Gypsy Wind

This is a Stunning Morgan Gelding (former Stallion) that I admire. This pic. has nothing to do with the post other than the fact that he's the same breed as Miss. Gypsy.

I ride Gypsy once a week. It takes me over an hour to get to her barn, so unfortunately, that's all I can afford to do. Just once a week! Is it possible to get anywhere with her if that's all I can swing? Is it fair to ask more of her if I'm only there once every 7 days? I know that getting her nice and solid under saddle is in her best interest. She, along with all of the Barn Owner's horses, ARE for sale after all.

Last Sunday I rode Gypsy. She is at the stage of testing I think. I ride her with a snaffle bit and would really like to continue down that path. I do not want to add a heftier bit at this point as I'd like her to remain soft a supple with a very light bit. On Sunday, she was bratty about being soft and consistent with her headset. At the trot, she'd pull with her head and then raise up out of the bridle. I was able to get her to soften, but not before her owner (the B.O.) came out and witnessed some of these shenanigans. The B.O. lightly chastised me for not using either a German or Running Martingale on her. I have nothing against Martingales, and think they are very useful under the right hands, however, I am more than capable of getting Gypsy to soften without the use of one, which she does do with not much cajoling on my behalf. At some point, she will be in a curbed western bit, but I'd like a snaffle or very low port mouth piece if possible....I'm just weird like that I guess.

A secret - of all of the years I've ridden horses, Gypsy is the first horse I have ever started under saddle on my own. At times, I didn't know if I was approaching it correctly. I went about it verrrrry slowly, but I suppose that's the best way when one is uncertain about what they're doing. I am very proud to say that she is a well rounded lovely mare with (thus far) no vices. This is all speculation on my part, since nobody other than the grumpy B.O. pays us much mind :). On a few instance though, I have had people tell me how lovely she looks, so that's encouraging.

(SIDENOTE) I am overall a firm but gentle horse person. I allow no nonsense and if a horse acts up at all, I put a stop to it immediately. Horses are large animals and they will walk all over a person and in some instances can become very dangerous if allowed to do so!

This is Gypsy two winters ago after a clip job. She looks thrilled!

I rode Jippers (Gypsy) again yesterday. This is probably the 10-15th time she’s had a rider on her back. She’s a 15 year old ex-broodmare with a left over baby belly and not too much athleticism. Anyway, I feel like it’s important to get her a nice foundation under saddle, so that she is saleable to a great home. Because of her age, I’m not sure that she’s going to be a national caliber show horse or anything, but she’ll do great in smaller breed shows and open. She’s super flashy and brave too, so she’d make an excellent trail companion. She’s got a thicker bone and a more traditional Morgan look, so I appreciate that as well. Her current owner is really realllllly feeling the effects of this economy. She has 1 boarder left in her barn (with 40 stalls and about 15 of them empty). She (the barn owner – to be known as B.O.) owns about 16 horses and desperately needs to downsize – desperately!

Digress, Digress, Digressing I am. So – I love Jippers! She’s been coming along wonderfully to date – she’s soft mouthed so with a snaffle and light contact she sets her head, and she’s smart + willing – how great is that? I wonder sometimes if perhaps she did have a rider on her back long ago, but her owner says she bought her when she was 3, so perhaps not. So, since Jipper’s trot is coming along so nicely, I have been stepping it up a notch and working on her canter (big sigh). She really is getting the concept, but she’s just not super comfortable to relax into a slower pace just yet. At this point, I kiss and cue for the canter – Jippers knows what I’m wanting, so she speeds into a super warp speed trot and then to a zoomy canter. It’s more of a canter/gallop, and her steering just kind of goes out the door. She’s understanding of her leads, so that’s good. Now, I’m just working on getting her more comfortable at this gait so that she will relax, slow and I can start getting some kind of nice frame on her. Yesterday her steering was much better at the canter. At the walk and trot she’s awesome, she’s learning leg yields and she is just flat out amazing. She really astounds me daily on how responsive she is. Gosh, I don’t know why she wasn’t saddle trained as a younger girl – she’s like riding a couch – so smooth and comfy.

I also can’t point out enough how important it is to lunge train a horse extensively before riding. I had Jippers walking, trotting, cantering and stopping on the line with verbal cues in both directions. I even had her backing before ever mounting her. It sure makes saddle training easier when the horse already knows the verbal commands. Now I’m just getting her used to my leg and seat aids so that I can gradually remove the verbal cues. I get the feeling that bellowing WALK, TROT, CANTER and BACK in the show ring has potential for embarrassment.

Even though I’ve been riding since before I could walk, I still have so much to learn. I really really don’t pretend to be anywhere near an expert and I love constructive criticism as it’s only apt to make me a better person/rider if I chose to heed it. So, for the 2-3 people who actually read this, I really do love advice J. Do any of you have any tips on getting a nice smooth canter out of an un-athletic old girl (the horse, not me)?

Bucking Bobby

Bobby Sox is a horse that I've been riding since 2004. The way he came into my life is a long story, and I'm not sure if it's one worth telling. It's the kind of story that may or may not make me look like a whiner, so I hesitate.

Anyway, Bobby Sox came to Michigan from Florida one Spring day. He was 7 years old, and his previous owner warned us that he was sore backed. "He bucks" she said "if he's not lunged properly before riding." Well, okay.

Bobby is a wirey, fine boned bay gelding with 4 white socks, which is somewhat of a novelty in the Morgan world. I'm not saying it's super rare, but it's not super common either to have FOUR white socks. Bobby is 15'2" ish.

I did discover just how much of a bucker Bobby is, but not until we got ourselves to a big Morgan show with lots of spectators. It was memorable. The icing on the cake was that his former owners had driven up from Florida to show some of their other horses and to watch Bobby show in the Hunt Seat classes. We sure gave them something to see. OUCH to both my head and my ego! Bobby was still a little unfinished under a western saddle when he first arrived, so I spent my first two years with him showing in the Amateur hunt seat classes. The first show he did great, we got a blue out of 13 other entries in our first class. I cried tears of joy as Bobby and I collected our blue and trotted our victory lap - ah ha, at last I thought!

At the next show a few weeks later (the show Bobby's former owner were at) things got worse. We were doing okay considering we were showing against some of the best. We were garnering 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and 5ths. The hunter classes at some Morgan shows are humongous. It's some stiff competition. The ring was packed during this particular class, and the horses all seemed to be grouped together (why is that anyway)? The extended trot was called, and as Bobby and I rounded a corner, the horse in front of us on the rail went balistic. She leapt into the air, tossing her flame colored head in obvious defiance of her struggling rider. Bobby took this as his sign to go haywire as well, because before I knew it, he lunged into a full tilt rodeo Bronco Bucking series. With his back arched, his head low and his hind end chucking up and down, I was offset and fell forward onto the dusty dirt floor of the arena, head first.

Of course all of this plays in my mind in slow motion. I remember hearing gasps from the audience and thinking "they're gasping for me." I remember drearily looking up to see J (my "trainer") and the well known judge running towards me. I remember the applause I recieved as I mounted back up to complete the class despite my shaking hands and throbbing head. I remember having dirt in places I never thought I'd have dirt (ears, mouth, nostrils and hair). It was exciting, and put a fear in me that I never NEVER thought I'd have around horses. I think that fall made me realize just how vulnerable we are upon our horses backs. These are big, strong animals and we are lucky that they allow us to do what we do with them.

My goodness that horse can buck!

P.S. We have had him seen by a vet and Chiropractor, he is fine and healthy - just a bit naughty at times. I was knocked out briefly from this fall, I should not have gotten back up and instead should have seen a doctor. Whew!

A Good Man

B, my husband is a good man.

He loves our girl

and he cleans my saddles before a show.....




That's a good man!

Weekend Riding

I rode Gypsy again on Sunday. She is the sweetest horse, really she is. She is finally getting a beautiful western jog, so I worked alot on bending and neck reining today. I have only ridden Gypsy in a snaffle so far, but she's such a smart lady that I don't think training her to neck rein will be much of an issue. Poor Gypsy is not a very athletic girl (as I've mentioned before), so we also worked on the canter (which was more like a peg legged gallop). I was very proud of her though, and I think that with a lot of consistent work on and off the lunge line, she'll come around.

The picture above is a picture I took while lunging her - she reminds me of a humongous Shetland pony because her naughtiest vice is sneaking bites of grass (notice the sprigs in the arena - ugh) while she's walking/trotting along. She's a stinker, but I love her!

Gypsy

J, the owner of the barn I frequent, owns several brood mares. It's been several years now, but she used to breed some of these mares each year and would usually have 3 or 4 foals each Spring. Now, she only breeds a mare perhaps once every three or four years, things just aren't like they used to be. Anyway, the brood mares are really living the life. They are in stalls during the hot days of summer and turned out together at night. Vice versa in the cold winter months. They are grained twice daily, wormed and vetted of course, shod and trimmed accordingly and groomed when needed. Some of them are broke while others are not. They are all very well behaved however. Each mare is a registered Morgan horse, and ages range from 6 to 23. There are 3 palominos, 1 buckskin, 1 black, 1 chestnut and 4 bays. They are my beauties, even if they don't belong to me.

One mare in particular is my favorite (though I love them all), and I made it a mission to get her started under saddle a few years ago. Gypsy (Nashboro Gypsy Wind) is a plump light colored palomino mare, foaled in 1994. She has a refined head and a sturdy, curvaceous Morgan body with a lovely archy neck. Best of all, she's sweet as can be. She is not athletic in the sense that she really struggles with her canter. She kind of goes around, very quickly with barely any bend to her front lets- she's my peg legged Petunia! This is due to many factors I'm certain - never being worked under saddle, being over weight and genetics have something to do with it.

At 14 years old, Gypsy learned how to walk, trot, canter and whoa on a lunge line. She learned how to wear a surcingle, a bridle and snaffle bit. She felt a saddle and then a rider. All of this without one single buck, rear or balk though it took me many weeks to acclimate her to all of this. I had Gypsy to the point where she was going along pretty well, steering of course, she sets her head, walks and jogs on cue, but that darn canter is something else.

It's been a year since I've really worked with Gypsy, but last weekend I decided it was time. I pulled Gypsy, all fat and sassy out of her stall, and a riding we went. I figured I'd take it slow since it had been a while for Gypsy. I saddled her slowly, tightening the cinch bit by bit. I put in the snaffle bit, her halter and then attached a faded blue lunge line. She started off nervous and snotty and she attempted an awkward fat horse buck or two. After about 10 minutes on the lunge line, she settled right down. Some time later, I got up on her and began our workout. Things were going great, I was bending her and getting her used to my legs and steering (remember it's been over a year, and she wasn't fully broke where I left off). So, things were going great until J (the barn owner) shows up. GOOD GRIEF! J begins telling me to set her head and not let her fool around. Slow the jog down, kick her when she does anything wrong! UGH, I just wanted to tell her to SHUT THE F UP! I am in no rush to get this poor out of shape mare show ring ready. In fact, the last show I went to with J (in June of 2009) I made a vow that I would never again show with her involvement (I'll tell that story later). This means I need to find a new barn and start looking for my own horse FINALLY!

But, back to Gypsy - Other than the unsolicited instructions, I really enjoyed being back up on sweet ole' Gypsy. She took everything in stride and I really hope that we'll be getting that canter of hers in working condition before the summer is out. I plan on riding her Sunday, so I'll get some pictures if I can.

Back to J though, I don't want it to seem that I dislike her. I've known her all of my adult life and have mad respect for her as a horse woman. I volunteer my time for her (meaning work for free) and this work includes, riding, clipping *body clipping* grooming, cleaning buckets, stalls, hay, turning out horses, bringing in horses, bathing, etc, etc. What I get out of it is simply my horse fix. When I go to shows, I pay my way including trailering and all show fees.

Horse Experts

This is just an observation on my part, purely observation I say.

I’ve been around horses literally my entire life. As a youngster, I remember being very competitive with my other horse loving friends about who knew more about horses. We’d stage quizzes and bicker back and forth about saddles, bridles, bits and breeds. One day, I mentioned smugly to another horse lovin’ girl I had recently met that my horse had shin splints.

She looked at me funny and quickly pointed out that “horses don’t get shin splints stupid, people get them!”

That moment right there, was when I ceased all of my horse knowledge boasting and bragging – I fell back on simply wanting to learn more and knowing that regardless of what I did and did not know about horses, it did not change the fact that I loved them. I think I was about 12 years old when that happened, and it was very humbling.

I’ve had many moments in everyday life, conversations that go a little like this:

Other Person: “I hear you ride horses. I know how to ride too. What kind of horse do you have?”

ME: “Oh, yeah. I do like to ride and my breed of choice is the Morgan horse, but I started on Quarter Horses.”

Other Person: “Yes, I like Black Stallions. That’s going to be the next breed that I buy.”

I like to refer to the above type as the Horse Expert Bafoons. (The variety of which I once belonged).

Of course then there’s always the smug person at the tack store, Expo, Horse Show or fill in the blank who seems to know everything about equines and needs to make sure you know it too. These people irk me in that they act like they, and only they, are allowed to love or know anything about horses. They condescend and correct constantly – the know it alls!

Of course, there are also the people who anthromorphasize their horse(s). Yes, I do it to an extent too, but I've encountered some real doozies in this department. I have an example for this one. A few years ago, Jill had a Stallion (a black one at that - ha ha)! This stallion, Murphy, was stalled all of the time and due to this became very stall aggressive. He'd charge at anything that walked past his stall - human, gelding, even the occassional mare. He'd stick right by the bars of his stall with his ears flattened and the whites of his eyes shining in the hopes that some unknowing soul would stick their tender fingers into the stall. Poor Murph was a teddy bear outside of the stall, this aggressiveness only occurred whilst he was in the stall which was most of the time. Anyway, of course we had to have one boarder who was convinced the Murphy loved her. "Ohhh, Murphy would never hurt me, she'd announce while depositing apple slices into his feed box. He loves me." uh huh, we'd all think. You see, we all warned her many times that Murphy didn't descriminate. There were signs posted on his stall not to mess with him, but she was convinced that he loved her like the Black loved Alec. In due time and much to my personal satisfaction, Murphy proved that he loved her by biting her plump little fingers as she reached in for a love scratch. Needless to say, that was the end of her ridiculousness. (Murphy was sold thankfully, and lived the rest of his days being turned out, bred and shown by a wonderful woman in the Southwest. RIP Murph.).

Here’s a typical example for me at “my barn” with a Bafoon. Yesterday a woman who had been taking lessons at the barn recently made sure to tell me several times that she’d been riding her entire life. That she had shown 4-H and open. She told me several times as I was saddling up Gypsy, that Gypsy was HER favorite horse at the barn. I’d say, "yes, she’s sweet." and she’d look me in the eye and say “I know” as if I were telling her something she didn’t. I already had a sense that she was one of those, so I entertained her by asking all sorts of questions such as, "what breed did you show as a kid?"

Her reply was, “ohh, Asians mostly.”

Now, perhaps this is going to be another case of the shin splint moment for me, but what the heck is an Asian horse? I asked her that very question and she hesitated for a moment before she replied “oh, Asians are Quarter horse/ Arab mixes."

“Aren’t those Quar-abs” I asked.

I let it go at that so as not to embarrass her (or myself), because I certainly know how that feels.

Ahh, the wonderful world of horses and the people who know them!

Horse day

'scuse the blurry image, a 15 year old boy took this pic and he ultra zoomed it me thinks.

This is Contro and yours truly in the spring of 2008. I hadn't shown Contro since 2004-ish in Saddle Seat and this 17-year old horse is just full of tricks. He's an older fella' though he still has the knee popping snorty behavior of a younger horse. This particular show he and I had moments. Moments that made me feel like a beginning rider, such as anticipating each and every gait the announcer called out. Sometimes he wanted to jig (trot) at the walk, sometimes he flat out stopped and attempted a reverse. Other times he broke into a canter during the extended trot. I tried my best to keep him in frame, I relaxed, I used every aid and technique I'd been taught, but to no avail. This horse is show ring savvy, and NOT in a good way I tell ya'. I blame myself however, I barely rode the poor guy prior to this show (see the pot belly) and he had never really done an extended trot before. I did place in every class but one and even got me a 3rd place yeller' ribbon. Ugh, looking at my equitation though, oh lawdy lawdy - I see what I am doing wrong equitation wise alright! All in all though, I love me some Contro. He's the Cadillac of horses, smooth as butta' and fun, fun, fun!

St. Louis means BUDWEISER

And Budweiser means horses! Of course, I was lucky enough to have in laws who were more than happy to take B and I on a tour of Grant Farms and the Budweiser brewery, both of which house the lovely and infamous Budweiser Clydesdale horses! Grant's Farm was PaCkEd on the 3rd of July, so though we didn't get to see the lovely park itself, I did get to tour the barn. It seems as if Budweiser (Anheuser Busch -I have no idea how to spell that) keeps the older and younger horses at Grant's farms. Inside the barn was this distinguished gentleman (see pic Below). He stood there calmly whilst people walked through and watched his every move. He's famous ya' know. The stalls were VERY heavily padded with straw and my back hurt just thinking of the work the staff put in to keep it ever so immaculate. Big horses produce big - well, you know.

Next we strolled outside where I saw this young whipper-snapper. At first I thought he was a yearling, but then I noticed that he was pastured with what appeared to be his mother and another mare and her Baby Huey-esque foal. This could possibly be a 2009 babe - hmmmm...I dunno'. Regardless, these young ladies where given' him a nice ole' scratchin'. His lips were a quivering and he was quite a ham. The other three in his pasture weren't interested. They stayed in their turn out shed with their rumps turned to their admirers. (Pic Below)

After Grant's Farm, we made out way to the Budweiser Brewery. This is a free tour, FREE and they give you two full glasses of beer at the end. If you ever find yourself in St. Louie, head to the Brewery---ha ha! Enough of that. So, of course being the absolute freak that I am, I noticed these two before anything else. Aren't they handsome? According to our lovely tour guides, the horses are rotated throughout each day into these small paddocks. These guys were having a grand old time playing tag and grooming each other over the fencing. The horses are all hand walked for an hour each day as well. (pic. below)

The first thing we did in our tour of the brewery was my favorite - the stable! The stable is circular and sits smack dab in the middle of the A-Busch brewery. The brewery and tour itself reminded me a bit of Willy Wonka's candy factory. It was really cool indeed! So, in the pic. below you'll notice the lovely horse head - these were prominent all around the exterior of this stable - good lawd have mercy, it was gorgeous!

Upon entering what I must say is a ridiculously ornate stable, are chandeliers. At this point I was desperate to see the stalls and any semblance of a normal stable environment, but alas, it was all fancified for the public. It's gorgeous though, and any horse lovin' human can appreciate a very nice, very extravagant barn and it's very well taken care of occupants!

Below is a picture of the "tack room" as you can see, the harnesses are behind the glass.

Below is one of the stalls. Unfortunately for me, fortunately for the horses, the stalls and horse areas were roped off from the public. Though I was hankering to get back and investigate the horsiness of it all, I couldn't and had to fall in line with my mostly non-horsey fellow tourists and suffer through the actual beer making tour - blast!


These are the nicest standing stalls I've ever seen - notice the straw bank. To get this picture I had to pry my way through a crowd of women and children. The men were all tappin' their feet, looking to get on to the good stuff :).

Nice stained glass windows in every stall - these horses are living the High Life I tell ya'! Don't tell the Clyde's but I'm more of a Miller Lite girl myself ;)


There you have it!

Horse strife and St. Louis Blues

The 4th of July was nice this year. B and I flew (with his sister and brother in law) down to St. Louis, MO. to stay with his parents. On the 3rd, we went to a FREE concert (Magnolia summer and the Counting Crows) underneath the Arch and afterwards watched a very short, but nice fireworks show. I had never been to St. Louis before, and I really truly liked the place. I heard tell that St. Louis and Detroit (where I'm from) usually go neck in neck for the wondrous title of ....wait for it...."Murder Capitol of the World" - - - hmmmm...imo, St. Louis has nothin' on Detroit, atleast in the looks department. The city seemed immaculate and I didn't see too many vacant-burned out - crumbling buildings like I do in Detroit. To give Detroit credit though, it's bones are lovely and if you're into architecture, you'd fall in love with some of the gorgeous and historic buildings there....you just have to look up to appreciate them.

On the horse front, not to much is going on there. I plan on riding Bob this Sunday, but to be completely honest, after my last horse show and some mild encounters with Jill's bad attitude, I am thinking of pulling the plug on the horse thing until I find another barn to join. It's not enjoyable anymore for me to ride, especially when Jill is always present, criticizing the horse and being all around, negative. I am not blaming her though, it's my fault for being such a crutch to her all these years. Well honey, this crutch is warped! The biggest thing that I worry about is what will happen with the horses? I am the only one who rides them, and for Bob and Contro, I don't know what that means. I wish that some horse lovin' young lady/man would come and sweep these guys off their hooves before their show days have passed them by!