Swirls

Legitimate conclusions about character can be drawn from looking at a horse’s body: coat condition, weight, posture, muscling, head carriage, tightness around the eyes or mouth, and so on. In other words, subtle signs of nutrition &/or tension &/or muscle tone &/or lack of same.

Hair whorls are handed out at birth. This makes them wonderful for identification. Using them to describe character involves too much predestination for me to buy into. However, it is amusing to contemplate.

Two swirls

Horses with this combination tend to be more emotional and over-reactive than average. They tend to become upset without apparent reason, and at unexpected moments … However, a horse with two adjoining swirls can be a great horse. Some of my very best show horses have had this configuration.

Getting in TTouch with Your Horse
by Linda Tellington-Jones
(Trafalgar Square, 2nd 2009)
p44
Quoted from online PDF. Linking doesn’t work. Google “horse swirls”. Click on “Learning to Evaluate Character – Horse and Rider Books”.

Is anyone surprised that BOTH of my horses are double swirlies?

Rodney
Rodney
Milton
Milton

Let Me In!

latch

Horses are made to be out grazing. I learned this 30 years ago [How I Learned to Think Like a Horse] and have believed it fervently ever since.

Unfortunately, no one told Rodney & Milton.

They love their stall. We have one stall, attached to our run-in shed. It’s not the ideal arrangement, but the original purpose was never as a permanent horse house. It was a place for Mathilda while Previous Horse was off the property. Now, we use it for Milton’s morning feed and hay [Naptime].

Obviously, Milton likes to come in at breakfast. However, if anyone goes anywhere near the stall at any time – to pick up a bucket, or to clean – at least one horse appears at the door in an attempt to worm his way in.

The pasture is muddy, boring, and rainy. The stall is dry above and below, soft underfoot (and wonderful to pee on, apparently), full of food, and you don’t have to share eats with your roommate.

To Show or Not To Show

I wasn’t going to the show this weekend. Truly. The plan was to show less than last year. This year was to be for learning, for letting my budget recover, and for bonding with the home team.

Then, the day before the trailer left, I had an outstanding lesson. The kind of lesson where things go well. The kind of lesson where things go well because of how you ride. The kind of lesson that makes you think, ‘Hey, I don’t suck.’

I remembered how much I like riding Sam. I remembered how much I like showing. I remembered how much I like riding Sam at a show. I am lucky to have sufficient time and money. What exactly was keeping me from showing?

A long way of saying I am at a show today. To the surprise of no one but me.

ASAC 2015 Sultan's Miracle Man. Sandra Hall Photography. Used with permission.
ASAC 2015
Sultan’s Miracle Man.
Sandra Hall Photography.
Used with permission.

No tweets. Hope to post results today. Full report scheduled for Wednesday.

Update: 3/6, 3/6, 0/17. Had a blast.

Custom Ornament from Hamer & Clay

Saddle Seat Wednesday
Sam & Me
Sam & Me

I read about these on The $900 Facebook pony: Hamer & Clay wins Christmas. Want! Without tack & rider, Rodney or Milton would look kinda generic. Who to get? Sam, of course. I sent her a pile of links to various photos with a wodge of instructions, including an invitation to improve my saddle seat position and Mr. Grumpy’s ear position, but not too much, “Us at our best moment, not an us that never existed.”

Nailed it.

Hamer & Clay Etsy Shop

Update: How big is it?

Sam ornament for scale