This was September 24, 2009, doesn't it look lovely and warm??
Taken from slightly further away, today. The girls did a great job of stopping ANY cuteness when the camera was pointed. I have several megabits of movie, where there is a lovely expanse of frozen nada.
Minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Flip, stalker-slinker of Blaze.
Kinda hard to sneak up on a black dog on a white pond.
Hey, I'm on the pond! Are ya ready??
Find the doggie.
Oh, my, this post's title is going to give blogger entirely the wrong impression. It's funny how the memory works, isn't it? Well, mine, anyway. Amuses me no end. I commented on UnionSquares' RetiredRaceHorseBlog, and PinG. A Memory cell kicked in!
High Booby. It's 1966-67. I'm riding at first/worst barn. One of the "famous" rider/horse combinations, seemingly revered by everyone, ofcoursesodidI, was the mare "High Booby" and her rider, Barb. Barb's last name escapes me, it was unusual too. Spangle, or something. I never thought to ask about the mare's name. I was eleven, I kept my questions entirely related to more interesting things, like how to put on a bridle:)
They could jump, this strangely-named pair. Won a lot at the Junior/Amateur level, in those long ago days.
High Booby was built like a dachsund. She was plain bright bay, no more than 15.1 hands. She had a roman nose, but it was rounded so perfectly, it was almost cartoonish. Not unfeminine, which is hard to do with a roman nose. Everything about her was round. The mare was long, low, yet round. Strangest looking creature, really, a caricature. A compass would exactly follow the curve of her hind-quarter. She was low to the ground, and clawed/clambered/scrabbled over fences. Her ears were permanently pinned back, except over jumps. High Booby lived to jump. Everything else was crap, in her fierce large eyes. Let me AT them! Stay with me, and hang on!
High Booby taught me not to "drop" my horse before a jump.
Barb took a liking to me, and eventually let me ride High Booby over fences. High Booby would stop, every single time I "dropped" the contact before the jump. A dirty stop, an evil stop, OnlY if I dropped the reins, and the contact with her mouth. I could throw my body ahead, and she wouldn't care. But drop her reins? She'd stop. High Booby dumped me quite a bit. See, at this point, I was "learning" how to ride like this..

Booby's Barb knew I was asking to get myself killed, so she kindly let Booby show me what the safest course of action was. Do not "throw" your hands at the horse. Do Not make a move. Do NOT EVER drop Booby's contact. Go with her and gently, support. Sounds like a "MaidenForm" commercial, doesn't it?
High Booby's lessons really helped deepen my seat, and strengthen my core, so that I did not come off easily with a stopper, after that. But the habit could come back often, and it did.
My first mare continued High Booby's lessons, by dumping me neatly over her head once, stopping at a low easy fence.
It was GoLightly that finally, truly fixed my seat. Poor old bay, he tried to help me fix my "fly-away" hands over fences too. He just didn't have enough time. GoLightly plunked me back into the center of the horse, though. Very good place to start riding them from. After I saw his sale picture in Practical Horseman, showing equitation, I finally realized what he'd been trying to teach me. You can keep contact with the horse's mouth, over a fence. It has to be light and sympathetic, of course.
This can actually help the horse jump more tidily. See how tight and neat GoLightly is with his knees in this shot, compared to my shot, with my hands halfway up his neck, and his ears back, slightly irritated at my sloppiness.

Even after I "lost" him, GoLightly kept teaching me.
OH, National Velvet was on!!! 1944, Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, and there was Angela Lansbury as Edwina. Made me tear up, of course. Velvet "riding" her toes in bed. Velvet's wishes were so much my own.
Dang, that Pie was a nice horse. Great actor:) He actually bears some resemblance to Aldaniti, another hero horse of mine. The riding was fascinatingly, laughably not that much different from today. Jump jockeys had much longer stirrups for the steeplechases. A little something called "I wish to live to see dinner". Amazing to me now, that it is becoming a "bad" thing. MY Canadian horse ragazine has come out in "againstness" agin The Grand National Steeplechase. The falls were horrific then, just as they are now, in all sports involving horse.
Big old dinosaur that he is.
To Horses, each with lessons to teach us. Even if it's Do NOT giggle at my name. Come to think of it, I wonder if that's why High Booby's ears were always back?
OH, and great comments on the last blather. Thanks to you all!
lovely expanse of frozen nada
Don't you just love how they stand there, looking wise? They'd been rip-ROARing around the frozen snow dunes, until I finally found the movie button. Frozen fingers/brain, ya know? Flip, I swear, she STILL hates having her picture taken!
12 comments:
The dogs look so happy!I owe Go Lightly, Hi Booby(poor dolly ,what a name) and all the others a debt of gratitude for teaching you so you could in turn teach me!
Hi Booby, I'm with Fern, poor darling. I think you are right, her ears were pinned because of her name, LOL!
Whinnie is the same way, she needs that contact or she loses her confidence up to a fence. She wouldn't hit the brakes but she would run out.
Blaze and Flip are so beautiful. I love their coloring.
-4 degrees? I needed to put on another sweater to read that post.
Who would name a horse that! Poor thing.
Great dog day in the snow.
Weirdest Animals of the World
Tess taught me to wait for it and stay out of her face. Although she hadn't refused a jump with me, she had for her previous owner. She was 'checked' before take off each time. At least the previous owner took the bit out of the equasion.
I also learned to hold on loosely, open my hands and let her go. Light grip on the reins means they didn't get pulled from your hands.
Poor girl High Booby, to have a name like that. Can you imagine the difference if she had had a name to be proud of?
I was playing with the idea of naming Maisa 'Bobo the Wonder Pony'....Elaine was not amused.
Intertesting news.
and a good typo
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Your girls look so happy. There isn't much that can beat happy dogs playing, content and safe in their dog-world. That picture from last summer is one of my favorites, along with the one of Fern's dogs playing.
I was thinking that if I was Hi Booby my posture would be much better.
I could not imagine my life without dogs..and horses...and cats...and sheep....ha ha..
Enjoyed my visit to your blog!
Julie
www.ridingaside.blogspot.com
Hey, check it out! A new-ish reader:)
RidingAside
Welcome, and thank you, Julie!
I've ridden sidesaddle.
I was 12. Does that count?
We jumped, and everything.
It was, um, interesting.
I was very glad to get back to a leg at each corner:)
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