MiKael's Mania - Arabian Horses

Daffodil All Arabian Spring Show - Saturday Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:30:00 +0000

The first class for us on Saturday Morning was Rachel's first class back in the saddle on the Arabian horse, Scandal Sheet. They were scheduled to ride in the purebred junior to ride western pleasure.

Due to the bare patches on the horse's back that I posted about in Crash and Burn Rachel hasn't been able to ride all of this time waiting for the hair on those bare spots to grow back in. Unfortunately for Rachel that didn't happen until the horse's new spring coat started to come in. It was only the week of the horse show that those spots were covered.

Rachel had been working at turning her behavior around so that she could again ride and we didn't want to lose the momentum. But it was still clear to me that if we didn't get this kid back into showing soon, we were going to loose whatever attraction there had been for the horses in the first place, her mom and I decided we would go ahead and post enter the horse.

I had been working the horse through the whole winter in the long lines wanting to keep him in shape. There's only so much you can do with ground work though so I had begun a couple of months before schooling him in the hunt saddle for western pleasure. Not a pretty sight but effective so the horse was going well. It was the horse and rider pair that needed work.

Rachel only rode twice before going to the horse show. There wasn't much chance that she was going to get right back to where she had been with only two rides. Just like the focus was for me to ride the horse I had, the focus for this horse and rider pair was to go with what we had as well.
There was no way during the course of this show Rachel was going to get this horse up and collected where he needed to be. While the horse was long, he wasn't as long as he'd been in the past, the pair would have been competitive had they still been competing in the 13 & under division. But that ship has sailed and the 14 -17 division is a whole new ball game.

Rachel is going to have to get on task and get this Arabian gelding nice and round and using that long neck of his. Some of the best horses in the country compete in the 17 & under division. Dandy will do fine as long as he uses his neck the way an Arabian should. For now his killer jog and slower than slow lope is going to have to carry them.

We schooled the Arabian gelding in the main arena in the morning before the first session started. He was killer for me. Absolutely spot on in his roundness and his softness, I remember commenting that I wanted to ride the broke one for a change instead of the one needing work. Rachel laughed but Dandy was probably relieved. He'd just as soon not have to work quite that hard.

Once I put Rachel on the horse, he immediately relaxed a notch on his collection. His neck was just a little bit flat but his jog ramped up in speed. It was clear he had some concerns about Rachel's corrections. Watching closer I spotted the problem, instead of picking the horse up slowly and smoothly, Rachel had developed a quick snatch, snatch with each correction. Dandy was rightfully concerned.

I don't know how a habit like that gets started. I just know it's bad for the horse. The more it takes for a correction the heavier your horse will be. The less it takes the lighter your horse will be. So asking with two pulls against the bit instead of one is bound to create a problem. In this case, the problem was a stressed horse.

Once I could get Rachel to remember to NOT use a quick grabbing correction, the horse settled down. If we could keep the rider on track the horse would be good. We headed back to the barn to get ready for the class.

To be continued...................

More of the Daffodil All Arabian Spring Show

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:56:00 +0000

Part 1

As I rode my Arabian horse into the line-up, I headed straight for the ring master, Juan Stuckey. He's one of the first friendly faces I ever remember from my show ring career. Despite a good ride or a bad one, Juan is always there with a smile on his face sincerely glad to see you.

I think Juan makes each and every exhibitor feel like he's their friend.
Even at Scottsdale or Nationals, Juan sees us all the same. He might know some of us better than others but that doesn't matter to Juan. He likes all people and all horses and that's just how it is. He clearly sends that message. If show committees could figure out how to channel Juan Stuckey people would never quit showing.

Riding a horse the quality of Legs when he isn't quite right comes with some risks. There are those who will look at that ride and hold it against the horse, his breeding, talent, etc, or against me. Not that I care about my credibility as a trainer but I do care about how they see Legs. I don't want my decisions to affect opportunities for him to breed mares or how people might view the trainability of his get. So on days like this, I worry a bit about how it's looked to those viewing.

Riding up to Juan, I know I can trust his judgement of how it went. Was it a disaster or what? How did he see this boy of mine? A smile and a wink and I know I'm ok. We didn't embarrass ourselves. I can take a deep breath and pet my horse waiting for the placings to come.

Sitting there on my Arabian horse in the line-up, I looked down the row of horses counting heads. There had been ten horses in this class. At the time it had seemed like more because for some reason this group of amateur riders had chosen to ride around the center of the ring off the rail for near most of this class. That left the inside track unavailable for passing by a quicker horse.

While I always know when I line-up whether my horse deserves to win or not, lots of times it just doesn't turn out that way. So even if I haven't had a great ride, I still hope I'm might be lucky enough to sneak by and get in the ribbons.

As the announcer began reading the numbers and names of the placings in the class, I remember picturing in my head how each horse travels and how my horse compared. By the time they got to about fifth place I remember thinking that's about where I'd put Legs.

Sure enough, that's where the judge, Shannon Armstrong, put Legs too. We were sixth out of ten in the purebred adult amateur to ride western pleasure class. nothing fancy, no ribbon but five points towards qualifications for regionals or nationals. I was happy with that.

As the horses began leaving the ring, a few of them began acting up. I remember keeping a close eye out not wanting Legs to get flicked in the face with a tail or bumped by an unhappy horse. I've always been grateful that I've never had a horse that got difficult about exiting the ring but I think getting a horse too close to one who is can get you started down that path.

Legs was glad to hang back and stay out of the pack. He stood quietly and waited for a cue, only moving forward a slow step at a time waiting for the crowd of horses to thin. I always try and pet the horse on the way out being sure to thank him for the ride. Legs loves the attention and gets a soft swing to his head that tells me he's pleased.

Despite the cold night air, the walk back to the barn was nice. My horse was the most relaxed he'd been out and about on the fairgrounds. His head was down and his eye soft as he walked between Rachel and I. We walked slowly on the asphalt discussing the mornings schedule.

Once in the barn Rachel took Legs and got him untacked while I changed my clothes. I don't think it took us ten minutes tops to have the horse put away and the place locked up. Then we were on our way home. Saturday morning was going to start early with Rachel and Dandy having an early class.

To be continued..............

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Daffodil All Arabian Spring Show - Friday Night Western

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:37:00 +0000

Because of my recent foal watch I've still not gotten to posting about the Daffodil All Arabian Horse Show. That show seems like ages ago so many things have happened since thing. Now with us leaving for another show in Salem Oregon on Wednesday, I figure I better get this up before I forget the details or get them mixed up with the next show.

Aside from starting off a bit on the unusual side Daffodil All Arabian Spring Show - The Set-Up Things were about as normal as a horse show can be. Stuff is always going differently than planned. That's just the nature of horse showing that I can tell.

Friday morning, Rachel and I were at the fairgrounds in Puyallup by 7 am to assist in setting the trail course. Once that was done, we stayed on to reset the course as needed. It was good for Rachel to learn some of the "inner" workings of trail since she's going to be showing Dandy in that division sometime here soon. It was also nice to get a chance to met the judge, Ann Wagner.

Once we got finished with trail, it was time to come home and pick up Dare. Before we left the fairgrounds we heard that Ann Wagner had been called home. Her husband had suffered a massive coronary and was going to need a quadruple bypass the next day.

Something like that always puts life into perspective. My goofy day bouncing back and forth between the show and breeding appointments didn't seem like such a big deal. So we headed off to our appointment at the vet to see where the mare is in her cycle. If I'm to breed her to The Mighty Oak .html they want her cycling by the 5th of May when the stallion will be delivered to the stallion center for collection.

Of course when we ultrasounded the mare we found that she had a 44mm follicle. If we had semen, it would have been the perfect time to breed. Instead we were going to have to short cycle her (something I hate doing) and see what we can do to accommodate their schedule. We took the mare back home and headed back down to the show for schooling and my evening class on Legs.

My biggest concern was Legs in the bridle. A western horse that won't go forward is going to have a problem getting the job done. There is no way the horse can maintain that soft frame without being rounded up and underneath himself. For Legs just wearing the bridle was enough for him to have flashbacks of a former trainer and that meant he was again afraid to go forward.

That leftover intimidation is really getting in the way. Picking up on the reins is downright scary for the poor horse. Making any direct contact the horse completely stalls out. But I learned a long time ago, the best thing to do is ride the horse you have. Don't try to ride the one you think you should have or the one that you will have in a couple of weeks. Riding the one you have at the moment will help build the horse's confidence so that was the plan.

I schooled the horse at the dinner break. Although he wasn't as consistent as he had been at home, he was much better than he had been on set-up day. His attention could be pulled off track pretty easily though so I was going to have to keep his mind busy. Doing lots of lateral work usually gets the horse tuned back in where he belongs. While I knew we weren't going to set the world on fire, I was pleased in the improvement overnight.

My class was almost at the end of the evening session. Once the sun went down, the air got crisp and lots of horses were getting fresh. My old bones were just getting downright cold. I was wishing I hadn't even entered this darn class. Waiting in the barn for the time to get ready to ride was only serving to convince me I should be home snug in my bed instead of sitting in this cold barn. Times like this is when I wonder why I am showing at all.

As the time to get ready for my class finally arrived, I tacked up my horse and changed into my show clothes. From there we headed to the schooling arena right behind our stalls. I wanted to do as much warm-up as I could in this larger arena than the narrow one that's the official warm-up for the main arena.

It didn't take long to see that my horse was just as fresh as everyone else's seemed to be. I was glad that I had given myself enough time to school through the pushy attitude I found myself facing. Legs on the other hand was pretty sure that he had more important things to think about than me. Between the fresh air and his excitement over other horses it was going to be an interesting class.

The biggest problem riding into the ring was that my horse really wasn't rated. He wanted to adjust his speed based on how interesting the horse near him might be. Sometimes we also lost our steering. While another rider might have given him a quick bump in the face, I didn't want to do anything that might add to his fear of the curb bit. I just quietly worked him laterally off my legs to get him focused and bring him back to the correct speed.

We did lots of half passing in that first jog pass around the arena. Legs was beginning to get the picture that if he didn't do it my way I was going to make him work much harder than any class needed to be. With that realization he at least evened off his speed some but the work was ongoing. While the horse wasn't as slow as he really needs to go, he was much better than anything he done at the show so far.

The judge asked us to reverse and that rattled the horse a bit. He picked up the pace and lost some of his steering but by the time we were asked to lope the horse had settled in well enough to make a pretty decent transition, not his best but definitely reasonable.

His rating at the lope really sucked. Again he was off thinking about the horses around him instead of focusing on me. Fortunately I was in position to ask for lateral movement to the outside all through that first corner. That got his head back between his ears instead of down between his hind legs. We were too fast for the current trend but not looking out of control. It was ok.

The transition down into the walk was just ok. There was a slick spot on the arena wall and he hit it just right for a quick slide. Again the horse was rattled but this time the announcer called for the reverse just in time to catch Leg's attention. I turned him into the wall and he rounded up underneath himself and walked off nicely. It was nice to see brief moments of the horse I knew even if they didn't last long.

Loping off to the left was a decent transition but again the horse wasn't rated. We weren't in as good a position to use the lateral outside move but I did what I could to get his attention back. His speed was erratic. I'd slow him down. He'd hold for a couple of strides and then gradually work his way back up. But I just worked away at him bringing him down to where I wanted him to be. Even that was really too fast for this class, but riding the horse I had was the best I could hope for.

Our transition down into the jog was actually very nice. I don't know if the horse was tired or finally listening but I was glad to take this little gift. When the announcer called for the line-up, I cut back and circled around into line glad that this class was over. It hadn't been the best ride but it had been reasonable compared to that fire breathing dragon I'd had the day before.

To be continued............

More on the Daffodil Show

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Foaling Season 2008 on the Baby Boomer's Arabian Horse Breeding Farm - Poop Patrol Antics

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:12:00 +0000

I've been on poop patrol before with a number of Arabian foals but usually it is about passing meconium not after it's been done. With the lower bowel all flushed out from the Fleet enemas, there was no telling how long it was going to take for poop to come down into the lower tract but we needed to be watching for signs of an impaction so poop patrol it was.

We were watching for signs of straining and particularly those with an arch in the foal's back. Straining that hard with an empty bowel could cause the bowel to loop back on itself. When that happens sometimes it can be fixed by tubing the foal with water and oil and sometimes they require surgery. It was going to be important to watch this foal around the clock until we saw some signs of poop.

My vet said looping back of the intestine is one of the side effects of those Fleet enemas and why he avoids them at all costs. I know they are recommended by lots of vets but after this experience you can bet I"ll never use one again. I have some in my "horse" cupboard that are making their way to the trash.

So the poop patrol began. I also enlisted the aid of some of the people on Mare Stare. Needing to track this filly 24/7 was going to take more eyes than my two.

Fortunately the filly gave us lots of entertainment. Her usual antics might amount to racing around her mother and kicking the daylights out of the mare before the filly decides to stop and nurse. The mare has had to resort to lifting her leg and gesturing a kick back to get the filly to back off and sometimes to make her nurse on the other side. The only time it's been dull in that stall is when the filly was asleep.

The filly wasn't much better with the humans in her world. Poor Lindsay cleaning stalls had to deal with this brat of a filly trying to sneak out the door and pushing Lindsay out of the way in the process. The redhead had no idea that she was just a horse........indeed, she was pretty sure she should be some kind of queen over this new world of hers.

I decided that all this attitude was going to need to be channeled real soon. It would be a mistake to let this behavior go unchecked......... halter training had to start asap. I think in some kind of all time record for me, I broke out the rope halter. I planned to teach this filly how to give to pressure, although I was going to have to catch her first.

When I came through the people door with that rope halter in my hand, the chestnut filly took off for behind her mom. Lucy wasn't sure what to think about my motives or for that matter those of her filly. She hesitated as I asked her to move away but obliged when the filly got pushy. I think the poor mare has had it with the attitude as well.

So when Lucy moved to give me access to her foal, the filly darted past me trying to escape. I reached out and grabbed her blanket holding on tightly as she drug me with her across the stall. I still can't get over how strong baby horses can be.

I did manage to get her stopped and trapped in my arms. When I tried to put the halter on her nose, the filly just flat out threw herself onto the ground. Too bad I hadn't been thinking about such a response because I should have sat on her. Instead she managed to bounce back up before the thought ever hit my mind. I can assure you the next time she makes that move that I will be ready. This filly really could use some more imprinting.

I did finagle the rope halter onto her nose and then the strap up and over her pole. Getting the halter fastened took a bit more effort as the filly shook her head and stomped her foot at me scrunching my toes. I was really relieved when I finally got the knot done up holding the halter firmly in place.

From there I just put a little bit of pressure onto the lead asking the filly to drop her head. At any sign of change in her expression I gave her a release to encourage her to give to the pressure. Some of the time she over reacted and tried to escape. Her choice of routes changed it time but I managed to second guess her and keep her caught.

The gains at dropping her head were small but I thought I was making my wishes known. The during a released moment the filly dropped her head almost to her knees. Then she dropped her shoulder and tried to roll out away from me. I quickly trapped her with my arms as she threw her head up high in the air. The message was clear......."I get you want me to drop my head but I'm not going to do it for you!"

I did manage to gradually get her to drop her head about six inches from its highest point before I stopped. No way was I anywhere near the point she had dropped her head at me in disdain. I figured because she was a newborn a lesson five to ten minutes long was probably enough. But this one session made it real clear that lots more sessions were going to be in order. Not only did this filly think she was a princess........she was a very smart princess with her own ideas on how the world should turn.

It was then it occurred to me that her regal, aloof attitude was just like a character I clearly remembered in a book. Always looking for names that suit the personalities of my horses, it seemed that this character was a perfect fit. How to make the name of the heroine of Gone with the Wind into something "scandalous" was going to be tough but the very thought of calling this filly "Scarlet" tickled me.

To be continued..............

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Foaling Season 2008 on the Baby Boomer's Arabian Horse Breeding Farm Part 6

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:23:00 +0000

Part 1 starts here

When I got back to the computer I found that the Arabian mare had again laid back down. Again the filly was trying to get her mom back up. It seemed clear from her attempts that the filly knew that milk should come from mom at least that was a good sign.

Why she wasn't taking advantage of latching on when she was right there was beyond me. I didn't have a clue what was going on unless this filly just wasn't hungry. Been there done that before with another foal who wouldn't nurse for hours then just got up and started nursing. I decided to just give this filly some time. I let her try to get the mare up. I let her work for it. I would let her think about it while I watched.

Somewhere between a half hour and another forty-five minutes passed and the mare still hadn't gotten to her feet. I roused Dave out of his chair and we headed back to the barn. Lucy jumped up as soon as she heard us coming so we decided to stand outside and watch for just a moment to see what the filly would do.

Next thing you know she walked right over to the mare and put her head right down where it belonged. The next thing you know we could hear sucking sounds. Not trusting this ordeal was actually going to come to an end, we stood there watching making sure she nursed like she should. After a few minutes, we went back into the house to watch for pooping and peeing.

Secretly I was relieved that Dave hadn't been instrumental in getting this brat filly to nurse. I never would have heard the end of it. But a part of me had to wish that we had been able to get her to accept our help. This independent filly had managed to do it on her terms. I wasn't so sure that was a good thing. However, I am convinced Dave with a big head wouldn't be good either.

I didn't get to bed until the birds were beginning to chirp. By then I had seen the filly poop and pee without any effort. I was pretty sure we were out of the woods. All vital functions were accounted for......or so I thought.

By morning (well morning to me, I got up around 9 am) there was a post on the Mare Stare thread saying that the filly was straining to poop. I've never been one to use an enema if I don't have to. If a foal poops ok on their own, I skip the enema. But it was clear that an enema was in order so I headed back to the barn.

From the beginning of my "career' foaling out mares, I'd always been told a Fleet enema was the right thing to use for a constipated mare. That is until Jack Gillette became my vet. He doesn't like them. He much prefers a glycerine enema. Why that is, I didn't really know. But I had several Fleet brand enemas in my horse cupboard so that's what I used.

The difference I've noticed between the Fleet enema and the gylcerine one that Jack prefers is that the gylcerine type doesn't come straight back out at you like the water based ones tend to do. It was almost immediately that water from the enema was squirting everywhere soon followed by some rock hard balls of what looked like green poop.

Normally once you get into green poop, the meconium has all been passed. That's what I thought happened at the time. However, it was soon clear that this filly was still straining and not making any progress.

Having been through this before I proceeded as I had been instructed by my former vet. That meant one more Fleet enema which turned out to be totally ineffective. Not only that, I later learned it really irritated her bowel, instead of making things better, I had actually made them worse.

I ended up calling out the vet. I explained to him what I'd done and I got "that look" that told me I'd done something wrong. But he didn't scold me, just told me again that he hates Fleet enemas because of problems like these. Then he administered a glycerine enema. That produced more of the yellow matter that follows out the meconium. Actually you don't even consider the meconium has passed until you get through all of that straw colored poop.

Then to see what we were dealing with he palpated the filly checking for an obstruction. That's when he found how irritated her bowel was from the Fleet enema. Other than the irritation he found no other problem. If there was any kind of blockage it was in the upper bowel. We were going to have to wait and watch to see if we were out of the woods.

To be continued.............

Poop Patrol Antics

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Still Processing - Integrity & Horse Trainers

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:34:00 +0000

I can't help but think that this new predicament with the Arabian horse could have been avoided somehow. I wonder what signs I missed about my dealings with this trainer that might have told me he couldnt be trusted. I also wonder how come I didn't see this aspect of the problem when other small breeders tried to tell me that it was impossible to get a great horse out there without name or money.

I asked my ex-trainer friend, Jean, how I could have missed this. Her answer was she didn't know. Things like this have been going on all around me right under my nose from the beginning. That really disturbs me the most because I know to conquer this mountain and make it as a breeder, I must see all of the obstacles.

For so long I thought that if I could only get one great horse into the barn of a big name trainer (BNT) I would be set. I assummed they'd be so glad to get a great horse they would do right by it. It just hadn't occurred to me that that wasn't enough.

My friend, Jean, tells me it must be the right fit. Different trainers get along with different horses. I knew that.....some can't stand Desperado V training while others prefer it. (not to pick on Desperado V.......I just know this info first hand). I've also known for a while that if a trainer has a horse he/she doesn't particularly care for that horse will stand and not get worked. It just didn't occur to me that a great horse could get stuck in the back of the barn because it was better than the horse of a client with more money.

Granted I don't know this for a fact........but it's awfully suspicious to me that the trainer liked the horse enough at a clinic last year to talk to others about it several times, then in Sept he told the owners the horse had the talent to do it all and now the horse is suddenly confirmationally flawed and not capable. How do you trust a trainer who tells you all conflicting things about the same horse?

It's also suspicious to me that this decision the horse is no good came about after the other client got a look at the owner and the horse together for the first time. "How am I supposed to beat that." uttered from the lips of a wealthy client and the whole world began to change. Coincidence?

But honestly, things were deteriorating right from the start. It was clear from the way the owner was treated working for the trainer there was no respect for her from the BNT. It was the promise of respect from the assistant trainer(AS) that even got this horse into that barn. The the AS dropped the ball big time.

A relationship that was supposed to have been built on friendship, trust and understanding was not genuine afterall. All long as this owner was on the farm, it looked sincere but at the first public opportunity, he took the safe road right along with the BNT. That's the part that's most disappointing.

The owner thought she could trust this AS and he let her down bigtime. But he let himself down too. A great horse like this could have made this AS a name for himself. Then he wouldn't have to deal with the abuse by the BNT.

Obvioiusly he didn't trust himself (or the horse) enough to believe he could make it without the BNT so when he was told not to show this horse but to make other horses his priority, he did exactly that. Selling himself and the horse and owner out. Unfortunately for the AS horses like this don't come along often. He may never get another chance.

Strange how this all works out best for the BNT though. If the AS never gets to show this great horse, the BNT doesn't loose his lackey. Since the AS is the one doing most of the work, that's got to be comforting to the BNT. He can go on looking like the big shot. Spending his time in self promotion and only working a handful of horses. Not bad if you don't mind taking advantage of people.

The BNT doesn't have to worry about great horses as long as he hangs onto those clients with money. Unlimited resources give him access to horses all kinds of horses. He doesn't have to worry about messing up one here and there. He's the only one in this scenario that ever wins. That's really unfortunate.

What about that mass exodus of small clients each year? The one's whose horses didn't do what they expected them to. Well, there'll always be plenty more of them to take their place. Those niave little people chasing a dream are a dime a dozen...lining up waiting for their chance to get into the BNT's barn, totally unaware of the process that got them there.

So who can you trust in the horse industry? That's a really good question. I look at this situation and think it's time for some reevaluation on my part. There's not way I can met my goals not seeing things like this right under my nose. I have to be able to be open to all of the possibilities.

And how do you find a trainer who is the "right fit" for you and your horse? Tracking down old clients who have moved on could tell one a lot but is probably easier said than done. In this case, the owner had access to some of those disgruntled clents who took their horses home.

I guess it's easy to think that somehow things will be different for us. That's one of those things I will need to watch more closely as well. Ignoring the obvious signs and thinking somehow one can avoid the pitfalls can end up being very costly.

Getting caught up in the belief that this BNT is the only one who could do the job puts the owner at a disadvantage. Sure, the BNT may be more accessible than others and being part of that barn might seem cool but the end result is what is most important. Dreams can be accomplished without BNTs. It really does happen. It might take longer but the struggle in achieving the dream can only add value to the dream.

Again Please: I would ask that in the comments you please not name names. I think it's appropriate that this post remain "generic" in that regard. If you have something you must say with names, please email me.......risingrainbow at comcast.net

As much as I would like to fix this problem, it is out of my hands. I will be here if the owners need me. I hope they can see that I am not part of the problem. Tomorrow I will go back to posting about Lucy's new filly.

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Up Jumped the Devil - Integrity & Horse Trainers

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:59:00 +0000

I'm sorry to take a break from the story about Lucy's filly but sometimes life just jumps up and smacks me right in the face. In those times I just have to go with what's foremost in my mind. Writing seems to be the only way I can find to make sense out of those life experiences so here goes.

When I began in this industry I heard over and over how you couldn't succeed unless you bought a $50,000 horse (that's a 20 year old price), paid huge bucks for training, advertising and whatever else that big trainer told you you needed. I've also heard that a small breeder like me can't break out and get the prices my horses are worth either for the very same reasons. I don't have enough money to play the game and I'll never be able to compete with wealthy clients.

I've posted about this attitude before. It just isn't true. But I'm beginning to get a clearer picture of why people believe that might be the case. Some of the practices of the horse industry have certainly exploited the little person with the big dream to the point they've totally given up and become cynical.

A talented trainer isn't all that it takes to get a young horse to realize it's potential. Many a great young horse has been ruined or even sabotaged by supposedly great trainers in the horse industry. Human nature being what it is, a trainer having talent doesn't guarantee that they will be honest or ethical. Sometimes money motivates their actions and they really don't give a rip about people or the horses they have in their care. Those kinds of trainers go for the big money and chew up and spit out the little guy in the process.

I have seen trainers convince clients to sell great horses because they say they don't have it. A friend of mine actually had such a horse. It was a half-Arabian black and white pinto who had won a top ten at Nationals in the western pleasure futurities.

The trainer initially trained the horse and took it to nationals retired. The new trainer convinced my friends that their horse just wasn't going to cut it. The argument was he didn't have what it took to be a great bridle horse.

The horse was put on the market for practically nothing ($15,000) and advertised in a national magazine. Within hours of the ad coming out, the horse was sold to someone who recognized the horse as the one they'd seen at Nationals. My friends received over 18 calls from that ad.....all willing to buy this horse the trainer said was no good. Many didn't even want to come look at him, just knowing he was the horse they'd seen at nationals was enough for them to purchase right over the phone.

My friends had to pay the trainer a commission on that sale. Then they paid the trainer another commission on the purchase of a replacement horse. My friends have never since had a horse as great as the one they let the trainer talk them into "giving away" for $15,000. And that horse the trainer said couldn't cut it has gone on to be a National Champion western pleasure amateur horse. My friends no longer even show horses. Their dreams were crushed.

What's the deal you say? Well, this particular trainer has a habit of blaming the horse whenever she can't get the job done. Her clients are always buying and selling horses while she makes commissions on those purchases. There's always something wrong with the next horse and the next so the process continues. The pockets of the trainer get lined and the little guy suffers.

Training fees are not what make this trainer her money........sales are. Not to mention she never has to be responsible for not getting the horse to it's potential because it's always the horse's fault. There's no accountability for the trainer's practices because owners buy into it believing everything the trainer's say because, after all, the trainer knows horses. Right????

There's also the scenario of the client with all the money who the trainer wants to keep happy. An unethical trainer will get a great horse in the barn but the owner is just a little guy. No wanting to cause a problem with the rich client, the trainer will make sure the new horse never lives up to his potential, blaming that too on the horse. That way he can make sure the great horse never jeopardizes his relationship with the rich client.

This practice of blaming the horse is huge in the horse industry. If the horse isn't going right, it can't be the trainer it must be the horse. It's one of the reasons I started this blog was to talk about such practices.

Trainers who don't do the work but blame the horse are everywhere in every aspect of the horse industry. Trainers who are motivated by money instead of hard work are everywhere from the little know trainers on up to the very top. No level of expertise is exempt from the takers of the world.

Again, most clients believe what the trainer says. They trust the knowledge of the trainer over their own. Unfortunately such clients are at the mercy of unscrupulous trainers. Such practices as selling a horse you can't get trained or putting out of competition one that might beat the money client contribute to the fact that little known people have trouble making it to the top.

If you are an owner you can't put all you faith in a horse trainer just because they have bronzes in their office and beautiful championship neck garlands on the wall. If you're going to make it you have to know what' you're looking at. You have to know what's a good horse and what isn't. And what you get to that place that the trainer is telling you it's your horse, you have to trust yourself. You can't let the "big name" of a trainer cause you to not listen to your gut. If you can't trust the trainer when it comes to ethics, why would you trust what they tell you about your horse.

I have other stories about the ethics of the particular trainer with my friends horse but this one is what's important to how life smacked me today. You all know that a horse I raised went to a show this last weekend. I'm not going to go into the details now other than to say that the horse was not doing his job the way he should be. I'm also going to tell you how business was conducted at the show.

It's been my experience that trainers who take amateur riders and their horses to horse shows school those horses and work with the clients. I mean what reputable trainer takes a young show horse to it's first show under saddle and expects the amateur owner to do all the schooling? None that are ethical, if the client is paying, they should be getting the service.

Most of the time you will see trainers riding the clients horses at the breaks getting them schooled in the ring. Then they put the amateur riders on the horse in the arena as well and give them a thorough lesson. That way the horse and rider have experience in the arena before they ride their class in that session. After the chaos of schooling at the break, the class should be a breeze for the horse and rider.

In addition before the actual class, the trainer will again school the horse and get it going right. Then the client will get on the horse in the warm-up to get a brief feel (a bit of walk, jog, lope each direction) before they head in to their class. The trainer will be there coaching that client on the rail. Sometimes I stand next to trainers on the rail and listen to them coaching ALL of their clients in the ring. That's how it should go anyway. That's what the client pays those show fees for, the trainer's extra time and effort at the horse show.

That's not what happened with the owners of the horse from here, although it is what happened with the rich client in the barn who rides the same class as my guy. While the other person got undivided attention, my horse's owner was pretty much on her own. That might be ok in my book if the client wasn't paying the very same rates that the other client pays.

Because the horse was only schooled by the trainer for one brief lesson the day before the show started, the owner was left on her own to deal with a young horse who was nervous. The result was the horse was a bit faster and he was high headed in the bridle, a sign of his nervousness.

To my way of thinking the owners sure didn't get what they paid for in this situation. While they got plenty of positive feedback from an assortment of people at the show about how awesome the horse and rider pair look and how tough they are going to beat once the horse is going right, that's not what this trip to the show was supposed to be about. The horse did get qualified but it's clear that he's not going well enough to be going to the regional championships.

I've had several conversations with the owners about this issue. The fact that they didn't get what they paid for is huge in my book. They have concerns that maybe the horse should be ridden by the trainer and not the assistant. When the owner broached that subject to the trainer, the trainer's response was that the horse was not good enough. The problem wasn't the training at his barn, it is the horse's confirmation.

Despite the fact that back in Sept, he told them the horse had what it takes to be competitive at the national level, now he's saying the horse isn't capable of doing the job at all. He recommended they take the horse to the next horse show and offer him for sale at a fraction of what they have into him. The trainer's reasoning is the horse just isn't going to be competitive.

So who do the owners believe? Do they believe in their horse and me or do they believe in the trainer with the big name. Being awestruck by trainer has caused grief to more owners than anything I can think of in this industry. It's so easy to sucked into believing everything the trainer says because after all, they're the trainer, and not just any trainer but the really big name............. The problem is that too many trainers have their own agenda that has nothing to do with what's good for the little guy.

If the trainer manages to convince the owners that it's the horse and not the fact the trainer didn't do his job, this horse will not be the first great horse to never realize his potential because of an unscrupulous trainer. And, unfortunately, he won't be the last.

Fortunately for my friend's former horse, he made it to nationals as a junior horse before all this happened. Because so many different people saw him in the ring, he didn't end up as a 4-H horse somewhere. (Yes, believe it or not, some do pay well over $15,000 for great horses for 4-H mounts.) Smart people cashed in on my friend's ingorance and got themselves a great horse for very little money. Other great horses that haven't been so lucky to get to nationals first end up lost altogether, sold outside the nationals circuit or retired to back yards with the owners dreams crushed and bank accounts empty.

Until owners are educated enough to know what they're looking at and willing to stand up for themselves, unethical trainers will continue to exploit them. The every day joe of a client with big dreams can easily be replaced by another one in the trainers barn next fall. They are expendable. It's the big clients the unethical trainer will work to hold. Small breeders like me will be caught in the crossfire with great horses lost because of poor training or worse ethics on the part of trainers.

If this horse ends up sold and down the road it will be unfortunate for my business that's for sure. You can bet I will never sell another great horse before I get the job done first. I have too much to lose. But the setback will only be for the short term. I have other great horses here and I will get them into the ring and to nationals.

What bothers me here is the dream of the owners. I know how bad they need this dream, I've been there myself I also know how fragile dreams can be right in the beginning, before a person has had the time to build faith in themselves and this unbelievable path they are trying to journey. I'd hate to see that they get swallowed up whole because unfortunately I sent them to a trainer I thought would do the job.

I hadn't seen personally this side of trainers that would take a great horse and destroy it's credibility because it suited the trainers covert purposes. I would hate to see that happen to these people. They don't deserve any of the treatment they have received from this trainer and I sure hope they realize what he's doing to them before it's too late.

Please: I would ask that in the comments you please not name names. I think it's appropriate that this post remain "generic" in that regard. If you have something you must say with names, please email me.......risingrainbow at comcast.net

Foaling Season 2008 on the Baby Boomer's Arabian Horse Breeding Farm Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:55:00 +0000

Part 1 starts here

Two hours after the Arabian mare had foaled, Dave and I still hadn't gotten the foal to nurse. That window for absorbing antibodies was decreasing in size so I decided that I would milk the mare and hand feed the filly her colostrum. Supposedly that would take the pressure off and give us some time to get this filly nursing like she should.

The only problem with that plan was it, too, required co-operation. Foals I have done this with in the past, have always relaxed and participated as soon as the warm liquid hit their lips. They were happy to suckle it down without any form of protestation but that was not the case with Lucy's foal.

The Arabian mare was fine with being milked but the filly had her own opinions about being hand feed. She really resented the handling involved. Shaking that head and trying to escape she made it clear she was not pleased with any part of this process. What we did manage to get into her mouth she used for blowing bubbles if she could.

Of course, the little princess didn't like the "feel" of the bubbles on her lips. She really was offended at it foaming up into her nostrils. (I have to say that nothing quite foams like colostrum!) The red filly was pretty convinced her discomfort was all our fault. That just made her more determined not to co-operate. She'd pull her head away and clamp her lips down tight stomping one front foot repeatedly when she wasn't trying to sit down on the floor.

None of this was conducive to getting the liquid into her stomach. I did manage to get at least a couple of ounces down her. Don't ask me how I did it. I know it was more luck than sense. It sure didn't happen because she wanted it too.

According to my calculations that was only about a quarter of what I needed for her to have any kind of shot at getting her antibodies up. I was worried that trying to hand feed her any more would only end up with the precious liquid on the ground. We were stuck with either getting her to nurse on her own or calling the vet.

I've learned in the past that sometimes just backing away can turn things around. Dave and I took a break and headed to the house. We'd leave the mare and foal together in hopes that they'd get it worked out on their own. I could keep track of their progress on my computer via my live webcam

Unfortunately, Lucy took advantage of our departure to lay back down. Despite the filly's efforts to get her to rise by running around the mare and even kicking her a time or two, the mare would not get up. There was no way this was going to work any time soon. It was back to the barn again.

Previously, I had tried to give Dave instructions on how to lead the filly to the mare's udder using his fingers and her milk. He hadn't been open to how to accomplish this procedure so I decided it was time for me to take over. Dave could hold the mare while I worked with the filly.

As usual there was a problem with the plan. And again this problem was the filly. She had gotten it in her brain that Dave was her man. She totally refused to be helped by me at all. I tried to guide her towards the back end of the mare and she promptly went the other way. Everything I tried she did the opposite. It was clear this filly wanted NO part of me.

Just think about this for a minute. I saved this filly......pulling her from the mare in a shoulder locked position..........then I released her from a sack that had her caught tight.........I'm her savior............right!....... well, not in her eyes. That little varmint clearly rejected me in no uncertain terms. No way was she going to nurse if it had anything at all to do with me! Give me a break! You want to talk primadonnas..........this red filly takes the all time prize! Remind me not to wish for anymore chestnut fillies!

We probably spent another hour with dear daddy, Dave, trying to guide this filly to nurse. She actually co-operated with him a bit more once she'd managed to rid herself of me. If I sound a bit snarky here..........wouldn't you be...........rejected by a two hour old foal! What in the heck is that????

On one hand I'm worried about the minutes ticking away and on the other hand, I'm no longer wanting Dave to have the satisfaction of being successful. Things were getting just a bit personal in this current episode on the baby boomer's Arabian breeding farm.

Dave probably spent another hour trying to get this darn filly to nurse. She was now letting him guide her towards the mare and headed toward the right location but still not happy about getting hair on her face or up her nose. Also, it turns out, this filly did NOT want to work. When she did touch a nipple she immediately pulled away. She didn't once ever try to latch on. A little bump, no milk...............she quit trying!

That filly was coming out from under the mare with milk everywhere except in her mouth. At one point it was dripping off her right ear. Another time she had it in her left eye. Both situations were cause for a temper tantrum or two. I think she even tried to kick Dave because she didn't like milk on her face.

Did I secretly chuckle that she was abusing him? You're darn right I did. I was beginning to think the two of them deserved each other. Calm, cool, collected Dave was beginning to get rattled. For two hours I'd been telling this filly that she was making the colts look good and now Dave had joined in. I heard him tell her "......and I thought that colts were dumb!" Names I had never heard from Dave's mouth (but most certainly from mine) were flowing as fast as milk should have been.

It did my heart good to see that Dave wasn't fairing any better than I had done. His composure was totally destroyed by one 100 pound filly. I've never seen him so exasperated with a horse. It was clear it was time for another break. Again we headed for the house and the clock keeps on ticking..............

To be continued...............

Part 6

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Foaling Season 2008 on the Baby Boomer's Arabian Horse Breeding Farm Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:29:00 +0000

Part 1 starts here

I don't even know how we ended up getting this new little Arabian horse to her feet. Each time she tried to rise without her legs in front of her, we tried to "fix" the situation only to have her get mad. She'd put them back where they were and shake her head clearly telling us to butt out and leave her alone.

The filly made a lot of attempts at getting up but nothing was successful because those front legs were never where they needed to be. I remember putting a foal blanket on so that I could use it as a handle to help her find her balance. I needed to roll her from one side to the other to get the straps under her and fastened but she wasn't co-operating with that either. It was more like a wrestling match than the usual pliable newborns I've dealt with before. As I tried to "flop" her over, she got rigid and rolled back into her original place. All the while shaking that head and blowing at me.

I did eventually get the blanket straps fastened despite her best attempts to stop me. Then I tried stimulating her to rise like I have many foals before but this darn filly was determined NOT to do anything that we wanted. She even managed to thwart the "urge" to rise that comes with running finger down each side of her spine. All I got was head shaking and little hops on her knees.

There was no way I could lift this big filly using my grip on the blanket back seam without her providing some of the impulsion. She was just too heavy for me to lift all that dead weight. I had to give up and turn it over to Dave. Something I am not prone to do since he doesn't follow direction well. Because he really doesn't handle the foals much he hasn't a clue what it takes to get things done with them. I rely on Dave only as a last resort.

This was definitely one of those situations. It was clear it was going to take muscle to get this stubborn foal to her feet. By grabbing the center back of the blanket Dave was able to literally pull the filly straight up off the ground. While the newborn horse wasn't happy with his interference she was glad to be upright. She fought Dave's assistance but was clearly trying to avoid falling. Dave managed to not get tangled in her protestations and next thing I knew, the filly was standing.

Somehow in that struggle she had managed to get a feeling of how her legs should work. It didn't take long from there and she had the hang of being on her feet. The filly fell a few times but managed to pop right back up without any help and make her way around the stall.

A good part of this time the mare was still laying down, resting from her long extended labor and a difficult delivery. Lucy watched the activity with her baby closely and seemed to know when it was time to get up and move onto the next phase our our after foaling chores....getting this filly to nurse.

Because how well a foal absorbs colostrum is directly related to how soon it nurses after birth, the sooner a foal is on its feet and nursing, the more effective the colostrum will be. This filly's little temper tantrums were ticking away precious minutes and still we didn't have her standing, let alone getting anywhere near the milk bar to nurse.

This part of the process is always frustrating to me. I feel the pressure of the clock breathing down my neck. I have had to have several foals tube feed their colostrum because they've not nursed in four hours on their own. Following along with that lateness, I've had foals that needed to be transfused because their antibodies were not high enough.

That combination makes me feel like I'm under a colossal gun which doesn't help with getting a newborn to nurse. Dave has managed to do a fair job of getting the job done with the last couple of foals so I enlisted his help this time as well.

Let's just say that this filly is NOT like most of the other foals we have had. Her determination to do things her way has permeated ever step of the way. Helping her to nurse wasn't any different than getting her on her feet, she didn't want our help and she countered every attempt.

Lucy wasn't helping much either. By now the mare had decided if the filly didn't want our help, maybe we should leave her alone. Lucy was now pinning her ears and circling the stall adding to the confusion. I ended up catching the mare and haltering her to stop her interference.

If that wasn't enough, seems this filly has a bit of a princess ego. Not only did she not want help, she didn't want loose hair on her face. Since her mother is shedding profusely, loose hair is a given. There's really no way to eliminate it from the scene.

Imagine our surprise when this filly finally would but her head in the right location only to remove it instantly. Shaking her head and snorting, the filly was blowing hair out of her nostrils or shaking it from her face.

Sometimes she would even get that loose hair into her mouth. The filly would back up shaking her head and working her lips trying to get rid of those unwanted hairs. She was far more interested in not being bothered by loose hair than finding her next meal. Meanwhile the clock was ticking.

To be continued...............

Part 5

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Foaling Season 2008 on the Baby Boomer's Arabian Horse Breeding Farm Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:02:00 +0000

Part 1 starts here

When I reached down with both hands and tore that thick sack open, the newborn Arabian horse began to stir. Just a little at first, a brief wobbly nod of the head but enough to sooth my fears the foal might be compromised from the bad position. I looked down at my watch it was only a quarter to 12. This awkward birth had not taken nearly as long as it seemed. Now it was time to get onto the business of introducing this foal to it's mother and other after foaling tasks.

I grabbed the foal by the front legs first pulling her free of the mare. The cord was still attached. I could see the blood pulsing through it. Being careful not to disturb that necessary connection, I moved the filly just enough to get her free from the sack.

I didn't want the cord to be broken before those last valuable ounces of blood were transferred into the foal. I also wanted to avoid undue strain on the placenta. I didn't want anything that might cause a premature separation and damage to the mare's uterus. Best to let Mother Nature do it her way.

Poor Lucy was exhausted. She just laid there trying to see her new baby but too tired and weak to rise. Once the pulsing of the cord stopped, I gently pulled the foal again to get her closer to the mare. I couldn't believe the resistance I was getting. This foal was huge and I was having problems moving it far on my own.

Again I called for Dave to help me. This time he jumped in but not before he asked me the sex of this foal. I had been so worried about the condition of this baby, I hadn't even bothered to look. So I carefully lifted up the tail looking for plumbing.

I'm usually not so reluctant to know but this time I really didn't want to hear that I had another colt. Dragging my feet was my way of avoiding the disappointment of being the first breeder to get a colt from this lovely Arabian mare.

Imagine my shock and surprise to find what looked like girl plumbing. Now I'm known for checking my boys about three times. I just don't seem to want to believe that it's a colt. But seeing girl parts hit me about the same. I rolled this poor filly onto her back and flipped her legs open to find a tiny little udder looking at me. I'm pretty sure that's when the grin hit my face.

I immediately rolled the filly back to her side. A bit embarrassed I'd subjected her to such a shoddy examination. Poor filly has a lunatic for a human mom! Then my mind immediately raced to cyberspace and how in the heck was I supposed to tell them IT"S A FILLY! I knew the whole Mare Stare crew was watching after all.

Lindsay was still in bed. She's my sign girl. But then maybe that was just for Bey Aana, she is after all, Lindsay's mare. Without Lindsay I wasn't sure what to do. I knew that the field goal score sign (two arms straight up in the air) means colt but I never quite understood the message for a filly. Guess I was pretty sure I wasn't getting one of those.

So first off I got Dave to help me pull this filly around to the front so the mare could nuzzle her. There's nothing more sweet to the ear of a horse breeder than that first soft nicker of recognition uttered by the mare. Lucy stretched out her neck reaching for her foal. My heart fluttered just a bit.

Then I immediately shifted gears and sent Dave into the house to get me warm water and to send a message to the Mare Stare chat room. Type "filly" in the box and push "enter" while MiKael did a mental jig in her head. I worked at drying off the foal and shooting pictures for the blog while Lucy visited with her filly and Dave spread the news.

Lucy stayed down for what seemed like a long time. Even when the filly decided she wanted to rise, the mare was content to lay down. It was clear this ordeal had taken a toll on poor Lucy.

The filly on the other hand was beginning to assert herself. It didn't take long to figure out we had a pistol on our hands. They say that chestnuts are hotter than other horses. I don't know about all chestnuts but I know it applies to mine. And not only chestnuts but the ones that carry the chestnut gene from their father. They, too, are fiery creatures! This filly isn't going to be an exception.

It was clear from the start this tiny Arabian horse wants to do this life on her terms. She doesn't want help nor interference. She pretty much thinks she should be in charge and no way is she looking for a leader. Attitudes don't get much bigger than this.

The problems came in because she didn't want help yet she didn't know what she was supposed to be doing. Putting her legs out in front of herself was not a thought in her brain yet she wanted to rise. Getting up to her knees and then bouncing up from there just wasn't going to happen. She was too wobbly and a bit weak........but there was nothing weak about her determination to do it HER WAY!

This filly had me laughing right from the start. She actually reminded me of another filly born on this farm A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Legacy Continues - Part 6 I can't even tell you how much I love this mare, now 9 years old and what she means to me. It tickles me to see a younger version of her here now in the form of this filly. It does my heart good in a not so good time.

To be continued.........

Part 4

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Foaling Season 2008 on the Baby Boomer's Arabian Horse Breeding Farm Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:58:00 +0000

Part 1 starts here

Before I resume with the story of Lucy's foaling, I just want to mention that I will be hosting the Carnival of Horses on June 1. Submit your entry for the next one by May 30! The Carnival after that will be hosted by Halt Near X Those interested in hosting future Carnivals please contact Lynda Polk at Hoofbeats

Now back to Lucy's story........

Check out Lucy's live webcam

Unfortunately Lucy's Arabian foal and Mother Nature were taking their own sweet time. Despite the fact that the mare looked like she could move into the second stage of labor at anytime, it just didn't happen. The mare was even listed in the mare stare chat room as the Hot Link for hours. No one could believe she wasn't progressing...........mostly me.

I just knew it could happen any time. I watched until my eyes hurt from straining for the least detail that might say that this Arabian mare had turned the corner and moved into stage two.

Finally at about 11:20 PDT on Friday night I thought I saw the mare's water break. Shortly after that the horse began looking for a place to lay. I made a quick post in the chat then I was headed to the barn calling Dave to come with me. All of this time in stage one made me suspicious that Lucy would need help. I wanted all the muscle I could get.

I didn't even wait for Dave to put his shoes on and get out of his chair. I ran to the barn as quickly as this asthmatic body of mine would carry me. Only to find that Lucy wasn't happy with my interruption. She jumped up immediately and came over to me pinning her ears. The mare clearly wanted me to go away.

Thankfully the stall I use for foaling has two doors. One is a half door that opens right into the field. The other is a people door that opens inside the area where we store feed and supplies. I headed for that door to peer through the crack so I could see without disturbing the mare. I wanted to see if she really was in stage two for sure. I knew once that stage was started even my unwanted presence would not stop it. It might delay it a little but only a little.

As soon as I moved from Lucy's sight she began looking for a place to lay back down. The fact that she'd done this so quickly gave me the information I wanted. Even though I had disturbed the mare, it had not disrupted her urge to go down. Lucy was definitely in stage two labor. Hallelujah!

As I peered through the crack between the door and the frame, Dave entered the barn behind me asking what I was doing. I decided I couldn't see well enough from that vantage point. I still didn't want to open that people door and disturb the mare so I headed back outside knowing I could look in from the small paddock on the side of her stall.

In the darkness there, I didn't think Lucy would be able to see me. I carefully changed position being as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the mare again. I'm tall and clumsy but this time I managed to move quietly more like a cat than my usual klutzy self.

The mare stayed down and I could here her pushing. Lucy had her bottom pointed toward the paddock I was now standing in. As I peeked over the wall I saw just the beginnings of two white feet. Those two feet were NOT facing down. They were sideways.

I immediately went into overdrive and raced around passed Dave and through the people door. Behind me I could hear my husband telling me to leave the mare alone so I explained the problem and asked him to come help.

Dave has a heart of gold but he really doesn't know that much about the horses. He's learned a lot over the years but unfortunately he's not a horsey midwife yet. And he has a bad habit of wanting answers before he does what he's asked sometimes. I just didn't have time to deal with Dave's questions and Lucy too, so I set out to help the mare on my own. If I absolutely had to have Dave's help I would scream like a banshee and he would be there. That would have to be good enough.

The mare didn't try to get up when I entered the stall. She looked at me but was too committed to her contractions to escape my intrusion. By the time I got to her backside I could see a little more leg and the beginnings of the foal's nose.

I immediately got down and grabbed both feet, one in each hand. As I'm holding them in my hands my brain is going into overdrive assessing the situation. The foal's position was off about 45° with the position turning to the left.

I adjusted the position of the feet so one was farther back than the other trying to avoid a should lock. Pulling with the mare's contractions, I tried to pull the foal straight down towards her hocks. Because of the foal's position that meant a bit of giggling and wiggling to rotate the foal.

Lucy's contractions were long and hard. When a contraction did stop, almost instantaneously a new one started up. Usually it's between contractions that repositioning is most effective. Even though I only had a moment I tried to push the foal's feet back. I made little if any progress before another contraction would resume. Poor Lucy's body was responding to all the hormones produced by that extended first stage of labor. I was going to have to work with what I had.

I just keep pulling and wiggling simultaneously. Another call to Dave for help didn't get the response I wanted and my adrenaline went up a notch. Working my timing with the mare's I kept trying to pull that foal free.

I have pulled a number of foals in my time because mares have laid to close to walls or gotten so tired they quit pushing. I even pulled Trouble in the foaling from hell, Reflections on Foaling Season 2006 - The Twins I can assure you upside down stuck twin, Trouble, was not as difficult to pull as Lucy's foal. I was pulling so hard I was beginning to sweat.

Normally it's a pretty simple process and while it gets my adrenaline pumping it's not been real hard work. Fortunately this process felt longer than it actually was. Even though time seemed to be standing still and I appeared to be making no progress, the foal was gradually emerging.

By the time I had the foal pulled past the shoulder lock, I could feel my hair stuck to the back of my neck and a river of sweat running down my back but at least I knew I had the hard part done. Once the shoulders were out the rest should be easy.

At this point I worried about the thick sack over the foal's face. I remember the thought I should tear it open running through my brain. But some distant voice said " Just keep pulling, the foal should be getting oxygen still through the cord as long as the cord isn't pinched in the birth canal. Get the foal out now!" And that's exactly what I did.

I only stopped pulling for those brief instances when the mare stopped pushing. As soon as I felt her pushing again, I began pulling. In two more contractions I had the foal on the ground except for her back ankles. Only then did I release those front feet and rip open the sack cover the foal like a shroud.

To be continued.............

Part 3

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Foaling Season 2008 on the Baby Boomer's Arabian Horse Breeding Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:25:00 +0000

The harderst part of foaling for this baby boomer is the waiting. I hate just having to sit there and watch. I am a doer. I need to be busy. Sitting still isn't even in my vocabulary except on the rare occasion that I am so sick I can't move. So waiting on a mare to get busy is difficult. I try not to officially start the waiting until I'm sure there is really something to wait for..........

Over the years I managed to get pretty good at telling when a mare is in labor. I have misjudged a few along the way. I have spent way more time sleeping in the barn than I care to admit but I no longer spend weeks thinking a mare is going to foal anytime. Most of the time I can guess within a couple of hours when a mare will foal. Then along came Lucy.

Lucy is an eleven year old purebred Arabian mare who has previously had three foals. Only one of those was born here on my farm and that one was when I was out of town at a convention. So I don't really have any foaling history with this mare. All I know is what I see and have learned from other mares.

Lucy's official due date was May 18. She began "speaking" to me at the beginning of this week. Not only did she have a really bad case of edema that spread all across her belly and down her back legs but she was sending me signals with her tail.

The mare's tail carriage looked more like some kind of code than it did a happy Arabian horse. Sometimes it was angry. Sometimes it was sideways. Sometimes it was straight up like a stick but mostly it was never natural looking. It was obvious to me that the mare was pretty uncomfortable so I began checking her for other signs of impending foaling even though her due date was three weeks off.

Overnight the mare totally bagged up and her udder looked more like a blow-up surgical glove than a mare's udder. Milk came gushing in within twenty four hours and the mare's body began to change rapidly. Within three days the mare went from looking like she had three weeks to go to looking like it should have happened yesterday. By Thursday I knew that Lucy was definitely in the first stage of labor it was time for the waiting to begin.

The bad thing about that first stage of labor is that it takes as long as it takes. It can take an hour or it can take a day............sometimes it can take longer. The difference for me between "false" labor and that first stage is that "false" labor will stop. When a mare is actively in the first stage of labor, it just goes on and on until Mother Nature decides that foal is in the best position it's going to get. From there it's on to stage two.

With Lucy that first stage started Thursday morning. The mare was obviously uncomfortable. She was walking her stall a lot. Her tail was swishing angrily. She was biting at her sides while throughout the whole thing she was continuously eating.

For anyone watching Lucy it was clear that something was happening. Her body was changing even more dramatically. Even on the webcam where details can be lost people could see the sagging, loose muscles across her croup and down her hip. Her body was in the perpetual motion that only those who know that kind of pain can understand. You keep moving because it hurts too much to stand still. The mare didn't sleep.....she didn't rest........her body readied itself for the task at hand.

There was no doubt that Lucy was in labor. But it just went on and on. The milk that was expressed with each contraction began to collect on her back ankles and her tail. I began worrying about catching colostrum to store because of how much milk we were loosing. Lucy was grumpy but still grateful for any distraction from her pain every time I went into the stall to check her progress or to take her out to handwalk for a break.

Those handwalking trips were educational for me. Lucy wanted to walk briskly despite her huge lumbering frame. The expression on her face told the whole story. This labor was serious and the mare didn't want to stop........not even for a taste of lush spring grass. It was grab it on the fly or forget it. She needed to be moving. Standing still was just too painful for this Arabian horse.

The hours I watched crept by slowly. I'm sure they must have seemed even longer to poor Lucy. Twenty four hours later and we were still waiting and watching. There seemed to be no clue of any end to this torture. I resisted the urge to find something to do and kept right on watching Lucy sitting here at this computer staring at the screen. Afraid to take my eyes away lest I miss an important clue.

I saw a half a dozen other mares foal during that time. None of them went through the extensive first stage labor that Lucy did. I watched and I worried about why this stage was taking so long.

Knowing that Mother Nature doesn't want to send a foal into the world until it's position is right is some consolation. But knowing that it doesn't always work out that way began nagging at me just a bit. And I waited............that thing I don't do well..........I waited..........not wanting to do anything that might upset the mare and make this whole thing last any longer. Knowing that a mare can stop that first stage of labor if she is frightened or stressed made it important to me to be prepared without bothering the mare. I sure didn't want me or Lucy to be waiting anymore than necessary.........

To be continued......

The second picture is of Lucy's edema oh her belly. I probably should have taken one that showed how swollen she was down both hind legs as well.

Part 2

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Too Pooped to Post - But More 1000 Word Pics on the Arabian Horse Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Sat, 03 May 2008 10:38:00 +0000

Details will come later because I'm hitting the sack as soon as I've hit the publish button! These pictures better be worth at least a 1000 words each cause I'm definitely too pooped to be doing this. I can't believe I'm posting instead of going to bed.

Pertinent details: Born May 2 at approximately 11:45 pm one very spunky chestnut filly with four whites and a very distinct blaze.

This is the first time that we've had a foal born here that Legs was not on the farm at the time of foaling. I must say I feel a little odd about that. He's always the first one to welcome the new foal, usually even before the mare, and I missed that sweet nicker.

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Foal Watch on the Arabian Horse Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:21:00 +0000

With a foaling date of May 18(figured on 345 days gestation) Bint Gamaay Rose (barn name Lucy after Lucille Ball) isn't due for about three weeks but someone forgot to tell Lucy. In true Lucille Ball style she is doing this on her own terms.

The mare is currently listed on the Mare Stare site on the Rising Rainbow Live Web Cam There is also a thread with updates

Lucy has a very bad case of edema and has been left to roam in and out of her stall during the daytime hours to help alleviate this some. Due to the wetness of our land and her closeness to foaling, we will be keeping her in from this point on. I will hand walk her throughout the day and hopefully that will help keep the edema in check.

The mare is bagged up and has white, white milk. She is also broken down around the tail head (see picture of this phenomenon here)
and her vulva is totally relaxed and sloshing when she moves. (Sorry Abraham, I know this information boggles your sensibilities but it's an important signal that a mare is closing in on foaling.)

The foal also looks to have moved into the correct position although with the bad case of edema this mare has, it is hard to tell if the foal is moved all the way up against the cervix. It is obvious from her tail carriage that she is experiencing a lot of pressure.

The mare normally carries her tail straight and when she is standing quietly the tail is down. Currently she is carrying it to either side a lot and it is "up" more than it is down, even while she is standing quietly. Sometimes she is even holding it like it is a stick in an awkward looking manner. All are signs that her behavior is changing and foaling is imminent.

This early stage of labor can actually last for days but that would not be the "norm" for Lucy. She's been pretty good at being predictable for me. Now that I have said that, she will write a new chapter in her book but that is part of the fun of this whole adventure.

So everything else on this Arabain horse farm is on hold while we wait for the newest addition to our herd. This is a very special foal we are waiting for here. I can hardly wait to see what we are going to get!
Breeding Season Finally Gets Started at Our Small Arabian Breeding Farm has the information about breeding mare and links to her story with me.

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An Arabian Horse Owner and Blogging Jeopardy

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:44:00 +0000

I knew when I started blogging about my journey with Arabian horses that I was opening myself up for criticism. People have so many different opinions out there in the blogosphere and I was bound to come across people who didn't agree with me. I decided to take the leap anyway because there are so many things I didn't know when I first got started into horses. I thought if I could save anyone from some of my mistakes the risk would be worth it.

With that thought in mind I have posted about some issues that have been difficult for me. None has been more difficult than the series A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Down a Rocky Road Of all of the things that have happened on this farm, that accident was by far the most disconcerting, the most heart breaking, as well as the most life changing.

I will probably always feel like I should have been able to prevent this accident. Despite the fact that I had never even heard of such a thing happening before, this will always weigh heavily on my mind. I don't need someone telling me it was my fault, I have an internal voice that does that job well enough as it is.

Thursday while Rachel and I were setting up at the Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show, I received an anonymous comment on A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Down a Rocky Road Part 2 telling me just that. The comment read:

What a preventable shame.

And bad writing to boot.

Get a hanky and feel sorry for yourself, but you really could have prevented this.

As you know, I have comment moderation enabled on my blog. I haven't really done it because of comments like this. I have done it to ward off the spammers that seem to love my blog. But in this case (and three others in the past) I used that moderation to "Reject" this comment because I think it is mean spirited and intended to cause harm, not to educate and help people find better ways to deal with their horses. I won't even go into how it felt to find that comment in my inbox.

Maybe I should have just kept this comment to myself but it actually struck a cord with a pet peeve of mine. That would be those "anonymous" commentors who say mean things under the guise of caring for the horse when all they really want to do is attack others. All four comments that have been made here that were "attacking" in nature were done by anonymous commentors.

But my beef isn't just with those who make mean comments without a user id, I also have no tolerance for those who set up a user id that is just a front for anonymous comments. Those established with no trace back to the person making vicious and mean spirited comments.

That is my number one complaint with FUGLY and other controversial sites. The majority of the commentors blasting their victims have user ids but are not bloggers. They have set up user accounts solely for the purpose of their little cliques knowing who they are but the rest of the world not having access to their information. They don't want to be culpable for what they post.

These people go off half cocked with very little information assuming they know everything there is to know about the subject at hand. Yet many times all they know is one very slanted side of a story. They hear what they want to hear and take that as permission to launch their assault in the name of their opinion.

I certainly agree that we are all entitled to our opinions no matter what they might be. However, if you have an opinion that is truly important to you, I think you should have the convinction to stand behind that opinion.

It doesn't take much courage to hide behind the cloak of anonymity and tell others they don't have a right to breed their own horse, that they are too stupid to even own horses, that it's my fault that my mare died or any of the myriad of other rude and judgemental things that are bestowed upon an assortment of horse owners and trainers at the hands of such people. Those comments are not made in the interest of fairness or education. They are made solely at the expense of another human being and so the commentor can feel superior.

Those commentors need to remember that we are all human, after all. That means that we are ALL flawed. We all make mistakes whether we want to or not, it is unavoidable. All we can do is try our best to be good people and good and responsible horse owners.

Tearing someone to shreds over mistakes and poor judgement isn't going to stop those kinds of things from happening. Not only that, it makes it hard for the person attacked or others like them to even hear the message these people claim they are trying to convey. No one can learn anything productive from being attacked except maybe to protect oneself.

If I was to do that, I would quit blogging altogether. While that might be exactly what the anonymous commentor would like to see, that's not about to happen anytime soon. My reason for blogging has always been about overcoming ignorance. That means in all of it's form including that ignorance that causes one human being to attack another.

A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - Rhythm's Story at Tommy Garland - It's Horse Show Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:05:00 +0000

Rhythm's Story starts here

I know you all were expecting to hear about the horse show last weekend and those posts are coming. But I need to get this update on the red Arabian horse and his new owner posted before it becomes past tense! Looking back through my posts, I can't see that I even posted about Brittany's week visiting her Arabian horse at Tommy Garland's. I think maybe I was waiting on pictures but it turned out that there were no usable pictures.

I do have video that I received on a DVD recently but still haven't figured out how to get a portion of it loaded onto my computer. I'm pretty sure that the hour long dvd it a bit much for UTube. It sucks being computer illiterate sometimes. I will continue to try to get that figured out. For now, let's just say the trip was fruitful. I will post information on the trip and other developments in a future post.

In the meantime the show clothes arrived from Show Season's at the end of last week. For some reason the pictures darkened when I optimized them for use on my blog but the fabrics are the colors of the swatches I loaded on More from Rhythm's Mommy - What Do You Think? So while they look more beige here the background really is sand colored and the check on the bottom is very subtle.

Also during the last week, Brittany's cowboy hat arrived. It is sand colored as well and is a perfect match. Brittany was also able to locate and purchase a Phil Harris western saddle so the pair would be decked out in enough crystals and sterling silver to fit a princely pair. All of this has come together in the nick of time.

This week is show time for the quirky gelding and his owner. Rich and Brittany Baker will travel to Syracuse, New York tomorrow for the
Empire State All Arabian Horse Show. The show begins on Friday and the horse will be shown in the open division by Greg Peak and in the amateur division by Brittany.

Rich can hardly stand the wait. He hasn't seen the Arabian gelding since he left their farm in Massachusetts in January. Rich has missed "his boy" and is worried that Rhythm might have even forgotten him.

Brittany assured her dad that there's no way the horse will forget Rich who has been his primary caretaker since he arrived at Black Horse Farm. Brittany said Rhythm recognized her immediately when she arrived at Garland's so there's no way he could possible forget Rich.

Brittany giggles and says the fact that Rich has been the horse's major source of treats won't hurt either. Personally it's been my experience that they never forget. I'm sure Rich will be greeted warmly by the gelding searching his pockets for peppermints, the number one treat Rich has introduced to the horse who never saw anything anymore exotic than carrots or apples on my farm. I know that Rich plans to have a pocketful of the new treat that Rhythm now craves.

Brittany and Rich have promised me updates from the show. Rich is armed with his big lens and his camera and will be functioning as the official photographer so that there are usable pictures for the blog. I'll post them when I get them. Anyone in the vicinity of Syracuse this weekend, feel free to drop by the show and say hello to Brittany and Rich at the Garland stalls. I know they feel this blogging community is like their extended family and they'd love to introduce you to their boy, Rhythm.

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Arabian Horse Show Picture.....1000 Words Worth

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:20:00 +0000

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one should tell you exactly how both Legs and I are feeling after the show. It was a long weekend, then I figured I really needed to work the four horses that were left behind so I worked horses today and I am too pooped to post! Will get back on track tomorrow, I promise.

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Daffodil All Arabian Spring Show - The Set-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:38:00 +0000

It's been a really long day and my brain has turned to mush but I thought I would at least try for a short post about our set-up at the horse show. Life is never dull at Rising Rainbow Arabians. That is a given and setting up for the horse show has been no exception.

The brief highlights might be Rachel managed to get Dandy into a pickle schooling in the main arena and nearly banged his head into the wall. That scared Rachel and probably the Arabian horse so schooling after that was nothing short of a bomb.

Grandma, however, missed the near collision because she couldn't see through the crowd of Arabian horses they had gotten themselves into. I was still giving Rachel instructions trying to get the horse rounded up and into frame and couldn't understand why the usual things were just not working.

I had schooled the horse first. He had been absolutely amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better ride. So to see Rachel having such trouble and making no headway was frustrating to say the least. I finally gave up and called the duo to follow me out to the beef barn arena. There was not point in continuing this the way it was going.

We headed to the Beef Barn Arena at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. I knew there would be less traffic and it should be easier to get this problem resolved. But Rachel seemed to be in a mood and so was her horse. I finally gave up there as well.

I got back onto Dandy to school him again and get him back into frame. Maybe I couldn't get the pair fixed but at least I could fix the horse. However, it didn't go quite as smoothly as I'd hoped. I did get the horse together but it wasn't easy. Something had clearly caused this kind of reaction. That's when I found out about the brush with the wall. Poor Dandy has the worst luck with traffic of any horse I have ever known. But at least I got him fixed.

Then it was onto Legs. I rarely lunge this horse and he's been to shows before. Heck! The horse has championships in both hunter and western pleasure. He's always just a jewel at horse shows............until today.

I couldn't even believe what I got on.............it sure wasn't my well behaved stallion. Some fire breathing dragon had taken him over and I was off as fast as I'd gotten on. Nope, I didn't get dumped. I called for Colleen or Rachel to grab him so I could get off then I had to lunge the beegeezus out of him. I can't even tell you what got into him.

I actually didn't lunge him once but twice. The first time after I lunged him I got on and rode into the arena to school. One lap walking around the ring and I exited again for more time on the lunge line.

I didn't lunge him loose. I bitted him up with a drop line and let him run his little legs off. The horse even kicked out at a couple of horses that got too close, something I have never seen him do. I suspect the young (maybe 2 year old) stallion right down from us that is pacing and screaming since he arrived has gotten my boy rattled. All I know is it took working his tail off to even find a remnant of my horse inside.

I finally did ride him and he was OK..........not great, just OK. He was trying but he is having trouble in the bridle. He's having flashbacks of a not so kind trainer (that's a story for another day) and is afraid to go forward into the curb. It is very frustrating to have ridden the horse in the snaffle and have him be coming together well enough to do entries only to put him into the curb and feel like we've run right smack into a brick wall.

The horse finally is doing better at the lope but his transitions are lousy and it's really hard to take a hold of the horse without him wanting to stop. He is afraid of the bridle and that's all there is to it. I will be doing a series of posts about the issue of re-teaching horses who have been made afraid of going forward. In my opinion it is the hardest problem to fix and I'm not alone. Many trainers think it can be next to impossible to resolve these kinds of issues.

Back to the horse show, we're not starting off great but we're there for the duration. I help them (show management) with setting the trail course in the early morning. Then I don't show until the evening. In the middle I must run a mare to the vet. It will be a long day an I have no clue if I will manage a post tomorrow night or not. But whatever happens you can bet I'll have a story to tell.

*******

The top picture is Legs visiting with not one but two horses on the other side. I think the delay on my camera missed those two noses, but they were there for quite a while. In case you're wondering neither nose belonged to Dandy. These were new neighbors on the other side of the partition. There was no talking just smelling.

The second picture is Dandy and I in the Beef Barn Arena after all the exciting stuff was done but before I actually got him back into his head where he belonged.

*********

Coming Up Posts Update on Rhythm (waiting for picture of the show clothes we all helped her to pick out. They arrived today!!

How to teach your horse to drop his head for bathing

Body Clipping (Shaving) 101

The already mentioned Fixing the horse that is afraid to go forward.

Balance and the Young Horse

AND the rest of My first trip to Nationals with Dandy

Is there anything I missed or that you would like to see??

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Amazing Lorenzo - Horse Video

noreply@blogger.com (Rising Rainbow) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:22:00 +0000

This guy is truly amazing. I don't know how to embed this thing so you will need to click on the link but believe me it is work it. Amazing Lorenzo Video