Super Pony- sort of

Somedays I swear Gus is the most bomb proof horse out there and then other days I'm cursing him for being such a ninny!!!

Yesterday I wanted to start introducing scarier looking fences to him to help build his confidence. He's been jumping around great in our weekly lessons and I decided that it was time to bring out the liverpool/ditch fence. Working with limited resources I grabbed the lattice that use to be attached to a jump pole and dropped it on the ground. I put a pole on either side to give it boundaries for Gus to judge the jump. It's not terribly wide, really- he could probably walk over it, but I didn't want it to be too massive or scary that it would cause problems. Since bravery is what we're working on, small and simple is the best way to start!

Well I built my white "liverpool" in the morning and was planning on riding in the afternoon. Of course when I headed out to the barn that afternoon there was a storm looming in the distance so we acted quickly and headed off to the jump field. At the farm there is a large population of Canadian Geese that have mated and come back over the years only to have more babies and the grownup babies to find a mate and have babies! So needless to say in 3 short years the goose population has gotten a bit extreme from the original 3... and of course the large flock of geese were hanging out in the jump field nibbling on the grass. With the coming storm, me being a bit tense because I was very carefully watching the sky for any signs of lightening or the onset of the storm, the wind blowing a bit, and a much cooler temp, Gus was feeling quite up and had a bit more of a bounce to his step. I was ready for Gus to jump 10 feet in the air and what does he do? Absolutely nothing. He just calmly walks by the white lattice liverpool thing and when we started trotting and the geese started running and taking off he never changed his pace but kept on going. At one point I pointed him towards the middle of the flock and trotted into them to disperse them out of my field (they really were in the way) and as they took off running and flapping their wings before taking off into flight Gus did nothing. I don't think he even cared that they were in the same place we were, he just kept on trotting. By this point the storm was getting closer so I pointed him towards the x I set up to get him in jumping mode and he jumped that like an old pro and then we headed off to the lattice pool and he trotted over it like it'd been there 100 years. No big deal, so we cantered over it and again, no big deal. At this point I saw a flash of lightening so we quickly headed back to the barn and I gave him the biggest hug and pat and told him how fabulous he was. The geese alone made me realize how awesome my horse really is and that one day in the future he could make a great kid's pony, but this is in the way distant future because I am enjoying him way to much!!!! Though now that I know he'll jump lattice, I'm on a mission to find a blue tarp for the real liverpool training to begin!!!

So Gus was the super star, geese chasing, lattice jumping pony yesterday and then today he went back to OMG man. I call his panic moments OMG b/c I can just imagine him saying "OMG it moved!!!" or "OMG what is THAT????" or any variation starting with OMG! He always perks his ear forward and stops or sidesteps around going "OMG OMG OMG it changed". Today was no exception! We had a jumping lesson this morning over at Bill's place and Bill is always changing the jumps around- either for a new exercise or just to give the horses new things to look at. Well the past month Bill had two boxes set up on the different diagonal lines- one set of boxes had a Australian flag on one side and a sun on the other. The other boxes had bricks and stones painted on the different sides. Well Bill had moved the boxes into the bottom two corners of the arena and as we were walking around starting our warm up, Gus spies the flag/sun boxes and went "OMG it moved!!!". He stopped moving forward and I had to kick him on where he proceeded to side step around and kept looking at it. So immediately as soon as I got him past the boxes I turned around and headed back towards them. Gus was still alert and we walked over to them where he proceeeded to sniff them and then I asked him to trot and he trotted calmly past them both directions. He was looking at the boxes, making sure they wouldn't move, but I was happy with him moving forward and only glancing at them with one eye. After a pass each direction Gus stopped looking and we ended up having a great lesson.

It can frustrate me at times when Gus freaks out at the silliest seeming things and other times I think he's going to be naughty and he could care less. Once he figures out what's going on he's the best horse in the world and isn't bothered by a thing, but I can't help but wonder what he's going to do at an event. I can only school so much at a new location and it's not like they're going to allow me to take him into the sj arena or out on xc for him to look at all the jumps. I know that this is where schooling at various locations over cross country and sj courses or taking him to schooling horse trials is going to be the best but right now the funds are a bit lacking while I search for a full time job. It's really annoying that all it takes is money and time to go out and do what I need to do for Gus but right now I don't have much of either!!! With fall show season coming up I looked up various schooling shows and events to take him to and I can't make it to a lot of them because I have something else planned- like a wedding or a work weekend. So sadly Gus gets booted to the back of the list and I continue to think of scary things for Gus to jump at home. But hopefully this'll mean he won't be as spooky when we finally do head off to the shows and a loose goose happens to fly across the ring we're riding in....

Sitting on the ground

When one person falls off it is funny, when two people fall off at the same time it is hysterical!

The other day my friend Kristen and I went on a trail ride to clip the branches in the way. Both of our horses are pretty quiet and will stand when told. So off we headed with clippers in hand to tackle those stupid branches (especially the ones too thick or green to break and just pop back into place!) We left the barn with the clippers closed and holding it out to the side. As we approached the trail Kristen says to her horse "Byrd don't dump me with these clippers in hand"-famous last words. Just 20 feet into the trail our first branch stuck out taunting us as only a branch can do. I smile and say "Our first branch of the day!" and just as I start to lean over, about to open the clippers, I hear something rustling in the woods and then Byrd jumps forward causing Gus to jump sideways and me with out a hope and a prayer (since I was already leaning off to the side) fall on my butt in the middle of some prickly plants! Gus meanwhile was just standing there all non-chalant and looked at me like "What are you doing down there?" I somehow rolled over and picked myself up out of the sticky brambles and looked over to where Kristen was standing holding her horse. We both looked at each other like why are you off? And I asked "Did you jump off or Fall of?"

"I fell off- what about you?"

"I also fell off-hahahaha!!!" We both starting laughing at the absurdity of our funny little equines and then decided that today wasn't going to be a good day to go clip tree branches! So back to the barn we headed (without any mishap) and took a few laps around the front field with the tree clippers sitting quite peacefully in the barn.

So with that note I will leave you with some hilarious clips via the great place that is youtube :) Fall # 5 felt oddly familiar after the failed trail ride with both Kristen and I finding our way to the ground at the same time... ;)

Back to the Basics

There's nothing quiet so humbling as a jumping lesson. Today I had a lesson with Gus and it wasn't bad, but it feels like I screw up every time I jump him. Either not enough leg, or I race him to the jump, or I drop my leg over the jump, bla bla bla. But the worst part is I know NOT to do this!!!! And yet I still do it and the jumps never get any bigger...

It's hard bringing up a horse that needs to go slow. Gus has confidence issues that he's working through brilliantly, but if I rush him he can easily get scared. So while some people take a horse thats never jumped and 3 weeks later are jumping 3'6"- I can not do this with Gus. He use to be scared of his own shadow and with the time that I've put into riding him, and honestly fixing his ulcers, he's become a new horse.

But this waiting around is killing me! I want to take him to an event and see how he'll go, but I don't want to take him and possibly shake his confidence. What's worse is I feel like my bad jumping is preventing us from moving on quicker! So this lesson today was a great look at getting back to the basics and helping me become a smoother rider. I tend to over or under ride, and I'm looking for the happy medium.

Ok Things Trainer says:

1) Squeeze or squeeze harder (aka keep your leg on ALL the time!)

2) Leg on over the jump (aka Keep it on!!!!)

3) MORE leg (aka stop dropping your leg!)

4) Leg to the base (aka why did I see air between your leg and the horse?)

5) Ride forward (aka get your booty in gear and GO!)

I've gotten lazy with my leg from always having a horse that was forward to the jump and now I'm paying dearly for it! So I keep remind myself that this is only going to make me a better rider and Gus a better horse! So basic training, here we are!

Holy cow Who is THAT?!?!?!?!

Once upon a time the Who's Who of eventing were nothing but young riders dreaming about riding in the Olympics one day. They eventually got caught by the eventing bug and started working their ways up from the tiniest tadpole division to where they are now. So what did these tiny versions of the Big Stars look like? What horrible clothes did they pair together thinking that it was highly fashionable enough for the Rolex trot up? Because lets face it- fashion has had some really ugly stages!

Some of the Big Names had famous eventing parents, others had parents that rode a little but never at the top, and even more top rider's had parents that couldn't tell you the back of a horse from the front end! Over the years these riders worked their way up from wherever they started to become what they are now, and only the future can tell what else they have in store for them!

But lets stop talking futuristic- I'm a little in love with the past at times- especially if there is an embarrassing photo involved. Unfortunately I do not have a truly scandalous picture of any of the Big Names, but I do have one OMG picture taken almost 12 years ago (fall of 1999) at a little event in Tryon, at a little place called FENCE. It's one of those pictures that the 2 Famous Amos riders would look at and go "AH! I wore those shoes???" or "Look at how tiny and short I was!" etc etc etc- but to everyone else they would look just fine.

It started long ago (1997) when a graduate A pony clubber moved to Charlotte NC. She immediately looked up the local pony club and asked about teaching lessons. From this she acquired many happy little kids on fat little ponies and turned them into hard core happy eventers on sleek and fit horses. One of the happy little pony clubbers was a young girl who had plans to one day ride in the Olympics. This young girl went on to represent Carolina Region at Pony Club Nationals and Area III at the NAJYRC.

So with that note here is the long awaited picture- though i'm sure you've already seen it since it's not like I can post it on the next "page" and make you flip over to see it, it's just sitting a few enter keys down already glaring at you for cheating by not reading all this type first ;)

I wish the photo would show up bigger, but it was taken before such things as digital cameras existed so it had to be scanned onto the computer and the translation to here made it that size. Anyways the two famous riders are none other than: Rolex rider Susan Beebee, hugging the extremely sexy and handsome chestnut (I'm not biased or anything since that's my horse!), and Jersey Fresh CCI*** winner Andrea Leatherman, wearing the Micky Mouse t-shirt on the right.

So I ask you, the reader, do you have any pictures of famous horses or riders BEFORE they became famous??? I do know (thanks to the powers of Facebook stalking) that the really tall girl in the photo, Annie, had none other than the famous eventing pony, Teddy O'Connor, living in her pasture sometime before he headed off to live with the O'Connors. It really is a small world!!!

Cowboys and What???

How can you not get excited about a movie titled Cowboys and Aliens with Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and current James Bond (Daniel Craig) starring in it???? It reminds me of Independence Day, just set 100+ years before Will Smith kicked some Alien booty and saved the world. Now it's Daniel Craig's turn to use his trusty bracelet to zap all the bad guys away and rescue everyone that was abducted.

Yeeaahh..... who cares about the plot line!!!! This movie is all about Cowboys in action! This ain't yo Daddy's favorite John Wayne movie- this is Snakes on a Plane Cowboy style!!! Do you think Samuel L. Jackson starred in SoaP because it would win him an Oscar? No way- he did it because so he could say the famous quote and go down in history for making a movie about Snakes- on a plane.

Now I just have to find someone to go with me....

Would you like some cheese with that corn? a Look at Various Types of Horse Movies

Who doesn't love a good movie? A good movie can make you cry, laugh, fall in love, and cheer throughout the hour plus it's taken you to watch it.

Who doesn't love a good horse? A good horse can make you cry, laugh, fall in love, and cheer through the years that you spend time with your horse.

So combining the two together should cause a ripple in the universe so big and awe inspiring that it puts screaming, fainting, adoring, Justin Beiber fans to shame.

Wrong. Most horse movies suck. They are either so cheesy or corny that you either enjoy them a little or feel like you've wasted the past hour of your life that you know you can't get back. Every so often Hollywood does make a great horse movie, but compared to the thousands of bad ones out there, the great ones could probably be counted on two hands.

Most recently Secretariat has put my faith back into movie making using the horse as a primary character, and hopefully War Horse will continue to trick me into thinking Hollywood might have figured out a "Horse Movie". But it's going to be a long road before I completely forgive them for making such movies as Dreamer and Flicka (the remake- not original)- just to name a few.

I use to watch every horse movie I could as a little kid. Walking through Blockbuster (because those were the days before Netflixs and Redbox) I would stop if I saw a horse on the cover of the tape and take it home to watch. Plus my mom, also being a rider herself, owned a few of the classic "greats" on VHS, and we would also go to the movie theater and watch any horse movie that made it into theaters. Vault Disney was one of my favorite series because they played some of the old horse movies made in the 60's and 70's by Disney. These movies tended to fit into the category of cheesy love, but never-the-less they were enjoyable.

So with that being said I have divided up horse movies into 4 basic categories.

1st category is: Classic Epic Horse Movies

These are the movies that will be around forever and your children's children will still be talking about these movies- they will stay forever

2nd category is: Classic Cheesy Awesomeness

These movies will stay around forever, some may not always be well known, but should never be forgotten- they are still classics. The movies from the 40's- 80's are usually the ones to fall in this category- but not always.

3rd Category is: So bad that you're glad/wish you didn't see it in Theaters

After all movie tickets are expensive! Even though you wasted a little bit of your time watching these movies, you're still glad you saw it but will probably never see again. These are the movies that might stick around for a while, most likely not forever, but are geared towards the small girl or boy that dreams of getting a real pony for Christmas or their birthday.

4th Category is: Why did I just waste precious minutes watching the worst movie ever??

Unfortunately most of the horse movies tend to fall into this category. The director either tried to hard to make it and "Epic" movie and it failed miserably or the movie started out bad.

Now sometimes movies in the 3rd and 4th categories can be switched between the two categories, because lets face it- we all have different tastes in movies, but in general they still suck.

Movies in Category 1

The Black Stallion- come on- classic Walter Farley? Moments of cheese, but the beach scene- who didn't wish they could be Alec riding the Black on the island???

Black Beauty- classic book becomes classic movie- bring your hanky for the end!

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken- this one could fit in Category 2, but I think the ending makes it into a Category 1 movie

The Man From Snowy River- the hill- or should i say cliff??? Sexy Aussie accents, awesome horse, great music, what's not to love and make this into a Classic?

Seabiscuit- newer movie, that was nominated for Oscars. Oscars= instant classic!

Secretariat- This movie easily could of become a Category 4 movie, but the director and actors did right by this movie and made it into a Category 1 film. Thank goodness because Secretariat should be known and remembered for his greatness, not a crap movie named after him

And Lastly (for now- I'm coming up with movies off the top of my head so I might have forgotten some!)...

National Velvet- Now I couldn't decide if this movie should be put into Category 1 or 2. It fits the profile of Category 2, but if you ask someone to name a classic horse movie this will be the 1st one that comes to mind. It is the oldest and has famous actors and actresses in it that the general public know. Therefore there's a good chance that non horse people know something about this movie! (since I'm not a non horse person I can't say this with 100% accuracy since I only talk to horse people ;) hehe j/k) Elizabeth Taylor, Angelia Lansbury, and Micky Rooney??? Everyone should know them!!! Plus this is probably the most well known and loved horse movie, so how could I not put this into Category 1???? In truthfulness, this movie should have a category of it's own- the Classics of Classics- and anyone that wants to argue this can take it up with my lawyer- though I'll warn you he's very hard to get a hold of so keep calling if you really want to complain!

This post is getting long, and I should save some topics for others posts, so I'm ending here, but don't worry- more horse films are on their way!!!

War Horse

"This one isn't just any old horse. There's a nobility in his eye, a regal serenity about him. Does he not personify all that men try to be and never can be? I tell you my friend, there's divinity in a horse, especially a horse like this."

~War Horse

There aren't many things that can make me cry, but the book War Horse by Michael Morpurgo had me wiping away tears as they filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I had to stop at moments just to blink away the foggy collection of tears so I could see the page and keep reading. I couldn't stop- I just had to know if he and Albert found each other. I won't give away the ending, but I will say the last chapter was where the tears fell freely down my face as I thought about what each of the characters in the book went through.

Being a horse enthusiast, when I hear the word "horse" my ears instantly perk up and I investigate. When I heard that there was a play based around a horse, I knew I wanted to see it. Sadly the play was only being performed in London so it would be a while before I'd be able to see it. Then when it opened in NY this past year and my hopes of seeing the play were coming closer to being a reality. And then when I heard that Steven Spielberg was making it into a movie the chance of seeing it in action was just a few months away. I know that the play is going to be different than the movie- but the story line remains the same. I will still be waiting to see the play and when I get the chance you can bet I'll be one of the first in line buying tickets for the play and movie!!! But me being me, I HAD to read the book. So a couple of days ago I downloaded it onto my Kindle, and lets just say it just took one really long night to finish the book.

The story is told from the point of view from Joey, the horse, so it has a bit of a Black Beauty feel to it. But instead of the other horses talking to Black Beauty, it is more like a self monologue of Joey's life. The human characters talk to Joey and their words come through as the only dialogue in the book, and the rest is what Joey sees and feels. But this book is more than a story about a boy and his horse, it is about War, and the costs of conflict. Joey travels to both sides of the War, and when he arrives on the German side and is put to work bringing the wounded from the front to the hospital he notes "I had see the same gray faces looking out from under their helmets somewhere before. All that was different were the uniforms-"(pg 69) Without getting into a political discussion about War (because this blog is about horses, not opinions) I just wanted to say, that no matter what side you're on there is another side. And it might just take the honest opinion of an unbiased horse to make you realize that. WWI was a bloody massacre because war strategy hadn't changed, but the weapons had. There are parts in the book that Joey lives through that paint this picture, and while being a children's book for ages 8-12- it doesn't go into extreme detail, but you can easily imagine what Joey saw.

So without giving away the entire book and rambling on forever and ever, I send you off with 2 clips- The War Horse trailer, and video of the puppets from the play- I'm still in awe over the life like mannerisms that the puppeteers bring to the horse

War Horse Puppet

War Horse Movie Trailer