nationals

SORRY NO WIFI HOOK UP, MIKAEL WILL REPORT WHEN SHE CAN. DAVE

Update from Tulsa

MiKael's having problems with WI Fi connection. She will try to post tommorrow. Dave

Show-aholics.............

Now with that version of a Horse-aholics questionaire under your belt, I thought it might just be appropriate to devise a questionaire of my own. This is probably more along the lines of Show-aholics but I think there are some questions all horse lovers can relate to............

1. Do your horse activities cause you to prioritize your life in a way that makes others think you've lost touch with reality?
2. Do you find yourself driving huge distances going places you've never been or would never go if it wasn't for a horse activity there?
3. Do you own a show shirt or maybe boots that cost more than what you'd spend on your personal wardrobe over several years?
4. Are new chaps or chinks more important than designer handbags?
5.Is camping something you loathe but you'd do it in a minute to get to see the nationals or some other important horsey finals?
6. Do you look disdanefully at those cheesy cowboy hats the wannabees wear knowing REAL cowboys wear REAL cowboy hats?
7. Do you think a good Resitol should be $500 or more?
8. Will you drive across the country alone to get somewhere horse related when you won't even go to the mall by yourself?
9. Do you allow yourself to be compressed into a good sports bra just so you won't jiggle when you ride just because you want your horse's loop to look smooth?
10. When you look at a picture of you and your horse is it more important how the horse looks?
11. Does your horse's winter coat cost more than your kids?
12. Are you willing to give up chocolate or lattes to buy that new bridle?
13. Do you set up lights on your horse in the winter to keep him from growing winter hair?
14. Will you buy your horse the best feed available but only buy day old or older stuff for yourself?
15. Are you willing to live in the back of your horse trailer for a week so you can participate in a horse activity?
16. Does your idea of a fashion statement relate to how you look on your horse?
17. Are you terrified of tornados but willing to go to tornado country in the middle of tornado season because there's an important horse activity there.......or a new horse to maybe purchase?
18. When you hear the word "hunter" is the first think you think of a horse?
19. Is the only use your silver polish gets to clean bridles, reins and saddles?
20. Do you think Murphy's Oil Soap was made to clean leather, the heck with the hardwoods?
21. When you think about preparations for departing for a long horse show, are all of those things about what you'll need when you're gone. The husband and kids can fend for themselves?

Now I could tell you if you've answered YES to any of these things where that might just leave you but I'm pretty sure if you can relate to any of these you already "get" where you are!

By now I should have completed leg two of my trek to Oklahoma. Hopefully Dave let me take his laptop and I'll be able to update soon...........

Are You a Horse-aholic?

I found an old email of this while tiding up some of my messes before leaving for the US Nationals. I'd printed it out to "save" for the future knowing if I saved it in my inbox it would get lost in the Netherworld there. Since I'm on the road today in my first leg of my trip to Tulsa, I thought this might just be a suitable post. Enjoy..........

I am a horse-aholic. I would like to welcome all of you to this month's online meeting of Horse-Aholics Anonymous. You may be sitting there thinking that you are OK, and don't really need help. It is not easy to realize that you are a horse-aholic, and even harder to bring yourself to a HA meeting for help. HA is here to assist you. I have some questions to ask to try to determine if you can be helped:

1. Can you say "sheath" in public without blushing?
2. Do you know exactly what "snaffle" means? (No, it is not a drink!)
3. Do you drive a truck with some type of towing package and/or a dual rear wheel when everyone else you know drives a real car?
4. Do you have more than one type of trailer because you own horses?
5. Do you spend your holidays going to shows, sales, clinics and seminars when everyone else you know is going on cruises?
6. Do you discuss things at the dinner table that would make a doctor leave in disgust?
7. Do you consider formal wear clean jeans and freshly scraped boots?
8. Does the inside of your home look like your interior designer is State Line Tack?
9. Do you often have barn boots on your front porch?
10. Is your mail made up primarily of breed magazine and horse catalogs?
11. Do your shirt pockets often contain bits of feed, hay, and empty syringe covers?
12. Do you worry about paying your monthly feed bill before you think of paying your electric bill?
13. When you meet a person, do you ask how many horses the have, and pity them if they say none?
14. Do you remember the name of a great-great-great grandsire when you can't remember your own great grandfather's name?
15. Is your primary goal in life to breed the perfect foal?
16. Do you find non-horse people boring?
17. Is 99% of your email about horses?
18. Do you have a collection of bits even larger than your collection of horses?
19. Does your halter collection include more than four foal halters, all of the same size?
20. Do you know more than five people this list fits exactly?

If you answered YES to three of these questions, you are in pretty good shape. You will lead a pretty dull life and never call our mother to tell her, "I'm in the hospital but everything is fine! The horse is all right."

If you answered YES to ten, you are in serious trouble. Give in gracefully, and become a member of Horse-aholics Anonymous now.......you will eventually anyway.

If you answered YES to fifteen or more, you are incurable....... My advice to those who, like me, are incurable is as follows...........
Sit back, smile, read your email, and know that your life will always be filled with good friends and better horses............. and it will NEVER be boring.

More Counting Down.........Or Do We Have Lift Off?

I can't believe how the time has flown during this count down. I had so much too do and so little time. I knew I needed it all done but didn't know if I could make such a schedule. Once I lost that day with my head spinning, I was hard pressed to get through everything.

This morning I had high hopes with only Legs left to body clip and packing to do I might just make it. Then once the clipping actually started and "Life" did its usual throwing more stuff that hope slowly began to fade.

Even my new no 10 blades did not want to go through Legs' coat. Despite a thorough bathing the horse seemed to gummy underneath the hair. The blades told the story before I ever was able to feel the problem. The result was the clipping was taking twice as long as usual.

At one point I got so frustrated, I decided I would rebathe Legs. Even with that I wasn't able to resolve the problem. I could see and feel the gunk on Legs' coat even after his bath.

I don't really know what the culprit was. It kind of reminded me of how an oil slick acts on the beach. A bath in cold water was not going to resolve it. It did wash off the dirt that was clinging to this stuff but not the oil itself.

What I needed was warm water and even if I could have gotten it, I'm not sure that would have fixed things. I've never seen anything quite like this before......but getting ready for nationals, it makes sense that now would be the time.

Legs went back to his stall to dry while I spent the time in the house working on my packing and other minor details like editing a breeding contract.......oh yeah, I actually got some lunch. Then I was back out to finish clipping Legs.

It's not the prettiest clip job I've ever done but it will have to do. Depending how it looks when I arrive in Tulsa, I may do the whole thing over. I hope that' s not the case but I'll fix it if it doesn't look better with a little growing out.

When I finished with Legs I packed up everything that was ready, mostly the horses things. Then I headed into the house for a shower........finally I'm done with the horrible itching that goes with body clipping.

Next I began laundry.........and that's where I still am. I have three loads of clothes to finish before I can hit the sack. While I'm waiting on the laundry, I worked on printing out those breeding contracts, a sale flyer for Gypcy, more miscellaneous packing for me and making a special jello salad for my son's birthday party on Sunday............a party I won't be able to attend because I'll be on my way to Tulsa........so I guess you could say we DO have lift off. I hit the road in the morning.

Details to follow...........


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The Count Down Just Rolling Right Along

With just two more days before I hit the road, there was lots of pressure today. I still had to finish up Rhet's body clip, do Legs, do a halter clip on Gycpy and clip ears on all three. That was just the "personal" horse chores left. I still have to finish my packing and pack the horse trailer. With time running out it's no wonder I'm feeling stressed.

Colleen did come to help with me Rhet's legs last evening but the light in that barn is not great in the daylight let alone the dark of night. I struggled to see on Rhet's black legs where hair had been and where hair still was. Running my hands over my work is just not all that effective on the boney surface of a horse's legs. But we did what we thought was a good job and quit for the night.

In today's light there was lots to be gone over. The colt fidgeted a bit about the touch up on his legs but was much better than he'd been at the same time the day before. I was able to clean up all the stuff I'd missed in the dark.
For the rest of his clip, Rhet stood pretty much like a rock....well, maybe except for his ears. He seemed to enjoy the vibrations of the clippers against his body..........thinking it felt like some kind of massage. I could see his lower lip quiver from time to time. He especially liked it going across his back and on his chest. Guess I know where his sweet spots are. Whatever it was that caused Rhet to stand for clipping, the colt did good!

Once done with Rhet, I went back to Gypcy to get her halter clip finished. I didn't want to leave that technical work for an overly tired me.........and believe me, this old gal is running out of steam.......fast and furiously.

Because Gypcy is chestnut I had to be careful about exposing pink skin. I was supposed to start off slowly and work my way up keeping a close watch for the tell tale light skin underneath but I had little confidence I'd get this right.

Before I started with this filly I went to my computer and looked up Midwest. I figured there would be lots of chestnut horses with halter clips there to use as an example and I was right. I found the chestnut horse with the least amount of black showing to use as reference in choosing my own starting point.

When I haltered Gypcy, the filly looked at me with that look that says, "Now WHAT are you going to do to me?" Poor Gypcy still hadn't recuperated from being stripped of all her hair. I wondered what she would think of shaving cream and razors.

Before I lathered her up, I went the areas I was going to strip with first no 15 blades, followed by no 30 blades and then no 40s. By the time I got to that last blade I could begin to get an idea of the color of the skin underneath. Then I applied the shaving cream over her eyes and began my first ever work with a razor on a horse.

Gypcy watched closely as I came at her with that glob of white foam. It surprised me she didn't spook at all but she did show some concern. Once the lather was actually on her, the filly showed no concern. I worked away with the razor and she pretty much tolerated it like she was an old pro.

After a while she took a big lick of that cream. I always expect when that happens the horse is going to blow raspberries to get that crap out of their mouth.......so far I've never seen a horse protest about the taste of shaving cream, and Gypcy was no exception. She just licked it off like a kid would lick a milk mustache and stood there.

By the time I'd finished with the razor I was ready to pull my hair out. The whole thing is such a shock.........and then blending it to look natural. I didn't feel confident with that either. Fortunately I have done that kind of blending work before so at least I had an idea of how to proceed. It didn't take too long and I reached the point I'd done about as much as I could. It wasn't really until I came back into my computer and looked at the pic at Midwest that I felt I'd done ok. Now it was going to be onto Legs............

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

Or Do We Have Lift Off

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Still Counting Down..............and Down.......and Down

Today it was kind of a mixed bag here with my focus going about six directions as the count down for my departure for the US National Arabian Horse Show continues. Everything from cameras to laundry (both people and horse) to more clipping and every thing in between seemed to just demand my attention. The hardest part is I don't think I got one single thing done.

Gypcy showed her disgust at yesterday's clipping by escaping from her stall overnight. If that wasn't enough she stripped off half of her clothes and left them out in the rain. Thankfully she took shelter so she wasn't wet but the outer blanket and hood she shed were soaked..........hence another two loads got added to my list of laundry........and hers needed to be finished first so she doesn't get a chill now that she has no hair and we're experiencing record low temperatures for this time of year.

I did get downloading the pics on my camera done so I can dump them to have plenty of room for national's photos. The download went ok but I'm having problems figuring out how to dump the whole thing instead of deleting all 800 pics one at a time. While I love my new camera, many of it's functions are still beyond me. I should have opted to do that when my computer asked me to but I'm so paranoid I'll mess up my download and then have everything be gone.

First think this morning I had Dave help me with Rhet. My friend, Jean, was coming at 10 and I was supposed to have his face completely clipped with a no 15 blade. While I've been working diligently at getting this colt more relaxed with the clippers, Rhet just wasn't buying it was necessary to clip anywhere near the top of his face.........let alone near his head.

An hour later Rhet's face was clipped as directed along with his poll along and the back of his ears. Those "extra" parts are the area I still have left to get clipped on Gypcy so I felt like I had one difficult portion of his full body clip accomplished. I turned the colt loose so he could finish his breakfast before Jean arrived.

While waiting for Jean I worked more on my own personal laundry. I'm trying to get enough clothes together so I won't need to frequent a laundromat while I'm in Tulsa. I figure I'll be gone for at least 16 days.

I've scraped together every pair of jeans I could find and think I have enough of those to get me through. Although some of them are a bit tattered. I guess I can claim they're designer.........my son pays big bucks for jeans with holes.

I inspected my shirts for stains so I could treat the darn things are maybe put together enough shirts. Temperatures will be low at night but could be mid 80s during the day so it'll take an assortment. Underwear and socks are the big issue but I'm due for some new ones so if I take the old and the new, I'll probably be ok. I'm giving Dave a shopping list since there's no way I have time to shop.

Jean arrived and I showed her a couple of halter horses on Jessie's website. She wanted an idea of how he likes his halter horses clipped and I figured that was the best place for that. Every horse is different, however, so a lot would depend on what Rhet's facial structure and underlying skin color allowed us to do.

Jean had told me she would direct me through the process. I have to admit I was dreading it. However, once we got things set up in the barn and the clipping began, I was holding the horse watching the master in action.

Jean immediately looked at the density of Rhet's coat and decided she wanted even more hair removed. She went over my clip job with no 30 blades and then back over some of the more pertinent places with no 40 blades.

After that she broke out the shaving cream and the bic razor for over the colt's eyes and the area around his muzzle. Then she went back over and blended with my small clippers that I use for ears. The idea was to get all that dense winter hair off so Rhet looks like he would all shed out in the summer. He'll grow back some of this hair before he's shown and that will give us the effect we're looking for.

Now I'm supposed to touch this all up when I get to nationals. The thought of that makes me queasy. It's so darn easy to have the horse jerk it's head and mess up the whole thing.........and I know the horse that's most likely to do just that.........Rhet, of course.

Rhet was pretty good through most of this process. The colt got a bit fussy over a couple of spots but no worse than any other horse would. For the most part for this anyway Rhet was just like any other horse........bet you didn't expect to hear that.............now if I can just get him to stand quietly while putting on a show halter.

After we finished with Rhet, I had Jean show me what I should do with Gypcy. Because the filly is chestnut she will have light colored skin on her face. That affects how much hair that can be removed without making her look weird. Jean pointed out the areas I should focus on to maximize her best features............that job I'll do tomorrow or Friday.........I hope.

While we were finishing up with Rhet the chiropractor came to work on Legs. I called Dave from the house to help Dale while Jean and I finished up. Then after Jean left I went to relieve Dave. It turns out that was just in time, Legs was pretty sore and his usual person to take that out on just happens to be the holder...........who in this case was Dave. By now my husband was feeling abused having to deal with Rhet and a cranky Legs in the same day.

Poor Legs had a lot going on. It's a wonder he's working as well as he is when you realize how much it must hurt. That's one of the things I appreciate most about this horse...........he has a lot of heart. When the chiropractor left he recommended that Legs see Mark DePaolo our other horse chiropractor at US Nationals.

Then next task was more body clipping. I figured since I had been clipping on Rhet I might just as well finish the job. However, Rhet did NOT want to stand still to get his legs clipped, I ended up calling Dave for more help.

Dave was complaining of a back ache from being jerked around by Rhet earlier. (Personally I thought the colt's antics were pretty reasonable for him.) His help turned out to be ineffective so I gave up and called for reinforcements. Colleen is coming over after work.

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

Just Rolling Along

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Counting Down Continues........

As the count down continues I am still working on plans for the actual trip. I'd originally figured I'd be traveling with Angie and Richard but since Angie decided not to show and Richard didn't find a full load of horses to haul, neither of them will be going. Now I'm scrambling to find someone to caravan with to Tulsa. All attempts to find someone on this side of the state have been unsuccessful.

I can go to Santa Rosa to meet up with Jesse Saldana. That has been my fall back plan all along. However, after talking with Jesse yesterday I found he's planning on driving straight through to Tulsa. I'm not sure if this old body of mine can handle a 1700 mile drive without any sleep. I either need to find another driver to make the trip with me or I'll be making the trek to Tulsa by myself. Any of my blogging buddies interested in making the trip??

Originally today's plans were to work horses today and then kick into high gear finished up my body clipping and packing. Since I got behind a day with that spinning head stuff, I had to scale those plans down just a bit.

I did take Legs and Rhet over to Richards for pre-body clipping baths. While I was there I worked Legs not once but twice. I worked him when we first arrived then let him hang out while I bathed Rhet.

This is the first time I've attempted to bathe Rhet without help. I figured he's had enough experience with the process he'd probably be ok. If I remember correctly Rhet has been in the wash rack a couple of times to be rinsed off and that experience would help too.

Rhet went into the wash rack just fine. It was when the water got turned on and had much stronger force than he's used to that his eyes bugged out of his head. However, the colt hung in there pretty well and I managed to get him clean without a major incident. Considering Rhet's history I thought this was pretty darn good.

I bundled him up with double coolers to put the colt back into the trailer. Rhet has a history of trashing coolers. I'll be I could have paid half of his entries for nationals with the money it's taken to replace all the coolers he's trashed/so I used all my tricks to wrap him up tight in a manner that should protect these coolers.

With Rhet safe and snug in the horse trailer I went back to work Legs for the second time. The stallion wasn't happy about this second round of work. He tried to bite me as I was putting his bridle on. It wasn't a vicious kind of attack.........more a "Hey! don't you know we've done this already!" kind of thing. Legs clearly has a opinion about having to work more than once in the same day.........but with nationals coming we have serious work to do.

Despite his resistance to a second round of schooling, Legs went to work the minute I threw my leg over his back. Of course, the horse let out one deep sigh to further impress his point he'd done his job for the day. Still he went back to work with a great attitude and gave me exactly what I asked. If only I have another month......maybe two...........we'd really be ready for Tulsa.

After his workout, I took Legs back to the trailer to untack. Then I headed him back towards the barn and Legs put on the brakes. The horse turned his head to look at me with this puzzled look clearly stating, "Not again!" I had to remind him that I had asked him to move before he began the walk back to the barn. I think the horse was actually relieved when we headed into the wash rack. Poor Legs...............I'm pretty sure he hadn't counted on the colt water.........made even colder because he was bath number two.

Once back home and with Legs and Rhet back drying in their stalls, I got Gypcy out to see if I could get her body clip finished today. She did pretty well except for the backs of her ears and the very top of her head. The filly wigged out and tried to escape. In the process she stepped on my, not once, but twice. I now sport a pretty nasty bruise in the middle of my left cannon bone.............oh, that's right........I'm not a horse............it's my shin.

Despite all my precautions bundling up Rhet when I went to remove the coolers the colt had managed to put a hind hoof through a corner of one cooler. I guess I should consider myself lucky that he didn't hurt himself or trash both coolers in the process.

While I've been working on the final details for the horses and myself, Dave's been working on my horse trailer and truck making sure every thing's ready for my trip. After installing a new collar on the truck, the lights on the horse trailer have decided not to work. There's been lots of strange words emanating from that area as he tries to find the gremlin responsible for this.

At the rate the work is progressing it's probably a good thing that I won't be going to work horses this week. There's just too much piled up here to get done before it's time to leave. I'd like to say that's taken some of the pressure off Dave but I think he's feeling the weight of my pending departure as much as I am. Here's crossing fingers that we both get through tomorrow's list of tasks with no overflow left for the following day. We're running out of time.

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


Still Counting Down

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Counting Down to the US National Arabian Horse Show

With my departure only days away, there is much to be done. With three horses to body clip I find myself with the usual, "What was I thinking?" running through my head. I'm too old for this much work not to mention that two of the three horses have never been body clipped before making it a monumental task to take on by myself.

I bathed Gypcy on Saturday planning on beginning her body clip on Sunday. Yet Sunday morning I awoke with a spinning head with an overloaded allergic response. Too much pressure on my eardrums is something I try to avoid at all costs but it caught up with me in the most inopportune moments imaginable.........as I begin the final leg of preparations for the US National Arabian Horse Show.

I tried mega doses of antihistamines including the nasal spray I use only as a last resort. Despite these efforts the spinning of my head didn't even slow up for nearly most of the day. The sun was setting before I had any relief at all and it sure wasn't enough relief to be on my hands and knees on the floor around the legs of a young horse. Yesterday was just not in the cards for clipping.

With record low temperatures over night, I wanted it to warm a little before I began clipping today so I let Gypcy finish off her breakfast before I started. You'd think the filly would be grateful for the consideration but if she was she had a strange way of showing it. Dancing around at just the very sound of the clippers, Gypcy was having none of this body clipping thing.

I had a little girl talk with the filly about the necessary evils we girls must go through to be glamorous. Gypcy wasn't buying any of that silly talk either. I'm pretty sure she said she wasn't interested in nationals, it was my gig so maybe I was the one who needed shaved.............

In between our odd discussion and her dancing I did manage to get the outer portion of three of her legs kinda done. The inner parts were much hard but I had taken some serious whacks at those as well when the farrier arrived.

Gypcy thought that Darrie had great timing until she realized he was there to see her. Can't imagine why this girl was not delighted with her very first brand new pumps. Such a milestone in a girl's life yet Gypcy wasn't sure what to think. However, she seemed to be more concerned by my intermittent swipes with the clippers than she was with the farrier's ministries.

By the time the day was done, this filly had brand new sparkling silver shoes all the way around along with four very bare legs..............oh, and her belly was hairless as well. Tomorrow will have to be soon enough for the rest of her body clip..........my back is aching and my head spinning once more.

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

Counting Down Continues

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A Mystery on the Arabian Horse Breeding Farm

There have been some mysteries here over the years I've been breeding horses. Most of the time they've ended up being more about communication between the principles here......Dave, Lindsay and me or some goofy thing an equine contributed to. They've been little things that made me go, "What in the heck..........." but nothing odd or creepy that would be until now.

Lindsay asked me today at lunch what the deal was with stuffed animals in the horses stalls. Since I've been known to give the horses odd things for toys a time or two, I guess I can understand why Lindsay figured I had knew what was happening..........but in all honesty, I had no clue.

I have to admit I did give a stuffed animal to one horse but that's been years ago. It was actually a stuffed horse and the proud recipient was Rhythm. He loved tossing that poor horsey around playing more like a puppy than any horse but it kept the colt occupied and that was what mattered.

However, stuffed animals aren't the best toy for a horse that's stalled. As you can imagine they soak up urine and get pretty matted with poop. Rhythm's stuffed horse probably died more from my washing than it did his abuse. I've never really been inclined to toss another stuffed animal into a stall...........it was just that one time............and an odd inkling at that.

I asked Lindsay for specifics about this current stuffed animal situation. She relayed to me first she found one in Tag's stall when she was cleaning. It was partially torn with stuffing emerging from the extremities. The following day a similar toy appeared. This time it was in Dancer's stall. This second creature was torn as well but Lindsay assumed the horses were the ones doing the tearing.

Right after our conversation I went out to the barn to work Gypcy. As I was bending over applying her polo wraps I spied another stuffed creature with stuffing bursting out of its extremities. I don't know about the others because those I still haven't seen but this one I found in Gypcy's stall is actually a stuffed snowman..........and it's not a snowman I've ever seen before.

Up until this time I was thinking maybe one of our cats, Jasmine or Squeaker, had gotten into some of the toys stored in the loft of our barn. Both cats have been known to go investigating only to return with some of their loot. Their really kind of silly about it acting like they caught something really special..............special to me would be more like rodents.....but those darn cats purr just like that's what they've done.

If the cats are not the culprits, which I doubt they are, there in lies the mystery. Where in the heck are these things coming from? It sounds more like a people kind of thing to me...........but WHO? It's not Lindsay, Dave or I and we don't have people coming and going.........but these things are coming from somewhere. Any thoughts?

Back to The Open House 2009..........Bathing......Andy.....Patriot

Our next victim to bathe in cold water was Andy (Scandalous Addiction). This colt had been such a good boy for clipping, I expected or maybe that was hoped he'd be a gentleman for bathing too. You'd think I'd know by now I shouldn't be "expecting" anything in particular when it comes to young horses. Andy was a pain in the royal *ss.

At two years old, Andy is absolutely huge.........well, huge for on my farm of late blooming horses anyway. I'd guess this colt is about 15.1 hands with still a mile of leg underneath him. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get at big as his uncle, Dandy.

Doc is not the only young horse that has not been handled enough. Both two year old colts, Andy and Patriot, have been sorely neglected in that department and their behavior reflects it. My term for colts at that age is land sharks and Andy and his brother, Patriot, both live up to that title. They are pushy and kind of studdy with their teenage hormones beginning to rage. . The last thing any teenage male wants is a cold shower..............and Andy was determined he wasn't taking one.

Being bigger than most two year olds made this colt all that more difficult for me to convince. I am no slouch in the size department closing in just an inch or so shy of six feet but an eight hundred pound colt on a hot day was alot. I gave up on trying to reason with this colt and broke out a wrapped chain.
Never have I resorted to such tactics getting ready for my open house but you know what they say............Never say never...........and this one bit me. Even with the chain we really worked to get Andy bathed. The colt just did NOT want to stand still. Well, he'd have stood still to graze on the grass beneath his feet but NOT for that cold water bath. Andy would duck his head to grab a mouthful of grass as he lunged sideways away from the water. It didn't matter who held him to try to stop his escape, going over humans in his way just didn't matter. I think by the time we were finished Jean and I were both soaked.........and it wasn't just water making us wet, we had more than our fair share of sweat. ( I might add since this I've hosed this horse off a couple of times and he was a perfect angel........ go figure)



After this battle with Andy, I was dreading bathing Patriot, the other two year old colt. Since Patriot had been so naughty about being clipped, I figured we were in for more of the same..........but then there's that thing about expectations again.

Patriot did the opposite of what I expected. The colt was a perfect gentleman and we sailed through his bath like he was a seasoned pro. The colt even dropped his head to let me hose off his face. Patriot was so good Jean referred to him as sweet......not what I'd normally call any land shark I own. .......maybe Andy whispered in his ear about what might happen if he was naughty..........whatever I was grateful that at least one of my colts acted like he knew what a bath was about.

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

A Look Back at Some Old Funnies...........

It's been a long day and my brain is too fried to be writing a post. However, an email I received not once but twice yesterday reminded me of a number of humorous gems I've previously posted. I thought now would be a good time to remind others about them too. What better way to wrap up a hard day than with a good laugh..........or two...........or seven...........

Rules of the Barn posted in February of this year is the most recent of the funnies I've posted over my blogging career. Of course, these rules are directed towards the horse............

Jesus and the Burglar also posted earlier this year, while not horse related, definitely gave me a good chuckle.

While on the subject of dogs we mustn't leave out Jasper and the Unbaked Yeast Rolls I must say I didn't see this one coming.

A humorous look at ourselves is healthy...........right?? And sometimes worthy of a good chuckle............so take a look at Only Horse people........can and will relate http://risingrainbow.blogspot.com/2008/08/only-horse-peoplecan-and-will-relate.html for just such a look.

The very first term from Glossary of Horse Terms certainly fits as I get ready to depart for the US National Arabian Horse Show.

I would be remiss in not including the Equestrian Weight Loss Program! If you can't imagine, take a look see for yourself.


To top it off in style the email that started this whole thought process of mine How Many Horses Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb? If you can't imagine..........take a peek!

My Tentative Schedule for US Nationals

Finding someone showing at nationals can be a real trip so for those of you who were hoping to catch one or more of my classes on the live feed I thought I'd post the information I have about when I show. Before I get to that I also thought I'd explain a little about the quirks of the national show's schedule since I know how overwhelming that thing can be.

Any schedule published for the US National Arabian and Half-Arabian Horse Show is always tentative. Because they never know how many horses will enter or which classes they will show in it's a guess at best how many cuts will be necessary for each class......thus the tentative schedule so they have the ability to make changes according to entries.

It's best if you know the number of the class as well as the division of the classes you wish to see. The schedule is not run in numerical order (confusing, believe me I know!). The individual classes have the very same number each time they are run. Those numbers stay the same from year to year. it is where they are placed within the schedule that can change.......and it can change during the show. Daily changes are published in the show office and are available to be picked up each day. Exhibitors are responsible for keeping up with those changes. There are no allowances made for classes missed because of schedule changes.

The first day I am currently scheduled to show is Tuesday afternoon, October 27 in the Ford Truck Arena. That is class number 1662 Arabian Western Pleasure AAOTR 55 & over Championship which I'll be riding on Legs. The session begins at 1 PM and section A is the first class to be run in that session. In the schedule there is a section A and B. I saw online that 39 horses are already entered in that class so I suspect two sections will be sufficient. I will not know until I am at the show which section I will be riding in. That information will be posted in the show office.

If I understand this correctly, in these sections each judge will chose 7 horses to advance. For a rider to make the cut for the championship, he/she must appear on two of the three judges cards. All riders making the cut will be presented with the same color ribbon that signifies they are advancing to the next cut or championship. (Sections that run I, II, III advance to sections A, B. Sections A, B advance to the Championship.)

The next class a horse of mine will show in will be Wednesday afternoon, October 28 in the Pavilion. That is class number 977 the Arabian Futurity Filly Breeding Class. AHA shows 31 fillies entered in this class and it shows in the schedule as a Semi Final/Final (SF/F). The session begins at 1 and this is the second class of the session. Gypcy will be shown by Jesse Saldana in this class.

If I make the cut on Legs, the SF/F will be held Thursday morning October 29 in the Ford Truck Arena. Again that class will be numbered 1662 Arabian Western Pleasure AAOTR 55 & over Championship. This morning session will begin at 8 AM and the class is the tenth in the session. It is the next to last class of the morning.

The very next morning, October 30 will be Rhet's class held in the Pavilion. The class number is 972 Arabian Yearling Colt/Gelding Breeders Sweepstakes Jackpot. It is the only class currently scheduled in that session which will begin promptly at 8 AM. Rhet will be shown by Jesse Saldana. I will be waiting on the rail probably ready to puke. There are 31 colts showing in this class.

Now, like I said before this information is tentative. Whether or not I actually show at these particular times and places I will not know until 24 hours before. However, since this is a down year due to the recession, I suspect this will be pretty close if not totally right on.

As for the live feed, at the time I'm riding this I haven't been able to find the information on exactly who is carrying the live feed this year. Last year it was MyHorseCam.com and the year before it was IEquine.com. Since the Sport Horse Nationals was streamed this year, I suspect this event will be as well. The link should be available here when the show begins. That's how it was handled for SHN.

The Open House 2009..........Bathing......Rhet.....Scarlet

Once the clipping was done it was time to move onto the bathing. I don't have a wash rack here. It's just the hose and a post. That works fine for most of the older horses but not so well with the young ones. In years past I've always had someone to hold horses while I bathed most, if not all, of the horses. This year I had my friend, Jean, here for three hours on Friday morning to help. After that I was totally on my own.

I decided the best way to utilize my help with Jean was to bathe those horses that probably wouldn't handle being tied to the post. On that list, of course, was Rhet and the other yearling, Scarlet. The two year old colts, Andy and Patriot, were also good candidates as well as three year old Suede who is also still intact. I figured the rest of the horses I could probably handle myself.

Thankfully the weather was warm. There's nothing more miserable than bathing horses with cold water on a cold day. The horses get cold.......... and the horse washers even colder. On the other side of that, if it's warm enough the cold water actually feels good..........and that's the kind of day we had.

We started with Rhet. Of all of the horses I knew I had to have help with this one even though he's getting better about the water. I just don't trust him to co-operate when I need him too. I've been working with him on being hosed down by squirting him off most warm days after his work out. He's gotten better about standing still except for the water on his back end.........and getting sweat from between his legs by myself.......I can totally forget that.

Despite his improvement I expected Rhet to have some adjustment time with Jean. The colt has clearly shown in the past he doesn't like changes in surroundings or in who handles him. Trust is such a big issue with this colt it was certainly going to affect how this bath thing worked out.

Right from the start Rhet looked at Jean in a way that clearly spoke, "Who in the heck are you?" Jean, however, is horse savvy enough she pretty much ignored the colt's reaction to her taking the lead and just held him. Her lack of response let the colt know she wasn't intimidated by him. It didn't take Rhet long to figure out that Jean knew what she was doing and he settled in pretty well.

The colt still wasn't happy about cold water on his tail or between his legs but he kept his dancing to a minimum. Jean's responses with praise for good behavior elicited some deep sighs and even a drop of his head now and then. All in all Rhet actually turned out to be the wettest of the three when we were done............not something that happens often when water and Rhet collide by means of a hose.



After Rhet we took on Scarlet..........after all that's the way it should be. Scarlet and Rhet may no longer get turned out together.........but they are still an item. Rhet still speaks to Scarlet whenever he hears her footfalls or the sound of her voice. I'll bet he even dreams of this filly, the love of his life.

As I led Scarlet to our bathing area, Rhet began talking and pawing and striking the wall. The colt clearly wasn't happy to be tied to the back wall of his stall where he couldn't get a glimpse of Scarlet. She, on the other hand, in true Scarlet fashion couldn't be bothered with Rhet's pleas. She nonchalantly stood for her bath not even flicking an ear Rhet's direction. Poor Rhet finally gave up calling to her and we were able to finish our work in peace.

Scarlet was so good about her bath, I wondered if she'd been possessed by the soul of some other horse. To hear Jean refer to the primadonna Scarlet as sweet just didn't seem to fit. I can think of a lot of things I'd call Scarlet but sweet..........during a cold bath...............not likely.............yet sweet is exactly what we had.

There weren't even any complaints about cold water between her back legs or getting her udder washed. I really was beginning to think maybe this filly was getting sick since she's usually so outspoken about everything..........particularly cold water.

Maybe Scarlet was on her good behavior for Jean's benefit............who knows. That filly's got a number of people fooled into thinking she's really sweet...........I'm just not one of them.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like this filly. I actually love this filly but one of the things I love most about her is her big big attitude. I must admit I was grateful we didn't see any of it on her bath day, however.

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

The Open House 2009..........Clipping Doc

Sometimes I think that horses are just like kids, the minute you say one thing about their behavior they're going to do the exact opposite just to make a liar out of you. Well, that's exactly what happened when we decided to clip Doc.

I had worked a few times at putting a halter on and off his face. I'd even did a little bit of work asking him to give to pressure. When I say a little bit, that's exactly what I mean. The colt had just enough to have an idea but nowhere near enough to truly understand what was being asked of him.

When I went into the stall to capture him, it took Colleen blocking his escape before I could catch him to halter. The whole time I was putting the halter on his eyes were darting around looking for a quick exit. Nothing about that had changed. It was when we actually went to clip him that he surprised me.

I used a small rope cable that I have made as a restraint just in case the colt got crazy on us. Colleen held him with minimum pressure on the cable and I turned the clippers on.

Doc got a bit wide eyed but just waited to see what I planned to do. He wasn't sure what he thought of me clipping off the long hairs on his muzzle. He tossed his head just a bit but nothing we couldn't handle. I moved on up his face coming back on occasion to take just a few more of those sensitive feeler hairs off and Doc pretty much stood there.

The whole time he had this slightly concerned expression on his face. He held his head higher than usual but other than that he tolerated getting his face show clipped pretty darn well. Both Colleen and I were afraid to mention his unusual compliance for fear we might just jinx the whole thing......but all in all the colt let me clip his face as well as any of the young horses did. Did I happen to mention, he'd never been clipped before?

When it was time to move onto clipping his ears, I figured things would fly. Doc again proved me wrong as he stood there with his head cocked just a bit. Only when I tried to get the deepest of hairs did I get a reaction from this colt. Even that reaction was small and I was able to do a thorough job of cleaning hair out of the colt's ears.

The whole process took less than fifteen minutes. For a foal on this farm I think that's some kind of record. Doc was clearly the easiest of all of my foals to clip............yet he'd been the most difficult of all to worm. I guess it just goes to show you never really know what you're going to get.

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

The Open House 2009..........Preparations

Once I had my entries done for nationals and sent off to Aurora to the Arabian Horse Association , it was time to shift gears to begin working on my annual open house. The first Sunday after Labor Day was fast approaching and I hadn't done a thing to get started on this event.

Waiting until the last minute is not a good thing for lots of reasons. The biggest is stress. There's lots to do and the less time I have to accomplish these tasks the more stress I feel. Waiting until the last minute also makes it more difficult to get my friends to help. This date is not grilled into their brains like it is mine so they forget and schedule other things even though they would really like to help out.

This year was a really bad one for that........and I had no one to blame but myself. Not talking to people until just two weeks before is pushing it. The result was I was scrambling to get enough workers for the actual event, let alone having help to get the horses detangled, show clipped and bathed first.

Because I'm taking horses to nationals, I didn't want to skip working them all together. Instead I worked those three horses in the early morning, then spent the rest of the day working on grooming projects getting ready for the open house. It made for some long long days.

With the thick manes and tails I have here, I spent a couple of days just fighting with witch's knots. I swear there are little gremlins living in some of those manes busily churning away with their eggbeaters as quickly as I can detangle. If it wasn't for Cowboy Magic, I'd never get the job done. But even at that, some of those manes are retangled with just a shake of the head before I can even get out of the stall. My rule of thumb is once untangled it has to be good until bath time or I'd never even make it to bath time if you know what I mean.

My daughter, Colleen, came out after her work day was through to help hold horses getting their ears clipped. Mostly we just started at the first barn and worked our way through. The only exceptions were those horses I expected to be naughty.......which, of course, would mean Rhet and probably this year's foal. Those horses we'd leave until the last. That way if we got bounced around we wouldn't be sore and still trying to finish clipping.

Colleen came to help on two separate nights and we got most of the herd done. Pretty much all of the horses were good with a couple of exceptions. Andy (2 year old colt) who I expected to be naughty was quite good and his pasture mate, Patriot (also a 2 year old colt) was very very naughty.

It was on the third night we took on the quarter horse/Arab cross foal now known as Doc. After my experience trying to worm this colt and little work in between I really didn't know what to expect. What I did know was we had little time to cram in a whole lot of training................

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

A Little Bit about Doc........

Since we've been "talking" about Doc, I thought maybe I'd tell you all a little about him besides his name and his pedigree. As many of you know this is my first ever half-Arabian foal. The only other foals I've raised have all been purebred Arabians. While Doc is like them in some ways he's very different in others.

I can't say I really noticed the difference right from the start. He not only looked just like a purebred Arabian foal in those first days, he pretty much acted like them. It wasn't until the first time he got turned out when I could see him really move that I realized his butt was very much quarter horse.......and his attitude was a tad bit more laid back than I am used to......
but overall he pretty much reminded me of my Legs' babies and grandbabies.

It wasn't until the first time I attempted to worm this foal that I realized another important difference. Keeping in mind that no foal likes to be wormed, I've always been able to finagle my way to get the job done pretty much by myself. I'm pretty adept and maneuvering my body in such a way as to block off any escape route........then slip the tip of that tube in, squirt........and we're done...........well, that was until I met Doc.

I assumed my usual position to trap a month old foal which he tolerated pretty well. I thought I had things under control until I tried to stick the tip of that tube between his lips. Doc was very offended by this intrusion..........and in the blink of an eye I was on the ground........wondering what hit me............and trying to figure out how I could capitalize on being down in on the dirty stall floor entangled with this colt.

I did imprinting with this colt. I spent my time keeping him down until I decided he should rise........all of the stuff that is supposed to "teach" them I have control. Doc was there for that lesson..........but he must have forgotten it. Being on the floor with me did NOT mean he was sticking around. He struggled to escape. I screamed for Dave to assist.........and Doc got Dave down on the floor with me while he promptly vacated the premises through the open door.

The point of this little story is............Doc is much stronger than a comparably sized Arabian foal. At least at one month of age he was. I have had to rethink how I do some things because I really do hate ending up on the floor like that. Besides it's not good for him to learn he can escape.

Now when I told this story to the people from JusWen Farms (the owners of The Mighty Oak) the response I got was that the Oak babies are usually very good minded just like Oak. Well, I'll be the first one to tell you, this colt has a great mind. This happened because I thought I could get away with shortcuts.

I've been so busy and had spent practically no time with this colt. I tried to muscle him through something any horse or foal would fight. I made the mistake of thinking I could handle him just like my other purebred foals at that age.........it was totally about him being stronger.

Then because I pulled this stunt, Doc didn't trust me. When I'd enter the stall, he'd flee behind his mother. I've seen plenty of fancy footwork in the stall as this colt used all his talent to escape me. Believe me I've seen some pretty awesome rollbacks and even a spin or two, not to mention the sliding stops as he realized I was cutting off his escape.

I'm not going to tell you I spent a lot of time working with this colt once this worming incident happened because I haven't. As long as he was healthy and didn't require my attention, he didn't get it. Working and showing has taken top priority. I figured I get caught up with Doc after the show season quit.

That philosophy was just fine with Doc...........after all he didn't trust me much. If he went through a day without seeing my face, it was fine with him. He wasn't particularly fond of other humans either, after all, they might be hiding a tube of that icky tasting crap!

None of this has bothered me. It's all been typical baby horse stuff. If you don't put in the time, you don't get the in your pocket kind of horse. Everything I saw told me we'd be just fine whenever I did the time.........


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