy. I agonized about buying the breeches below when they were over $100. The color, raisin, is a cool taupe with a tinge of grey/rose. The contrasting pockets and loops are sharp. And (drumroll) I got them for under $30! The only downside is that they are 28R not 28L. Romfh tends to run a little long, thankfully. They fit well overall.

I got them Saturday, and I'm still gloating. Congratulate me!

Extreme foxhunting

When I was foxhunting in the seventies, it seemed like an extreme sport. One of our regular territories, Beecher's Corner I think, had mostly coops, but they were between 3'6" and 3' 9," and there was one gate that was 4.' My adrenalin was pumping on those days. My horse at the time, a TBXQH cross, was a superb hunter. He had great gaits and he could really jump.

 As a group, foxhunters (the people) are not the best riders, and they are halfway through their flask of happy-juice before the hunt even starts.  The great thing about foxhunting is that as a member of the field, there is always someone going before you, and the horses understand quickly that if they don't jump they'll get left behind the herd. Suffice to say they're motivated, and most would jump anything with little or no encouragement.In the six or so years I foxhunted, we lost one horse who had  a heaves episode in the field. Tragically, we also lost one rider.

I thought we had some rough days -- but they were nothing like this. If you are really sensitive, you may not want to watch. No horses are hurt, as far as I can tell, but they are certainly struggling.

No such thing as a good read: Why readers are a bad idea

I suppose the phrase "to each his own" applies here, but I tried readers early in my dressage career, and discarded them quickly.  If you like to use a reader, here are some things to consider:

•  Memory. Everyone is capable of remembering a training and first level test, and probably more.
• Confidence. Knowing your test will give you confidence. 
• Preparation (lack of). If your argument is that you are too nervous to remember a test, I would counter that you are nervous because you have not adequately prepared. My goodness, with all of the money and time we invest in horses, you can spend a half hour learning your test?
• Focus. Knowing your test will help you focus on your horse totally, not the voice by the side of the ring. 
• Windy days and other noise. Wind, planes overhead, loudspeakers, and other noise could wreck your test.
• Impression. Maybe all judges are so perfect and fair that they don't form an impression when a 35 year-old woman cannot be bothered to memorize a test. But I believe, at a subconcious level, distractions like readers, dirty tack, a horse in poor weight, or tacky clothing could result in a lower rating/score. I'm not saying it's intentional, or likely. But it is possible.

Do you feel differently? The same? Tell me why!

Horse shopping: If only this video weren't true

Outfoxed Farm does it again with a very funny video on horse shopping. Starts of a smidgen slow so hang in there and wait for the payoff. 

The segment that rings most true to me is the "buyer telling their life story." When I sold my green, 5-year old, 17.2 dressage horse (Simon) years ago, I would get paragraphs-long email messages describing the type of horse that is needed, usually in a very unrealistic price range. I received one looong email from a horse show mom whose daughter was ready to move up to 3'6" and needed an equitation/hunter. My Simon had never so much popped a cross-rail, but this lady could not be convinced that Simon could not be doing the circuit in the upcoming season. The only thing that matched between her needs and the training/skills/aptitude was price. Getting ready to sell a horse? Get yourself mentally prepared, it is a study in human nature...

Horseman's Onestep: Giveaway Ho!

Horseman's One Step ^TM was around when I was in high school. That's a long time. Back then, there wasn't much around aside from glycerine soap, so One Step had an air of luxury about it. It made cleaning tack so easy. I loved it then, and I love it now.

Creamy glob, meet "the quick spritz"
I have no gripe with One Step, except maybe that I tend to use too much and it is hard to spread evenly.  Imagine One Step creme in an easy to apply spray -- instead of a glob of creme, there's an even light spray.  Guess what, it is a real product, pictured right. How do I use One Step spray?

•  I keep a moist sponge in a baggie next to my One Step spray bottle in my tack trunk. 
• After every other ride or so, I just spritz a little bit on before wiping down my tack. 
• I run water through the sponge and squeeze it out, then back it goes into the baggie. 
• Next ride I may just wipe down with the sponge. 

This product lasts forever and keeps the leather from looking dry between "real" cleanings.

Hey, do you want to try it? 
It's easy -- I have five to give away, thanks to Absorbine! To win one, respond in a comment or Facebook post with your best, and your most unlikely excuse for not cleaning tack. Here's my answer to the question, "Why don't you clean your tack after every ride?"

"I'd stay at the barn to clean tack, but I'm worried about leaving the cats home alone."

Okay, now tell me yours!!! Make sure to include a means of contacting you if you win...

Milking this for what it's worth

Yes, I'm milking it. 

But I'm also proving that the  pix of the ribbons and such were not stock photos. 

And IMHO these are all pretty flattering photos. No bra straps, no closed eyes, no odd strands of hair sticking up.

The miracles continue!

A Harvey memory: Why I love my horses

I sometimes like to muse about my days as a new horse owner -- when I first bought Harvey over FIFTEEN years ago.  We were at a modest but nice co-op barn in North Carolina. It was an old cow barn, converted for horses by someone who was apparently not all that handy. There was an outside wash stall made of spare wood pieces. Looking back, I can't believe I ever tied Harv to that rickety house of cards, but I did. Harv could have pushed it all down with a shove of his head.

Anyway, I had cross tied him there one afternoon, getting ready to ride.  The day was gorgeous, there was a little breeze, and  Harv stood in  this  old wash stall under the dappled shade of some big trees. I had not had him long and he'd been on the property not much more than a week.

I groomed him and left to get my tack. Walking back with my saddle, I got to take in the view of my new bay horse. Harv stood relaxed and attentive, as if music was playing somewhere.  As I approached he he turned his attention to me, ears pricked and waiting for something wonderful.  He had such faith in good things to come!

 A friend of mine used to say that Harv was a good riding horse because no matter who rode him or how they rode, "he always finds a happy place." She was right. Harv is a happy horse and optimistic about humans. That's admirable for a horse that spent three years on the racetrack -- and somehow it rubs off. More often than not, I leave the barn in a much happier place than when I arrived.  Everyone should have a Harv.

Barn rules of thumb

Recently I was talking with one of my blog friends -- some friends I have met through my blog, who talk on the phone with often, but have never met in person.  She moved her horses to a new, more "managed" barn because of new constraints on her time.  It's a barn that has a lot of rules.  I've been at barns that have run the gamut, from a do-your-own-thing co-op barn to a hunter jumper show barn. We talked about the relative advantages and disadvantages of each, and I liked a comment that my friend made, reflecting on rules:

"In my experience, the number of rules in a barn seems to be directly [directly] proportional to the quality of the care."

She was being facetious and funny, and we both laughed. But I think there is probably some truth to it. What do you guys think?