showmom.com Blog

Life with Young Horses

Today is repair day.  The 2  year old gelding has his stitches out but we have stall repair work from his 7 days inside a stall.  The gelding - Silver Skye - managed to tear out not one but two automatic waterers in the course of his rehab.  Our goal which we accomplished somehow was keeping in the stitches along side of his nose.  We managed to keep him from scratching but not pulling on the automatic water bowls - somehow he got the feed bucket strap looped over the water bowl and then pulled.  Two new bowls have been ordered and will be installed.

Skye the 2 year old is all healed and back outside with his mature pasture buddy - maturing and just waiting for next year when we can start him under saddle.

Horses can be fine but in a blink of an eye they can start and get into more trouble.

Surprises on the Farm

Life on the farm is always interesting.  Last Friday I was all set to be in my office with several conference calls back to back.  I thought it would be a nice calm Friday - I had been traveling all week with some tough meetings and faciliations so was looking forward to sitting at my desk. 

Just as I prepared for the first call, I get the call from the barn that the two year gelding has sliced his nose on something. I get dressed and quickly golf cart out to the barn to see what has happened.  Yes, he has deeply sliced his nose and will require stitches.

Back to the house since the phone company in an effort to fix the phones discounted the barn phones to make the house phones work - do not even try to figure out that one. Call the vet, call my first appointment to explain I need to rearrange the day. 

Vet arrives, puts in about 12 or so stitches after cleaning out the wound which turns out to be somewhat deep.  Shots, medicine and a doped up 2 year old that will now be stalled for several days.  Our charge is to keep him from rubbing his nose on anything in the stall or outside. 

Now I have missed two calls and my day is off - so much for a quiet day in the office.  Imagine explaining to non horse people - oh that planning session for the meeting next week, well I have to reschedule to meet the vet and get a horses nose stitched up.  Yup never dull.

Inspections for the Foal - Rosie

Saturday was inspections for the foal.  It is a day for a judge to review her and provide scores for confirmation.  Basesd on the scores, the horse is admitted into the registry, which is how warmblood horses get their papers.  Most breeds reguire that you send in forms, DNA and information on the dam and sire.  Not the warmbloods - they want to personnally inspect the horse and make sure it has the confirmation for the registry. 

Here is video of us at inspections.  She was approved as Oldenburg - just missed premimum since they changed the rules from last year.   The woman in white is the professional handler -she moves out the foal and mare in front of the judge.  The judge is german and has the clipboard.  At end of day the horse is branded if accepted in the registry. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOo4pd48tJc

It was hot, both horses were braided and we had to be there at 7 am so it was a 5 am day for us. 

Your horse if a warmblood has papers because an owner got up, paid the fees and went through inspections.

Summer Checklist

Summer is a great time to get some of those extra things done and practice good horsemanship.  We can check up and get booster shots.  We get out the equine dentist for the annual visit to work on our horses teeth.  We actually create a list and keep it by the back door of all of those summer chores or items that must get done eventually.  Things like checking the tires on the trailer and truck.  Cleaning out the tack trunk - finding those chokers and lost socks.  We check tack leather and make sure to keep inside to avoid the humidity in our southern climate. 

We add salt to the feed - works just as good as a supplment and we drain water troughs every three days to make sure water is clean - more often when it is hot.  We turn off all barn lights and have the power company turn off the utility light over the barn (keeps out mayflies a carrir of potomic fever).  We walk the pastures to check for fire ants and any holes as a result. 

So what is your summer list? 

Varsity Equestrian Teams

Most teams make their decisions around the recruitment signing dates which you can find on the NCCA web site.  Many teams told us they put together their choices in Feb.  You definitely want to have your tapes, letters, applications out by Sept of your Senior year in High School.  We spent the spring of Junior year and the summer between researchiing schools and putting together her video tape of riding. 

Remember there are several ways to go - IHSA and ANRC which are club teams - there are more schools and teams, more kids show per team at a competition than NCAA.  Scholarships also vary as well as the other benefits from being on a varsity team.   NCAA has strict rules around recruitment, scholarships, team recruitments and what booster club including parents can do.  For example, we needed permission to have the team over to our house for dinner, we cannot eat or drink what is put out for the team and we are limited what we can do in fundraising. 

Most importantly, I think if you want to do NCAA team you have to want to be an athlete - someone who not only likes to ride horses but will train, workout in the weight room, and be part of a program in an athletic department. If on the team and scholarship, you work for the team under their rules.  Some riders off the show circuit find this a hard transtion.

Do your homework before applying.  Any  questions from riders - email me and I can connect you with my daughter for some inside information. 

Name of a Show Coat Experienced Tailor in the DC Metro Area

Dear Moms,

I would like to know if some of you could share with the name and telephone number of a tailor in the DC metro area. I would like to have some show coat experienced tailor fitting my Coat.

Please let me know.

G 

Off to Varsity Nationals

We are off to the NCAA Varsity Equestrian Nationals in Waco hosted by Baylor Univesity.  Teams are invited by the selection committee with 12 teams invited each year - as the league grows it is not always certain who will be invited.  Collegiate riding is so different from typcial horse showing.  Getting ready for indoors involves a lot of preparation of horse, rider and trainer.  Collegiate nationals involves coaches who prepare their riders.  Horses are donated for the event and not sure how much preparation they get.  Baylor did a great job last year of getting donated horses for the event but they come in all sizes, shapes, and breeds for this event. 

Teams are seated like other NCAA sports so it is based on rankings over the year and then they are paired with an opposing team for nationals.  The top four teams do not show the first day.  This is head to head competition so the team draws a horse that is ridden by their rider and a rider from the opposing team.  The rider with the best score takes the point for their team. There are four riders in each division and if a tie they go to raw scores to break the tie.

There will be four sections - equitation over fences, eq on the flat which is based on a pattern of activity at each cone, reining and showmanship for the western side. Lots of parents come representing the different booster clubs and we get to decorate our stalls in team colors with pictures, ribbons, team curtains and whatever else we decide to do.  So I am off to decorate, buy food, cheer politely on the huntseat side and yell on the western side.

The bus has left campus so the team begins their 14 hour ride to Waco.  My day started with many phone calls - all those preparation and packing questions - which really are just a way to keep me in the loop of her excitement to be going.  It is always fun to hear the excitement in their voices.

A filly! At Last

Saturday night - just before I was to leave in the morning, Bea (Staunch Beacoup) had her foal about a week late.  She is the largest foal we’ve have ever had. She is huge, will probably gray out given the circles around her eyes and is all legs.  It took two vet assistants to pull her since she was so big at the shoulder and the hips.  Glad she was at the vet’s with a foal alert so we avoided any trouble. 

Link to youtube if you want to see the foal during her first hour of life.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2esFvvI9Kyk -

She is named Silver Rose or Rosie and is learning to walk on her legs and figuring out how to nurse.  She is pretty strong for a newborn. 

Foal Watch Two

We are on foal watch for our second one of the season.  Any day- I blocked off this week to be home and of course no foal yet.  The Thoroughbred mare looks so uncomfortable that we think it will be each night when we visit the barn.  At least we have foal alert so no long nights, waiting and watching.  We just wait for the phone to ring and then run for the barn.  (She has a computer chip sewn into her so when contractions start, our vet’s cell phone rings to alert them to the birth.)

 Clark our reining colt is a handful but very cute.  He is most athletic and fun to watch out in the pasture running circles around his mother.   More video to come on  him.

A New Colt

Life is busy at our farm.  We added a new member - a reining colt born on Thursday - 3/4/08.  He was kind of enough to come at 11:00 pm so no all nighter for us.  This Mom had me worried so we had her at the vets for foaling.  The best part is that she had a computer chip - called Foal Alert - sewn into her rear end so when contractions started, our cell phones ring.  No long nights watching and waiting for a sign - the beauty of technology.

Clark is the barn name of the new colt. His mare and stallion are reiners - not our sport - but she had some successful foals on the reining circuit, was successful herself so we bred her.  Her is a picture of him at 16 hours - He is small which is how they want reiners - not our typical hunter jumper tall babies.  We moved him  home today into his suite of a double stalls.  We will now begin the long hard work of training him to be around people, halter and walk gently.