Show What

Show season is underway in Switzerland, and the ladies who ride dressage at my stables are gathering together in the coffee room, cleaning tack and discussing which competitions they’re going to be signing up for.

“Will you be competing this year?” they ask me as I slip coins into the recently installed hot drinks and blubber distributor, caving yet again to the double whammy of a Twix bar and a hot chocolate. I’d go for unsweetened coffee, I swear I would, but there’s no caffeine-free version (I don’t drink any caffeine at all), so until the weather warms up and vanity kicks in, I’m powering towards Cellulite City. I urgently need a sweet tooth extraction.

Will I be competing this year? It’s a good question. I’m not a competition junkie; never was and probably never will be. I get nervous, stressing out at the mere thought of moving up the centre line under the unforgiving gaze of the judges. Nerves even got the better of me on my now-retired, good old show-pro Kwintus, so I can only imagine the wear and tear on my intestines should I sign Qrac up for a program or two. Then again, a good case of show nerves might undo some of the Twix and hot chocolate damage, and if I seriously grab the tiger by the tail and ride every show on the calendar, there might come a day when I find myself cellulite-free, nonchalantly tempi-changing up that centre line with the reins in one hand, à la Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz and Fuego XII (have you ever watched his freestyle program at the Kentucky World Equestrian Games in 2010? It’s upliftingly wonderful!). But one-handed tempi changes are quite a way off, considering Qrac and I can barely ride a decent circle. He’s such a wiggle bum!

Nevertheless, when I think about how complicated I found riding him this time last year (I can hardly believe it’s almost a year since I brought him home!), how he used to just snatch the bit and run after his feet, I can only be proud of our progress. He still gets a little hot under the collar after the canter, his trot goes all “frantic” and it’s often a challenge to bring him back to a nice, swinging, regular tempo. He’s a bit of a social butterfly, and is easily distracted by horses coming into the arena, or leaving the arena, so I need to keep his mind busy in order to keep him concentrated. He’s also pretty pig-headed; when he decides he’s had enough for one day negotiating a little extra can become quite a long conversation! Qrac can go from beautiful to absolutely rubbish within three strides, which can be ever so frustrating. A couple of weeks ago I was having a lesson with my trainer, and she was so thrilled by how fabulously he was moving that she took my iPhone and started filming us. Unfortunately, she was just a little too late; Qrac morphed from dream machine to sewing machine the second she pressed record! I was so disappointed.

Coming back to the showing issue, I’m also a little concerned by how my horse will react on the showground. He’s not the bravest of horses and at the moment tends to slink through the village glancing from left to right, like a soldier on a stealth mission, certain that danger lurks behind every letter box. If I take him to a show, chances are he’ll freak out at the flower pots, spook at the flags, refuse to go anywhere near the judges huts, and shy away from the little white dressage railings. He’ll also probably be totally distracted by all the other horses. Me? I’ll get all flustered and self-conscious and forget my test!

I know, I know, I should think positively and not worry so much. We have to start somewhere, and if we went out regularly enough there’s no reason why he shouldn’t get used to performing in different environments. I’m just not sure I’m driven enough to put myself through the whole palaver, weekend after weekend. A part of me wants to, because he’s a beautiful horse, because I’m proud of what we can achieve (well, sometimes!), yet another part of me recoils in horror at the mere idea. I love training, I love working towards that perfect transition, that perfect circle or shoulder-in or half-pass, but I like to transition WHEN WE’RE READY TO TRANSITION, and not at A or E or M just because the test says we have to!

Even so, Qrac and I can actually ride a semi-decent test; I know because we’ve recently ridden a few, just to see whether we had it in us. As usual, I underestimated my capabilities as a rider and was rather chuffed by what we managed to do. The extended trot will probably never earn us many points; Qrac just doesn’t have a big, extravagant movement in trot. There have been moments when I’ve really felt him try to extend, and even wondered whether he might be doing a touch of fancy toe-flicking, but I think it was wishful thinking. But his walk is superb, his canter is great, so if we do show we’ll just have to make the most of his strong points. We also need to practise standing still, which Qrac tends to think is a waste of time if he’s not absolutely exhausted.

Will I be competing this year? I don’t know yet, but I’m definitely working towards the idea of competing. I’m really enjoying the journey, so I’m not too bothered about when we actually get there.

How about you? How do you feel about competing? What are your goals for this season?

On Being There Until the End

by Laura Crum

Not so very long ago I read a blog post with a similar title to this, written by a blogger who runs a retirement farm for horses. She had some interesting and worthwhile things to say, along the lines that the horse doesn’t care if the owner is there at the end, and that choosing to place your horse in a good retirement home (and paying the bills for his care) is one of the best things you can give your horse. She also had some (to my eyes) rather scathing comments about people who didn’t want to send their old horses away and who thought it important to be there at “the end”.

Now I agree with some of what this blogger said and from what I can tell, she runs a great retirement farm. But she missed a few important points, in my view. I wrote a comment listing these points, and lo and behold, it was not posted. I don’t know if got filtered by accident, or she just wasn’t willing to post any comments that didn’t entirely second her own opinion. So today I’m going to enlarge on what I said in my “unposted” comment in reply to her blog—because I think it’s important.

First off, the notion that many of the horses at her farm don’t seem to recognize or be interested in their owners when said owners visit makes perfect sense to me. People, when you send your horse to a retirement farm, its exactly the same as selling your horse to a truly good home. From the horse’s point of view, that is. The horse doesn’t know you are still paying the bills, and that you still own him and care about him. From the horse’s point of a view, he has made the transition to a new home and new equine friends and new human owners. The people who run the farm and feed him and care for him are his owners now. He is interested in them (if he’s interested in people at all), not his used-to-be owner.

There’s nothing wrong with this. Sometimes sending a horse to a retirement farm is the best choice for both horse and owner. But its good to be clear about it. This is the reason many of these retired horses at the farm show no particular interest in or recognition of their owner— with whom they may once have had a great bond. If an owner doesn’t mind this transition and knows its what’s best for their horse because they are no longer able to give him a good life at home, more power to that owner.

But…people who don’t feel that they would ever want to send their old horse “away”, are not to be ridiculed. If a person has the ability to keep their retired horse at home (or in a nearby boarding facility) where the horse has plenty of room to move around, the company of other horses, and good feed and care, that is, in my eyes, the best possible choice. No matter how good the retirement farm, it simply doesn’t offer the incredible benefit of looking at your sweet old friend every day, seeing he is happy, and hearing him nicker when he sees you. And, in my view these things are priceless.

I have two retired horses on my property. One is Gunner, who has been featured throughout my mystery series starring equine vet Gail McCarthy. Gunner is 32 years old—I have owned him since he was three (see my February blog post “Feeling Good” for more about Gunner). For ten years Gunner was my main riding horse—we competed at many events, covered many miles. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see his blaze face and bright eyes every day.

Gunner lives in a big paddock where he can run and buck and play (and he does) and socialize over the fence with other horses. He has a shed and gets free choice hay (and equine senior feed night and morning). His weight is good, he is sound, and his attitude is happy. I kept him turned out in a neighbor’s pasture for awhile (with other horses) and I honestly think he seems more content here in my barnyard, with all the human and horse activity that goes on. My son and I pet him and give him cookies and though he doesn’t see or hear well any more, he really is thriving overall. So his life is good; and my life is better because he’s with me. I missed him when he didn’t live here and am happier now that he’s home. Gunner seems happier, too. Isn’t that what its all about?

My other retired horse is Plumber. Plumber is also a featured “character” in my mystery series, where his registered name is “Plumb Smart”. My real life Plumber is “Plumb Brown”. Plumber is 23 this year and I bought him as an unbroken three year old from my uncle, who raised him; I did all this colt’s training myself. I have known this horse since he was born—in fact I was the first one to see him. Plumber was my main mount for twelve years and we competed at team roping and completed many mountain pack trips. I gave my little boy rides on Plumber when my child was a toddler. Plumber has lived in his same large paddock on my property for twenty years. He is completely dialed into life here—knows exactly when I am going to turn him out to graze—has involved relationships with his equine companions of many years. He nickers every time he sees me, whether it’s feeding or grazing time or not. Does anyone really suppose that the best thing for Plumber would be to uproot him from his comfortable life and move him to a retirement farm? Even if it was the best farm in the world?

Below you see Plumber about six years ago, when he was 17 years old and still in full use as a riding horse and team roping horse (we retired him at 20, still sound, because he gave us signs that he didn’t enjoy working any more). Look at that sweet face. How could anyone choose to send a horse like this away if they didn’t absolutely HAVE to?

And yes, I know, my kid and I are not wearing helmets. If I had it to do over again, we would be. But this photo was taken before I began blogging—and interacting with so many horse folks on the internet. No one in my real life horse world wears a helmet—and their kids don’t either. I did buy my kid a helmet (and made sure he wore it always) about a month after this photo was taken—at the same time I bought him a pony for his 5^th B-day. And, in my defense, we rode Plumber just as you see for many years, with absolutely no problems. My conviction that Plumber would not dump me, and that I could hang on to my kid if the horse spooked (and he did spook occasionally), was perfectly accurate. And yes, to those who have an eye for detail, I am wearing pirate pants and clogs. I ride in pretty much whatever I have on.

Anyway, Plumber is a very sweet little horse, and he knows who his people are, and it would make me, and I think also him, very sad if I had to send him away.

Mind you, if I couldn’t keep him here for whatever reason, and chose to send him to a retirement farm, he’d get through the transition. Horses do. Sometimes its harder than others and a horse will really mope for awhile, but eventually the new place would be home. But given that I can keep him here in what has been his true home and not force a big transition on him late in life, I think its much better choice for him (and me) to keep him here.

Yes, it’s an inconvenience in many ways. Gunner and Plumber take up two of the four large paddocks that I have for horsekeeping and I get no “use” out of them. But it is more than worth it to me to have them with me—for my sake as well as their sakes. I love them. I don’t want to break the bond between us. I want them to remain “my” horses. And yes, I want to be there at the end—to take upon myself the responsibility of when is the right time to make that choice and to insure that it goes as smoothly as possible. This is not something that I want to give away to someone else, no matter how experienced and well intentioned that person may be. These are my horses. It is my privilege to care for them until the end of their lives. I don’t want to send them away if I don’t absolutely have to. And I don’t think this is a point of view that should be ridiculed in any way.

If I truly didn’t have room for them or couldn’t keep them in an appropriate way, or if I lived in a harsh climate where I felt the winters were too hard on them, I might indeed send them to that retirement farm for their sakes. But in my own circumstances I think it a far better choice to keep them with me, and I feel sure that many others would benefit from making the same choice.

So my point is not that retirement farms are a bad choice. They can be a very good choice, depending on your circumstances. A much better choice than selling an old horse and not keeping track of him (which is a terrible/evil choice, in my view). A good retirement farm is a responsible, loving choice. But the best possible choice is to be able to keep your old horse with you and enjoy his company, and be there with him at “the end”. The rewards of doing this are huge, and I’m pretty sure that others who have followed this path will agree. So…no ridiculing those of us who do NOT want to send our old horses away, and who want to be there with them at the end. Not without a rebuttal, anyway.

Please feel free to give your own thoughts on this subject in the comments.

And…my fourth book, “Roped” is now available on Kindle for 99 cents. I have to say that re-reading this book (which I haven’t read in over ten years) was kind of fun. I almost have to pat myself on the back. The book is set in the ranching/team roping world of central California—the world where I spent my twenties and thirties—and the story brought the working ranches of my youth back so vividly I almost felt that I was there again. The gathers in rough country, the horse wrecks, team roping contests, and hours spent hanging out in the local bar with the cowboys, everybody talking horses….it’s all there. Along with an exciting mystery plot. I mean, even though I knew how it was going to end (duh), I was still pretty gripped.

OK—its silly to blow my own horn. Of course I like the book—it’s my book. But I do think that any of you who have the slightest tinge of interest in the ranching life will enjoy this mystery.

Anyway, Cutter, Hoofprints, Roughstock, and Roped—the first four books in the Gail McCarthy series, are now available on Kindle for 99 cents. Click on the titles to go there.

Also, anyone in the continental US who would like a free review copy of my latest book, “Barnstorming,” (12^th in the series), can have one by emailing Susan Daniel at susan@danielpublishing.com with your snail mail address. Your only obligation is to post a short review (can be a couple of sentences) on your blog or on Amazon.

And last thing, we FINALLY updated my archaic website, which I’ve pretty much ignored for oh, about the last ten years. It was very 90’s—and that’s putting it kindly. It’s still a work in progress, but thanks to my husband, it now has a slightly more current look and up to date info. We are going to keep working on it over the next couple of months and hopefully it will soon be pretty interesting. Check it out at www.lauracrum.com

A guppie against the tide.

Several months ago I blogged that Uiver and I had dipped our toe in the big pond of FEI dressage and Jennifer's blog last week about dressage being a "harsh mistress" has proven all to true for Uiver and I in our last couple of shows.

Uiver and I continue to strive for that never ending quest of type "A" for anal dressage perfection and I am even, shall I say masochistic enough, to do it at some of the biggest shows that southern California has to offer. Well Uiver and I are at least not embarrassing ourselves and are getting mostly moderately respectable scores in the low to mid 60s but were are a long way away from the scores of 70 and up that you need in this environment to be in the top five of classes at these shows.

And then there are riders like Steffen Peters that make it look oh so easy and flawlessly gets a 78 on his new horse Legolas and a 79 on Ravell at the beginning of the season. The trainer I work with, David Blake, won both of his Grand Prix classes on a new horse that he had ridden only 8 times prior. Now that is just wrong and unfair that anyone should be that talented. Do I sound envious, well, you would be right!

David on Albert

Steffen on Ravell

Steffen and the perfect canter pirouette!

I try to be more inspired than intimidated when I watch these amazing riders in their seamless partnerships with equally amazing equine athletes. I look at my pictures and I can see any number of flaws - I need to sit up taller, my leg should be longer, my reins are too long, my seat should be deeper, and so on and so on and so on. Then you look at pictures of Steffen and David and I am not sure if I want to shoot them for being so perfect or shoot myself for not being better.

I know, I am a little crazy but you really have to be to stay in a sport where a 1/2 inch of rein or a micro unit of weight in a seat bone or the slight shift of your leg can mean the difference between a good canter pirouette or a really bad one. Not to mention those cursed tempi changes. Lately it seems I can count to 3 but not to four because we can get the changes every 3rd stride (which or supposed to be harder) but seem destined to screw up the 4th stride tempis every time.

Uiver and I.

I am in love with my horse but frustrated with myself. However, like every other obsessive compulsive dressage addicted masochist, I will continue to strive for that impossible dream of the perfect dressage test. Unless you Steffen Peters that is.

Feel free to tell me that I should get a funny little jacket that ties in the back and check myself into the nearest mental hospital. How about you? Anybody else struggling against the tide?

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Cute!

I am always amazed that in a world filled with good, bad, ugly and cute that the really bad and ugly hasn't hit my family in full force. Tornadoes? Missed us. Cancer? Not yet. Horse breaking a leg? Nope. Drug addicted relative? Been there and got through it. Lately my life has been filled with cute since as you know, I am antique and vintage crazy and enjoying every Breyer Horse and depression glass vase. But when does the 'cute' run out? When does the good teaching job and the husband, daughter and son healthy, accident-free, employed and sane change? And is mentioning my good fortune jinxing me and us? I'm not sure.

Our dog, Dozer, and my stepmom, Reba, recently died and each was a sad event but expected. Life does end, and Dozer was ready for the big dog house in the sky and my stepmom had been praying to go quietly, which she did. So these two deaths don't count as 'bad'. My husband and I often wonder why good luck has continued to come our way. We wonder: when will it run out? Or, as in one article I read in "Goodhousekeeping," do we make our own luck? And if the ugly does hit me smack in the face, will I be able to handle it after so much 'cute'?

The other day I was searching for the worth of a porcelain horse I had bought, and googled "china horse." Instead of photos of adorable figurines, I was bombarded with graphic images of fighting horses surrounded by a cheering audience. China has outlawed 'horse fighting' but the 'sport' is still going on in rural areas. Two stallions are baited with the scent of mares and then . . . you get the idea. Only don't google it. The photos have stayed with me for days, and I did not spend time scrutinizing them. It was an example of ugly that I could not shake. How had I not heard of this before? Supposedly, the Chinese government has worked hard to keep photos of the sport from leaking out. And I must admit I did not read or research the issue after seeing the pictures, so I don't really know. Yup, this is called sticking my head in the sand.

The good, bad, ugly and cute are all part of life. Sometimes the bad and ugly seems to unfairly hit people who don't ask for it. We have friends and family who have lost jobs, health and loved ones all in one swoop. This has been a good and cute few years for me and my family.

Knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, kiss the garden gnome, and I hope it continues. How has your year been? Are you ready for the good and cute? Or braced for some ugly?

News! (and a Free Book Offer)

by Laura Crum

My 12^th book has been published—in 2012, how appropriate. The cover is by the very talented Peter Thorpe, who has done most of my covers. I think he did a wonderful job on this one. My son actually came up with the concept of a barn being “struck by lightning” as a play on the title, and Pete did a fabulous job of painting this image and doing the lettering.

“Barnstorming” takes my protagonist, equine veterinarian Gail McCarthy, into some new territory, both as she solves the mystery and in her personal life. Those who have read the series know that Gail starts out in “Cutter” as an eager 31 year old vet who is one year into her career, with a new boyfriend and a new horse. In the first ten installments in the series she ages one year in each book and goes through some important life changes. By “Chasing Cans”, the 10^th book, she is 41 and the mother of a young child. (and still has to solve a dramatic mystery on the ranch next door—the woes of an amateur sleuth).

In my last two books Gail ages five years per book, as I wanted to bring her closer to my own age (I’m 54) and write about some themes that interest me now. “Barnstorming” has a lot to do with solitary trail riding and the challenges that come up. And since it is a mystery, Gail faces the challenge that I think all of us secretly wonder about. What if we met a truly nasty person out on the trail? What if that person had a gun?

All my books are very much based on things I’ve seen and done, and all the horses in my stories (and the other critters) are as true to life as I can make them. They behave like real horses (most of them are modeled on my own horses—and those who read this blog will recognize them); they don’t talk, or solve crimes, or defend their master from the bad guys (all of which I have seen and winced at in various novels). Sunny, my little palomino trail horse, has a starring role in “Barnstorming”, as he did in “Going, Gone”.

I will admit that I have been fortunate enough never to have met anyone truly nasty on my many solo trail rides, but I have met some odd/tough looking sorts and certainly had my moments of wondering “what if”, which gave me the seed of an idea for this story. I’m hoping you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

And, if the book sounds interesting to you, you may have a copy for FREE. My publisher has agreed to send a free copy of “Barnstorming” to anyone in the continental US who will review the book on her/his blog or on Amazon. No fancy or lengthy reviews are necessary. Just mention you’ve read the book and say what you think of it. If you would rather not do a book review on your blog, or you don’t have a blog, you can post a short review on Amazon. So those of you who would like a FREE review copy of “Barnstorming” please email Susan Daniel at susan@danielpublishing.com with your agreement to review and your snail mail address, and she will mail you a copy of my latest book.

I’m currently in the process of getting my older titles available on Kindle, which is taking me awhile, because I don’t have electronic copies of the first ones (written twenty years ago). So by April that job should be done. In the meantime, here’s a list of my published mysteries, with a short synopsis of each book. The first eight books (all out of print) will be available on Kindle for 99 cents each. The first three are up there now (Cutter, Hoofprints, and Roughstock) and I have every intention of getting the next five up there shortly.

I’m very excited at the thought that these books may become readily available again. I put so much of my life into writing them (twenty years), and the stories are not only good mysteries (or I think so, anyway), but also reflect a lot of my thoughts about life…and horses. I hope some of you will give them a try.

Here’s the list (I can hardly believe I’ve actually written this many books):

CUTTER: Veterinarian Gail McCarthy thought cutting horse trainer Casey Brooks was being paranoid with his stories of poisoned horses and sabotage, but when his blue roan mare returns riderless and Casey is found dead, she isn’t so sure.

HOOFPRINTS: Gail McCarthy is a horse vet with a hectic schedule, not to mention a horse, a new boyfriend, and a house payment, and her life is more than a little disrupted when she finds two dead bodies in the course of a routine call to a well known reined cowhorse barn.

ROUGHSTOCK: While attending the annual Winter Equine Seminar at Lake Tahoe, Gail finds one of her fellow horse vets dead, and another accused of his murder. The trail leads back to Gail’s hometown, and through the twists and turns of the team roping world, plunging Gail into a confrontation with an unlikely killer.

ROPED: A stalker haunting the ranch of an old friend creates a harrowing personal drama for Gail as she struggles to sort out a mystery involving animal rights and a bitter feud—and win a team roping event at the same time.

SLICKROCK: Gail embarks on a solitary pack trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, with just her two horses and her dog for company. All too soon she stumbles upon a soon-to-be-dead man, and is drawn into the whirlwind of nefarious events that precipitated the tragedy.

BREAKAWAY: Faced with a depression and some big life changes, Gail struggles to find the right path as she is confronted with the strangest mystery she has ever heard of.

HAYBURNER: Gail is called out to treat injured horses when the biggest boarding stable in the county catches fire. When a second barn fire occurs nearby, Gail finds herself in the middle of the search to catch the arsonist—before any more horses or people die.

FORGED: Gail’s horseshoer is shot in her barnyard, while shoeing her horse, embroiling Gail in a dangerous attempt to capture an elusive killer.

MOONBLIND: Gail’s cousin Jenny, who runs a Thoroughbred layup farm, complains of mysterious villains who are out to destroy her business—and harm her horses. While trying to support Jenny, Gail discovers this threat is all too real.

CHASING CANS: Legendary barrel racing trainer Lindee Stone is killed when a horse flips over backwards with her. The cops are calling it an accident, but Gail witnessed the wreck and thinks there is something fishy about it.

GOING, GONE: While on a vacation in the Sierra foothills, Gail finds that her old boyfriend, Lonny Peterson, is accused of murdering a local auctioneer. In an attempt to save Lonny, Gail ends up in a harrowing horseback race with a ruthless killer.

And just released-- BARNSTORMING: In which Gail, on a solitary trail ride, discovers a fellow equestrian shot through the heart, and embarks on an intense hunt to discover why violence is haunting her local trails.

Readers sometimes ask me which books are my favorites, or which I think are the best. In a way, this is like asking a mom which child is her favorite—it’s a hard question to answer. I can tell you that Slickrock (5^th book) is the overall reader favorite, and that readers either love Breakaway (6^th book) or they hate it—its my “darkest” book. I really like both of these books. I can also say-- after working on my early books to get them up on Kindle-- that I get steadily better book by book through the first four novels. I am very partial to my last four books because they reflect on my current life of being a mom, but I have noticed that those who are not mothers themselves often don’t like these books as well as the early books. So those are my insights, for what they are worth.

Anyway, it is my intention that Barnstorming will be the last in the series. I always planned to write a dozen books in this series, and now that goal has been achieved. The novels took me twenty years to write, and cover twenty years in the life of one particular horsewoman (30-50), chronicling her many adventures. If you like mysteries and horses, I think you’ll like these books. And I would be very happy to get your feedback on them, and thrilled if you’d review them.

By the way, if any of you who like my books want to do me a real favor, post a positive review on Amazon. This may have quite a bit of influence on how many books I sell. I realize it’s a fussy sort of chore, and I never post reviews on Amazon myself, so I’ve got no expectations. If you happen to do it, I’ll be very appreciative.

And…I have a Facebook page now, believe it or not. I always said I wouldn’t do Facebook—guess I have to eat my words. We can be “friends”.

One more time (can you tell I’m excited about this?)-- Cutter, Hoofprints, and Roughstock—the first three books in the series -- are now available on Kindle for 99 cents. Click on the titles to go to the Kindle page for each book. This is one of my favorite covers—again by the very talented Peter Thorpe.

Social Media and the Kill Pen

When I was a teenager (eons ago) I used to accompany my dad to buy horses. It was a part-time hobby of his - finding good family horses for people and turning a small profit on them. Usually he dealt with a dealer whose job was to find such horses (and most came from ranches in Texas, Oklahoma, and Idaho.) But sometimes I'd go with him to one of the horse sales in California's central valley, where we would look for good buys on gentle, well-trained horses. My job was to jump on them (as the owners were showing them off) before the sale started and ride them around the parking lot, through mud puddles and between trucks and trailers and past dogs tied in the back of pick-ups. If the horse did well, appeared gentle, and was kinda pretty, my dad would try and make a deal and we would bring it home before it went through the sale.

I got quite an education back in those days. I not only learned how to ride a variety of horses (and it was also my job to show them off to customers back at home) but this was the time when I learned about the "kill buyers." The sad fact was that those horses at the auction who didn't find new jobs as riding horses would usually be bought by kill buyers and sent to slaughter.

Things haven't changed an awful lot today. There are still horse auctions where many horses get sold for meat. At the moment, there are no equine slaughter houses operating in the United States, and horses are now sent over the border to either Canada or Mexico to be slaughtered. There is a proposal right now to build a new horse slaughter plant in Missouri, and also a movement amongst horses lovers to stop it. But the sad fact is that many thousands of horses are still slaughtered and sold for meat every year, most of it shipped overseas.

What has changed from the time when I attended auctions? Technology. Cell phones, social media, twitter, and facebook help spread the word about horses that are available and horses in need. Is this helping some horses? I think so. At least a few of them.

There are many rescue groups now that scour auction yards ahead of the actual sale time, looking for horses that might be rideable or usable or registered stock. They can then post these horses on facebook, with pictures, and even get identification of tattoos of certain breeds, and find out the horse's name and history. With the abundance of smart phones, you can take a picture of horse, post it on facebook, and maybe find someone to fall in love with it and offer its purchase price or donation toward its rescue immediately.

There are a lot of soft-hearted people out there, and many follow these auctions from home computers. They can save a horse by sending money to pay pal, or by calling or emailing or posting that they'd like to donate. Amazing, huh?

If you'd like to follow some of their attempts to save horses from auctions, here are some sites:

Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue
Website: http://www.sctbrescue.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-California-Thoroughbred-Rescue/155169894561912

Horse Plus Humane Society
Website: http://www.horsehumane.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/horsehumane

Pony Up Rescue for Equines
Website: http://www.ponyuprescue.com/index.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PonyUpRescue

Auction Horses
Website: http://auctionhorses.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Auction-Horses/281527494270?sk=wall


These mostly deal with auctions and horses on the West Coast, but I know there are many in other parts of the country as well.

If you want to save a horse in person, you can go to one of these auctions yourself. Bring your checkbook and your horse trailer. I've done so in the past, and brought home not only an emaciated pony that I took home and fattened up, but also a 6-month-old weanling filly that was separated from her mother in the pen and sold separately, price $50. She found a new home the next day with my best friend.

If you prefer to get involved in horse rescue from the comfort of your living room, that's okay, too. Look up some of the sites above, or feel free to post any other rescues or links you know of in the comments below.

Have you ever been to one of these small-time horse auctions, or saved a horse from slaughter? Tell us about it.

Dressage is a Harsh Mistress

Today I'd like to welcome Jennifer Walker as a guest blogger.

Dressage is a Harsh Mistress--Guest Blog for Equestrian Ink

by Jennifer Walker

When I got back into riding after about nine years away from it, I wasn't sure which discipline to pursue. I had a little Arabian mare, and we ended up at a sport horse training barn. When I watched some dressage at an Arabian sport horse show, I decided that was the discipline for me. After all, it's just making circles and changing directions and trotting and cantering and wearing cute little outfits!

Yeah....not so much. As it turned out, it was a whole lot more than that. For one thing, making corners and circles that are actually round is much harder than it looks. For another, you have to have the horse on the bit, and working through its back, and tracking up, and all kinds of other things. Somehow it all snuck up on me and turned out to be much more than I bargained for.

Then I started going to horse shows. And I learned that even though my mare and I had come a long way and performed well for what we were capable of doing, that didn't equate to what really needed to happen and therefore a good score. As dressage judge Creeky Routson once said when I was scribing with her, "Dressage is a harsh mistress." Boy, did I get that.

Once you finally figure out how to make circles that are round and lines that are straight, and your horse is on the bit and you're finally keeping your hands in the right place, you move up a level and everything gets a little harder. Or, suddenly your trainer decides you can't let your horse's hind end swing inward at the canter anymore. Or now your halts have to be square instead of just being thankful the horse stopped at all. It's one thing after another!

And that is the beautiful, wonderful thing about dressage. There is always something new to learn, a new height to reach. When you finally get that feeling of your horse being on the aids and moving powerfully beneath you and you're working together harmoniously. That moment when you finally get the movement right and your instructor smiles and says, "Good job!" It's that bond you form with your horse after hours and months and years of working together to reach a goal.

Yes, dressage is a harsh mistress. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

____

Jennifer Walker is a freelance writer, editor, and novelist living in Northern California. Her two books, Bubba Goes National and Bubba to the Rescue, are both available in print or digital editions from http://www.twintrinitybooks.com and other online retailers.