Arabian Breeder's Annual Open House Is Finally Over!! Part 3

Part 1

The stage was finally set, the horses were ready and the clock stuck 2 pm. It was time to present the Arabian horses. Fortunately, the chairs lined up in front of the presentation ring were now filled with people. Two of the parties I had hoped would show up had arrived. I was wired for sound and it was on with the show.

The first horse we started off with was Scandalous Love. She is an 8 year old black bay mare by Scandalous Legacy and out of Krugorrs Heiress by Krugorr. Known by the barn name Vee, she is the mother of the twin foals born on my farm last year. The mare is started under saddle but is currently only green broke. But someday she'll be a gorgeous western pleasure mare if I can just find the time to put the necessary miles on her.

Vee is a bit of a prima donna. She considers herself to be about the coolest mare in the world so showing off for visitors is right up her alley. Turning her loose in front of the crowd she immediately rolled her tail over her back, blew about four times and then trotted off in the floaty trot Arabian horses are know for. Stopping occasionally in the corners, the mare turned toward the crowd and blew some more. Vee really knew how to warm the crowd up.

She also knew when it was time to be over. When we asked her to come into us and be haltered to leave the arena, she was right there ready to go still snorting and blowing and playing to her audience.

Many of the horses after Vee performed in pretty much the same manner. They enjoyed their chance to show off for the crowd and snorted and blew as they moved around the ring displaying their freedom of movement as well as the beauty and spirit the Arabian horse is known for.

A couple, like Scandalous Rose, were having such a good time, they refused to be caught. Normally, most of my horses are right there whenever they are asked to be haltered but Rose and a couple of others were having just way too much fun to give up center stage.

As the different horses moved around the ring, I was supposed to be describing the horse, its lineage and its abilities. Since my voice doesn't carry worth beans, I was wired for sound. The problem was the unit didn't seem to like my movement around the ring. It cut in and out with no rhyme or reason and we were unable to figure out how to make it work properly.

Letting the person delivering the horse to the ring take my place moving the horse whlie I stood still didn't improve the situation at all. Besides not being able to hear half of what I was saying (if that much) one of the handlers was great at understanding how to keep the horse pushed up against the rail and moving to its best advantage while one did not.

I don't know if the crowd noticed the difference but it really shows up in the pictures and on the video. We have exquisite footage and pics of half the horses and just ok stuff of the others. So that's two more things to work on for next year - finding a pa system that will work under these circumstances and having enough handlers that know the fine art of "turning" horses for exhibitions.

One of the problems that can happen with presenting young horses in this manner is they can get overloaded by all the stimulation. I've never had a problem with it before but this year was a different story.



Scandalous Persuasion, a yearling chestnut colt by Scandalous Legacy and out of the mare, Bey Aana, is a pretty skittish boy. Taught by his mother to not trust humans, as all of her foals have been, this colt hasn't had enough time away from mom or one on one work to rectify the situation.

Suede (as we call him) wasn't shown at the open house last year because he developed a horrible case of ringworm right after he was weaned that spread rapidly over his entire body. He was not fit to show. However, it's been my experience that the younger you can expose a horse to situations, the easier it is to adjust to them.

So this whole open house and presentation thing was a new circumstance for Suede and he wasn't quite sure he liked it. While the colt didn't appear to be frightened, he just didn't like the whole thing. He stopped in the corner, looked at the crowd, looked at the handlers and then turned toward the fence and leaped like a deer.

Unfortunately, he didn't clear the fence like a deer. The U-nails holding the fence in place popped loose and the fence fell beneath his feet. Suede fled off into the adjoining field dragging a portion of the electric fence with him.

To be continued......

Part 4

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