Midwest Horse Fair Pictures

Here are some pictures of us at the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison, Wi. We participated in the demo for the American Standardbred Adoption Program. Griffin and I demonstrated Natural Horsemanship style techniques on the ground. I will write more about the horse fair when I get some time. I have been so busy lately, that unfortunately, my blog has not seen many posts. I've been wanting to share these pictures, so I just thought I'd throw them up there quick for everyone to see.

Griffin did fantastic at the horse fair this year. He handled the crowds well and with the exception of one "scary moment" with people clapping, he did great in his demos.



Here we are beginning our ground driving part. Grif ground drives with just his rope halter and long-line. No harness, no bit.



This picture was taken at the end of our demo. Grif and I are waiting to be joined in the middle by friends Tanya and Mary Ellen to "take a bow."



Here is Grif giving a ride to my niece, Lexie around the stable barns. I thought both were dressed well for the part!



Another ride....this time in tandem!! My friend Mary's daughter Morgan took a spin on Grif as well along with her new puppy, Memphis!! Not too many dogs get to go for a horse ride and without a doubt this is the first dog Griffin has ever given a ride to!!!!

Between doing the demos, carting feed back and forth, and giving "pony" rides, I think I got as much excercise (if not more) than Grif did. It was a blast!



...and here's one last one of us.
Griffin and I just walking a lap or two between our groundwork excercises. I like this picture because I'm smiling! I concentrate so hard sometimes that I forget to smile!!

..and there you have it. I will share more details of the horse fair when I have some more time.

The worry when someone you love is hurt

For those of us that truly see our animals as part of our families, it is very had to deal with things sometimes when our animals become hurt or sick. This last week, my good friend, Mary Ellen, has been dealing with an abscess problem in her horse, Tanya. It first happened over a week ago. Tanya came up very lame and no one at the barn was quite sure what happened. At first everyone thought she had been kicked by a pasture mate. She was brought in and put on stall rest to see if she would recover after a day or two with limited movement and a chance to be away from the other horses. When she did not recover, the vet was called out and it was determined that she had an abscess in her front, left foot.

This was a huge relief to her "mom," Mary Ellen who was concerned that her injury might be something far worse.

We saw immediate improvement the day after the abscess was drained, but then the next day, poor Tanya was sore again.

My farrier, Chad Bembenek, came out to do Griffin's feet the following day. Mary Ellen was unsure what our next step with Tanya should be, so I asked her if she wanted me to have Chad look at Tanya's foot and get his opinion. She said that would be great if Chad had the time and was willing to take a peek.

Chad looked at Tanya's foot and said he felt that the abscess was not fully drained and there was still some painful pressure in her foot. He felt that if we kept her moving as much as possible, that the abscess would eventually break open on it's own. Once broke open, we should continue to soak and possibly find a vet to inject some antibiotics there to speed healing. He showed me on her foot where he felt it would eventually break through.

I explained this to Mary Ellen and she asked (a different) vet to come back out to re-evaluate Tanya's foot. The vet concurred with Chad's opinion that the abscess had not been totally drained yet. She was able to get the rest of the abscess drained and now Tanya is on the road to recovery.

I was able to look at Tanya's foot yesterday and sure enough, the abscess was broke through in the exact place that Chad said it would be. Needless to say, I was impressed once again with my Natural hoof person. Chad really knows his horse feet.

I am happy to report, that after a week of dealing with the pain of a sore foot, Tanya is finally on the road to recovery. Her prognosis is looking good. I am thankful that Mary Ellen and Tanya will still be joining me and Griffin at the Midwest Horse Fair to represent the American Standardbred Adoption Program.

Although this was not exactly the picture of Tanya I was looking to post, I have posted a picture of her (at the top of this post) recovering in Griffin's stall (what's a good friend for if he can't lend his bed to a fellow equine in need)!?! Griffin is busy hanging out with one of his good buddies, Ronnie, in the back of the barn right now while Tanya gets better.

This post brings to mind a little on how we all react when our horses are injured or sick. Mary Ellen lost a few night's sleep before she was sure of what was going to happen with Tanya. I felt very badly for her and did my best to be reassuring and a good friend. It's so easy to get scared when your horse (or any pet) gets injured without knowing exactly what's going on. I know if Griffin had been in the same situation, I would have been as equally worried as Mary Ellen. I think it's human nature to always imagine the worst possible scenario. A bad abscess can easily make a horse 3-legged lame. Without having a vet right there, it's easy to imagine all the sinister implications that might go along with this. One gal at the barn thought Tanya may have broken her leg. There was no obvious outside wound to narrow down where the injury happened -- so for some people, this would be an easy assumption (and also easy to make a comment like this when the horse is not yours). When this is your horse though, and someone says something like this to you -- it can make you feel very scared and alone.

I mentioned this "broken leg scenario" to my farrier, and he just chuckled (with an obvious "that's so far-fetched" expression). When the first vet came out to look at Tanya -- he took one look at her walking - and right away knew something wasn't right in her hoof. It takes a very experienced eye to know what is going on and sometimes the only way to know the absolute truth to is bring in professionals such as your vet (or in the case of a hoof injury) your farrier. The professional trainer, or barn manager, or lady with the nursing degree, or even a vet tech at your barn may have an opinion on what it is and how to treat it -- but they should never be viewed as professionals in veterinary medicine. If something has you worried, your vet is your best bet. I have said this many, many times to many people, and will continue to say it as long as I have animals and spend my time around other animal people.

Another comment, I have gotten lately when I have talked about Tanya's abscess is -- "Well, she's an older horse and you just never know with an old horse."

Huh?????

So a young horse can't get an abscess?? Abscesses are fairly common and I have seen them in a few horses in my time. I think I saw one once in a 3yr old and my sister showed a horse in 4-H several years ago that got one in his foot when he was 8. These guys got abscesses as well -- maybe we should retire them.

Just for the record, I have also seen young horses break legs, run through fences and get kicked. When I was doing my veterinary technician internship...I assisted on a necropsy on a young foal (and I don't think we ever did determine for certain, what the cause of HIS death was). ***Note*** a necropsy is the correct terminolgy for an autopsy done on an animal.

I guess my point here is that a horse's age doesn't always have a lot to do with how he gets injured or sick. I will say that YES, it's true that some diseases do prey on older horses (such as Cushing's Disease), but the bottom line is ANY horse can get sick or injured regardless of his/her age. Other diseases such as EPM or Strangles or (god forbid) the dreaded Equine Infectious Anemia can attack ANY horse of ANY age.

Just like people -- there are horses out there that live to very ripe old ages (and getting older, thanks to medical advances) that haven't had much more than a few scratches here or there in their entire lives. Other horses can be stitched up a half a dozen times, catch strangles, and colic once or twice --all by the time they are 9. They are all individuals.

I'm not trying to flame anyone or anything, but I personally find it a bit rude to tell someone "Oh well she got hurt because she's old...and you just don't know." Does it make you love them or want to help them any less because they are old?? Griffin is 20 this year and yes - he is a senior citizen (and by the way, thanks for telling me that in case I already didn't know). I love him with all my heart and will continue to care for and love him until he crosses the proverbial rainbow bridge. I will continue to give him attention and ride him at a pace he can handle until he "tells" me through is behavior that he is ready to be done.

I would take offense to anyone (especially someone with a YOUNG horse) that would come up to me and say "well, he's old -- you have to think that would happen." Does this mean that they feel it's time for you to forget your partner and move on to something else?

It has always flamed me how we live in such a "throwaway society" A lot of people will compete on a horse and when he finally gets too lame or arthritic or (TOO OLD) for whatever they want to do -- they just sell him off or take him to an auction. If a horse ran his butt off around barrels for you for 10 years, don't you think you owe him a decent retirement? Shipping him off to some place where you have no idea what will happen to him is NOT a decent retirement. God forbid should you stop running barrels or show jumping because your horse can no longer do it. In my honest opinion, if you absolutely MUST compete, you should look to other alternatives (such as leasing or sharing another horse -- or if you are good, compete someone's horse for them if they don't have the skills) so that your horse can remain with you and enjoy the golden years he has so RIGHTFULLY earned. This is putting aside pride and ego and having responsibility and integrity instead.

Frankly, it makes me ill when people say stuff like this -- and when these people say my horse is "old" it's the above mentality that comes to my mind -- where competition, winning, pride, and ego are more important than simply caring about something.

...and it isn't just the animals. Have you ever had the opportunity to visit a nursing home and note just how many people reside at those places that have no family or anyone that seems to care about them??? Sad, sad, sad... I think sometimes it's easier to forget than to realize that someday we are all going to get old.

Ok- I'm off my soapbox for now... At least I know I can take comfort every SINGLE day knowing that Griffin has a home for LIFE with me and that there are indeed a few other people out there that feel the same about their horses -- like my friend Mary Ellen.

I HATE snow

The word HATE is a strong, cruel word -- but I can think of no better word right now to describe the emotion I am feeling towards the snow storm we are having today. Winter seems to be just hanging on on not wanting to let go. I keep closing my eyes hoping it's just a bad nightmare, but when I open them -- it's STILL SNOWING!! YUCK!!

One of my co-workers said today to be thankful that it's March and not October (which means that the snow will go away SOON). I've been trying to tell myself that all day -- but it's not having the effect I was wishing for (sigh).

Well enough of THAT....

Yesterday, (when it was sunny and in the upper 40's) I took a picture of Griffin in his costume for the Midwest Horse Fair. I wanted to try his costume on to make sure the pieces fit like I wanted them too. I'm happy with the results, but I do have to make one adjustment. The little blanket on his back doesn't quite cover the bareback pad it's attached too -- so I have to add something to cover it a little better. I found some nice black beaded fringe at Wal-Mart, so I think I'm going to sew that into the bottom of his blanket, just to cover the little bit of bareback pad that sticks out. I posted his picture on the top of my post here. Everything looks good except for the fringe part which I have yet to do. His blanket also has tiny sequined stars all over it, but it is difficult to see them in the picture because of the sun.

My costume is mostly black (with blue and silver accents), so I'm thinking the fringe will have an added benefit of tying us together a little more.

The theme for this year's horse fair is "Dancing with horses." Griffin and I are dressed up as dancers for our demo. Our demo is in-hand. Some of the things Grif and I are going to try to demonstrate include: sidepassing (possibly over poles), figure 8 patterns (Griffin can do these on his own with hand signals from me), turns on forehand and hindquarters (all without my touching him -- only hand signals) and a simple showmanship pattern. I don't know how much of this we will be able to do in front of a crowd since we will both be nervous, but these are the things we have been working on and things I am hoping to do as part of our demo.

I am praying that we don't have any more STUPID SNOW for the horse fair!

Huggs to all,
Carol & the furry gang :)

Good Friends

This post is dedicated to my good (horsey) friends. I met them at High Pines Farm where I board my horse.

Mary Ellen is on the left. She has 2 horses -- Delta and Tanya. Delta is the horse she is pictured with. She is an Appaloosa/Arabian cross. Like myself, Mary Ellen has a true appreciation and love for senior horses.

Her other horse, Tanya, is a Standardbred like Griffin and was also adopted through The American Standardbred Adoption Program. I will try to share some pictues of Tanya when I have some.

Mary Ellen and I often enjoy leisurly rides together with our horses. Sometimes it's just around the arena and sometimes on the trail.

Mary Ellen's husband Mike is the photographer for this picture and I also consider him a good friend as well. I don't yet have a picture of him -- but maybe I'll be able to sneak up on him sometime and get a snapshot of him riding one of the horses (I'll see if I can get him and Tanya in a picture for a later post).

The other gal in this picture is Cindy. Cindy's horse, Spot, is just a youngster who is 3 this year. She has been patiently working with him in an effort to make him into a nice trail horse. Cindy rescued Spot last year at a horse auction where his future at the time didn't look too bright. Cindy has quite a passion for trail riding and has been the driving force in getting me and Griffin out on trails more. We are both hoping Spot will do well with his first time out on trails this summer.

While I feel I get along well with everyone I board with, Cindy and Mary Ellen are probably my best friends at the barn. They have always been very supportive when I've had my ups and downs (sometimes horse related and sometimes not). They also share philosophies similar to my own in regards to horses - that our horses are part of our "families" and they deserve our love and our respect. Riding is a partnership for us and not and act of intimidation.



This picture is of Tammy and her horse Charisma. Tammy is the owner of High Pines Farm. She has taken wonderful care of Griffin in the time that he has lived at the farm. I also feel that she and her husband Randy are important people in my life as well. Without them, I would not have a safe place to board my horse. Without having a decent place to board, I would not be able to have Griffin. Having the piece of mind in knowing that my horse is well cared for is worth more than I could possibly say in words.

Tammy enjoys showing her horses mainly in western events and is very successful. She has also been known to be coerced (usually by Cindy to join us on trail rides).

It has been said by psychologists that you really only need one GOOD friend to be happy. Someone you can share your thoughts, feelings, and dreams with. I feel fortunate that I have not just one good friend, but several!!

I hope everyone is staying warm and praying for spring (and not getting covered with too much shedding horse hair).

Carol, and the furry gang!

Trail Challenge number 2

Our second trail challenge was this past Sunday. The obstacles for this time around were as follows:
1-Walk over a small crossrail jump (without knocking or touching the poles).
2-Walk between 4 hay bales set up (2 on each side) and then back through them.
3-Turn, begin to trot -- trot through a serpentine pattern of 3 cones.
4-sidepass over a pole on the ground
5-walk over the bridge
6-do a very tight "barrel pattern" at a walk around 3 orange cones (this was much harder than it sounds due to how tight the cones were set up)
7-trot over 4 ground poles
8-open the rope gate -- go through -- and close.

As promised, this trail challenge was slightly harder than the last one and there were more obstacles. There were fewer riders in attendance this time and I have to admit, I felt more comfortable because of this.

While practicing the obstacles, Griffin still became nervous on several of them and we had to walk away for several "time-outs." I am a bit perplexed as to why he was so nervous because I felt that I was more relaxed this time around then I was the last time.

After I discovered Griffin's fear with getting close to the gate (see my one of my previous posts "A Bit about Trust"), I decided to walk him through all of the obstacles before riding. This was just so we could take our time and Griffin would clearly understand what I wanted him to do with each obstacle. I got on after doing the whole course on the ground. I felt Grif did fairly well, but like I said he still acted very nervous. The only explanation I can think of for the nervousness is that having all the other horses and people out there just raised the tension for both of us just a notch (as opposed to when we are practicing alone).

When it came time to do our final round, I deliberately waited until last to go, hoping that it would make me feel less "rushed" and I would be able to keep both Griffin and myself calmer. When it was our time to go, I felt Griffin did very well. There were only 2 obstacles I felt we had serious problems with.

The first one was the serpentine - trot around cones. Griffin can do his trot (or rather his pace) ok -- but once he gets going, it's very hard for him to make the tight turns and he breaks back to a walk. I give my guy credit for trying. His inability to do this is not his fault and I have a hunch this will be something we will always struggle with. Griffin is a fairly big horse and longer bodied than some (as most Standardbreds are). He hasn't yet learned to adjust his stride in his pacing gait to move around the cones. To do these cones well, a horse has to not only maintain his gait, but be able to slow way down to handle the sharp turns. Since he's been off the track, Griffin has learned to slow down quite a bit overall, but he still needs work in learning to adjust his stride to slow down even more through the tight turns. I have decided this will be one of the things I focus on before our next trail challenge.

The other obstacle we had trouble with was the sidepass pole. I say "we" because our problem at this obstacle had as much to do with me as it did with Griffin. Griffin knows how to sidepass. We have been working on it for quite some time. He can go to the right very nicely, but needs encouragement to move to the left. He has a tendancy to get "sticky" going in that direction. Unfortunately, going over the pole required us to do a sidepass to the left -- his bad side. First off, Griffin doesn't like to stand still with the pole underneath him. I ask him to step his front feet over the pole and right away he wants to be doing something (either stepping all the way over the pole, on the pole or a combination of both). Standing still with the pole underneath is apparently difficult for him. With patience, I got him to stand still. My next step was to start cueing him for his sidpass -- which of course -- going to his left -- he does nothing, just freezes. When I try to push the issue, Grif just steps completely over the pole and away from it (and gets nervous and annoyed). So we go back to square one: Step over the pole...fidgit...step away from the pole. Circle around, step back over the pole...attempt to stand still. I get him to stand still, so I ask for the sidepass again. Nothing. I cue him a little more strongly. He does nothing.

Finally, Shannon steps in to our rescue. She says the problem isn't so much Griffin -- but me. She tells me to try looking down over his shoulder on the OPPOSITE side from which I'm trying to get him to move. My brain all of a sudden becomes dyslexic and I'm like..."What?" It makes absolutely no sense to me, but I try it. I look down over his right shoulder and cue again. Griffin all of a sudden finds his gear and moves sideways over the pole -- TO THE LEFT. By this time...I'm like "Wow!".

Shannon explained to me that when asking for the sidepass, if you look over the shoulder in the direction you want to go (which, by the way, is what a lot of people do) -- you unknowingly put a good portion of your weight into that stirrup which actually makes it difficult and blocks the horse from moving easily in that direction. By looking the other way over your horse's shoulder -- you are using your weight on the opposite to push your horse away and into the direction you are asking for. I am thankful to Shannon for teaching me this as I had no idea just how much I was making it difficult for Grif to do what I was asking. It's always so much FUN when you learn something new!! I can't wait to work with Griffin again and practice this some more!

The rest of our trail obstacles went really well and Griffin really surprised me by going over the 4 ground rails at a trot without breaking his gate. Everyone that was watching commented that he looked really beautiful going over those poles. He lifted his feet into a high step rhythym and held his tail in a flag-like pose. I have only ever trotted him over one pole at a time, so going over 4 was a big step for us.

When I was younger, I had a horse fall with me once and I've always been a little nervous going over anything at any gait faster than a walk. I am always a little afraid that the horse is going to trip and fall with me again.

I was surprised when Grif took those poles like a pro! Shannon yelled a reminder to sit back as we were going over and I did my best -- and we got over them beautifully.

Our last obstacle was the gate. We had been working on this since our last trail challenge and it paid off. Although we weren't as smooth as we could have been, we got through the gate without too many problems. A BIG IMPROVEMENT!! I was absolutely thrilled!

I was so happy with how well Griffin did, I started crying!! My friends all told me what a good job we did and I cried more!! I felt really silly, but I was so darned happy with how well Grif tried and did for me -- that was the only emotion the would come out. It goes without saying that Griffin got lots of treats, praise, and love that afternoon. I also gave him a nice massage over his back which he loved!

Most of my horse friends know that I have a bit of a phobia about riding my horse with people watching me. It never used to be that way for me -- it's just in the last few years, I have been very self-conscious about this (and I'm not quite sure why). The last show I went to, which was the summer before last, I actually threw up before the show. I was THAT nervous. (and yes I'm nuts -- I'm attempting to go to the horse fair again this year). So, with that said, it was a big thing for me to do that well with people watching me (even though most of them were my fellow boarders and friends). This was probably one of the best experiences I've had in a long time and I can't thank everyone that was there enough for lending their support.

On an end note, I hope everyone is staying warm and praying for the snow to END!

Happy trails (even if they're snow filled) to all,
Carol and the furry gang!

5 Things that bother me

I've been tagged again.... This time by MiKael's Mania - Arabian Horses to list 5 things that irritate/bother me. Please keep in mind that the things I am going to list are MY personal thoughts. They are not meant to flame anyone with a difference of opinion. I do respect that many people (including friends & family) may see things differently.

Okay (sigh) Here goes:

5.) PAYING TAXES TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WHO JUST DON'T WANT TO WORK...and then watch them spend (MY) hard earned money on things that I can't afford myself. This actually happened to me at Wal-Mart about a month ago. I was behind a lady and her husband along with 2 children in the checkout line in Wal-Mart. She was purchasing things that I would classify as "luxury" items and paid (at least part of her bill) in food stamps. For example, she was buying a $7 bottle of Aveeno hand lotion (and this was only 1 of the "nice" items she had). When I buy hand lotion, I usually get what is on sale because I can't afford the expensive stuff.....yet I have to work 2 jobs to support someone like this who wants to buy expensive stuff? I wanted to say to this lady -- "Gee if you can afford a $7 bottle of hand lotion, why do you need the food stamps"? I work very hard to support myself and my animals and to see this just makes my blood boil. I have to watch every penny in my budget and often cut myself short on things I need -- so people like this lady can buy expensive stuff!!

4.) ANGRY PEOPLE THAT TAKE THEIR EMOTIONS OUT ON OTHERS IN PUBLIC. I have experienced this both as a worker (where the anger was directed at me) and as a bystander (watching someone direct their anger at another salesperson, manager, or whatever). To treat someone like it's their fault that YOU are having a bad day is just plain rude and selfish. If there is a complaint, my experience has been that most business establishments will do their best to try to make things right -- you don't have to treat them (or their employees) like crap because you are having a bad day......and just another tidbit....they are not BENEATH YOU, just because they are not doctors or lawyers does NOT give you the right to talk down to them. They are working hard to earn a living too!

3.) PEOPLE WHO TELL YOU NOT TO DO SOMETHING AND THEN THE NEXT MINTUE -- YOU CATCH THEM DOING THE VERY THING THEY TOLD YOU NOT TO DO. I've experienced this mostly at some of the different jobs I've held over the years (although I have had it happen to me in other instances as well). For example, I've had bosses that will be angry at me if my lunch was a little longer than the allowed time, but then turn right around and go to lunch themselves for almost TWICE the amount of time that I was gone. Are the rules ever the same for everybody? Nice huh?


2.) PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY CAN TRAIN YOUR HORSE BETTER THAN YOU CAN AND PROCEED TO GIVE UNSOLICITATED ADVICE ON WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING. There is nothing that makes me angrier than someone who sees my horse do something THEY don't like and proceeds to tell me how to "train my horse better." While many people may use some of the same tactics to train horses, I believe that almost everyone differs just a little in their philosophies. For example, Griffin sometimes fidgits while standing in cross ties. He does not do this all of the time, but does sometimes. Sometimes he even paws at the ground a little. This is one thing people think I should "correct" him on. They see a horse that is misbehaving. I see a horse that is anxious to do something or sometimes a bit nervous about what the surroundings are at the time. I see the fidgiting behavior as a way that my horse uses to communicate the way he feels at the moment (and YES, I am one of those people that believes horses have feelings). I do not see it as bad behavior. As I said before, Grif does not do this all the time. Sometimes he stands perfectly quiet, even falling asleep. It's because of this fact, that I see this as a communication behavior and not a naughty behavior. If I correct him harshly (and "suggestions" here have included yelling at him, smacking him, jerking on his halter...stuff I have to admit point blankly, I don't want to do to my horse) I just make matters worse. He may stop fidgiting temporarily, but then every time I move towards him with a brush or a piece of tack -- he jerks away, frightened I will smack him again. When we finally get to riding, he is often so spooky that I cut my ride short and get off. I have lost his confidence in me and he is showing it. I have found with Griffin, it's just easier to let him fidgit. As long as he is not hurting anyone around him or anything -- he is FINE. As I said in posts previously, having a horse for 11years educates you in these things -- you know what works with a particular horse and what doesn't. I've found that most people that like to give unsolicitated advice seem to think that their way is the best and the only way to teach a horse something. The concept of having an open mind is usually difficult for people like this. I always have to fight the urge to ask these people if it looks like I'm wearing a sign that says "Please educate me -- I'm dumb." I have news for them.... I'm not dumb. I don't need horse training education......and the BIG SURPRISE? My horse training philosophy is probably just a bit different from theirs!! (imagine that).

1.)I HATE HORSE SLAUGHTER. I AM GLAD THAT SLAUGHTER PLANTS ARE CLOSED (and I also support the bill that would make the export of live horses to other countries for slaughter illegal)!!. Frankly, I'm tired of reading magazine and news articles written by breeders saying that all those "backyard" breeders need to stop breeding. The problem is that none of these people see themselves as a backyard breeder -- it's always someone else's fault. They make comments like "I only breed QUALITY horses," and "I TRULY LOVE ALL HORSES." Really???? Well, I'd like to ask these people that when they sell each and every one of their horses --if it doesn't work out, do they take the horse back (therefore taking responsibility for it)? When they breed a horse -- is there a purpose in mind for that horse (or are they going to just sell it to the first person that comes along)? If they truly LOVE horses -- would they be willing to breed ONE LESS horse for the next year and go to an auction instead to rescue a youngster and train it to be a halfway decent riding horse that someone might want?

The bottom line here is that we need good TRAINERS right now more than breeders in the horse industry. People who can take some of the many "grade horses" out there at some of these auctions and teach them something so someone will want them (as a trail horse, companion, whatever). If EVERY breeder would breed at least one less horse next year and take on a "charity auction case" and train it and find it a good home -- the horse world would be much better off.....for horses and people. (NOTE** KUDOS from me to those trainers out there that are participating in the Mustang Makeover challenges to help find some of these greatly overlooked horses good homes).

The kicker here of course is that you have to be able to ride and TRAIN. Not every person that breeds horses has this ability (and there are many excuses why). If you can't train though, then why in H-E-double hockeystick are you BREEDING! If you don't possess the ability to give that foal a good education, then for godsakes don't bring him into this world!

A GOOD BREEDER (and yes, I am not flaming breeders here as I believe there are a few excellent ones out there) keeps track of EVERY single one of their foals and the best ones have a PURPOSE for every foal that hits the ground -- it's not just another horse. The closing of the slaughter plants will not affect these breeders as much because they have horses that people want and the ability to TRAIN and sell them.

There is NOT a need for slaughter -- There is a need for people to be more responsible.

...and for those of you that argue that horses are livestock and should have no better treatment than cows or chickens....I'll stick a thought out there for you folks as well. Beef cattle, chickens, and even milk cows are NOT RIDDEN. They don't carry our butts around on their backs, entertain us at race tracks and circus events and drag us around in carts for 20+ years only to be sent off to slaughter afterwards. They hang around in pastures and get fat until they are slaughtered. If people want a horse to be a meat animal, then maybe they should treat them like meat animals. Leave them in a pasture with minimal handling, fatten them up, and send them to slaughter (at a young age). DON'T ride them, DON'T drive them, and DON'T get attached to them (after all, they're not pets -- isn't that what you people imply)? If they're food animals, then treat them like food animals. When you're willing to do that --we'll talk about them being a livestock/meat animal. Expecting them to be a beast of burden, entertainer, and companion as well as a food animal is just plain CRUEL and SELFISH.

...and if you are still pro-slaugter -- then go work in a slaughter plant for a year (or better yet accompany one of YOUR OWN HORSES through the slaughter process) and tell me that you still think slaughter is GOOD. ANYONE that thinks there is a need for slaughter should have to spend some time there (think of it as community service because you're only doing what's best for the horses...right)?? Heck, think of it as a "rescue" for all those horses you claim are starving out there because there's no slaughter plants. If slaughter plants are your answer to this -- then why don't you go work there?

Or just maybe...you could NOT breed that next foal and train one that already needs a home instead (Training?? what's that?? - shame on me for writing this while you're busy trying to figure out how you'll dodge your stallion's teeth for that next breeding. Training existing horses to do something -- what a concept)!


Ok...There's my 5. I'm hoping I'm not sorry for posting this. I try very hard to keep my blog as positive as possible, but when the tag came to do this -- I just couldn't resist.

Trail challenge pics of me and Grif

My friend Mary Ellen acted as "photographer" for our first trail challenge. She took over 90 pictures of 10 or so different riders. She was kind enough to make a disk for each of us so that if we wanted some pictures we would have them. Here are some pictures of Griffin and I from the bunch that she took.

Please keep in mind that these were taken on a cold winter day. I left my bikini top, snakeskin boots, and $100 jeans at home in favor of warm, functional clothing (not that I have $100 jeans or snakeskin boats -- and I WOULDN'T BE CAUGHT DEAD IN A BIKINI TOP)! I just thought I'd share a chuckle :)