Scoring for a competative trail ride…

So last week I told you all that on Sunday I would be heading out to volunteer at an endurance event. I learned when I arrived that it was not an endurance event, but rather a 25 mile competitive trail ride. What is the difference? I learned that while both endurance and competitive trail riding evaluate the horses well being, fitness and soundness you actually get about an hour less to complete a competitive trail ride.

I had signed up to be a scorer, but because I knew I had a horse show this weekend I didn’t want to miss a chance to ride last weekend. I spoke to woman who was putting the whole thing together and asked what jobs I could do if I could not get to the place until after 2pm. She told me that being a scorer would be perfect because you can’t score until the end of the ride. So I was able to ride Phoenix, see Gen and still have plenty of time to come out and volunteer. When I showed up to the event I knew I was not in Kansas anymore. My endurance riding friends often joke about what people wear to a ride, but after stepping out of the car I could see why…and I was totally jealous.

People had on riding tights in bright bold colors. Everything was coordinated though. There was one woman who had bright red half chaps! I was so jealous! She also had black and red tights, saddle pad and bridle! You could always tell which horse went with which rider because of how well matched they were. There was a kid who had lime green and turquoise for her colors that even had a cooler to match. It was awesome. I am so bored of being a black and white dressage rider that I think I might have even drooled in jealousy watching them all! The other thing I noticed was how many men in my area ride endurance. You normally see a handful of guys at the schooling shows, more at recognized, but here at this right it almost seemed like they made up half the riders.

So I walked through the fun colors of people and went to check in. On my way I passed the final vet check. It was amazing how happy these horses looked after 25 miles on the trails! I paused for a moment to listen in to the two people talking to two more people on clip boards and then headed over to where the scoring was taking place, on my way passing a giant table of ribbons. You would think after my 2 blues the day before I would be over ribbons, but no…I stopped and admired how beautiful they were. When I showed up, a good 20 minutes before expected I was greeted with the news that the ride had a very low turnout so they didn’t really need me. I told them that I wanted to hang out for at least a little bit so they gave me something to do.

I was a runner for the scores. Just like in upper level dressage there were 2 judges. One was a vet, and one was the layjudge. My job would be to go to their scribes (who were easy to identify because they had giant wooden boxes to write on hanging off their neck) and pick up the ride sheets. I had to make sure that I got the same number from each judge and when I had a matching pair I would go inside and give the 2 sheets to the scoring table. The sheets were really big and had lots of information on them such a heat rate, respiration, and even a diagram of a horse noting any all lumps and bumps they had before and after the ride.

Once all the scores were collected a really nice woman sat me down and explained the scoring system to me. At the start of the ride each horse/rider combo was evaluated by those two judges. They had to trot the horses out for a lameness check, go over all the vital signs and evaluate how the horse looked. Were they chipper? Did they move well? All of those things were written down on a sheet. At the end of the ride (since the ride was only 25 miles and done in such a short time it was only a pre-and post-ride evaluation) they did all the same things and noted on the sheet any changes.

For example, one of the horses looked a little sore on their left front when they finished the ride. They had no problems on the left front when they started. The judge evaluated the horses lameness on a scale on the sheet and said that on the lameness scale the difference in how the left front was moving from the start of the ride to the end was a change of two. So on that riders score sheet they got a one in the area next to movement. This same horse also had an elevated respiration from the start of the ride. Because the horses respiration was over the maximum allowed the scorers used a chart to find out how many points over the horse was and give them the point value indicated. So the horse and rider got 2 for the lameness and a .5 for the respiration.

In a competitive trail class they take that score of 2.5 and subtract it from 100 (which is a perfect score) to give the rider a total score. So this person ended the trail ride with a 97.5. Once you had a riders score you would put them in a ranking in their weight category. At this ride there was a light, medium, and heavy category which is decided by how much weight the horse is carrying on its back. I thought it was pretty cool because some  riders have really heavy tack and some do not, it was just the total amount the horse would be carrying. If I were to do the ride I would clearly be in the heavy category, but it was neat to know that I would only be judged against other horse and rider combos who were also carrying similar weight. Because this was a competitive trail ride and not an endurance rider they then had an awards ceremony.

When I sat down with them at the table and they told me that endurance rides do not give our ribbons I knew that endurance would never be for me. I am fully aware that I am shallow and I know myself…finishing is not enough of a reward to me! I think it might be neat to try a competitive trail ride some day (I don’t think I am ever going to do a judged trail ride because those seem a bit scary). They even have an award for the best Appy! Overall it was a really fun time, and while I was only there for a little bit I learned so much. If you ever have a chance to go out and help out at a competitive trail ride I say go for it!

The Halloween Horse Show – Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

So since I was flying solo I wanted to quickly get Phoenix loaded on to the trailer and headed home before the sky opened up. Luckily, my very pregnant trainer and the half-blind horses rider both stuck around after my second test waiting to see my scores. They also wanted to help me with loading him because they knew I was a little worried about doing it alone. They waited a good 20 minutes with me, which was nice of them because this show made me realize that while I am getting there, I am not ready yet to show alone. I still need the Young Rider to help me out. I am close though, which makes me feel good. If I can go solo by next summer I will be thrilled.

Anyway, before I even loaded Phoenix up they pinned my first class. At Intro A I got a 63%! Which was generous, but even knowing that, I was still thrilled with the score. We broke a 60%! For those of you new to dressage an average score is about 55%, adequate is in the 50%s and a good score is a 60% or better. It meant that the judge thought Phoenix and I were above average. Which also meant that…Phoenix and I got our very first blue ribbon!

I was over the moon excited about it. As you can tell by the fact that I started taking his braids out, I was not expecting it at all. I was genuinely worried that I did not break a 55% (which is where the other people in my class were scoring), so to break a 60% and win was just totally amazing. I took a ton of pictures I was so proud. In fact, were it not for a stranger teasing me about taking a million pictures of Phoenix with a blue ribbon as they were walking to the ring, I might still be there all these days later taking pictures of him. I rarely win. Ever. In fact, in all the years I have shown I can still count the number of blues on my hands. Because they are so rare the blues are just so special to me. And before anyone yells at me, yes, I do know it is not all about the ribbons. But I am very shallow as you all know and I do love my ribbons!

So needless to say I was floating on air as we loaded Phoenix on to the trailer. I brought Phoenix back to the barn and even though I was ready to unload him all by myself, his owner was literally walking out of the house to leave so she helped me out. I brought Phoenix back to the barn and couldn’t stop hugging him. I was so happy. What was really cool was the fact that even when I thought we didn’t do very well we still broke a 60%. I know it was only Intro, but I am still really proud that we did well even on a not so great ride. And I think what I am most excited about after this show is how Phoenix and I have grown in the past year. It really makes me look forward to next year. And even more so I am now super excited for my show next weekend to see how we do at training level (I have our last show of the year on Saturday). If we can break a 60% when Phoenix is ignoring me think about how we can do when he listens!!!

Shallow, yes, but I don’t care. It took us a whole year to get a blue ribbon and at this show we got 2! I was a little bummed when there was no ribbon for the costume class because I thought that they only way I would get a blue was to be in a class alone. This taught me that Phoenix and I can do it. Once we get a nice steady rhythm down we are going to be great!

The Halloween Horse Show – Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

I will admit that it was hard to get my focus back on work after getting all dressed up. I know that Phoenix felt the same way. Luckily, my trainer, who is 8 months and 3 and a half weeks pregnant, came to coach me so after 5 minutes of walking to clear our heads we went to work. The focus was rhythm and making sure that Phoenix was really paying attention to the inside leg to outside rein connection. It was tough. He is the only horse I know that can have a unicorn horn put on his head and be fine and yet spook at his own shadow. My trainer really worked with me to stop focusing on the things he was not doing for me and start focusing on all the good thing he was giving me.

She reminded me that my goal at this show was just to go out and do something with Phoenix. I am doing as much as I can this year to turn my green horse into a show horse. She also reminded me that I was not allowed to get mad at Phoenix for being a bit of a wiggly worm. I was just supposed to correct and let it go. I didn’t have a lot of time to warm up so before I knew it I has to enter the ring.

I can honestly say that my first ride did not feel very good at all. Below is the video and it looks better than it felt. Phoenix felt like he just switched into auto pilot. It happened as soon as we went from the indoor to the outdoor. All of a sudden my fat spotted pony decided that he was in charge. My steering was not so good. In fact, there were three times that I was pretty sure he was just going to go right out of the ring. I really got after him with the outside aids and he stayed in, but it did shake my confidence in him just a little bit because I thought we had out grown that. I guess not.

What I love about this video is how calm and rhythmical his trot was for the first part of the test. It gives me hope for our future. It is showing me that we really can be a really nice pair with a little work. When I look at this video compared to the intro test we did back in April and they are worlds apart. There is clear growth in us as a pair. In fact, watching this video I see that I made some obvious corrections that could have been more subtle. I think that the fact I am even thinking about the details during a test is a really good sign for next year.

Not knowing how it looked though I walked back into the indoor after my test totally defeated. My trainer has been my trainer for over a decade now. She knows me really well now. She knew I was pissed that my pony tried to take over so she came up with a constructive exercise right away. We would leg yield a few steps in each direction and then go straight and leg yeild to the other side. That was really hard for both Phoenix and I and made us concentrate. Which is exactly what we needed. When I finally gave him a loose rein the poor fat spotted pony took a big sigh and turned to look at me as if telling me just how hard that was for him.

We headed back out for our second test, which I only have half a video of below. Sorry. My Dad (also known as my personal photographer at horse shows) didn’t realize I had started my test until he saw me walking. The second test did feel better than the first, but that wasn’t the best test ever. Phoenix did turn on auto pilot again as soon as we walked outside, but this time I really got after him to pay attention to me before the judge rang the bell and that helped.

The score for the other rider at Intro (there were only 2 of us at this show so my shallow self knew I was getting a ribbon as soon as I saw the day sheet) was about 55% for both tests. After my rides I knew it was going to be close…

To be Continued…

The Halloween Horse Show – Part 2

Part 1

So for those of you who thought I might not do the costume for fear of being different, you don’t know me very well, because as much as I want to fit in to the dressage world I know that I never will and have accepted that. So, since I know I can never be a part of the real dressage world I don’t mind at all sticking out. Even though I knew I was going to be all alone in the costume class, and most likely make an ass of myself, I went ahead and got Phoenix ready.

Most people would agree with me that a 5 year old horse who is still relatively green is not the ideal costume class horse. And most people would be right. So a logical person would bring the costume to the barn and practice with the baby horse. Time was not on my side this week though so there I was at the show standing next to my truck thinking “Phoenix might not let me put his costume on”. I figured I had to try though so on went his horn. And so without making a big deal of it I let him sniff it and made no big deal about putting it on his head. He wasn’t so sure about it, but Phoenix is easily bribed so after a bit of grain he didn’t seem to care at all that he had a giant, glittery, gold horn coming out of his head.

I didn’t give him a lot of time to adjust before I started to clip on his magical golden mane. Before I put the first one on I shook the glittery blob at him. He looked, but never startled, so I took that as my indication that he was fine. So on the mane went. By this point people had started to stop and see so I had his owner hold him while I put on his magical glittery tail. Mind you it is still sprinkling out and super windy. And I have my 5 year old covered in golden ribbon and tinsel, and it is all blowing like crazy in the wind. He was being so good that I put my princess dress on and walked to the indoor.

As people walked by on their way to warm up I told them that I was dressing up and would give them a heads up before I came in so as not to spook the other horses. Most of the horses were pretty good, but the owners were nervous about it. I mounted up and went outside to wait for the person putting on the show so I could be “judged”. Clearly, since I was the only one doing the costume class, I had won. A few minutes later the woman came out to give is our prize. Phoenix won a beautiful garland of fake giant candy corn and I got a whole gift basket. It was filled with candy, fall candles and soaps, and even come Halloween nick nacks! It was pretty cool.

Even though I was the only one who did the costume class, I still had a lot of fun. And I honestly think that Phoenix liked it to. He LOVES attention so he happily put up with the scary gold stuff in order to get all sorts of people to look at him. I think that a lot of people thought it was neat that I dressed up so hopefully next year I will not be alone in the costume class! Once we got out prizes it was time to get off and get ready to show. The purple saddle pad was replaced with a white one and I got myself ready to go into the warm up ring.

To Be Continued…

haha…I love this picture. Poor Phoenix!

The Halloween Horse Show – Part 1

So last week I had a rough week. My job is pretty intense and I had to do more than one 10 hour day. I was pretty good about riding any day that I could, but by Friday I still did not feel so confident about the fact that I had entered the show. I had decided that even though my rides were in the afternoon on Sat, I would try and get as much done the night before as possible. It was not so fun though because it was freezing cold out and giving a horse a bath with no hot water and no place to attach them to is hard enough when it is warm out! I gave up on finishing braiding because my fingers were totally frozen though and stopped working by about braid number 8.
I layered Phoenix up and figured I would finish everything the following morning. I didn’t want to kill my whole Halloween, which is why I wanted to be able to sleep in on Saturday. I still had a lot to do though (including cleaning my filty tack) so my dream of a 9am wake up was just not an option. I didn’t even have time to sleep until 7. All well. I put the finishing touches onto Phoenix’s costume and packed up the truck. I got lucky at Gen’s barn when I went to get my trailer because the barn owner was there and helped me hook up my trailer in under 5 minutes!
Even with that stroke of luck I was still running late to get to Phoenix’s barn. Lucky for me, the baby horse has taken to his new role as a show horse so he left all his braids in and stayed relatively clean. Unlucky for me, was how poorly I had bathed and braided the night before so we still had a lot to do. I really wanted to make sure I was on time for the costume class, so even though my fat spotted pony was no where near my normal show turnout standards I put on his boots and got ready to roll.I had expected to have to load him on the trailer by myself. This would have been a first for us and I was a little nervous about it. My lucky streak continued though and Speedy’s Mom (who was also heading to the show) came over and asked if I needed a hand. As usual, Phoenix marched right up and we were on our way.

It was supposed to be a clear day on Saturday with a chance of rain in the evening (poor tick or treaters) but it was pretty gross all day. The sky was spitting and threatening a full blown rain storm. As I was driving to the show I thought about how lucky I am to be able to show Phoenix. I know a lot of people who get really bad show nerves, or who let fear of the unknown, or failure stand in there way. Here I was alone in a truck with my fat spotted pony in tow on a rainy day after only a week back in the tack because of injury and instead of being a nervous wreck I was excited. I couldn’t wait to get to the show. I couldn’t wait to try and ride a nice test.

I got to the show much earlier than I expect so I had time to unload Phoenix (with the help of Speedy and Ransom’s owners who had just beat me to the show) and chill out with him before I dared to dress him up for the costume class. Phoenix is always a little up when he gets to a new place, but he is also really good about calming down once he realizes that no monsters are there to eat him. As I was walking Phoenix I started to look around to see what other costumes people were going to wear for the costume class. The more I looked around the more I started to realize that no one I saw had anything Halloween about them at all. As I walked back to the trailer with my fat spotted pony in tow I knew that the costume class would really just be Phoenix and I. Dressed up. Looking like idiots all by ourselves. There were some big name people in the ring. Did I really want to make an ass of myself in front of some well known dressage riders?

To Be Continued…

Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween! Have fun and eat lots of candy!!

 

What to expect at your first dressage show

So I wanted to write this post for Melinda, who is going to her very first dressage show this weekend. I know that some of these things sound silly, but I didn’t start riding dressage all that long ago and I remember all the things I didn’t know my first time around. I hope that this post is helpful and feel free to comment and add if you think of it or ask questions if you want to know something!

1) The classic dressage look is all white and black. You can visit my post on dressage show apparel here. If you are a hunter and already have tall field boots, beige breeches, and a navy coat I would recommend just wearing that your first time out with a white shirt and stock tie. Save your money if you are not sure dressage is the right thing for you. The only purchase I recommend you making even if you are just doing a single show is to buy a white square pad. You do not need dressage tack to start with, but the white square pad versus a contoured pad really does make a big difference in the looks department of your horse.

2) Do you have to braid? The answer is…it depends on what type of show you are going to. If you are going to a USDF show, even if you are doing Intro, you really should braid. If you are going to a schooling show I would recommend you braid because it looks better, but you do not have to do it. Just make sure your horse looks tidy and neat and not as though you grabbed them out of the field.

3) Intro? What did you mean by that? Dressage has levels. Ten of them. They go Intro, Training, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Prix St. George, Intermediate, and Grand Prix. Each level has a certain number of tests that go along with it. For example at intro there are 2 tests, at training 4, at 3rd there are only 3 tests, etc. When you go to a dressage show you must sign up ahead of time for your level and what tests you want to do in the level.

4) Test? I am sure you will all get a good laugh at this, but I started riding dressage through the Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA). At my very first show freshman year my team asked me if I was ready for my test. I answered back that I didn’t know we had to take a test. What was I supposed to have studied! They all laugh so hard. In dressage, the pattern you ride is your test. And yes, you really should memorize it because it just looks better impression wise. As though you really put some effort into the show.

5) Check for your times. More than once I have seen someone who came over from hunters not know that times are always posted before the show. These people show up when they think there time should be. Which is often no where near when they were scheduled to ride. You will either call the secretary or check the shows website about 3 days ahead of the show and you can find your time down to the minute.

6) Once you get to the show and go warm up a big faux pas is having your trainer go to the center of the ring. That really is just not done in dressage. Most trainers have a walkie talkie system that they use, or they ask you to ride in a certain part of the ring. There is nothing wrong really with your trainer going to the center of the ring to warm you up, but we dressage riders tend to use the whole ring and you will just stick out like a sore thumb.

7) Once your time has come go to the show ring and ride around the outside of the ring. As long as there is space you are expected to ride around the edge of the ring and not enter the dressage ring itself until the judge indicates to you that it is time. Now, if there is no space around the edge of the ring you can enter the dressage arena without the judges indication, but you cannot start your test yet. You must wait until the judge signals that they want you to start.

How is the judge going to signal? With a whistle or bell. Once you hear the judge either ring the bell or blow the whistle you then have 45 seconds to head up the center line and salute.

9) Saluting in dressage is not a military salute unless you are in the military and wearing your dress uniform. Normal saluting in dressage is taking the reins and whip in you left hand, dropping your right straight down to your side, then putting your head down so you are looking at the ground, looking back up and picking your hand up to pick the reins up again.

10) If your first show is a schooling show, the judge might have time to give you a few quick hints after the test, so once you do your second salute proceed at a walk and walk towards the judge up the arena. Once you get close enough to C, say thank you and if the judge wants to talk to you they will do so at that time.

So those are my 10 easy tips so you all fit right in at a dressage show. If anyone wants to add any please feel free to comment!

Taking A Step Out Of My Comfort Zone

One of my pet peeves is when people become so caught up in one discipline that they think nothing that anyone else does ever has any value. For example, the crappy boarder at my barn is a hunter rider. Who cares right? Except that when the barn owner decided to run a clinic with a dressage rider the crappy boarder said she would not participate. Why? Because the dressage rider would not be able to help her. My question back to her was if the crappy boarder really thought that she would learn nothing from this woman because the woman rode dressage. Her answer? Yes.

I don’t ever want to be like that. Yes, I love dressage. Yes, I consider myself a dressage rider. That doesn’t mean that I think that dressage is the best thing since sliced bread or that dressage is the only “real riding”. I don’t think that I can say that there is a type of riding that “I would never do”. In fact, a barn just opened down the street from where Phoenix lives offering lessons in cutting. That sounds like fun to me! I used to take saddle seat lessons and that was so much fun. I am DYING to do that again (the barn where I did it moved over an hour away). I know it is easy to get stuck in to the one track mind of only doing one thing. I mean, if you look at my mail I get dressage specific magazines, am a member of dressage specific clubs and ride at or volunteer at dressage shows. It takes effort to go outside your comfort zone and try something new. I know that I didn’t really know what they were looking for in the hunter ring and that I was put way outside my comfort zone attending the hunter shows this year. That being said, I am glad I did it. I learned a lot from the experience of going there and getting feedback from my hunter readers.

When I got an e-mail last month from a horse acquaintance looking for volunteers for an up coming endurance ride I could easily have said no. I would be getting no volunteer hours. It is the day after a horse show. I don’t know a lot about endurance so chances are high that I would not be a whole lot of help if I was around. It was a little scary to say yes. But you know what? I decided to go ahead and get out of my comfort zone. What better way to learn about endurance riding then just going ahead and volunteer for a ride? I am nervous about scoring for the ride this Sunday, but if I can score for dressage I can score for anything right? And who knows, maybe I will love it so much that I will want to take up endurance riding myself. I could see my fat spotted pony and I maybe doing a 25 mile ride someday. I think it is so easy to get stuck in a “group” and forget that when it comes down to it we are all just horse people. Does any else feel like that sometimes? And to my readers who ride endurance…is there anything I need to know about scoring before I go? Wish me luck on Sunday.

I know I am crazy…

So I have decided that as crazy as it might sound, I am going to go to the show on Sat with Phoenix. I was able to talk to the show manager and so instead of trying training 3 and training 4 like I had wanted to do at this show, I am going to be doing intro A and intro B. And even with that I am not sure that Phoenix and I will be doing both tests. I don’t want to push the pony. At the same time he feels GREAT. Like no soundness issues at all. Whatever it was only lasted for about 10 days, and then he got an extra week off on top of that because I was busy. I have been careful bringing him back though because my big fear is that Phoenix really isn’t better.

I know that is a totally irrational fear, but I think it is a good one because it reminds me to take things nice and slow. I am in no rush with Phoenix. I will hopefully have plenty of time with him in the future. So the first day I rode him it was for about 15 minutes and I trotted for about 2 minutes. The next day we did 20 and 5. We are slowly building him back up. The really good thing about this rehab versus last time is that this time his stifles still feel good. Last time I got on him and his hind end was gone. This time he felt very similar to how he felt before his time off. Now I have not cantered him yet, and have no intention to until after Saturday, but even if his canter is weak at least his trot is strong, which is more than I had last time.

I was going back and forth about the show for several days now. The more I think about it the more I realize that he is up to the challenge of a walk/trot test. Our warm up is just going to have to be lots of walk, which is fine because the more he walks the better his trot gets anyway. And I am going to use my judgment and reserve the right to scratch one or both tests on the day off. He feels great and has for several days now, but that doesn’t mean something couldn’t come up.

So the extra cool part about Saturday? I did get conformation that there is a costume class! I am so going to torture my fat spotted pony and enter him! Since I am not 100% that I am going I am going with a relatively easy costume to pull off, and one that is not very expensive either. What is Phoenix going to be? I will only give you one hint…the last time I made this costume for a horse is was a horse who was snow white. What do you think Phoenix will be? If you think I am nuts for trying to show him you can tell me that too. I just want to have fun and I think going to the show, even if it is just for walk/trot is a good thing for my baby horse.

Moment of silence for a good pony

I just received this heart breaking e-mail in my inbox from Gennyral’s massage therapist. You know the kind of e-mail where you read the e-mail title and go, “I hope this isn’t what I think it is”, but it is. If she says it is time, then I know it is time, but it still makes me sad, not for the pony, he is going on to a better place, but for his owner who he is leaving behind.

“Dear Friends of Scout Pony…I am so sad to inform you that the tumor behind Scout’s eye (socket) has been growing again. It became noticeable this past spring, and is rapidly disfiguring the entire right side of his skull. And last week a very new tumor reared its ugly head under orbital bone and is growing quite fast. His nasal cavities are steadily and progressively being obstructed to where his breathing is quite noisy and labored. And the poor little feller is constantly rubbing that side of his face and causing a nasty sore. He is absolutely miserable and getting worse with each passing day. He hasn’t smiled in months, doesn’t move around anymore, just stands in his favorite hiding place and zones out while intermittently rubbing his face on the fence. Enough is enough.So, dear friends, I have made a decision to do the kind thing tomorrow morning at 10am. So if you are so moved to have a moment of silence at that time, I’m sure Scout will get the message. He’s quite the mind-reader, you know. He will be groomed and fussed over and allowed to eat all the carrots and grass he can fit into his little pony belly before he goes to sleep. Just know that he has been lovingly cared for.

Need your hugs,
Gennyral Massage’s Therapist”

 

Here are some pictures of Scout Pony that I took last October. I have been meaning (for about a year now) to do a post on horses who only have one eye. I have known a few. I wanted to feature Scout Pony because the place he was at being a lesson horse didn’t want him anymore so Gennyral’s Massage Therapist offered to give him a forever home. And while he never trusted strangers on his blind side, he trusted his new owner completely. I wanted to show that with time and love horses (or ponies) can totally adapt to life with one eye. I will always regret never writing that post. I am also going to give my Gennyral an extra big hug tonight. Time is fleeting, we all know that. Moments like this remind us that we are lucky to have such great horses in our lives for however long we are allowed to have them.

Please, if you read this let his owner know that we all know how terrible it is to lose a good horse (or a good pony). I know that she is a regular reader.