Regarding the Horses in our lives...

[perchie.girl]

If I ever bought a crank it would be for the cushy comfort. I was watching utube the other night, like every night, and Isabell Werth has this horse named Bella Rose (?). If you see that horse just standing there, she does not look well put together. But out in the ring, she's a beauty! And I am very happy to see that some people actually do ride the old (correct) way. Werth rides that horse with a very correct posture and head carriage. And I was thinking that the mare looked to me like she was going to be tough to hold together, but no, she is good! She got an 85% at Aachen 2014, and cried leaving the ring.

Which leads me to a question. How can a rider ride their test with their horse's nose far behind the vertical and score a movement well? Shouldn't it be that if the horse's posture is incorrect, how can the movement be correct? Sure Totilas is a phenomenal horse, but what would he be if he was ridden with his nose slightly ahead of the vertical??? Would it be the same? I had alot of respect for Gal until I saw warm up and training videos of him and Totilas. Made me sick.

Deb, that's a beautiful story. What a beautiful picture of you in your show clothes. Just lovely.

You mean this Picture?


OH my no thats not me that photo was an inspiration that Dressage is also for drafts..... That picture was of Cotton Wood flame and his owner Jennifer Kaiser

http://www.forresthillfarm.com/index.htm

I only ever competed once in a dressage show .... training level test two I believe... No Jennifer Kaiser is not only a Grand Prix level trainer but shes an inspiration... Not a light weight person... Even when i am thin I still weigh about 150 pounds... myu English boots the last time I was able to wear them had to be cut off because my legs swelled up so much that the feeling was going out of them.

When i went to the boot guy to have them repaired he put in an inch worth of gusset... After that I was ashamed to ride in a show again.

The very last show I showed in was for a friend... I was 190 pounds then. She begged me to. I tried to get out of it but since it was a schooling show I rode with riding shoes and levies and a borrowed shirt. When I got the pictures back from the show I was in shock... she was soo happy her horse won a blue she didnt see how morbidly obese his rider was. I burst into tears. And went to Weight Watchers.... Lost 56 lbs in 26 weeks.... Went from a size 18 to a size 12. and Kept it off for a good two years after that.

But life happened.... and Now I am almost 400 lbs. Even at 300 lbs I could walk with my horse and long line and do stuff... Now I can barely make it to the car without help.

This bleep has to change... sorry I digress. Birthday number 60 has hit me hard.

deb

 

[seminolewind]

Deb, you really need to get some weight off.

You are only 60!!! I have friends that are 60+ and ride. I don't have to tell you the health reasons I'm sure you know them. You've done it once at least already. I went thru a shock like that a few years ago (pictures) and dumped 20 pounds just eating smaller portions. Hard? The first 3 days are awful, after that it's pretty easy. Of course I gained some of that back, but that's life, right?

How come no one runs around saying "Oh Gawd I'm sooo skinny!!!"

In the course of 10 years, I was taking 2 lessons a week, and showing , and I was never even looked at until my instructor stood next to the ring and read the test for me. That's politics. I made it into showing 1st level, and schooling 2nd at home. Then my horse was so arthritic that he needed so long to warm him up , I retired him. Then I got a 16.2 built like a Budweiser horse Hannovarian. He was a cloud to ride, but he would come out each day into the ring and pretend that we were starting from scratch. He wasn't lazy, just really didn't have the mind for it. And he bucked like a bronco if I didn't lunge him for 20 minutes before I rode. I sold him and cried all day.

Now I have my girl who has a "Grand Prix" mind, but a 4 beat gait, LOL

 

[seminolewind]

Peaches, do you have a horse? What do you do with dressage? Is it an Arab you have?

 

[perchie.girl]

Deb, you really need to get some weight off.

You are only 60!!! I have friends that are 60+ and ride. I don't have to tell you the health reasons I'm sure you know them. You've done it once at least already. I went thru a shock like that a few years ago (pictures) and dumped 20 pounds just eating smaller portions. Hard? The first 3 days are awful, after that it's pretty easy. Of course I gained some of that back, but that's life, right?

How come no one runs around saying "Oh Gawd I'm sooo skinny!!!"

In the course of 10 years, I was taking 2 lessons a week, and showing , and I was never even looked at until my instructor stood next to the ring and read the test for me. That's politics. I made it into showing 1st level, and schooling 2nd at home. Then my horse was so arthritic that he needed so long to warm him up , I retired him. Then I got a 16.2 built like a Budweiser horse Hannovarian. He was a cloud to ride, but he would come out each day into the ring and pretend that we were starting from scratch. He wasn't lazy, just really didn't have the mind for it. And he bucked like a bronco if I didn't lunge him for 20 minutes before I rode. I sold him and cried all day.

Now I have my girl who has a "Grand Prix" mind, but a 4 beat gait, LOL

LOL love that Grand Prix mind... Yep I am needing to get back to at least being able to walk. I have one of those wrist band thingies that measures your BMI your movement 24/7 as well as your quality of sleep. as well as an excellent data collection as far as what you eat... I cant keep it on... the arm band is too small.

One of the reasons I fell in love with driving was watching the Hackney horses when I was about 21... There was one class with Viceroys... four wheeled vehicles ... really a box with bycicle wheels and lots and lots of chrome. I watched as this elderly woman in Black sequened gown white gloves and sequened feathers in her hat drive by.... I though Oh my she looks like shes on cloud nine. She parked in the line up and Zoom three grooms came out wiped the foam off the horses mouth adjusted his over check double checked his parking position then they zooomed out. Horse planted smiling face and she won.

It was then the announcer said her name and the crowd went nutso... Very famous but I still dont have a clue as to who she was. The horse was a famous stallion... hers... And they were retiring from the show arena... She was 89. I thought I wanna be doing that when I am 89.......

When they did their victory drive OMG he was the most floaty and powerful and pure joy to watch.... and she was in her element...

I will never be rich except for the love of my horse... I will never be able to afford the "gear" to show... But I do want to be able to hitch and drive my girl well into her forties. WE have another twenty years together.

So the weight comes off. I am looking at living on social security... no savings no other income... so The weight will come off.

I cant bear people asking me how i am doing with the process though. I appreciate the intent or concern but it makes me dig in my heels... too many times I have failed.

deb

 

[seminolewind]

I know what you mean with people continuously asking. I quit my job and every time I saw my father he asked if I found another job. I finally had to ask him to stop- It was so annoying and got to where I was feeling guilty saying no.

I can't imagine having money to show-trainers, lessons, clothes, tack, show fees, and trailering. I think to get out of Training/First level you start to need real money and lots of time. Not to mention the price of the horse! Lotto will get me those things, LOL

 

[perchie.girl]

I know what you mean with people continuously asking. I quit my job and every time I saw my father he asked if I found another job. I finally had to ask him to stop- It was so annoying and got to where I was feeling guilty saying no.

I can't imagine having money to show-trainers, lessons, clothes, tack, show fees, and trailering. I think to get out of Training/First level you start to need real money and lots of time. Not to mention the price of the horse! Lotto will get me those things, LOL

thanks I was hoping you'd understand

Yep My good friend Denise bought a nice little quarter horse mare... Her trainer convinced she could do the Western show circuit... ONE years worth cost 10,000... INcluding training, gear, transportation, lodgins, and show fees.....

she got a couple of ribbons and a belt buckle out of it... and a horse that was sour.... unridable except in the arena... Back 20 years previous when we rode together I gave her dressage lessons to help her with her mare... Shes a bit older than me... now she works at that trainers barn as the Little kid instructor... shes good with kids.

I guess its a bit of jealousy on my part because she was able to do what I dreamed of... But then again my priorities have changed big time.

deb

 

[seminolewind]

My priorities changed too. My mare is a decent show horse if I did show, but it's been there done that. Too much anxiety.

I had a friend once who took her trainer and self to Germany to a sale barn. She picked out a stud, paid to have him vetted, gelded and flown to NY. Quarantine. Finally got the horse and within a few months, sold the horse and bought a Thorobred. That was in 1990. At that time there were plenty of warmbloods for sale, but with warmbloods, they needed to be constantly pushed and not very sensitive. The TB she bought took immediately to collected work and did a nice collected canter within months of her getting the horse. Now, of course, Europe breeds their sport horses to be much better at being good riding horses that have a good mind .

 

[perchie.girl]

during my first few lessons for dressage I was taking lessons with a lesson horse... and the trainer was a woman by the name of Marge Riding.... How appropriate right? One of her favorite sayings was Its easier to slow a horse down than to speed one up...

My mare at the time was a Standardbred... Had an old auction glue spot on her tail when we got her... Two years old at most. Long story of it she and I taught each other. Spookier than all get out dumped me over a hundred times my first year... Just by jumping out from underneath me. Taught me how to stay on eventually.

But I got tired of it... I also got tired of having spurs on all the time. So someone told me I could solve quite a bit of my issues with my mare by taking some dressage lessons. So I found this Marge Riding person... and started taking riding lessons. OH My it was work... I used muscles I never thought I had.

But the more I learned the better my mare got... I found out I was the issue on her spook.. because she needed that closer contact and more communication from me... to give her confidence... I switched from riding with spurs to a dressage whip... All I had to do was wiggle the tip just a bit to encourage her to keep moving... We learned how to move from pressure from one leg... keeping her straight...

she still dumped me occasionally about once a year... when I got lazy she got lazy... But she turned into a fantastic trail horse calm and went out alone without issues... At the time I did a lot of riding alone.

When I was 21 I bred her to a beautiful Arab Stallion by the name of Marki. Just one name No others. I was told his color was Black grey. He had a white mane and tail and very dark charcoal dappling... And fifteen hands which was the same as my mare. I liked his conformation too. More like a polish bred Arab... But Janice Shants said He had desert bloodlines... She also used him to tease the mares too... What a very very good boy he was.

My mares name was Carmel Mist... So I named her cold Carmel Marque... Registerd him half Arab. He was the perfect blend of the things I loved about my mare and the things Ioved about that stallion. I got lucky. We ponied EVERY where up and down trails through water that was chest deep and even picked through boulder field trails. I kept him on a long lead so he could go behind his mama... Or orbit her if it were necessary....

Little pissant... He was very precocious...

deb

 

[enola]

My old Arab mare was a basket case when I bought her. The lady was actually afraid of her and wouldn't even ride her for me. So Megan and I saddled her up. Quite the accomplishment. We bridled her, she started walking in place and chewing on the bit. Didn't fight us at all though. Put the saddle pad on her and the sweat started, put the saddle on her, and she continued walking in place and chomping on the bit. But, she was still not fighting us. So, I swung up on her back, she froze! I thought for sure I was going to die.

I dismounted, lead her around, she calmed down. So I swung up again. She froze again. So, I sat it out. When she started fretting again, I told Megan to turn her lose. I asked her to back up, she did, then I started turning her to the right, to the left, back again. In a few minutes, I had walked, trotted and cantered her.

Stella simply lacked any confidence in herself and had to be asked to do something constantly. I could ride her anytime. But, we never could put a child on her "to give them a ride". She would go all to pieces.

 

[perchie.girl]

I don't have to worry about pushing Katee... she loves to go. I remember the first time I asked her for trot her transition was like flipping a light switch... and incredibly comfortable. Yet she packed my 300 pounds with NO effort. She even forgot I was there occasionally.



she will free longe with me in the arena.



These are pictures of my very first ride on Katee. Julie had already worked her and it was cool out time so she said... wanna ride her?

Oh you bet... This was in 2001

deb