Sometimes People Are OK Animals

After being sickened by so many sad stories, I find it nice to find one where people act in a decent fashion:

Cost of Freedom on His Way to Retirement

"Adios, Invasor"

This morning, I read this on one of the sites I frequent:  http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2013/12/24/rafael-sotos-invasor-passed-away

The death of the great Andalusian stallion Invasor shows the power of the Internet.  Tribute videos are already popping up on YouTube. Of course, many great videos were already up. In fact, just yesterday, I rewatched Invasor's retirement ceremony on YouTube and wondered if the old fellow was still with us.

I show friends, riders, anyone who'll hold still videos of Invasor. Soto's seat no longer causes me to cringe. It's far from pretty, but the relaxation of one's horse is the best endorsement a rider can get.
I will always remember this stallion's utter calm, ears loose but attentive, while performing a passage well beyond exceptional.

Grand old horse. One I'll remember.

My Auntie Mame Moment

The late 19th C. Sears catalog ad above shows a ladies' saddle with a "leaping horn." The old style, one-horned side saddle allowed European and American "ladies" to walk and even canter along slowly on highly trained "ladies" horses, but the Victorians revolutionized riding for "ladies" by installing a second horn beneath the standard one. Equipped with two-horned side saddle, equestriennes could now not only gallop at speed and join men in the hunt fields. They could even, if the were high arousal sorts aka adrenalin junkies, jump fences, BIG fences. How big? The 1915 photo below shows Esther Stace with a lovely light hand on the reins clearing six foot six inches. Before the mid-19th C., side saddles limited riding for women to staid, sedate gaits. Now, suddenly the sky was the limit.

 I found these new, improved side saddles fascinating, So back in the early 70s, I bought an old, single horn sidesaddle and rebuilt it. Adding the "leaping" horn proved easier than I expected. Although I needed some help from a smithy to install the hardware, I was most pleased with myself and, after finishing, I put it on my mare and rode around the big barn at Fort Leavenworth. Once.

By the time I got back to the main door, I was terrified. Nothing happened. In fact, my mare accepted the new saddle without question, walking calmly the whole time. One loop around the barn shook me because, after only a few steps, I fully realized WHY women like Esther Stace could do what they were doing. I felt STUCK on top of my horse, STUCK as in TRAPPED.

I felt like Auntie Mame in the eponymous 1958 movie.  I wonder how many people who watch this wonderful old movie understand the scene where Auntie Mame, having lied about being a crack rider, tries to get out of going fox hunting in the South by telling her hosts she only rides side saddle. The hosts obligingly haul a side saddle out of the attic and Mame takes her first ride ever on a crabby, bolting gelding in an open hunt field. Instead of being humiliated, Mame arouses awe in her hosts. Having no knowledge of the biomechanics of riding aside, they interpret her upright, rigid terror as a fine seat and her screaming as enthusiastic Rebel yells. For me, it's the funniest scene in a funny movie.  

It's hard enough to get on a modern side saddle without help from a ground crew. Dismounting alone can reach something close to Mission Impossible status, especially if the rider lacks total relaxation. Stiffen up a bit and the rider's legs clamp her onto her saddle. In other words, falling off becomes harder than staying on. It's easy to fall off the old sidesaddle that just drapes a rider's leg over the top and lets the other leg swing free, but that second horn, the Victorian improvement, lets a rider wedge a leg in place between stirrup and leaping horn.

Even without a stirrup shortened to a jumping length, I felt utterly trapped and helpless. As quickly as I could, I eased my right leg over to an astride position, freed my left leg from the leaping horn side, and slithered off with a total lack of grace. My feet hitting the ground never left better.

For the first time, I understood the criticism that met the leaping horn when it showed up in the hunt fields of England in the mid-1800s. Critics argued women whose horses fell in the hunt field would be seriously injured, even killed. I've never heard of predicted disasters happening although I'm sure many injuries occurred since "lady-like" women gained the ability to gallop and jump their horses. Of course, most side saddle enthusiasts were and are more athletic than I.

I unsaddled my mare and packed my newly rebuilt side saddle in my car. During the short drive home, I happily realized I was simply not athletic enough for "lady-like" riding. Once home, I immediately listed the saddle for sale. It sold in days.  The young woman who bought that saddle reported she found the saddle "thrilling."

Of course, she found it thrilling. She was, like many top women riders, a recognizable type-- amazonian adrenalin junkie. This fits most of the side saddle riders I've known. The first one I met was a daredevil foxhunter who'd come to find galloping across country astride a bit too sedate--"boring." Sidesaddle fox hunting put a bit of zip back into her sport.

Since then, I've crossed paths with only a couple of side saddle riders and those women rode in the show ring on the flat. I'm not sure they fall into the same class as the side saddle fox hunter "ladies." Consequently, I'm happy to know there's apparently The Side Saddle Revival.

Considering the number of adrenalin junkies in the world, I'm not surprised about the revival. I'm in total awe of those nice "lady-like" sidesaddle riders, the ones with bigger balls than most sky-divers.

I hilltopped a few times, but if anyone ever asks me to join a hunt field side saddle--or astride--I not afraid to just say no. Watching a rerun of Auntie Mame is close enough for me.

More great photos of side saddle riding here: http://sidesaddleciara.com/tag/jonah-wragg/

Update: St. Nicholas Abbey

Had he been a gelding, even a good race gelding, St. Nicholas Abbey would likely have been euthanized minutes after fracturing a pastern during a workout in Ireland. However, St. Nicholas Abbey was not a gelding. Moreover, his sire Montjeu won nearly four million pounds and now ranks among the world's leading sires.

Better yet, St. Nicholas Abbey himself started 21 times--a most impressive number these days--and won just under five millions pounds. So this pastern fracture happened to a brilliant son of the successful Montjeu, son of the great Sadler's Wells, son of Northern Dancer, sometimes called The Kingmaker. In other words, while St. Nicholas Abbey's care is expensive and his survival still in doubt, his potential as a sire is incalculable. In other words, St. Nicholas Abbey's treatment  has been worthy of the Crown Prince he is.

Post by Coolmore Stud.

Same Horse, Different Colors

I love this style of carousel horse. "Jumpers" were always my favorites.

I'm not going to indicate company, location, or anything. This's just for fun.

Dot Horse

If you are both an Internet and a horse junkie, this news may appeal to you:

".Horse Domain Registry Service Offered"

I already have my farm name and another domain name registered, but dot horse appeals. I may well succumb.

Houdini Horse

Those who follow my Facebook page know already that on the night of November 14 a loose horse invited himself onto the low deck outside our bedroom.  The event terrified me, but this isn't a Halloween ghost story. Loose horses can endanger not only themselves but others, so this is a warning about the importance of being careful, about knowing horse behavior, and especially about Knowing Thy Horse.

At 2:20 a.m. on the 14th, some noise awakened me. I assumed one of our cats, who have me well trained, wanted in. As I lay in bed, thinking how little I wanted to get up, a loud thump brought me to full awareness. I rolled out of bed, parted the curtains, and looked down. No cat.

Then I looked up and the moonlight highlighted a huge, silver-outlined shadow a  few feet in front of the glass slider. I wasn't wearing my glasses, so the shadow looked like an enormous ghost. Narrow but tall, almost floating above two skinny legs. Then the head of the ghost flipped in a circle. I knew it was a horse, and not just any horse. That gesture, a move a friend dubbed "an Arab nose pirouette," meant Razz, my 14 year old Arab gelding had opened his gate. Again.

I gathered a handful of horse cookies and scurried into the night wearing a parka over my flannel pajamas. As I came around the corner of the house, he'd vacated the deck and retreated. Now standing outside the yard near the rest of the horses, Razz again lifted his head and stared at me expectantly as I trudged down the walkway toward him.

I knew my mistake. When I put the horses up for the night, I'd forgotten to snap the extra clip on the gate of Razz aka Houdini Horse, an expert at opening supposedly horse-proof latches.

Almost untouchable when I got him as a fearful five year old, Razz now approaches people eagerly, often with a sense of play. I saw the Catch-Me-If-You-Can-Swagger as he walked toward me. After his last escape, my indulgent but non-horsey husband chased Razz around for half an hour while I was at work. I'm sure Razz had a great time.

Well, Mommy don't play tag, especially at 2:30 in the morning. Mommy don't wait around either. I knew he'd come up and put his head down for a halter, but I'd lose a minute of sleep time while he realized  I wasn't going to play. So I resisted picking up one of the ropes and halters hanging by the yard gate. Instead I held out a cookie. Razz walked right up and took it as delicately as he always does, but instead of trying to catch him, I ignored him and began distributing cookies to the horses polite enough to obey curfew and remain in their runs.

Razz of course followed right behind me. When I got to the empty run, I walked back to his feed tub and tossed in a couple of cookies. As I expected, the gray ghost sauntered by me and stuck his head down. As he munched, I walked out, appreciatively running my fingers down his side. I latched his gate, and went back to bed. 

    

We live down a private lane and we have layers of fencing, but I still worry about horses getting out. Too many escaped horses injure themselves in unfamiliar surroundings, find too much feed, or wander onto roads. Endless disaster possibilities exist.  Luckily, Razz just climbed onto a well built deck. Only a few scrapes on the deck show he was ever there. 

Below, the evidence of a horse slithering across our smooth deck. 

Below, the Perp looking innocent, 

denying the need for the shiny new chain

Book Review: Lt. Col. M. F. McTaggart's _The Art of Riding_

Although reprinted many times since its debut in 1931, including  a facsimile edition  in 2010, few riders today have read Lieutenant  Colonel Maxwell Fielding McTaggart's slender The Art of Riding. Those who haven't miss much. I first learned of McTaggart (1874-1936) through some pithy remarks in the now also obscure and useful works of John Richard Young. 

An English gentleman through and through, McTaggart focused on jumping, but his advice shows a man well ahead of his time. For example, here are a few of his rules for jumping:

1.  Never jump a larger fence until your horse can jump the smaller one perfectly.

2.  Never use the whip or spur, as punishment.

3.  Avoid excitement. If your horse gets too worked up, go back to easier jumps.

4.  Make him jump straight and exactly where you mean to go.

10. Do not jump your horse until he has been schooled and is obedient to the leg and rein.  

13. If a horse knocks down the rail do not punish him.  He  did not do it because he was careless but because he was either off his balance, had not used his hocks sufficiently, or was not sufficiently muscled up. Remember that a perfectly balanced and muscularly fit horse will clear big obstacles with ease. It is your job to put him at a fence correctly.

16. If you horse is very sluggish, there is probably something miss.

17. If he refuses unexpectedly, search for the cause. The ground is probably too slippery, or he  may have a pinching saddle or other discomfort. (116-17)

One of my favorite plates is on page 119, which I have scanned below. It shows a man, most likely McTaggart himself, cantering and jumping in the paper reins he invented and that disciple John Richard Young demanded his children learn to use. These "reins of brown paper . . . have been cut in half and joined together by a single thread" (118).

 

Before you critique this man's seat or question the presence of the standing martingale, get a paper bag and some scissors and a bit of grocery string. Give this a go.

If I have a criticism of McTaggart it's a jealous one. Like most of the finest horsemen, McTaggart's innate physical gifts of balance and timing, plus great tenacity and courage, proved both on horseback and on the battlefields of World War I, undoubtedly allowed him to ride hot horses with this finesse.

I now have five of his books in my library, and at one point, the United States Cavalry had ten of his books on their recommended reading list. Despite some repetition, the five I have are all well worth reading. I'm sure I'll enjoy the rest of his work as much as I've enjoyed The Art of Riding, Stable and Saddle, Hints on Horsemanship, Mount and Man, and  From Colonel to Subaltern; Some Keys for Horseowners.

The Swiss State Stud Stallions Form a Boy Band

I love this Swiss State Stud video of their stallions being introduced to pasture life as a bachelor band. Of course, far from being bachelors, during late Winter and Spring, these stallions enjoy gigolo status as consorts for many mares, but this is their off season, and the Swiss State Stud decided to see if they could both save money and also provide the boys with something more closely resembling a natural horse lifestyle.

With no mares around and with enough room to roam, these horses quickly worked things out, setting up their social hierarchy, and getting on with grazing and playing horse games.

I love the horse kabuki theater of the first few minutes, a lot of ritualized screaming and posturing from The Swiss Stallions

More on Rollkur

 One doesn't have to understand German to get the point of this video: Horses don't like it because it hurts.

 "Painful Rollkur"

Viewing this through Google's Chrome browser may prove helpful for those who can't read German because that browser automatically brings up a toolbar for Google translate. There's not much text, but it provides some interesting points, including a comment that 70 percent of dressage riders use rollkur.

That tidbit likely explains why I've noticed an increasing number of incidents of equine rebellion in the form of balking and bolting and bucking since rollkur became fashionable. I'd never seen a top level dressage horse do any of these things in competition until the Athens Olympics. Now it's everywhere because competitive dressage horses differ from classically trained dressage horses, horses slowly coaxed and conditioned to be obedient.

 

South African Racing

Finally, a racing story that's also a feel good story: "S'manga Khumalo: The Black Jockey Shaking up South African Horse Racing"

On the Upper End of Horse Racing

When race geldings like Monzante wear out, their end is usually dismal. On the other hand, when a well-bred and highly successful colt or stallion injures itself, the best side of horse racing comes out. St Nicholas Abbey, Irish winner of £4,954,590, is one such horse. He  not only broke down, but after his surgery on the broken leg, he suffered an extremely serious case of colic and has been on IV feeding since then. His potential as a breeding horse means the care he's receiving has been top notch as this video shows:

St Nicholas Abbey: The Road to Recovery

Of course, there's no assurance St. Nicolas Abbey will recover, but few people will ever get the care this horse is getting--not even people like Steve Jobs.

Here's Why I Am Ambivalent about Horse Racing

More often than not, race horse geldings come to a sad, early end. Without the possibility of a second career in the breeding shed, even the best bred geldings not fast enough to win typically end up at killer sales before they turn three.

A few geldings that do win and win sometimes fare better, but only a handful, like my beloved Life Goes On, retire sound and go on to lives as pleasure or show horses. My Li-On started 42 times before being retired at 8. When his speed faded, his owner donated him to ReRun and I adopted him. Unfortunately, this is rare. Only a few veteran geldings like him, horses with good movement and good temperaments find civilian homes.

Most war horse runners suffer the fate of Monzante, a former Grade 1 stakes winner. Monzante died today, euthanized after failing to finish a $4,000 claiming race at a backwater track with a not so good reputation in a business with an overall not so good reputation.

Monzanto was 9 years old and had been, in a familiar pattern, dropping down to cheaper and cheaper races over the years until he his owners had squeezed the final bit of profit out of a failing horse and an obscure headline like this is his epitaph:

"MONZANTE, FORMER EDDIE READ WINNER, BREAKS DOWN IN $4,000 CLAIMING RACE"
 

As Ray Paulick says in this article, "Compassion, common sense, and decency by any of Monzante’s previous owners or trainers would have stopped the horse’s descent to the lowest rung on the racing ladder, where the endings are seldom good." Some breeders and trainers attach notes to the registry papers of horses they sell or lose in claiming races, asking that they be contacted when the horse's racing career ended, but there's no assurance that anyone will read those notes. So, as would be expected, low end tracks, like low end rodeos, produce more incidents like this. The worst race tracks I know of are the county fair tracks. There, only occasional human intervention saves horses like Monzante. I remember reading of one such case a few years ago. The load of sacrificial Thoroughbreds arrived and someone actually looked at their papers, his eyes popping when he realized the old campaigner who hobbled off the van had once been a Grade 1 winner. He got on the phone and a rescue group saved that old gelding.

The Jockey Club is aware of the fate of the slow and the lamed and some tracks now bar sales to kill buyers, but much more needs to be done to at least provide humane euthanasia for those former and failed race horses that aren't suitable for second careers. The idea of setting aside one percent of all purse money to take care of these old guys is an excellent idea.

That however would mean a tad less money for those racing, and, as the details of the Equibase chart show, had Monzante staggered to a second or third place finish, he could have won a grand or so. After all, race horses are just money making tools, right? A grand's a grand, especially for those at the bottom of the racing ladder.

Casino tracks present another sort of problem. I've seen purses so large that owners would be tempted to enter their unfit, unsound, and/or doped up horses. To their credit, at least one track--can't remember which--has changed the claiming rules so that should a horse break down during the race the claim is voided. That staves off a bit of temptation, I hope.

Still, on days like today, I hate horse racing.

--------------------------------
UPDATES:

Evangeline Downs, a casino track, is not accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
"NTRA Issues Statement on Monzante's Death'

From the Daily Racing Form: "Evangeline Downs: Monzante's Death Leads to Investigation"

This too from the DRF: "Monzante Deemed 'Salvageable' before Being Put Down, Regulator Says"

Now that last one will undoubtedly spark discussion. At least the owner, for whatever reasons, had the gelding euthanized. I still remember reading of one TB in California. His trainer sent him to a killer auction on three legs, the fourth one dangling with a fresh break.

July 24, 2013: "Trainer: Monzante Euthanized Due to Injuries"

July 25, 2013: "LA Plans No Further Action in Monzante Case"

Ruffian

Below is the September 2, 1974 issue of The Blood Horse. On the cover, the great filly Ruffian. She died July 7, 1975, after breaking down in a match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure.

I remember feeling a chill when I saw this cover. I immediately showed it to my husband and said, "Doesn't this look like a sesamoid fracture waiting to happen?" The photo troubled me so much, I kept this magazine, the only one I saved from my one year subscription. I kept looking at those incredibly long pasterns, those delicate legs, delicate even by race horse standards.

Ruffian came by her bones honestly if not fortunately. Her sire, the infamously fragile Reviewer broke down three times during his racing days. Even retirement didn't save him. Only 11, he broke his left hind leg while in his paddock and had to be put down. Ruffian's dam Shenanigans was a daughter of Native Dancer, a wildly superior race horse, but also a horse associated with unsoundness.

Given all this, I was quite worried when the gates flew open for the match race. The details of the attempts to save her still trouble me almost as much as watching this short, non-graphic clip of her breakdown.

About the best thing I can say about the Monday she died was that no one I worked with was surprised. I'd told my co-workers about the difficulty of repairing broken bones in equines before this race.

I'm not against racing. A few accidents will happen, but American race horse breeding is equicidal. We breed horses too delicate to exist with other horses too delicate to exist in order to get even faster horses too delicate to exist. Ruffian was one example. Eight Belles was another. That sweet filly broke both ankles while pulling up after a second place finish in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Unsurprisingly, Eight Belles pedigree was festooned with the name Raise a Native, he by Native Dancer.

Yes, American race horses fly--but too often they fly apart.

The Answer to Abuse: Censorship

In the United States right now, there's a move in many states to stop people from going undercover to attempt to find animal abuse in factory farms or in gaited horse training and so on. It's an odd twist at best. Instead of stopping animal abuse, just stop people from showing the world animal abuse.

Unfortunately, the United States is not alone. In Europe, those who have been documenting the use of rollkur, a severe dressage training method that overbends a horse, in warm-up rings have been met with the same sort of reaction.

Here's an example of rollkur:

This is NOT how horses hold their heads. This is not what will be required in the show ring. This is--oh, just read Tug of War by German veterinarian and certified trainer Dr. Gerd Heuschmann. He damns the technique quite effectively.

But the people who train this way turn out utterly submissive horses that WIN, and that means it's not abuse, right? Winning is everything after all, so, as with the soring of Tennessee walking horses, the answer is not to ban the winning technique, the answer is to attempt to stop people from revealing the dirty little secrets behind the winning.

Here's an article discussing the situation: "If the Shoe Fits"

Here's another photo of non-existent warm-up ring horse abuse:

But you won't be seeing many more of these photos if the trend continues of allowing the abuse to continue while banning attempts to expose it. In the current twisted world of dressage, abuse wins--on many levels.
 

Sheik Mohammed Reacts to the Steroid Scandal

UAE to Criminalize Steroid Use in Horses

Having the ability to issue decrees makes change easier.

Horses As Teachers

When I started teaching college composition, I realized that my pointed wit and abrupt comments, all too well known to my friends and spouse, would spook most college students. The answer came to me as I worked to calm a particularly insecure, over-reactive horse: treat my students as if they were horses--steady and encourage the insecure ones, use vigorous energy to get the sluggish ones going, and so forth.

Using the same body language and energy level I'd use in the arena or round pen worked even better than I'd hoped. The first few years, I used it consciously, but now it's automatic. Too few of us realize how knowing horses can be of help to those who must work with people.

Given that, I was delighted to see this article: "Open Up, Say 'Neigh': Horses Help Teach Med Students."

Xavier Perez's Wild Ride

I've read lots of articles offering opinions and statistics on which professional sport has the best conditioned athletes. Several of these didn't even consider jockeys. Those that did usually put them at or near the top. Race riders need stamina, balance, strength, coordination, and they need all those packed into a spare body.

Good jockeys need more than physical condition though. Guts. Persistence. Timing. Much more. In the video of the last race at Pimlico on April 13, 2013, Xavier Perez quite possibly shows them all.

I never thought I'd see a 21st Century jockey recover from two bolts and then nearly win a race sitting like a 19th Century rider.

(The video appears at the bottom of the article, but here's a direct link to the race on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FbH3N5VJzBE )

UPDATE: On April 16, Britain's Guardian newspaper posted a minute long clip of this race: "Spicer Cub: Unluckiest Horse Racing Loser Ever? – video." The title suggests someone didn't know much about horses. Luck had little to do with this.


And here's another head-on view of the stretch: "Horse Runs Wrong Way on Homestretch, Almost Wins Race."

Spanish Horses Sent to Slaughter

"In Crisis, Last Roundup for Horses in Spain Is the Slaughterhouse"

As the owner of a pure Spanish horse, a horse whose intelligence and generosity startles me almost every day, I find this article extremely depressing.

And, of course, the story only gets worse. Here's an outdated video from 2008:

"Spain to Italy: Horses Driven for 36 Hours before Slaughter"

For me, transport is the worst part of the slaughter process.

A Question on the Trot

Here are two images of quite well known horses. I own the rights to neither photo and, for ease of comparison, have flipped image B so the horses are headed in the same direction. I've not posted the source URLs yet since I would like to ask a question of anyone who stumbles upon this site:

What specific type of trot is each horse performing? 

If you have time, I'd like to know how you decided. That is, what are the characteristics of whatever type of trot you assign to each horse. I will appreciate even the briefest of comments though, for example,  "both horses - jog trot," which I'm guessing anyone who hit this site will know is wildly incorrect.

HORSE A

HORSE B

This is a rarely visited blog, but when (if?) I collect at least ten answers, I'll post the source URLs with their description of the type of trot.  

By the way, I'm just curious. I do not show. I have no vested interests. I'm just CURIOUS.

The Solo of Siglavy Mantua I from the 2005 SRS Tour

The video below shows Oberbereiter Klaus Krzisch's featured solo on Siglavy Mantua I, a ride performed throughout the Spanish Riding School's 2005 tour of the United States. The ride was fine, very fine, but of course we could criticize it--sloppy halt, a little overbent here and there--but all told, a beautiful demonstration of quiet riding and supreme equine obedience and relaxation, and all while his rider held only the curb rein in one hand throughout.

The most impressive element though is Siglavy Mantua I himself. This stallion was foaled in 1979. That's right. He was 26 years old, and, instead of being dead or in a wobbly retirement, he was in a spotlight as the featured solo. Full collection,  passage, pirouettes, tempi changes. On the curb alone.

Can you tell I'm impressed? I know an upper level rider lucky enough to see this ride in person. She raved more than I'm raving. The horse. The level of riding and training. The level of conditioning.

(Click the WATCH ON YOUTUBE link to watch the video.)

After the 2005 tour, he continued at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna in the role of schoolmaster. In March 2007 he retired to become a full-time breeding stallion at Piper. Finally, his remarkable body failed him, and he was euthanized on August 19, 2008.

A 2002 son, Siglavy Malina II appeared in London in 2011, but I haven't found anything about sons from the one crop he sired after retirement.

I have however heard rumors from multiple sources that the privatization of the Spanish Riding School hit the school hard, the need for extra shows straining the horses to the point of lameness.

I don't follow SRS news much but thanks to Google, I found out some more old, bad news. Here's part of an article translated from Czech:

At the end of 2009 were "knocked out" two top riders SRS, who are under investigation by Equi-News. Klaus was Krzische and Johann Riegler (both in the highest positions riding hirerarchie SRS).      CEO Spanish Riding School, Dpl.Kfm Elisabeth Guertler, responded to the question Equi-News. as follows: "It is true, as we have explained, that occurred as a result of austerity measures to repeal two top riders. leader boss rider Klaus Krzisch b  yl solely for disciplinary reasons (which was established in December 2007), deprived of services. U boss rider Johanna Riegler, the situation is completely different: He was not ready to support the Court of Justice (our SAI) of the proposed changes and therefore decided to leave the Spanish Riding School. As a civil servant, but it is still a purely formal employee of the Spanish Riding School. "      In an open letter, published end of January 2010 (which was signed by among others, the former head of the Spanish Riding School Dr. Jaromir Oulehla), it is against the leadership SRS states: "The problems caused lameness and injuries stallions, which caused the cancellation of classic performances, and deterioration in the - until now unbeatable - quality on the accuracy of performance, dropping sharply luster performances, among other things, are probably caused by the doubling of the number of terms performance. stallions are thus overloaded and time for the necessary repairs practice agenda items are limited. Moreover, it should be noted that two highly qualified older leading riders (out of four) have been constructed out of service. verbal transmission By "classical knowledge of the 'younger riders like Elévové and younger riders (which is characteristic of the Spanish Riding School), is very limited and in danger of maintaining this type of teaching. "

Sorry about the clipped text and photo. Just click the link.

The tie-in here is that both of these men held Oberbereiter status, and one was the Krzisch, rider of Siglavy Mantua I. The loss of two such experienced riders didn't bode well for the school keeping its elite level. Of course anyone who's read Alois Podhajsky's autobiographies knows the school's been short of truly upper level riders before and survived.

However, privatization certainly adds a new danger. When these two Oberbereiters were "knocked off," the director was a woman with marketing experience. I haven't been able to find out if she had any experience with horses at all.

I don't know who's at the top right now and don't have the time to find out. The current director of the training center is Oberbereiter Andreas Hausberger about whom I currently know virtually nothing. In fact, I know painfully little about the bureaucracy of the institution, but the SRS website now has a special link for sponsorship of the horses.

I suppose a bit of corporate sponsorship could have been rationalized and downplayed, but turning the SRS into a profit maker strikes me as like turning the Statue of Liberty into a Disney-owned theme park. This line brought it home to me: "The Spanish Riding School enjoys an impeccable reputation and is one of Austria's best-known brands." But now, for better or worse, people can use the Spanish Riding School as a venue to stage their weddings There's a link to the SRS "Event Service."

The tab next to "Event Service" is "Tradition." I find the irony nearly overwhelming. No wonder I've avoided this site for years now.

UPDATE: Krzisch won his lawsuit against the Spanish Riding School. I had to switch to google.de to find the story but here it is, translated once again by faithful Google: "First Chief Rider Klaus Krzisch Baseless Put off Duty." Facts are still thin as to what happened, and I'm sure there'll be an appeal.

In the meantime, anyone want to bet that Kzrisch and Riegler objected mightily and futilely to the overworking of the stallions under the new for-profit model? This story sounds like a great opportunity for a made-for-TV series, doesn't it?

The Solo of Siglavy Mantua I from the 2005 SRS Tour

The video below shows Oberbereiter Klaus Krzisch's featured solo on Siglavy Mantua I, a ride performed throughout the Spanish Riding School's 2005 tour of the United States. The ride was fine, very fine, but of course we could criticize it--sloppy halt, a little overbent here and there--but all told, a beautiful demonstration of quiet riding and supreme equine obedience and relaxation, and all while his rider held only the curb rein in one hand throughout.

The most impressive element though is Siglavy Mantua I himself. This stallion was foaled in 1979. That's right. He was 26 years old, and, instead of being dead or in a wobbly retirement, he was in a spotlight as the featured solo. Full collection,  passage, pirouettes, tempi changes. On the curb alone.

Can you tell I'm impressed? I know an upper level rider lucky enough to see this ride in person. She raved more than I'm raving. The horse. The level of riding and training. The level of conditioning.

(Click the WATCH ON YOUTUBE link to watch the video.)

After the 2005 tour, he continued at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna in the role of schoolmaster. In March 2007 he retired to become a full-time breeding stallion at Piper. Finally, his remarkable body failed him, and he was euthanized on August 19, 2008.

A 2002 son, Siglavy Malina II appeared in London in 2011, but I haven't found anything about sons from the one crop he sired after retirement.

I have however heard rumors from multiple sources that the privatization of the Spanish Riding School hit the school hard, the need for extra shows straining the horses to the point of lameness.

I don't follow SRS news much but thanks to Google, I found out some more old, bad news. Here's part of an article translated from Czech:

At the end of 2009 were "knocked out" two top riders SRS, who are under investigation by Equi-News. Klaus was Krzische and Johann Riegler (both in the highest positions riding hirerarchie SRS).      CEO Spanish Riding School, Dpl.Kfm Elisabeth Guertler, responded to the question Equi-News. as follows: "It is true, as we have explained, that occurred as a result of austerity measures to repeal two top riders. leader boss rider Klaus Krzisch b  yl solely for disciplinary reasons (which was established in December 2007), deprived of services. U boss rider Johanna Riegler, the situation is completely different: He was not ready to support the Court of Justice (our SAI) of the proposed changes and therefore decided to leave the Spanish Riding School. As a civil servant, but it is still a purely formal employee of the Spanish Riding School. "      In an open letter, published end of January 2010 (which was signed by among others, the former head of the Spanish Riding School Dr. Jaromir Oulehla), it is against the leadership SRS states: "The problems caused lameness and injuries stallions, which caused the cancellation of classic performances, and deterioration in the - until now unbeatable - quality on the accuracy of performance, dropping sharply luster performances, among other things, are probably caused by the doubling of the number of terms performance. stallions are thus overloaded and time for the necessary repairs practice agenda items are limited. Moreover, it should be noted that two highly qualified older leading riders (out of four) have been constructed out of service. verbal transmission By "classical knowledge of the 'younger riders like Elévové and younger riders (which is characteristic of the Spanish Riding School), is very limited and in danger of maintaining this type of teaching. "

Sorry about the clipped text and photo. Just click the link.

The tie-in here is that both of these men held Oberbereiter status, and one was the Krzisch, rider of Siglavy Mantua I. The loss of two such experienced riders didn't bode well for the school keeping its elite level. Of course anyone who's read Alois Podhajsky's autobiographies knows the school's been short of truly upper level riders before and survived.

However, privatization certainly adds a new danger. When these two Oberbereiters were "knocked off," the director was a woman with marketing experience. I haven't been able to find out if she had any experience with horses at all.

I don't know who's at the top right now and don't have the time to find out. The current director of the training center is Oberbereiter Andreas Hausberger about whom I currently know virtually nothing. In fact, I know painfully little about the bureaucracy of the institution, but the SRS website now has a special link for sponsorship of the horses.

I suppose a bit of corporate sponsorship could have been rationalized and downplayed, but turning the SRS into a profit maker strikes me as like turning the Statue of Liberty into a Disney-owned theme park. This line brought it home to me: "The Spanish Riding School enjoys an impeccable reputation and is one of Austria's best-known brands." But now, for better or worse, people can use the Spanish Riding School as a venue to stage their weddings There's a link to the SRS "Event Service."

The tab next to "Event Service" is "Tradition." I find the irony nearly overwhelming. No wonder I've avoided this site for years now.

UPDATE: Krzisch won his lawsuit against the Spanish Riding School. I had to switch to google.de to find the story but here it is, translated once again by faithful Google: "First Chief Rider Klaus Krzisch Baseless Put off Duty." Facts are still thin as to what happened, and I'm sure there'll be an appeal.

In the meantime, anyone want to bet that Kzrisch and Riegler objected mightily and futilely to the overworking of the stallions under the new for-profit model? This story sounds like a great opportunity for a made-for-TV series, doesn't it?

Fort Larned's "Winning" Run

Much controversy surrounds why Thoroughbreds run. Of late, I've seen considerable discussion of whip use and condemnation of horse racing in general. Fort Larned's riderless "win" in the Gulfstream Handicap ought to provide another aspect for discussion, but, considering the mentality of most people who comment on the Internet, I suspect it won't.

In fact, I should stop reading the comments under horse-related articles on the Web. The general level of romanticism and irrationality is bad enough, but the overall ignorance causes me to froth at the mouth.

What's infuriated me lately are a number of remarks complaining about whip use, saying that jockeys constantly beat their horses during a race and that race horses only run because they are beaten.

I complain about whip use too, but I do so because a growing body of research indicates whipping is basically pointless, futile, and hence cruel. Some countries are ahead of us in limiting whipping. For example, many years back, Sweden ruled that a jockey must hold onto the mane when using the whip and is limited to three whacks a race. Some US tracks already allow only padded bats with large, doubled, triangular slappers--literally slapsticks--which create more noise than pain.

Even without regulation, the races I've seen of late don't seem to have as much whipping as they did even a few years ago and certainly much less than occurred during some 18th and 19th Century races when horse beating was generally accepted as necessary. In comparison, today's best jockeys restrain their whip use. Of course, like the rest of us, not all jockeys have great talent or good sense, so stricter rules should pass.

However, I suspect that self-selection reduces whip use. For many trainers and owners it's become clearer that jockeys who use the whip too much lose many more races than they win and, worse yet, extensive whipping merely desensitizes the horses to the pain, making further whip use pointless.

As to whether race horses like to run, I know my off the track Thoroughbred sure did. (My avatar shows him wafting around my fields.) Upon being turned out for breakfast, he swept around our twenty acres, covering at least a mile before settling down to graze. Watching him was a thrill for me.

Watching the riderless Fort Larned sweep by his rivals in the 2013 Gulfstream Park Handicap (Grade II) was a comparable thrill. The favorite, he stumbled badly at the start, lost his jockey, then blew by the rest of the field and disappeared off screen. At 1:45 in the video, there's a glimpse of him after the finish line. He's clearly pulling himself up after "winning" by a distance comparable to that of Secretariat in the Belmont.

Bloodhorse put up this still photo of Fort Larned, close to the rail, ears swept back in concentration, doing his job despite the lack of human guidance. One thing's for sure. No jockey used a whip on him that day, and yet Fort Larned ran a fine race.

No one really knows why TBs run. Maybe this video shows a horse that loves to run. Maybe it shows a highly trained race horse that knows his usual and/or best distance. In either event--or both--it certainly showed a horse running without being flogged around the track.

Post script: The Bloodhorse website reports that the 5 year old caught a quarter coming out of the gate, causing the trip, but his trainer, while still observing him carefully, says the horse looks to be just fine otherwise.

UPDATE: Fort Larned's definitely OK. On June 15, 2013, The Blood Horse posted this: "Fort Larned Rolls to Easy Stephen Foster Win."

Hay--The Last Straw

Over the last eight years or so, horses have suffered more and more from the ripple effects of the economy. Now with growing evidence climate change in the form of persistent droughts, the soaring cost of hay and grain adds to the dilemma.

Obviously, the ideal is to shift horses to new homes, but that's harder and harder to do. My neighbor, a well known animal cruelty expert, told me how dire the horse rescue situation has become--full to overflowing, long waiting lists. It looks like the situation is not getting any better as time passes.

Here's the latest story: "13 Paso Fino Horses Need Homes."

The bit about breeding for the agricultural exemption raised a red flag with me, but this owner tried to surrender them, something a number of other owners have failed to do, and a serious illness can push anyone over the edge. It's sad, but both marginal owners and many formerly flush horse owners look to be totally ill prepared for bad times, and their horses are paying the price.

In the last year or two, the more exotic breeds began to show up in the news. In the past year or two Lusitanos and Arabians hit the headlines. What next? Friesians?

I suspect the situation's only going to get worse. Some forty or fifty thousand ferals warehoused by the BLM, a glut of horses bred by hobby breeders, the usual flood of failed race horses, all this points towards a horse holocaust as the middle class shrinks and feed prices edge higher and higher.

UPDATE: The same economic problems afflict Ireland, England, and other European countries. Horror stories abound. For example, a 7 year old Irish Sport Horse was sent to a rather well known rider to be offered for sale. Here's how he was returned to the owner:

Since I recently purchased an Andalusian gelding that I adore, this 12 Mar. 2013 story brought on a shudder: "Thousands of Spain's Horses Head for the Slaughterhouse As Economic Crisis Results in Abandonment." 

Of course, I already knew how bad things were there. Just a few days before this article appeared, English trainer Heather Moffett posted a photo of a highly trained Alter Real stallion on her Facebook page with a plea for someone to grab the horse. Located in Portugal or Spain, the stallion was being offered for 3000 Euros, a fraction of what a stallion of his quality would have gone for a few years back.

People screw up and animals suffer.

A Robotic Draft Horse--Our Tax Dollars at Work?

The military spent money developing a robot to carry equipment. Here it is:

As far as I can tell, it's noisy and almost certainly can't swim. Wouldn't it be a lot cheaper to buy a few mules or horses?

It does have a kinda cute trot though.

BLM Wild Horse "Management"

Good article: "7 Questions About Wild Horses for Interior Secretary Nominee Sally Jewell"

While the BLM warehouses some 50,000 wild horses removed from our public land, oil leases proliferate and ranchers continue to hold low-priced grazing leases for their herds of sheep and cattle.

The horses will be gone soon, I suspect, but the land will still be overgrazed. In fact, I'd bet money vast swaths of the already quite barren west will will suffer a fate worse than overgrazing. Gas and oil wells. Uranium mining. Contamination is all but assured. Land poisoned and stripped by such ventures doesn't just regain its pristine nature. In fact, it will likely never recover.

As far as I can tell moderation and balance are no longer American values, and mankind is, as always, hopelessly short-sighted.

Not just the horses face a grim future.

_Reckless: Pride of the Marines_

All the hoopla over War Horse brought back my childhood memories of Reckless, America's real life equine warrior of the 1950s. Unknown to most horsemen of today and long forgotten by those of a certain age, the little mare now has her own Facebook fan club as well as a website and a statue in the works. 

. 

She deserves it. No mere cavalry horse, the little mare, whose story unfolds in Andrew Geer's 1955 book  Reckless: Pride of the Marines, served in the Korean conflict, earning two purple hearts, the rank of Marine staff sergeant, and a long retirement at Camp Pendleton as the equine embodiment of Marine courage and service.

Touching, terrifying, amusing, and exhilarating without need for padding or theatrical exaggeration, her story's all the more remarkable. I vaguely remember first checking out our library's copy of Andrew Geer's 1955 book when I was nine or ten and its pages were new. I scanned it again online last year, and I'm going to read it once more this week. 

While I remember her intelligence and willingness to work in detail, I need to refresh myself on her bloodlines. Anyone with even a shallow grasp of conformation and breed type will wonder about her being called a Mongol pony. Looking at photos of Reckless reminds me more of Theodore O'Connor, America's ill-fated eventing Super Pony, than of some stout little Mongol nag. I vaguely remember something about Japanese race stock heritage. That I believe. Perhaps still fresh memories of World War II made Mongol descent more palatable. But Mongol stock is hardly known for refinement, and Reckless--more than a little ironically--added refinement and feminine good looks to her image as the consummate Marine. 

   

I'm delighted to see she has dedicated fans promoting her story. Hollywood really needs to film this one. It's totally Disney but it's one no one had to invent.

"Big Lick" Licked?

"USEF Bans Action Devices for Gaited Horses"

I don't follow the gaited horse scene, so I don't know if these folks typically show in USEF classes. If they do though, I'll bet they'll secede so they can continue torturing horses. 

There's a YouTube video here. This schoolgirl's haltingly read yet otherwise excellent presentation of the problems with "action devices" should show my I don't follow the gaited horse scene.  

I'd like think the USEF licked the "Big Lick," but I doubt it'll die so easily.  

Horse Auctions

Most horse auctions in the United States depress me since they send old, injured, and unwanted horses off to sad fates in foreign countries. However, at the other end of the spectrum, auctions of elite Thoroughbreds bring out buyers securely in the ranks of the super-rich.

Here's one example: