Things that bother me about the TWH industry right now.

I know there are good TWH people out there, but let's break this one down:

First, we have "Trigger Treat", a nice dappled palomino. He's lame on the off hind. Noticeably lame. At the walk. "Model Open Winner"

Next, "The Golden Sovereign" a really nice palomino. Big lick action, although not as exaggerated as some and he actually looks reasonably sound. "Amateur Open Winner."

Now, what's next. "Command On Parole". Obviously sored and in pain in front, tail obviously cut. Amateur Four-Year-Old Stallion Winner.

His reserve, "Knock Em Ted," looks exactly the same.

"A Cloudy Sky" - even worse Big Lick action. I'm not going to comment on the rider's seat because I've been told that the hunched position is the gaited equivalent of "two point" and not meant to be sustained or "correct equitation". I AM going to comment on the borderline stargazing. Horse is over-bitted, possibly because it's being ridden by a child. Possibly off on the near hind. - Youth 11 & Under.

"Dance All Night" Okay, so it might be the gaited equivalent of two point, but I think THIS rider is actually using the reins to hold himself on. Youth 12-17 Specialty Winner.

"Texas Joe Black" I actually like this one, if you're going to go for exaggerated action. Smooth, even, no wincing from the horse. IS it possible to do it without soring? Amateur 15.2 & Under Stallion Specialty Winner.

"Gimme A Command" More excessive big lick, more clinging to the horse's face. Legs way off the horse's side. Sorry, that's bad equitation, gaited horse or no. Three-Year-Old Mares & Geldings Reserve.

"Mr. Heisman" Horse looks terrified and definitely sore in front. 15.2 ^ Under Stallion Specialty Winner.

"Suiza" Okay. Nice, nice, nice. Out of all of them I'd take this one, but it's a flat shod horse with no tail set. Maybe I'm biased. Trail Pleasure Youth Specialty Winner. And it actually looked like a trail pleasure horse.

"Pushin That Jazz" More standard Big Lick, seen worse by Big Lick standards. Youth Specialty Championship Winner.

"Dance All Night" Obviously sored horse, rider a little big for horse, horse's mouth appears to be open (another sign of incorrect bitting). 15.2 & Under Mare & Gelding Specialty Winner.

"Skydazzled" Nice chestnut, Big Lick but not pushed to absolute extreme of deformity, rider and horse look happy. Youth Ponies Winner.

"Roll The Gold" Beautiful horse. Beautiful. Well forward. Ridden and owned by the same person as the Trail Pleasure Horse earlier. Youth Ponies Reserve.

"Command On Parole" Another terrified and sored horse, from what I can see, another open mouth and more clinging to the reins. Four-Year-Old Stallion Specialty Winer.

"Designer Champagne" Is this a Champagne Watchout baby? Rider's legs sticking out, but horse looked very nice indeed. Country Pleasure Champion.

So, a mixed bag. I'm pleased to see that even a couple of the HIGH ACTION horses did not look to be in pain or afraid. Others, however, did. Oh, and who is Allison Thorson? Her horses look like she's doing something RIGHT.

Dose of Cute

The ball is bigger than the horse!

When you fall off...

...don't do what this girl does.

Now. Admittedly, that was a bit of a dirty stop. The round up until that point was fine, so she probably had him just set up slightly wrong.

But you never hit your horse after falling off. There's only one thing that will teach the horse: Not to let you catch it after a fall...

Fall Training

One of the things that annoys me about the horse industry in general is the lack of this:

Okay. Most of us can't afford a fall rig like this one. But many more places could put in the old school quick and dirty barrel on a log and pit of sand fall rig.

Fall training is a vital part of preventing injury, especially those injuries that a helmet can't do anything about.

To give an example, I got bucked off by a Quarter Horse - he meant business and was actually pissed off with me about something. I had a sore shoulder for three days.

Another rider got bucked off by a Paint Draft cross. The only difference between the falls was that her horse (who also meant business) was very slightly taller and it was in the indoor on footing not the outdoor on grass. She spent the night in the ER, got a moderate concussion and damaged her pelvis in a way that gave her a permanent limp.

Other difference? I've had fall training.

If your barn does not offer fall training (which can also be done using real horses if you have ones that are saintly enough) and you can't find one that does, then find a local dojo that teaches a "soft" style such as judo or ju-jitsu. They will often provide the training for a reasonable price - and really, would you want to spend the night in the hospital right before Christmas?

Eventually, tuck and roll becomes instinctive. You don't even need to think about it, and it reduces the risk of spinal injuries, long bone damage and even being stepped on by the horse (Smaller target). It's something instructors don't even like to bring up because they don't want to "scare" their students. Pheh.

If you ride, you will fall off. Doing it right is vital.

Raceday Stunt

Three scantily dressed women come into the parade ring and "steal" a horse.

What does this look like?

It looks like an irresponsible woman stealing a horse and taking it for a joy ride. I was particularly amused by how many commenters remarked on her not wearing a helmet.


































So, having made enough white space, let's look at this video again.

This is a professional stunt. The "horse thief" is a trained rider, likely an exercise rider or possibly even a jockey. She's riding the horse very well and the horse is calm (in fact probably enjoying himself).

And, if you look, she IS WEARING A HELMET. What they did was cut a brim to match the helmet. Then they wrapped a purple feather boa around it. Finally, they wrapped the woman's hair or wig (hard to tell which) around the helmet straps. This is brilliant costuming and I think we can learn from it - this was done by a professional, but there's no reason ideas can't be stolen from it to disguise a helmet (especially if you can afford an English style "jockey club") for equestrian costuming.

(The stunt was done to advertise a reality show about jockey training).

Helmet Awareness Day

Helmet awareness day is tomorrow, Saturday the 22nd. So I'm going to share this.

My parents made me wear a helmet as a child. I was often the only one wearing a proper helmet as opposed to a hunt cap. The barn did not require them and the hats they provided were hunt caps - hard, but with no strap, and essentially useless.

When I was fifteen, I was warming up a rather hot pony at a show and he suddenly pulled full blown rodeo. I went over his head, rolled, he jumped over me and his shod hoof struck the side of my head. I'm lucky it was as high as it was instead of hitting my unprotected jaw. I got up and got back on. There was a swelling on the horse's butt that I am pretty sure was the result of a wasp sting.

When I took my helmet off, the entire inner shell had shattered. I vowed that day I would never get on a horse without a helmet. Ever. I even sometimes wear a helmet for ground work, if I know the horse I am working with is particularly difficult or if I am handling a horse for the first time. My riding instructor actually teased me for that (until her horse kicked her while she was leading him and put her in intensive care for a month...don't worry, she's fine now).

Helmets save lives. Wear them. Tradition isn't as important as keeping what's inside your braincase intact.

Time to...

...do some desensitization work.

The rider handled this very well, and stayed on, but maybe before the next show she should teach her horse not to spook at somebody else's freestyle music? Nice, athletic horse, mind, I want him.

Seriously Cute

I have a bit of a cold and needed some cuteness therapy. So I found some...which I'm going to share.

Even if she is a little annoyed by her tiara ;). And don't worry - it's perfectly safe to dye horses as long as you use a wash-out, non-toxic dye (some people actually use diluted food coloring). The pony is a saint, although I'm sure she's used to being mauled by children like that. The little one's cute too.

Draft horse "escapade"

This video has circulated before, but I always like to watch it as an example of how, well, things can go wrong in any equine event.

What actually happened here is that these horses are trained to throw all of their strength into the hitch as soon as its hooked to the weight...and it broke. The horses simply could not stop themselves and charged down the arena based off of sheer inertia.

Nobody was seriously injured and the announcer was and is simply amazing.

Even draft horses will run away occasionally...

Barrel Racers...

...just look at all the tack on these horses. I mean, it really is true that you have to have a massive bit to do barrel racing, right. And your feet strapped into the stirrups, and an over under or they just won't go fast enough. Etc, etc, etc.

Right.

Yeah.

This girl is showing them all how it's done. (Well, except for him running right out from under her on the final straight ;)).

Of course...

...any time you ride a horse there's a risk of falling off.

Fortunately the kid actually had stickability. Another parent snatched their kid off. All of the screaming didn't help and the other ponies were saintly.

These pony rides bother me a little. Not from a horse use point of view in most cases - these ponies seemed happy, if a little bored, and are well fed with good coats, but from a safety point of view. We have small children, sans helmets, sitting up there in a noisy environment. None of these kids have their feet in the stirrups and many of them...I think all but one...are wearing sandals. Obviously, they dont' have helmets. This accident was caused when a perfectly well trained, perfectly quiet animal was startled by a horse fly...maybe they needed to spray them more often, but that wasn't really the ride operators' fault.

The carousel contraption has always looked to me like something a horse or a kid could easily get caught in. I think that pony rides should be given with a leader in a small arena-like area, with helmets provided and possibly sidewalkers - perhaps the parents should be encouraged to walk next to their kids as nobody reacts faster to a kid in trouble than his/her mother. The problem is that it would cost more because of the extra manpower needed, although no doubt they could hire teenagers at minimum wage to do it.

Racing Is Dangerous

...but flat racing accidents have nothing on this:

The race starts out pretty normally with the truck pulling away safe and a decent field of pacers. I had to frame by frame it to see what happened. I honestly can't tell whether the second place horse, Getthemoney, just tripped or whether the two sulkies touched wheels. He picked himself up, having shed his driver. The horse behind collided...and massive pileup.

None of the horses appeared to be injured and I found a news story here that confirms only minor injuries. The drivers were less lucky - several of them were injured.

I once knew a Standardbred who was in an accident on the track. He never raced again despite being only minorly hurt...physically. He refused to be put to a sulky again, and I can't blame him.

The thing with driving is that you don't wreck as often, but when you do...well...it can be truly spectacular. This is why you wear a helmet, people.

NOT an Evil Pony

The overall horsiness of the people in this video is made clear when they call the pony "he"...

This is a really good demonstration of what not to do - I'm not sure what kind of treats they were feeding her, but I'm betting it was people food. The bucking and kicking was a simple spook and the following around? She just wanted more treats. I'm actually amazed they didn't get crowded by the other horses in the pasture.

Never walk into a pasture with loose horses unless you know them (I got injured that way once myself, but my excuse is that I was twelve years old and thought I was an amazing horsewoman).

Never feed treats to loose horses while in with them, even as an aid to catching. Going in with a grain bucket is dangerous too (I was taught to do that, but I was taught wrong). Horses, even little ones like this, are large herbivores and flight animals. Contrary to popular belief, they are more dangerous than carnivores or omnivores - more people in Alaska get mauled by moose in a given year than by bears.

These people are all lucky the pony didn't land a hoof on them. Those little pony hooves hurt. I speak from experience here...

Impressive...

This one's for all the people who think they need some kind of massive bit to control their horse.

Great control, a happy horse, the rider has a good seat, although her release over fences still needs a tiny bit of work.

I am, however, amused that the rider is consistently still moving her hands as if she was holding reins. Reminds me of myself when I ride western - I never know what to do with my "spare" hand.

Yeah, I figured I'd start this blog off with something on the good side of the internet video world. I'll be featuring more crazy horse videos (and probably the occasional crazy ass video - I love the longears).