A blogger at the Western States Horse Expo 2008: 1

I just returned from a fun vacation at the Expo. This is, I believe, my fifth year in a row there. This time we only went on Friday, as that was the day with most of what we wanted to see. My sister and I arrived shortly after the gates opened, and after walking around a bit we headed over to watch part of the Mustang Challenge, the in-hand competition. This event is based on the Extreme Mustang Makeover which was such a huge success. The horses in the Mustang Challenge were taken off the range and given totally wild to the trainers, who had 90 days before the show to train them.

We did not see more than 6 or 7 of the horses, but there was one trainer and horse who really stood out to me. I hope she won. The horse was VERY attentive and precise. In the trailer loading, it did exactly as requested, down to stepping out one foot at a time, waiting on her cues. It was already trained to ground tie, and she demonstrated that. If I were the type of person who didn't like training my own horses and I had a young horse to send out, she would be on my list of trainers. I believe her name was Jamie Thomas, according to the program.

Ray Ariss (and Hail Yeah, the mustang from last year that brought $50,000 after the Makeover) was there and did a demonstration and talk. We also saw more trainers from the Makeover later and I cannot remember who said it, but I loved this line: "The difference between training mustangs and domestic horses is, with mustangs you get to be a trainer. With domestic horses, you get to be a psychiatrist."

I can't remember who the picture above is of, though, I'm afraid. Sorry!

While we were watching the trainers later on, guess who sat down about four rows in front of us. He is publisher of Western Horseman magazine, and among other things, takes the official photos of the Magnificent 7 winners every year. Yes, Darrell Dodds. The sad thing is I've probably sat very close to many other famous horse people and not even realized it, as I do not frequent shows... Oh well!

Later we went over to the Toyota Arena and spent quite a while watching the Breed Demos and the Mounted Shooting Demo. During that time, my sister and I spotted a really gorgeous black Arabian stallion. I don't believe in breeding horse for color only, of course, but everyone likes a truly correct and gorgeous black stallion. So, of course we went over to pet him and take pictures!

He happens to be a son of Bey Shah, and his name is TC Bey Cedar. You may have seen him in Hidalgo. His owner was really nice, and it was fun meeting the stud. He was very well behaved, but you could tell he was a stallion by how he kept moving his muzzle around and lipping at the air. Not nippy at people, just doing stallion stuff. At the end of the Arabian Breed Demo, he came in and did various tricks, including rearing, which you could tell he heartily enjoys being allowed to do! He was very light to cues and counted out his age for us, as well as other tricks.

The last photo is right as he came down after a rear.

Anyway, after we finished petting him, we climbed back up to our seats in the stands to find that my aunt and brother had just sat down right below where we were, without realizing we were around! They had come over after we did, and wandered around separately, and we figured we'd run into each other eventually, but hadn't made any plans. I guess Sis and I are rather predictable, though - I realized that we always sit in the far right and back of those stands!

More to come...

L

Ben Hur

I just finished rereading Ben Hur. It has been a long time since I read it, and I'd forgotten what a great book it is! I tend to really love the style of writing in old classics, they wrote so eloquently and in such an amazingly descriptive way. I guess since they didn't have cameras they had to work on writing so that you could "see" a scene more than we do. Anyway, I thought you guys would like one of the horse related scenes. There are many more parts just as poetic.

"I knew a king who governed millions of men, their perfect master, but could not win the respect of a horse. Mark! I speak not of the dull brutes whose round it is to slave for slaves - the dead in spirit; but of such as mine here - the kings of their kind; of a lineage reaching back to the broods of the first Pharaoh; my comrades and friends, dwellers in tents, whom long association with me has brought up to my plane; who to their instincts have added our wits and to their sense joined our souls, until they fell all we know of ambition, love, hate and contempt. In war, heros; in trust, faithful as women."

(This is the sheik Ilderim speaking. He then brings his horses in to introduce them to Ben Hur, and...)

A head of exquisite turn - with large eyes, soft as a deer's, and half hidden by the dense forelock, and small ears, sharp-pointed and sloped well forward - approached then quite to his chest, the nostrils open, and the upper lip in motion. "Who are you?" it asked, plainly as ever man spoke.


I also had a revelation when reading it - the dam of all four horses Ben Hur used in the race was a mare named... You guessed it, Mira!


That explains the multitude of adorable Arab mares with that name. :-D


Speaking of which, both horses are doing well. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to post some really cute pictures I've been getting. Last week was truly incredibly packed... Sigh. I wish this week will be better, but not exactly counting on it.


L

Better Questions CD: A Review

I got a new CD the other day. :-) I always like getting new music, and I was especially excited because it is by my favorite musician. Better Questions is about the questions we all have about life and the big issues. I knew I'd like it when Todd Agnew said he was NOT going to try to answer all the questions he was asking, as some questions are too big for the "90 second cure." My words, not his.

I had a hard time trying to decide which lyrics to type out here; they are all good for different reasons. I finally decided to go with today's favorite song - this is just the first verse:


If you wanted me

I'll admit I'm glad we're not disciples
out on a lake paralyzed with fright,
'cause I'm afraid I might have laughed at Peter,
until he stepped into that stormy night.

If You wanted me to walk on water,
why'd You make the solid ground seem so right?


There are several more verses after this. The song ends with, If You wanted me to be like You, why'd You make me like me? The words of this song remind me of that joke, "Hey, I resemble that remark!" Because I do complain more often than I like to admit about how hard it is to try to be like Jesus, and ask why it isn't easier to do so...


Well, gotta go now. I hope everyone is having a good day!


L

The Review That Wasn't

I have been attempting to figure out a way to write a book review for the last 3 months. I wanted to review "Hackamore Reinsman" by Ed Connell and "Reinsman of the West," by the same author, but I don't think it would be possible! At least, not if the review was to be under 15 pages :-P

Disclaimer: Don't bother with either of these books if you do not want to reread and study them many times. It will take a long time for everything in them to sink in, so expect it to take quite a bit of work!

I first heard about "Hackamore Reinsman" through Larry Trocha, a cutting and reining horse trainer who produces videos on correct training. He gave a rave review and said that if anyone really wanted to learn about the almost extinct method of bridling a horse the vaquero way, that this was the book to read. It is only about 75 pages, I believe, but what he said impressed me enough that I bought it right away. In Larry's article, he said he hardly ever even recommends it anymore, as most people look through the pages and see only the old, black & white drawings and the formal language, and toss it aside as boring.

I still wanted to see what great information was in the book, so I went ahead and ordered it. As soon it came, I started paging through it. Before I finished reading it I went and ordered the other book he wrote. Both books are totally fantastic, and very densely packed with advice and tips that are pure gold!

After reading "Reinsman of the West," which goes into the bitting-up process, how to train and ride in each stage, and how to know when to finally transition a horse into the spade bit, I finally have a bunch of dots connected in my head! For years I have had dozens of questions, especially about what practical purpose there really was in using a bit like the spade, rather than a smaller curb bit, but now I know. If you want to have the same epiphany I did, order these books, and while you are waiting, go read http://www.horsemanpro.com 's articles on bits and bitting. Read each article several times. (Try to ignore his bad attitude, and just focus on what he is saying. There is a LOT of knowledge very clearly expressed in his website) Then read Ed Connell's books several times. It has been so nice to get so many dangling threads finally tied up. I do NOT feel like I know it all, though - rather, I feel like now I know enough that a door has opened that I didn't even know existed. :-D

I hope this is enough to whet your appettite. I have tried to keep this short, and not get into specifics, as otherwise I would be writing all night! :-) Ciao for now...


L

Book Review: Too Small To Ignore

By Dr. Wess Stafford

I've read this book several times before, and it keeps giving me new things to think about every time. Wess Stafford is the president of Compassion International which is a child sponsorship organization. They oversee close to 1,000,000 children who are sponsored by caring people in the US. This review is not meant to be an ad for Compassion, but I strongly believe in their work and encourage you to check out their website - they are doing amazing work that really makes a difference! (Rather than throwing money at a problem, they start at the roots of poverty in order to fix it for a lifetime)


Wess Stafford wrote this book to the Church, as a wake-up call, and to remind Christians how much Jesus loves children - not as "the future Church" but as PART OF "today's Church." He wrote this book to explain how he became passionate about children and their welfare, and to encourage believers to re-examine their thoughts/priorities regarding children in light of the Bible and what Jesus said about kids during His time on Earth.

Wess grew up in Africa, the son of missionary parents in a small village in Ivory Coast. He played with his friends in the village and lived as one of them, using his slingshot to herd cattle and kill marauding baboons, climbing trees and running races. In the book, he says "I never remember falling down as a boy and skinning my knee without some African woman immediately sweeping me up into her arms, wiping my tears, and comforting me until I felt better once again."

The more he describes village life, the more you are drawn in until you feel that you can hear the birds calling in the tree above you and the goats baa-ing as they come in for the evening. You can feel the tepid water in the swamp where you go to clean up and cool off each night. You can smell the hot, dry ground before the rainy season arrives.

As entrancing as that part of his childhood sounds, however, his early life was also very difficult. In the village, over half of his childhood friends had died of preventable causes by the time he was 15. Life was hard in the village, which never got beyond a subsistence level.

Then, every school year was spent hundreds of miles from home, in a very abusive situation that almost crushed his spirit. There are parts of the book that always make me cry. I cannot understand how people can deliberately be so cruel, especially to little children.

Fortunately, God ultimately used that experience for good, and rather than making Wess bitter, it seems to have solidified his passion for helping children everywhere, including America, grow up in a safe, nonabusive environment, with clean water, enough food, shelter, education, and medicine. According to Wess, the most important thing to know about poverty is that it's main effect is not on the outside - instead, poverty sends an insidious and terrible message - "You don't matter. Give up. Nobody wants you. Nothing will ever get better." Thus, the most important thing we can ever do for somebody is to tell them about Jesus. We cannot leave out taking care of their body, but if we take care of their body but not their heart and soul, they will always be impoverished. It is knowing about God and His love that gives children (and adults) a sense of true self-worth - "If God made me on purpose, and planned every detail of my life before I was born, and if the Infinite God considers me His treasure, then I am worth something!"


Overall, this is a deep and thoughtful book, which will leave you with a sense of hope and determination. It will also give you concrete suggestions for how to really make a difference, which is important to me as I have a practical turn of mind and am not interested in investing in something that will not work long-term. Highly recommended!


L

Horse Expo 2007: Saturday Evening

The Saturday Evening Extravaganza at the Western States Horse Expo was a 2+ hours long show! Tommy Turvey did several acts between the other exhibitors, including some fun comedy stunts.

Everyone in our party, including the non-horsey ones, had a good time watching the variety of acts. One lady with an Arabian dressage horse came out and began a musical freestyle, but unfortunately her music stuck and could not be made to play past a certain point - so she was unable to finish. :-(

The California Cowgirls drill team galloped in in formation, and did even more displays than the previous evening - watching drill teams reminds me strongly of trapeze artists, for some reason! I think it's the timing...

The main thing I wish the Expo management would change is the ultra boring "We'd like to thank our sponsors" that they did too many times. Why don't they just have a "salute to the sponsors" moment, and flash the names on the screen while they tell us "these companies donated a big chunk of money, so if you like the Expo then please buy some of their products," we all know that's what they mean anyway!

One of the most exciting acts of the whole show was the chariot race! Tommy and Karen Turvey racing each other! Guess who won???

L

Horse Expo 2007: Day 2

We got to the Cal Expo grounds about 10:00, and went right to the Breyer booth. My siblings (and aunt!) wanted to PAINT THOSE MODELS! So, we all had fun doing that first.

When all our little models were “perfect” (it’s quite amazing how persnickety you get doing those!) and quite dry, we went over to watch Benny Guitron speak on hackamore training. It was cool – he said something about not being used to giving clinics or not having done a clinic before, so after he gave a very brief introduction to hackamores and their use, and his experiences/credentials, he asked for questions from the crowd. He said he wanted it to be a good learning experience for everyone, and he didn’t really have an agenda for what to say, so he wanted to talk about whatever the crowd wanted to talk about. I really liked his clinic – no frills, very simple, and some solid gold information. A lot of what he said dovetailed exactly with 2 other sources I have been studying lately, which I'll have to probably save it for future posts! :-) As I get more involved in the horse world, I meet/see people of all types, and there are some that I file away for future reference as being “real” people, people who seem genuine, open, and interested in people as well as horses. Benny Guitron is one of them.

We then went to a different arena to watch a vaulting demo. My sis is thinking about trying vaulting someday, and had actually talked to the vaulting team coach earlier, so we all went over to watch the demo with her. It was cool to watch all the stunts they can do, but our seats were far from cool… Right in direct sun – we were miserable, so my brothers and I left a bit early to go get lunch. But it is amazing to watch vaulters work!

The last thing we watched that afternoon was Donna Snyder-Smith’s clinic on riding with correct posture. Lots there – I might have to do another separate post on that. The relationship between the rider's posture and the horse's nervousness or relaxation has always been fascinating to me.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the pics, small as they are! Maybe next year I'll have a camera with a telephoto lense and be able to get close-ups... Next post: Saturday Evening.

L

Horse Expo 2007: Day 1

I just got back a little while ago from the Expo, and wow oh wow! The last thing we saw before we left tonight was Tommy Turvey doing chariot racing and roman riding. (i.e. riding two horses, standing up, with one foot on each horse's back) He has two black and white Paint geldings that he does the roman riding with, and he has this trick where he runs them along the arena fence and then jumps up on the fence and runs along it, leaning over to still hold the reins, before jumping back down to stand with one feet on each horse's back again. It was very exciting! That was the half-time show for the Magnificent 7 - we had to leave then, so I don't know yet who won... It might have been Brother White, or it might have been Really A Reyner, who is a very cute mare, or it could be someone totally different...

My sis and I followed our long tradition of eating burritos and ice-cream cones for meals.

We enjoyed watching the Parellis, Pat & Linda, perform, and I will try to recap it a little more tomorrow - they gave me an idea to try with Mira!

We wandered through the shopping areas, and saw about 4 zillion cool items for sale. I managed to avoid getting anything not planned for though - so far!

A friend of mine very kindly lent me her digital camera for this trip, so I have been able to take a LOT of pictures, and will see if I can post some tomorrow morning, as well as more details about what it was like. Good night all!


L

"Paddock Paradise" by Jaime Jackson: Part 2

One important observation from wild horse bands all over the world is that they do not usually wander aimlessly around their territory. It may look like it to humans, but when you study them closely, horses have distinct paths, looping and meandering trails, which they tend to travel on. These paths will take them to water, grazing areas, salt and other minerals, dustbathing areas, sleeping areas, and more. It may take them several days to cover all the ground, and some areas may not be visited at all in some seasons.

The description of herd life and the pictures of wild horse social dynamics in this book are fascinating. The author spends quite a lot of the book describing the wild horse's life, which is good - We need to know what wild living really is like before we can copy, modify, and tweak it to our own horses' needs!

He does not say exactly how he came up with the idea for "Paddock Paradise," but however it ocurred to him, the basic idea is a long, meandering track that is basically a large fenced loop about 10'-20' in width. The width is important, because having it narrow enough encourages the horses to keep moving. The twists and turns keep them always "looking around the next corner." Along the track you will put their feeders, their salt and mineral blocks, and their water, at different locations, so that they keep moving often to get to the next thing. There will also be a few areas where you can widen out the track to create loafing areas.

I love this idea, especially because it ties in perfectly with a rotational grazing system, to really maximize your pasture health as well as your horses' health! AND, save money on feed by having productive pastures because the horses are not constantly on them!!!

Overall, some of the key reasons why I am building a "Paddock Paradise" for Mira this summer are:

• Constant movement keeps a horse's joints supple, strong, and young.
• Moving all day keeps your horse much more fit, even when you can't ride.
• Less need for warmup and cool down when you do ride.
• Horses are not bored - their minds are stimulated and they get to "fulfill their innate horsieness." ;-D
• More natural herd dynamics.
• Apparently needs as little as one acre to work.
• I believe "Paddock Paradise" would dramatically lower risk and incidence of colic, for a lot of reasons!
• Lessens or eliminates need for frequent hoof trims, and naturally creates a tough, resilient, well-shaped hoof.
• Horses that are moving and exploring are HAPPY HORSES! :-)

I hope you enjoy this review, and I recommend this book to anyone who wants to find out more about simple, non-labor-intensive ways to increase their horse's health, mental wellbeing, and longevity!

L

"Paddock Paradise" by Jaime Jackson: Part 1

This book is only about 100 pages long, but it if you want a truly information-packed resource on holistic horse health, practical advice, and an imagination inspiring nudge, you will want to get this one!

Jaime is a farrier/barefoot trimmer who studied wild horses in the high desert for 4 years in the 1980's. Being a farrier, he was especially interested in their feet, which were (obviously) never trimmed or cared for by humans. Domestic horses are prone to many different kinds of lamenesses, and a huge number of horses are chronically lame to some degree or other, even at very young ages, sometimes even before they are started under saddle. Farriers, vets, and horse owners spend a great deal of time and money each year treating lameness in horses, yet lameness issues are still some of the worst killers of horses. When Jaime realized that the wild horses he was watching were almost never lame despite traveling dozens of miles a day over all kinds of terrain, (soft, hard, rocky, slippery, sandy, wet, dry, and gravelly ground) he started thinking, and examining lots of cadaver hoofs, footprints, and photos of the wild horses. What he found caused him to rethink hoofcare, and revolutionized his techniques, especially in regard to use of typical horse shoes...

In the last couple decades, other horse people ended up on similar paths of questions and discovery, and now barefoot high-performance horses are becoming an accepted reality. And successful rehabilitation of thousands and thousands of "hopelessly" lame horses has caused an entire industry to rethink a lot of traditions and practices, for the good of the horse.

However, one thing that the various barefoot "gurus" have consistently found, is that movement, and LOTS of it, is far, far more important for the health of a horse's feet, (and whole body) than the particular style of trimming. Horses that stand in a stall or under a tree most of the day will never have hooves that reach their full potential, unlike horses that travel 20 miles a day or more.

So the dilemma for horse owners has been, how is it possible to provide enough room and motivation to encourage their beloved horses to move that much? Even in very large pastures, horses will often stand near the gate most of the day, swishing flies. We do not want "pasture potatoes," but very few of us horse owners have the resources to give our horses several thousand acres of open land to simulate a wild environment. Riding consistently is very good for horses, but they still tend to stand around the rest of the time.

So, what is the answer to this puzzle?!?


Part 2 coming tomorrow. :-)


L