For the record: I officially HATE the fact that videos linked in posts don't stay put on YouTube and when I go back, which isn't often, to review, I find -- more often than I'd like -- that the video is GONE! So then I have to go find it again and redo the post. Oh well....I need to remember how very, very little this blog means to anyone.
Perspective, as they say.
What happened there at the end? It looked like horse and rider both disappeared into a hole in the ground. That'd make it about 8 feet deep if the horse stayed on its feet. That must have come as a surprise to both of them.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like he just lands and buckles his knees, and keeps going down.
ReplyDelete30 years ago or so I got to attend the RDS Horse Show in Dublin. James Kernan had just received sponsorship from Bailey's, and his horse, Conde, had been renamed "Bailey's Irish Cream". I think this was the first show after the new name, and it became obvious very quickly that no one had bothered to consult with the Conde about the name change. I watched that horse, consciously and with malice aforethought, drop a hoof on about half the jumps, all the while managing to use his ears to do the best mule impression I have ever seen from a jumper.
He continued to give absolutely craptastic performances until the day he came out and was announced as "Bailey's Conde", at which point his standard international level jumper form reappeared as if by magic.
I supposed James should have been happy that he didn't expresse his disapproval quite as emphatically as this poor animal does.
OK, I better stop typing, this migraine/allergy/whatever is worse than I thought, given the crappy editing above.
DeleteHAHAHA! (Not at your migraine, but the story!) I completely believe that. I had a mare who, at a Three Day Event, came out of the stall virtually three-legged lame. I called the vet (who later became my husband), but by the time he arrived, she had looked around and realized that the show had begun. She trotted sound as a dollar. I rode her because it was just the dressage phase and I thought she could handle it. Next day, lame again. But the vet was at the start of the cross country course, so to have him look at her, I had to ride her there. I rode slowly...by the time I got to the start and she knew it was cross country, she was sound again. She went round beautifully. Stadium, lame again. It was always up in the hip. Sound as soon as she was brought out of the stall. Did stadium. She came in 2nd. Instead of staying out for the whole class to get the ribbon during the awards ceremony, I took her back to the stall and untacked her and put her to bed. WELL!!! That was NOT going to do. She pouted with her head stuffed into the back of the stall until I brought her ribbon and held it to the side of her head as it would have been if it had been pinned to her bridle. She arched her neck and puffed up. After that she was fine and began eating.
DeleteNO ONE can tell me animals don't have complex and sophisticated emotional lives. They KNOW stuff. And it matters.
The first stable I took lessons at had a large pony (about 14'3). I was in the first group lesson after school, and I was one of the few people who could go in to tack him up and not have him lame for the rest of the day. He would pull pony shit, like refusing to canter on the correct rein, to the point that when the instructor was furious and make me dismount so she can show me how, the best she could get out of him was a really pretty little crab-step all the way around the ring.
DeleteOn the other hand, a young couple wanted their almost-still-a-toddler to have an experience on the back of a real horse rather than the poor little things at the pony rides at the fair, and this was the pony their child was put on. I watched that animal take the most amazing care, walking on glass, because he just knew what he carried.
Two years after we moved, we were back for a visit in the summer and I stopped by the stable, to find out that some asshole hunter poaching in the posted state woods near the stable had accidentally shot him, presumably thinking he was a deer.
http://photos.rds.ie/item_detail.php?id=2c75cf2681788adaca63aa95ae028b22
DeleteA photo of Condy at the RDS around the time of the incident above. Fantastic horse.
http://photos.rds.ie/item_detail.php?id=0607f4c705595b911a4f3e7a127b44e0
Looking through the RDS photo catalog reminded me of Harvey Smith's horses, all of whom were named "Sanyo [appliance of choice]" It was so weird hearing a show announcer call out "Sanyo Microwave Oven". I was always amazed that they didn't react the way Condy had.
Gorgeous old photos! Lovely style over fences.
DeleteWhat a tragic story about the little pony. Ponies are assholes. But very often sweet sweet assholes. Our next door neighbor has one that our daughter rode when she was younger. He was good as gold until she got old enough to start really asking for anything. Then he ran away with her, bucked, threatened to lay down, refused to canter, etc. until she was so frustrated that she was almost crying. I would get on (I'm very small) and he wouldn't put a foot wrong. Clever little pony.
Ed Being Very Naughty
Deleteand
Ed Being Very Good
That's when you drop the damned sword. Me? I'd have shortened my stirrups a smidgen before riding.
ReplyDeleteI would DEFINITELY have dropped the sword, but longer stirrups are MUCH better when horses start to screw around...more length of leg helps you stay in the saddle.
Deletelol. Nice.
ReplyDeletebeing a bastard, when I was a kid, I have on occasion used a little ketchup bottle to squirt a dab of honey under a horses tail. The bee (or horsefly) that subsequently arrives, the clamping down of the horses tail, and the 'Oh Crap" dance that followed, made for some good fun. Except for the rider. And probably the horse. I learned my lesson, though, and while the hoofprint-shaped bruise on my gut was healing I meditated on how little I'd like to have a bee on my butthole.
Dennis the Menace had nothing on you. Sorry about the horse teaching you your necessary lesson. They can be kinda serious about making you pay attention.
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