Horses! and pets/animals other than cats and dogs

[Azastan]

Anyway, I hope the horse lovers here enjoy my tale of becoming the owner of a "working" horse!

Yes, very much! What great memories you have there in those photos!

It sounds as if your Boots was what is known as an Appendix QH. In case you are interested, here's an explanation of the '
Appendix' status.

https://www.aqha.com/-/the-ailing-appen ... -ownership

The first gelding I ever owned, Donald, was an Appendix QH. He was a fabulous old boy.

Donald sprinting to the food bucket.jpg (76.93 KiB) Viewed 4164 times

I think the horses where my niece works are uber-pampered.

Leatherdale Farms

Yes, I imagine many of the owners haven't cleaned a stall in years. Horses can be pampered, but still stressed.

[MN-Skeptic]

Yes, I imagine many of the owners haven't cleaned a stall in years. Horses can be pampered, but still stressed.

I know nothing about horses, so I will defer to your experience and knowledge. What you say does make sense.

[Luke]

"Ivanka was described to me like a stable pony. When the racehorse gets too agitated, you bring the stable pony in to calm him down," another presidential aide told the reporters.

Mark Meadows desperately begged 'stable pony' Ivanka to convince Trump to stop Jan. 6 insurrection: book
Sarah K. Burris July 15, 2021

Ivanka Trump was the stabilizing voice that everyone needed on Jan. 6, those in the White House believed. In their new book, Washington Post reporters, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker's new book describe the moment-by-moment account of nearly every person President Donald Trump had met urging him to stop the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In "I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year," the reporters explain that Trump was glued to the screen watching his followers tear apart the building and rage with make-shift weapons in clashes with police. At one point House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called begging Trump to tell them that they had to stop the attackers. Trump claimed they were Antifa, but McCarthy said otherwise.
***
But it was chief of staff Mark Meadows who was begging Ivanka to help. "She spent several hours walking back and forth to the Oval trying to persuade the president to be stronger in telling his supporters he stood with law enforcement and ordering them to disperse." But just when it appeared she was making progress, Meadows would call her back to the Oval Office. Meadows had been seen on a video taken by Donald Trump Jr. earlier in the day at the Ellipse speech giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. "I need you to come back down here," Meadows said, according to the book. "We've got to get this under control." He cleared the room of people, saying, "I only want Ivanka, myself and the president in here." "This cycle repeated itself several times that afternoon," said the report.

https://www.rawstory.com/mark-meadows-i ... urrection/
Excerpt: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... k-excerpt/

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

My first horse was also an appendix quarter horse, sorrel and with four white socks. Her stable name was Maybelline and she competed in AQHA events. Her trot was as smooth as glass. She was everything I hadn't dreamed about (tall for me at 16 hands, sorrel and not an Arabian), but she was PERFECT!!!!!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/i-love- ... uccess#474

Horse Breeds

The tallest horse breed is the Shire. The stallions of this draft horse breed tower at 17 hands above the tiny Falabella, which grows to only eight hands and is the smallest breed of horse.

The phrase “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” is a reminder to be grateful for the gifts, opportunities or kind gestures that come our way. The phrase comes from inspecting a horse’s teeth to determine its health and value. If the horse was a gift, such an inspection would be considered an insult.

The quarter horse, named for its speed on a short track, is one the of three fastest breeds of horses. Thoroughbreds follow quarter horses for longer distance, but Arabians outlast both breeds for endurance on the longest races.

[Gene Kooper]

Anyway, I hope the horse lovers here enjoy my tale of becoming the owner of a "working" horse!

Yes, very much! What great memories you have there in those photos!

It sounds as if your Boots was what is known as an Appendix QH. In case you are interested, here's an explanation of the '
Appendix' status.

https://www.aqha.com/-/the-ailing-appen ... -ownership

The first gelding I ever owned, Donald, was an Appendix QH. He was a fabulous old boy.

Your Donald is a beauty (and well-trained for the feed bag). Thanks for the info on appendix quarter horses. I always end up learning something here!!

That summer was the end of the old ways for our family's ranch. My Grandfather was extremely frugal which meant that we still used a 4-horse team to stack the hay in the summer and feed it out in the winter in 1966. His reason for not buying a tractor was because he had spare grass for the work horses, but gasoline cost MONEY. That was the way things were done, period. He retired in 1966 and my Dad and uncle decided to have the work horses retire with my Grandfather. I have fond memories of getting up at 5:30 a.m. and helping my Dad get them harnessed. My main job was to STAY OUT OF THE WAY, but my task was to hold the halter ropes while they got dressed for work.

My first horse was also an appendix quarter horse, sorrel and with four white socks. Her stable name was Maybelline and she competed in AQHA events. Her trot was as smooth as glass. She was everything I hadn't dreamed about (tall for me at 16 hands, sorrel and not an Arabian), but she was PERFECT!!!!!

Care to share a photo of your Maybelline, TRL? My Boots only had three white socks.

The family ranch was in the western part of the Nebraska Sandhills and because everything is covered in a thick layer of sand, we never shod our horses. In fact, we let their hooves grow a bit more than for shod horses so they didn't sink too deep in the blow sand. Boots had an uncanny knack of tripping on gopher mounds with those long hooves when I galloped her in the meadow. That often ended with her going to her knees and me taking flight over her ears (after first making "contact" with the saddle horn). The first couple of times that happened she would snap off the reins as she ran back to the barn. It didn't take her long to realize that if she turned her head to the side she wouldn't step on the reins. Horses are definitely not stupid animals. I appreciated only having to pay for a couple of sets of reins.

Oh, one more thing, I believe that photo is the last photo of me with a crew cut. Becoming a teenager required a longer hair style.

[Azastan]

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/i-love- ... uccess#474

Horse Breeds

... but Arabians outlast both breeds for endurance on the longest races.

And speaking of which, the Western States Trail Ride, better known as the Tevis Cup, will take place on July 24, starting at 5.15 am. It is 100 miles in ONE DAY, over some of the most difficult terrain in an endurance ride. Virtually every horse ridden in this ride is an Arabian.

More information on the Tevis Cup here:

http://www.teviscup.org/

An incredible horse, PL Mercury, is the oldest horse to complete the Tevis Cup. He was 27 years old and came in 13th place in 2019. This is a photo of him with his owner, Dr Clair Godwin, cresting the infamous Cougar Rock.

PLMercury Cougar Rock.jpg (158.73 KiB) Viewed 4079 times

[Azastan]

That summer was the end of the old ways for our family's ranch. My Grandfather was extremely frugal which meant that we still used a 4-horse team to stack the hay in the summer and feed it out in the winter in 1966. His reason for not buying a tractor was because he had spare grass for the work horses, but gasoline cost MONEY. That was the way things were done, period. He retired in 1966 and my Dad and uncle decided to have the work horses retire with my Grandfather. I have fond memories of getting up at 5:30 a.m. and helping my Dad get them harnessed. My main job was to STAY OUT OF THE WAY, but my task was to hold the halter ropes while they got dressed for work.

I've seen photos of horse teams stacking hay--looks like really hard work.

Thanks for the stories, they are fascinating!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I will look for a picture of Maybelline. I bought her when I was 50 and she was 19 or 20. It was hard to keep weight on her as she had thoroughbred features.

Hubby's paternal grandfather used mules for work around his farm. Hubby worked with hay also.

Federal Judge William Wilson of the Eastern District of Arkansas is a proud mule rider. He also is a riveting story teller.

Speaking of tall horses, I rode Bartok, an 18 hand horse who was Hanoverian I believe. I looked like a jockey on a thoroughbred! Hubby was astounded when he first met Bartok and watched me ride him. Baby steps on a tall gentle giant.

And, yes, N10, that Bartok.

[northland10]

Bélaaaaaa!!!!

Played many of things of his over the years. I remember playing his Romanian Folk Dances back when I played violin in school. The video is not me. I don't look good in strapless (edit - spaghetti strap), or a dress for that matter. At least she does not have to have to have a bow tie in the way.

[Azastan]

Bélaaaaaa!!!!

Played many of things of his over the years. I remember playing his Romanian Folk Dances back when I played violin in school. The video is not me. I don't look good in strapless (edit - spaghetti strap), or a dress for that matter. At least she does not have to have to have a bow tie in the way.

Surely you are not implying that either performer resembles a farm animal?

[raison de arizona]

[AndyinPA]

[northland10]

Bélaaaaaa!!!!

Played many of his things of over the years. I remember playing his Romanian Folk Dances back when I played violin in school. The video is not me. I don't look good in strapless (edit - spaghetti strap), or a dress for that matter. At least she does not have to have to have a bow tie in the way.

Surely you are not implying that either performer resembles a farm animal?

Sorry. I did not have the time to find a farm animal playing Béla Bartók in honor of the horse named Bartok so I had to go with performers who were not barnyard animals and wore a spaghetti strap dress, which would not look good on me.

Wow, that's almost a St. Paul level run-on sentence.

[RTH10260]

[MN-Skeptic]

I was just looking at a picture of a Highland cow at supper with my sister-in-law. She was telling me about friends of hers who raise Highland cattle. A favorite cow had problems with a recent birth and so would never be able to have calves in the future. Since that was the sole reason for owning her, and cows are too expensive to be pets, they had to figure out what to do. The cow was very friendly and docile and much loved by the family (it's a small farm). So what they did was advertise having your photo taken with the shaggy cow with a beautiful farm as a backdrop. Apparently they're getting $200/hour doing that. What a great rural Minnesota solution!

[Azastan]

There is a famous endurance ride known officially as the Western States Trail Ride 100 Miles in One Day. It's better known as the Tevis Cup. It took place a couple of weeks ago, so you won't be able to view any live action. However, last year due to Covid-19, the ride did not take place in real life. So the organizers put on a Virtual Tevis Cup, and invited everyone to participate virtually. This was a big success, and raised funds for maintaining the trail.

This year I signed up to 'ride' the Tevis Cup, along with my favourite horse, Azastan. So far we have completed 16.2 miles so we still have a way to go before we finish.

http://www.teviscup.org/VirtualWST-2021

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Go, Azastan! Go!!!!! Please keep us updated!

[Azastan]

Go, Azastan! Go!!!!! Please keep us updated!

Will do!

I am going to need to find someone with Photoshop skills when we hit the really important milestones, such as Cougar Rock, though LOL.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Put a Go Pro on your helmet.

[Azastan]

Put a Go Pro on your helmet.

This is the 'Virtual Tevis'--we are actually just walking along my local roads, so I have to Photoshop Az into a photo of Cougar Rock and pretend we are there.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I forgot. Carry on.

[Azastan]

Az makes sure she's not exceeding speed limit.jpg (182.16 KiB) Viewed 3384 times

Az taking a moment to make sure that the neighbour's pigs are safely contained.

[AndyinPA]

Beautiful!

[jcolvin2]

Pigs! When my wife was a child, pigs escaped their enclosures and crippled a birthday present pony that my wife’s grandparents had given her. Horses are rightly cautious of those animals.