Whether you ask for it, or not. Check out the old style b/w art of a "flat racer". Splat Racer, really. Literally. People used to think Horses flung both front legs forward, and both hind legs backward, allatthesametime. All at the same time. Weird looking, quite. Thank god for stop motion photography, which helped us figure out how they actually DID move. Painters did much better after that.
Only time I've heard of a horse doing that, he hurt himself, pretty bad. Ruptured Peronius Tertius. The Hock is extended, but the stifle is flexed. Bad, berry berry bad. My Handsome BlackHorses' Daddy did it. Kind of a Dummy. Well, he was lucky he'd survived with that old farmer guy that long anyway. Farmer guy knew dairy, horses, not so much.
Beth Underhill's GREAT bucking show-jumper, Altair, also sadly did it to himself, bucking, I believe. Had to be retired. I felt so BAD, that was such a great horse. An Olympic talent, he was. Bright Bay, built like a trampoline. Oh, could he explode off the ground. Talk about springs in your feet, boing, boing, he was so light on the floor. Forever kicking up his heels though. Shaking his head, playing with gravity. Beth Underhill was/is a master of these horses. He was so big, and she looked so tiny. One of the true greats, our Canadian Beth. Another one I admired watching through the years. Good friends with one of her grooms, once. Jamie! Haven't thought of that name in years!
Where was I? I'm trying to channel the movie into my mind, because I've watched it 3000 times, maybe. I exaggerate, but not much.
The opening music is just thrilling. A horn, oh, I wish I could hum it for you.
Doooo, do-do, do-doooo, Higher, anyway. I'll tap it out on the piano again soon.
Give you the actual notes. Wish I "read" music, too. It's stop your heart music, for me anyway. (paragraph, people, paragraphs!!)
It's try, and hope and life, in the music.
A close traveling shot of a jock and his big-striding horse galloping the green hills of the first horse country.
(I know it isn't, but wow the horses from over there.. I'm a bit biased. Asyoumayrecall.)
Bright red chestnut, tall and rangy, gigantic stride eating up the rough ground. It isn't all smooth arenas over there. The ground of the first horse country conditions the horse for his job. The jock, hunched over him like a monkey, a breath on his back, balanced over his heart. The horse struggling/arguing for more contact and more speed, the jock saying wait, wait. The horse's mouth open, no cavesson required, plain ring snaffle bit, drinking in air for more power. Always more power. Aldaniti was a Lion-Hearted Horse. Pulling his jockey's arms out, for more room to explode his stride to overdrive. They look like they're floating, and having a ton of fun.
Aldaniti is ridden by a real jockey in most of his shots, mostly by Bob Champion,
I believe. My tape is fragile..
Bright Red Chestnut. Argumentative, intelligent. Brilliant. That was the best part of the movie for me, 'cause the horse, Aldaniti, just slayed me.
Aldaniti didn't like John Hurt much, or at least, disdained him, for when he was needed. Which he wasn't. The horse had a fire to him, with his odd shaped blaze and strip. A focused, willing eye. I'm trying to remember how the trainer and Bob described Aldaniti. A back like a chesterfield, and a.. DRAT.
He was built like an old english racer, as if that helps. Lean, but so ridiculously sturdy, is the worst word I can think of. Just built to run, and jump, forever. Long Backed, Long Necked, Long Headed, Short Cannoned, I guess. Tall, and lean, and long. But broad in t'beam, too. He sure wasn't narrow!
Exuding strength. And he did the movie after he retired from racing, FCS!
Aldaniti, that is. Not John Hurt, or Kirstie.
John Hurt did do some of the actual riding, I believe. Just not the dangerous stuff.
Bob Champion was cared for after his treatments by his older sister and farm family, with two charming little kids. Big Sister idolizes her Uncle, and is very concerned about him. He chides her for not going with her pony over fences. She protests that he should tell her she was good. Bob C. asks "Do you want me to say that you're good, or do you want to learn to ride well?" and she grasps his hand, looks up at him, (huge brown eyes on this kid, Jersey eyes) and says "I think you're wonderful."
THAT part is memorized. (scrolling....)
Oh, well. I didn't receive any requests to continue anyway.
humph.
:)
(gestalt That's what I wanted to blather about! Reminder Note, here)
Tune in for the next twisted, tangential exploration, of the kinder, middler, saner ground. Just need some more OF it.
PS, new code DQ=WP=BullCrap=BC, check your manuals for the latest updates.
Like frickin' Bill Gates is unleashing Windows 7 in mid 2010. I have to wait THAT long to get a trustworthy new computer? I hear only bad about Vista. Only bad.
tangent over.
Bitz & Ditch out.
kestrel's back!
WHEW. It's just, you missed the kookAid...
Please be careful out there.
27 comments:
Glad to hear that Kestrel is back and OK .I will have to find this movie it sounds wonderful ,though I am bad for crying through them so maybe I better buy shares in Scott Canada first.
Didn't mean to P you off about the Photo Meme ,kind of wasn't sure you would want to ,but I will tag you now. As aI said before you are always one of the faves!
Oh, Fern, doll, I am so not pissed off. Not in the slightest. I love pulling your gullibility chain, is all. (evil laugh)
You are a Farm Girl. You are even more honest than me. Hard to do.
I'm sorry, I could never, ever EVER be pissed off at you. I do it for the laugh I get from you going all sorry that you think I feel excluded. I don't, dear. Really.
Ever.
I'll stop. Almost a promise..
(snickers)
Yes, Champions is a tear jerker.
I cry just hearing the opening bars of the music. Good luck finding it though. As I said, it was never a big hit or anything.
Just with me.
yeah, kestrel has to bring a note, next time....
Hey, AofG
Sorry I missed your comments, don't always scroll back, and for sure don't always remember how many comments per post have already happened.
You don't comment that much, which is fine, it's normal. Now, kestrel, she's there all the time, and then POOF, Nothing, Nada, Nowt.
I want a note, for next time, k.
Srsly..
Thanks AofG.
DIJ just pisses me right off, and I can't really put a finger on why. I liked her blog, and then, not. DQ=WP=BC.
She sounds too finished with what she knows. One should never be finished.
Ever.
Beautifully written- again.
Hi Kestrel!!!! We kinda suck at cyberstalking- glad you are back.
GL-spill the beans I am slow this am- which blog are you speaking? typing? of? Cannot decifer DIJ
DressageInJeans
Found her on the "Shame in The Horse Show Ring" (TrojanMouse's) blog.
She annoys me....
Easy to do..
She shows WesternPleasure, I think, and knows more dressage than well, lets see, the Gold Medalist at the 2008 Olympics, for one.
Yeah.
Sorry, didn't answer this, but you knew it anyway, AofG.
"At least I assume the inside hind should step under more with proper bend."
You assume correctly. Of course!
Did you go red yet?
That ad you emailed me was super funny!! I Could NOT believe they were asking that much!!
TrexX, yeah, my eyeballs kinda fell out. I don't know if you want to use it or not, feel free, if you want to.
Gotta find this movie. I have to admit, one of my favorites of all time is Ladyhawk. Pretty story, glorious horse photography. Gotta go stalk DIJ....hehheheh....
Paying bills just puts me in such a nasty mood that I have to take it out on someone that deserves it!
Hey the more traffic to TJM's blog, the better.
we'll all play dumb if she comes over,'k?
k?
The show world needs to wake up from the dope. APHA? Too?
WTF, is all I can say. Medically needed, fine. For SHOW?
Um, NO.
I'll never forget a woman/groom/s**t, "rider", who's still in the dressage world, just not handling horses anymore, thank goodness, breathlessly asking me if I had any ace for her horse, as she needed to turn him out. Fancy, admittedly crazy jumper horse, needed a needle to leave his stall.
I'd NEVER heard of that before. This is when I had my Tad.
I had tranquilized horses in their stalls, on another BM's sad, bad instructions, for TB's with no turn-out, too crazy to handle. Dangerous,they were.
I just don't get it, and still don't. I mean, to a point.
A horse never having done something he needs to do, like get gelded or something, fine. Medical, FCS.
I know lots of the Biggest Time Jumpers get no turn-out. They are worth well over a million dollars, to SOMEone, and the legs are too precious to risk. But they get ridden and cared for, hand and foot. And most get tons of turnout, before they are ever broke.
When they're READY!
sorry, tangent comment..
It just seemed like SHE needed the shot, and not the horse. He seemed fine.
Drat, I missed this, from AofG's long ago comment..
"Pass me some of the acid; it's the only time I get to see anything. lol!"
ROFLMAO!
thanks for the snerkles!
See, I lose interest once we're onto alcohol..
Where I used to work the instructor would make all the girls crowd in close to whatever horse she was injecting so no one would se what was going on. One time she gave this western pleasure paint a stick and told me to put on his bridle and bring him out of the stall. Well, she must have really loaded him, because he started laying down as we were exitting the stall. I was crushed between him and the hard metal frame of the portable stall. This was at a show. I am closterphobic, and it was terrifying. I had to be pulled free, and the gelding was flogged till he got up. This was in public, but no one really cared. No shows for me anymore, ever.
Shhhheeeesh, AofG.
golly.
ReeDICkyillOus!
Ridiculous, what people will do.
There's a fascinating discussion going on over at Mugwump's blog. She wrote a fabulous post that basically said if your horse spooks and you don't learn to deal with it and can't ride it, you will probably screw up your horse. She is spot on!! It reminded me of something else my Arab has taught me. This is what I put in the comments: APPLAUSE, Mugs!! This is your best post!! My Arab mare can wiggle and skitter back and forth faster than any other horse I have been on. Once I stopped worrying and focussed on sitting really deep and heavy in the center of my horse, two things happened. I wasn't unseated by her sudden movement, and her spooks became less dramatic. I could feel her body change before she teleported, but if I focussed on letting the weight in my seat keep sending her where I wanted to go, she was a different horse. This is really hard for me to explain, but it worked amazingly well for both of us. It was almost like she started to move sideways but the momentum of my seat just put her back on the path from which she started to stray. I also focussed on the rhythm of her gaits and let my mind insist that this rhythm must not be altered. This seemed to influence my body and we would maintain a steady track even if she felt like she was going to shy. This is just what worked for me. Being blind since birth, I certainly couldn't see the potential for a shy or spook so it was up to me to be prepared but at the same time not to create within my horse that desire or inclination. Sorry if this is long and not making sense.
Am i really off my rocker here? Do I sound pompous and/or full of myself for no good reason?
Just put the kettle on and poured myself some Applejacks. Hope I don't get blasted over there. lol!
Cool, AofG.
I've been trying not to read TOO much, yeah, right.
mugs is awesome. I love her writing.
Good for you to comment! And very well put, too. No, you do NOT sound pompous, not at all!
mugs is a hell of a rider/trainer/explainer.
She sounds like a trainer, for ALL types of horses.
Just block out the crums, I do. Well, I did.
Well, I tried:)
I'll keep an eye on things, and blast to your rescue, if you need me, just yell!
Riding is all about the insides.
You got it, girl! You're riding your line.
Exactly.
Hey, mugs LOVED your comment!
see, you have a lot of great things to say, so say them!!
Sorry, I just couldn't help beaming with pride at you.
I'm so proud to know ya, girl.
AofL, you have explained the inexplicable ability to have a perfect ride! My Arab is the same way, which means I bought her cheap..haha. She and I just click, and once we got through the fear produced by dumb shit training and excessive tack, we just fly together. I simply expect her to be a great girl, and ride as if she is, just helping her focus better. Sheesh, your explanation is so much better than min...shutting up now!
*blushes!* Well, it just works for us. Everyone around here says that nothing but dead broke qh and paints are suitable for me as a blind rider. On the contrary, I don't feel safe on a plodding, unobservant and low-headed horse. Someone has to be the eyes for the two of us so I prefer vigilance. Some time I'll tell you guys about how the barn owner was badly injured when he tried to Parelli-ize my little black gaitedfilly. Of course that horse can't learn and is too hot since she doesn't respond to that nonsense. lol!
Isn't she brilliant, k?
For one so YOUNG, too!
Horses have hope in their future, with you around, AofG.
Touch, Timing, Feel.
Only very special people have it, AofG. NEVER forget that!!
Wow, I'm, well, type-less.
Wordless, speechless.
Does ANYbody want me to finish the movie, gawd, can't I hint any harder??
oops.
Andalusians Of Grandeur,
I saw a documentary on the pet channel with a blind rider doing dressage. The horse and the rider were amazing.
I'm assuming from your name that you have an Andalusian. What type of riding do you do?
My horse, Trooper, is a Shire. Since I have disability issues I trust him to take care of me and make sure I don't fall. Got to love that guy.
sure, sure, bhm, ignore me.
AofG has a TWH and an Arab.
so there..
phpthphthgpffft!
I wish sometimes that I had one of the baroque breeds. However, both the Arab and the twh are someone else's throw-aways, and I can't get enough of what they are teaching me. They are both haunted by many demons, some of which were created by me in my search for the right way. They have brought out humility in someone for whom most things come very easily. I am trying to get up the gumption to start blogging. My health issues are mostly sorted out, but I am left with a lot of extra weight and far too little energy so I would have much to write about in my pursuit of health, welness and starting up as a rerider after 3 years off. Well, I'm hittin' the hay. 'Night all.
AofG- we share alot of the same issues. I just started dieting and trying to get my health issues behind me after a very challenging year. The riding- I had a long layoff but wasn't the best rider to begin with. Just plunking on trails on the old grey mare's mother. No rodeo in this girl.
If you start a blog, please let me know. If you wish to participate in a super sekret one, email me. Might be a nice kick off until you start yours.
GoLightly said...
sure, sure, bhm, ignore me.
----------
You rang, oh mistress?
A of G,
I'm the same way. Once the mobility issues started to interfere with exercise I went from 110 lbs. to 180. Diet just doesn't work for me.
bhm, see previous pleading.
Humph.
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