1. Why horses? I'm not certifiably crazy about anything else in life.
2. Riding as a kid? I grew up in Seattle (South Park and West Seattle). There were no horses for me, I had library books.
3. The one horse I'd buy? Princess Buttercup, if I could have afforded to bring her to Germany alongside Baasha. (Flying Baasha here cost 8K$)
4. Disciplines? Endurance, CMO, CTR and dressage.
This photo is just here as proof that Baasha was a dressage horse. Cuz why else would I put him in superhero underpants?
Not a forest. Instead, a sea of fragrant sage engulfing us, LOVE THIS RIDE! (Washington state.)
5. What disciplines do I want to do someday? All of the above except that nasty CTR. *chuckle* I especially miss my CMO community.
6. Have I bought from auction/rescue? I'd love to rescue someday but I haven't yet.
7. My first favorite breed? Same as my last - Arabians. I have to admit as a kid I thought a Palomino Arabian would be the ultimate horse. There, I said it.
My heart horse, Baasha. He was unsuccessful at his attempts to kill me. Mostly I was ignorant. But I could ride him through ANYTHING. Indeed, I rode him in downtown Seattle, a bucket list item of mine. And in South Park, another item. As a child I dreamed, "If I ever get a horse, I will bring it here, and ride it!"And I did both. In my childhood industrial town, little kids ran up to us yelling "CABALLO CABALLO!" That was the day I learned their word for horse.
8. What country in the world would I ride in? I'm gonna say Canada simply cuz it's the closest (in location and landscape) to my home. I've ridden in Australia, and live in a part of Europe that resembles Ireland, so... British Columbia it is.
9. Regrets? Mara. 2.5 years of my life I'll never get back, with consequences that affect me every single day. She pretty much broke me, and the only thing I learned from her was it's not a bad thing to sell a horse.
10. Fantasy trainer? Philippe Karl.
11. Bucket list? A 75 miler. 50s are the best, and 100s must suck from everything I've ever read. So, a 75 might be nice.
12. If I were not able to ride, would I have horses? I love this one. I would have a string of Welsh A ponies (fluffy little Arabs) and let them pull me around town in a carriage. None of them would be grey.
13. Fantasy goal? To become a long rider. In the United States of America.
14. Horse that taught the most? Baasha al-Sherif, my heart horse.
15. If I could change one thing? I'd be in the Pacific Northwest and I'd own another Chevy 3500 and 3 horse trailer I'd have modified, like I did the one below.
16. If I could compete in a show, where would it be? In Colorado. They seem to have massive arenas with very few spectators.
17. Top choice for being a spectator? Oh, I'd love to go to Poland's Arabian show and see all of Mag's left-maned relatives showing off. Mag would be there too, saying hi to his family.
18. Would I quit horses? Haven't I told you about my "Anti-Horse-Crazy Pill"? It's a pill you can take to be cured of the horse craziness. You'll have no regrets, and a lot more money and longer life expectancy if you take it. Just, *whine* --- I'd lose the essence of who I am, and I'm not sure what would be left. Would I want to know that person? Oh man, don't make me choose! I have to assume I'd have something else in that emptiness in my life, but what? Scared of that. Good that the pill is imaginary.
19. How would I change the horse industry? Less money prizes and no competition before maturity.
20. Dumbest horse thing I've done? Oh this is hard cuz I've made so many mistakes, mostly accidents that turned out miraculously well. But one was beyond stupid. I'd only had a horse for 3 years (before that only books) and I thought I could lead a horse across a railway trestle over the Cedar River in Maple Valley. One that had not yet been adapted from "rails to trails." I thought horses would instinctively know to place their hooves on the wooden rail ties. No, they don't. She fell through and ended up with "only" a bowed tendon. I have never forgiven myself. That was 1991. Really, I'd only read books about horses most of my life, a real horse is something very different!
21. My fears? My fears themselves. I am in a constant state of anxiety when I'm riding my horse. I rarely can beat it back enough to enjoy, so there are pleasant moments. I'm afraid of my horse's ability to kill the both of us out there (I worry a lot about him too, not just me!).
22. Best book? Summer Pony by Jean Slaughter Doty with illustrations by Sam Savitt. Looking at that link, I just had an emotional reaction. Like the main character, I could only dream of horses for my entire young life. In the book, she gets to *lease* a pony for the Summer and they keep it in their garage. A dream of mine, to this day, converting garages into horse shelters (seriously, I'm crazy. Cuz I want the horse in the same building with me. Ironically, in Germany, this is often the case!). She gets her rental pony and learns everything the hard way! The wisdoms in the book are outdated, but I still love it.
23. Personality traits I love and hate? I love a horse who wants to see what is around the bend, who wants to get to the top of the hill, and then down, and then up again, who takes side trails without my request, simply to explore something new. A precious trait!! And I think Mag (as well as Baasha and Princess Buttercup) has it! I hate herd bound horses. Baasha was the worst. If he was out of tail-swishing range of the horse in front of him, he was desperately too far behind, and he'd freak completely out. It left me with no option, often, but to compete with him alone. Happily, when we brought him home here in Germany, he literally lay down and went to sleep in his paddock on day one, delighted to be away from all the cruel horses he'd been boarded with, who never let him eat. Eventually we got him a donkey, Bellis, and she became his queen. Bellis is still with us, though no longer a queen *lol* (donkeys are virtually NEVER dominant over horses, but Baasha was messed up!)
24. What do I love most about endurance/CMO? The fact that to be good at it all you have to do, really, is ride your horse. A lot. And I love the solitude - just me and my horse and the countryside. Even the high plains where you can truly see how alone you are were amazing. Endurance means "to endure" and I love that aspect of it - all alone, no crew. Aarene's shirt, "You can rest when you die." Very funny. CMO, freaking stupid, stupid MAP! And then that one day I beat them all including my mentor, riding ALONE, getting my first solo blue ribbon. No one could believe it. And then that other time when I beat my nemesis, Charles Cowan. I actually gave him some hints and he went back out there. He would not be defeated...but I beat him!
25. Improvement goals? Just the fears that plague me the moment I get on til I get off. I really should try to find a "schoolmaster" horse to re-establish good memories. No idea how to find one.
Here I am in a safe arena. Using all my strength to remain calm. You can see how calm Mag is, that's why I bought him. I'm a wreck.
My environment is against me, but I'm doing my best to find friends and ways to overcome the obstacles in this extremely horse friendly country, with its extremely horse unfriendly trails (in comparison to my home).
I have hope. Mag will mature and someday I'll realize that. I don't need to go back in time and canter across grassy airstrips. We will simply trust each other.
13 comments:
Have you tried visualization to help with the anxiety? Loved the pic of you galloping across the field.
Baasha does look a lot like Ashke. He was absolutely beautiful.
That said, Mags is my favorite blog poneh on the internets. I think he is magnificent and I think If you can bring yourself to relax and trust, he will take care of you.
ND, thank you - I'm working on it. Your gallop was our canter but I have to say, Princess Buttercup was the fastest ride I'd ever had, and I actually raced my endurance friends one day on a training ride, and it was unforgettable, the way she played with them, and then beat them, entirely on my bidding. Wow. I'll never again experience something like that. She was a Quarab and had all the gears for me, but politely waited for each individual gear. "Now? Now would you like me to cream them?" OK then.....GO!
She would walk head down long rein at the start of an endurance ride. She knew about energy conservation. People would laugh at us, though I'd say, "She's just waiting for e to say go."
And all I did was sit up and cluck to her and we were off.
THAT is the perfect endurance horse. She'd just get faster and faster all day, with only a suggestion, and go right off trail to find water on her own. I hate to think of ...well, I hope she's OK now. If I were in America..
KB, wow..*emotion*...Baasha is related to Ashke, and my new one, not so much.
We should meet up, Ashke has always been my favorite. And I would trust him. And I'm sure you could ride Mag with no problem. Yes, come here and ride him. Free room and board for you and J (but not T cuz omg he'd suffer in the country in Germany.)
You're the first person to call him a "poneh" - I think that is slang for pony.
#20, I could so picture thinking the same thing as a youth! The things we did on burrowed ponies & all bareback!
I know that airstrip!
I totally get your anxiety. Between all my problems with Maddie, and the barbed wire accident with Kate, I've only been out on the trail three times in four years. And two of those times Kate's anxiety reinforced mine! But she needs to walk more (and climb more hills) to rebuild the strength and range of motion in her leg, so I'm thinking in the spring I'll rejoin the trail club I used to ride with. They've been riding all this year up in the Teanaway Forrest (base of Mt. Stuart) where I rode once back in 2000, and vowed to go back, because it is so beautiful.
I'm curious...how did you adapt your three horse trailer?
Camryn, I guess I could call age 20 "youth" now: ) I just kind of envy the bloggers who started before adulthood with horses. However, I am proud to say I did not ever stop. Even for university, I did not take a break from horses. I'm still jealous though of kids who grew up with horses.
Evensong, how could you know that strip, I did not say! Hehehe, I think you must know cuz it's in ......oh where was it..OH!
http://www.silverridgeranch.com/bring-your-horses/
"Ride into Lake Kachess", like I did in the first photo. Awesome, cuz you can ride to snow all year long. My friend Brandi and I stayed in the John Wayne room and loved that they had solid wood paddocks for all overnight horses.
Have you stayed there?
Have you heard of Hidden Valley Ranch (Ellensburg?) I had my first grand away-from-home adventure with Baasha there.
My horse trailer was a three horse slant but my first (the blue one in the photos) was a huge 2 horse straight with massive tack area. I adapted the 3 horse by removing all dividers and cutting the wall in half and making it movable, so I could have 2 loose horses back there and a big area up front for my stuff, and for me to hang out with my horses in bad weather. I could also fit 3 horses in by moving the half wall forward, and taking precautions that they did not get into the hay up front. It was the idea of a "walk thru" to horses so I could groom and tack up inside the trailer. Mostly though, just hang out with them on my rest stops.
I thought of you the other day when I went bushwhacking and realized if I'd have had your experience, I would not be doing that.
We have so much in common. Including trying desperately to build a community of riding buddies!
What a gorgeous place to ride. I’ve never been to that part of the country. If you ever move back I’ll come visit! Anxiety is so hard to deal with. You know better but your body won’t respond. I hope it gets better for you
Letha, while I did ride when young, it was always on a borrowed pony. I barely rode as an adult, didn’t have my own till age 49!!!
As I get older, I realize that I will probably never be as able-bodied as I am today. It gives me a carpe diem attitude that forces me to face my horse related fears even if I just do baby steps at a time. Go trot up that hill!
Allan and I did stay at Silver Ridge one time, for an anniversary mini-get-away, but the highway noise was,unnerving! I blogged about it before the blog died: https://mountaintrailmusic.blogspot.com/2010/08/romantic-getaway-for-five.html.
I've helped with our local QH club prize ride there, as well.
Visited Hidden Valley once, before it was a quest ranch. Very pretty area, as well.
As you say, WA is blessed with a gazillion beautiful places to ride, and half of them are only an hour or so away from us here. I need to put on my big girl panties and get back out there!
I recognized almost all of your endurance photos!
w/Princess B in ... Lake Kacheless? Up near Silver Ridge Ranch, I think...Not an endurance ride, but I've been there.
w/Mack?!?! at HOTR
Princess B again at HOTR, but not the same year.
Baasha and your old blue trailer. The tailgate on that rig weighed a billion tons.
Your truck and trailer at HOTR at the camp above the lake, I betcha.
Princess B at Mt Adams in the horse camp meadow.
Too much nostalgia...
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