2009 AHACO Arabian Horse Show in Salem

A couple of weeks ago we went to a horse show in Salem. Between Richard's barn and mine we took a total of eleven horses. Most of the horses needed to qualify for the regional championships which are coming up this month.

This is the same horse show where all of the problems with Legs in the ring began. I posted the series Rachel & Grandma and Arabian Horses Go Show in Salem about that horse show not knowing how far reaching the effects of that first disastrous class were going to be on my horse. Who knew that one year later we'd still be working on trying to get those issues resolved.

We went to this horse show not because I needed to get points to qualify but because I needed to have the opportunity to school my horse in the arena where these issues began. There's no way I wanted to be paying those bigger fees for regionals for a horse still having issues in the ring. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about what I was going to find upon riding my horse in this ring. It's not fun having a horse jumping out from underneath you for whatever reason.

The first night we arrived, I took my horse into the arena for schooling long after everyone was gone. Instead of riding him as I had done the previous year, I decided that I would longe the horse. I wanted him to deal with his demons on his terms without having to be in a required frame. Maybe that way he could put all his attention into "seeing" what was there instead of finding things that were not.

The wind was blowing just like it had been last year and a flag hanging from the old rafters overhead was flapping and cracking. The old building was creaking and groaning in protest just like it had last year as well. I wondered as we walked into the arena what kind of trolls the horse would hear taunting him. Would he freak out.......or would he handle it?

I took the horse to the far end of the arena where he had first encountered those trolls. I hoped that maybe he would see there was no reason for him to be frightened. I let the horse loose and sent him out to the end of the longe line waiting for his reaction to all those noises generated by the old building and the weather, yet none came. The horse just casually motored around like he was bored with the thought of longeing all together.

It didn't take long before I decided the horse wasn't going to find any trolls...........on this night anyway. We'd have to see if things changed when he got into a class. Since our first class was to be a night time one, it would definitely be a test of how much the horse had learned over the winter.

After our experiences at the Daffodil Spring Show I really wasn't sure what to expect. It seems like this poor horse just hasn't had any luck in the arena since that first episode that happened a year ago. Every show has had some kind of troll (sometimes in the form of people or little kids out of control) to reinforce the ring is just NOT a safe place.

I know I have to get him to the point he can deal with whatever life throws at him if he's ever going to make it in the arena. It's just that you can only do so much schooling on these kinds of issues at home. At some point you have to do them in the show ring. The horse has been shown enough he knows the difference between the two places. The real question is has he learned to respect the bridle enough to not go through it when he's frightened.

To be continued..................

AAOTR.........

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Meltdown!

Today, the temperatures were expected to climb into the 80s. For me that's just way too warm. I had heat stroke way back in those days where I did street fairs and heat has not been my friend since then. It just doesn't take much to make me sick. I prefer the temps to be right around 70ish, not much higher.........and if I'm worker horses, a bit lower is really just about right.

Knowing that today was to be the warmest day we've had so far this year, I got up early. That really means I set my alarm for the usual time but actually got right out of bed instead of doing the snooze alarm routine. I was out longeing horses before breakfast.

I was actually done with those horses before ten then I waited for Richard to call to let me know what time to bring the horses we planned to ride. When I did hear from Richard he said the text message he'd sent to "come on down. " meant for me to bring horses, but I hadn't received the message. I gathered my stuff and headed out the door.

The problem probably came in the fact I'd waited inside my air conditioned house for that call. The heat outside had risen to such degrees, I felt like I'd walked right smack dab into a wall of stifling heat..........not good for my heat issues, that's for sure.

The shavings truck I'd been waiting for all week had finally arrived which meant I needed to load horses up near the house instead of in the usual location near the barns. Just the thought of "walking" Legs past all those mares was enough to make me wait for the shavings to be unloaded so I could do things my usual way. Whodda thunk that shavings truck could take an hour to push out a thirty yard load.........but it did..........and the temperatures continued to rise.

By the time the truck left and I'd moved my rig into its "proper" location, I was already sweating like I was in a sauna. Thankfully Legs behaved himself and didn't test me on the way into the trailer........other than looking at it for a minute as if to say......."It's too hot in there, I don't want to go!"

Percy came out of his stall with the top of his tail all rubbed to smithereens and my fuse was getting shorter. Tag loaded just fine though and Dave ignored my rants about who knows what. The heat was definitely getting to me and I wasn't even off my place yet but I still headed on down the road to Richard's really wanting to get my horess worked.

Once I got there, I officially had a meltdown. Just trying to get my stuff up to the barn my patience was shot, my stomach was doing flips and my head was spinning. There was no way I could work horses...........and I'd imagine pretty abruptly that's what I said as I packed back up and headed back home saying I'd be back to pick up my other two horses.

It's not quite the way I had pictured my day to be. With the Region 4 Championships fast approaching there's a lot to be done. Skipping days of schooling horses does not fit into those plans for sure. However, the heat and I are going to have to come to some kind of understanding for me to get things done.

Tomorrow, I'm going to began at Richard's at 7:30. Maybe that early start will make it possible for me to get through the two loads of horses we have to work before the heat gets to me. I sure hope so..........if not, it could be a really long frustrating summer.

What kinds of things do you do to help get you through working in the heat? I sure could use some suggestions. Meltdowns really are NOT my style and I'd like to avoid them in the future.

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Wordless Wednesday.......Whoops! on Thursday

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What's In This Pedigree

OK, I know I promised I would get started posting about the AHACO Arabian Horse Show in Salem a couple of weeks ago, but (yes there is that darn but again!) Richard's going to have to get me out of the barn before the sun goes down if I'm ever gonna have enough brain power left to write that darn post. My eyes are bleary and my brain definitely mush. The only thing I can think about is this darn pedigree thing.

So what's in this pedigree that gets Richard so excited? The Mighty Oak Quarter Horse He finally got a chance to look at this today and that's all he could talk about. Who knew the guy could get so excited about a month old half Arabian foal because of his "other half"? Poco Bueno and Doc Bar, he not only knew the big names.....he saw ALL of the connections there.

Better yet, who knew this Arabian breeder would pick out such a well bred stallion? Well, maybe that's not such a stectch, I seem to have had an instinct for finding those kinds of horses in pretty much any breed. But what were the odds I'd pick one with such emotional ties to Richard. The only problem with this.........now I'll have ONE more horse that Richard thinks we should keep! Do you have any idea how many of those we're racking up?

News!

OK, I know I promised I'd be posting about the horse show in Salem but........there's always a "but" here, isn't there? Today I worked in the yard doing my most unfavorite thing..........weeding..........and I've had a bad allergic reaction to one of the weeds.

My arms are on fire and my head aches so I'm heading off to bed instead of writing this series of posts on the Salem show. However, I didn't want to escape with at least a short post with some very important news, The Puppies Are Coming! The Puppies Are Coming!

That's right! the lovely Dakota just happens to be finally and undeniably pregnant. An ultra sound done about the time of the Morgan show confirmed 7 to 10 little darling puppies growing inside dear Dakota.........and one of those puppies is mine!

That blessed event is due right before we leave for the Region 4 Championships. In the meantime I'm just getting more and more excited each time I see Dakota. Her body is definitely looking like she's good a passel of puppies in there. Poor Dakota, I do feel for her but at the same time I can hardly wait for them to make their entrance into this world.

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The Morgan Show......Wrapping Up

Saturday morning it seemed to be hectic in the show office. It was like some kind of new life had been breathed into the exhibitors. They were posting classes, figuring their high points to see if they needed even more, and there was even a small run on more bags of those darn shavings.

By this time my poor body was worn out from lifting those 80 pound bags off of the pallets and into my truck. Originally the pallets were supposed to be stored in bunkers behind the barns. I was to unlock the bunkers and oversee them getting their order. It was never planned that I would be the one transporting those bales.

But the one bunker behind the barns where most of the horses was empty and had been since the first day. I'd felt sorry for the exhibitors having to retrieve bales from the far side of the grounds so instead of making them lug them across the grounds, I brought the shavings right up to the back door of the barns to let them unload them right there.

Most people were thankful for the help. But a couple thought they'd push my generosity a bit. One woman had borrowed some from a neighbor while waiting for me (the wait was all of five minutes BTW). She asked me if I'd take them up to the front of the barn so she could return them. As I parked my truck out front, I see the woman coming through the door with a horse to longe. She looks over at me and says, "He'll tell you where to put them."

Hauling 80 pound bales is a bit much for most anyone but for someone of my age, it was really a stretch. When the YOUNG trainer told me where he wanted the FIVE bales of shavings stored, I gave him "the look." I'm sure you all know the look I mean. The one that comes when you know you've just done something REALLY stupid. I said to this guy, "I'll just drop them here" as I pulled them off my truck onto the ground and left.

A couple of hours later, the horse trainer came into the show office. Imagine his surprise when he realized it was the show manager he was ordering around. The look on his face was priceless.........and actually the rest of the show he even behaved, which I'm told is a miracle in itself.

The show secretary thought it was the best laugh of the show but I must admit, my body didn't find the whole thing amusing. We figured out that I personally moved over a ton of bagged shavings before the weekend was over. It's no wonder my poor body was screaming at me.........and still two weekends later I have knots. Next time, I'm going to have to insist those bunkers up front be restocked. I'm going to stick to managing and keep track of the shavings...........not move them.

As for the rest of the show, it went pretty smooth........as smooth as a horse show can go. There were little things like what to do with the coolers that hadn't been awarded in dressage. They had the date embroidered on them so really needed to be awarded somewhere. I chose to give them to the high point youth. The kids were pleased and the show committee was glad not to have to make another decision.

I hate to have to admit this but overall the people at the show were much more appreciative than I have ever experienced at an Arabian horse show. I can't even tell you how many times someone came up to me to thank me for taking on the job.

The show chair brought me into center ring on Saturday night and told the crowd the story behind their retiring show manager, their fears they couldn't do a show without her, and how I had saved them. I was given a bouquet of flowers telling me how much they appreciated me and what a great job I was doing. Then they asked if I would continue on in future years.

It was nice to be appreciated in such a manner but it didn't stop there. An owner of one of the big barns brought a box of See's Chocolates into the show office for Judy and me. See's just happen to be my favorite chocolates. AND if that wasn't enough, Judy and I were each given a red rose for Mother's Day on Sunday morning.

There was only one session on Sunday so the classes were over before 11 o'clock. There was a flurry of business taking care of paying all the officials. After that I still had paperwork to finish and so did Judy so I stayed around until she had filed the results electronically with USEF. Then we packed up the show office and headed on down the road.

I still have to stick by my statement about these Morgan horses being hotter than the Arabians I am used to. There were 3 wrecks in as many days while at Arabian shows I've seen less than a half dozen wrecks in twenty years.........and the number of Arabian horses at a show is at least double the number of Morgan horses here.

Jeanette left a comment about Morgans being powerful like freight trains. I'd have to say I agree with that. I definitely saw that kind of power. Those horses have hips to die for!

What surprised me was I didn't see a lot of soft horses, most appeared to be on the muscle.......BIGTIME. I did notice if there was a soft horse in a class, it usually was the winner so it's obvious soft is expected. I just didn't get to see much of it. Most of the hunter horses were ridden in pelhams. Occasionally I saw a snaffle and maybe a kimberwick. I've only seen a pelham once in a hunter pleasure class at Arabian horse shows. Most Arabian hunters are ridden in snaffle bits.

Even the western horses were on direct reins. The shanks of those curb bits were pulled back nearly all the time. I wondered how the horses were ever getting a release. But them maybe that's why I saw so many of them on the muscle.

The western horses are going faster than Arabs are. This particular judge really penalized a horse for not having true gaits so the person I know from Arab shows that was riding a Morgan he'd leased was told he needed to speed his horse up to get him truly jogging.

I suspect that these horses have the talent to go very slow and be soft. I'm just not sure their western has evolved to that point yet from what I heard them say. I did see a couple of soft western horses. They seemed to dominate the ring. I imagine as time goes on that others will get it figured out too. It will be fun to watch as it emerges. I sure know that how Arabians show western has changed dramatically in the last twenty years. Who knows..........by the time the Morgans get as slow as the Arabs, the Arabs could be speeding up and going like they used to. You just never know what trend will happen next.

Solidare did get covered again.........and again before I got home. The last time she actually seemed to go out between the teasing and the breeding so it ended up somewhat of a wreck. Everyone was OK but Solidare had a couple of rubs on her neck....enough to make me wonder if I really should have bred her in the first place. We'll just have to wait and see if she settled or not.

For me, I'm glad the weekend was finally over. It was an interesting experience and I'll probably do it again...........well, actually I know I'll do it again. I am managing the C-Fair Charity Horse Show at the end of July. That show has Morgans, Saddlebred, Friesians and Hackneys so more exposure to other breeds for this died in the wool purebred Arabian breeder. It should be a kick!

Next, I'm onto posting about last weeks ARABIAN horse show. As a hint we took 11 horses and garnered lots of ribbons..........

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The Morgan Show.........The "Real" Show Begins

Friday morning I arrived at the horse show before 7. Since that was the time posted on the show office door the office would open that day, I wanted to be sure the exhibitors didn't get caught in anymore confusion than necessary about the discrepancy in the start time.

I'd already begun spreading the word at the motel before I left. I'd stopped into the brunch room to grab myself some of their nice "continental" breakfast and told the exhibitors I recognized there about the scheduling snafu. From there the cell phones popped out and calls were made spreading the word of the 9 o'clock start.

By the time I arrived at the show it was evident that many had already gotten the word. The fairgrounds were pretty quiet and only a few were taking advantage of the open arena to school their horses.

However, the officials hired for the show were another matter. Other than the judge who was going by the time in the prize list (which happened to be 9) the rest of the officials showed up for the 8 o'clock start time. Most of them were gracious about the mistake. There really was only one complaint and that was from the steward but then since I didn't have her cell phone number, I'd no way of contacting her about the error anyway.

By the time the show office did open, I had figured out where the problem had originated in the first place. It was actually on the Morgan horse website. The prize list had the start time listed at 9 while the class schedule had the time listed at 8. Both the show secretary and I were relieved to know it wasn't something either of us had done.

Locating this issued disclosed another problem as well. The start times each morning changed. They went from 9 on Friday to 8 on Saturday and back to 9 on Sunday. There's not better way to confuse exhibitors than start times jumping back and forth. I made an executive decision to start at 9 on Saturday as well for the sake of consistency. Besides since the number of horses for this show was down, the schedule would tolerate the hour shorter schedule and there's nothing that makes more points with exhibitors than giving them an extra hour to sleep.

From that point forward the day went pretty well. The only real issue was yet another accident. We had just been going over the new USEF rule that states an exhibitor who is injured by a horse and doesn't follow the recommendation of the Medical Assistant for treatment can not be allowed to compete. We were still debating exactly what this rule means and who is accountable if the exhibitor doesn't take kindly to the rule when the accident happened.

Out in one of the warm-up arenas a horse threw her head up into the air and hit her rider full in the face. The force of the blow had nearly knocked the woman off the horse but she had managed to stay on until she got some help to dismount. Someone took the distressed horse while the woman's husband came running for the EMT.

At the sound of that page, I exited the show office to investigate the call. I'd already seen enough hot, heavily on the muscle horses to know anything could happen. I wanted to be sure we weren't walking that fuzzy line we'd just been discussing.

I found the woman with the EMT at her vehicle. Her face was already beginning to bruise and blood was still running from her nose. I wouldn't have been surprised if the nose was broken although a deviation wasn't obvious. The skin on the woman's nose had split open and it was bleeding pretty profusely.

The EMT was suggesting the woman go to get maybe a stitch........to me it looked more like 4 to 6 stitches would be needed but then neither of us is a doctor. It didn't sound like the woman had any intention of going to a doctor, yet this injury didn't qualify as serious enough for the "new rule" to apply. The woman was scheduled to ride in a couple more classes, however, she scratched just before her class entered the arena.

I checked in on her a couple of time. She was having problems getting the bleeding to totally subside. About the time she thought she had it licked, she'd sneeze or have to blow her nose and the thing would start up again. I encouraged her again to think about stitches telling her to scar from the wound would be more unsightly than the smaller one caused by the stitches. With time the scar from the closed wound would be almost unnoticeable while the scar caused by a gaping wound would always be a constant reminder of stitches she "should" have had.

A couple of hours later the woman came to the show office to let us know she'd gone to the doctor. The injury had required 5 stitches and the doctor had pretty much told her the same things I had. The wound would not have been pretty left to its own devices.

The doctor also told her she couldn't ride for at least one day. If she felt well enough to ride on Sunday that would be ok. However, even by Sunday the woman still had a bad headache so riding was out of the question.

I had a chance to talk with this woman about her horse, a pretty buckskin mare. The show secretary and I had noticed this horse from the first time it entered the arena ato school, not just because of her unusual color, but because the horse was definitely having issues with being at the show.

The owner said the horse was calm and quiet at home but definitely terrified at the show. Asking a terrified horse to go around and do it's job quietly can sometimes be just too much to ask. This mare couldn't hold it together under this pressure and protested the only way she knew how. It's too bad it took the accident for the owner to realize that maybe they had asked too much too soon from the stressed horse.

By this time we are into day three and there has been a wreck each day. Both the show secretary and I were hoping that this was where this trend would end. Neither of us wanted to think about what might happen next.

To be continued..................

Wrapping Up

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The Morgan Show.................Night Duty

I awoke from a sound sleep to the sound of my cell phone. Stumbling without my glasses in a strange place, I tried to locate the darn thing before it quit ringing. A call in what seemed like the middle of the night could only mean one thing.............an emergency of some kind or another.

As I tried to shake the cobwebs from my brain, I heard the voice saying something about start times. Still trying to clear my head I realized this was Jennifer, the woman who'd hired me to manage the show. I sighed a quiet sigh of relief. it was "only" some kind of scheduling snafu and not some dire emergency.

I listened while Jennifer explained some people thought our start time was 9 am while others thought it was 8 am. Then came the query, "What was I going to do about this?" There was no explanation for the confusion but it really didn't matter. Any confusion about start time meant we'd needed to go with the later start time. We didn't want anyone missing their class because of this issue and the only way to assure that would be the later start.

Jennifer said she'd pass the information along to those who had posed the question while I notified the show secretary and then tried to get back to sleep. An hour later start wouldn't affect me at all, I'd have to be at the show grounds to deal with the people who didn't get the message about the later start.

Having been awoken with such a start, my brain was buzzing too much to sleep. I turned the TV back on hoping to bore myself back to slumber. About the time my eyes began to droop, I heard a loud rapid pounding. The sound was over almost as quickly as it started and I found myself wondering what had jarred me awake yet again.

The obvious choice just didn't seem to make sense. As I lay there wondering if I really had heard what I'd thought, I found myself discounting my ears due to the briefness of the sound. About the time I began to drop off to sleep again, the pounding began again. This time it might have lasted a brief instance longer but the moaning I heard following left no question in my mind. I had definitely heard the sound of the bed next door banging into the wall. I guess I don't need to say it was a very long and awkward night.

I was relieved when my alarm finally sounded. I could escape the confines of my room and those noisy neighbors. Although I must admit, with the "duration" being quicker than most stallions I know, I couldn't help but wonder what the appeal would be.

All I could think of was Richard making fun of Legs when he had recently helped me cover a mare. The man's retorts had inferred the length of the encounter was hardly worth the effort. Being the smart mouth I can be on occasion, I'd come back with the fact I knew men..........well you get the picture. After this experience, I'd be sure to tell Richard that Legs definitely had my neighbor beat.

Now, I know this is NOT the kind of information you expect to find on my blog. It got to be the joke in the show office each morning about the activities of my neighbors. Guess I had to laugh at it, there's wasn't much else I could do with the awkwardness of that situation. Unfortunately these noisy neighbors AND breeding issues at home had their effect on the rest of my experience at the Morgan horse show.

Wouldn't you know it, when I was away from home is when the mare I was planning on breeding would come into heat. I would have allowed her to skip this cycle except the next cycle would have been worse.....during the Region 4 Championships. That meant I needed to let someone else handle Legs for breeding, something I have only done once before........and that one time is something I will always regret.

I really wished I could just left it go but this mare is Solidare. I don't really know how many years I will have left with her. Putting breeding off for another year could mean I never get another foal from her. Solidare so loves her babies and she is really upset when the other mares have foals and she doesn't. As much as I would like to "protect" her from her instincts, I know it's really not fair to the horse to do so. I've had many talks with vets about her and all of them believe I should be breeding her so I'm gritting my teeth and going with it.

Richard had helped me the one time with breeding. He'd handled the mare for me. While he teased me about Legs, he was impressed with the horse's manners. He felt totally comfortable handling the horse to cover Solidare while I was gone. Wish I could say I felt as comfortable about it. Not that I don't trust Richard, it's just that anything can and does seem to happen when I'm gone.

To be continued................

The "Real" Show Begins

This picture is Solidare with Dare when she was a foal.

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The Morgan Show...........Dressage Day

Thursday morning the show was to start off with dressage classes at 8 according to the prize list. Since there was a decline in entries that time was adjusted to 8:30. That was probably a good thing because it gave us time to "fix" a couple of small problems.

We had neither a bell or a whistle to indicate the warm-up for each horse was over. We also had no gloves for the steward to wear as she checked bits after the rides.......small little bumps typical of any horse show.

Other than those little things and some minor issues with the public address system, the show rolled smoothly along. Dressage classes wrapped up around 2:30 and high points were awarded shortly after those last rides.

The prize list had originally stated the awards would be at 6:30 but that had been changed due to the low number of rides. We announced all through the day about the change and yet one of the winners was unprepared. That led to an upset exhibitor and upset parents spouting about missed pictures and unclear announcements.

The usual kind of thing when schedules get changed and really an easy thing to fix. I just sent the kid off to get her horse tacked up and herself dressed promising the photographer would still be there when they returned. I knew full well it was going to take at least that long for the photographer to finish with the people who were already lined up for their win pictures.

Then I headed off to get more of those baled shavings for late arrivals. By the time I returned to the arena the kid was leaving the arena all decked out in her show clothes with her horse sporting high point garlands around his neck. The kid saw me and waved with a huge smile on her face. The problem had definitely been solved in a satisfactory manner.

Now if I could just figure out how to find a better solution for handling those 80 pound bales of shavings than me pulling them down off the pallets and loading them into my truck to be delivered. At this rate, my poor body was going to be shot long before the show was over.

Once the dressage ring was dismantled, the judge's platform was moved from the end of the arena to it's new location in center ring. The two pieces were placed side by side to form a base for a gazebo. A horse trailer was brought in with fencing and other decorations with a crew of busy little bees and even a landscaper putting things in their proper places.

While this transformation in center ring went on, horses moved back into the arena for schooling. Next thing you know I've seen my second loose horse in as many days. A little girl was in the dirt and not so sure she wanted to get back up, let alone get on that horse.

She sat on a coat right there in the dirt where she had been deposited by the horse. I watched closely to see if medical intervention was necessary but it seemed the only thing hurt was the little girl's pride. She finally did get back up and walk out of the arena with no visible sign of injury. From what I could tell, the horse continued schooling with an adult rider. No one but me seemed to be all that concerned about the incident.

I must admit it still bugs me just a bit. I've seen way too many adults putting hurt kids back on horses when they should have been getting medical attention. While other adults have not forced the kids back on the horse, they've discounted the child's complaints about injury. Either way is not good for the riders. We all want to appear tough and sometimes safety is what suffers. Knowing a person can be seriously injured by a horse while not showing symptoms, these kinds of "accidents" are always cause for concern.

Not long after that incident, we closed the show office down and headed off to get some dinner. Friday would be our first full day of classes. The scheduled start up time was 8..........or at least that's what we thought. You just never know about horse shows. Unusual things happen...........but one thing was for sure, I was keeping my fingers crossed we'd seen all of the rider upsets we were going to, two in two days was more than enough in my book.

To be continued.......................

Night Duty

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The Morgan Show...........Move in Day

By Wednesday morning things were moving along at the Morgan show. Rigs began arriving as early as 8 and I think many of the horses were moved in before the show office officially opened at noon.

The various volunteers and some paid employees of the show began arriving as well. The ribbon ladies were there in the early morning to set up the ribbons and various trophies. The paddock manager arrived to do sound checks and the ring announcer checked in to make sure everything she needed was in place.

It was beginning to look like this crew really did know what they were doing without much guidance from me. The Arabian horse shows could learn a lesson from the well oiled machine of the Morgan horse show.

The biggest job for me on that first day was overseeing the delivery of first bedding. Those first deliveries of bagged shavings were large enough I could get them delivered by the fairgrounds maintenance crew. The guys just dropped the pallets piled 28 high with 80 pound bundles of shavings right in front of the appropriate stalls. Once the first bedding was delivered, the exhibitors would have to come retrieve the bags themselves......or that's how it was supposed to go.

On this move in day the arena was open for schooling until sometime around 5. That's when the crew would come to put up the dressage arena. Once that was accomplished the arena would be closed to schooling for the night. The exhibitors were used to this schedule so most got their work done in plenty of time.

One thing I noted as the first horses began to school, these Morgan horses seemed to be hot things. After all the years of hearing about how "hot" Arabians are, I was surprised to see these particular Morgan horses were actually hotter than the Arabians that I am used to seeing at horse shows.

It wasn't long into this early schooling when I saw the first loose horse of the weekend along with a rider dusting off the dirt. Thankfully both horse and rider were fine although it took a while to catch the horse and even longer for it to settle enough for the rider to remount. I must admit I'm glad it wasn't me needing to climb back aboard that squirrely thing.

As 5 o'clock neared, I cleared the arena. Then I had the maintenance man set the platforms in place for the judge's stand at the far end of the arena. Once that was done, I had the arena drug before the dressage ring was assembled.

Since there was a complete crew to do that, it was off to dinner for me and the show secretary. Did I happen to mention that the show secretary and I hit it off? I think we'll be long time friends whether we work on future horse shows together or not. This was definitely a perk I hadn't expected when I'd signed on for this project.

To be continued...................

Dressage Day
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The Morgan Show

I left here on Tuesday morning for a meeting at 10 at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monroe. I was supposed to met both Jennifer, the show committee chair, and Brenda, the facility contact, but I arrived a few minutes late. The rush hour traffic hadn't subsided as much as I'd hoped and the two hour commute turned into more like three. It was a good thing I'd allowed myself extra time.

Even at that, Jennifer had already left. And Brenda just wanted to give me keys to the facility. I was going to have to stumble around myself and figure out things like locations of locked shavings bunkers and such. It was a good thing I had at least shown at this facility before so I had an idea about the barns and arenas and such.

I was relieved to find that the fairgrounds had been provided with stabling charts even though I hadn't. The stalls were already marked and the guard shack at the entrance to the horse complex had copies posted on their wall. Exhibitors would be able to find their stalls on their way into the barn area.

It didn't take long to locate Jennifer. She had a list of committee chairs for me although for the most part I still had no phone numbers. At least I had names of people to page if I needed help. We also went over the schedule for the following day. Mostly it would be a move in day. There would be a set-up for dressage which was to start at 8 on Thursday and some schooling time available before that. All of this the exhibitors were used to so there shouldn't be much complaining about the arena closure once the dressage ring was assembled.

I had learned from Lynn what I needed to have for tables and such for the ribbon people and for vendors. I also had an idea about the hired officials that would be working on the show. The paddock manager and the announcer both had history with the show so they knew how the sound system worked and where to find the equipment they needed.

The show secretary was going to arrive Tuesday evening. She would go and retrieve the club's supplies needed for the horse show. Then she would set up the show office in the morning for a noon opening. Other than that there were a couple of big barns that would move in sometime on Tuesday which was why I was there a day early in the first place. Once I took care of getting them their bedding, I would be able to check into my motel , get something to eat and rest up before the real work started the following morning.

I located the maintenance worker in charge of the horse facility on the day shift. We went over what I'd been needing in the way of delivering bagged shavings and requirements for drags of the arena and such. He informed me the rest rooms were locked with newly painted floors but that was a typical horse show issue. I could get them unlocked when I needed even if the paint wasn't dry.

The first two barns of exhibitors arrived pretty early in the day. I made sure they received the bagged shavings they'd ordered, the bath rooms were unlocked for them and then I headed out.

I called my friend, Bev, who lives not far from Monroe. I don't get in her neck of the woods often so I wanted to take advantage of it and see her new foal as well as check out the progress of her two Legs' babies. I knew if I didn't get it done on this first day, the odds were against getting it done at all.

Bev's new colt by Julian El Jamaal is a pretty fancy boy, and friendly too! The three year old filly out of my midget mare, Lilly, and by Legs looks just like her full sisters, Hope and Faith. I think when she matures she'll have more dish to her face than her sisters but she has the same sweet disposition.

The two year old half Arabian gelding out of the palomino mare, Dreams of Gold, I didn't recognize at first. Don't ask me why, maybe it was his size. For two he is absolutely huge. He still looks like a purebred except for one thing.

There's something odd about his coloring. From a distance he looks like a bay but looking closer he's got a golden cast to his color. It's gold enough I'm wondering if he carries a dilute gene after all and expressing it over the bay agouti. Sure wish I'd had my camera to capture this interesting coloration. I'm wondering if he's not what they call a sooty buckskin or some similar unusual color. Whatever it is it's pretty darn interesting. Anyone who knows about these things care to weight in? Both Bev and I would sure like to solve this puzzling question.

Tomorrow's post I'll do an overview of this Morgan show, then I'll move on to the Arabian show we just finished up in Salem. I'd much rather be posting about showing than working, that's for sure.

I'm hoping to have more pictures by then. Notice I said "more." I've been sent a couple but was hoping to have more before I began. Lots went on at this show and the pics I have don't come anywhere near telling the story.

To be continued........

Moving In

The above picture is one from the archives of Bev and Nugget. I'm not sure what his age was in this picture but I can tell you he's much taller now. My guess is he's at least 15 hands which is huge for an Arabian and Nugget is 15/16ths, if I remember correctly.


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About My Disappearance.........part 2

I know you're wondering about the most recent show but while I'm waiting on pictures and hopefully videos from last week's adventures in Salem, I thought I'd wrap things up on the Morgan horse show from the week before.

I left off posting About My Disappearance......... That post showed the connections that had fallen into place to open the door for me to manage Morgan shows. It's funny how small the world can be sometimes but the feelers were out there now it was time to wait and see what happened.

It took months before I ever heard from anyone from the Morgan club regarding their quest to find a new show manager. I received an email asking if I was indeed interested in speaking with them. Then it was a couple more months before a request to set up a meeting actually came through.

It turned out they were looking for a manager for two shows. The Key Classic Morgan Horse Show and the C-Fair Charity Horse Show. Both shows are held at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington.

After checking the weekends I thought the shows were held I agreed to do both of them. It was only after that commitment had been made I realized I'd made a mistake. I hadn't taken into account that my mare, Scandalous Dare might go past her due date for foaling AND I didn't realize the C-Fair show had been moved from August dates, to the last week of July. Those dates just happened to be during the Arabian Youth Nationals.

Doing these shows was going to add a huge amount of stress to my already stressful schedule. And it was going to make it impossible for me to go to Youth Nationals this year. Since I had already told them I would do it, I stuck to my guns despite the problems it created for my own plans.

At the meeting I'd had lots of questions for which there had been one answer repeated over and over. Speak with Lynn, the now retired manager of both shows, seemed to be the answer for all issues important to me. It was clear these committee chairs had no idea at all about what it took to run the show.

Since I already knew Lynn and that she was reliable, I figured I was probably ok. Yet it still bothered me that no one seemed to know any of the facility particulars pertinent to putting on the show. However, I hadn't figured on not being able to reach Lynn. It seemed they were in constant contact with her so the contact information must be reliable.........or was it?

As the show drew closer I became worried. I had tried to contact Lynn both by phone and email with no response. I still had no list of contacts for committees and the contact I did have for this show was not responding either. This whole thing could turn out to be a real mess.

I kept running off my knowledge of Lynn remembering her words the volunteer base was a good one that took their jobs seriously. I sure hoped she was right. The last thing I needed was a horse show in progress and no one to fall back on for help.

I had concerns about bedding since I knew the contract by the provider for the Daffodil Spring Show had been cancelled shortly before the event. I had no idea who was providing the bagged shavings for the Morgan show but I suspected it was the same company as the one Daffodil had tried to use. So while I was watching Dare for signs of foaling, I was also sweating finding bedding for the Morgan show.

I was beginning to get really stressed out. A show with no bedding would be a real wreck. so I emailed the show secretary. I knew she had worked on this show for at least a couple of years and maybe she had some answers to my questions or knew who might have them. I also put a call into the Evergreen State Fairgrounds to see what the logistics of the facility were.

Between those two contacts, I got enough information to at least resolve the bedding issues. The show secretary also had a contact to Lynn. She was able to get her a message that I was trying to reach her that finally resulted in a call from the former manager.

This only took place days before I left for the show itself. That last week my phone was ringing off the hook with class changes, requests for additional stabling and other typical last minute horse show calls. It didn't matter whether I was ready or not............the horse show was coming...........I sure hoped those volunteers were as good as Lynn said.

To be continued.................


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Disappearing again..............

I thought I was going to actually get some posting done before I left town. However, the two days I had to recuperate and get ready to leave again just flew by.

Between having my truck's repair taking longer than expected (well, actually it's still NOT done!, trying to get horses worked (which actually didn't happen either) and getting my stuff and the horses stuff all packed and loaded, let alone trying to get caught up on what happened with the horses when I was gone, there just wasn't enough time for all of those things AND blogging too.

I'm heading off to Salem, Oregon for the AHACO Arabian Horse Show with a full trailer and plenty of trepidation. Not having ridden in over a week seems nuts when I have a horse still dealing with ring issues. Then there's the junior horse going for his very first horse show. Who knows what to expect from him. Good thing I have a veteran like Dandy along. At least one horse is totally broke. It should be an interesting trip!



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Wordless Wednesday

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About My Disappearance.........

I suppose the best place to begin about the Morgan horse show this weekend would be to explain how it came to be I was there in the first place. It's funny how simple little things can come back and impact us later when we least expect it.

Several years ago when I was managing the Daffodil Arabian Horse Summer Show, I got a call from a gentleman inquiring about being a videographer at my horse show. It's a small horse show with usually just a little over a hundred horses so I wasn't really sure if there would be enough interest to actually charge him for a booth. However, since it is an entry level show known to be "the" place to begin in the Arabian horse circuit, I thought it would be a helpful tool for the exhibitors.

I told the man he was welcome to come give it a try as long as he would provide the show with video of the reining classes free of charge. USEF rules require if a videographer is available, the show is required to have video of all reining classes. The show couldn't really afford to incur those additional charges and I wasn't sure it would be fair to charge him for vendor space at such a small show so this was a good compromise for both parties.

When the actual show came along, I met this gentleman, Dave, and his girlfriend, Lynn. I made it a point throughout the show to check with them and see how things were going and, of course, we did a bit of chit chatting along the way.

Over the next several years, Dave and Lynn were a fixture at both of the horse shows I managed for the Daffodil Arabian Horse Association. And as I got to know them better, I learned that Lynn was also a show manager. Although unlike me, Lynn was not a volunteer to that position. She was one of many professional show managers across the country.

Lynn and I had many a conversation over the trials of being a show manager. We also had a few about her role as a professional show manager. Mostly the conversations about being paid to do the job happened after I resigned my position as manager on both Daffodil horse shows.

Too many years of being taken for granted had burned me out. Also I wasn't getting my own horses shown because I carried way too much stress at a horse show I was managing to even think about riding. I was also missing so much work in the planning process throughout the year that I didn't really have the money to show at shows I wasn't managing. So being a volunteer was costing me more than I could continue to afford.

Somewhere along the way I learned that the original horse show turned out to be Dave's very first horse show as a professional videographer. I think that "break" I had given him probably contributed to the friendship that developed even though I hadn't realized the "gift" I had given him until years later.

At some point I learned that Dave and Lynn had plans of retiring and moving to Kentucky to work on her daughter's Morgan horse breeding farm. There were even little jokes about me taking over as manager of the Morgan shows here after Lynn retired. At least to me, they were jokes. Now I must wonder if maybe Lynn wasn't planting a seed that might be useful to her later.

It was at the same Daffodil Arabian Horse Summer Show (although it was not the same year as Dave began with his videography) that I gave my friend, Bev, her first shot at being a horse show secretary. However, when I quit as manager, the board of directors of Daffodil replaced Bev as secretary as well.

At the time, they used the excuse the new (really old before my tenure) show manager brought along his own show secretary. When that manager resigned as well Daffodil found themselves again needing both a manager and a show secretary. It was clear then they had no intentions of using Bev again. To my thinking that was their loss. It was this type of action on their part that had caused my resignation in the first place. Their "clique" mentality wasn't conducive to my idea of a smooth running exhibitor friendly horse show. It's hard to keep the exhibitors happy when there is derision among the troops.

Despite this rejection of Bev's talents by the Daffodil club, there were plenty of other horse clubs needing the talents of a show secretary. Bev was able to work on a number of horse shows in both the hunter jumper circuit and the Morgan horse circuit.

When the word came down last year the Morgan Horse Club of Washington was looking for a show manager, Bev asked me if I was interested. I decided with Dave having a lay off in the works, it would be a good idea to at least speak with them and see what they had they had to offer.

To be continued.............


Part 2

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I'mmmmmm baaaack!

I'm sorry to say the time to depart for the Morgan show snuck up on my before I was able to get time to schedule posts while I was gone. I did manage to plunk up the one Wordless Wednesday post but that was it before I headed down the road to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe.

Having not recuperated from my sleep deprived state achieved during foaling and showing, managing a horse show for six days did nothing but beat me down further. I arrived home a couple of hours ago and absolutely exhausted. Details about the show will have to wait until tomorrow night's post. I just wanted to check in and let you all know that I didn't fall off the face of the earth........just got side tracked a bit.

Details to follow.......... (Now that's better than "to be continued......." isn't it?)

As you can see from this pic, life at Angie and Richard's went on without me while I was gone.

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Wordless Wednesday

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Foaling and Showing Rolled into One - Finally The End

Before I left my farm I checked in with Richard to see what the schedule was for our barn at the horse show. I'd been so preoccupied with Dare that I really didn't have a clue. All I knew for sure was there would be championships for Rachel, Mel and me. I had no idea when they were except for mine which I knew was in the afternoon session.



Because of my problems with Legs in the ring I really wanted to school the horse at the lunch break in that arena. I certainly didn't want to be riding another class without the horse having an opportunity to work his issues out beforehand. I'd set him up once and didn't want to be doing it again.

When I talked with Richard he told me that Rachel's class would be heading into the ring in about an hour and a half. That would be cutting it close to take a quick shower to shake off some of my fog and get to the fairgrounds in time to see her ride. If I flew I might just make it.

So that's exactly what I did. I arrived at our stalls and there wasn't a soul around. Not only that but Dandy was only partially braided. I wasn't sure what was going on so I headed to the arena. Imagine my surprise to find they were still doing reining. When I checked in to see how many rides were left, I knew there was probably no chance I was going to get to school Legs. There was little chance there would be any kind of lunch break at all with thirty more go's in reining left.

Those thirty reining gos hung on and hung on. I watched for a while but I was too rummy to even figure out the patterns. I spoke to a few of my friends and told them all about my new filly. It would have been usual horse show fare but my fanny was really dragging and I just couldn't keep myself focused. I was functioning in a fog.

I did watch Richard work with Rachel and Goldie. They had scratched their class because neither one of them was comfortable in the ring. Instead they were doing lots of riding in the warm-up arenas getting the two of them used to the show ring scene as a team.

I thought about schooling Legs in the beef barn arena but the footing wasn't great and there were some out of control kids riding into people. Neither one of those would help the problems I was having with Legs. I was going to have to hope he remembered the schooling session we'd had the day before after our class.

The reining classes just kept dragging on. It was after 1 before the rest of the morning classes even began. I watched Rachel ride Dandy into the ring then I zoned out. I swear I stood there on the rail watching the horses go by and I couldn't even pick out the one I owned.



Dandy is always the biggest horse in any class at 16 hands. And with those four white feet of his, I've never had any trouble finding him in the ring........well, until now that is. I was staring at horse bums moving away from me and next thing I knew they were all stopped. My poor brain did a double take trying to figure out what in the heck was going on. Then it dawned on me, the judge had called for a halt so she could as them to back in unison. After that the next thing I noticed was the horses were lining up. Not my finest hour as a coach on the rail. I can't even tell you how they placed.

Then we headed back to the stalls for lots more sitting around. Mel and I were in the same championship class and it was five classes from the end of the session. At the rate things were moving along we'd be lucky if we got out of there by dark.

We loaded everything we didn't need into the horse trailer. I saddled my horse up and put all the rest of his stuff in there too. After the class I would unsaddle him at the trailer and we'd be good to go once I changed clothes. My bed was calling me............I had no intention of spending one more minute at the fairgrounds than I needed. Foaling and showing in the same weekend just isn't my thing.

When it was finally time to ride, I headed off to the warm-up arena wondering what I was going to have for a horse. Would he remember his spook of the day before? Or would he be good? I just didn't know what to expect.



There weren't very many riders actually warming up in the arena. Legs started off more relaxed than I expected. We actually had a pretty relaxed ride warming up for the class, I was hopeful things would go smoother than the day before.

Those hopes were dashed as I got into position on the runway. My horse got pushy and wasn't really responsive. The drape we'd been riding with warming up probably wasn't going to hit the ring.

I remember thinking as I was riding through the in gate that I really should have scratched this class. I guess if I hadn't been sleep deprived I might have had to good sense to do that. But I was sleep deprived and I had NO sense. My horse was on the muscle and it was clear he was looking for trolls.

That far end of the arena is where all the trolls lurk. Not just for my horse but pretty much most of them don't really like that end. Most amateur riders don't even try to use the rail across that far end. On this day, with beams of light bouncing between the tarps, it was especially scary to Legs.

We almost made it around the far corner through all the scary stuff when Legs bolted. Unlike the previous shows, when he hit the bridle he pretty much came back down. Although he had jumped with such force he threw me off balance so sharply I had to grab the horn to stay astride.

My neck hurt and so did my lower back. This was NOT the relaxing let down after foaling I was hoping for. Instead my horse exploded two more times before the class was over. I was really mad at myself for riding the class without schooling in the arena first. I was also thinking I'd probably taken a huge step backwards with this horse. It was really a disappointing ride.

Then to top off my day, I had a couple of the kids from the barn follow me home to see the new filly. What's wrong with that, you might wonder. Well, as I'm looking at the face of this foal it dawns on me that it's got to be a colt. The look of the head just screams "Colt!" to me. Upon closer inspection I discover that's because the foal is a COLT! (Some much for Dave's predictions and all that talk about smary fillies and dumb colts! HA!)

What a way to end of complicated and stressful weekend of showing and foaling all rolled into one. If I ever think I'm going to do this again, will someone please shoot me! I think it'll be easier..............

NOTE: I'll post more pics and videos of the horse show when/if I get them.

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Foaling and Showing Rolled into One - Day 3 cont

The first thing I did when I awoke was head to the computer to check my mare. Even though our near freezing temperatures over night bought us a little time I didn't want to push this issue with Dare retaining her placenta. It always makes me nervous when we're getting anywhere near the six hour mark.

The only problem with checking the computer was the cam was again down. Frustrated with this whole scenario of the cam not being available when I needed it most I was beginning to wonder if this cam thing had even been worth it this pregnancy. About then I glanced over at my cable modem only to realize that this time IT was the culprit, not the wireless cam.

It wasn't just my modem that was down, cable for the tv was down as well. That meant it wasn't going to be anytime soon that the cam would be up and running again. So I grabbed the oxytocin and headed to the barn to do a visual inspection on my mare.



When I arrived Dare was standing there looking at me just like she had been when foaling. This time the foal was nursing on her off side and that towel was still hanging at the same height it had been two hours before. There was no getting around it the mare would have to have the oxytocin to shed the placenta.

My horses have been trained to stand still for just about anything. I do all blanketing, lots of grooming, even clipping, worming and picking their feet without the use of a halter. I hate trying to give injections by myself with a rope dangling over my shoulder anyway, but now I had a foal to get tangled too so I decided to try giving Dare her oxytocin without the aid of a halter.

The mare did look at me a bit funny when I swabbed the area with alcohol but she didn't move a muscle when I put the needle into her neck. Dare just stood there quietly as I pushed down the plunger. She did move a leg right at the very end but when I told her "Whoa!" she went back to standing. Times like this is when I really appreciate this mare. I feel guilty enough poking needles into my horses without having to deal with a horse that fights them.



Now I'd just have to wait and see if the hormone would work. If it didn't kick right into action, it would probably require a larger dose to bring about enough contractions to expel her placenta.

Oxytocin given in this manner is only good for about twenty minutes. If the desired result has not been accomplished by then, it's necessary to give another dose and it's actually more effective to give the second dose before the first has totally worn off. I think I had a total of 4 doses to administer before I would need to call my vet. I was hoping for Dare's sake only one dose would be needed.

It didn't take but a couple of minutes and the mare began showing signs of discomfort. I felt sad as I watched her lifting up her hind legs and stomping, knowing the mare was already exhausted yet now she had to endure more contractions. I guess it's that memory of my own birthing experiences that make me feel so empathetic to my mares. As I watched Dare struggling with each contraction, I'm pretty sure I winced in sympathy.

I was relieved to see that soon the towel tied to the umbilical cord - was beginning to lower. Inside of five minutes I had to adjust the knot to a higher elevation so it didn't touch the ground. I wanted to keep that weight in play in this process and get that darn placenta out as soon as possible.

As I worked on raising the towel, tying it in the now emerging placenta, I could see that about half of it was now outside the mare's body. We were making good progress. If it continued like this, Dare wouldn't need another dose of oxytocin.

Another five minutes and the other half was out. The slimy thing hit the ground. with a plop. I immediately picked it up taking it outside for inspection. If there was any evidence it hadn't all been dispelled, I'd need to call the vet as soon as possible. Since the temperatures were beginning to rise along with the sun, the risk of my mare experiencing complications from retained tissue were escalating.

I always lay the placenta flat pulling each horn out so I can see the correct shape of the uterus. That way I can distinguish it's all there. Then I like to turn it inside out and lay it out again so I can check the side that was connected to the uterine wall. I inspect for any abnormal patches that tell tissue might have been left behind.

I also check to see the tissue is still firm. A healthy placenta tells me about the breeding health of my mare. Weak spots can indicate bruising caused by the foal. Mares with bruises in their uterus have difficulty settling a pregnancy. They can also develop scar tissue from the bruising that can cause permanent issues. The sooner I know there might be a problem, the less likely I am to spend money trying to breed unbreedable mares. This is something I learned the year Scandalous foaled Legs.

My close up inspection revealed that everything was just fine. The foal was up and nursing just fine. For the first time in a week, I could quit worrying about Dare and really think about the horse show. I might actually get to watch a class or two before it was time to ride my championship class. It was time to head for the horse show.

To be continued..........

The End

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Foaling and Showing Rolled into One - Day 3

Because Dare is a maiden mare the bonding experience is really important. I have always expected she would be a great mother because her mother, Solidare, has always been a terrific mom.

Dare didn't disappoint me, she immediately turned to the foal and began sniffing. From there she moved on to licking. I had Jessica stay out of the stall and Dave and I backed off as well letting Dare spend some one on one time with her baby.

I stayed in the stall just to be safe, monitoring her behavior. I know from experience that things can turn quickly with horses. They can look one minute like all is fine and the next the sh*t hits the fan. I wasn't taking any chances with this new foal.

Jessica went outside and began taking pictures with her cell phone. That reminded me that my camera was in the house so I sent Dave to retrieve it. Then when Jessica asked what she could do to help, I turned my cam over to her. You can thank her for the pictures, she took a zillion of them I swear.

I set about cleaning the stall while Dare continued to lick and nuzzle her foal. I grabbed the foal's legs to move it around so I could get all of the wet straw out. Dare was fine as long as she could keep her eyes peeled on the foal. She didn't seem to mind my presence at all, or my handling of her foal.

Dave and Jessica were bugging me wanting to know the gender of this foal. It was still in the sack and I hadn't looked because I didn't want to disturb the mare. Finally I got tired of them badgering me to know and I tore the sack and lifted up the tail.



It was too dark in the stall to really see what was underneath that tail. There really wasn't much light anywhere else in the stall so I felt with my fingers. I hit the edge of what I thought was the vulva and I said "It's a filly." Then I went back to work cleaning the soggy stall listening to Dave tell me how he always knew it was a filly and all the usual banter that follows along with that.

Anyone who knows me knows I always check my foals about three times to determine their sex. If it's a filly, I check multiple times because I can't believe it. If it's a colt, I check multiple times because I don't want to believe it. That's just the way it is, I am a multiple bum checker for sure. I would check again later, or as least that's what I kept saying.

After the stall was cleaned, I got the iodine out and dunked the foal's navel. The burn of the iodine caused a major reaction, the first signs of the foal wanting to rise. Dare wasn't sure if she was ready for her foal to stand, she began talking frantically but her foal could have cared less.

Once the foal got the idea to rise it wasn't long before the foal was standing. I couldn't get over the strength of this little creature. In less than 30 minutes, this baby was standing up pretty darn solid on all four feet. There were no attempts to take a step, just standing there processing what it felt like to be on those long legs.



We made jokes about fillies being smarter than colts. Fillies always seem to be the early risers here. The colts sometimes can take hours to figure out how to work their legs. Then they tend to suck on walls and people long before they get anywhere near the milk bar. As we laughed about all the usual colt antics, this foal began looking for a snack and was actually headed in the right direction.

All this time Jessica was snapping pictures. Each time the foal would reach for the udder, the flash would go off and the foal would retreat. I had to tell Jess she needed to hold up on the nursing shots until this baby horse figured out how to do it. I didn't want the camera's flash teaching the foal to stay away from that location.

Once the camera issue was settled it didn't take long until the foal had figured out how to nurse. Dare was so good through all of this. Unlike many maiden mares she was ok with the foal getting behind her. She stood quietly instead of turning around tracking every move. That make it much easier for the foal to figure out how to nurse.

Once the foal had a full tummy, Dare laid down for the first time since the foaling. I knew she must be exhausted. She'd had a dreadful week with very little sleep yet she didn't lay down until her baby laid down to take a brief nap.

I took this as a cue to go back to the house. I got the cam back up and fixed the mare a nice hot bran mash. I also went into the chat to get ideas on how to deal with the placenta. By this time there was no progress in the mare passing the darn thing. I knew I needed weight but hadn't a clue how to go about attaching that weight. Methods I'd tried in the past hadn't worked well.

The people in the chat room were most helpful. Someone suggest using a wet dish towel. Another suggested using baling twine to tie that towel to the umbilical cord.

As it turns out this method to add weight worked very well. Once I tied the towel to the umbilical cord I had no problems with it slipping off. It seemed to be just the right amount of weight, about the same as the sack would have been. The only question at this point was Dare having enough contractions to shed the placenta.

I had oxytocin on hand but I didn't want to give it to the mare if I didn't have to. I hate to cause mares to have anymore contractions than necessary. They're already so worn out after giving birth, I feel bad making them have even more cramping. So I decided to give Dare a couple more hours to pass the placenta on her own. I went back to bed setting my alarm to check on Dare and her foal in exactly two hours.

To be continued..............

Day 3 cont

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