Food for Thought........

Yesterday I came across this reference in a post that really got my wheels to turning. I was thinking if I'd been applying this measure to my standard for how I decide which people are to be trusted with my horses I might not have gotten myself into some of the messes that I did.

Now as I prepare to post about some of those situations I didn't see until it was too late for me and my horses, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to ruminate a bit about this new perception.

From a post by The Horseback Writer life with horses does mirror a person’s style and health (or not) within relationships. Horses reveal us to ourselves; they are a revelation if we allow it. Angry/controlling/inflexible/a push over/highstrung/restless/relaxed/available/emotional/unstable/unresponsive? There’s an excellent chance your horse is, too. An English proverb states: Show me your horse and I will tell you who you are. My horse is at the mercy of my personal awareness and it’s up to me to straighten things out

Right from the moment I read these words a light bulb went off in my head. Sure I knew if a rider was stressed they were probably putting that stress on their horse too but I hadn't really thought if a trainer was dysfunctional they would be dysfunctional in their training relationship with the horse as well. Yet, it only makes sense that would be the case.

I guess I was giving others credit for being able to put their personal flaws aside when dealing with horses. Why I thought that should be the case, I do not know. Somehow I must have thought that training could be disconnected from one's psychological make up. Even in the typing the idea sounds ludicrous. Yet that's exactly what I did and so I was not using one skill at which I am quite well versed.

That skill would be the ability to read people and the games they play in less than record time. The world of psychology and patterns of human behavior have been a study of mine. Ever since I did therapy for childhood abuse reading the signs and understanding the behavior that leads to victimization of any kind has been a passion of mine.

I made it a point to learn everything and anything that would help me understand what makes people tick. Those skills have given me the tools to deal with people in difficult situations because I can read their patterns of behavior. I have been able to predict when and how much the same as professional profilers. Yet when it came to applying those skills to make decisions about who to trust training my horses, I have somehow managed to think their dysfunction didn't matter. It is as if the behavior only counted in their relationships with people, a situation I thought I could keep a safe distance from. By the time I felt threatened I was into something I should have never been. The signs were all there telling me to keep a safe distance but the signs were ignored.

Angry/controlling/inflexible/unresponsive these terms and some other equally disturbing ones fit some people I've given horses to for training quite well. I thought their personal issues aside, they could be trusted and would do right by my horse. Now looking through fresh eyes I can see exactly how these traits affected both our relationship and what happened with my horses.

I have wondered for years how do you tell the good trainers from the bad without even considering what I already knew. Had I used this measure of psychological health, I would have never made the mistakes I did. People who are personally accountable for their behavior and take full responsibility for what they do are not likely to abuse horses or cheat clients. If they are always covering their tracks and making things some one else's fault, the odds are you or your horse are going to pay and/or be blamed if things go wrong. It just so simple, I can't imagine why I didn't get it sooner.

Thermal Dieting??

When I heard the newscasters saying I could burn up to 50% more calories in the cold weather, I had to hang around to listen to the story. Thoughts of there being an added benefit in working horses in the cold winter weather seemed intriguing. Heaven knows I could use some motivation on those cold frosty days.

Being cold is not my favorite thing so I bundle up pretty heavily assuming the shape of the Pillsbury Doughboy on some occasions. I usually can peel off a layer or two as I work but still mobility can be an issue sometimes with all that extra padding. Sometimes I wonder if the horses sense the restrictions such clothing puts upon me because I swear they take advantage at such times.

I waited patiently for the story only to hear the new buzz work, thermal dieting. As it flowed out over the airways, the skepticism immediately transcended upon me. Astronauts working at 60°, athletics soaking in ice cube water and runners in New York sporting shorts and flip flops all to shed extra pounds. Give me a break!

I don't care if there is science to support the fact the body will burn calories to maintain heat. Duh! That's why we feed our horses extra when the temperatures drop. I get that.

I was hoping for some real science that said working in the cold, say under 40° can burn X number of extra calories per hour. Now that would have been useful information because you can sure bet you won't ever get me soaking in a tub of ice water to drop the added pounds I'd like to lose. No way baby.

I hate being cold. I'd rather be fat and warm than skinny and cold any day of the week. What about you?? Any thermal dieting in your future??

A Little Movie Review, A Little Thinking.... Secretariat

I'm not the only one in this family that loves horse movies so when trailers began to appear of Secretariat my family could hardly wait for the release. I had even bought tickets for a preview the week before the actual release date of the movie but instead of making our date at the movie theater we had a date with the vet on account of Solidare's Colt's illness so we had to wait to see the flick on the official opening date.

Being a sap about dreaming in the first place, movies that follow that storyline are automatically ok in my book especially when they are about horses. I found tears in my eyes on more than one occasion as this story unfolded. For me the fact it was a woman fighting for this horse made it all the more personal for me.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed there wasn't more about the horse in this movie. It was more the story of the woman behind him than the actual horse himself. All the major events in the horse's life were covered but I really would like to have seem more about the horse, his little quirks, his personality.

I know that horse movies are routinely picked apart for not being accurate. Incorrect plumbing on the horses used to portray Ruffian is probably the biggest movie maker faux pax I've heard tell of but I know that we horse people want our horse films to be authentic but I am not one of those who studies every little detail to see if they get it right. Some things do, however, just jump out at me.

In this movie the foaling was disconcerting between the changes from bay to differing shades of chestnut and the view of a face marking that was not even close in my book. Any breeder knows that face markings are oversized in foals. Horses grow into them, not to mention, the adult Secretariat had more than just a star. He was graced with a strip and a snip.

Other than that I thought this movie did pretty well portraying life in a racing barn as well as life on the track. I've not spent a lot of time in the barns to be an expert but the movie sure fit what I've seen.

I thought the characters were well cast but I thought the script was a little flat. I felt the actors made the most of what they were given and without their commitment the movie could have fallen flat. That would have been a shame considering what a giant of a hero Secretariat was. His racing career was amazing.

During the movie as I watched this woman fight her way through for this horse, I couldn't help but wonder how many "great" horses never made it because they didn't have a dedicated person behind them believing in them, making things happen so the horse could prove its greatness. Secretariat sure had that opportunity as did Seabiscuit. Without those people behind these great horses no one would have ever known what they were capable of accomplishing.


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A Little Lesson I Seem to Miss

All the talk of disposable horses and the training that can contribute to such outcomes for horses brings me around to thinking about what I've learned over the years about choosing trainers. Mostly it's the things I've learned from trainers that have not worked out for me that have taught me the most.

I've posted about a couple of bad experiences I've had with trainers and I've not posted some other experiences. I swear I learn from those experiences but not always everything there is to learn. Sometimes it's the accumulation of things that brings the real lessons to the front.

Back when Legs was a yearling, I put him in a really bad situation. I'm lucky the horse wasn't permanently damaged by the experience. I posted that story in Are You a Good Advocate for Your Horse? Part 2

Then I went on to put the horse in another bad situation. It's not been that long ago that I posted about that. Life..........and Its Lessons I learned a lot from both of those experiences but still I've been sucked in by trusting trainers after that time.

Looking back what do I remember that these trainers had in common. Each of them spent a considerable amount of time tearing down other trainers and building themselves up. Some were more subtle than others but with each the need to continually point out what was seen as short comings of other trainers was a major focus in their interactions with owners.

Hopefully I've come to the realization that any trainer who must "sell" themselves continually should be avoided at all costs. That grooming process that goes into getting the clients trust as well as putting the trainers on an even higher pedestal should be the number one clue that there's a problem. If a trainer really IS good, they'll be too busy working to spend that kind of energy trying to convince others that they're good. Now if I can just remember this in the future, maybe it'll save me and my horses some grief.

My Final Rant on Disposable Horses

I would be remiss not to mention that there are those owners who really don't care about what is best for their horse. To them it is about being successful to whatever degree their heart desires. Horses are just a means to an end. If the horses are "broken" in the process, they are discarded without a second thought.

Just like the culls from some breeding farms are easily loaded up by the trailer load and dropped off at auction houses without papers or any means of identification, the horses that flunk out from the school of hard knocks at one of those push 'em hard and fast trainers can be seen dumped off in similar manner. It may not be as obvious as those trailer loads the rumor mill talks about but you can bet over time the numbers are just as horrific.

Many trainers are not concerned about owners who really don't care about what is best for their horse. Why should they be? The trainer has pretty much free rein to do as they please as long as they produce results with some animals. Then there's the fact the more horses an owner goes through, the more money the trainer makes that you can bet affects how the trainer perceives that owner. It is the constant turn over of horses that assures the trainer a full barn even in this bad economy.

I couldn't possible forget to mention the trainers who are the ones behind their clients constant turnover of horses. They'll tell a prospective client what they want to hear about their horse before they get it in the barn. Then once the horse is there, the trainer decides this horse just isn't right for this client and the search is on to find a new one.

Most anyone whose been around the industry knows the more homes a horse goes to the more likely the horse will end up in a bad situation. Any practice intended to keep a client constantly moving through different horses can only be bad news for horses in the long run.

The thoroughbred industry takes a lot of heat about starting horses out early on their racing careers. Many critics believe it's the mindset that horses are disposable commodities behind such practices. However, thoroughbreds are most certainly not the only horses started early in their under saddle career.

I know particularly the American Quarter Horse and the Arabian breed both have futurities and maturity programs targeting those young horses. The horses I breed are not even mature enough to get on by the time many of these horses are showing at the national level. How long do those horses hold up when they've been started out so young? It would be interesting to track the show careers of such horses to see if they are still out there showing in their twenties like the horses brought on slowly can do.

I'm not criticizing those people who like to ride young horses, or the ones who are out looking for projects. It is not the practice of riding young horses that creates problems or finding horses with problems and fixing them only to put them back out there again. It is pushing horses beyond their limits mentally or physically and sometimes both that can causes of lifetime of problems for the horses subjected to them.

Lucky is the horse with issues who manages to fall into the hands of one of those saviors who give their hearts to rehabilitate such horses. Hopefully from there that horse will find the perfect home and stay put there to live out its days. Unfortunately there are far more horses with issues than there are people with the skills to fix them and there are far less perfect homes than any of us who love horses wish.

Even that rehabilitated horse is at risk if it end up in the hands of someone not knowledgeable enough to deal with its former issues. Once a horse has been scarred it does not take long to fall back into old behaviors when its not being handled correctly. Then the horse begins to get a reputation of really being a "bad *ss" Such a reputation makes a horse a likely target for the killers, that's for sure.

It's just not the horses fault, all of these things happen. Over and over it comes down to we, humans, and how we choose to deal with the horse. Unfortunately, rarely are the humans who have caused such problems for the equines in their life accountable for their behavior. I think if we want to see changes in the numbers of horses discarded each year, we have to figure out ways for those people to be accountable. Nothing will change until that happens.

Money and Disposable Horses

Of course, money is the motivator for trainers who engage in the practice of pushing horses to get results in record times but trainers are not the only ones at fault here. Many trainers defend their practices saying that owners wanting horses finished quickly is what's behind their behavior.

Working as a groom I saw enough owners complaining about the cost of training to know pressure is on most trainers to keep expenses down as much as possible. The questioning I've heard over and over about "how long it's taking" to get the job done definitely puts pressure on the trainers to hurry things up despite what is best for the horse.

Of course, there are trainers who will stand up to such owners and let them know training is a process. Unfortunately even trainers who don't really adhere to that belief with their training practices will usually balk at owners questioning them. For me a trainer that won't tolerate questioning from an owner is a red flag to run fast and furiously still owners need to be sure their questions are about what is right for their horse and not their pocket book.

The responsibility for pushing horses beyond what they can handle comes down to both trainers and owners. While trainers may seem to be the ones with all the power here, the power is in the money. Trainers couldn't do what they do, if owners didn't enable them to do so.

Those horses that can't hold up to quicky styles of training actually earn many trainers more money in the long run. There are those commissions the trainers get for buying and selling horses. The more horses turned over in a barn, the more commissions the trainer earns. Just another way the horse has no chance without an owner as an advocate.

There's another dynamic that can happen with owners and money that definitely affects the horse. As far as I'm concerned, I think those owners who are always out there looking for the best deal in horse trainers are a huge part of the problem of "broken horses."

The cheapest definitely doesn't always mean the best. There's a reason that some trainers are charging way less than others. If you find a trainer charging half of what the big name trainers are charging, the odds are something is amiss. Many times that reason has more to do with skill than owners want to believe.

Not that you can't find a real deal that is worth it in the horse industry. There are trainers, who for whatever reason, have talent, care about horses and people and don't charge four arms and a leg for training. Usually there is some reasonable explanation for why they are charging less but you can bet such trainers are few and far between.

I see time after time,small breeders, beginners and even old timers, making their way around the string of less than competent trainers on the fringes of the show community. With each trainer they leave they have a story of how they were taken.

Sometimes a half dozen horses or even more have been ruined before enough happened for the owner to even realize there was a problem. Yet, those owners rarely see how they contributed to things. They're still in search of that bargain and haven't made the connection between it and what's best for their horse.

Year after year I see the same people's horses in the show ring with the same issues. The horses may have changed but the issues are the same. Still the owners hang on tight saying they can't afford more while they've thrown away hundreds and even thousands of dollars on trainers who will never get the job done.

In the process lots of horses have been ruined but it's never the trainer's fault. It's always the horse who takes the brunt of it. The horse gets blamed for the problem and gets sent off somewhere while the owner finds a new victim to provide to the trainer. You'd think after a while the owners would get it figured out. More often than not, they hang in there with the trainer believing every word that's said.

It would be interesting to trace those discarded horses if it could be done. I suspect eventually many of the horses who have gotten off to such a start are the ones that end up in dire straights down the road. Neglected, discarded and broken by an industry that chooses not to see where the real problems lie.

Producing Disposable Horses

I suppose this is as good a time as ever to talk about at least part of the role that some trainers can play contributing to the problem of unwanted horses. In BECC's comment she made mention of thirty day wonders as the goal of many trainers nowadays. Any true horseman knows you can't put a time frame on a horse for training purposes. It's about the process for each individual that determines how things turn out.

Many horses do not adapt well to the expectation they will "get it" in a required time frame. Such horses are damaged by such a process. The extent of the damage can result in anything from lameness to bad attitudes and all manner of things in between. Trust can be destroyed to such an extent it can take years to heal such a horse. Some of those horses never heal. Others are too broken physically to ever be of use.

Such horses are easily discarded by unscrupulous ignorant trainers and sometimes owners who make the issue the horse's fault. Not wanting to take responsibility for their own failures because of the training process they use, it's just so much easier to make it the horse's fault. Unfortunately this situation is all too common in the horse industry. Many a good horse has been ruined in the horse industry by this type of training.

Unfortunately owners in their quest for ribbons will overlook the horses laid waste by such practices. They buy the justifications of the trainer and fall into the trap it really can be "the horse's fault. I know owners who say they don't condone abuse who live with it all around them. They're so brainwashed by the manipulations of their trainers they don't see what's right in front of them.

It's not always winning trainers that are involved in such practices. Many a young trainer trying to climb up the ladder of success has pushed too hard, asking for too much, way too soon. Wanting so badly to make it to the top, they too blame it on the horses, not searching for their contribution to the problem.

Over my years in the horse industry, I've seen more than my share of horses pay for the mistakes of people. So far none of the individuals I've known personally have been discarded to slaughter or abandoned somewhere but that doesn't mean they haven't displaced a horse whose taken their place in that demise.

Even the smallest stone causes a ripple on the waters. The practice of cranking trained horses out in record times is not a small stone. It's a huge expectation in today's horse industry and its ramifications on the horse industry is equally as enormous. Its effects on the population of unwanted horses may not have been measured but you can bet the ripple of this practice builds waves taller than buildings.

Mostly, no one wants to deal with the ill mannered horse. People who rescue such animals to fix them see far more pass by than they have time to save. When times get tough the horses with issues are the first to go.

Most of those ill mannered horses have humans in their past responsible for the behavior of such horses. If discarded horses could actually tell us their stories, we'd be appalled. You can bet the stories are far worse than the imaginations of those watching the plight of such horses. Just thinking about the bad experiences of a couple of horses I have bred makes me cringe at the thought of what others might endure. I can't even imagine, nor do I want to, my heart breaks so at the storied I do know.

Disposable Horses

There were many important comments on on Shocking Everyone has feelings on such a heart breaking subject. There are so many things to be said about it, it doesn't seem like one post is nearly enough.

I must admit that Brown Eyed Cowgirls made some great points in her comment I am just as frustrated by the circumstances of her points as she is and ever so tired of being blamed for issues in the horse industry that I have not caused nor do I condone.

I., too, think that responsbility is a big part of the issue. It's easy to point to the economy, to slaughter houses closing and to breeders in general when it really comes down to the personal ethics of the individuals invovled. People tend to look for scapegoats for problems instead of being willing to get in and learn what really is at issue.

Certainly the closing of the slaughterhouses has made all the more obvious issues within the industry but closing the slaughter houses didn't create the problems. There have long been issues in the horse industry caused by unscupulous breeders, sellers and buyers as well as those issues caused by outright ignorance.

As long as the slaughterhouses were open, we weren't having to see up close and personal, the number of horses that were being discarded each year. Horses that were bred in huge numbers to find one super star with the rest being discarded. Horses sold to people who were not qualified to deal with the animal. Horses purchased by people who were not serious about their commitment to take on such responsibility. The only ones who really noticed the discards from these practices were those going to the auction houses frequented by the kill buyers.

Those auction houses sold far more horses to the killers than were ever saved by those with breaking heart strings at their auctions. Kill buyers have made a lucrative living at it, that's why there are so many of them. Most everyone I know whose gone to such auctions has all kinds of sad stories to tell. Most I know have quit going because they can't stand the nightmares caused because they couldn't save them all.

Living here close to Canada, we have killers still buying at auction housesbecause they can still profitably transport horses to slaughter houses across the border.The circumstances at Joint Base Lewis-McCord have probably been directly affected by the closing of the local auction house in Yelm. That auction house closed down because Wal-Mart bought the property, not because of the laws forbidding the slaughter of horses in the US.

Anyone who could justify dropping a horse off at one of those auctions could easily make the jump to justifying dumping their horses on the fort or any kind of forest land. My guess those around here would go for the fort over hauling the additional distance to an auction house in Enumclaw or Centralia simply because of time and cost.

People who can dispose of animals in irresponsible ways are "victims." All you have to do is ask them and they'll tell you how life has screwed them. To their way of thinking, it's just not their fault that things have turned out the way they have. They've had no choice. They take no personal responsbility for their decision. That's how they live with themselves.......pointing the finger elsewhere allows them to sleep at night.

Society as a whole tends to enable such behavior. Instead of holding irresponsible people accountable, we feel sorry for them. Blame is pointed at the slaughter houses, the recession and breeders for there being too many horses.

BECC is right that the consumers have had a big hand in this. Money has fueled many of the abuses in the horse industry and society's view of the things we purchase being disposable plays a part in this as well.

If the irresponsible breeders didn't have an easy way to dump all of their culls, they'd have to think twice about producing so many of them. If irresponsible sellers had to be accountable for placing a horse in a situation that would never work, they'd be less likely to sell a horse that way. If buyers had to be accountable for the animal they take home instead of seeing it as disposable, fewer people would buy horses before they are truly ready to do so.

These are all complicated problems and I didn't even get into the part that trainers play in this nightmare. BECC mentioned trainers too but she didn't really touch the issues trainers contribute to this "disiposal horse syndrome." A post for another day, maybe. What do you think............about disposable horses? ...............and who contributes to the phenomenon?

Ramblings.......... A Little on USEF.........a Little on Fear

The reason for my last post was not to scare people into thinking they can't be safe around their horses. The fact that something "might" happen will never stop me from doing what I do. The problem, certainly for me, is if I do get hurt, I rarely take good care of myself. I don't want to be a causuality of my own neglect.

I know I'm not alone in this dilemma. Many more horse people I know overlook their injuries than deal with them. In the instance of head trauma or blunt force trauma to the torso, such oversight can be deadly.

The reason for that is a blood vessel can be weakened enough to put a person at risk and there will be no physical pain associated with that injury. Only when the thing bursts is there any sign of the injury. That's why the level one trauma folks will immobilize anyone who's suffered that kind of injury even though all indications say the person is fine. Even a little movement can cause a weak blood vessel to explode. If I ever get ordered to complete bed rest when I'm feeling

The situation with horse people ignoring the dangers of head injury is significant enough that USEF now has a rule to deal with situations like this. It doesn't matter whether the accident happens on the ground or it is a riding accident. If there is an incident of head injury where there is any question of concussion the exhibitor cannot compete without a release from a doctor.

A form is filed by the show's paramedic. The show is in turn required to make a filing immediately with USEF. That exhibitor not only cannot compete at the current event but any event in the future until the necessary release has been given by a doctor.

Knowing human nature like I do, the fact USEF has taken this kind of stance tells me an exhibitor somewhere has paid with her/his life. Liability issues may be USEF's motivation for the rule but it's probably a good thing. Knowing of it's existence has helped me to see the seriousness of my flawed thinking about head trauma.

For me that brings up the subject of fear. Fear can be a good thing when it protects us from danger. BUT it's a bad thing when it is not rational. It's important that we have balance when it comes to fear and dealing with horses.

Finding that line can be difficult. What is a healthy amount of fear? What is crippling fear? Each of us must answer that question for ourselves because we are the ones that must deal with the consequences of our decisions.

For me, allowing the thoughts of what a horse "might" do stop me from enjoying them would be bad news. Horses bring me such joy I can't imagine a day without them that means I must find a way to be with them and be safe.

To do this I focus on ground manners. If my horses know their boundaries I'm less likely to get hurt. The more precise those boundaries are the safer I become.

If I'm ever feeling insecure around a horse, I channel my insecurities into fixing the problem. I go back to basics and start working on those groundwork boundaries. Nine times out of ten it will fix my insecurity and fix the horse all at the same time. That way I using my fear in a constructive way that keeps me active with my horses and makes me safer at the same time.

Pictured is Heiress. No horse has driven my fear more than this one.

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Memorial Day........Seeing a Fallen Soldier Home

I can't think of a more fitting post for Memorial Day than this article from the Washington Times. GETZ: Seeing a fallen soldier home It was published on May 28 just in time for this Memorial Day weekend.

As I read the post, I couldn't help but wonder how many have remembered this holiday weekend is about remembering those who have lost their lives in the service of our country. Over the years the celebration of the holiday eroded into remembering all of our lost loved ones. Not that that's a bad thing but don't those who give their lives for our freedoms deserve to be honored all on their own as this holiday was originally intended.

That erosion, however, was not enough. This holiday has succumbed to being more a celebration of the coming summer and the play season that about honoring anyone. It's an excuse to party and complain about the weather if it doesn't cooperate with one's plans.

It's too bad that many of us in this country have lost sight of the price so many families have paid for our freedoms. We can party and forget about our troubles for a while because of this great country we live in. We can also forget about war and it's cost because we rarely see those wages on our own soil.........thanks again to those who protect us.........and give their lives for us.

I, for one, believe the way to celebrate Memorial Day is in memory of those who have paid the ultimate price for my freedoms and for their families. This timely writing from Ms Getz exposes the selfishness of many Americans while paying touching tribute to the cost this family has given for us. I hope you'll take the time to read it and that this Memorial Day has been as memorable for you as it has for me.

Note:Thanks to the friend who forwarded me this link in an email. The fact this email reached me within only two days of the publishing of the article gives me hope there are some Americans out there who haven't forgotten the price our military pay for our freedoms.

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance

I just got this in an email from a friend. I'm not normally into forwarding things on but this struck a note in my heart so I thought I'd share it here.

More on the Video

Of course, the comments on that video that Arabians have been bred to be crazy and the breed has been ruined by that type of breeding also pushed my buttons in a big way. While some breeders have bred for characteristics that are not desirable to everyone, there are plenty of responsible breeders in the Arabian industry. The breed has continued to improve over the years and the great disposition the Arabian horse is known for has not been compromised by current breeding practices. There are many breeders who consider producing a good minded horse to be an important part of their breeding decisions.

I got started in this industry fairly late in my life and sure wouldn't have wasted my time with a horse that wasn't worth that effort. I have NO TIME for stupid mistakes or crazy horses and I wasn't sucked in by either. I expect Arabian horses to be both beautiful and kind. I have rarely been disappointed.

I've come across a couple stallions in my journey that were real buggers, but it's people who turned them into those angry horses, not their breeding. Such things do happen to horses of any breed.

I've never met an Arabian horse that is downright crazy although I did met an older thoroughbred mare that was pretty darn close. Again, people made her that way. She was too old to fix at that point but still her behavior doesn't mean all thoroughbreds are crazy. It means there are reasons for this behavior....and it's usually people.

There were also,lots of comments on this video about how poorly the people in the ring handled the situation. However, when I looked at the video that's not what it looked like to me. Sure things were confusing. That's what happens when things get out of control.

As a show manager I can tell you when sh*t happens, you don't really have time to think about what you're going to do. Reactions are instantaneous and hopefully appropriate but that's not always the case. You try things and hope they work. If they don't you try something else.

The bigger the wreck, the more difficult it is to get things under control. The more horses, the more people involved the risk factors go up exponentially. All you can really do is give it your best shot and hope it works.

In this case there was a lot going on. Originally there were seven horses and carts in that arena, three judges, one announcer, one ring steward, probably only one scorer and a photographer probably with an assistant. When the timeout was called because the horse was out of control, other people slipped into the ring to assist. You can bet there was probably one additional person per horse and those were probably the trainers of those horses since this was an amateur driving class.

In all that's a lot of people trying to solve a problem no one has the time to discuss, thinking on your feet is the only way. Mostly you have people working individually trying to do what each thinks will work. While it may not be the most effective, it's still better than expecting someone else to fix the problem. It takes courage to step in to such a situation and try to help.

Some basic understanding of a horse's behavior under such circumstances would be important to know to determine the "right" thing to do. And, of course, there really is no "right" thing because each horse will respond differently to the stimuli. You might have a general idea of what might work but it's a guess at best.

In this case the horse was being "driven" forward by the cart or harness trailing behind. That's one of the things that makes driving classes so dangerous. When things go wrong, they go really wrong fast because the equipment used to help keep the driver and horse safe in the first place actually become part of the problem once things go wrong. The terrified horse can't see what's after him/her but can feel the drag adding to it's terror.

The horse's primal response is to escape pressure and that's exactly what it was trying to do. All other stimuli is secondary in such cases and may not even get noticed at all if the horse is "spooked enough." Attempts by the people to control this horse's movements were futile but the men were talking among themselves changing up things trying to find something that would work.

Since this horse couldn't immediately be stopped, obviously controlling the movement of the horse would be ideal. Accomplishing that goal is another matter. Wanting to keep the spooked horse against the rail was a great plan, but none of the spooking horses in this case really responded to attempts to accomplish that goal.

In the course of events the original spooking horse caused two other horses to break loose from handlers and spook. Someone managed to grab that second horse pretty quickly so it didn't cause even more mayhem. The third horse that took off dumped its handicapped rider out of the cart onto the ground. An onlooker drug the handicapped driver back towards the gazebo area getting her out of the open. However, she was later knocked off of her chair by her horse again because none of these loose horses respected the "barrier" that was that center ring gazebo., further testament to how out of control and unpredictable these horses were.

People were criticized for jumping out in front of the terrified horses. Yet, a horse wearing blinders only has that limited field of vision that is mostly to the front. How else did people expect anyone to affect a change in the horse's momentum without getting seen by the horse. All movement to the side of a horse wearing blinders is useless when it comes to controlling the movement of a loose horse. A change of direction, a break in stride, things like that are usually accomplished by breaking the horse's field of vision with some kind of barrier. Normally galloping horses can be turned or slowed when their path is intersected. That didn't happen here.

And yes, some people called the men trying to grab the spooked horse by the bridle crazy. Others would call them heroes. Many a spooked cart horse has been stopped by just such a man. And more importantly from what I know, that's usually the way those horses get stopped. Rarely does the horse get run down and quit on its own.

I know the horse that spooked at the show when I was manager was stopped by the ring steward who grabbed the horse thus saving the driver and the horse from a bad wreck. The ring steward injured his shoulder but he'll do it again, I can assure you.

Having the horse run itself down and get tired enough to quit would be good if the horse would stay in that outside area. But as you see on this video, these horses headed straight into the center ring gazebo, over carts, people and other horses. The unpredictability of these horses' behavior dictates some kind of intervention.

In this wreck the first horse was grabbed at unsuccessfully several times before someone was finally successful. The point is.........someone finally was successful thus removing this horse from the mix. Someone managed to catch that second horse very quickly before it even made an entire lap around the arena. I'm pretty sure that played a big role in this whole thing not ending much worse.

From the video there's no way to tell whose idea it was to rope that last horse but however it was, was brilliant in my book. I've looked over and over at that clip of the rope flying and bringing that horse down. All the time thinking there would never even been someone at one of my shows that good with a rope let alone in the right place at the right time. You can bet no one called the show office on the phone requesting the guy with the rope come show up and save the day. Talk about luck!

But then that's my point. You do what you have to do. Those who have the heart to try jump in there and give it all they've got. Those that don't sit back and criticize. In the end, no one was seriously hurt...........neither human nor horse. Considering the way this thing looks, it's a miracle but that miracle happened because those horses were finally stopped.........all three of them.

Congressional Hearings on NAIS

It's been a while since I wrote a post on NAIS (National Animal Identification System). That post Horse Owners Are You Aware of National Animal Identification System? 5 Reasons Why You Should Be! was back in April of 2007. Since then NAIS has been going along still under the radar but the situation is now urgent.

The projected date of total compliance by 2009 is right on track. Congressional hearings on NAIS are scheduled for Wednesday, March 11
with the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry . Bills to put NAIS into law, HR875 and companion Senate S814, are being pushed through Congress, as well as an Appropriations Bill with funding for NAIS. This hearing is critical to blocking mandatory NAIS.

So you don't know anything about NAIS. Well, here's an overview by Zanoni at Farmers’ Research Circle

USDA’s plan is to create a livestock tracking system in which
1. every property which keeps livestock, including horses, will have to register with the USDA
2. all livestock will have to receive individual identification in accord with government standards
3. all sales and movements of livestock will have to be reported for a fee to private, industry-controlled databases.

Large industrial farms, such as hog and broiler chicken farms, are exempt from requirements 2 and 3, individual animal ID and tracking reports.

This is content I received in an email from Lady of Chaos.

If you don't want the expense of registering your property and horses and getting permission everytime you want to show or trail ride your horse, then you need to be calling or emailing your politicians before March 11.

Here is a link to all senators, so start calling and emailing, this starts on March 11, lets flood them with emails and calls.How would they feel if every time they want to play golf, they would have to get permission! Big Brother is here!!
Senators Information
House of Representatives Information


Check out the credentials of the person who did the report at the Farmer's Research Circle. Check out my previous post and do some of your own checking on the internet. BUT do it quickly. Time is of the essence.

I don't know about you but the thought of having to report every time I move a horse off my property makes me nauseous. What a nightmare that would be for every training session, every lesson, every trail ride and every horse show etc. for each and every horse.

Now, I know that some think having to report every time you move a horse is ridiculous and couldn't possibly be part of this plan. And you would be RIGHT about the ridiculous part but WRONG about it not really being part of the NAIS plan.

This plan is geared toward ALL livestock, not just horses, and it is set-up to track animals to prevent the spread of disease. It is a typical example of government planning where they haven't totally thought out the impact on the entire industry. The only thing they see is the advantage it would give them in tracking things like Mad Cow.

But what about what it will do to our use of horses? Obviously they haven't thought about that. They've not considered what people actually do with their horses. Tracking each and every time a horse leaves its home can only curtail people's use of their horses.

Then don't forget about taxes! What will a system like this will cost? The tax burden of this system alone should be enough to get it stopped.........and yet, my senators weren't really aware of the issue at all. That in itself is pretty darn scary. Pushing this project through tagged onto some bill and they don't even know what they're voting on.........again, I am nauseous.

The time is NOW to act on NAIS! Sitting back and talking about it won't get it stopped. We've been doing that for years now and look where it's got us.........ready to see it passed into law any day now!

I've spoken with the senators from my state, Marie Cantwell and Patti Murray. I'm going to follow up with emails. I'm also going to send emails to the Representative to the House from my district (Dave Riechart). I've also sent emails out to my friends and I'm asking you all to do the same. If we don't DO something about this..............we're going to have to LIVE WITH IT!

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Are You Over-Horsed?

Most of us have heard that green horses and green riders don't make for a good mix. It's probably obvious to most why that happens to be true. Yet the instance of people riding horses who are beyond their skill level seems to be a pretty acceptable norm while it is just as dangerous a combination as green horses and green riders ever was.

Any time I go to a public event involving horses examples of over-horsed individuals are readily available. It doesn't seem to matter whether the people have a trainer or not, it's common practice to see people with an equine companion that is beyond their skill level.

It's easy to tell the worst of these horse/rider pairs from others, they are the ones with chronic problems. You see them in the warm-up and then in the ring fighting the same issues and the issues never seem to get resolved. If anything they just keep getting worse.

The horse might be tipping its head upside down and running off through the bridle. Or the horse might be bucking and kicking out instead of going forward. Other examples would be stopping and backing instead of doing the required gaits, running off, running the rider into walls, trying to run out the gate. You can name about any bad behavior and you'll probably see it from a horse that has learned its rider does not have the skill to get the horse to behave properly.

Sometimes the rider acquired the horse with these issues and doesn't have the skills to resolve them. Other times the rider causes the issues riding off of the horse's mouth instead of driving the horse forward into the bit. This horse develops bad behaviors trying to protect itself. Either way the combination of a rider with more horse than she/he can handle is a serious issue.

The unfortunate thing about this situation is it is a lose/lose for all concerned. The horse learns it can get away with unacceptable behavior making that horse difficult for any rider. Fixing this kind of horse can be near impossible sometimes. The odds that horse will ever be suitable for a less than experienced rider are slim to none if it even can be fixed.

A rider with this kind of horse loses confidence and may even develop fear. The rider may even lose all interest in horses out of frustration and lack of success. Sooner or later someone is going to be seriously hurt if the horse isn't sold first. There can be no other outcome with a horse that continues to learn it can cheat at whatever is asked of it.

If the relationship isn't terminated sooner instead of later, injury is part of the downhill spiral. Horses packing riders they don't respect can do many very dangerous behaviors. The more they get away with, the more the boundaries are pushed and the more dangerous things can become. It can become a downward spiral with no end in sight if the relationship is not terminated.

So how do you know if you are over-horsed? First off you have to get honest with yourself. It's impossible to see yourself as a great rider and accept that a horse is too much for you. If you can't get a horse through chronic behavior, then that horse is probably too much for you. If your horse is "good" for the trainer but naughty for you, it probably means that horse has your number. That would be another indication that the horse is too much for you.

In these kinds of relationships it's pretty easy for the owner/rider/handler to "blame" all kinds of things for a horse's bad behavior. It can be poor training, bad timing, the horse next to you, mares cycling in heat, who knows what else. Such excuses will not fix the situation. They will only hide it and thus make it worse. If your horse has chronic bad behavior, you've been working at it and it's not improving dramatically, then you and your horse are probably not a good fit.

It would probably be better for both of you to move on and cut your losses. Pouring more money into this kind of situation in the form of training or even more shows never works because money can't change the fundamental problem which is a negative history between this horse and rider.

The chances that a rider will gain enough confidence riding this kind of horse to actually ride through these issues are probably slim to none. Even if a trainer can fix the horse, horses never forget despite what some people say. They have long memories when it comes to things that have been threatening to them (which is the usual cause for horses developing this kind of behavior in the first place), the odds are the "offending" rider will be remembered by the horse and the pair will still have to resolve the issues between them together.

I'm not saying that this can NOT be done. I am saying that it is highly unlikely. The chronic bad behavior of any horse is not an issue for the faint of heart. One must be pretty darn determined, even more talented and not all that concerned about life and limb because a horse with chronic behavior will fight hard to hang onto what is within their comfort zone.......and that would be misbehaving.

Do you have an experience with a horse that was too much for you? I know I do.....



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My Own Rant.........on Owning Horses

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Recently my friend, Callie, at Midwest Horse was attacked for owning horses. The blog post that precipitated this attack, Serious Rant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! was about being unable to get a student loan for her daughter because the family's income was too high to qualify. Yet, the commenter made the leap that Callie and Steve owning horses sucked up all their money and was the real reason they didn't have the money to pay for college tuition.

I cannot even begin to tell you how angry that makes me...........however, it does NOT surprise me. While this commenter is the one who stuck out her neck and said these hurtful things, she is not alone in thinking them. Many people seem to hold those prejudicial thoughts towards horse ownership. And quite frankly I, for one, am really tired of it.

This whole topic gets my mind going so many directions I'm not even sure where I should go first. My thoughts range from "what gives you the right to" ........ "they are not anymore expensive than many other hobbies" and of course, there's a lot more in between.

But first lets start off with this thought. This is America, after all and that means we all have the right to chose for ourselves. At least that is what I was taught. So whatever gave this person the right to decide "how" or on "what" Steve and Callie should spend their discretionary recreational funds is beyond me.

Obviously this person seems to think she not only has the right to make that decision, but she has the right to attack Callie because she doesn't agree with her. How come we cannot have tolerance for those who do not see it OUR way? That is the part that frustrates me the most. Why must we attack those we do not agree with?

I'm pretty sure that's not what our founding fathers had in mind when they created this great country of ours. It was about live and let live.........not live and jam your opinion down the throats of everyone else. Tolerance seems to be in really short supply around the US and the world. In my opinion this lack of tolerance is a weakness we can ill afford.

However, this isn't the only issue I see here. It may be the most important one but there are others. The fallacies of the thinking need to be addressed as well.

There is that thought that horses are a useless money pit that is particularly offensive to me. Usually that notion comes from people who do not understand anything about horses (except expense). Since they have no affinity for horses, they don't "get" the concept of willing putting money into a living, breathing animal that requires care and manufactures lots of poop. Since it doesn't make sense to them, it MUST be stupid! And there we go back to tolerance again.........but I digress.

Yet, there are many forms of recreation out there every bit as costly as owning horses. However, you rarely see someone criticized for owning a boat, snow skiing or sky diving to name a few, because they are too expensive.........or what about frequent trips to Vegas or Reno (like my MIL) not to mention those regular visits to play BINGO. There are many, many things people do for recreation where they spend just as much money as we do on our horses..........and don't kid yourself.

I know from first hand experience that all of these things I named (and many more) can be and usually are just as costly as what it takes to own a horse. I have friends who spend as much money on travel as I used to spend when I was a recreational horse owner. I know people who spend more money for season tickets than I would ever think of spending. If you add up line by line these costs, I assure you you can spend as much money on that boat or whatever you chose as any horse and it won't greet you with a warm nicker of affection.

Many will not understand the importance of that warm nicker to us horse people, but it alone can knock that "useless" word right out of any context having to do with horses. You get it or you don't. That doesn't make horses useless.

Non horse owners reading this post would be all over these statements defending their decision for spending their discretionary funds on their personal "pleasure" of choice, Yet, they probably won't see past that defensiveness to get the point.

We ALL need some form of recreation. Life is stressful and without some kind of break to help us unwind and relax we'd be in a world of hurt. We'd be a bunch of angry, defensive, depressed people and the world would be in even bigger trouble than it is in now.

We ALL have the right to chose what we want to put our time, energy, and money into. That doesn't make us wrong or stupid because the other doesn't agree..........and it sure doesn't make us less worthy of deserving something like a simple student loan for a college student.

It has to make one wonder though what goes through these people's minds. Certainly the attitude is closed off and ALL knowing like some how they are superior and "get" what the rest of us have overlooked. Yet it clearly shows their lack of understanding and caring for others to be unable to empathize with one's frustrations at the inequities in life instead attacking someone for it. Me, it makes me feel sad for this person since it clearly shows a rigidity that is a very difficult place to live.

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Ground Work versus Riding....What to Do?

There's been some talk about ground work on the internet here lately. mugwump chronicles in Rant-orama and Ranto-rama 2
posted one of her pet peeves which appears to be people talking ground work instead of actually riding. I think underneath it all there is a very good sentiment there, ground work in and of itself will never break a horse to ride. The only thing that will do that is being on that horse's back.

The hard part, I think, is that many people tend to over simplify. I don't mean that just in regards to ground work and riding, but in pretty much everything. It's easier to pull a thread and make something out of it, than learn what is really behind the whole story.

Part of that is human nature. It's impossible for most to take everything in all in one sitting. It takes time to learn and learning is a process that never really stops. That is certainly the case with horses.

So when people see what the Parelli's, the Lyons, "the horse whisperers" of the world can do, it's easy to think those experts have all the answers. The next step is to think we can too if we can just get that horse hooked on....... because that's how we want it to be.

The problem is that just isn't reality. Getting a horse "hooked on" is only one step in a process. If you don't know the other steps, you're in for one helluva ride.

Is this the fault of ground work? Nope Or the messenger? Nope there either. The problem lies with us........we, humans, and our understanding. It's the way we took it in and the way we chose to use it. To complicate the matter each of us is different and so is our understanding. The solution is going to be as different as the people and their knowledge. AND it's going to be complicated...........because horses are complicated.

Now, I don't mean that every little step will be complicated.......that's the last thing I would say. Many times the solution to a problem can be quite simple......but only if you have the understanding to make it simple in the first place. THAT is what makes the Parelli's, the Lyons, "the horse whisperers" of the world so successful. They make something complicated LOOK simple. They open a door in our understanding that we didn't have before and we take it from there and run when we have little to no understanding of the foundation it was built on.

Whether or not we run right out and push that horse around the round pen or we take what we learned and keep looking for new doors for it to open in our relationship with our horse is totally up to us. Many will never get past that first understanding because they want it to be that simple. Others will make gains but get stuck in the belief their guru of horsemanship has all the answers. And still others will keep looking for information where ever they can find it including their horse.

How much or how little ground work a person does with a horse will never be the bottom line in how well a horse is trained. The quality of the training will be directly related to the understanding of the horse held by the person doing the training and their application of that knowledge and the horse's ability to process it.

I've know successful trainers who swear by a lot of ground work and others who aren't comfortable with ground work at all. Both types produced successful horses because it wasn't just the ground work or just the riding that produced the result in the horse. It was what the horse learned that was important.

Each trainer may have built on a different foundation but the horse was able to "get" what it was supposed to learn and the building was successful. And when it's all said and done, that's what matters. The horse must understand what we're asking. Without that it doesn't matter whether we did it in the saddle or on the ground. It'll all be useless.

So for me, I do some of both depending on the horse. I've spent many hours of ground work on one horse and practically none on another. I love to ride and that's what I want to do, but sometimes I find I need to get off that horse and do some more ground work. The horse decides which way it'll be.

That's one of the most important lessons I've learned with horses. I need to listen to what they have to say, make my decisions from there, and then things will be fine. We'll get things figured out sooner or later.

That leads to the other important lesson I learned about horses, that is I am never going to know everything there is to know about them no matter how hard I try. Anybody who tells you otherwise is a fool.......and if you believe them guess what that makes you. I think the last part of this lesson I learned from Harvey Jacobs, and I think he's right! LOL




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Controversy or Soap Box?

With the death of Teddy O'Connor Eventing Pony Theodore O'Connor Dies the amazing jumping pony, I can't help but flashback to the death of Eight Belles as well. Two such totally different experiences, Eight Belles died doing what she loved and Teddy O'Connor died because he was being a horse. It just goes to show how fragile horses really are.

We tend to believe that because they are big and powerful that they are indestructible as well. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Horses are built top heavy balancing all of that weight onto thin legs. It's amazing that their legs even support such a frame in the first place let alone allow them to move in a manner that can seem effortless.



When something happens to horses like Eight Belles we automatically blame it on humans. Eight Belles' Death Sparks Controversy
But Eight Belles was as fragile a horse a Teddy O'Connor.

The thing that made both of these horses great was their heart. While we can be in awe of the heart of a horse, we must also remember that great heart can cause them jeopardy. Horses who push on past normal for other horses may have the look of eagles but that very attribute means they will test their bodies to the ultimate limit. A horse that pushes past the limits of its body dies most of the time. It's as simple as that.

The great mass of the horse's body pounding along can have catastrophic consequences. A horse like my Scandalous changing direction too abruptly ends up dying from the damage done internally by the sheer force of the action. Eight Belles, Barbaro ane many others had their legs give out from the pounding they took carrying their top heavy frame to such extremes. The fall that Teddy O'Connor took running back to the barn caused a severe laceration to his hind leg, severing the tendons and ligaments. How did that happen.........the sheer force caused by his body weight behind the fall.

We may try to protect the horse to some extent from such tragedies but we never will be able to prevent them all. It's inherent in the make-up of the horse that such things can and will happen.

We don't do the horse any service by blaming humans for something they have no control of in the first place. But we open ourselves up to outside scrutiny from people who react totally off emotion with little if any understanding of the issue or the horse. The possibility of regulation based on such scrutiny could be devastating to the horse industry and to the horses we're trying to protect in the first place. What do you think?

Arabian Horses as Healers

I think I've been pretty outspoken on this blog about what owning Arabian horses has meant to my mental health. I know that connection has kept me sane and given me a reason to live. I understand that horses do that for a lot of people but for me it is particularly Arabian horses that hold that power.

There's something about the need an Arabian horse has to be in the company of humans that has been very healing for me. That special attachment that comes when one chooses me to be his/her human has been more healing than all those years of therapy ever were. Sometimes it feels like just being in the presence of a treasured horse can lift the heaviness from my heart and make it sing again even on the worst days.

But that has not been the only healing that Arabian horses have done in this family. I have also written about my daughter, Lindsay, and her bout with brain cancer. Despite almost the total destruction of the balance center in her brain, Lindsay has recovered far beyond what the doctors ever imagined possible. She still has some issues but she's not in that wheel chair she came home from the hospital sporting and she can take pretty good care of herself (although she needs assistance with managing her finances). Her recovery would be deemed by many as miraculous and I know a huge part of that recovery was won on the back of an Arabian horse and earned in caring for this herd.

You'd think two major things like that in one family would be enough. Yet I have one more story to tell about Arabian horses helping to overcome huge obstacles in this family. This third thing really has to do with two younger members of my family, two of my grandsons.

We learned on Saturday that my grandson, Wil (age 4), has just been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. This is not the first time I have seen this disorder, my oldest grandson, David (age 21), I have suspected since soon after his birth was autistic.

Unfortunately for David that was twenty years ago. There wasn't nearly as much known about autism then as there is now. Neurologists missed the diagnosis many times. David was high enough functioning that the rest of the family was in denial. It only took one not so good neurologist to see him (but not test him) for the family to close ranks and decide that David was just fine.

Today, they can see that they did David a disservice but things aren't so easy to fix for him now. He's an adult and he's had a tough road. Lots of damage has been done because he was misunderstood and didn't get the help he needed.

Actually just hearing that Wil has been diagnosed with autism changes my perspective on this child and has helped change what some see in David. The parallels in behavior between the two boys are so much clearer. It's much easier to understand the "why" in the behavior now.

For me as Grandma, one of the biggest things about both boys was their lack of connection to people. Right from the beginning the lack of eye contact, the avoidance of being touched, the tuning out were obvious.

While I would say that David was more severe than Wil, both boys didn't speak except to their primary caregivers and their siblings. Yet there was a detachment even with those relationships. Nothing huge........a subtle oddness that made me wonder.............and wonder a lot.

I'm not an expert on autism, although I imagine I probably will be one someday. But one thing I know for sure, the way that you "break through" with those kids is through what interests them. You cannot take their focus and change it to what you want them to learn. You must find what they are focused on and use it to communicate. My understanding is that is key.

Neither boy spoke to me for a long time. I think David was four before he spoke his first words to me. Wil was three. Can you imagine what it's like to have a child or a grandchild who doesn't speak to you for that long?

There's a miracle there for me and David and Wil and it has to do with Arabian horses. These two boys were both drawn to Arabian horses just like their grandmother. The key to our relationships have been those horses.

I clearly remember the first time David spoke to me. Colleen, David and I were standing next to the fence at the small pasture looking at a new foal. Colleen and I were talking like magpies discussing the newest addition to our herd when I heard in a loud firm voice, "Grandma!"

The word startled me. I had never heard it from a child before. I looked down at little David and could tell from the expression on his face that he had asked me a question but I had missed it.

Not expecting to hear from him, I wasn't listening for a small voice. He thought I didn't answer because he didn't address me properly (something his mother was working on with him) so he called me by name.........only because he wanted to know something about that horse and the followed it with his question once again.

I don't remember the question. All I remember is it was about the horse. I remember the first eye contact the child ever made with me. I remember that for several years the only time the child talked to be had to do with my horses. I remember the bridge provided by an Arabian horse.

Fast forward twenty years and I can almost repeat the story word for word with Wil. This child was three but our first conversation was about an Arabian horse. Wil wants to know every detail about them. He is consumed by them as only an autistic child can be.

Wil was prompted to speak to me on many occasions before but he always declined. Not only would he not talk to me, he would look away when asked to address me. It was clear that I was not in his comfort zone. Although I didn't suspect at the time it was the autism I had easily recognized in David. It's only in looking back after the diagnosis I can see the similarities.

But I clearly remembered the first time he spoke to me. He asked his father a question about the horses and his father told him he was going to have to ask me. I was the only one with the answer and he turned to me, took a deep deep breath, looked in my eyes and asked his question about my Arabian horses. What do you think the odds are that two young lives with two heavy burdens would find their way to a relationship with their grandmother through the same channel?

For me, it's another miracle! And just one more reason that Arabian horses are precious to me. I know from first hand experience that they can reach even the most damaged child and give her hope. There's something very healing about the spirit of an Arabian horse, at least in this family anyways.

An Arabian Horse Owner and Blogging Jeopardy

I knew when I started blogging about my journey with Arabian horses that I was opening myself up for criticism. People have so many different opinions out there in the blogosphere and I was bound to come across people who didn't agree with me. I decided to take the leap anyway because there are so many things I didn't know when I first got started into horses. I thought if I could save anyone from some of my mistakes the risk would be worth it.

With that thought in mind I have posted about some issues that have been difficult for me. None has been more difficult than the series A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Down a Rocky Road Of all of the things that have happened on this farm, that accident was by far the most disconcerting, the most heart breaking, as well as the most life changing.

I will probably always feel like I should have been able to prevent this accident. Despite the fact that I had never even heard of such a thing happening before, this will always weigh heavily on my mind. I don't need someone telling me it was my fault, I have an internal voice that does that job well enough as it is.

Thursday while Rachel and I were setting up at the Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show, I received an anonymous comment on A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Down a Rocky Road Part 2 telling me just that. The comment read:

What a preventable shame.

And bad writing to boot.

Get a hanky and feel sorry for yourself, but you really could have prevented this.

As you know, I have comment moderation enabled on my blog. I haven't really done it because of comments like this. I have done it to ward off the spammers that seem to love my blog. But in this case (and three others in the past) I used that moderation to "Reject" this comment because I think it is mean spirited and intended to cause harm, not to educate and help people find better ways to deal with their horses. I won't even go into how it felt to find that comment in my inbox.

Maybe I should have just kept this comment to myself but it actually struck a cord with a pet peeve of mine. That would be those "anonymous" commentors who say mean things under the guise of caring for the horse when all they really want to do is attack others. All four comments that have been made here that were "attacking" in nature were done by anonymous commentors.

But my beef isn't just with those who make mean comments without a user id, I also have no tolerance for those who set up a user id that is just a front for anonymous comments. Those established with no trace back to the person making vicious and mean spirited comments.

That is my number one complaint with FUGLY and other controversial sites. The majority of the commentors blasting their victims have user ids but are not bloggers. They have set up user accounts solely for the purpose of their little cliques knowing who they are but the rest of the world not having access to their information. They don't want to be culpable for what they post.

These people go off half cocked with very little information assuming they know everything there is to know about the subject at hand. Yet many times all they know is one very slanted side of a story. They hear what they want to hear and take that as permission to launch their assault in the name of their opinion.

I certainly agree that we are all entitled to our opinions no matter what they might be. However, if you have an opinion that is truly important to you, I think you should have the convinction to stand behind that opinion.

It doesn't take much courage to hide behind the cloak of anonymity and tell others they don't have a right to breed their own horse, that they are too stupid to even own horses, that it's my fault that my mare died or any of the myriad of other rude and judgemental things that are bestowed upon an assortment of horse owners and trainers at the hands of such people. Those comments are not made in the interest of fairness or education. They are made solely at the expense of another human being and so the commentor can feel superior.

Those commentors need to remember that we are all human, after all. That means that we are ALL flawed. We all make mistakes whether we want to or not, it is unavoidable. All we can do is try our best to be good people and good and responsible horse owners.

Tearing someone to shreds over mistakes and poor judgement isn't going to stop those kinds of things from happening. Not only that, it makes it hard for the person attacked or others like them to even hear the message these people claim they are trying to convey. No one can learn anything productive from being attacked except maybe to protect oneself.

If I was to do that, I would quit blogging altogether. While that might be exactly what the anonymous commentor would like to see, that's not about to happen anytime soon. My reason for blogging has always been about overcoming ignorance. That means in all of it's form including that ignorance that causes one human being to attack another.

Foaling - Hand On or Hands Off

As you all know, it's foaling season and I've been watching mare foaling on Mare Stare again. It's a regular occurrence for me and I'm pretty used to the routine. I tend to watch in the chat room where there's active conversation about what's going on with the foalings. However, I also follow what's happening on the threads. There's a lot of information to be learned there. I actually have a couple of new things I've learned I'm still researching before I'm ready to post.

Last week on Q & A What Was That? a new thread was started that I thought might be worth discussing here. Excessive interference during and after foaling? might be a can of worms. Everyone has their own ideas about how horses should be dealt with and the right way for a mare to foal. There are certainly lots of things to be said for leaving a mare to herself or for doing whatever you can to make it easier on the mare.

I'm not one of those people who could just let nature take its course. I've seen the statistics on mares foaling in nature and they're not impressive. I'd like my mares and foals to have better chances than that so I monitor my mares closely. I'm really grateful for the webcam that has made that a much easier process.

Once labor is underway, I like to be close at hand. I only go in the stall if I need to to check the position of the foal. Then as long as the foal is in the correct position, I try to stall out of the mare's way. However, that can change depending on the circumstances.

If the mare lays too close to a wall, I will go in and get her to move. If the foaling seems to be taking longer than normal, I'll get a closer look to decide what to do. If the mare seems to be concerned, I'll stay with her to reassure her. I really try to take my cues from the mare and her condition.

Once the mare is born, there's the question about imprinting. If you are going to imprint a foal in any way it has to be done immediately after the birth. Lessons left for later are not nearly as effective. I know that from first hand experience.

I read all about imprinting before I ever had my first foal. I thought I knew enough to pick and choose what would work for me. Part of the choosing for me was not necessarily doing things right after birth and I pretty much thought I didn't need to be sitting on my foals.

I breed for horses with big attitudes. I've said this before and I'll say it again that big attitudes translate to presence in the ring. You can't teach a horse presence, they either have it or they don't. If you want to be breeding top quality show horses, presence must be one of the attributes you're breeding. For me, if I want to get the kind of prices I need to keep this Arabian breeding farm going, I need to be breeding top quality show horses and that means that big attitude.

I've been fortunate in my quest and been pretty successful achieving my goals. But the result of that is I had a couple of pretty opinionated colts that changed my ideas about sitting on foals as instructed in Imprinting by Robert Miller DVM. The first that comes to mind would be Scandalous Rhythm. He was the first colt that I knew early on that I should have gotten into his head right from day one.

By the time I knew I was in trouble, the colt was too big and his attitude was growing daily. I had already had a couple of colts with attitudes that were big, but I didn't have problems with those colts at all. However, both of those colts had been sat on by the vet the day they were born because they had to have medical intervention.

By the time I realized that I should have sat on Rhythm, it was too late. Te horse was too big for me to manage alone and my husband wouldn't help.My husband isn't a horse person and he couldn't get his mind around the need to be sitting on baby horses. I had to settle for getting help with Rhythm from Harvey Jacobs when he was two. Granted Harvey taught me how to manage Rhythm, but I still firmly believe had I sat on the horse at birth, I would never have needed Harvey's help and Rhythm wouldn't be as pushy as he is.

The same year that Rhythm was born, I had another colt with a huge attitude, Scandalous Change. Another big attitude but another horse that required medical intervention. The vet sat on him a half dozen times, holding him down trying to get a tube down his throat. The resulting colt was very sweet and easy to handle, just like Image had been. I did end up gelding Chance but not because he was difficult to handle. I gelded him because he was loud and he had a shrill voice. In hand he was a dream, in his stall he was a screamer anytime a horse even moved. I probably could have fixed the screaming if I'd taken the time but it was easier to geld him so I did.

The point is it was clear to me, just like it had been clear to Robert Miller DVM, that those foals that had medical interventions shortly after birth were much more malleable than other foals.The difference between the two colts that were sat on and Rhythm was like a chasm, yet all horses had huge attitudes. They all loved people and wanted to please but Rhythm also wanted to be the leader. Image and Chance wanted to be my best friend.

Because of these experiences, I now try to sit on all of my colts. I prefer to sit on the fillies as well but have to admit that I'm not as anal about it as I am those colts. I can get distracted and not sit on a filly and be totally comfortable that it'll be fine, but those colts, I try to keep them on the ground until they are comfortable waiting for me to let them up.

In addition, I like to dry my foals off and blanket them but I always make sure the mare has access to the foal first. If the mare is still down (which most of mine are) I pull the foal over to the mare's face so she can sniff the foal and like it if she wants. Then while the mare visits with the foal, I dry it off at the same time.

The reason I blanket foals is our stalls are pretty open. They can be cold not to mention our goofy weather is never conducive to foaling. Usually after foaling I have a shivering mare and a shivering foal, so I blanket the foal and fix the mare a nice hot bran mash to warm her up and keep her plumping working well.

But note, I never blanket a foal of a maiden mare without "scenting" the blanket by using the placenta. That's right, I rub the placenta on the foal blanket back at the top by the tail. It doesn't have to be a disgusting wet slimy patch, just brush it across lightly. Also be weary of keeping foal blankets too clean. Some mares will get confused and attack their own foals because they can't smell their own scent of them. (After a couple of days nursing the foal gets that scent from the mare's milk.)

I tend to assist my foals in standing. The reason for that is twofold. First, we tend to have pretty long legged foals which makes it harder for them to figure out how to use their legs and find their center of balance. Second, my stalls are 12 by 12 and that's not all that big for a long legged foal trying to figure out how to use those mile long legs. After experiencing foals bounding off walls, it's much easier to assist them. I stimulate the foal to rise by running my fingers down both sides of the spine. Then I grab that foal by the blanket right in the middle of the back, using it to stabilize the foal while it finds its center of gravity. Once they find that center, they're usually good to go on their own. Occasionally I have a foal that I have to help out two or three times before they finally get it down, but those instances have been dummy foals.

The last intervention for me is usually assisting a foal to nurse. Usually I just point them in the right direction. Sometimes it takes more intervention than that. I have had foals that I have had to get milk from the mare onto my finger to draw the foal to the right location. Sometimes I even have to let that foal suck on my thumb to even get it to follow at all. With a little practice I've actually become pretty good at pulling my thumb out right next to the mare's nipple so as the foal roots to find it again, it actually latches onto the mare.

So what do you think? Are you for hands on or do you think they should figure it out on their own?

The update on Dandy is has improved even more today. I had a nice ride where he started off just like the horse I know instead of pushy and uncomfortable. But he still has visible bloating. It's obviously much better but not gone. I'll keep you posted.

BTW, my cam is up but needs a bit of adjusting (not a simple task) I will begin posting status on the mare soon.

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