postheadericon Introducing Blazer

 

blazer head over fence.fixed 

Blazer, pictured above, is a fifteen and one half hand gorgeous five year old Morgan gelding of really excellent bloodlines.simplymaserati  

Blazer’s sire 

Blazer is everything that Stanley did not turn out to be.  He was a show horse until he got kicked in the hock in the field as surmised by his  former owner and expert trainer, Danielle Pauvfe, who works and competes for the Misty Meadows Morgan farm in Connecticut.  Danielle shows very competitively at the highest levels. While Blazer’s surgery at Cornell University fixed his hock so he is sound; it would be unwise to put him through the stress of intense competition and so he came to me. He is five years old and beautifully and thoroughly trained. He has a big heart and spirit yet is perfectly mannered and just the right horse for me. He would have been the perfect horse for me twenty years ago when I rode constantly without all my orthopedic difficulties.  In just four times riding him (pix below) including two lessons to make sure I have not forgotten how to ride in the five years since I have ridden. Mind you, five years ago before replaced knees, steel plate in neck, and a very problematic lower back, I was galloping barebacked across the field on my old Morgan mare who we had to put down for old age.  I am told that my form and seat are intact and horses and riding have been a very important part of my life since childhood.

My friend Mary Ellen Holcomb, quite a rider herself having won the world championship last year on a Friesian, has looked for a retired or retiring top drawer horse for me for some time from an owner that did not want to sell a horse but place a horse just as I do with my retired Cavaliers.  Sometimes unless you place or adopt a horse out with an ironclad agreement that the horse will come back to the former owner, a horse buyer can just sell a horse on without the horse winding up in the best of circumstances.  I sent Stanley back to the rescue organization where I found him. I do not sell horses on, but find places for them where they will be safe and secure. If I could ever not keep Blazer, I have promised and signed a contract that he will go back to Danielle just as I have done with new owners of my beloved retirees who deserve their own pillows and places of honor away from the young hooligans and other retired dogs here. Al and I have always done what is best for the dog although our hearts may break when one of our beloved dogs leave.  Anyway, I have digressed as usual in my ADD fashion.

m on blazer 2 Mary Ellen had lined up a couple of horses for me in the past but things did not work out.  God was just making me wait for this horse to canter into my life. Through Mary Ellen’s efforts and Danielle’s extreme kindness, Blazer journeyed from Connecticut to Ohio three weeks ago with Mary Ellen and her husband Jimmy.  I am grateful beyond words. Of course, Mary Ellen and Jimmy journeyed back to Connecticut with a tri girl puppy called Lexi and one of my beloved retirees who had fallen in love with Mary Ellen on sight. The right person always comes along for the right dog and the dog always knows who that person is!! With a kiss goodbye, my ruby girl said goodbye to me knowing she will see me again and happily sashayed out the door with eyes on only Mary Ellen without looking back! That is just the way it should be!

blazer head

Well I could have helped our horse pack his bag, attached a GPS and headed him toward Connecticut yesterday!!!  Darling Blazer has become quite taken with me I am told; both trainers and instructors tell me the horse actually loves me which I know is pure flattery, but nice to hear.  The visiting dressage instructor who gave me a lesson yesterday did say that he loves me and takes care of me while riding him.  We are practicing our diagonals which means if I am on the wrong diagonal while trotting I need to sit my fat ass down for two beats hoping to rise on the correct diagonal. Posting to diagonal changes can be very hard and give many riders a lot of trouble. We are cantering now on my fourth  time on his back and the barn crowd, especially my trainer, instructor, and friend, Kristin Hassen, seems to think I am doing exceedingly well for an old broad with lots of metal in her.  Of course, I have an amazing horse–the envy of the barn especially all the teenaged girls who treat him like a rock star. Oh, Blazer, they sigh!

m on blazer 1 Blazer is not all that he seems however.  I wear a pair of diamond earrings that I have worn constantly for over 30 years. At a time I had given up on men (didn’t last long enough, should have gone into the convent), I bought these studs for myself having been disappointed in the human kind.  My joining up with the feminists one might say.  Now, Blazer, whom I am told loves me you see, nibbles ever so seductively on my face, my neck, my hair and my earrings.  Have you ever tried to find a diamond stud on the floor of a horse stall.  I was in high gear while lowly crawling around on the floor wailing to St. Anthony to once more save my ass–in this case my earring– as the thought of Blazer swallowing it resulting in my picking through a mountain of turds did not sit well.  St. Anthony has never failed me, but this time he made sure I had crawled the length and breadth of the stall before allowing said earring to reveal itself.  So my earring is back on my ear and Blazer still laughing at me in his stall just waiting for me to stick my neck out again for his caresses this time sans earrings.  I do so love this boy!!!

Until next time . . .

postheadericon Catching Up 9/16/09

It has been awhile since I have written about what is going on here at Rattlebridge.  Well, let’s start with our rescue horses.  Shotzi is biting and I mean biting hard. She got my nephew in his arm but good.  So I, the expert, went up yesterday after having been away for a couple of weeks on and off judging (saving this for the next post).  Mind you Shotzi and Buttercup just returned to the farm after having been off to boot camp for a month ensuring that they are fine tuned as my nephew and niece were going to start riding.  I was going to teach Annie to ride on Shotzi and probably Melissa also. Melissa is here to attend Ohio Wesleyan University; she lives in the dorm but is here quite a bit playing with puppies. Melissa has not ridden since the last time I put her on a horse when she was twelve.  After she fell off, she swore off horses forever but has been reconsidering.  So I began saddling Shotzi up and she promptly tried to eat me.  She is lucky that I didn’t eat her.  Every time I began to adjust the saddle, she flattened her ears,whipped her head around and tried to nail me.  I lunged her with no problem and unsaddled her after giving her such an evil eye that she behaved.  So now we have a problem.  We need a companion for Buttercup but we also need a safe horse for all concerned. Nothing is ever easy.  Now as to my dream horse,Stanley:  Stanley has been lulling us into a sense of trusting his overall demeanor, kind eye and acceptance of training.  Well, he has been lying in wait.  With his confidence being built by his training, he has begun to assert himself but good.  He has tried to run me over, our wonderful trainer over, and head butted her so badly she wound up in urgent care.  So since the rescue organization from where we got these two horses, no fault of theirs is full, we are in, as usual, another dilemma.  Perhaps my dream of riding again is not the great idea I thought it was. Oh, well, until next time.

postheadericon Introducing Stanley . . .

I have always had horses in my life, but since I had to put my Morgan mare down at 28 years. On my 60th birthday I was still riding her bareback across the field at a full gallop.  Then I lost her. my knees had to be replaced and my back became such a disaster that I could not roll over in bed for a year.  Now my back is much better thanks to decompression therapy and my knees are so marvelous that I can kneel for an extended time in Church; I have total range of motion.  I still never thought I would truly love a horse  again or really have a desire to ride again because I did not think I could ever find a Morgan like my Glory.

When we moved we had three horses we could not keep due to the move.  If my niece and nephew had evidenced a desire to buy the farm at the time we were moving, we may have been able to keep them.  We did keep our Buttercup who was born on the farm and put her into a boarding stable. I hate selling horses as one never knows where they will wind up because horses are often sold and resold and resold.  My heart and mind were much more at ease donating the horses to a first class horse rescue, in this case Last Chance Corral in Athens, Ohio.  So we donated two of our three horses to Last Chance with the request that when and if I was ready the founder of Last Chance Corral, Victoria Goss, would help find me the horse of my dreams. With my niece and nephew living at the farm, it became possible to have horses again at the farm. I wanted another Morgan but the Morgan I wanted would have been so expensive that I could never justify buying a horse as good or better than as my Morgan mare. If you frequent this blog you may remember my blogging about the horse slaughter auction and the need for donations to Last Chance to get as many horses out of the auction as possible. Horses are winding up in slaughter auctions as they are just dumped from race tracks, from those using horse buggies as transportation and horses to plow, and to people who are just plain broke and unable to afford a horse in this economy. When Victoria and I talked about our making a donation and perhaps getting a horse from the auction to go with Buttercup when we moved her back to the farm for she needs to have the companionship of another horse, Victoria told me about a seven year old Morgan who had been kept in a round pen all his life with no training or experiences other than the round pen. She told me he was incredibly beautiful but would take a lot of work, and she meant a lot of work, to get him to the point where he could be ridden; the trainer at Last Chance looked apprehensive when she told me that it would take more than a year at the very least.  Victoria said I could have the Morgan who had just been castrated if I wanted him.  The horses that Last Chance rescued were really nice horses-hard to imagine them winding up where they did. When Al and I went to see the auction rescues at Last Chance and chose Shotzi, who is a small, very pretty and well trained bay mare, as a companion for Buttercup, we met “Screaming Demon,” the Morgan’s registered name, and I fell totally in love.  He didn’t know anything but would not try to hurt anyone and had the kindest, wisest eyes.  I connected to him instantly, but Al and I thought if foolish at my age to get such an untrained horse.  Al and I talked more that night and decided not to pursue it further.  I could not sleep.  I just knew that this horse was sent into my life for a reason as he was truly my dream horse.  So I called Victoria and said I wanted him.  I found an amazing trainer in a stable very close to where we live as I wanted “Stanley” at a barn with an indoor arena with a trainer who would use the Natural Horsemanship approach.  Stanley is coming along marvelously; he is sane, sensitive, affectionate, and so willing and anxious to please.  I will be riding him in a couple of months according to the plan. Since like my Glory, I will be the only one riding him, I hope that we will forge a relationship like I did with my Glory.  I am so very happy he is in our lives along with Shotzi and Buttercup.  Below are pictures of my “Stanley,” a name that just popped into my head as his name!stanley grazing 2  Until next time . . .

 

 stanley great head

stanley head