Accidental Sagacity for Today: Harold Ault

My friend, Harold Ault of Ames, IA, is a rare find. By all accounts, he is the purest definition of eccentric. At first glance, it is easy to misunderstand him. His appearance is usually slightly disheveled, his gait both swinging and staggering at once, his mode of transportation helped down the road with the aid of log chains and cement blocks. But look for the accidental sagacity and you trip over a substantial treasure.

Harold is a walking, talking, dog eared, highlighted, frequently thumbed through, epic volume of encyclopedias. He is a collector of nearly everything there ever was on this earth, namely carriages, their accouterments and a bevy of anecdotes. For the uninitiated, Harold is the Saturday NY Times crossword puzzle. However, if you express an interest, he will start you out with a Monday puzzle and give you many clues.

I have known Harold for 11 years, a year after learning the importance of traces. And now I can tell you the difference between a road coach and a park drag. He has only had to explain the differences to me a hundred times, but he never tires of trying. Every time, he remembers yet another story to add to the richness of the lesson.

To say that I am familiar with Harold's carriage collection would be stretching it. However, I am aware of the historical significance of many of the items. He has so much stuff, both tangible and intangible, that it is sometimes overwhelming. It is a Show and Tell that has lasted 11 years and counting, of which I am eternally grateful to him.

In order to show my appreciation, I nag him constantly about writing a book and categorising his collection. Now that he is retired, I nag even harder. The purpose for writing this blog is to engage you, dear reader, to join my cause. Whenever you see/meet Harold Ault, let this blog be your first impression of him. Look beyond the cover and encourage, berate, cheer, cajole or threaten him into achieving the potential of his collection and in turn of his life's work. And ask, if you dare, the differences between a park drag and a road coach. Someday, you'll be glad you did.

Harold driving Don Pecos put to

his Kimball Stanhope Gig, at the

Villa Louis Carriage Classic, 2000

Serendipity Strategies for Carriage Driving Obstacles

Accidental Sagacity for The Day

1. Know Your Course

2. Know Your Horse

3. Love Your Horse

That is oversimplification, I know, but it's true.

This photo of The Major General and I at the Harvest Moon Carriage Classic in Urbandale, IA, shows something important that I harp on about all the time. Carriage driving clients of mine will say, "Michelle! You are dropping your shoulder!"

Yes, slightly. And notice that Major is slightly dropping his shoulder to mirror me. It is incredibly hard to drive a cones course on a hillside in the gig without dropping your shoulder, but this is what happens. This is why we placed fourth or fifth or whatever.

Second thing I say that sounds like a broken record: Look where you are going so your horse knows where he's going. I know he has blinkers on, but they KNOW. See, Major knows where he's going, he's looking at exactly what I'm looking at. He mirrors me.

Mirroring is a topic that too few people are aware of in their relationship when training horses. It can elevate you from a competent horseman to a remarkable one. It takes a study of body awareness both of the person and the horse. It takes commitment to the process both physically, mentally and emotionally. I constantly work to achieve the level of brilliance that my horses attain. The mirror works both ways.

A photo is worth so many words...

A Kid and the Ultimate Carriage Driving Machine

There really is nothing like driving a finely tuned, super charged horse.

I hitched Pecos yesterday for a fun birthday lesson for one of my clients. She and Pecos have a chemistry that is awesome. She feeds off his power and speed. He senses her verve and fearlessness. Her mother and I often stand there regarding them with our hearts in our mouths, but they stick like glue, the Daring Duo. Did I mention this kiddo is 9?

So she and Don Pecos are careening around the cones course I set up to train Ace with earlier: complex angles, tight, tight turns. Her first attempt she clocks 1:13 with several cones down. I am telling her to, "Slow down! Slow DOWN! SLOW DOWN!" Her mother remarks with that should-I-be-concerned-tone, that it looked the gig was on one wheel some of the time. We discuss an alternate route through the cones, and I tell her to go a little more s-l-o-w-l-y so she can be precise. Her next time is 1:09, one penalty. Yep. Tweleve sets of cones over 40m x 80m. In sand.

Well, I had to see if this course really was that fast. If you read Wednesday's blog, you know how I feel about cones. I am not going to tell you what my time was. I am going to tell you that I am a very fine instructor. I am going to tell you I have very talented clients. Very talented, 9 year old clients. And a very fast, finely tuned, super charged bad boy prince charming, Don Pecos.

Have a serendipitous weekend!

Centered in Iowa

Accidental Sagacity For Today

Lucy and I had the opportunity to take a sublime stroll down a country road this morning while the gig tugs were repaired by a local harness man near Luther. This time of year everything is so lovely in the early morning light. We walked past a government project of prairie grass reserve that was just breath taking. The plumes were mauve, stems purple and bases golden green; set against a blue sky this was Nature Mama at her finest. The stems were almost above my head and I wondered how this scene would have moved me if I had the opportunity to see it before corn and soybeans were its neighbor.

Still, no offence to those crops, for along the road they were bordered and laced with hay ground, which I always consider to enhance their beauty. The majestic corn was beginning to golden, but the beans on this road were still vibrant verdant. A lazy breeze tickled the silver undersides of the beans and they seemed to spread their good humor to us. I remembered while living in London, Iowa would be the butt of many jokes, but this morning, the beans and I laughed together.

We turned down a steep hill, which had its own sign proclaiming "HILL", which always tickles me, too. Oh, you mean that incredibly steep drop and vertical undulation of the land. Hill. Good to know. This particular Hill was gorgeous. Sumac starting its vermilion phase [see Todd, I can use it too], stoic oaks holding fast to their Brewster green, Black-eyed Susans tumbling down the bank, Cowslip elegantly fanning in the breeze, it struck me how gently wild is my home state. At the bottom of the Hill, was a brook and a startled Blue Heron flew up right in front of us. Lucy the Brave hid behind me until she was sure the giant dinosaur Beagle eating bird was gone, gone, gone.

On the walk home, I thought about the kernels and seeds that we were passing and how they would end up all over the world and the products that they would become would impact everyone on this earth. Iowa gets a bad wrap a lot of the time, but this morning, it was the center of the universe for me. The only thing I may have enjoyed more would have been to add a fancy pair and a roof seat break.

From the Carriage Driving Archives

Harold Ault sent me this photo of Loula Long Combs and I just had to share it, along with a brief Bio of the grand dame of horse shows that speaks to why I think she is so brilliant.

Loula Long Combs' first sentence was, "Please buy me a pony," according to her father, R. A. Long. Breeding and training horses was Loula's life-long passion. She entered her first horse show in 1896 at a fair in Kansas City's Fairmount Park. For almost 65 years, her horses won blue ribbons in shows throughout this country, Canada and England. She won the most ribbons at Kansas City's American Royal where she made a yearly appearance well into her 80s. To audiences' delight, Loula always wore a spectacular hat as she drove her carriage around the show ring.

Accidental Sagacity for Today: Harold Ault

My friend, Harold Ault of Ames, IA, is a rare find. By all accounts, he is the purest definition of eccentric. At first glance, it is easy to misunderstand him. His appearance is usually slightly disheveled, his gait both swinging and staggering at once, his mode of transportation helped down the road with the aid of log chains and cement blocks. But look for the accidental sagacity and you trip over a substantial treasure.

Harold is a walking, talking, dog eared, highlighted, frequently thumbed through, epic volume of encyclopedias. He is a collector of nearly everything there ever was on this earth, namely carriages, their accouterments and a bevy of anecdotes. For the uninitiated, Harold is the Saturday NY Times crossword puzzle. However, if you express an interest, he will start you out with a Monday puzzle and give you many clues.

I have known Harold for 11 years, a year after learning the importance of traces. And now I can tell you the difference between a road coach and a park drag. He has only had to explain the differences to me a hundred times, but he never tires of trying. Every time, he remembers yet another story to add to the richness of the lesson.

To say that I am familiar with Harold's carriage collection would be stretching it. However, I am aware of the historical significance of many of the items. He has so much stuff, both tangible and intangible, that it is sometimes overwhelming. It is a Show and Tell that has lasted 11 years and counting, of which I am eternally grateful to him.

In order to show my appreciation, I nag him constantly about writing a book and categorising his collection. Now that he is retired, I nag even harder. The purpose for writing this blog is to engage you, dear reader, to join my cause. Whenever you see/meet Harold Ault, let this blog be your first impression of him. Look beyond the cover and encourage, berate, cheer, cajole or threaten him into achieving the potential of his collection and in turn of his life's work. And ask, if you dare, the differences between a park drag and a road coach. Someday, you'll be glad you did.

Harold driving Don Pecos put to

his Kimball Stanhope Gig.