Learning Curves: Other Side of Shows

The past few years I have tried to tame my semi-feral self and to be more involved in various aspects of the equine community.



Through one friend, I have started assisting with a fairly large sized show.  It isn't HITS or Dressage at Devon, but for our area, it attracts around a hundred horses.  I also have been working with an Arabian club and their show events.

Here a few things that I learned while being on the other side of the show curtain, as in assisting the show instead of just exhibiting.

1.  People are generally good natured, but have some questions.  At all hours of the day.  All types of questions.  Be prepared to answer questions anywhere, even while in the bathroom.  :)

2. Show facilities charge fees for everything for the hosting show.  Vendors on the ground means a fee.  People showing from a trailer is another fee.  One facility even charged anytime people used the electrical outlets.  Unfortunately, some of these stupid fees have to be passed along to attendees.  It would be difficult for a show to absorb ten to fifteen dollars a time for each person showing from a trailer.

3. No matter how hard you try, people will not like your class schedule, the order, or the judge.  Sometimes all three.  They also want classes for small, spotted horses of a certain gender that haven't won.  OK, that's a bit tongue in cheek, but it does seem that way.  Don't take it personal.  It's the way it is.

Here's a suggestion for those that show and would like classes added.  Send an email or note and ask if you can sponsor a class.  People are much happier to add classes when they are sponsored.

4. People should put more thought down when putting down stall requests.  If your horse can't be near another living animal, please put that down.  If you have a very frisky young colt, put him down as a "stallion", not a "colt."  Trying to write stall assignments is some sort of mysterious art form that I don't truly understand as it combines horses and human politics and if we don't have all the information, it gets much trickier.

5.  Shows are obnoxiously expensive.  There are many that are ceasing to exist because they just can't get enough horses and clubs are continue to hemorrhage money trying to put on unsustainable events.

6.  If you like your show options, consider volunteering or sponsoring.  Both help creep closer to breaking even or showing a profit, which means more shows for next year.

Anything else that people "on the other side" would like to add? 

Rinse and Repeat

Here's your random photo of the day.  Let's play "I spy"....

OK that's a spider that I found after putting on splint boots.

Back to regularly scheduled topics. 

Chili has occasionally been difficult to load, so last week I wanted to set aside a day to hook up my truck and trailer and practice loading, as well as beginning to clean it out to get it ready for winter.  It is the Midwest after all and despite the fact the weather has been unseasonably warm, it's not due to last forever.

I managed to back the truck up perfectly to hitch the trailer, so that was excellent starting point.

Then I went and got Chili.  The last time I tried to load her was for the little local schooling show with my husband in the misting rain.  She was difficult and a bit of a piss, but I ended up resorting to a butt rope to get her on.

So with a couple hours before I had to go to work, it was rinse and repeat: trailer loading style. 

I originally tried asking her to just load like normal, ie just walking her on which used to work.  Well not so much. 

I went to the whole "work the horse away from the trailer " and let them rest near the trailer.  The downside is that she's an Arabian and she doesn't care about putting her feet on the ramp, it's rather the whole actually staying inside of it that she doesn't want to do.

So I ended up trying to load her with the butt rope by myself, which was a little bit creative, but about 35 minutes, she finally went in. 

It took about two minutes for the next time and then the 3rd and 4th attempt were effortless with her even self loading with the straight load dividers up.  Usually I just swing the straight load divider over so she has more room.

So while I don't think this is the end of our trailer difficulties, at least I think it gave her an idea that loading on the expensive, new shiny trailer I bought specifically for her isn't an optional thing. 

Sunday, I planned to go trail riding with a barn friend and it was time to put the trailer loading back to the test.  In our favor though is that the other horse is Chili's BFF so incentive to any degree.


So much love for that Fjord.  We are also standing on top of a tire at the park

The Fjord loaded first, then Chili decided to hesitate for a minute.  I just tossed the lead rope over Chili's rump and apparently she had butt rope flashbacks, so she just hopped right in. 

We had a pleasant ride at the park

Complete with lake wading.  It's actually an equine watering spot as the edge is too muddy for the horses to actually drink.

Trying to be artistic, but all you can see are my horse's giant ears. 

Then it came time to load back up to go home.  I asked if Chili could load first and closed up the divider and toss up her lead rope on her back and she walked in!

So who knows...maybe a sign that we'll accomplish things, someday!

Or maybe another round of rinse and repeat is somewhere in our near future.

How about your horses?  Good to load or not so much?

Fall Frolicks

It's officially fall here in the Midwest.  Temperatures have been very unusually warm.  We've had some rain lately, which meant that the grass is quite soggy again, so Chili and Donni weren't turned out from the drylots into the much bigger pastures.

Chili has taken the winds + lack of freedom + so many crunchy leaves everywhere=super expressive

I joked in the above photo she's channeling her inner park horse.  Well, she doesn't really carry her neck like a park horse, but still.  She wanted to be a firebreathing dragon today.

I turned her out in the round pen for a few minutes so she could have a chance to eat some grass and think she had some semblance of freedom.

I rode Donni first.  I think I need to go ahead and find a pad that I can shim as she has lost a lot of her topline in advancing age, but she has developed those hollows near her shoulders with the extreme lack of work.  Bad horse owner, I know.  I had the fluffier pad on today, which helps the rest of the saddle, but doesn't really correct the issue.

Despite this, Donni started out being a little energetic.  I just went into the outdoor arena without lunging and hopped on.  She wanted to trot off, so we took a few minutes of just asking her to walk and remembering that being a giraffe is indeed unnecessary.  I forget sometimes with riding Chili so often now, how different Donni is to ride.  I always thought Donni was soft in the mouth, but compared to Chili, she felt a little heavy.

We ended up just doing about ten minutes of trot work and one canter circle.  It's not worth it with an older horse to stress them too much, but Donni did settle down.

I always call her my tattle tail (tale?) horse as if my equitation slips (OK, it doesn't slip, it's just not really there), she bobbles, her head comes up, and I generally look inept.  Great focus to sit back, look at where I'm going, and try not to lock my elbows. 

I really should try and make it more of an adventure to ride her once or twice a week.  She is really turning into a very reliable horse in her lack of use. 

I rarely see the other boarders at the barn, but given I was off randomly on a Thursday, I texted one to see if she wanted to go for a quick trail ride.  It was warm in November, why not?

Chili was of course, still feisty and opinionated and of the decision that the trail looked way different with all the leaves on the ground, but hey, we went the correct direction without too much objection.  I want to keep getting her out there if I can before the snow flies to see if she will begin to relax and long walk again out alone.  It is sometimes much more difficult at home as she has such a routine on the path that any differences in the trees coming down or the corn is cut bother her, where when we trailer out, she doesn't have a clue, so is more relaxed.

Go figure.

What about your horses?  Are they better at home on their routine path or in the novel new environment?

A Reason to be Thankful

Just thankful

Thanksgiving is just around the corner or so it seems.  It is appropriate to discuss one reason why I am thankful this month.

I board at a pretty awesome barn.  Care is personalized, horses are in good health, and the moment something is amiss, the family that cares for my horses is on it like my dog on his kibble (He’s a Labrador.  Use your imagination). 

It was April and I received a call at work that Donni was choking.  Donni is 21 and has choked previously, but not usually seriously.  She enjoys eating as her primary pastime and was even eating while she was foaling Chili.  Seriously.  I watched her nibble away on her hay, complete with feet and foal entering the world.  

 

Well, it appears her eating pastime failed her again.  This turned out to not be a simple choke.  Despite catching the choke early, veterinary intervention became necessary.  I was unable to leave work.  I work in a hospital, about an hour from home and it was one of those situations where I had to just turn it over to the capable hands of my veterinarian and the barn family.  The choke took approximately an hour and a half to clear and involved a cocktail of four drugs to relax the esophagus enough to move the impacted food.  Apparently, Donni had packed down some food which didn’t pass the esophagus and continued eating, until there was a minor traffic jam of food and a major case of choke.  Go big or go home.

The choke was cleared and life was good, or so I thought.

Until the following day when she began running a fever and had slight crackling breath sounds in one lung.  Aspiration pneumonia.

 Unfortunately for Donni, it was not in my pocketbook to ship her off to the university hospital for more intensive treatment, but I elected to keep her at the boarding stable and give her twice daily injections of Pen-G & one daily injections of Gentamicin.  If you’ve never been injected with Pen-G, let me tell you that it’s uncomfortable and animals generally don’t enjoy the process.  Donni was no exception.  A couple pokes into the treatment after giving her 20+CC of Penicillin daily, she was getting upset just seeing me.  I was going before and after work and often arriving at the barn well after midnight.  I was quite convinced that the barn owner was going to find me squished in the stall in the morning.

Donni apparently is a very lucky yet unlucky horse.  After a week or so, I wasn’t sure we were seeing improvements since her pulse and respiration was always high when I measured it each morning and night.  We started discussing dropping another thousand dollars or so on antibiotics.  My pocketbook cried.  My husband was crabby.  I then asked if my veterinarian could pop on out and do another physical exam to ensure exactly where we were in terms of her health. 

Turns out Donni had started developing “white coat syndrome” with me.  Just being restrained for her injections was enough to send her sky high.

It’s taken several months for Donni to reach the point where I think she’s forgiven me.  For the first while, this typically docile horse became hard to catch and certainly wanted nothing to do with being restrained.  Just treats and brushing only, OK and thank you.

But I’m thankful for this tough horse.  More than once she’s come through a difficult situation. 

I’m also thankful I’ve finally finished paying off those vet bills.   

Slightly Misty

My ever constant goal is to keep pushing the boundaries of my comfort level without experiencing overwhelming anxiety.

Seeing as I am now fully weaned off anti-anxiety drugs as of two months ago more or less, it's a slow process.

I was never an anxious rider in the past, but anxiety from my regular academic life crossed over and paralyzed me in ridiculous ways.

I became worried about cantering.  I didn't want to ride alone.  The list goes on.

These spidey senses can keep us alive, yes, but in the end, it was preventing me from any sort of progress.  Self:  Not that long ago, I could gallop bareback in the rain down a hill without a concern.  So anxiety sucks.

Sunday, there was a local schooling show.  It didn't have dressage or anything along those lines, but I thought I would go to show in a couple of halter classes, then a riding class or two.

I am proud of myself that I did hook up the truck and trailer with little difficulty.  Chili then decided she couldn't possibly load into the trailer.  It was dark and slightly misty.  It started to rain.  My husband was with and he'd probably rather have a root canal than come to a schooling show.  He also hates hauling horses with the truck and trailer since he's convinced we're going to die in some fashion.

I put the butt rope on Chili and then she hopped in.  There was disorganized chaos as typical at a schooling show.  The downside of this facility is that there isn't a lot of great parking, especially when it's wet and muddy.  Many people show out of their trailers, which is fine, but since it was raining, everyone was standing around in the warm up arena.

OK.

I ended up showing two classes of halter: novice horse halter and Arabian halter.  We ended up 2nd in Arabian halter behind a professional trainer and 3rd out of 22 horses in novice horse halter, which was nice.  We qualified for the championship class and ended up 5th in a class of well fitted, nice horses. 

Not bad considering Chili thinks halter is not her thing.  She usually spends most of her time sleeping or standing awkwardly with her ears back. 

Then it was the decision whether or not to stay for the riding classes.  Pros: cheap schooling opportunity.

Cons: Iffy footing, no place to warmup since there were 1047104 horses standing around, lack of lighting in the arena which made for some interesting scary corners, and a really crabby, wet husband.

So we packed up and went home.

But all in all, a good, slightly misty exercise in expanding boundaries.

I decided to keep this going and rode the Chili bareback last night.  She is not especially a fan, but I think that stems as she doesn't really like a lot of calf pressure.  Thighs are cool, but leg not so much.  Last night, we just played around with balancing my seat, asking her to move into the trot just from the seat, backing up, and some basic sidepassing over the pole both ways. 

A good exercise just to rebalance both of us, for sure.

Poor Chili had to also deal with dragging this pool noodle the other day.  She doesn't mind dragging something next to her, but behind her is a no-no still, and having something drug towards her front feet wasn't a fan favorite.

Got off, reinforced the points in hand, then got back on and baby steps.  We're getting there.  :) 

10 Questions for October

Borrowed from Viva Carlos

What do you consider “jumping high” for yourself?

Totally not very high.  Also, this was taken in 2009. 

I don't really jump.  To be honest, just jumping over two feet is enough for me.  I occasionally jumped higher in university.  If I had a horse that was well schooled in jumping, I would jump more.



What are your short term goals for riding? Do you think you’ll reach them?

I'm hoping to show at Regionals this next year.  Achieving a regional title under saddle would be great.
I'm optimistic, but you never know.  A lot can happen between now and next June.


Long term goals for riding? Do you think you’ll reach them?
My longer term goals would be to return to Sport Horse Nationals.  I had the immense fortune of showing a friend's stallion and got reserve national champion.  I want to go back with one of my own horses next.

I'm sure I will return, just not sure when.  Finances are a major thing in my life.  Unfortunately horses are super expensive (no kidding).

How many barns have you been at in your riding career?
I've boarded at quite a few.  Several were where my undergraduate university was and then more when I settled into where I currently live.  Six or seven barns sounds about right.  I talk to most of my former barn owners.  :)  Just had different needs at different times.

How many different trainers have you been with in your riding career?
This is the Semi-Feral page.  I've never been in a "program" so to speak.  I have a wonderful gal that I've taken lessons with, but it's dependent on finances, so not currently so often.  I also have received some driving lessons in starting to get Chili going in harness.  A former barn owner was an eventer, so I had lessons from her.  :) 

I've ridden in two clincs: one with Tommy Garland and the other with Jec Ballou.

Ever worked at a barn? What did you do?
I have done barn chores at a couple of barns.  One barn had a variety of stallions, so I helped handle them.  Now, there are pretty strict rules on compensation, so I am careful to remain inside the amateur guidelines.

Scariest thing that has happened at your barn?
I had a stallion that was just a nasty beast.  I glanced away for just a second and he grabbed and picked me up by the scarf. I am not sure what happened to him as I think the owner pass him along to some other soul down the road.  He was an HYPP Quarter Horse stallion who had shown quite a bit in halter.

Have you ever given a lesson? What level was the rider?
I taught at a summer camp for probably eight years or so.  It was primarily everything from raw beginners to students starting to learn the basics of lead changes.  I also did lots of trail rides for children and the public.

Usually on horses that had their own opinions on what they wanted to do.

What is your opinion on the accuracy of critiquing riders online?
If it's not dangerous, then I don't think people should really comment.  Abuse is one of those fine line things.  I get frustrated and can't stand the individuals riding the Big Lick Tennessee Walking Horses, but when people are against anyone over 150 pounds on a horse, then where is the line?

I don't have great equitation, but don't (knock on wood) usually come off horses, so I am sure people would have a field day on how I ride.  It's a work in progress, which I clearly understand.  Feedback from a random armchair quarterback isn't constructive.  Someone that has been in my shoes and can tell me how to keep from dropping my left shoulder would appreciated. 

What is the ideal height of a horse for you?

I am not a fan of tall horses, which is ironic, given I am not a small person.  I prefer being in the 15.1 to 15.2 hand range and wide enough to take up a lot of leg. 

Donni is 15.1.  Chili is just about 15 hands if I had to guess.  I had the girls standing side by side the other day and they are pretty close.  However, Chili is much more narrow than Donni.

What's In Your Bucket

I have a friend that used to always call with feeding questions.  It's kind of funny, but it brings me back to how many people don't have any idea what or how to feed a horse.

Granted, there are so many options.  I have a little bit of experience from a West coast perspective as well as a Midwest perspective and it is quite different.

My family in California just fed horses pellets.  No hay, generally speaking. 

Here in the Midwest, that idea is just about impossible.  Horses should have hay, preferably 24/7.  Horses should have grass, and space, and mud and plenty of bird sized mosquitoes to carry them away.

But that brings me back to the question:
What's in your bucket?

What do you feed and why?

I have two horses of different ages.  Donni is older and after a massive choke episode, she is now eating soaked grain daily.  She also has become a much harder keeper in the past year, where she used to be just a large blimp on legs. 

She eats a combination of Tribute's Kalm N EZ and alfalfa pellets.  I just like adding the alfalfa pellets for some extra calories and roughage.

Chili is five and an incredibly picky eater.  She's always been picky, slow, and irritating.  She's also a moderately difficult keeper, so she needs more than just a simple ration balancer to give her vitamins and minerals, along with necessary amino acids.

But finally, she seems to be on a diet that she is eating (knock on wood), which is a mixture of Purina's Ultium, oats, and alfalfa pellets.  She also has added flaxeed for the omega fatty acid components and to see if it helps with her incessant itchiness.

The scientist in me wanted to balance out the diet, beyond just basic calories.

I hopped on over to FeedXL.com which offers a couple of basic subscriptions for less than a dinner out on the town.  It is fairly easy to use and users can input amounts of a grain feed, pasture quality, hay fed, and any supplements to see what vitamins, minerals, protein, calories, and so forth, that may be missing or excessive in the diet. 

One of the things that I played around with the most was the cost calculator.  Users can input the approximate cost per bag of grain, so by toggling and changing how much of the diet was oats vs Ultium, I could adjust the price in my favor.

Needless to say, horses are still expensive, but I might as well pay and buy more the of the $12 bag of oats compared to the $28 bag of Purina Ultium and still have a balanced ration.

I mix it up in a large feed tub in the basement and bring it out to the barn to serve, so to minimize on the hassle and mixing that the barn folks would have to do.

So what about you?  What's in your bucket?