The Equine Electrics or Muzzle Tok

The equine nose knows electricity.

Don Pecos, Kitten and Ace were out in a new, larger paddock the other day.  I noticed them standing around the automatic waterer; staring at it.  I was pretty sure they weren't gossiping, so I wandered out and asked them what was up.

Don Pecos looked at me.  Then at the waterer.  Then at me, "Watch."  He carefully stepped up to the waterer, slowly stretched out his neck, until his nose was just over the rim of the waterer and then he jumped back like he had been shocked.

"No way.  That waterer is Not. Hot," I said to him.

"Really?"  He looked at me, sighed and stepped up to the machine again.  Same result.  Ace and Kitten looked at him, looked at me, looked at the waterer, looked back at me.

I climbed over the fence.  "I do not believe this thing is shocking you."  I touched the waterer.  No shock.  "See?"

He raised his eyelids, looked at me with that incredible sweetness of his and tried again.  Same result.  He blew at it and walked away.  Kitten decided a female needed to check this.  It shocked her, too.  She so affronted by the audacity of the waterer that she immediately tried again.  Shocked twice, she moved back and joined Don Pecos.

Ace was watching the whole situation unfold intently and bravely took his turn.  It shocked him, too and he only needed the once, so he reformed the line with the other two.

"DDDDDAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDD!"  I called my father.

"Well, those metal waterers always gave me trouble," he said. "That's why I switched to the plastic ones."  He then gave me a very short course in electricity and automatic waterers.

"But why couldn't I feel anything?"  I asked.

"Were you wearing boots?"

"Ah.  Yes.  I was insulated..."

"And the horses were grounded.  Is it wet around the base of the waterer?"

"It is March in Iowa, Dad, of course it is wet."

"Well," he said glibly, "if you went back out and took off your boots and stood in that wet mud while you grabbed on to the waterer, you might just feel something..."  He paused for about half a second and I could hear the thought that was running around in his head "Why don't you try it.  Might knock some sense into you." He continued to explain that the horses could sense within seconds of the electric fence grounding out to let themselves out of it, so they could undoubtedly feel stray current, reverse polarity or the heating element shorting out inside the waterer.  Or whatever the problem was.

Now I know enough about electricity to be really dangerous.  I apologized to The Ponies.  And took out buckets of water that I held for them while they drank.  They do like being served their drinks.

Around the waterer later, I could guess about the conversation...

Don Pecos: Why does she alway doubt me?  She doesn't love me.
Kitten:  She doubts you because you are so reactionary.  But she is a little daft sometimes.
Ace: Shut up you two!  She tries really hard.
Major [Enters, singing]: I'm coming up, So you better get this party started!

[Don Pecos wheels to kick him, Ace lunges towards him, teeth barred, ears flat, Kitten squeals and strikes.]

And. Scene.

Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Turning Sibling Rivalry Into Harmony?

The Major General, Don Pecos du Cheval and Chevals Topp Mentor are half brothers.  I have wanted to put together a show pair for almost a decade and just can't find a fit with these three.  This is my dilemma:

Major
Confirmation: Round
Way of Going: More Hock than Knee Action
Height: 14.2HH
Color: Black

Ace
Confirmation: Angular
Way of Going: More Float than Bounce
Height: 14.3HH
Color: Brown

Don Pecos
Confirmation: Very Round
Way of Going: Supercharged on all Four
Height: 14 & 1/2HH [the half is important!]
Color: Applevale Orange

Maybe I'm splitting hairs.  They all look pretty round in the above photos.  But I know them.  They don't look, move or match each other.  But, this is what I have and I want a pair.

Major and Ace match the best in size and color.  Major is a stud.  Ace hates him.  Ace kicks and bites and generally beats the snot out of Major.  Major just wants to be friends.  Ace does not.  Oh, well, color is the last determination for a pair.

Major and Don Pecos grew up in adjoining paddocks.  They sort of get along.  Don Pecos tolerates Major. Just.  Pecos clocks Major with both hind feet when Major pushes his buttons too far.  They match in conformation.  Sort of.  Pecos is just so bloody short.  But we don't tell him that.  Ever.  Major has a longer stride because of his extreme hock action.  Pecos can keep up, though.  They just don't match.

I've been working Major and Don Pecos together, free lounging in the indoor arena.  This works out well about three quarters of the time.  Until Major's AD/HD clicks in and he leaves the tandem formation they have assumed and runs off to the far corner of the arena to sniff some sweet smelling something.  I run after him and Don Pecos stops, rolls his eyes and waits for me to herd Major back behind him.  

We get the whole thing going again and I study them.  I watch them move.  I do a lot of observing horses movement to determine how I can adjust the conditioning regime to get the best performance from the horse's potential.  After about 20 minutes, I see their cadence beginning to match.  After some sprinting, I can see their strides balancing.

Maybe.  Just maybe...

When we finished today, they decided to groom each other.  Major got a little too enthusiastic and Don Pecos wheeled and plowed him in the gut.

Brothers.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

The Yorkshire (Carriage) Driving Club 2

Again, many thanks to Mr & Mrs F C Greenwood of Halifax for this wonderful archive of the Yorkshire Carriage Driving Club.  Ditto to whomever copied it to disk and put it on youtube!  If anyone knows anything about Mr & Mrs. F C Greenwood of Halifax, please let me know!

And how many people are in that Governess Cart!?!

Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

The Yorkshire (Carriage) Driving Club

I am so happy that  Mr & Mrs F C Greenwood of Halifax took the responsibility of getting out the moving picture camera and preserving this super footage for us.  There is so much to love about this. Especially because there is more: Part 2 tomorrow.

Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Eras Ago: Equestrian Haberdashery

In my insatiable quest to find purveyors of all things over the top, I find an article about Swaine, Adeney, Briggs & Son of London and just take a gander at what they sold circa 1982.  Why, oh why can't we bring some of those equestrian accessories back into fashion?

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/02/travel/outdoor-gear-for-milord-and-lady.html

Alas!  Where am I ever going to find a child's christening hunting whip now?  If only I had an elegant silver box designed for cucumber sandwiches, surely the picnic class would be mine!?!  Woe is me.  Swaine, Adeney, Briggs & Son: We still need holly driving whips and glove shampoo. After 250 years, why do you only stock unisex hunt shirts and stocks?  Unisex?  Seriously?

To visit what they sell nowadays without the trip to Piccadilly:  http://www.swaineadeney.co.uk/  It is still worth a look.  The umbrella I chose online- the Ladies' London Tan with hand stitched saddle leather handle runs a mere $860. If I added up all the money I spent on umbrellas that I consequently left on the Tube, a back of a chair in a bistro or in a dumpster because the wind caught and shredded them, I could maybe have bought 1/2 of this umbrella.  The Swaine, Adeney, Briggs & Sons umbrellas keep the rain off Kate Middleton's silly little clip on hats, after all.  And, I suppose, if you can spend $860 on an umbrella, you probably won't have to worry about leaving it on the Tube as much as forgetting it in the Roller. In which case you send Carson or Branson to fetch it.

Take some time for a day dream today.

Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Major Quality Time

The Major General and I at Columbus Carriage Classic where we were Open Horse Division Champions in 2002.

After a considerable period of time, I am now reunited with The Major General, my beloved black Morgan god.  With a nod and a wink to his long time foster family, I am happy to have him back in my daily life.  Major gives you a reason to stop in wonder everyday, and often more than once.  Not all these wonders are the most pleasant, but many of them are.

We were doing some serious barbershop the other day.  Major has this foot long forelock, which I have secretly always detested.  But it keeps the flies out of his eyes and lends him a rock star air.  He has rubbed out almost all of his once shoulder length mane and so we pulled it to be even.  Which Major did not one bit appreciate.  Maybe that will teach him to rub out his lovely mane.

While I was trying to clip his whiskers, unable to see anything, I lamented to him about how old we'd become.  "Ten years ago, Old Man, we were in our prime," I said.  "And now look at us.  I am flabby, mostly blind and desperately trying to hold on to the final remnants of beauty.  You are losing your mane, and really out of condition."  He let out a sigh.  A tear fell down my cheek.  "But you are still beautiful, Laddie.  And I'm so glad to have you back."

He looked at me, raised his eyelids and pricked those tiny little ears forward.  "Maybe we could make a comeback. Together,"  I offered.  His eyes brightened and he brought his front feet forward, dropped his croup and parked.

"Lets Go!"  Was the voice I heard.

Lets go, Black Horse.  Lets go.

Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Period Drama and Vintage Carriage Traffic in London

I watched the last episode in series one of Downton Abbey on Sunday.  This is British period drama at its finest and series two cannot come soon enough for me. If you missed it, here is a link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/index.html

On a modeling assignment in London, circa 1990.  A friend calls this photo, "Wherefore art thou, Mr. Darcy?"

 Feeling a little homesick for my surrogate city, London, I trawled through some vintage footage from the British Film Institute and found these street scenes shot over 100 years ago.  I was shocked to see double decker buses pulled by a team of horses.  I spent a lot of time on double decker buses during my time in London, but was completely unaware that they were originally pulled by just two horses.



It seems the adverts that cover every available inch of public transport is not a new idea by Madmen.  Think how little has changed in 100 years- Nestle chocolate, Lipton tea, and what has: Kodak.  Traffic hasn't got much worse, either, and only a little bit faster. Traffic in present day London moves at about 11 mph along the same routes in the vintage footage: the Strand, Pall Mall, and Hyde Park Corner.

In addition to the double decker buses, handsome cabs, drays and commercial vehicles, I think I spotted quite a few broughams, a demi-mail phaeton, an omnibus and a park phaeton.  Then, of course there was the single motor car.  Driving a car in London is difficult enough, but I don't know if I would have had the mettle to handle a team in that turn of the century congestion.  Methinks, I'd have wanted a coachman.  And an Earl with an estate...just like Downton Abbey.

Quite.

Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.