Supermodel!

Retired ? Over the hill? At almost twenty, our former dressage schoolmaster Kwintus may be livin’ la vida tranquila in the rolling hills of Burgundy, but he now has something in common with Kate Moss, Elle McPherson, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, et al. Our handsome old gentleman was recently featured in Italian Vogue Online, courtesy of my talented daughter, Olivia (www.oliviabossert.com).

Olivia is studying Fashion Photography at Falmouth University in Cornwall, and, some time ago, she submitted a series of photographs to Italian Vogue’s online talent-spotter. Most of the photos were fashion oriented, but one of them was a photograph of Kwintus showing off his “airs above the ground” in the snow. I think it’s a wonderful photo, and clearly someone at Vogue thought so too since it was picked up and posted on the iconic magazine’s website, along with several more of Olivia’s photographs.

As you can imagine, we were all thrilled about Olivia having her photos featured on such a prestigious magazine’s website; Italian Vogue must be inundated with submissions, day in, day out. I’m bound to be biased, but ever since Olivia started taking photographs, I’ve always been amazed by her ability to bring emotion, romance, and an element of magic to her images.

Olivia took the photograph of Kwintus playing in the snow a couple of months after we were forced to retire him due to arthritis in his neck in late 2010. My daughter had left Switzerland for university in the UK in September, which is exactly when Kwintus made it clear to me that his job as a dressage schoolmaster was done, and that it was time for him to move on to enjoying life in the meadow.

Olivia hadn’t seen her horse for some time when she took the photograph, so it was a very emotional moment. Of course, the fact that it had snowed a lot over the previous couple of days, that the sky was bright blue and the air crisp, fresh and sparkling made the atmosphere even more magical. Kwintus clearly loved prancing around in the snow, playing chase with our two dogs, Leo and Tom.

Kwint has always been a bit of a show off and loves to be the centre of attention. He’s a real people horse; my trainer, Marie-Valentine, calls him Mr. Public Relations. I recently found out from one of his previous owners, Tamara, that he’d already had a stint at modelling and was once the “face” of Dengie Horse Feeds. Here he is with Tamara, posing for his dinner!



I showed a friend of mine at the stables Olivia and Kwintus’ Italian Vogue photograph earlier today, and she asked me if she could use it on her new website dedicated to finding sponsors for talented Swiss riders. Might Kwintus might have a new career in the works?!

A Near Wreck

by Laura Crum

We had a sort of near wreck on our last beach ride, and though no people or horses were hurt (thankfully), it still got me thinking hard over what went wrong and how such things can be prevented. So today I’m going to share the story and see what you think.

First off, it was an awesome day for a ride. Sunny, sixty-five degrees, a little breeze. The horses all seemed to be feeling good, but showing no signs of acting up, as we headed off down the beach. The photo below shows Wally on Twister and my son on Henry and Sunny’s ears. Monterey Bay is on our right, the town of Monterey is in the distance.

We rode along for a couple of miles, our usual ride. Sunny and I waded in the water briefly—only ankle deep. I don’t like to go deeper because I have had the not-so-fun experience of a horse getting dizzy in the surf and almost falling down (this is very common, by the way), so I am cautious. Below you see Sunny starting in—I couldn’t take pictures after this cause I had to steer.

Wally rode Twister in deeper. Wally is much braver and more confident than I am, but this does not always work out in his favor, as the post will show. Twister has several times staggered and almost fallen in the waves, but Wally persists in making him go there. So below you see Wally and Twister.

My son has ridden Henry in the shallows before, but today was content to watch. It was a lovely day, bright and clear and warm. There was no one else on the beach. Many birds and sea lions to watch, and the light on the surf was just spectacular.

Anyway, all went smoothly and after a couple of miles we turned inland to take the path through the dunes back to the trailer. This is our usual “loop” and we do it partly because slogging through the dunes (for a short distance) is good for the horses and builds condition. Below you see Sunny following Twister down the trail. In the distance is the town of Santa Cruz and the mountain called Loma Prieta. (The local Native American name for it was Uminum, which means hummingbird.) This is the last picture I took, because after that things got a bit exciting.

Well…all of a sudden Twister stopped and stood still for a minute. No big deal. Wally and I both assumed he needed to poop or pee. But he did neither. My son and I caught up and were standing right behind him. Wally said, “Come on, Twister,” in a relaxed way, confident and unworried, as always. I wasn’t paying much attention, really, just waiting for him to go on, when I noticed Twister’s front knees buckling. He started to go down in front.

This caught both me and Wally entirely by surprise (as we discussed later). I wasn’t sure what was happening; Wally didn’t react much except to look puzzled. And Twister lay down on his side in a sand dune. Not good.

In another second Wally was coming off the horse and Twister was scrambling to his feet, and running off, obviously scared. My son’s horse and my horse were both spooked by these scary events and jumped sideways, away from the action. Fortunately both my kid and I were able to pull our always-reliable horses up quickly.

About a hundred thoughts ran through my mind as Wally landed in the sand with the horse on his leg. Would Wally be hurt, would he get hung up as the horse scrambled up, would the horse get hung up on the cable that bordered the trail, would the horse run off and …etc. Instinctively I did the only thing I could do. Pulling Sunny up, I said calmly (I hoped) to my son, “Just pull Henry up and hold still.”

This was easier said than done, as Twister was scrambling down the dune and running away as I spoke and our horses found this upsetting. But like the good horses they are, they held it together. Their eyes were big, their heads were high, and they snorted. But they stood still.

Our stillness was eventually observed by Twister, who coasted to a stop about sixty feet from us and looked back. “I guess I really don’t want to leave you guys,” was written plain on his face.

At this point I looked at Wally, who was still lying in the sand. “Are you OK?” I asked him, again, I hoped, calmly. Wally is 78 years old. The horse had gone down on his leg; I was afraid it might be broken.

“I’m fine,” he said, and got up and walked toward Twister.

“What about your leg?”

“He lay down right on my foot, but the sand’s so deep and soft it didn’t even hurt.”

Well, OK then. Wally caught Twister with no trouble, re-mounted and off we went. We had one minor setback when he realized he had lost his glasses in the fall and we had to go back and look for them. But we found the glasses and all was well. Glasses were undamaged and there was not a scratch or a pulled muscle on either horse or person.

But….obviously we were lucky. Both Wally and Twister could have been hurt. So I’ve done a little thinking about what happened and today I’d like to see if anyone else has any thoughts to offer.

First off, the biggest thing we were guilty of is complacency. Yes, we ride solid horses, yes, we’ve done this ride many times, yes, the horses were relaxed and quiet that day. But that still doesn’t mean we should go to sleep at the switch. Both Wally and I have seen horses try to lie down in loose sand before (they’ll also do this crossing water). We both know enough to get after a horse pretty smartly if he shows any sign of wanting to go down. But instead Wally simply sat there, doing not much at all, until Twister was already on the ground.

Now Twister has never done this before, or I’m sure Wally would have reacted quickly and firmly. But neither Wally nor I had any clue that Twister was thinking of this (he did no pawing), and when he actually started to lie down we both had the sudden fear (as we discussed later) that he was having a heart attack or some such thing. Wally simply didn’t think to give the horse a good hard boot and a loud “Here now!”, as he felt Twister’s withers start to drop. In hindsight, had Wally done this, Twister would no doubt have popped up and kept going and our near-wreck would have been completely averted.

In retrospect, hindsight being twenty/twenty, it seems obvious that Twister was itchy and wanted to roll. He is by far the hairiest of our horses and always gets very hot and sweaty on winter rides, while Henry and Sunny are just a little damp. In any case he showed no signs of a problem either before or after his little “lying down incident”, so he wasn’t colicked or in any sort of distress.

The ironic thing about all this is the fact that it happened the day I made a huge step forward in rider safety and being prepared for the unexpected. Yes, I’m talking helmet. Those of you who have followed this blog (and chided me) will be pleased to hear that your advice has had an effect. Several months ago I went shopping for a helmet and (when none of them fit) finally ordered one. After much delay (when the order was lost and then the helmet had to come from Europe) the helmet arrived last week—and it fit. This does not mean that I was thrilled with it—I am someone who never wears hats because they give me a headache. But I was determined to give it a try. Courtney King Dye’s story really hit home to me. Any horse can fall—I can’t prevent that. And I was beginning to have this niggling uncomfortableness with my bareheaded state on the horse. Perhaps because I am so careful that my son always wears a helmet. Who knows? But I actually felt a bit naked, though I have never worn a helmet while riding since I was a teenager jumping horses (and then it was one of those velvet hardhats). Still, it was this “feeling” more than logic, which convinced me I should get a helmet.

So for our beach ride last week, I strapped the helmet on (after whining that I didn’t need it with all the soft sand) and wore it the entire ride. And you know what? It felt good—like it belonged there. I think I’m going to be able to stick to it. However, one of my thoughts when Twister went down on Wally’s leg was “helmet wouldn’t have helped here.” Until I thought more about it and realized that if Wally had gotten hung up when Twister scrambled to his feet, a very real danger would be getting struck in the head by one of Twister’s hooves. A helmet would have helped with that, maybe. However, Wally is not going to be wearing a helmet any time soon. But I’m glad that I am.

Twister lying down unexpectedly like that illustrates the basic truth that even a solid horse can go down. Though Twister did not fall, any horse CAN fall. And though a helmet will certainly not prevent all serious/fatal injuries, it can prevent some. And the downside of wearing one is pretty small.

I did have a very tense moment when I worried that Wally’s leg might be broken. Twister was loose, and I still had my son and our two horses to take care of. How was I going to deal with all these things? As you can tell from the photos, there was no one else around. But I was carrying my cell phone and it gets a good signal at the beach. Though we were a couple of miles from our rig, we were actually not that far from another parking lot, and my husband’s workplace is not that far from the beach we were riding on. Here’s what I think I could have done. Called my husband and given him directions, let my son hold Sunny from Henry while I caught Twister, and then waited with all three horses by Wally until help arrived. Makes me realize how smart it is to carry a cell phone.

So how about you guys? Have you had a similar experience? Any one else’s horse ever try to lie down with them? How did you cope with it? Any other safety-on-the-trail tips you’d like to share?

Awaiting Royalty

With dire talk about the overpopulation of horses, and the fact that many end up unwanted and perhaps going to slaughter, it seems almost hypocritical to write a post celebrating foals.

But hey - it's almost Spring. Time of hope and renewal. And there are certain foals, born to royal equine parents, which are so eagerly awaited they are a cause for celebration.

Remember the brilliant race mare Rachel Alexandra, who captured not only the Preakness but also Horse of the Year honors in 2009? Last year she was bred to two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, and here is their foal, a colt born January 22, 2012.

But the horse I am most excited about foaling is Zenyatta. After winning 19 races in a row, including the Breeders' Cup in 2009 and being named Horse of the Year in 2010, she was retired to broodmare status and bred last year to Bernardini. She is expecting her eagerly awaited foal in early March. Here she is heavy in foal, with her friend Tasty, (the grey) who is due at the same time:

I have been a huge fan of Zenyatta during her racing days, and I'm not ashamed to admit I'll probably go all gaga over the news of her foal. I even had a "squee" moment when she was moved to the foaling barn last week, in anticipation of her new arrival. Here she is in her new foaling stall:

 

If you'd like to follow along with news of these "royal" horses - Zenyatta has her own "diary" right here: http://www.zenyatta.com/category/diary and even her own facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ZenyattaOfficial and you can learn more about Rachel Alexandra and her foal here: http://www.stonestreetfarms.com/ or here: http://www.drf.com/news/rachel-alexandra-foal-doing-well-day-after-birth

Have you been following the news of either of these "royal" births?

Any other horse arrivals that you are looking forward to?

Crossroads Crossed

Those of you who follow this blog, know about my on-going struggle regarding my dressage future. An incident based on misunderstandings happened about two weeks ago which forced me to make a decision.

Yes, I've been wishy-washy about dressage riding ever since Gailey could no longer be shown. One minute I was quitting, the next I was going to buy a new horse, the next I was leasing a schoolmaster. I wanted to give it up, but I didn't. Partially because it's what I've always done. Partially because I've left so many goals unearned.

I'd been half-leasing the schoolmaster since September. For various reasons--some of my own creation and some out of my control--I rarely rode him more than once a week. In December, I informed my trainer and the owner that I would not be leasing him any longer if I couldn't find a way to ride more often. They both convinced me to stick with it. A month later a friend of mine started half-leasing the horse with me. That caused an interesting problem. Along with her half-lease and mine, another person was also riding the horse one day a week in lessons. That didn't leave any leeway if I couldn't ride on my three assigned days. I asked the owner for a swing day by taking priority over the person who rode in a lesson once a week. She has another horse anyway, so she was just riding him to learn the upper-level movements.

At this same time, the person who was half-leasing wanted to full lease the horse. The person riding one day a week didn't want to give up their day. Based on a few conversations, I believed the owner was going to allow the other rider to full lease the horse. Without going into details, it all culminated in many of us jumping to conclusions and making assumptions that may not have been accurate. So I gave up the horse and my lessons. I was a little upset at all involved.

The horse's owner realized she might have given me the wrong impression and offered to work with me on the lease. The trainer wanted me to keep taking lessons. I realized I'd jumped to conclusions which weren't exactly accurate. But for once, I'd made up my mind. I stuck with my decision, and I told them so. While they were both sorry to see me go, I hope they understood.

Once I'd made the final decision to give up lessons and the lease, I experienced some feelings of grief, though not as intense as I'd expected. I've been taking dressage lessons without a break since 1984. I've had a showable horse since that date also. It's strange not to go to the barn after work or feel guilty because I didn't go to the barn. I now have very little in common with my dressage friends, and the majority of my friends I met through dressage. For years, dressage was where I spent my time, energy, and money.

Now I'm not doing that. Part of me is sad.

Part of me is liberated. I'm free to go home after work, putter in the yard, spend money on clothes, take the $500 a month I was spending on the lease and lessons and pay off some bills, spend more time writing novels, and make friends who aren't in the dressage world.

So while it's the end of an era, it's the beginning of a new one--one that will always have horses in it in some form or the other, but perhaps not as high of a priority as before.

I'm not totally closing the door to dressage riding and showing, but I don't see it in my future at this time. This year will be my year of spreading my wings and concentrating on other aspects of my life. While I'm a little forlorn, I'm also excited about the possibilities.

Meet Jane Ayres - Guest Blog

From time to time we feature a guest blog from another horse author. Today we welcome UK author Jane Ayres, who has published several horse novels for children and teens. She also has a piece in WHY WE RIDE.

Sharing the journey

by Jane Ayres

When I was a child I avidly read every pony book I could lay my hands on.  My favourites were by the Pullein-Thompson sisters - Diana, Christine or Josephine - and I devoured tales about girls who were lucky enough to have a pony.  I wanted to be those girls, so I started to write my own pony stories.  With a twist.  Because, after pony books, my next favourite reading subject was ghosts and the supernatural.  So I wrote a creepy tale called Dream Pony about a girl whose perfect new mount goes unexpectedly berserk at a horse show.  It doesn’t end well for the girl or her pony, but it was the first story I got published by a short lived but wonderful UK magazine called Pony World.  I was 14 years old and the thrill of getting my work in print was….well, it’s hard to put into words.  (Ironically!) 

Since then I have written many “straight” pony tales but I especially enjoy combining two genres. Sometimes, the supernatural element is implied or ambiguous rather than explicit.  I am interested in exploring the dark side of characters (and horses), especially in my last few books, The Horse on the Balcony, Dark Horses, The Runaway Horse and Last Chance Horse. 

But the novel I am currently writing reflects another thread that runs through many of my books.  Often the “life journey” of the characters, human or animal, is paralleled with an actual journey.  It’s only in later years that I have realized how much this figures for me - and how far back it all goes.  When I was 10, I started to write a pony novel which was never finished.  It reflected my reading influences, which, as well as pony books,  included a lot of Enid Blyton Famous Five, Secret Seven and boarding school stories. My novel featured two girls (whose names I can’t recall) and their ponies, Nutmeg and Shadow.  The girls are away at boarding school when they get the news that Shadow has been stolen, so, with no clues whatever, they secretly run away from school, with a few friends, and set off on a horseback mission to solve the mystery and get their pony back.  Midnight rides and picnics also featured heavily!

The second book I had published, in my mid twenties, was called Wild Horse Island and the main character is Zephyr, a wild horse who is taken from his herd on a remote island and begins a long journey to find his way home, encountering two lonely people whose lives he changes.  More than twenty years later, I was asked to update the story and extend it before it was republished as Zephyr of Wild Horse Island.  This book remains dear to my heart.  Years later, without even realizing it, I explored related themes in Coming Home, a rare non-horsey novel about a girl and her two Norwegian Forest cats who are tragically parted but, after many adventures, find each other once more. 

When I got thinking about the stories that grip me as a reader, they often involved characters undertaking, often unwillingly, some kind of journey.  I like to feel when I am reading that I am sharing that journey with the characters, whether it is a girl trying to find her stolen horse, or a loyal pony finding its way back home.  I believe the act of reading, and writing,  a book is a kind of journey.  And I hope I will be travelling for a long time to come.

To learn more about Jane and her books, follow her blog: www.janeayres.blogspot.com or find out more about her books here:

http://janeayres.ponymadbooklovers.co.uk/

Thanks so much for dropping by and visiting, Jane. European readers, have any of you read Jane's books?

A Sensitive Mind

A little over a week ago, I had a big emotional shock. I’m not going to get into what happened; suffice to say that it upset me so much I couldn’t eat a thing, and ended up in bed almost before dark. My mind raced, I played Twister with the duvet all night, and finally called the night a total washout at six in the morning. How did I feel? Exhausted.

But exhausted or not, I still had to go and take care of my horse. I set off in the car around nine, my stomach struggling with two pieces of dry toast. I felt nauseous and slightly dizzy. I took a squazillion deep breath and chugged enough Rescue Remedy to zenify an elephant, yet still reached the yard with my heart pumping and my pores oozing argh.

Qrac met me at his stable door and nuzzled my hand. I unfastened the door, went inside and stroked his neck. He turned to look at me, gently sniffed me, nuzzled my hair, his ears flicking back and forth. Then he lifted his tail and let escape a tiny dribble of liquid poop.

At that point, I just thought: “how weird, that’s never happened before,” and went to get a cloth to clean his bottom. I set about grooming him, talking to him the way I usually do. However, I obviously wasn’t coming across as my usual chirpy self because, as I lifted his back feet to pick them out, he lifted his tail again and almost buried me under a giant mound of seriously loose manure.

That’s when I realized what was going on. My horse was so sensitive to my state of mind that, almost instantly, it had affected his stomach. I was stunned, because although I’ve always known that horses are incredibly sensitive, I’d never imagined they could pick up on our emotions to that extent.

Qrac and I went on a long trail ride with another horse and rider that morning, and during the ride, when he lifted his tail again, I turned in my saddle to ensure everything was back to normal (it was). Moreover, Qrac really impressed me during the ride. I must say that, initially, I’d been slightly hesitant to go on a trail ride. I thought that if my horse had had such a strong reaction to my emotional state in his stable, going out into the big wide open might really upset him, especially since it was cold and windy, with snow flurries blowing in from the north-east. But Qrac was angelic, only spooking once at an old rusty bath-tub sitting by the side of the trail.

That trail ride did me a world of good. The cold air cleared my mind, allowing me to put things into perspective. But most of all, the entire experience touched me profoundly, strengthening my love for Qrac, and heightening my awareness of how incredibly sensitive horses really are.

Have you ever had a similar experience with your horse?

The Young Horse

by Laura Crum

Lately I’ve been thinking about a very real peril of horseback riding that doesn’t get talked about much. In fact, it seems to be ignored by many people. And yet it is virtually 100% true in my experience. Its pretty simple. Young horses (by which I mean horses less than eight years old) will “misbehave” from time to time. No matter how good they are overall, they will have some significantly difficult moments. Disregarding this truth gets a LOT of people hurt. So today I want to write about this topic.

I am going to be the first to admit that I get seduced into this temptation just like everyone else. Despite the fact that I know my horse training days are behind me, I still allowed my friend/boarder to talk me into accepting his three year old colt as a mutual project. And even though we sent this colt to a damn good horse trainer for a year, and Smoky was/is a very gentle young horse who behaved perfectly 99% of the time, he did manage to spook and drop my friend Wally on the ground, seriously injuring Wally’s shoulder, and eventually threw such a huge fit tied to the trailer one day (we never knew why), that the colt ended up upside down underneath the trailer with his foot caught in the safety chains and injured himself so severely he was never 100% sound again. This story has a happy ending because I found Smoky a good home, but it illustrates the point I want to make. Folks, Smoky was/is a really gentle horse by nature. He was/is well trained. Now eight years old, he is being used to teach little kids to ride (he’s sound enough for walk/trot—not hard work). That’s how easy going and gentle and well trained he is. But still…at four, five, and six, despite what a nice horse he was, he had those moments—and as you can see, they resulted in some serious damage. And this is mostly how it goes.

Over and over, in my real life and in horse blog land, I watch as a reasonably experienced horse person decides to buy a new horse. Said person wants a well broke, drama free mount. Over and over I watch her/him select something four or five years old, thinking that the horse will have many more useful, sound years than an older horse. Who can fault that thinking? Over and over I watch as the carefully chosen, well broke, good natured young horse acts just like a broke older horse—sometimes for a long time. But inevitably it happens….eventually there is a day when the young horse acts up. Horse spooks or bucks or bolts—person is dumped and hurt, or just scared, and things are never quite the same again. Person has lost confidence in horse and perhaps horse has lost confidence in person. Sometimes confidence is regained, sometimes not. But overall, it’s a predictable story that could easily be avoided.

Mind you, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with choosing a young horse. I spent twenty years choosing, buying and training young horses. I had a great time. I was not at all worried or upset when my young horses acted up. Once in awhile they dumped me, and though I didn’t like that much, I accepted it as part of the deal. As my horses got older, they got solid. It was all good.

Now? Now I don’t want to get dumped. I’m aware that I’d come off easier, I’m aware that I’d hit the ground harder and break more readily. I don’t really have time to get hurt right now. I’m sure some would tell me that if I don’t want to get hurt I shouldn’t ride. And that any horse can dump you. I’ve heard that one before. And yes, in a manner of speaking its true. But no, my broke trail horse is not likely to dump me. I’m probably more likely to get in a wreck driving my truck, to tell the truth.

Despite the “any horse can dump you” wisdom, the fact is that if you’re an experienced rider riding a solid horse you know well on easy trail rides, you are not very likely to get dumped. In hundreds and hundreds of rides over many years, I have not once hit the ground from one of my broke horses. (Knocking on wood.). Yes, it can happen. No, it ain’t likely. Were I to buy myself a four year old my odds of hitting the ground would go up about a hundred times. Even if he was the nicest four year old on the planet.

The point of this post is not to run down young horses or anyone who has chosen to ride a young horse. Far from it. I admire and applaud you if that is your choice. The point is to make it very clear that there is a huge difference between a well broke horse of eight years old or older and a well broke horse of less than eight. Many, many very sweet four year olds go through a big “waking up” stage around five or six. Its not a bad thing—many a lazy young horse shows his potential to be a real “star” at some event or other right around this time. But so many people who chose a “gentle” three or four year old are very unhappy when this horse becomes a very much livelier five and six year old. Unfortunately, this change is pretty much the norm.

So today I just want to put this truth out there in plain language. If you want a no-drama horse, choose one that is eight or older. If you choose a younger horse, be sure that you are Ok with some “dramatic” moments. Because you are very likely to have them.

Not all older horses are drama free. There are many reasons why a particular older horse can be a lousy choice. Not all older horses have been competently trained. Some older horses have been abused—pushed too hard in the show ring…etc. Some older horses have been hurt or have physical problems such that they never going to be sound or truly usable as a riding horse again. Some older horses are just not of the right personality type to make a solid horse—this can be genetic—it doesn’t always come from poor training. So just being older is no guarantee that a horse is a solid riding horse.

BUT…if we are talking about two well broke, sound horses, of a good disposition, and one is ten and the other is four, your odds of a peaceful, drama free riding life go way up if you choose the older horse.

Again, I think choosing a younger horse is just fine if you are up for the occasional bit of drama. In my twenties I bought three year old Gunner, who was/is a sensitive, reactive, spooky horse. I was happy riding him; I knew he spooked; I could deal with it. One day, gathering cattle in the wind, I kicked four year old Gunner up to the high lope to turn the group of cows, who had taken off in a direction I didn’t want them to go. To my complete surprise, Gunner put his head down and started bucking. Now Gunner didn’t buck—he just never did. So this caught me completely unprepared. I lurched forward over his neck and almost came off, saving myself by a grab at the mane. Gunner wasn’t bucking very hard (more crowhopping than bucking) and my angry “whoa” caused his head to come up. I pulled myself back in the saddle, kicked him up to the lope again and off we went.

This is what I mean about young horses. Gunner didn’t mean to buck me off—he just felt good and it was windy, so he acted up a bit. But I damn sure came very close to hitting the ground, because he caught me by surprise. And now, in my fifties instead of my twenties, I would come off much easier and be much more likely to break something. This is why I don’t ride young horses any more (though I still have and love Gunner—and he’s still a big spook at 32 years old). The horse I ride now, Sunny, who is a very calm-minded critter in his teens, would not bother with such an energetic burst of bucking under any circumstances, wind or no wind. And this is why I ride him.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to discourage anyone from choosing or riding a young horse. Its just to put out a basic truth for all horse people to consider. If you want drama free, an older horse is a better choice. Young horses are growing and changing and coming into their own, and like young people, it is natural for them to test the limits at times. I have known several horses that grew a couple of inches and filled out to the tune of a couple of hundred pounds between five and eight. The amount of energy and the upwelling of “life” that goes with that growth can be surprising and unsettling if you’re not prepared for it. Again, its not a bad thing, but it is a thing to keep in mind.

Hopefully this post will spare someone somewhere some drama/injury he or she wishes to avoid. And I welcome all of your insights on this subject.

PS—For those who read on Kindles, my first novel, “Cutter”, is now available on Kindle for 99 cents. "Cutter" introduces equine veterinarian Gail McCarthy in a mystery that revolves around the intrigues of the cutting horse world. More descriptions and reviews are available at the site or at my website. Here is the link. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.