Incredibly fascinating horse biomechanics site, thanks, BlueHeron, again.
Check out that nuchal ligament explanation! I like mine better. Simpler, anyway. Horses are born loaded with springs. They are built to move, and to keep moving.
Our own conformational breeding/management disasters have shortened their gaskins & necks, straightened their stifles & shoulders. Uprightened their pasterns. (Another new word, spelling police, sorry.) Triple muscled their hind ends. Ewwwwwwwwww.
I can't believe what passes for Quarter Horses. Humungous hind ends are one thing. Doubling their muscle mass is just plain creepy. The balance is missing, isnt'a? Take something great, and make it worse. Fixing genetic traits has certainly taken on a whole new meaning. Yup, they are fixed, alright. Fixed to be broken.
Dr. James Rooney (RIP) was a darned genius. His simple little book, "Lameness in Horses" is still explaining horse's lameness problems today. Just keep reading him. He does make sense. It took me about three readings, to really (mostly) get what he was saying. It helped me understand what was always happening beneath me.
It's the old story. Some new "horse" people want to ride the horse, they don't want to KnoW anything else. Heck, there are old horse people like that. Poor interested beginner riders. Where do you start, safely and sanely? Okay, safely, sanely is not possible, apparently...
:)
How many of us started out by being terrified? Is that the starting point, to becoming a rider? I don't think it has to be. I think the fearful beginnings can stiffen you subconsciously, for the rest of your life.
Or not, if you are lucky enough to ride a SchoolMaster, like GoLightly.
I know riding Johnny-Be-Good pushed me into jumping again for no fear. Lightly showed me how to ride with no possible consideration of fear. GoLightly completely changed how I wanted to work with horses.
Wouldn't it be nice if ownership/stewardship/guardianship of anything living warranted some sort of required learning? Heck, start with plants for people.
"Oh, wouldn't it be nice...." (thanx, Beach Boys)
Oh, but that brings me to confessing a deep, dark, secret. I used to hate plants.
I would never even notice greenery, or flowers, or anything like that. If it was edible, I ate it, but it needed to be sweet, half the time. Okay, most of the time.
Hay was interesting, because it fed horses, and the grains too, of course.
I mean, I just didn't CarE about plants, at all. My mom used to despair at my lack of interest, as she grew older and plantier. If she had to go away, I'd always need a phone call to remind me to water the damn plants.
In university, I managed to fail miserably at Plant Science, Botany & (what was the other one??) whatever. Right, Crop Science. My brain turned itself off at the mention of xylem & phloem (eew) and adenosine triphosphate and photosynthesnoooooore. Gawd, I tried. Plant, FAIL.
My mom and I had a running joke about plants. I'd ask how to kill them, and she'd gasp in horror at my cruelty. I didn't take her plants out the back and torture them! I just yawned at the sight of them. Smells were nice, but horse smell was better.
After I'd moved out of Mom's house, a volunteer Gaillardia winked at me, discovered while in my new front yard, and I took a picture of it. I didn't know what it was at this point, but it was my first plant interest, ever. Pretty flower, I thought. (Holly crap, I also thought, and shook myself. I'd looked at a plant!)
I was still horse hooked at this point, riding Nonchalant.
Mom passed two years after I'd moved out. Maybe 5 years after, I was at my brother's place, and sister-in-law had a container of Osteospermum, or African Daisy. The white daisy flower with blue eyes? I stared at that plant for a mind-boggling amount of time. Plants were calling. I finally answered. Pictured is my 2006 Yellow/Blue-eyed African Daisies. Love them. They don't last into our hotter summers.
Now, I live on a rental property, that used to be a worm farm. This clay-loam-rock dirt grows anything in zone, fiercely. I have amassed a gigantic collection of plant books and more tree boooks and more bug boooks, to the point I need a new house.
Well, I need a new house, anyway. This rock sux.
My totally tangential point? Gardening should be part of the educational curriculum. Dump the Home Economics, and throw the kids outside to weed.
Starting at my place:)
My mom is still chuckling up there. That I have become a gardener is genetic, I guess.
Just took me awhile. Like usual.
To Plants and Animals.
14 comments:
Balance , you can never say it enough can you ? Balance in life ,on horses, in horses.It is the key to the kingdom!
Funny you should mention the Gallardia ,I don't know if you were reading my blog when I wrote about my old stallion Chips,it is here (http://fernvalley01.blogspot.com/2008/12/honorable-mention4-chile-poivre-i-am.html)
Well, not to be disagreeable:)
Your flower picture looks like a sunflower.
A really cool sunflower. They have sunflowers in that colouring. I've never been able to grow them, because the squirrels have their own ideas on which seeds should grow.
I've been allowed one gorgeous "Teddybear" Sunflower, with multiple flower heads, that were all promptly decapitated by my dear squirrels, after I took a picture.
Either that, or your Gaillardias are not the same as my Gaillardias.
Probably those chinook winds make them all wonky. Like most Albertans.
(ducks FV branding iron)
Well I thought it was a sunflower too but I looked it up , I think there are quite a few varieties. and they only came up one time . Wonky or no tI thought it was kinda nice . not firing up branding iron ...yet
Chip sure wasn't thinking about it:)
How tall was it?
The leaves seem awfully big for a blanket flower, but again, I'm talkin' Toronto standards here:)
Johnny's Daddy was beautiful.
Glad he was yours.
the flowers were only about 10-12 inches high . I could be wrong ,but it was a beautiful thing none the less
Maybe your inner gardener was just laying dormant, GL.
I know mine has been overwhelmed until this spring.
Well now you've done it! I can see that I'm going to be studying more biomechanics! Love the stuff. Horse Conformation as to Soundness and Performance by Ben K. Green is another thoroughly informative book.
I love plants, my house looks like a jungle. African violets, easy year round blooms if you water them with rainwater. Well water is normally too alkaline for most jungle plants. You can cheat by using Miracid fertilizer, too. Plus I have a huge rubber tree plant, just because of the old hippie song...every time I look at it it boosts my morale.
I've always loved gardening, indoors and out. :) My problem is time management. I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day to get everything done. There's so much to know and then DO when it comes to the things we are passionate about. Horses, gardens, people, books, whatever floats your boat! If you end up with more than just a passing fancy it gets to be so much fun that time becomes an issue. At least for me. Then again, I've never been the most organized person in the world either. :)
Love your pics GL. And I put the link BH sent to you in my favorites so that I can go back and read it.
How's Spring coming in Canada? In WI we are seeing some tulips coming up and I mowed my grass for the first time a few days ago! The buds are out and things are looking green!
This is where I got the idea it was the same , and a commenter on the post .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillardia
Anyhow, enough of that. I so wish that I was a gardener ,I love flowers ,just to lazy to take proper care of them .That is why I have all perenials in my flower beds , and tough ones at that
This evening we said goodbye to our beloved old golden retriever, Maggie. We were with her as she took her final journey...she was such a good dog, a sweet-tempered soul who gave so much love to others, whether they were dog or human. She loved rolling in the mud, swimming in Puget Sound, our ripe pears in the fall, salmon, blackberries... and small children, old folks and everyone in between. She ran like the wind, slept by our sides, and snuggled, oh how she snuggled.
Sleep well, little girl. You'll always be with me, and I will miss you terribly. You were the best.
Oryan Winter Wheat, CGC
December 29, 1993 - May 14, 2009
OH, Paddy. I'm so sorry. Oh, dear.
Your girl had beautiful long (!) innings with you. How lucky you were to have loved her.
How lucky she was, too.
RIP.
fernV
OWWWWWW!!
owowowowowowowwowowowooowo
ow.
Okay, it's a gaillardia. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said a bloody t'ing.
Blanket Flowers don't do well in Toronot for gaillardia.
Bad sentence:)
Although they may do well this year, it's been so chilly.
Okay, how else can I be controversial?
It's gardening, it's impossible. At least, I thought so.
Love you Fern.
off to put cold water and butter on my new FV branded butt.
I LOVE blanket flower.
Ow, that hurt.
Way cool that Chip planted one for you. It was a blanket flower.
Too lazy to garden, fernV??? You, a Farmer? Impossible, fcs.
Gardening is a lot of work. But it has no "absolute" time constraints, which is another reason I like it. Gardeners may disagree, but for me, it's done at my pace and budget. Plants could care less about deadlines. And if you neglect them, well, it's not nice, but you don't get the SPCA called on you.
I think FV, you have more than EnougH to do. That's why perennials are the way to go. Plant 'em, forget 'em.
Gawd, I have to change the channel. My husband watches HGTV. I've been assimilated!
To HORSES!!
hey, swa, how are ya hon!
It's been a yo-yo, the spring temps. Spring comes, and then goes, and then..
It's s'posed to be unseasonably chilly, but at least it's a long weekend!
Can you tell I'm avoiding all ideas of work? Clean the office, I must.
my bad..
To Blanket Flowers, and Horses, and dear Paddy's dear dog. What a long, loved life she lived.
kudos to you animal peoples.
Padraigin_WA
Just , hugs to you . I is never easy to loose a pet and Golden's are just that little bit more ,something ,I have had 2 in my life my sweet Winston who is a true wonder and before him Tucker , had him for 11 years . and yes I still miss him . They take a piece of your heart and leave you forever changed and forever bettered by their love
Oh Paddy so sorry to hear about your dog. Sigh, it never does get easier...hugs.
Oh, Paddy, I am so, so sorry you lost your girl. They always take a piece of our hearts.
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