I read a story today posted online by our local newspaper.  It seems two neighbors are at odds.  One is a horse owner in violation of city ordinances, the other a resident who moved in after the horse owner who already had the horses.  The new neighbor wants the horses out of the neighborhood.

In my opinion both are in the wrong since the horses were already in the neighborhood when the complainer came and the city ordinance is very clear about the amount of acreage required per horse and the horseowner is violating that portion of the ordinance (she should own 2 instead of 3 which still puts things leaning her way in my opinion since one of the horses is a mini and doesn’t really need the same acreage – some dogs are the same size).  The article does not say which came first, the horse ownership or the ordinance – that would change my view if she already owned the 3 horses before the ordinance was put into place.

Anyway, it does make an opportunity to discuss something that has always surprised me.  That there are people in the world who don’t want to be anywhere near horses.  I never viewed horses in the same light as other livestock but it seems non-horse-people sometimes see them as just the same as cows and pigs (this neighbor who doesn’t want the horses there seems to equate them with cows).

After the stunning victory by a 50:1 odds Mine That Bird this past Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, my passion for horses is again invigorated.  I believe they are the most beautiful of God’s creation next to the human race and cannot imagine anyone not wanting to be near them.  The horse racing industry has plenty of warts and issues I don’t agree with but it was still thrilling to see an “average Joe” kind of horse win the most popular of all horse races.  For many, this is the only glimpse at horse ownership they’ll ever see, the examples of equine masterpieces that parade across the television screen leading up to the race. Who could dislike them?  Who could not want to be near them?

So how do you view horses?  See them as livestock like the complaining  neighbor referenced here?  Or do you not notice the stinky business associated with horse ownership and just see the sheer beauty of the animals?  I admit, I catch a whiff of unpleasant odors occaisionally in the summer time around our place but I go out and busy myself cleaning up a little after them and that seems to remedy the problem for the most part.  It only happens occasionally when the temperatures are very high (it gets in the high 90’s low 100’s here with maximum humidity – even many people stink then ).

Just sharing some observations.

For all the years I’ve owned Sebi I’ve had the same saddle.  A Western saddle that I bought just months after I bought him back in 1986.  Both the horse and I were and still are amateurs.  I had never owned a horse before and Sebi hadn’t really had much experience being owned.  He’d been left on a pasture to starve until I came along so the combination of zero experience on both sides was a dangerous one.

As a family we collectively have two additional saddles, both of these are Western too.  When you’re not much of an expert rider all that leather and places to hold on seems to add an element of security.  I shyed away from English for a couple of reasons. First my riding is limited to trail riding strictly for pleasure and second it just didn’t look like you had much there to help keep you on the horse if something unplanned happened, like the horse under the saddle bucking, spooking and shying unexpectedly.

In the early days something unplanned seemed to happen with fair regularity when I was on the trail with Sebastian.  If something startled him it was almost a matter of course he would put his head down and buck for just a few seconds in response.  Once he nearly pulled my arm off as I was leading him through the hallway of the barn.  Someone moved a trashcan from the left side to the right side and the unexpected presence of the can in a new spot scared Sebi enough to produce a sudden backward retreat that caught me off guard.

A wide variety of these kinds of experiences produced a response from me that I’m sure isn’t recommended in any textbook or training program.  I adopted a firm policy of “if I find something that works never change it” strategy that 20+ years later has resulted in my using the same saddle, same bridle, same bit, well… you get the idea.  For a brief period of maybe two or three years I did ride often enough that the horse settled down substantially and I got comfortable enough to actually ride frequently with just a bareback pad (it was the kind with stirrups and a small nylon handle where the horn would be on a saddle).  Sometimes I even rode without the bareback pad.

When my children came along I wasn’t able to ride as often so some of the not so pleasant behavior from Sebi returned and had me again clinging to my old western saddle for security.  That routine has continued over the years as life has gotten in the way of much riding.  I have made a firm promise to ride more often.  I made an impulse purchase this past weekend brought about primarily due to a brief experience last summer on a borrowed English saddle and as a result of this renewed vow to get back to trail riding.

On the 4th of July last year I was invited by a neighbor of mine (you’ll be hearing more about her later – her name is Sandy) to come as near as I could to dressing like a Colonial soldier and riding my horse around The American Village during their 4th of July festivities that day.  Let the kids pet the horses, add to the Colonial atmosphere there, etc.  I couldn’t very well show up with a Western saddle so Sandy let me borrow an English saddle of hers.  I loved it.  It gets blazing hot here in the summer, especially July and August, and having a lighter saddle that was easy to manage was a welcome treat.

This past weekend my husband Mark and I attended Bluegrass & Burgers, a fund raising event held annually at The Spirit of Hope Youth Ranch (something else you’ll hear me talking about a lot if you come back often enough).  They had a room set up where you could pick out some leftover tack in exchange for a donation.  Among the many offerings were a selection of several English saddles.  The prices were just too good to ignore, so I bought one.  As I was leaving, Missy Cox, the trainer out there at the Ranch explained the saddle I now own belonged to a former Olympic gold medalist and this was the very saddle he used during that win.  Since I was on my way out I didn’t get a chance to absorb those details but don’t worry, I’ll be revisiting that topic with Missy as soon as I see her again and will share what I find out.

I have a new, old saddle I’ll be testing out soon.  You’ll have to come back and hear how it works out.

{Note: I wrote this post when it was hosted on another service – moving it here seems to have created some formatting problems-actually I suspect it might be the template – but anyway, it has caused the picture captions to be in the wrong places, it should go pretty much picture caption picture caption in sequence, looks fine in edit mode so I don’t know how to fix}

Ahhh, Spring is in the air.  When you spend time around horses at this time of year you will notice something else in the air too, hair.  Depending on the breed of horse, sometimes a lot of hair.

I always dread this particular two or three week window of time.  If you take any shortcuts in grooming before going for a little ride you will find weeks worth of work when you’re finished – everything is coated with hair.  To avoid this (or at least cut down on it), a good, thorough grooming is needed before you throw that saddle blanket on the horses’ back.  In my case, I have a horse who grows an exceptional winter coat and sheds an exceptional amount of hair come springtime.

To quote my husband, Sebi looks like a furry stuffed animal when the hair loosens and tufts of it are sticking out everywhere.  It also looks pretty uncomfortable since it’s bound to be very itchy for him as all that hair loosens.  Take a look at these pictures I took yesterday when I gave him his first big, grooming during the shed out (we’ll have to do this a few more times before all that loose hair is finally gone for the summer).  There was enough hair on the ground to build another horse.

Also bear in mind we just got over a stretch of wet weather and Sebastian just loves to roll on the ground.  So in addition to the shedding hair he had tangled his mane pretty badly (the rolling twirls the hair around and makes some pretty nasty tangles) and looked like he’d been in a mudslinging contest.  I thought this would make for some really strartling before and after photos.

Sebi before the big grooming…

You can see the hair coming out, doesn’t it look itchy?

This close up really shows the mess he was in…

Just touch him (or even stand downwind of him) and you’re covered in hair

But it got better pretty quickly.  Here are the after photos, the time stamps show the elapsed time from before to after.

It took a little while but oh what a difference, the sad thing is a few days from now it will be all tangled up again, the price of a long mane and free roaming spirit – Sebi is loose in the pasture and rarely stays in his stall.

And the hairy aftermath….

Now for comparison, here’s Mick, he doesn’t create near the drama when he sheds out, but he also doesn’t grow near the coat Sebastian does…Mick hadn’t been touched with a brush or shedding blade recently (he got his turn after Sebastian and after this photo was taken)

The cat watched all of this with interest…this is Ramses…he’s the barn mascot of sorts, he used to hang out on the ledge of the stalls on cold days when the horses were inside.  Now he just gets underfoot when something’s going on at the barn (just in  case someone decides to add more cat food to his bowl). Ramses joined us a year ago this past December.  I picked him up on the side of I-65 one night a couple of weeks before Christmas, just south of Cullman, AL. He acts like he’s been here his whole life.

He’s wondering who is going to clean up all that hair!

While you’re here don’t forget to visit us at our website, there is a link to this blog and I’ve added several more features including a “Links” page.  Check it out!

Bye for now, Lisa Isbell.