Blog :: Horses and Riding
December 2007
Befuddled and Bemused
I’m not a breeder and I don’t play one on T.V., but I do read breeding forums. Not because foals are cute, but because buried in all the “what stallion would you breed this mare to?” and “what stallion do you recommend to improve the canter” and “tell me about this pedigree” posts is an awful lot of information on conformation, movement, and evaluation of the same. Everything has to be read with a grain of salt and a general understanding of the cast of characters (e.g. there are stallion owners who seem to think their stallion can improve everything from sickle hocks to the price of milk in China), but there’s information in there if you’re willing to read what people are saying, look at the pictures they are posting, and think a little.
So. In my random reading and such, I came across the Georgian Grande registry. You can google it, if you like. They have a website; I can’t say I’m inclined to link to it.
They are registering Saddlebred/draft crosses. I don’t really know enough about Saddlebreds to know if that’s a logical cross, so I kept my skepticism in check and went to look at some of the pictures.
And here is where I am befuddled and a bit bemused: what is the point in a registry where some of the horses look like Saddlebreds and some of the horses look like drafts? Even I can see there’s a huge difference between the sky-high head and hocks-out-behind stance of the Saddlebred and the big drafty horse with the low-set neck and hocks more-or-less underneath the horse. The only thing in common is the papers, as far as I can see.
If you’re a new registry, don’t you want some consistency in the horses you’re showing? Pictures that will illustrate your breed standard? I read the breed standard and looked at the pictures, and I’m still not sure what this cross is supposed to look like. Apparently, it can look like anything at all, as long as your papers say the horse is 25-75% Saddlebred and the rest is draft blood.
I’m still not sure why this registry was formed, which makes me suspect it’s part of the whole Labradoodle “designer animal” craze. With the exception of the jumping pictures (every jump I saw looked downright uncomfortable to ride), the horses look as suited to what they are doing as any other draft cross. The USDF breed results show year-end champions from 2007 generally in the low-to-mid 60s, which is respectable enough but not high enough to make me think of the breed as a likely pick for my next dressage star.
I don’t know what to make of USDF having breed results, although from the USDF website it appears the breed registry (and not the USDF) is the one providing the year-end awards. Fascinating. Maybe I should scope out the year-end awards for each breed and limit my horse search to the breed with the best awards. I wonder what it takes to get on the USDF’s participating organization list. Could the Blue-Eyed Horse Association be added? Inquiring minds want to know.
I guess I don’t understand why Saddlebred/draft crosses are suddenly a breed unto themselves. I thought breeds were supposed to be consistent in type, with similar conformation. Am I missing something? I’m not saying it’s a bad cross, since most of the horses on the site look decent and willing enough, I just don’t get the “breed” part of it. Like I said: I’m bemused and befuddled.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas… just like the one we had last year…
As you know, since I complain about the cold frequently, I live in the frozen Northlands. We get feet and feet of snow every year. It’s so cold here that they don’t bother salting the streets—the city puts gravel down instead. We also get a healthy (ahem) dose of sub-zero temps, but I don’t like to talk about those (because if I don’t talk about them, they don’t really happen?).
This year, we have inches of snow on the ground. Inches. Two, maybe three. I honestly thought we might not have a white Christmas. The odds of that happening are, oh, on par with Jamaica having a white Christmas.
We did get a little snow, so the world is not quite ending. We’re not supposed to worry about whether we’re having a white Christmas. We’re supposed to worry about whether or not we can get the car out of the driveway. What a strange, strange winter this has been.
Not so strange that I’d want to stay up here, though. Fortunately, I think Houston will happen—it’s just a question of timing. Hopefully by spring. I can put up with the rest of this winter if I know it’s the last one. Lynda, I might have some real questions for you now (as opposed to my earlier “Is it true your spiders can beat up my cat?” questions) if you have the time/are willing.
No horsey news, I’m afraid. I’m done riding for the winter, because the cold is causing too many problems with my back for me to ride consistently.
I just thought it might be a good idea to confirm I’m still around.
Check this out
There are close to 50 texts at the moment. There are also references to an image gallery here and there, but I haven’t had time to get that up yet.
I was able to test it on IE7 and the latest versions of Safari, Netscape, Opera, and Firefox on PC and IE 5.2, Firefox, and Safari on Mac. People using IE 6 & under might have some display issues, and who knows what Netscape on Mac is doing to the design.
(It’s not that I don’t want to design for IE 6 & under, it’s that I don’t have a test environment for it at the moment. I’ll figure it out eventually.)
The next step is to enable comments on it. Then the image gallery.
November 2007
Back in the Saddle Again (and a confession)
After another couple weeks off, I rode again tonight.
Perhaps the most surprising part of the lesson was how well I rode. It felt good to be back on the horse, and even better to be effective. Maybe I should take time off more often.
And now for the confession:
For all that I make snide remarks about bling, it’s only fair for me to admit that I own (and use!) a pair of turquoise splint boots. These are, if possible, worse than the sherberty polo wraps I was subjecting horses to last spring, before I found the splint boots in a box of stuff at my mom’s old house.
But what is truely horrifying is the fact that I know that somewhere there is a picture of me and the super saint, and the super saint is subjected to the splint boots on his front legs, the polo wraps on his back legs, and a red and green Western-style saddle pad. Good thing he had a sense of humor, huh?
In other words, when it comes to making fun of peoples’ fashion choices: hello Kettle, I’m the pot.
Can we get over bling already?
Please, someone, explain the appeal of bling to me. I have never understood it.
To be fair, I also don’t understand diamonds. I think they’re cold and ugly. We all better hope that on the off chance I ever end up in a serious relationship and said potential guy ever proposes to me, he doesn’t buy a ring with diamonds on it because there will be a really awkward pause while I think about it. If he’s smart, he’ll use that really awkward pause to go return the ring and buy a horse. And then for anniversaries he can buy me new expensive tack instead of new expensive earrings.
Maybe if I liked diamonds I’d like bling. Do you think?
Nah, probably not. Remember the Bedazzler? Remember how utterly, inevitably laughable it was? I do! Every time I see another rider with yet more cheap sparklies on everything they could attack with a glue gun, I think of the Bedazzler. And laugh.
On the other hand, presumably all this money being sunk into the cubic zirconia market has a purpose. Enough of a purpose that people are now (so I’ve heard) blinging the swagger tabs on their boots. The. Swagger. Tabs. On. Their. Boots. Bedazzle!
I bet people regret that pins on ratcatchers went out of style. Think of all the twinkly opportunities missed!
If you’re wondering what prompted this, it’s the million and one commercials for diamonds that are coming on the TV. E very time I see “a diamond is forever,” all I can think is “how unfortunate.”
Sigh.
It’s ok. I’m resigned to the fact that everyone but me finds diamonds fascinating and I’m prepared to admit that, if you like diamonds in the first place, tasteful bling is probably equally appealing.
On the other hand:
Bedazzle!