There was a fantastic show for kids with audience participation somehow combining two liberty ponies and three PREs prancing around. The guy on the bay was having such a great time, he was smiling as he rode. I liked how he rode in a snaffle.
They grey horse really upset Ani, she's never seen that type of movement before (Andalusian?) where they are quite "stompy" with their legs. I assured her it's natural, they do it in their pasture. (I cannot find that viral Facebook video of the herd of PRE stallions playing in their field - can you help me find it?) She argued with me that the horses are broken, that's why, and their backs are damaged. I shook my head and said, "Don't watch Paso Finos then." The lady next to us was giggling at Ani's appalled reaction.
This next clip is the horse that rescued the kids dressed up as fish swimming in that "water" - if I understand correctly. I kept thinking he'd trip on the fabric. He also did that disappearing under the blanket thing. It was different than the last video I showed, it was even better somehow. I just love this trick. Sadly I did not capture it on video, it took me by surprise.
Update - J just got home and said we had our first tornado, in our state. I saw the video and can confirm that was a tornado. Funnel cloud with bits of houses blowing around, yup.
What is interesting to me: Only the roofs were blown off, the houses are still standing. Cuz the Germans always complain that Americans make their houses out of paper and plastic, OK maybe they've got something. But the roofs here are of ceramic tile, and poof!
But most of all, of the 10 houses completely destroyed, and the 30 more damaged and unliveable - THE POWER IS STILL ON. You can go get a cold drink from the fridge and sit in your broken down house and watch TV. *LOL*
Ani and I took our horses out for walks 3 times this week and were stopped by fallen trees, and Mag has learned how to communicate to me how "impossible" it is for him to be out in this weather. He turns sideways, tilts his head, puts his face against me (using me as a wind block) and pouts. Just like Baasha. Get ready Mag, someday you may have to *work* in this weather, and not for just a couple hours.
Our greenhouse is kaputt, I cleared 4 trees from our fences, found a treetop and pot in the middle of our pasture, but our house and barn are still fine.
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6 comments:
My first thought is that the grey is a Lipizzaner, but after watching it again he looks gaited to me. But no, not broken. I wonder if she would think the Dragon was injured if she watched the zooming around the pasture at a pace?
What happened to your greenhouse?
I didn't see any tail wringing? Is that in another video?
So, first guy on the bay. Yeah, no doubt he is smiling but so is his horse. Smooth, effortless, relaxed, great rhythm. I will say that you have not lived until you have experienced the smooth gaits of an andalusian ... but of course I am terribly biased.
The other guy, on the white horse. That horse seems tense, and choppy and uncomfortable. Hard to know if the horse is overfaced, if the connection with the rider is poor, or if the rider is not experienced enough. In between the little piaffe attempts you see him drifting left and right, hiding behind the leverage bit. The punching of the floor is not desired, and is probably because the horse is not properly engaging from behind. There is no lightness. Philippe Karl would not approve. He also had no spurs, and a big bit. I suspect this was not his regular rider.
But then I still know very little in the world of PREs and piaffe.
I will be heading to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna in a month, and I will no doubt get a good look at what the standard should be. Along with the normally touristy trappy things. ;-)
As for the lady floating on the tarp. It's nice, and reminds me to go work with my tarps. But eventually, this trick becomes overdone. Good for the masses.
I swear, every time I watch Paso Finos my knees start sympathy aching! I know it doesn't REALLY hurt them to do that movement, but it looks like it should.
Aarene, I'm sorry I cannot say exactly what breed that was. So many Spanish/Iberian horses were there, I couldn't keep track. My greenhouse is not destroyed, not yet anyway, we'll see. We've just had to go collecting its parts twice this week, after failed attempts to re-install them. I will have hopes for green beans this year.
ND, YouTube lost my video of the tail wringing, but you can see the blue blanket video shows the bay horse performing unhappily. Anyway, you had the same observation I did - the bay was happy, the grey was frustrated, flinging foam from his mouth, and every time she stopped him to rest on the side line, he stood at rest chomping his bit frantically, 5 times per second.
Curious why you mention P. Karl? If you're in Austria, we should hook up. I've always wanted to go.
BB, I knew a breeder who had Peruvian Pasos in CMO and his horses seemed to work so much harder, because they were doing their lovely prance the entire time. Like you said, it looks like it hurts. But he did his best to care for them in the mountains.
Wow. I do not see what you see. From my perspective, the bay horse on the blue “pond” was concentrating and focused. Not unhappy. Underneath all that dress, his rider must be cueing him and he is saying “YES YES, you want THiS!” I see it as a form of enthusiasm.
I dont mind a horse that foams or drools. I have to admit, sometimes I drool too. ;-)
My breeder used to make the analogy that andalusians are like fireballs on the end of a string. They will not break the string, but they will be extravagant in their response.
I think QHs are often like ducks in the water. AN appearance of calm, but there is a lot of paddling underneath.
And arabs ... well Ill let you answer that one.
Sorry to hear about the tornado and damages. Incredible that the power was unaffected. What is going on with the weather in Germany? Here, if someone blows out a match the whole province goes black for 12 hours. Too many old transformers, and lines above ground.
Paul Latiolais and I rode a 100-miler together many years ago, him on his Paso Fino "Pete" and me on the Toad (Arab gelding).
Since we had plenty of time, we calculated steps per mile for each horse, and also concussion per foot/leg. (We finished that ride with 15 minutes to spare, so we really had PLENTY of time to talk, and besides, Paul is a mathmetician!) Pete obviously took lots more steps than the Toad as we were trotting/gaiting down the trail; however, because Pete always had one foot on the ground, even at speed, his feet and legs were subject to significantly less concussion per mile.
Basically, they move so differently that we decided to call it a draw. :-)
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