Five Horses

The Five Horses We Meet on Earth is from a book (Horses in the Yard) by Joanne Friedman.

The Five Horses We Meet in Life

1. The Intro Horse.
We each came into horses in our own way, but it was always with a horse leading us. This might have been a friend’s first pony, or perhaps it was a draft horse on a farm you once visited It might have been a real-life meeting, or an imaginary one. I was escorted to the party by The Black, Walter Farley’s star horse in The Black Stallion series…

Mine was the old gelding in the pasture behind my great-grandmother's house in Morrilton, AR. My dad took me out there and put me up on his back bareback in the pasture - all he did was creak around at a walk but I might as well had been galloping across the fields, I was in heaven.

2. The Experimental Horse
Once you had crossed the line between “Darn, they’re big!” and “Wow! Can I try that?” you found yourself face-to-face with the horse that would suffer through your early attempts at figuring out the whole horse experience … wherever this horse came from, he probably didn’t benefit from the encounter as much as you did…

I had two - the first horse I rode in lessons was Spunky. He was a 20 year old QH when I started riding him he took me through x-rails and short stirrup. By the way - he is still around, snug as bug wandering around Maumelle doing as he pleases - he loves retired life!

The second one was my first horse Jouster. He never stopped at a thing and never put up a fight just forged ahead and took care of me - even going super fast on cross country!! RIP 11/5/2000



3. The Connected Horse
The first horses we meet don’t really connect with us, nor do we with them. Those are experiences in survival and tests of endurance. The Connected Horse is the first horse you truly bond with. This is the horse that sounds a chord that lives so deep in you that you might never have heard it otherwise…

Onyx. He got me through the hardest time in my life. If it wasn't for that I horse I seriously wonder if I would have made it through my sister's death. He will always be my horse and I hope to get him back for retirement after his tenure at Randolph Macon college is finished.

4. The Challenger
Into each horseperson’s life, a little challenge must fall. You’ll have read that one final training book, bought yourself a clicker and heading rope, and there you’ll stand, arms crossed, assessing the situation as if you actually knew what the situation was. It might be difficult to believe, as you are flying down the aisleway on the losing end of a braided cotton line, but you actually need this horse in your life…

The Coaster for sure. I've been ready to sell this horse for a penny multiple times. He is so talented and mega-athletic but spends all of his thought process (which unfortunately he has a lot more than anybody would guess) on how to a.) not work and b.) make his rider/handler work harder than him. He has taught me so much and teaches me everytime I throw a leg over his back.

5. Your Deepest Heart
There will come a time when you will look at yourself with a cold, appraising eye, and you’ll have to be honest about your continued ability to deal with The Challenger and other difficult horses. At that point, you’ll seek out the horse that will be your soul mate forever… You’ll have bought him the most comfortable, best fitting equipment… Maybe you’ll still go to shows and ride – brilliantly or barely – in the Alzheimer’s class. Maybe you’ll just stay home. Whatever you do, one day you’ll realize that after all the money you spent on animal communicators and trainers, you only had to stop and listen and you would have clearly heard your horse’s thoughts and desires…

I will have him one day.

When it rains, it pours...literally

I'm just ready for the year to be over...a lot happened today and not very much of it good:

This morning (both within 45 minutes):
1.) A painter at a Baldwin & Shell (where my dad works) construction site got electrocuted and died. He was in his late 20's and has a child that is barely one year old...
2.) My grandmother was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. They thought she had possibly had a stroke because she was so weak; luckily (?) it turned out to be pneumonia - she will be in the hospital for several days, but will be okay.

This afternoon:
1.) Went with my mom to take flowers to my sister's grave. It isn't the going to the cemetery that bothers me, I just always feel so guilty when I leave...like I'm walking away from my baby sister - it just sucks. Some things never get easier and seeing her name on a grave marker is one of them.
2.) Grizabella (came home from vet this morning after getting a back de-claw at age 4) managed to open her wounds and started bleeding. Called the vet and she has to stay in dog kennel until at least Christmas...I just feel so bad for her. She is literally just sitting here looking at me through the bars - her eyes are dialated because of the drugs...

This evening:
1.) Found out that a girl I know at school was driving home from Colorado with her brother last night, they hit a patch of ice and hit a semitruck. Neither one of them made it. I can't imagine losing both children at the same time, especially right before Christmas...

Today was obviously a tough one. My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones in their lives this close to Christmas. I wish there was a time out for tragidy during the holidays, it just doesn't seem fair.

"Good night sweet prince and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" - Hamlet

2009: A Year in Review

Wow, I look back on the past year with tired eyes. A lot has happened this year, some good, some bad, some heartbreaking. Goals were accomplished and goals were forgotten. Below I just made a quick highlight of what happened this past year...

• Found out that some people are just down right big fat liars
• Found out that some people have your back no matter what
• Played around at the beach to mend a broken heart
• Played around on the cross country course to mend a broken ego
• Lost a grandmother to cancer
  
• Gained some new confidence
  
• Kicked ass at some horse shows (both myself and students)
• Got my ass kicked by a disease named after a pig

...and finally what seemed to be the theme for the year: I threw my heart in soul into something just to have it thrown back in my face and fail, but I picked myself up and moved on to the next big project a little smarter...

Goodbye 2009, God I hope 2010 is so much better!!!

RIP Cooper

While I was chipping away on my final exams this past weekend another battle roared on hundreds of miles away. Jennie Brannigan and Cooper were putting up their last fight against the injuries sustained in the freak show jumping accident at this past Fair Hill. After many ups and downs since the accident, including colic and acute founder, Jennie made the humane decision to let Cooper go.

I have followed Jennie and Cooper for the past couple years through blogs, magazines and the internet. The first thing that I found so addicting was not all their blue ribbons, but all of the pictures with Cooper's knees perfect and his ears forward. I can honestly say I have not seen a picture where Cooper didn't look happy to be doing his job - he just seemed like such a honest, happy horse; one of those that are a complete joy to ride.

My thoughts and prayers to out to Jennie and Brannigan Eventing as I know they didn't just lose a partner but a friend. Losing a horse has to be one of the hardest aspects of this industry - we all know it is inevidible but we still pursue our dreams because even if we only have a short amount of time (it is always too short) with our special horses, it is better than no time at all.

Good Luck Jennie - I know we will see more of you and thank you for sharing that big grey horse with the world!

Jennie's Blog
Brannigan Eventing

Okay Let's Talk

I'm sure most everybody has seen the training pyramid before, or at least a version of it - but yet I see people everyday who are trying to achieve the upper levels without having a solid base. So let's talk about it...

Way back in the day Egyptians built pyramids primarily as tombs for the Pharaohs - this part really has nothing to do with horse training, but the next does. As far as history can tell a pyramid has ALWAYS been built from the ground up. I don't know of any pyramids that were assembled from the top down - do you? Most likely not. So, let's take that piece of knowledge and apply it to our pyramid here. Before you can have anything else you must have rhythm.

So let's define "Rhythm" as it applies to horses - Ability to move into the natural gaits with relaxation - physical AND mental. To have correct rhythm the horse has to have the correct beats for each gait: walk = 4, trot = 2, canter = 3 and rein-back=2. It makes sense to me - and obviously most trainers in the world - that a horse must have the ability to maintain an established rhythm (and gait) when under saddle before they can even begin to be truly supple.

I once had a dressage trainer tell me that when a horse is walking away from you it should be like watching Marilyn Monroe walking - hip swaying and all. To get this the horse must have suppleness, or flexibility. This happens in two ways: forward to back (longitudinal) and side to side (lateral). And by the way - a bend does NOT come from the neck!!! A true bend should come from the ribcage being wrapped around the rider's leg to make a bow shape with the horse's entire body. Only then - after the horse has an established rhythm and is supple can you begin to ask for contact.

Contact is when the horse ACCEPTS (not tolerates) the rider's hands, seat and leg. I see so many "riders" think their horse is round just because the horse's head is down and "on the bit." That is literally just the rider riding solely off their hands and so the horse braces against the bit in a headset that non-dressage riders seem to think is pretty. They are truly round when: the horse accepts and responds to leg and seat aids, the horse is moving UP into the contact from the HIND END, the horse's jaw is relaxed, the poll is the highest point and the horse's back is raised. Hopefully y'all are seeing a pattern here...Impulsion cannot happen until the previous steps are achieved.

Impulsion can be described as free-flowing energy initiated by the rider, causing the horse's back to swing, hindquarters to engage and forelegs to articulate. A good measure of impulsion is how far the horse steps up under its barrel and engages its hocks. Once again - the power must come from BEHIND. Riders should NOT have to constantly ask their horse to keep moving forward - you ask once and the horse keeps going at that pace until you ask for something different - impulsion should become a second nature to horses in training.

Did you know horses are naturally crooked? They have better sides just like people (right vs left handed). Asking a horse to be symmetrical and straight happens through working each side regularly. But guess what???? Before your horse can be straight it has to have - can you guess? - Rhythm, Suppleness, Contact, and Impulsion.

And what can then happen once all of it comes together? DING DING DING: COLLECTION!!!!! Great collection = rider feels as though they can let go and the horse would still maintain perfect rhythm and self carriage without any interference from the rider.

In my opinion there are many roads to Rome. If you ask 1,000 horse trainers how to do something you will get 2,000 different answers. I'm not saying what is the right or wrong way to get there as long as you get the basics down pat first. My dad is in construction so maybe that's why I understand the importance of a good foundation because it seems that the practice of getting a strong foundation before moving toward the more upper level movements went out with the Bush administration.

Itchy

Coaster is now clipped and all of that hair is now all over me...I'm going to take a shower!

Food for Thought

One of my biggest pet peeves are horse owners and riders that don't educate themselves on proper care of their horse. They take advice from trainers, friends and old wives tales but they don't invest in proper books, websites or even take some classes. Something people get all excited about is the percent of protein in feed. They think it is the BEST energy source for their horse - they don't know that it actually requires energy to break down the proteins so that the horse can use them as fuel.
It is my belief that most horses don't need much - or any - grain, they get their required nutrients from good quality hay or pasture. Coaster gets a pound and a half of a simple all around grain twice a day. When he is in the stall (at night) he is given about half a bale of a good quality mixed hay and then is out on pasture during the day. When he is worked I give him Ultium - the amount is based on how hard he worked. I love using Ultium because it has a high fat content, beet pulp, Vitamin E, C and Selenium - all the things that I think a performance horse needs. When fed in the right rations I've never seen a horse get "hot" off of it - even the most high strung Thoroughbred.
I guess my whole point of this post is that I wish horse owners would take the responsibility to educate themselves - they don't have to agree with me, just make an educated decision based on some sort of research, not just what somebody said.