So there wasn't much to dislike at this show. It was pretty much top notch over all, from decor, to the planning, the execution, and the caliber of rider (and people watching!)
BUT.
The cost of stuff was pretty astronomical. And I understand, we were in Los Angeles and at a prestigious show trying to imitate the super high end European shows. However, a sandwich (that was very very good, but it was still a sandwich) was $18, bottled water was $4 and then on Sunday I splurged and got a mimosa. $20 later...I almost spit that mimosa back into the bartenders face. Okay, not really but I don't even pay that much for bottomless mimosas at my local brunch place.
Oh. And this was the big one that really irked me. You would figure that an event like this would have a lot of branded merchandise that people would buy to get signed, remember the event, etc. NOPE. They had baseball caps, and then a polo for men and one for women. Like we're all horse people here-where are the saddle pads? Or polo wraps? Or something that is relatively cheap that Longines can embroider and sell at a huge markup? It was disappointing to say the least. Also disappointing is that they completely ran out of hats and I really wanted one. I tried to see if one of my friends who was volunteering there knew of any connection but I guess the show REALLY ran out of them. So much so they had to take the hats (worn hats, by the way) from the volunteers to give to the people who had won. Crazy, right? Seems like kind of crummy planning especially since nothing had dates on it. Longines is contracted to run this show for 5 more years-they could have recycled extras! Or, maybe the person ordering needs to learn how to count...
Anyway, like I said. Small stuff, but it was significant enough for me to note it.
The most interesting thing I saw there (besides the horse statue made out of hangers, OMG! Oh, and some random celebrities) was how these "Masters" rode around each other in the warm up ring. The warm up ring was great-smack dab in the middle of the venue and you could stand there just an arms length away from some of the top horse and rider pairs in the world. I watched before the big class Saturday night. Some of the riders at the time I was watching included Mclain Ward, Laura Kraut, and Reed Kessler. Now I've been in super crazy warm up rings before and it is stressful. But people are generally decent about calling out "rail" or not purposefully turning into other riders or calling their jumps. These Masters though? It was probably the quietest warmup ring I've ever witnessed and holy hell...they are SO RUDE to each other! I saw one riding up right on anothers butt, despite the horse they were riding up on having a red string in its tail (signal for a kicker). Another jumped a jump, and turned left INTO the rail, right where a couple other riders were walking who then had to scramble out of the way. Saw another do a circle RIGHT in front of someone else, literally 4 inches in front of the other horse's nose. When I mentioned all this to my friend, she brought up a good point that they probably do all this as an intimidation factor. You figure as far as riding talent goes, most of these riders are on a pretty level playing field-its the best of the best. So they have to play a mental game to out psych their opponents. Makes sense but damn! It was intense.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Monday, September 29, 2014
Longines Masters Grand Slam Los Angeles-The Amazing and the Good!
This weekend I had was able to attend the Longines Masters show in Los Angeles for a couple days. I've known about the event for a few months, but hemmed and hawed about going because of the cost, finding people to go with, etc etc. However, about a month ago I won a pair of tickets from a horse publication. That pretty much sealed the deal-I was dying to get down there!
I wrangled a couple friends who at this point wouldn't mind doing the drive with me, we worked out a free hotel thanks to one of my friend's hotel points, and decided that we would cram as much horse time in a whirlwind 48 hours.
Thankfully the drive went pretty painlessly. No traffic out of Sacramento, and the traffic once we hit LA was minimal. Made it down with plenty of time to shower, get ready, and head over to the show to check out the vendors before watching the first class.
There is a lot to say about this show, so I'll just start with the amazing and the good.
The Amazing:
I think this goes without saying but DAMN. The caliber of the rider and horse at this show is top notch. They allowed 2* riders to show (for a hefty sum) but even those people were some of the best ammys and pros in the US. As for the 5* riders (the Masters riders) that kind of goes without saying. The top riders IN THE WORLD with their TOP horses. This wasn't a second string horse type of show. People brought their "A" horses. I got to see Cristallo, Blue Angel, Willow, Zavall, Simon and Cos I Can, just to name a few. To see these horse and rider combinations in the flesh after only watching them on internet live feeds is an experience I will never forget. I mean at a couple points in time when I was watching the riders warm up, I could have reached out and touched them. It was pretty amazing.
On top of that, the riders were pretty accessible. They walked around the venue just like everyone else. In fact, I encountered Mclain Ward as I was leaving my seat the first night. I might have geeked out a bit and tried to be all sneaky to take a pic, but he totally caught me and said it was fine to take a picture with him. So I did. I admit to being a total dork but whatever! It was very very cool. I also was standing literally right behind Reed Kessler and we rode the escalator down after the show. She may not have the nicest reputation, but I will say she is very pretty in person and just seems kind of normal. I wanted to say hello but it was after her not so great ride in the GP class on the last day so used my better judgement and just smiled.
Also amazing was the venue. The convention center was totally transformed. Beautiful styling everywhere, along with a nicely thought out warm up ring in the center of the lobby area (so everyone could watch), plenty of seating, and a gorgeous arena. Parking was easy, access to everything was easy and even for being such a "fancy" show with many millions of dollars of horseflesh, everyone working was pretty easy going. Backpacks didn't get checked, we didn't get hassled for bringing in outside food or taking lots of pictures. It was a good mix of fairly casual people, and then people dressed to the nines (VIPs).
Speaking of people being dressed to the nine...SO MANY CELEBRITIES! I try not to geek out about celebrities but sometimes you just can't help it.
The Good:
Food and drink was fantastic, but has been deemed only good because of the prices. I understand why it was all so expensive but the second day I went to have a mimosa and it was $20! I almost choked. Still delicious and the bartender was super generous (poured a full glass of champagne, let me drink quite a bit of it, topped it off again and then added the OJ) but man...that's more than what I pay for umlimited at brunch.
Shopping also fell under the good. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be. Vendor space was pretty limited, but everything except maybe one vendor was stuff I would see/find at any horse show in my area. The highlight was the D'yon booth. Huge with tons of beautiful leather goods. They ended up giving a deal to us on a couple of cute little crossbody purses and I bought a pair of lined spur straps that were very affordable. I did see a couple of other things I *could* have bought but I resisted since I think the shopping will be better at the Penn National show I'm going to in a few weeks.
Next post will be on some of the crazy/interesting observations I made, as well as the bad!
I wrangled a couple friends who at this point wouldn't mind doing the drive with me, we worked out a free hotel thanks to one of my friend's hotel points, and decided that we would cram as much horse time in a whirlwind 48 hours.
Thankfully the drive went pretty painlessly. No traffic out of Sacramento, and the traffic once we hit LA was minimal. Made it down with plenty of time to shower, get ready, and head over to the show to check out the vendors before watching the first class.
There is a lot to say about this show, so I'll just start with the amazing and the good.
The Amazing:
I think this goes without saying but DAMN. The caliber of the rider and horse at this show is top notch. They allowed 2* riders to show (for a hefty sum) but even those people were some of the best ammys and pros in the US. As for the 5* riders (the Masters riders) that kind of goes without saying. The top riders IN THE WORLD with their TOP horses. This wasn't a second string horse type of show. People brought their "A" horses. I got to see Cristallo, Blue Angel, Willow, Zavall, Simon and Cos I Can, just to name a few. To see these horse and rider combinations in the flesh after only watching them on internet live feeds is an experience I will never forget. I mean at a couple points in time when I was watching the riders warm up, I could have reached out and touched them. It was pretty amazing.
On top of that, the riders were pretty accessible. They walked around the venue just like everyone else. In fact, I encountered Mclain Ward as I was leaving my seat the first night. I might have geeked out a bit and tried to be all sneaky to take a pic, but he totally caught me and said it was fine to take a picture with him. So I did. I admit to being a total dork but whatever! It was very very cool. I also was standing literally right behind Reed Kessler and we rode the escalator down after the show. She may not have the nicest reputation, but I will say she is very pretty in person and just seems kind of normal. I wanted to say hello but it was after her not so great ride in the GP class on the last day so used my better judgement and just smiled.
Also amazing was the venue. The convention center was totally transformed. Beautiful styling everywhere, along with a nicely thought out warm up ring in the center of the lobby area (so everyone could watch), plenty of seating, and a gorgeous arena. Parking was easy, access to everything was easy and even for being such a "fancy" show with many millions of dollars of horseflesh, everyone working was pretty easy going. Backpacks didn't get checked, we didn't get hassled for bringing in outside food or taking lots of pictures. It was a good mix of fairly casual people, and then people dressed to the nines (VIPs).
Speaking of people being dressed to the nine...SO MANY CELEBRITIES! I try not to geek out about celebrities but sometimes you just can't help it.
The Good:
Food and drink was fantastic, but has been deemed only good because of the prices. I understand why it was all so expensive but the second day I went to have a mimosa and it was $20! I almost choked. Still delicious and the bartender was super generous (poured a full glass of champagne, let me drink quite a bit of it, topped it off again and then added the OJ) but man...that's more than what I pay for umlimited at brunch.
Shopping also fell under the good. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be. Vendor space was pretty limited, but everything except maybe one vendor was stuff I would see/find at any horse show in my area. The highlight was the D'yon booth. Huge with tons of beautiful leather goods. They ended up giving a deal to us on a couple of cute little crossbody purses and I bought a pair of lined spur straps that were very affordable. I did see a couple of other things I *could* have bought but I resisted since I think the shopping will be better at the Penn National show I'm going to in a few weeks.
Next post will be on some of the crazy/interesting observations I made, as well as the bad!
Friday, September 19, 2014
Baby J and Riding Update!
So this is my first post since Baby J (Jynx) was born. It has been a rocky, rocky road to say the least. He was at the vets for almost 7 weeks, although I think we could have pulled him out much sooner had the vet been more proactive. Lesson learned. Long story short, the legs improved dramatically enough that he could have gone home, but vet kept pulling bloodwork and Baby J had a mild infection for quite awhile. We probably did three rounds of antibiotics with limited success. Finally, after that third round vet suggested plasma transfusion. Which, unknown to me, he told my trainer/breeding partner he would do the first week. Well lo and behold, after the transfusion his numbers pretty much came normal. GRRR!!! He still continued to struggle with the knee a bit, as well as the lovely addition of pressure sores from the splint. And towards the end of his stay, he started not wanting to put weight on his leg that had been more seriously contracted (also had the pressure sores on the fetlock). All these things made the vet want to keep him longer, so we did.
However, it did get to a point where we were both like "wow, our bill is going to be really high, let's just pull him out, bring him back to the barn and see how he does". Vet thought he was good enough to do that (and would periodically check on him) so we brought him home.
He made HUGE leaps of improvement once he got home. HUGE. I was able to get his sore healed up in a couple weeks (whereas it was improving super slowly with the vet). He had no issues putting weight on the leg when I started bandaging him, and then wouldn't when the vet came to bandage him. We figured out it was because of the way he was being wrapped and the type of bandage the vet was using. I think it was just so tight, it was irritating that sore and making Baby J not want to put weight on it. Leg started straightening out more as he used it more (since he was on stall rest at the vets). Started putting on some weight, and some muscle.
He also started to get limited turnout. Oh man...I was SO happy the first time I got to turn him out for an hour. HE was so happy! To see him running around like a normal baby was supposed 7 weeks after being born was awesome.
And all through this he kept his curious, and very sweet personality. He is now super duper easy to handle, and loves humans. I guess that's the one perk to being handled every single day for a variety of treatments since birth?
Anyway, we named him Jynx because its meant to be a little tongue in cheek. He has been jinxed! He's had a lot thrown at him at such a young age and so far, has come through the other side relatively unscathed (just has a few scars, which I'm hoping will disappear in a few shedding cycles). I'm just thrilled to have mom and baby back at the barn. Arwen is doing great-I was warned she would drop a ton of weight but so far, she is holding her condition fantastically. I'm planning on getting on her back a little this winter to just do some flat work and get her a little tighter in prep for her next breeding (will talk more about that later...the stallion search continues). I am dying to bring her into the arena with jumps/poles, just to see what the baby will do with it all!
Speaking of riding, I have still been taking lessons consistently on a handful of horses. Its just been kind of a rotation of whats available (and of whats available, what I am able to ride!). I tried leasing one for about a month but that didn't end well. Started out fine, but after about two weeks horse started trying to rear. It was really weird-I attribute it to some kind of pain issue because other than that he is a pretty good guy who does like his job. Lately I've been riding a horse one of the juniors is "leasing" who is super fun and I like a lot, but is tricky. He has a stop in him that he employs when you are not accurate which unfortunately for me, happens a lot. Not the stopping but the lack of accuracy...anyway, I guess you could say he is not super forgiving in that sense. But in others, he's great. He kind of trucks along, especially since we've only been jumping 2'3-2'6" lately. Although last night, with my trainer back from a show, I got to jump him up a lot which was great. Probably around 3'-3'1". This horse has an AMAZING jump, just so smooth, round, slow and lovely so jumping him up was an experience. He took one oxer huge, and I got a little jumped loose and may have shrieked, but hey, I stayed on. Left that lesson with a really big smile on my face.
So that's pretty much what's been going on in my horse world. Lots of happenings coming up, and I do need to update on the CF front, although that isn't super exciting (besides me hitting some PR's, which I guess is exciting in its own way).
However, it did get to a point where we were both like "wow, our bill is going to be really high, let's just pull him out, bring him back to the barn and see how he does". Vet thought he was good enough to do that (and would periodically check on him) so we brought him home.
He made HUGE leaps of improvement once he got home. HUGE. I was able to get his sore healed up in a couple weeks (whereas it was improving super slowly with the vet). He had no issues putting weight on the leg when I started bandaging him, and then wouldn't when the vet came to bandage him. We figured out it was because of the way he was being wrapped and the type of bandage the vet was using. I think it was just so tight, it was irritating that sore and making Baby J not want to put weight on it. Leg started straightening out more as he used it more (since he was on stall rest at the vets). Started putting on some weight, and some muscle.
He also started to get limited turnout. Oh man...I was SO happy the first time I got to turn him out for an hour. HE was so happy! To see him running around like a normal baby was supposed 7 weeks after being born was awesome.
And all through this he kept his curious, and very sweet personality. He is now super duper easy to handle, and loves humans. I guess that's the one perk to being handled every single day for a variety of treatments since birth?
Anyway, we named him Jynx because its meant to be a little tongue in cheek. He has been jinxed! He's had a lot thrown at him at such a young age and so far, has come through the other side relatively unscathed (just has a few scars, which I'm hoping will disappear in a few shedding cycles). I'm just thrilled to have mom and baby back at the barn. Arwen is doing great-I was warned she would drop a ton of weight but so far, she is holding her condition fantastically. I'm planning on getting on her back a little this winter to just do some flat work and get her a little tighter in prep for her next breeding (will talk more about that later...the stallion search continues). I am dying to bring her into the arena with jumps/poles, just to see what the baby will do with it all!
Speaking of riding, I have still been taking lessons consistently on a handful of horses. Its just been kind of a rotation of whats available (and of whats available, what I am able to ride!). I tried leasing one for about a month but that didn't end well. Started out fine, but after about two weeks horse started trying to rear. It was really weird-I attribute it to some kind of pain issue because other than that he is a pretty good guy who does like his job. Lately I've been riding a horse one of the juniors is "leasing" who is super fun and I like a lot, but is tricky. He has a stop in him that he employs when you are not accurate which unfortunately for me, happens a lot. Not the stopping but the lack of accuracy...anyway, I guess you could say he is not super forgiving in that sense. But in others, he's great. He kind of trucks along, especially since we've only been jumping 2'3-2'6" lately. Although last night, with my trainer back from a show, I got to jump him up a lot which was great. Probably around 3'-3'1". This horse has an AMAZING jump, just so smooth, round, slow and lovely so jumping him up was an experience. He took one oxer huge, and I got a little jumped loose and may have shrieked, but hey, I stayed on. Left that lesson with a really big smile on my face.
So that's pretty much what's been going on in my horse world. Lots of happenings coming up, and I do need to update on the CF front, although that isn't super exciting (besides me hitting some PR's, which I guess is exciting in its own way).
Friday, June 13, 2014
Breeding: Not for the faint of heart
So...Arwen had a beautiful baby boy on 5/30/2014 at 9 am in the morning. Totally normal, non eventful pregnancy, textbook birth/labor. She was contracting the night before, I milk tested her around 12 am (low pH but her calcium was not super high) and I thought she had at least another night so I went home. Got the call the next morning as soon as I arrived at work that OMG ARWEN IS IN LABOR!! so I rushed down to the barn. Of course, Arwen pushed the little sucker out in like five minutes so I totally missed it. Pretty much the ENTIRE barn got to see it though since she was quite thoughtful and gave birth at such a reasonable hour on a Friday. According to people that were there, everything progressed as I read it should progress. I was thanking my lucky stars that my dependable, unshakeable girl made it through the birthing process a-ok.
Well, turned out that after being so "textbook", her baby was not able to stand upon birth. Totally healthy otherwise, gorgeous bay with four white socks and a tiny star. But, all that didn't matter with his pretty contracted fronts and laxity in back. This resulted in us rushing him over to the vet to try and get him straightened out, and to get him the all important colostrum. He is a BIG foal-not only super long legged, but long in body. Its believed that being so big in the womb can contribute to the issues with the tendons, since the baby cannot move around as much and stretch out. It is also believed that weight of the mare, nutrition, and genetics can all play a roll as well. However, there is no definite or common answer out there for these issues. Most foals are born with *some* degree of these issues, so it is not uncommon to encounter.
It was also clear that Arwen has been a mom before because she is EXCELLENT. Very nuturing, stands stock still when baby wants to eat, protective when she needs to be but lets people fuss over the baby because I think she knows we're just trying to help. Going through all of this with her makes me so proud to be her owner. She may not have been the best riding horse, but she is definitely the best mom and I do not regret my decision to breed her because I do think that is something she loves and excels at.
However, this whole experience has definitely taken off my rose colored glasses when it comes to breeding, stomped on them, ground them into the dust, maybe stomped on them again, and then thrown them into an incinerator to make sure they're REALLY destroyed! Breeding puts on your radar a lot of other people who are expecting babies-and just like in humans, you encounter a lot of good stories, but also some of the unsuccessful/bad ones.
For example-the lax back tendons. When I first saw Baby J had those, my heart just sank. Someone I'm aware of through an online forum had just been through those with her baby, and ended up having to put the baby down as the tendons were not improving after a month. Her case and situation was completely different from mine, but it still stuck in my mind.
Another example-local trainer bred her mare, and now the mare is in ICU. Baby is healthy and fine, but her poor mare may not make it. Not sure why, but again its just another thing that can go wrong with a breeding.
For those two bad stories though, there are two great ones. Two acquaintances had a healthy, happy babies and a healthy happy mommas. No issues, with the exception of one of the baby's having slightly contracted back tendons (another WB, actually. Its believed to be very common in WB's where the genetics issue could come into play).
So while Baby J is now doing much better, what I originally thought was going to be a fairly inexpensive endeavor is becoming much more expensive. Its also a crap shoot on how he is going to turn out-right now he is a very tolerant, sweet, fiesty and curious little guy. But who knows what kind of talent, saleability, ridability, etc he is going to have!
Do I still plan on breeding again? Yes. I would like to continue trying to breed because my ultimate goal is to get a horse out of Arwen I could keep for myself. However I will definitely go into my next breeding with all these stories/experiences in the back of my mind.
Well, turned out that after being so "textbook", her baby was not able to stand upon birth. Totally healthy otherwise, gorgeous bay with four white socks and a tiny star. But, all that didn't matter with his pretty contracted fronts and laxity in back. This resulted in us rushing him over to the vet to try and get him straightened out, and to get him the all important colostrum. He is a BIG foal-not only super long legged, but long in body. Its believed that being so big in the womb can contribute to the issues with the tendons, since the baby cannot move around as much and stretch out. It is also believed that weight of the mare, nutrition, and genetics can all play a roll as well. However, there is no definite or common answer out there for these issues. Most foals are born with *some* degree of these issues, so it is not uncommon to encounter.
It was also clear that Arwen has been a mom before because she is EXCELLENT. Very nuturing, stands stock still when baby wants to eat, protective when she needs to be but lets people fuss over the baby because I think she knows we're just trying to help. Going through all of this with her makes me so proud to be her owner. She may not have been the best riding horse, but she is definitely the best mom and I do not regret my decision to breed her because I do think that is something she loves and excels at.
However, this whole experience has definitely taken off my rose colored glasses when it comes to breeding, stomped on them, ground them into the dust, maybe stomped on them again, and then thrown them into an incinerator to make sure they're REALLY destroyed! Breeding puts on your radar a lot of other people who are expecting babies-and just like in humans, you encounter a lot of good stories, but also some of the unsuccessful/bad ones.
For example-the lax back tendons. When I first saw Baby J had those, my heart just sank. Someone I'm aware of through an online forum had just been through those with her baby, and ended up having to put the baby down as the tendons were not improving after a month. Her case and situation was completely different from mine, but it still stuck in my mind.
Another example-local trainer bred her mare, and now the mare is in ICU. Baby is healthy and fine, but her poor mare may not make it. Not sure why, but again its just another thing that can go wrong with a breeding.
For those two bad stories though, there are two great ones. Two acquaintances had a healthy, happy babies and a healthy happy mommas. No issues, with the exception of one of the baby's having slightly contracted back tendons (another WB, actually. Its believed to be very common in WB's where the genetics issue could come into play).
So while Baby J is now doing much better, what I originally thought was going to be a fairly inexpensive endeavor is becoming much more expensive. Its also a crap shoot on how he is going to turn out-right now he is a very tolerant, sweet, fiesty and curious little guy. But who knows what kind of talent, saleability, ridability, etc he is going to have!
Do I still plan on breeding again? Yes. I would like to continue trying to breed because my ultimate goal is to get a horse out of Arwen I could keep for myself. However I will definitely go into my next breeding with all these stories/experiences in the back of my mind.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Getting so friggin' close!
Arwen is now at 330 days. Ack! Her body is definitely starting to move things around and soften up. I've been doing the milk pH testing, where as she gets closer to foaling her milk is *supposedly* going to drop super low in pH and get high in calcium. She has been holding pretty steady for the last week around 6.8-7.2 pH and 100 calcium. I was really hoping she would go this week, but its possible she will hold onto the baby up until 340 days, or even past. Anyway, fingers crossed it happens soon!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Ex-Grand Prix horses...why the obsession?
A thread going on on COTH about riding a strong, ex-GP horse got me thinking about this. Why are people so enamored with the idea of riding/owning ex-GP horses?
Why do we consider it something to be proud of to ride an "ex-GP" horse? Why do people, even if they may never jump higher than 3', say they want a 1.20m horse? What is it that makes us want to sit on this very specific kind of horse and more importantly, make us think we can ride them successfully? Is it vanity? Pride? Bragging points?
I ask these questions to myself because I too fell into the trap when I bought Arwen. She was an ex 1.40-1.50m horse, doing those classes in Mexico with her old owner who (according to some COTH feedback) is an amateur but one of the biggest amateurs in Mexico, meaning he could essentially be a pro. She did the 1.20m with her old owner, but we were told just didn't "want" to jump that height anymore. The old owner was rich so essentially was having a firesale on her. So, when I discovered she was within my budget I never really questioned why at the time. But I should have. Because when I purchased her she could have easily been doing 1.20-1.25m still (was only 13, still in her prime) however I REALLY wanted to believe that she was tired of doing the big stuff and wanted to be a partner to a relatively experienced adult amateur. And admittedly, I really did love her when I first tried her. Outside of jumping, she is super sane, safe and sensible. I can trail ride her, bareback at dusk, around the property with just a halter. However, as soon as we started jumping it was kind of a mess. Also admittedly, however, I was liking the fact I could tell people I bought an "ex GP" horse for pennies and was now riding her.
Dumb, right? And vain.
Because it takes a certain type of animal to do those big jumps. I know this now, though I don't think I really knew it at the time. Jumping that big takes a lot of athleticism, bravery, confidence in your rider, and well, some funky personality quirks. Every horse I have seen/read about that jumps at that level has something about their personalities (horsenalities?) along with extreme athleticism too, that gets them to that point. And I just don't think that makes most of them suitable to be jumping around at 3', with a rider who makes a lot of mistakes. They just don't have the tolerance for it. Its kind of like how you see very few pro athletes come back and want to coach some puny middle school team after being in the big leagues (if at all?). I know horses don't understand the meaning of something being beneath them, but I do think they can be bored, especially ones purpose bred and then trained to do a very specific job that not all horses can do. They are elite athletes, with the brain to be elite athletes (otherwise they would have washed out long ago).
I would say 80% of the time Arwen was really bored with her job with me. Bored, and it made her act out, in addition to not getting what she needed from me as a rider. She was used to non conflicting aids, that precise distance to a jump, and basically having more of a give-take relationship that I was prepared for. I still don't think I'm prepared enough to ride a horse like her. I rely a lot on my partner to be able to help me out and have the confidence to do it, which is where a good, solid 3'6" horse is a much more appropriate match for me. They don't have to be a world beater, or be able to jump the moon.
Something that has stuck with me for a couple years when starting the talks about breeding was a trainer who was offering up a solid 1.20 stallion for me to breed to. She said "everyone wants a 1.40 horse, but barely anyone needs one". She felt that the typical backyard/small breeder needed to breed for brains and the typical 3'-3'6" ammy market because in all honesty, it is a handful of very talented riders who will make it to the top. Not to mention just a handful of horses too! It is a statement that I brushed off at the time, but lately has really been ringing true. Especially as I don't have a horse to ride and have gotten to take lessons on some really amazing, but limited, horses who have taught me so much and I realize I would be perfectly happy owning (and they were never ex GP horses! OMG).
So I guess, where does it stop? Because despite me knowing what I know now, I am still trying to breed Arwen for that 1.40m baby. Maybe its just human nature, to want the best? And I am admittedly falling into that trap again.
Why do we consider it something to be proud of to ride an "ex-GP" horse? Why do people, even if they may never jump higher than 3', say they want a 1.20m horse? What is it that makes us want to sit on this very specific kind of horse and more importantly, make us think we can ride them successfully? Is it vanity? Pride? Bragging points?
I ask these questions to myself because I too fell into the trap when I bought Arwen. She was an ex 1.40-1.50m horse, doing those classes in Mexico with her old owner who (according to some COTH feedback) is an amateur but one of the biggest amateurs in Mexico, meaning he could essentially be a pro. She did the 1.20m with her old owner, but we were told just didn't "want" to jump that height anymore. The old owner was rich so essentially was having a firesale on her. So, when I discovered she was within my budget I never really questioned why at the time. But I should have. Because when I purchased her she could have easily been doing 1.20-1.25m still (was only 13, still in her prime) however I REALLY wanted to believe that she was tired of doing the big stuff and wanted to be a partner to a relatively experienced adult amateur. And admittedly, I really did love her when I first tried her. Outside of jumping, she is super sane, safe and sensible. I can trail ride her, bareback at dusk, around the property with just a halter. However, as soon as we started jumping it was kind of a mess. Also admittedly, however, I was liking the fact I could tell people I bought an "ex GP" horse for pennies and was now riding her.
Dumb, right? And vain.
Because it takes a certain type of animal to do those big jumps. I know this now, though I don't think I really knew it at the time. Jumping that big takes a lot of athleticism, bravery, confidence in your rider, and well, some funky personality quirks. Every horse I have seen/read about that jumps at that level has something about their personalities (horsenalities?) along with extreme athleticism too, that gets them to that point. And I just don't think that makes most of them suitable to be jumping around at 3', with a rider who makes a lot of mistakes. They just don't have the tolerance for it. Its kind of like how you see very few pro athletes come back and want to coach some puny middle school team after being in the big leagues (if at all?). I know horses don't understand the meaning of something being beneath them, but I do think they can be bored, especially ones purpose bred and then trained to do a very specific job that not all horses can do. They are elite athletes, with the brain to be elite athletes (otherwise they would have washed out long ago).
I would say 80% of the time Arwen was really bored with her job with me. Bored, and it made her act out, in addition to not getting what she needed from me as a rider. She was used to non conflicting aids, that precise distance to a jump, and basically having more of a give-take relationship that I was prepared for. I still don't think I'm prepared enough to ride a horse like her. I rely a lot on my partner to be able to help me out and have the confidence to do it, which is where a good, solid 3'6" horse is a much more appropriate match for me. They don't have to be a world beater, or be able to jump the moon.
Something that has stuck with me for a couple years when starting the talks about breeding was a trainer who was offering up a solid 1.20 stallion for me to breed to. She said "everyone wants a 1.40 horse, but barely anyone needs one". She felt that the typical backyard/small breeder needed to breed for brains and the typical 3'-3'6" ammy market because in all honesty, it is a handful of very talented riders who will make it to the top. Not to mention just a handful of horses too! It is a statement that I brushed off at the time, but lately has really been ringing true. Especially as I don't have a horse to ride and have gotten to take lessons on some really amazing, but limited, horses who have taught me so much and I realize I would be perfectly happy owning (and they were never ex GP horses! OMG).
So I guess, where does it stop? Because despite me knowing what I know now, I am still trying to breed Arwen for that 1.40m baby. Maybe its just human nature, to want the best? And I am admittedly falling into that trap again.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Thermal and other updates
Again, I have been slacking on getting things written down. Nothing since December is no bueno.
First update: Thermal. Went down there for Week 3, riding a borrowed horse whose owner rode him Week 2. Super awesome 6 yo named Sitation who at such a young age is already a total packer. Well, maybe not a total packer but he is getting close. He saved my butt a couple times, and is as honest as the day is long. We showed in the low adult/child modified division, which is 2'11" (.90). Thermal sets a HARD 2'11" though and when I first got there, I thought the height looked huge. However, by the end of the week I felt like if I had been there another week, I would have been fine bumping up to 3'1" (.95).
The gist of the show was this: Biggest show I have ever been to in my life in terms of sheer number of riders (at least 35 in every class), jumps, and actual showgrounds. Thermal is SO spread out-if you don't have a golf cart, bike, etc you are going to get really tired just hoofing it (heh) around on. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I am so grateful that I got to go. That being said...I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon. It was just way above me in terms of competitiveness and while I definitely feel prepared to do local shows here (and do well) it was just a bit much for me down there. After all, I don't have my own horse, I have only been riding 3 times a week on mainly a hunter type ride and my fitness is generally sucking. I think maybe I wasn't really prepared for just how many people were going to be there and how tough it was going to be. Basically, I think my money is better spent at local shows (based on my current skill level and situation), since what I paid for Thermal equals two full weeks of showing here. Its possible I will want to go back at some point when I have a different horse, but for right now I am perfectly happy being a spectator there next year!
BUT...on a more positive note, I didn't forget any of my courses and actually put in some really decent rides that I am happy with at a height that is pretty much considered a "move up" for me. After all, I've only shown around the 3' level on William, the big grey ISH. So I'm happy with the way things turned out on the riding front.
More updates: Arwen is getting REAAAAAALLLY close to her due date now! 340 days puts her around June 1, so at the 300 day mark when we have to start watching will be end of April. Holy cow! That is like a month away. Time has gone by really fast. She is starting to look very pregnant too. I've also started looking closer at stallions to use for her next one and even though I said no frozen...I think we're going to go with another frozen one. Only because she did end up catching and the vet now knows what he needs to do to get her pregnant (oxytocin protocol!). So hopefully this time around she catches the first time.
Anyway, the stallion we're 99% sure we're going with is Con Capilot. He's a lovely young stallion that I see quite frequently at the big shows and has been coming a long super nicely. Jumps in great form, and is also clean and fast. His rider has been having some pretty good successes on him this last year, and he does have some young-ish offspring on the ground who look like they have a lot of potential. Not to mention his bloodlines should match up with Arwen's really nicely (he is Contender-Pilot, with Ramiro a couple generations, all lines that are supposed to produce super jumpers with good personalities/brains in combination with her Alme blood), and he has great conformation that I think will compliment her as well. He is dark bay with a lot of chrome, so I imagine it would be a bay baby as well (like her current one will probably be). The breeders also say he passes on the chrome, so I hope it will be something flashy! (although healthy is first and foremost)
First update: Thermal. Went down there for Week 3, riding a borrowed horse whose owner rode him Week 2. Super awesome 6 yo named Sitation who at such a young age is already a total packer. Well, maybe not a total packer but he is getting close. He saved my butt a couple times, and is as honest as the day is long. We showed in the low adult/child modified division, which is 2'11" (.90). Thermal sets a HARD 2'11" though and when I first got there, I thought the height looked huge. However, by the end of the week I felt like if I had been there another week, I would have been fine bumping up to 3'1" (.95).
The gist of the show was this: Biggest show I have ever been to in my life in terms of sheer number of riders (at least 35 in every class), jumps, and actual showgrounds. Thermal is SO spread out-if you don't have a golf cart, bike, etc you are going to get really tired just hoofing it (heh) around on. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I am so grateful that I got to go. That being said...I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon. It was just way above me in terms of competitiveness and while I definitely feel prepared to do local shows here (and do well) it was just a bit much for me down there. After all, I don't have my own horse, I have only been riding 3 times a week on mainly a hunter type ride and my fitness is generally sucking. I think maybe I wasn't really prepared for just how many people were going to be there and how tough it was going to be. Basically, I think my money is better spent at local shows (based on my current skill level and situation), since what I paid for Thermal equals two full weeks of showing here. Its possible I will want to go back at some point when I have a different horse, but for right now I am perfectly happy being a spectator there next year!
BUT...on a more positive note, I didn't forget any of my courses and actually put in some really decent rides that I am happy with at a height that is pretty much considered a "move up" for me. After all, I've only shown around the 3' level on William, the big grey ISH. So I'm happy with the way things turned out on the riding front.
More updates: Arwen is getting REAAAAAALLLY close to her due date now! 340 days puts her around June 1, so at the 300 day mark when we have to start watching will be end of April. Holy cow! That is like a month away. Time has gone by really fast. She is starting to look very pregnant too. I've also started looking closer at stallions to use for her next one and even though I said no frozen...I think we're going to go with another frozen one. Only because she did end up catching and the vet now knows what he needs to do to get her pregnant (oxytocin protocol!). So hopefully this time around she catches the first time.
Anyway, the stallion we're 99% sure we're going with is Con Capilot. He's a lovely young stallion that I see quite frequently at the big shows and has been coming a long super nicely. Jumps in great form, and is also clean and fast. His rider has been having some pretty good successes on him this last year, and he does have some young-ish offspring on the ground who look like they have a lot of potential. Not to mention his bloodlines should match up with Arwen's really nicely (he is Contender-Pilot, with Ramiro a couple generations, all lines that are supposed to produce super jumpers with good personalities/brains in combination with her Alme blood), and he has great conformation that I think will compliment her as well. He is dark bay with a lot of chrome, so I imagine it would be a bay baby as well (like her current one will probably be). The breeders also say he passes on the chrome, so I hope it will be something flashy! (although healthy is first and foremost)
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