Building/Breeding Stances
I was thinking abit about the conformation discussion on the FuglyReview, and then thought about old buckskin, Raven. Remember him? I took a couple lessons with him? He bucked off his rich guy owner? No? Me either, as in I'm not going to go back and find that old post right now...
He was built to stand, not to move, and I'd never ridden a horse like that before. Lazy, yes. But immoveable?? Physics, heck even gravity didn't work on this horse. He was ground glued.
That seems to be the way of breeding them, isn't it. Find a trait, like placidity, and bingo. You have horses that move slower than plants. Another trait like fairly straight joint angles just adds to the fun.
Another trait, like a dished face, bingo, sea-horse heads, and wry noses, and malformed tracheas. But oh, no, that isn't what's happening! Uh, huh.
Another trait, giant warmbloods with explosive, almost unrideable to the normal human being movements, and Bingo, we develop new methods to tie them back down. (coughRollKur?cough) Break their nuchals, instead of making sure they are ridden by the best. You DO impede wind, it slows them down, heLLo. (It also can enrage them, or terrify them, but it always messes their minds for a long while, bad riding.)
RollCuring was developed by devolution in riding. Better horses, worser riders. We have only ourselves to blame.
I won't even mention the horses that look like cows. Double muscling, and low heads for easier.. ahem. Does NoT happen. Yeah, right.
More Horse Rants, to do with riding.
I was watching a big Spruce Meadows Grand prix class. In rode a beautiful blonde youngster, on a gigantic, magnificent chestnut. She had this chair seat going, right from the start, that made me think, girl, you ain't staying on for this round. Sure enough, horse jumped her right out of the tack. You can't ride big fences that way! You can sit as pretty as you want, but over the big try jumps, you better be ready to hang on and stay with him, not push your butt out the back seat, and point your toes down, legs jammed forward! Sayonara, rider! Gah, these riders that try to emulate the greats.. You can't just LOOK like a great, you have to ride like a great! It ain't easy!
Kudos to Eric Lamaze, but that was a half million dollar stirrup loss in the CN BIG jumper time class.. Ouch. I lost a stirrup at a show with GoLightly, but it just cost me a red face. $450,000.00 bonus down the drain, because Eric lost his stirrup to the last line of fences. Eric's riding with a broken foot, of course, that may have had something to do with it;)
Hickstead was incredible, as usual. I sure hope Eric heals up QUICK/well. Canada needs him on the team, at full-strength!
I watched Beezie Madden, after pretty blonde's ignominious departure from the ring. And admired again, a perfectly balanced leg over hip over shoulder. Why must we try to emulate the faults in riders? Eric can sometimes be "accused" of having a heel up over a big fence. But he also is perfectly balanced. Makes a difference!
Pretty blonde, no stirrups, starting now! Stay in two-point until you shriek. You were bobbing around up there like a peanut on an elephant. It wasn't good. Not at all. Your horse was bad in the big class the next day, he's trying not to jump you off again. Maybe admit you need a horse with less power, or maybe admit you need more time in the tack, and less admiring yourself on facebook.
Ooooh, I feel better now;)
(sheathes cat claws) She will learn from that fall, hopefully, 'cause that's one helluva nice horse.
But hey, at least she feeds and loves on her horses. Triple Gold Stars for turn-out!
That shine you see is a synthetic product, sprayed on instead of actually, you know, GROOMING the beast. That would take too much time and energy.
I can fit the thickness of my fingers betwixt his ribs. The latest shite/shinola story is that he's allergic to grass, it makes him "break out in bumps". Funny how all of her animals have one HECK of a time having any weight on them. Funny that the first pic I found of him showed him turned out on grass. Funny, peculiar.
sad.
So, yeah, I'd show you his pictures of standing in shite, but that's legal and humane, too. Half the stall is shite, the other half, the half he's standing on to get to his "food", is concrete. But he got his feet done, and he DiD have clean shavings (notevenenoughforcomfort) exactly when the cruelty preventer person came, two weeks ago. Cruelty preventer hasn't been seen since. All is well, in animal welfare.
Not.
I wonder how filthy shelters are actually allowed to be? Heck, it's LEGAL. Apparently. Unnecessary suffering. Not caused here.
Only the necessary stuff.
ETA:
Sept. 20th, official visit, so of course, he was clean-ish today.
Hug your horses for me.
12 comments:
Hugging them all for you , but esp Jojnnie ,who sends huge hugs and snuffles back! Eric Lamaze is as amazing as Hickstead! NOT a horse I would want to ride with an already broken bone(or with my skills , at all) , He is a talented gorgeaous horse , but I am pretty sure NOT and easy horse by anyones standards
Oh GL, it's so sad that nothing is being done to help that poor horse. Why is it that some people are Teflon coated, they keep getting away with horrible stuff, and other people...like me!...don't even dare jaywalk because they'd get a ticket.
That's an interesting concept...hotter horses being bred all the time, and less people being brought up riding makes more wrecks...
speaking of movement, how is Butch?
Well, he hasn't moved much, lately, Gator.
He's protesting the plight of the horse.
No interest in his lineage anyway.
Which just isn't right;)
Those antique bleedlines are under appreciated..
I'll tell him you were asking after him!
Disgusting, GL. Just disgusting. My heart breaks.
I agree on the breeding and also on the deterioration of riding. I was looking at eq classes online a while back. Gah! *shrieks*
Here's hoping AC finds some pity in an OSPCA officer before too much longer. Here's hoping anyways.
Per the $675,000 lost stirrup, did anyone notice two differentials in the tack of Beezie Madden and Eric Lamaze; their choice of stirrups.
Beezie uses the MDC Stirrups that are angled forward to increase her chance of regaining a lost stirrup.
If that stirrup were either angled towards Eric's boot, even a bit more, or weighed more, the check would have been for $775,000 instead of $100,000.
Anyone can lose a stirrup, but what a price to pay. Sometimes tack makes a difference.
Hi Harley:)
I think the broken ankle is the difference.
Not the stirrup, so much.
He's won a lot with his own choice of tack.
Perhaps his own bones/mechanics are showing some wear and tear.
Of course, the broken bone was an issue with the lost iron. The question is what would have aided in the 'recovery' of that iron?
You can lose any stirrup. What happens after you lose the stirrup is where product design comes into play.
The logic is that a stirrup that tends to remain open is more apt to return to the boot than a standard design.
New stirrups, new saddles, new bits,new veterinary techniques, new shoes, new pads,new training methods etc., all of this leads to the opportunity to compete at a higher level. This is the subject of my thoughts.
Interesting comment on the stirrups! A friend rides in the jointed stirrups...or used to. They tend to be unstable and made her ankles and knees sore.
Tiny amount of justice for those poor dairy cows..
Justice, a bit late for the cows
The stirrups are interesting, but not the bottoms; it is the top that has more interest.
Flex or standard stirrups are optional choices for rider preferences. In this discussion, the subject is what are the natural tendencies of traditional stirrups AFTER you lose one. Any stirrup that TENDS to keep the angel open to the horse, will mathmatically be more available to retrieve than one that TENDS to close faster and to lay flat against the horse's side. Examples of a more available stirrup are the Icelandic Stirrup, the German stirrup with a fix 90 degree eye and the MDC Intelligent Stirrups with 45 or 90 degree options.
On another subject, what makes a stirrup safe in the first place? A safer stirrup tends to stay open and does not aggressively move away from the rider and / or grab the foot. Stirrups with quick outs, rubber bands, etc ONLY work after the foot is caught and the rider is drug down the arena. A safer stirrup is one that doesn't try to catch the foot in the first place. This is probably more than you wanted to know, so I will close with the thought that, in my opinion, it is best to own and use the best, functional tack for your purposes, safety and comfort. If that tack can enhance the opportunity to win a class, or in this case, an extra $675,000, why not use tack that works for you and not against you?!?
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