caf. wrote:Over and Out could not be entered due to a conflict of ownership.
Oops my bad sorry - I forgot to remove him when I copied and pasted *facepalm* c:
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Guns 'n' Rosettes - Ulan Bator Cross Country Invitationals
#28: What’s something you really want to do with your horse someday? ~319 words
My dream for Guns 'n' Rosettes, or as we call her, Rosie, is that someday I can take her to the beach and get her to swim. As a youngster she would barely walk through a tiny puddle. It was the single hardest thing when it came to training her. She is much better than she used to be. Though it is definitely not her favourite part, when it comes to a cross country pool she has to splash through, or a water trough at a show jumping hurdle, she will grit her teeth and get ot over with as fast as possible. Howevr, no matter how hard we try she still is terrified of the sea. She must just think the waves are going to eat her right up! She happily jumps the stream which runs down the shore, but will not go further than dipping her toes into the ocean. Silver Sea is situated right on a gorgeous long beach, with crystal blue water and many of the other horses adore playing in the water. Those that don't love it at least tolerate it, and have learnt to enjoy going for a swim. But Rosie is the only one who won't go even go in and paddle. Every wave that crashes she shies away. It doesn't matter if we walk her in on foot, or try and take the others in to show her it is safe, she just will not do it. Even on the calmest of days she still throws her head up, white of her eyes glaring, and so seing her so terrified we haven't punished her at all or tried to push her into it. All I can hope is that if we keep working with her that eventually some day she will take that plunge, because it is such a wonderful experience for our horses, we only wish she would understand that!
#67: Does your horse have any white markings? If so, what’s your secret to getting them clean for shows? If not, do you wish they did? ~316 words
Rosie doesn't have any white markings or 'chrome' on her feet. She's got little ginger legs right to the hoof, so we don't find ourselves needing to scrub at her legs. Rosie gets her lack of leg markings from her sire Bold In The River, he is almost completely solid. She does have a white blaze on her face, but thankfully she is actually a very clean horse. You could put her in a muddy field in a rainstorm and she'd come in clean. We quite like our horses to have unmarked legs, obviously as it's easier to keep clean but also just aesthetically. It can make splint boots look a bit neater and makes their legs look clean and uniform when performing dressage moves. However the only downside is when it comes to identifying individuals, especially as our barn is filling up with chestnut warmbloods! Guns 'n' Rosettes' dam Cavallo Beyond (Blur), who is living out her retirement days with us at Silver Sea Stables, was the complete opposite to her. She is a gray mare and typically, as grays tend to be, she is the messiest, dirtiest, most mud-loving horse at the yard. The second she was put out in her paddock she would roll around and be brown head to toe. The worst bit wasn't even the mud, it was the green grass stains she seemed to end up with before every show! Now Blur gets to be as mucky as she wants all the time, which suits her perfectly. We tried so many different products to get her and others clean. Baking soda works wonders we discovered, just as good as some of the expensive brands, and some friends even top off white markings with some talcum powder for an extra whiteness. At the end of the day the best thing is some elbow grease and determination to get those stains away!
Everything's Magic - Linz Combined Driving Invitationals
#78: Is your horse quiet or hot? Does their speed make it harder for you to ride/drive them? ~323 words
Angel is a fairly quiet little mare, just like her breed, Icelandic Horses, tend to be. She used to be shown solely in cross country, for most of her life in fact, and she is experienced at this discipline, making it to regional level recently, but it was never just quite what suited her. So though she still competes at cross country now and again, we gave her a try at some driving and she has really excelled at it. We bought her some new tack that looks great on her, and started with a little second hand cart. After some early success we were able to invest the winnings back into some better carts for the different sections of combined driving. We have even found that Angel becomes more willing and honest when in her harness versus under saddle, and we can tell she really enjoys herself. She is steady and forward going, not slow, but she doesn't need to be held back too much, which actually makes her stand out in the barn of rather hot warmbloods we have. We love all our horses and we can handle a hot horse when need be, but Angel can make a welcome change every now and again. Also in driving it is important she is under control, and not going to bolt off, or spin on the spot, as it could be dangerous for both her and us. She is very reliable and since I am still building on my driving experience, that suits me perfectly as we head into the invitational rounds, which were a bit of a surprise after not long competing at combined driving. She seems to know exactly what is needed of her and she is a real all rounder, doing well in each of the sections. Starting driving from her cross country career Angel is fit and nimble too so she can go fast when she needs to.
#29: Is your horse very vocal? Do they make any strange sounds? ~315 words
Yes! Everything's Magic is one of the most vocal horses we have. The rest tend not to make an awful lot of noise, but Angel seems to have figured out exactly how to get our attention. One of our young stable hands actually harnessed this and has trained her to 'speak' on command! She is a very smart horse and she actually very much enjoys learning little tricks like this. She likes to whinny at all the other horses, and will always make sure her presence in known when she walks back into the barn or into the field. She has an exceptionally loud neigh too, especially for her petite size. It carries for a long distance. For example, when we take her on a hack away from the stables, especially alone, she will shout to her friends back home all the way. She chuffs gently as she goes around the driving course when she is enjoying herself, whereas when she is particularly frustrated, she will blow out fast through her noise, making a sharp snorting noise. She likes to nicker at you if you have food and try to convince you to hand it over, or often sometimes just to say 'hello'. Often in the trailer to or from a show she will natter away the entire journey, just as if she is talking to us, and she is perfectly happy, it isn't a complaint, she just never shuts up! cx The other thing is being a mare, and being smaller too, Angel has to stand up for herself when out with other larger horses. She manages to hold her own very well though and plenty of the much bigger geldings are even scared of her. She is known to give very loud shrieks and squeals and all kinds of very dramatic noises in warning if others get too much in her personal space.
Mind Over Matter - Glasgow Eventing Invitationals
#31: What’s your competition attire? Describe it. ~334 words
Dressage: I always wear a safe hard hat. I have a normal peaked felt hat and a top hat one so depending on the style of the show I'll choose which one. My hair is always tied back in a neat bun, and well secured so it doesn't come undone. Then comes a smart pale blue blouse, with white or cream jodphurs and a well fitting black jacket, buttoned up. My boots are tall black leather, and my gloves plain white. I always bring cloths to keep my boots clean and presentable, as well as to keep the tack and horse looking smart too before we enter the ring. Matt wears a simple black bridle, just a cavesson noseband, and a black leather saddle, with a pale blue saddle cloth embroidered with an SSS for Silver Sea Stables. We don't use more than the simplest tack, we don't find we need to use flash nosebands, martingales or the like. The bit is a simple snaffle. He also has his mane braided and tail neatly trimmed.
Show Jumping: The attire for this section is similar to dressage, although not quite as posh. The hat is the smae and my hair is tied up in a bun, sometimes with a black bow. Then I dress again in a blue collared blouse and black jacket, white jodphurs and tall black boots. Matt has the same tack, but with an ear bonnet (pale blue) and splint boots (white with black accents).
Cross Country: I start with a long sleeved thermal, topped with a polo shirt, in navy with pale blue accents. My hat is a plain black skull cap. My jodphurs are black. The boots here are the same, only this time we aren't so worried about them being clean. Matt wears his normal tack, sometimes with a breastcollar, and has greased legs with his white and black splint boots.
We always take spare items of everything, since I have a bit of a habit of losing things!
