Sunday at Everything Equine

Sunday, I went to my first horse related exposition, and it fulfilled my expectations – both the positive and the negative.  I missed part II of the Kenny Harlow, riding an unbroke horse demonstration…which is disappointing, but to be expected when one sweeps out the barn in the morning before making the back road trip across Vermont on an empty stomach and too little coffee.  As with anything that involves my leaving home, I was filled with utter ambivelance.

This is how it works for me.  If someone says, “Hey want to go to Iceland in a couple of months?”  I feel like, wow, yeah, wouldn’t that be fun.  If plans actually got made, however, each day closer to leaving would be compounded with a gradually building sense of not wanting to leave my home, my horses, my family, my chickens, my grass, my trees, and all of the responsibilities that go with it.  So it was with leaving Sunday morning.  Wouldn’t it be so much nicer to take Hope on a walk, and watch the baby chicks?

Perhaps it would have been.  When we arrived, I had to order food and a coffee right away.  The crowd milled – a nice combination of worn paddock boots and embroidered mules…yup, you can tell who I am because I’m looking at people’s shoes, and what they’re wearing.  I had on worn paddock boots.  And my aussie hat.

The demonstration pen had Kenny Harlow, an assistant, and two horses in it, and he was saying his closing remarks as we walked into the room, and found an empty spot on the bleachers.  If he truly believes about training with trust, then I feel sorry for him for having to stand around for an hour in an arena later that day being part of the Extreme Trail Competition.  I could never have done it.  I would have probably hauled one or two people off of their horses.  This is why I have no interest in trying to be some big name trainer…I couldn’t stand the heartache.

This is why I avoid going to shows just to watch, why I don’t like to be at horse events.  Being in crowds is tough enough with their chaotic energy, and people’s unhappy, spiteful energy bouncing around everywhere…I can see why horses find these situations stressful, especially as they seem to pick up on the emotional states of humans so easily.  The good energy people are fine – they’re easy to spot too.  I find us all seeking out a friendly eye, a port in the storm.

Jumping 101

We watched a jumping 101 demonstration with Darren Graziano.  I thought he made some very salient points about jumping – which is to be expected from a professional jumper and trainer.  What was especially nice is that with three riders in the arena – obviously not polished riders, but good riders still struggling with balance issues, form, reining and taking multiple jumps in a series – he did a nice job focusing on one combination of horse and rider, while the other two walked their horses, let them off of the rein etc, after the initial warm up jumps.  I liked that he focused on control and set-up to shave time, rather than rushing the horse, and was impressed that his riders’ horses never scooted out from the rider after landing, picking up an even gait instead. (This tells you something about the jumping I’m used to seeing!)

All of the riders were well matched with their horses, and the horses seemed fit for the job both physically and mentally.  He always had the riders praise the horse after the jump, but I could’ve done without the light smacking he encouraged as discipline if the horse didn’t go over the jump…it’s probably the rider’s fault, so don’t punish the horse. My opinion..what do I know?  Nothing. I’ve never jumped in a competition, and am lucky if I catch a hold of a horse’s neck when going over a jump, so that I don’t hit the ground. When I took jumping lessons, however, the fault was always with the rider.

Wandering in search of coffee and other distractions

We caught bits and pieces of  Heide Potter’s “Desensitizing your horse to new stimuli” – I wanted to wander by then, because I’d eaten my chicken wrap, and drank all of my coffee, so it was time for another cup.  Also, there was a panel of endurance riders in another spot, so we found them and checked that out for a few moments.  It didn’t pull me into it, in spite of my fascination with endurance riding…probably because I’m still trying to figure out convincing my horse it’s not just okay, but great to let me ride her.

I noticed that all of the saddles seemed to be treeless, and much better balanced than my treeless that I refuse to ride in, even after I ‘fixed’ the balance by cutting up a Wintec Pad and glueing velcro to it, and fastening it to the underside of the seat to make the middle of the saddle the lowest point for the rider.  I can fix it better, but haven’t yet.  I don’t know why I feel the need to constantly try and ‘improve’ my tack….really, it’s a mystery.

The little white Arabian horse they had in the demo pen was adorable – didn’t look to be really far along in his spring training, from his muscle development, but certainly had muscles in all the right places – great pecs, slightly more developed on his left side. His name is Synthetic, and he’s a nine year old Russian race-bred, Arabian gelding.  Apparently, he’s competing at the FEI level, and so my comments on his appearance are probably sound a little foolish, but I’ll leave them in – for all I know his owner would say, ‘Yeah, you’re right.”

As always when confronted with massive booths filled with consumer goods, I get overwhelmed.  It just seems to me that there shouldn’t be so much stuff in the world.  If inventory were taken of bridles for instance – and then of horses that people actually ride – how many bridles/rideable horse would there be?  On the other hand, I saw a beautiful woven headstall, with turqoise stones inset in the browband, and I really wanted it…go figure.  But I didn’t buy it.

Extreme Trail Competition

I really wished they would have been able to take points off for poor horsemanship, but then I realized that part of the trouble of the Equestrian Industry, is what has troubled mankind since the beginning.  Getting people to agree on what constitutes moral behavior is not as simple as it seems that it should be.  Probably, this Kenny Harlow person is much farther along the “live and let live” path than I am – do I in some way feel threatened by other’s behavior that I feel it should be stamped out…not really.  I felt a lot of empathy for the horses in the competition, some it seems were not quite prepared for the experience.

How does one desensitize a horse to a loud noisy arena, clapping, balloon popping, atmosphere?  Exactly, at some point you just have to try it to some degree, I guess.  Some of the horses were so jacked up that I feared for an accident – surprisingly, some of the really nervous seeming horses had enough of a bond with their owner to complete every obstacle.  A few of the fairly relaxed seeming horses did all right until confronted with something completely unknown, and then said, “Hey, no way, not me.”  I saw wonderful acts of owners giving their horses room and permission to be afraid.

And the opposite.  At least once I was ready to leave and go home.  Overall, the nice riders made it worthwhile to have left my sanctuary and venture out on the road and mill about among the crowded throngs, and the others, well, I know the universe has a balance to it, even if we don’t see it.  There’s still time for some of them to wake up and listen to their horses.

And the winner is…

I think this rider placed, but even if she didn’t, you can tell from this picture that she’s a winner. Big smile, loving support.

You lookin’ at me?

This horse and rider walked the entire course. She had one stirrup on the saddle, that she didn’t use.

Nice combination, and not just the colors. The horse and rider went very nicely together…as if they had been doing this for a long time and had an understanding.

A girl with bling; she also rode in the jumping demo – she can ride in spite of the bells and whistles.

The horse is relaaaaxed.

I love the coloring on this horse…forgive the blurriness, but this is the best shot I got of this horse.

Extreme Trail Riding

Horse and Rider in Darren Graziano’s Jumping Demonstration – I absolutely adored this horse!