Archives :: Horses and Riding

I received an email today from a lady whose stepdaughter has been invited to a national championship, but we all know (or can imagine, anyway) the costs involved at that level of competition. Aside from the show & related fees, there’s also travel fees and so forth. Her question is how to raise money to pay for this.

First off, congrats to the stepdaughter for doing so well. 

MiKael is apparently exacting revenge on me for never commenting anywhere, and she’s tagged me with that “Seven things you don’t know about me” viral meme. I’m sure I’ve done that one before (and it was only five things, then. It’s gotten worse the longer it goes on...). Tracey at Mustang Diaries offered an alternative ("Seven things you’d like to accomplish in 2008") but I already posted my New Year’s resolutions. All, um, three of them.

So I’m going to do “Seven Things I’ve Learned Around Horses.” I’m such a rebel.

My cat had minor surgery earlier this week (she’s is and was fine—it was a precautionary thing) and I’ve been spending most of the week laughing at her. I can’t help it—there’s nothing quite as funny as a thoroughly torqued-off cat wearing a vet collar. Also, I pay her bills, so I should be allowed to laugh.

Between her after-surgery care and some deadline-type things I have going on, I’ve been busy and expect to remain busy for a while.

So: something else to read:

Today’s temperature: Are you kidding me?! (This is a real temperature. It’s right between “Cold? You think you’re cold?” and “So this is what cryogenic freezing feels like.")

I’m feeling sorry for myself. I wasn’t, until I realized it is at least 70 degrees warmer in Houston than it is here, but hey, that’s what the internet is good for: finding things out that you’d be happier not knowing.

I’d like to take a post to salute all the poor, misdirected folks who found this blog in 2007 via unlikely keywords.

Like the person who was looking for “stuffed monster pattern.” I am sure this is not what you were looking for.

I finally broke down and bought myself a PC because I need a way to test sites in IE without having to go to a friend’s house or borrow someone’s laptop. My Mac is starting to show its age, too, which means I need to think about a new laptop down the line. Maybe next Christmas.

At any rate, an unexpected benefit: I can access the foaling cams (Mare Stare, We Foal, etc). 

I’ve always thought of registration papers as having three main values:

1. They prove that a horse belongs to X breed, or at least is X type.
2. They provide a way to track performance and lineage.
3. They allow the horse to compete in breed shows.

I don’t think much about riding attire. Sure, breeches are a bit goofy, and helmets, however practical, are never going to be a popular fashion statement… but who cares? The only time we wear this stuff is when we’re around other horse people, who are used to goofy.

Except, of course, for that one show when I was, oh, maybe sixteen, and my trainer asked me to run to the store and grab some stuff.

I never bother to make resolutions, because I know I’m not going to keep them. I finally realized I do this all wrong. What I should be doing is making resolutions that I know will come true. This way I can be successful without even trying. It’s the ultimate fulfillment of the American dream.

Therefor, I resolve:

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.