Caskey Studios

New Book Released!

2010-02-24T13:06:00.001-06:00

Buy from Amazon
The Organic Farming Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Running, or Transitioning to a Certified Organic Farm (Paperback)
~ Anne Larkin Hansen (Author) Bethany Caskey (Illustrator)

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2010-02-14T08:01:00.002-06:00

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Two New Pencil Works

2010-02-05T14:43:00.001-06:00

Norwegian Fjord Horse ltd ed Print S/N Pencil

2010-01-16T18:56:00.003-06:00

Limited Edition of 50. S/N Image size: 12 x 9" Paper: 14 x 11"

Black Draft Horses are being offered as a Ltd. Ed. Print as well. Limited Edition of 50.
S/N Image size: 12 x 9" Paper: 14 x 11"

More coming in this series.

Prints are $20 each and $5.00 shipping.

new pencil drawing - black draft team

2010-01-13T08:46:00.001-06:00

Winter-bound and in between illustrating books, I have had spare time in the evenings to draw and experiment with pencils and papers. I am "working" on these at the little farm house, which does not have the studio space I have in the shop, so I have kept supplies at a minimum that can be used on a portable drawing board. I also brought out some scraps of watercolor paper and my ever trusty box of Winsor Newton pan watercolors. We are anticipating above freezing temps for the rest of this week and into the next. More time will be spent in finding items under the drifts, moving snow and unlocking padlocks that have been iced shut for weeks.
Using a photo resource for this drawing, taken last October at the local Teamster's Challenge Day, I still have the struggle between "photo realistic art" and more "artistic" renderings. Bottom line has been which has been the most marketable. Sad, but true.

So glad it didn't snow hard last night

2010-01-07T09:49:00.002-06:00

Digital Experiment

2010-01-06T20:40:00.001-06:00

I stumbled upon a fellow that does digital illustrations using Photoshop and a digital pen and tablet. He used mostly the burn and dodge tools. The method was very intriguing. Spending yet another day snowbound, I gave the technique a quick try. This was my first "doodle".

New watercolor - Total Recall

2009-12-28T09:24:00.001-06:00

Last April, I had a call from my good friend Roxy that there was an Arabian gelding in desperate need of a new home. We joined forces to check out the horse. Another friend of Roxy's had a DVD of videos taken of the fellow during his show career. We stopped by to watch that first. The night before I had reasoned that this was probably a little, brown, nondescript Arabian and nothing to get excited about. What I saw instead was the vision of Sham painted in Margaret Henry's "King of the Wind" by artist Wesley Dennis. The owners and the horse had both fallen upon hard times. Owned by a young lady that was now in college and soon going out of the country and a father who had just lost his job in one of the major layoffs, they were becoming desperate to place the horse soon and get out from under his rather large stabling/pasture costs. When selling had failed, they offered him for "free" and that caused most people to not consider him sound. When I heard that they were thinking of soon sending him to a public auction, I knew I needed to visit with the owners. I know what happens to Arabians at a public auction in this area and it is usually not pleasant.

Fast forward - the gelding was in my pasture within two days.

Of course, he is an older fellow, in need of extra care and a hard keeper. Just what I needed for extra chores.

The holidays and imposed house confinement gave me the long missed opportunity to dabble, draw and paint just for the fun of doing it. I decided Total Recall (Reko) was a good subject to use for a painting. I finished the painting yesterday and this will probably be the last painting of 2009.

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-24T14:40:00.002-06:00

Update to the Mongol Derby

2009-12-24T07:34:00.000-06:00

Mongol Derby Winner secretly paid to ride
British Racing Association voices views over “Impossible Situation”
London Newspaper reports rise of “Chav Adventure” holidays

He was the only Mongolian rider in the Mongol Derby and, according to the original press reports, he won. Yet in an exclusive interview with the Long Riders’ Guild, the winner revealed that, unlike the other contestants, he had not been asked to pay a large fee to ride. In fact, the organizers of the race had secretly hired him to participate, so as to offset claims that the Mongol Derby was an act of equestrian colonialism.

It was supposed to be a get-rich-quick pony picnic, one which saw affluent foreigners paying to risk their lives in Mongolia in an equestrian endurance race allegedly based upon the mounted accomplishments of Genghis Khan’s relay riders.
Instead the Mongol Derby became a battleground over equestrian ethics, with an unprecedented international protest being raised about the welfare of the horses, the last minute financial involvement of a discredited foreign ruler and now the revelation that the race organizers secretly paid the only Mongolian rider to participate and – according to him – then robbed him of his victory.
The company behind the event, the Adventurists, recently circulated a press release wherein they posed the question, “I hope this email finds you revving up for a weekend of adventuring anarchy, drunken debauchery and general misdemeanours.” While the party may still be raging, what the company directors weren’t talking about was Shiravsamboo Galbadrakh, the Mongolian they had paid to ride in the debatable Derby.

Previous to the Race
The lead-up to the dubious event was cloaked in controversy. In November, 2008 the Long Riders’ Guild received an unsolicited email from the spokeswoman of the Bristol based tourism company. The Adventurists were seeking input from the LRG regarding a 1,000 kilometer endurance race. Because the company had no previous equestrian experience, and bragged about putting their clients’ lives at risk, Long Riders with extensive Mongolian travel experience urged the company to proceed cautiously.
As more facts were revealed about the race’s poor planning, more than 3,000 people from 30 countries signed an on-line protest which asked the president of Mongolia to investigate the race. International endurance riders launched a “Stop the Mongol Derby” Facebook page and several contestants carried orange ribbons in solidarity with the Mongolians at the famous Tevis Cup endurance race. Meanwhile, questions from a coalition of equestrian and exploration editors, as well as reporters and bloggers, prompted the spokeswoman for the Adventurists to urge the foreign contestants to avoid discussing the race prior to its onset.
Equestrians had cause to be worried, as the Mongol Derby website had originally bragged about the life and death situations the riders would be exposed to. Wolves were jokingly mentioned. A lack of water for horse and rider was revealed. One contestant reported, “There is no marked course, no roads or tracks, we must find our own water and depend on the hospitality of the nomadic people we encounter along the way for food and shelter in their gers (Mongolian tents).”
As the debate continued and the outrage grew, the tone of the race organizers became more muted. They instituted a weight limit on the foreign riders and according to their website revised the route so as to “increase the number of water sources.” Yet the primary concern remained how the 800 horses would be cared for?
Initially the Adventurists, and their charity allies at the Mercy Corps, told the press that all equine medical needs were being met by “a British vet with 32 years experience.” Additionally, the company claimed they had secured the services of Vet Net. Yet a spokesman for the American based NGO decried the claim, saying that organization was not involved because of “ethical, moral and humanitarian concerns.”
With the question of equine welfare still unresolved, the tour company found an unlikely last minute ally.

FEI to the Rescue
Despite the growing scandal, the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) maintained a stony silence regarding the ethical questions associated with the event. After the FEI repeatedly refused calls from reporters, Geoff Young, the publisher of Horse Connection magazine, issued an editorial entitled “The Emperor Has No Riding Breeches,” in which he called for the Geneva based organization to be disbanded.
Shortly afterwards the Long Riders’ Guild received an unsolicited phone call from FEI Endurance Director Ian Williams. He rang to say he was flying to England to meet with the Adventurists.
According to Williams, he and "the president," had been working behind the scenes, wherein they had carried out secret talks with officials of the Mongolian government and FEI officials from Section 8, which oversees Mongolia.
Williams’ statement overlooked the fact that on five separate occasions FEI officials announced to the Guild and the press that the organization could not oversee the race, nor even issue a statement expressing concern over the welfare of the 800 horses, because a) Mongolia had been suspended for not paying its FEI dues and b) the 1,000 kilometre race violated the 160 kilometre FEI limit.
When asked to clarify his employer’s change of views, Williams responded a few days later by saying he was going to England so as to deliver an offer, not from the FEI, but from the government of the UAE. This is the country ruled by Sheik Mohammad Maktoum, a devoted endurance racer and husband to FEI President, HRH Princess Haya.
When hearing of this decision, an international endurance racer said, “In this case the FEI has proved that they’ll pay you to violate their own rules.”

Dubious Allies
Many of the aspects related to the Mongol Derby remain shrouded in secrecy. The route, for example, was not revealed except to the contestants, so as to prohibit outside observers from monitoring the health of the horses. Likewise the financial roots of the event remain a mystery. It has never been revealed how much money the UAE government provided to the Adventurists, nor what the terms of the clandestine deal were. The only thing publicly discussed was that four foreign vets would be provided, at UAE expense, so as to take care of the horses. Only one of those vets has ever been named or come forward.
Questions about the Mongol Derby, and its links to the UAE government, were heightened by a string of endurance racing events involving Sheik Maktoum.
The UAE government was revealed to be the financial benefactor on Thursday, 21st July. On Friday 22nd July, the British press reported that a 120km "private" endurance ride with an unprecedented prize-pot of £175,000 was causing consternation among UK riders. According to unconfirmed reports, the ride had been arranged so as to allow Sheikh Maktoum to continue to compete, despite the fact that he had been suspended from competition by the FEI while a doping enquiry was investigated.
The following weekend, Saturday, August 2nd, Sheik Maktoum won the English race. His son, the crown prince, came in second. On Monday, August 4th, after finding him guilty of doping his horse, the FEI banned the sheik from endurance racing for six months. Ten days later, the crown prince was also struck off the endurance racing roles for six months, after he too was convicted of cheating and doping his horse.

The Race
During the lead up to the race, there had been questions raised about how Mongolia was being used to foster a new type of equestrian colonialism.
One critic of Mercy Corps, the charity which accepted money from the contestants, raised this point. “I’m so fed up with the notion that bad behavior in foreign countries is made acceptable because you donate money to a charity. Isn’t it rather like buying an indulgence?”
As if to off-set this specific criticism, three days before the race was due to begin the name of a Mongolian was suddenly listed as being a contestant. Unlike the twenty-five foreign riders, no hint was offered as to who this person was, what his equestrian experience consisted of, nor how he had managed to raise the large sum of money required of the other contestants.
Only the name of the final contestant was presented to the public.
Why?
Only the Adventurists knew.
Thus, in the midst of this final obscurity, the Mongol Derby started on August 22.
Almost immediately two riders suffered serious falls and had to withdraw because of concussion and back injuries. By the second day Charles Van Wyk from South Africa and the mysterious Mongolian were said to be “streaking ahead” of the other competitors. As the race progressed the Mongolian was reported to be in the lead.
On August 29th the Adventurists website reported, “First across the line was the Mongolian Rider, followed only one minute later by the South African, Charles Van Wyk. “ The international press followed suit, naming the Mongolian rider as the winner. Yet six days later the Adventurists retracted that statement, stating that “joint first was awarded to Charles van Wyk of South Africa and Shiravsamboo Galbadrakh of Mongolia.”
Though the entire equestrian world, both supporters and detractors, had been watching events from afar, no photos have ever been made available showing which rider was actually first across the finish line. Instead the Mongolian was brushed back off the stage, while the professional endurance rider from South Africa basked in glory.
Yet who was this unknown, untraceable Mongolian who took the lead, won the race, and was just as quickly forgotten?
It took Mongolia’s first Long Rider to find the answers.

In the Name of Genghis Khan
According to the only named veterinarian, the world’s primary concern about the safety of the nearly one thousand horses seemed to have been alleviated, as no major equine injuries were reported. No outside neutral observer can confirm how the horses were treated or ridden, nor if any of them were hurt during the race.
However, what is known is that while the international debate about the Mongol Derby was still raging, a home-grown dispute was also underway. It was being led by a Mongolian horseman named Temuujin Zemuun.
Because Temuujin carries the original birth name of Mongolia’s most famous son, later known as Genghis Khan, he believed his country’s equestrian heritage had been corrupted by foreign influences. While plans proceeded for Temuujin and two others to qualify to become Long Riders by making an extended equestrian journey across the nation, the talented horseman was also busy trying to have the Mongol Derby stopped.
Prior to his departure on his own journey, Temuujin called a press conference in the nation’s capital, Ulaanbaator. This allowed international criticism against the race to be voiced for the first time to the Mongolian people via local television and newspapers in the native language. Then, accompanied by Buddhist monks and his fellow Long Riders, Temuujin delivered the international petition to the Mongolian president. Yet, with his own ride pressing, and the Mongol Derby still scheduled to begin, Temuujin set off to ride across Mongolia as planned.
It was upon his return that Mongolia’s first Long Rider determined to find the Mongolian winner of the infamous race.

The Winner Speaks
Mongolia is the size of Texas, so finding one nomadic herder wasn’t going to be easy. Yet modern technology has made remarkable inroads. After repeated attempts, Temuujin managed to obtain the location of the camp of Shiravsamboo Galbadrakh. His first attempt to find the winner failed, as it transpired the man who had won Mongolia’s longest horse race was a simple herder who was now tending his animals out on the trackless steppes. Refusing to give up, Temuujin made a second journey, this time through a snow storm.
At a ger/yurt deep in the countryside, with winter pressing in, Temuujin the Long Rider met Shiravsamboo the Mongol Derby winner. In an on-the-record, filmed interview, Temuujin asked his fellow Mongolian equestrian to explain to the world his background, as well as his sudden appearance in the horse.
In response to questions Shiravsamboo revealed these facts.
Shiravsamboo Gulbadrakh is twenty-six years old.
He is unmarried and has no children.
He is a poor, illiterate Mongolian shepherd who does not speak English or any other foreign language. Because of this none of the foreign contestants could speak to him or learn the nature of his involvement in the Mongol Derby.
He was informed of the race three days prior to its start.
He was deliberately recruited by agents of the Adventurists to ride in the race, who said that it was important to the company that a Mongolian should participate.
He was not told that the foreigner contestants had paid large sums of money to participate.
He did not pay these required funds to ride in the race.
Nor did he raise the funds demanded by the charity, Mercy Corps.
He was paid 300,000 tugrugs, about $250, the same amount paid to the herder families who provided the horses, so as to ensure his participation.
Even though Temuujin had uncovered the truth, he was unable to share the news with the rest of the world immediately. He had difficulty travelling back across the snow-covered country. Once he reached the capital, he discovered that a ‘flu epidemic had effectively shut down the city, making it impossible for him to find a translator straight away. It was only after overcoming all of these difficulties that the Mongolian Long Rider was able to transmit the news back to Guild HQ.

Who Won the Mongol Derby?
You would have thought that the climax to such a hotly contested race would have generated a photographic orgy. Yet the Adventurists company has never published a single photo showing the finish of the race. Instead they chose to release scenes of foreigners riding through a bucolic Mongolian landscape, as well as images depicting intent looking foreigners, who may be veterinarians, inspecting local horses.
Regardless of how much money he didn’t pay to ride, Shiravsamboo expressed his anger to Temuujin when he learned to his dismay that the organizers of the event were broadcasting the news that he had “shared” the victory with one of the foreign riders.
According to Shiravsamboo, he did not tie with Charles van Wyk. He believes 100% that he won the race without any assistance. He did not know that the Adventurists now claim that the foreign contestant tied with him. Shiravsamboo insists that he won all by himself and is adamant that he is the sole winner.
Regardless of what he believes, the Mongolian winner of the first Mongolian Derby has been quietly air-brushed aside, as the company now gives preference to the foreign contestant who took second place, and has strong commercial ties to the Barefoot Saddle company which provided free saddles to the contestants.
“South African architect Charles van Wyk, 28, was joint winner along with Mongolian rider Shiravsamboo Galbadrakh,” states their website.
Did the foreign contestants know that Galbadrakh had been paid to ride alongside them? Apparently not, as one contestant noted the Mongol’s hard riding ability but remarked upon the general inability of the linguistically challenged foreigners to converse with the only Mongolian contestant.

Racing against the Rules
When contacted by the Long Riders’ Guild, company owner, Tom Morgan, and representatives of the Adventurists declined to comment on Shiravsamboo Gulbadrakh’s accusations. Yet representatives of the official British horse world had a few words to say about the unprecedented situation.
The official Mongol Derby website states.
“Forget The Epsom Derby, The Melbourne Cup, The Grand National or the St. Leger; this is the biggest, toughest and longest horse race in the world!”
The Adventurists having compared the endurance race to Great Britain’s most prestigious equestrian racing events, The Guild sought the input of the British Horse Racing Authority.
When informed of the phony jockey, the British Horse Racing Authority explained that thoroughbred races in Great Britain are strictly regulated so as to prohibit these types of actions from occurring. Thanks to the stringent rules imposed by these authorities, “there would be no way that an intermediary could supplement an entry outside the race conditions of entry.”
So as to prevent deception, the BHRA explained, jockeys must be registered with Weatherbys, the administrative arm of the BHA, prior to being allowed to run in a race in England. The notion of placing a secret jockey in a race was so unheard of that the BHRA responded, “it would be impossible for us to consider the notion of a failure to disclose an entry to the public or remaining competitors.”
Racecourse stewards, they said, monitor races for malpractice.
Sadly, there were no stewards in Mongolia, only a climate of corruption.

Minting Money in Mongolia
Mongolia is facing a wide variety of internal problems, all of which have endangered the last horse-based nomadic culture in the world.
Two devastating winters wiped out a third of Mongolia’s livestock, forcing thousands of former nomads to scour sites which had been abandoned by large foreign mining companies, in a desperate search for crumbs of gold. Further bad weather has caused nomads to move their animals 30 times a year, instead of the average three. Meanwhile foreign companies have begun ruthlessly exploiting the country’s mineral wealth, all the while the local political scene is awash with Mongolian fat-cats.
Because of these various reasons Transparency International recently gave Mongolia one of the world’s worst corruption ratings. On a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst, Mongolia rates as a two.
When asked to comment on the practice of secretly paying Shiravsamboo Galbadrakh to ride in the race, and then denying his victory, the Mongolian spokeswoman for Transparency International stated, “If officials are not held accountable, why would others bother to refrain from temptation?"
The average yearly income in Mongolia is $2,100, which helps explains why a simple herder, like Shiravsamboo, would welcome a payment of $250 from the Adventurists.
Adding to Mongolia’s problems is a report published 22/12/09 in London’s Independent newspaper, “2010 is set to be the year of "chav adventures" - where unruly tourists combine adventure breaks with charity raising - according to an annual travel trends report today.”
Leading the rise in rowdyism will be the Adventurists, who are now set to launch an even larger Mongol Derby by placing their monetary handwriting on the Mongolian wall.
The first “Rickshaw Run” race organized by the Adventurists in 2007 charged competitors £97 to compete. The entry fee for the Rickshaw Run is now £895. The 2009 Mongol Derby was scheduled to raise $113,000 from the twenty-five foreign contestants, each of whom was required to pay $4550 in fees. Race organizers are now attempting to enlist 35 contestants for the 2010 Mongol Derby. With an estimated $332,500 in contestant fees alone, and with an estimated fee of only $1750 being paid to the Mongolian herders who will supply the horses, it looks to be another profitable venture for the Adventurists.
But not to worry.
The official Mongol Derby website states.
“To get a place on the world's toughest horse race it will set you back $9500 (about £6000). But remember if you put some hard graft into sponsorship you could well find the Mongol Derby doesn't need to cost you anything.”

The Mongol Derby represents a callous calculated disregard for the accepted rules of endurance riding which has undermined the strength of the sport and endangered nearly 1,000 horses so as to glorify the ego of man. The LRG became involved in the Mongol Derby because The Guild was initially contacted by the Adventurists. Having made every attempt to defend the horses, and thanks to Mongolian Long Rider Temuujin’s efforts to reveal the truth, The Guild now considers the matter closed. The LRG would also like to thank Long Riders Tim Cope, Bonnie Folkins, Batmonkh Muntuush, Ian Robinson and Catherine Waridel.

To see photographs associated with this email, including Long Rider Temuujin's meeting with Mongol Derby winner Shiravsamboo, click here: http://www.thelongridersguild.com/mongol-derby-end.htm

Saving My Love for You

2009-09-24T08:57:00.001-05:00

Riveting!

Adobe House-Final version?

2009-08-06T15:31:00.001-05:00

I am one update behind on the process of this painting. My last photos were taken on a rainy day and not crisp enough to post. This image was taken today after my last session with the painting. Now waiting for the customer's feed back!

Quislings in the Barn

2009-07-28T09:27:00.000-05:00

From the Long Riders Guild:

It’s official. The sport of endurance racing has been sold to the Arabs. The deal went down in an office in Bristol, England where the horse world’s most controversial figure, Tom Morgan, met with the man the equestrian world trusted to protect endurance racing from predators and cheats, FEI endurance director, Ian Williams.

Because of what was decided there in secret, there’s no longer any further need for hundreds of thousands of endurance riders to pretend that they have to follow the rules. They can toss away those log books they’ve spent years filling with carefully documented miles on their beloved horses. Dope ‘em, ride ‘em hard, cheat, laugh at the rules instead. Go ahead, because the so-called “leaders” of your sport have betrayed every mile, every act of sacrifice, every labour of love you ever rode or enacted.

Today the endurance racing world wide stands with its head bowed in shame. No mountain defeated it. No desert stopped it. No river balked it. Endurance racing met its Waterloo in Bristol when a deal was made that set aside the principles of an entire sport.

If you ask how the Long Riders’ Guild can state this, allow us to use the old adage, it comes straight from the horse’s mouth – FEI headquarters in Switzerland. For earlier today the Long Riders’ Guild received confirmation that the FEI’s endurance racing director, following orders from his boss, Princess Haya, journeyed to Bristol, England so as to assist an equestrian event which undermines the very sport the organization was entrusted to protect.

On Friday, July 22nd, the Long Riders’ Guild issued a warning to the horse world that FEI endurance director, Ian Williams, was intent on holding a private meeting with Tom Morgan, the organizer of the Mongol Derby horse race. Prior to this meeting the Guild asked Williams to explain how the FEI could stand by, mute and passive for two months, all the while the largest exploitation of endurance racing rules ever perpetrated was being organized by tour operator turned horse racer, Morgan?

Williams never responded to those questions, which documented how FEI rules were joyfully violated by Morgan’s company, the Adventurists.
(Click here to read a comparison between FEI Rules and the Mongol Derby.)

The FEI official answered that instead of denouncing the Mongol Derby, his organization was an active participant in offering Morgan a financial, medical and logistical reward. He was journeying to Bristol, he said by phone and via email, so as to broker an alliance between Morgan and the government of the UAE. That was our worry on Friday. This is our confirmation on Monday.

Earlier today, 27th July, the Long Riders’ Guild received a message from Williams which validated our worst fears.

Dear CuChullaine,
I refer to my email of the 22nd July 2009 and as promised I can now provide you with a further update.
I confirm that the FEI’s position remains unchanged and the FEI does not ’support the event’ but is supportive of any actions that might be taken to support the welfare of those horses that may be involved with this particular event.
The FEI’s position is as follows:
The FEI confirms that we have held a meeting with the organising company of the Mongol Derby to obtain specific detailed information, at the request of the UAE, with regard to the horses being used and the equine support being provided for the event from within Mongolia.
That information has now been passed to the UAE who have expressed the wish to provide elite level Veterinary Support, both in terms of equipment and experienced personnel, to the organisers through the Mongolian Government both pre, during and post event.
As confirmed already by the FEI , the Mongol Derby is not an FEI recognised event and does not come under the remit or control of the FEI as the Governing body for International Equestrian sport.
The FEI continues to work with organisations towards achieving the highest welfare support for all horses.’
Kind Regards,
Ian

Ian Williams
Director,
Non-Olympic Sports
Fédération Equestre Internationale
Av de Rumine 37
1005 Lausanne
Switzerland
t +41 21 310 47 47
f +41 21 310 47 60
e Ian.williams@fei.org

The message begs the fundamental question, if the FEI has nothing to do with this wretched race then why is Ian Williams issuing a statement? If the FEI is not involved, then why is the organization’s endurance cop acting like a messenger boy for a foreign power? If the FEI knew two months ago that Morgan’s race put 800 horses at risk and violated every major rule of the organization, why did its President authorize her endurance director to play the part of bag man to this ignoble scheme?

While the Guild welcomes any news that horses may be provided with professional medical care, no amount of money can wash away the fact that these 800 horses are neither up to size, or condition, to carry large foreigners at speed for “only” twenty-five miles across the Mongolian steppes.

Being equestrian explorers, not endurance riders, we at the Long Riders’ Guild were woefully ignorant of any sheik who was famous for riding in endurance races. We didn’t know that his name had been involved in scandals where endurance horses were suspected of being doped. Nor were we aware that international endurance riders were already worried about the growing influence exerted by the sheik and his government over the international sport of endurance racing.
(http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=ODA4MDYxMTE3)

The day after the Guild issued its warning about Williams’ meeting with Morgan, endurance riders around the world began emailing the Guild so as to express private concerns. Names were asked not to be mentioned for fear of retribution. Here is one such observation.

“The Guild is correct so far in what you have written. The UAE is virtually running the whole of the FEI as they are sponsoring just about everything, including the new building in Switzerland. Keep up the pressure as there is nothing being allowed to be said in the UAE. Any discredit HAS to come from the outside, ” reported this confidential source, who went on to question the amount of influence Princess Haya’s husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the ruler of the UAE to which Williams refers in his email, had on the running of the FEI.

With the news from Williams that the UAE government and Morgan have struck a deal, it’s all over now except the crowing. Expect Morgan, Mercy Corps and the Mongols to issue a press release announcing how they have subverted the rules of the international endurance community, with the help of the UAE. Expect them to ignore the fact that Mongolia had been suspended for non-payment of FEI national dues. Don’t think they will acknowledge the letter sent to FEI headquarters asking that organization to explain its involvement in an event which delights in trampling on international rules designed to protect the horse.

Instead we will probably be asked to believe that this decision was done in favour of the 800 little horses being drafted into Morgan’s mad plan.

This is all the more ironic because horse owners everywhere are feeling the economic pinch. When the family home is in danger of foreclosure, then the family horse is one of the first things to be sacrificed. Average horse owners have been pushed into a corner and run of the mill horses are falling victim to previously unbelievable horrors, as was documented in this article from New Zealand’s Horse Talk news service.

“A further $US2500 has been added to the reward for information leading to those responsible for cutting the brand from a two-year-old filly and abandoning her…In an effort to make sure the filly could not be traced, her former owner cut a 15cm by 20cm section of flesh from her rump to remove the brand.”
http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2009/07/090.shtml

Nor is it only economics that is affecting horse owners. Today’s press is reporting that things are going to get hotter – and tougher – for horse owners everywhere.

“MSNBC has an alarming report about the extreme weather conditions happening across the country. In Texas, half the corn crop is dried up, lakes have disappeared, cattle ranchers are selling cows early because there is no grass to graze on, and 77 counties are designated as having exceptional or extreme drought conditions. Historians say this drought is virtually unprecedented, and there is no relief in sight.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/27/off-the-charts-drought-in_n_245317.html

Thus, in the midst of a global equestrian crisis, when average people are struggling to keep their horses, and play by the rules, what are we to think about an international organization which subverts its own laws so as to play footsy under the table with a foreign ruler?

In his historic editorial, available in this month’s issue of Horse Connection magazine, publisher Geoff Young cites how equestrian sport is riddled with corruption. Precious horses are being doped to the eyeballs so as to gain an unfair advantage. Entire national equestrian teams stand exposed as cheats. All the while, Young pointed out, the FEI under the direction of its president, HRH Princess Haya, has issued edicts, organized committees – and allowed the culture of corruption which has invaded the international equestrian community to carry on. (http://www.horseconnection.com/site/pdf_docs/breaches.pdf)

Yet Morgan’s race, and the FEI’s involvement, is not an act of any one person, or even one nation, bending the rules. By aiding Princess Haya’s husband’s government in assisting Morgan, the FEI leaders in Switzerland have shown the horse world what really matters to them. No one, except those blinded by self-interest, will buy the pretence that the FEI did not approve, orchestrate, condone, or encourage this alliance between Morgan and the Arabs.

Thus the FEI is no longer merely inept. Now it’s ethically suspect.

Some endurance riders have raised the question, why would the leaders of this organization do this, unless it is to assist Arab contestants to ride in Morgan’s race? Given recent events, that’s a fair question. For mark our words, as the Guild predicted, once Morgan has established a beach head in Mongolia, with Mercy Corps proving the pretence of charity to cloak the mercenary nature of the event, and with UAE money to buy vets and other help to offset criticism, it won’t be long before we see unregulated races being held in any under-developed country with horses and a money-hungry government.

Publisher Young concluded his editorial by reminding the horse world that “According to their rules, there is a provision for disbanding the FEI if two thirds of the members vote on it. I think it’s a vote that is long overdue.”

The Long Riders’ Guild believes the member nations of the FEI need to heed Young and disband the organization without delay.

In closing, the Long Riders’ Guild has been warned not to publish anything critical of Arab rulers who ride in endurance races. We were told this is an open secret, known to many in this sport. Editors we trust spoke off the record about their fears. This is the Long Riders’ Guild, not your mummy’s pony club. We won’t be bullied or silenced.

We urge the endurance riders of the world to protect their sport. We urge your leaders to voice your collective outrage at the subversion by Quislings in your barn of rules designed, and upheld for generations, to protect the horses we all love.

We urge everyone in the horse world to visit HRH Princess Haya’s website and ask her to provide answers to these questions. What has the FEI done, who ordered it, and who’s paying for it ? Have the rules of international endurance racing vanished thanks to a secret decision? Will the international equestrian community, especially endurance leaders, blithely hand over control to a foreign power? What’s to stop Morgan, Mercy Corps and the UAE from organizing races in other countries? What happens when contestants don’t ride with rules but for personal recognition? http://www.princesshaya.net/

The Guild urges everyone who ever swung their leg over a horse, who ever sat in saddle, who ever stroked a horse, or loved one from afar, to sign the international petition protesting this blight of a race.
“Sign the Petition – or Share the Shame .”

To learn more about the Mongol Derby, please visit:
www.thelongridersguild.com/mongolia.htm .

Finally, even in the midst of this dreadful discovery, we urge you to read a heart-felt letter written by one of North America’s leading endurance racing experts, Kate Riordan. Addressed to the President of Mongolia, it not only explains the dangers involved in this wicked race, it highlights what every endurance rider in the world needs to protect and protest.

An Alarming Alliance

2009-07-28T09:26:00.002-05:00

From the Long Riders Guild:
Are FEI Endurance Officials and an Arab Sheik supporting the Mongol Derby?

What is believed to be the most potentially damaging equestrian event ever attempted, wherein twenty-five tourists will pay a collective $130,000 to race 800 small horses one thousand kilometers across Mongolia at the height of summer, may be linked to leaders of the FEI and the United Arab Emirates.

The Mongol Derby has been organized by an English tour operator named Tom Morgan, who has previously specialized in enticing foreigners to pay to race junk cars to distant foreign capitals. News that Morgan’s company was staging the “biggest, baddest equine affair on the planet,” has prompted the world famous equestrian trainer, Linda Tellington-Jones, to condemn the event.

“This abuse of horses must be addressed and stopped by people who love and respect horses. The Mongol Derby could have a negative impact on the endurance world where veterinary care of horses has been a priority for years,” Tellington-Jones warned.

These worries are well founded, as Canadian Long Rider Bonnie Folkins has reported from Mongolia that the previous winter was so harsh the nation’s horses were left perilously weak. This forced local organizers of the traditional Nadaam horse race to reduce the course by several miles. Though the small animals were only carrying child jockeys under the age of ten, eighteen horses died from exhaustion in the latest race.

In reaction to the Mongol Derby, riders in this year’s famous North American Tevis Cup endurance race are being asked to wear orange ribbons as a sign of solidarity with the Mongolian horses and to sign the international petition protesting against the race, which has now gathered thousands of signatures worldwide.

With global condemnation growing, news reached the Long Rides’ Guild that former English jockey, turned Morgan race rider, Richard Dunwoody, had pulled out of the event. In reaction to repeated criticism, he responded in an email, “Due to other commitments I am not now able to race in it, but am solely advising before the start.”

Yet in a startling turn of events, the FEI Endurance Director contacted the Long Riders’ Guild to announce that, despite their long silence on the race, the organization based in Switzerland directed him to journey to Morgan’s office in Bristol on Friday so as to deliver a pledge of financial, medical and logistical support for the Mongol Derby.

Over the course of the last two months, FEI officials have either ignored or rebuffed the Long Riders’ Guild and the international press on eleven different occasions. Emails have gone unanswered, phone calls were denied and attempts to reach the FEI president were thwarted. On the rare occasions when officials were eventually reached they stated the FEI could not engage in any discussion about the race because it violated the organization’s principal rule that no sanctioned endurance race could exceed 160 kilometers. Plus, they added, Mongolia’s membership in the organization had been suspended when that nation did not pay its FEI dues. Only last week British reporter Abi Butcher, of Horse & Hound magazine, was told, “The Derby is not run under FEI rules so has not been investigated.”

Thus the unsolicited telephone call on Tuesday to Long Riders’ HQ, from FEI endurance director Ian Williams, came as a surprise. He was ringing to inform the Guild that he and “the president” had been working behind the scenes for weeks, speaking to “Mongolian officials” and “officers of Section 8″ (the geographic area which oversees Mongolia and that part of Asia). Williams went on to explain that he was flying to England on Friday, 24th July, so as to hold a private meeting with Tom Morgan at the Adventurists office in Bristol.

The FEI endurance director was going to Bristol to offer Morgan assistance from the international equestrian federation. The organisation would pay salaries, expenses and flights for top-notch endurance vets, including one from Kentucky, as well as various international endurance racing experts and officials, to travel to Mongolia for “the upcoming Mongol Derby.” Williams said Morgan welcomed the visit.

Upon learning of this startling turnaround, Senior Swiss Long Rider, Madame Catherine Waridel, was quick to point out that FEI officials had repeatedly told her and the press that they could not be involved in Morgan’s race because it violated the basic rule of 160 kilometers. When the Guild did a careful comparative study of the FEI’s 2009 Endurance racing rules, as opposed to Morgan’s statements published on the Mongol Derby website, it quickly revealed nine major violations of basic FEI endurance rules. Click here to read a comparison between FEI Rules and the Mongol Derby.

Armed with this alarming set of facts, the Guild emailed Williams to ask him to explain how he and FEI President, Princess Haya, could justify their support of Morgan, when the Mongol race delighted in not just breaking the rules, but flaunting this disobedience?

Williams refused to acknowledge these violations. What he said instead was that, as he had told the Guild on the phone, the proposal he was carrying to Morgan had the full support of the UAE government.

“As confirmed by phone yesterday I am meeting with the Organising Company this coming Friday when I can discuss the offer by the UAE Government through the Mongolian Government for providing support care for the horses involved in the upcoming Mongol Derby,” Williams wrote.

A reply from the Guild corrected Williams, stating he had never revealed in the initial phone conversation that a foreign government had orchestrated the FEI approach to Morgan.

The Guild went on to say that, upon reflection, the international equestrian exploration organization was writing to Williams, and Princess Haya, to urge them to reconsider this rash course of action. The Guild urged the FEI not to send Williams to Bristol. The Guild reminded the FEI endurance director that this decision seemed to indicate that the influence of the Princess’ husband was behind the overture to Morgan. Such a decision was almost certain to anger the members of the FEI, who had not been informed.

When Williams never acknowledged that message or warning, the Long Riders’ Guild sent him this email.

Dear Ian,
We are disappointed that you have not responded to our previous message, wherein we asked you to reconsider the advisability of meeting with Tom Morgan so as to offer him a financial, medical and logistical incentive. Nor have you acknowledged the Guild’s comparative study of FEI endurance rules, as opposed to Morgan’s deliberate flaunting of those international bylaws.
Your silence has left us concerned that you, and the FEI president, are determined to press ahead with what increasingly looks like a badly conceived, and perhaps unauthorized, approach to Morgan by FEI officials.
I am therefore writing to inform you that if the Guild does not hear from you by Friday night, 9.pm. Geneva time, our organization will assume that:
- the FEI has entered into an agreement with Morgan,
- FEI leaders are believed to be participating in, and encouraging, an equestrian endurance event which violates the organization’s endurance rules,
- a foreign government is suspected of being the motivating force behind this decision.
Silence upon your part on Friday will force the Guild to assume the worst.
Kind regards,
CuChullaine O’Reilly FRGS

The FEI headquarters has now closed for the day, Friday, 24th July, there has been no reply from Williams, and there is no reason to believe he did not visit Morgan’s office.

Williams had hinted that Dubai’s ruling Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who is married to FEI President HRH Princess Haya, was instrumental in making the offer to Morgan. The 59-year-old sheikh owns several stables, hosts the world’s most lucrative horse race in Dubai every year and rides endurance races. The Guild received an unexpected confirmation of the Sheik’s involvement from English jockey, Richard Dunwoody. In response to a protest against his involvement with Morgan’s race, the jockey responded by saying, “Sheikh Mohammed is now also looking to become involved in the Mongol Derby…”

Dunwoody’s disclosure has raised many alarming, and still unanswered, questions, including what has the FEI done, who ordered it, and who’s paying for it ? Have the rules of international endurance racing vanished thanks to a secret decision? Will the international equestrian community, especially endurance leaders, blithely hand over control to a foreign power? What’s to stop Morgan, Mercy Corps and Maktoum from organizing races in other countries? What happens when contestants don’t ride with rules but for personal recognition?

Grave questions about the leadership of the FEI were raised earlier this month by Horse Connection magazine. In an editorial entitled, The Emperor has no Riding Breeches, publisher Geoff Young warned, “The self-anointed world governing body is collapsing under the weight of scandal and the lack of any discernable moral backbone.” Young went on ask how serious enforcement could be if the FEI President’s husband and brother had both been caught and suspended for giving their endurance horses steroids? Like other equestrian journalists, he also wondered why the international governing body had steadfastly refused to condemn Morgan’s unethical race? “I can only interpret the FEI’s reaction this way,” Young said, “the FEI will oversee the welfare of the horse, but only if you pay them their money!”

Young concluded by reminding the horse world that “According to their rules, there is a provision for disbanding the FEI if two thirds of the members vote on it. I think it’s a vote that is long overdue.”
http://www.horseconnection.com/site/pdf_docs/breaches.pdf

While no answers have been forthcoming from the FEI or Morgan, there is something even more alarming than the exploitation of 800 little horses and the cheapening of Mongolia’s sacred equestrian tradition. Are we witnessing a potential revision of accepted international equestrian principles, policies and procedures, one where the establishment of a Mongol Derby without rules threatens the honour and integrity of the global equestrian community?

Credibility takes time to establish, and in some cases, only an instant to destroy. When society doesn’t know something, it is often because special interests have blocked the truth. Has the FEI become an equestrian League of Nations? Is FEI endurance director Ian Williams about to announce “Peace in our Time”?

It’s not a tragedy to love horses. It’s a tragedy to stand by and watch helplessly while they are used in this manner. There is nothing heroic about the Mongol Derby. There is no cloaking the mercenary motives behind this race. After having emerged from its stupor of passivity, why is the FEI suddenly anxious to join forces with an event which runs rough shod over its own rules?

To learn more about the Mongol Derby, please visit www.thelongridersguild.com/mongolia.htm .

The Long Riders’ Guild urges everyone to sign the on-line petition asking the President of Mongolia to halt the Mongol Derby. “Sign the Petition – or Share the Shame.”
http://www.voicesforhorses.co.uk/surveys/survey_18_Petition-to-halt-the-World%27s-largest-Outlaw-Endurance-Race.html

If you join the Guild in wondering what happened at Friday’s meeting with Tom Morgan, we urge you to contact FEI Endurance Director Ian Williams
Ian.Williams@fei.org – +41-21-310-4747

If you are a member of the press seeking clarification on FEI policy, you can contact Olivia Robinson, Publications Manager at FEI headquarters in Switzerland
Olivia.Robinson@fei.org – +41-21-310-4723

To learn more about questionable equestrian practices in the UAE, please visit this link.
“The United Arab Emirates’ most popular newspaper suspended publication yesterday for 20 days in compliance with a court ruling after being sued for a story alleging some of the Abu Dhabi ruling family’s horses were doped….The practice has recently been strengthened by the country’s pending media law that includes a staggering fine of $1.35 million for “insulting” members of the ruling elite..”
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=ODA4MDYxMTE3

Global Condemnation for Morgan’s Mongol Derby

2009-07-28T09:26:00.001-05:00

Dear Long Riders, Explorers and Friends of the Guild,

The Long Riders’ Guild was initially contacted by Tom Morgan’s company, the Adventurists, on 28th November, 2008 in regards to his plan to run a 1,000 kilometer horse race across Mongolia. Not only did the Guild offer the equestrian expertise of its Members, as well as the hand of friendship, our organization also warned the company that the poorly-planned event would become a lightning-rod of concern. The Adventurists did not accept the Guild’s offers of assistance, nor heed our warning.

Since then, as predicted, the proposed race has created an equestrian fire-storm of protest, with editors, endurance racers, Long Riders and even mainstream explorers, all joining their voices in an unprecedented condemnation of this dubious event. Thousands of acts of individual equestrian patriotism have resulted in horse-lovers from twenty-six countries signing the petition protesting against the race, a Vet Net advisor denouncing it as being “in total disregard to the welfare of the horses,” and the Barefoot saddle company withdrawing its support.

Regardless, Morgan’s American charity partner, Mercy Corps not only maintains their partnership, they continue to ignore their own statement sent to irate donors who have withdrawn their financial contributions. “…if at any point Mercy Corps is not satisfied with the measures in place to ensure their (horses) welfare, we would not continue to support this trek,” Mercy Corps spokeswoman, Geri Manzano said.

What needs to be fully understood is that we are not discussing common tourists.
Traditional travellers go to a country in order to interact with the people, sample the food and experience the culture. This is an experience that is customarily a slow learning process. That is not what Morgan and his race contestants are doing. They will use every possible means to rush through Mongolia, highlight any danger, mock the cuisine, and make themselves look like heroes at the expense of the land, its people and its horses.

Nor should we be persuaded that Morgan and Mercy Corps, are motivated by altruistic motives. The Adventurists will receive more than $130,000 in fees from the contestants. Likewise, the Mercy Corps charity will receive a minimum of $50,000. But when asked how much the herders, who are risking their eight hundred horses, would be getting, the evasive answer was “a fair amount.” In a scene reminiscent of buying Manhattan from the Indians for $26 in beads, while Morgan and Mercy Corps get rich, naïve Mongolians are being enticed into selling their sacred equestrian heritage for pennies.

Thus, no amount of last-minute window-dressing by the Adventurists and Mercy Corps can disguise the fact that this is an act of equestrian colonialism perpetrated by cultural predators. This race represents a new type of equestrian cancer, one in which arrogance, wealth, racism and social privilege come together for a mounted holiday in an exotic land.

Meanwhile, the world’s scorn for Morgan’s master plan can be seen in some of the comments submitted to the international petition.

Jack, Canada: All horse-related activities in Mongolia will be damaged by this stunt. Why doesn’t he stick to filling Mongolia with Europe’s old clunkers instead?
Anne, Wales: Very glad to help stop this terror.
Stan, USA: This is brutal and uncalled-for.
Robert, Gibraltar: If 25 idiots want to cross Mongolia, then take a 4×4 truck; why is it that there are still people who think that animals have no purpose but to provide entertainment for them no matter what?
Abdul, Sweden: Shame on the culprits and those who refuse to act.
Gabrielle, Belgium: Adventure should never prevail over animal welfare and long-distance riding should not be turned into a contest built upon injury and loss of life.
Jean, UK: Utterly ghastly. How can people be so thoughtless and cruel?
Thomas, USA: Money ruins everything.
Carol, Canada: I feel very strongly about getting this profit-mongering idiot’s activities exposed and stopped.
Alison, Scotland: This event is a disgrace to 21st century equine sport.
Neale, Australia: Cruelty such as this should be illegal.
Grit, Denmark: What monster has got this arrangement going?
Ranald, South Africa: When money and egos clash with horses, horses always lose.
Raven, USA: This is the most inhumane thing I have ever heard of. Shame on you!
Eduard, Peru: I suggest the humans do it on foot.
Lynne, USA: Sheer lunacy and certainly testosterone-driven; a total violation of man’s stewardship of the animals. Let’s ride the Adventurists across Mongolia instead.
Dori, USA: Shame on Mercy Corps. I’ll make sure never to send them a single penny.
Harry, USA: This race should be outlawed and the promoters cast out of all horse-related projects.
Vera, Romania: Whoever takes part in this event shows a complete disregard for the life of the horses that are used in it; thus forfeiting their right to be called a horse person.
Tami, USA: This is a travesty for the poor innocent horses; there should be some form of international law prohibiting this form of animal cruelty. The contestants get to choose their idiotic level of risk, the poor Mongolian horses do not.
Christine, USA: I am an endurance rider and this race is not “endurance” – it is torture to horses.
Hans-Juergen, Switzerland: This race is nothing but a merchandised killing of friends.
Charlotte, USA: Unbelievable! Have we reverted to the Stone Age?
Odette, USA: As a veterinarian, I am appalled at the greed and cold-heartedness of the organizers and participants of the race.
Diane, Canada: Shame on Tom Morgan for exploiting these wonderful animals.
Katrina, UK: The Mongolian government should stop this event by refusing to grant visas.
Jane, Canada: I’m absolutely disgusted that Mercy Corps would be involved in this.
Janice, USA: When will Europeans stop exploiting Asians?
Talitha, USA: As a veterinarian, I find this race appalling.
Dyane, Australia: Shameful!
Angela, Australia: Unethical!
Serena, Australia: Unbelievable!
Fran, USA: Let the tourists suffer; it’s their choice. But the horses deserve protection from these cruel money-hungry fools.
Lois, USA: This sounds like the biggest case of animal cruelty in the world.
Graeme, Scotland: As a veterinarian involved in endurance, I feel this is a blatant disregard for the welfare of the horse.
Jodi, New Zealand: The very thought of this race sickens me.
Michelle, Canada: This race is a disgusting exploitation of a country in poverty, and its animals, by some jerk trying to make a buck.
Stephen, Taiwan: This is an outrageous affair of a company more interested in their cheque-book than common sense.
Naomi, UK: I am ashamed that a British company has organised this ill-conceived and idiotic event to indulge bored, rich exhibitionists.

In conclusion, The Long Riders’ Guild urges you to share your concerns with Tom Morgan and Mercy Corps by either emailing or telephoning them with your views.

Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent events manager at the Adventurists
ants@theadventurists.com – + 44-(0)1779-541-515

Geri Manzano – Mercy Corps Donor Relations Representative
+1-800-292-3355, ext. 250 – donorservices@mercycorps.org

The Mongol Derby and Vet Net

2009-07-28T09:25:00.000-05:00

A reply email from the Adventurists:

Hi

The Adventurists would like to respond to recent statements published online concerning the veterinary care for the horses taking part in the Mongol Derby, and to clarify their relationship with the Mongolian veterinary NGO, Vet Net.

(Full statement is available here as a PDF:
http://theadventurists.com/files/newsreleases/MD09_Mongol_Derby_Veterinary_Update.pdf )

Horse welfare has always been at the top of the agenda for The Adventurists, and hence in November 2008 they contacted Vet Net, in order to seek advice on veterinary care for the 600 plus horses being ridden in the Mongol Derby.

The Adventurists would like to make clear that the two parties have been in regular contact since November 2008, by email, telephone and in person. Vet Net have consulted The Adventurists on the veterinary situation in Mongolia, on the availability of good quality medicines and on how best to provide veterinary care for the Mongol Derby horses. Vet Net also provided The Adventurists with the names and contact details of all their trained soum (village) vets along the Mongol Derby course.

According to an email from a representative of Vet Net to The Adventurists: “The soum veterinarians are well qualified veterinarians. They are private practising veterinarians who have benefited from the world class drugs and equipment that we have been able to import and supply for them after they have received training in their use.”

This network of Vet Net trained vets will be providing vet care for the Mongol Derby horses over the 1000 kilometre Mongol Derby. They will be checking the horses during their pre-race training, immediately before they start, and after they have completed.

These Vet Net trained vets will be working in conjunction with a UK vet with 32 years of equine experience. This vet is being flown out to Mongolia especially for the Mongol Derby.

This UK vet will be following the race in one of the back-up emergency response vehicles. He will be equipped, as all the riders are, with a GPS spot tracker, and will respond to any emergency situations that arise. He will be following the race with an equine vet from the Mongolian government’s Ministry of Agriculture, who is fully supportive of the Mongol Derby.

All vets, herders, horse breeders and trainers involved in the Mongol Derby are being well paid by The Adventurists for their involvement. Horse welfare and respect for the Mongolian people and their culture is of the utmost importance to the organisers. The Adventurists hope that this information clarifies the recent confusion over Vet Net’s association with the Mongol Derby, and looks forward to the first of many successful editions of the event.

To read the full statement please follow this link for the PDF:

http://theadventurists.com/files/newsreleases/MD09_Mongol_Derby_Veterinary_Update.pdf

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.

All the best,

The Adventurists
–
Mongol Derby | The Adventurists
mongolderby@theadventurists.com
Hamilton House | 80 Stokes Croft | Bristol | BS1 3QY

Fighting to make the world less boring
http://www.theadventurists.com

BREAKING NEWS from the Long Riders Guild

2009-07-12T13:36:00.001-05:00

Dear Long Riders, Explorers and Friends of the Guild,

The last fortnight has seen an extraordinary outpouring of concern from horse lovers, explorers and Long Riders around the planet, all of whom have added their voices to a collective cry aimed at stopping the so-called Mongol Derby. Here is a link which will provide you with the latest news about this ill-conceived and perilous plan, including details of how one high profile contestant has withdrawn from the race, a possible connection between race organizers and the US government, as well as forums, news stories and blogs, all of whom are monitoring these events around the world.

Yet the most astonishing news was revealed earlier today.

For the last two weeks Tom Morgan, and his tour company the Adventurists, have been busy telling the world that all equine health concerns were being overseen by the reputable NGO, VET Net. This claim was also published and promoted by Mercy Corps in Portland, Oregon and by the Horse & Hound magazine in London.

In an exclusive interview with the Long Riders Guild, an official VET Net spokesman confirms that their organization is not involved, that they were not aware that their name was being used to promote the race, that they consider the race a threat to the small native horses and disrespectful of Mongolia's equestrian heritage. The official concludes by joining the Long Riders' Guild in urging the Mongolian government to halt the race immediately.

VET Net and the Mongol Derby

The following interview was held between Dr. Thomas Juergens DVM and officials of the Long Riders' Guild on July 11, 2009. Dr. Juergens is an American equine practitioner and advisor to VET Net, the Mongolian NGO which has been linked to the Mongol Derby. According to documents released on July 1, 2009 by Tom Morgan, and his English tour company, the Adventurists, stated that the renowned Mongolian veterinarian training program, VET Net, was associated with providing equine medical assistance during the race.

"We are working with an American veterinary NGO based in Mongolia called Vet Net," Morgan's press release declared.

In an effort to placate irate donors, PR representatives of the Portland based charity, Mercy Corps, also circulated VET Net's name so as to offset public anger. According to Dr. Juergens, officers of the highly respected medical organization were not even aware that their organization was being linked to the race, nor do they support it in any way. In fact, VET Net's spokesman has denounced the event .

How long has VET Net been working in Mongolia and what are some of the many achievements your organization has achieved there?
VET Net is the leading source of veterinary continuing education in Mongolia. The NGO was formed by Dr. Gerald Mitchum, who has spent the last seventeen years overseeing the training of hundreds of Mongolian veterinarians in modern veterinary medicine.

What are your personal connections with Mongolia?
I've spent the last ten summers there, educating remote veterinarians on how to become better veterinarians, practicing modern equine veterinary medicine..

What effect will this race have on your personal efforts, as well as VET Net's, to further veterinarian education among the Mongols?
This race negates everything we've been teaching the Mongolian people and veterinarians for the last ten years because here we have the concern of foreigners racing horses to death. Have you ever seen a horse raced to death? It's horrific.

According to a document Morgan released last week, he claims, "Horse welfare has been at the top of the agenda since ... early 2008." When did VET Net officials first learn about Morgan's Mongol Derby and did your organization offer to lend your medical expertise to this event?
I think VET Net was contacted in either January or February of 2009. It is my understanding that they wanted us to supply all the veterinarians and oversee the medical needs throughout the entire race. But it is also my understanding that VETNET is not involved with providing veterinary care to the horses in this race.

Were you aware that Morgan and Mercy Corps had specifically named VET Net as being in charge of the equine medical care of the 800 Mongolian horses to be used in the non-sanctioned race?
I was surprised to be told that our organization had been named as being part of this race.

Upon learning that Morgan had misinformed the public about VET Net's role in the race, did your organization contact the Adventurists and order them to cease using your organization's name?
One of the other advisors immediately fired off emails asking that VET Net not be linked to this event.

Do the officials in charge of VET Net have concerns regarding the potential damage Morgan's race may inflict upon the horses, the herders and the equestrian heritage of Mongolia?
Absolutely ! This event is being done in total disregard to the welfare of the horses and it shows no respect for the nation's equestrian traditions either. It's as if they think these horses are rental cars. Because the contestants don't own the horses, they'll think they can ride them hard, then just walk away. There's no sense of personal accountability. What I see instead is disrespect for the horses and Mongolian traditions.

The race organizers in England have attempted to sooth public concerns by saying that they will be providing vehicles to drive local vets along the route of the race, so as to ensure proper equine safety standards are maintained. What are your feelings about that?
Just because the remote Mongolian veterinarians have studied modern veterinary medicine for six weeks with VET Net doesn't mean they are qualified to act as attending veterinarians for the critical health needs of the horses competing in this race. Normally the horse's pulse, respiration, soundness and hydration are all checked at required stops by qualified veterinarians during a normal endurance race. This race is absolutely different. And saying that the individual horses are "only" going to be raced for forty kilometres is just showing disrespect. You have to worry about the horses - and the riders. I can't see any good coming from this race.

Do you, as an advisor to VET Net, believe it is in the best interest of Mongolia for Mongolian officials to order this event to be halted?
Yes, because there are ethical, moral and humanitarian concerns which do not seem to have been met at this time. If the race organizers wanted to put on such an event, they should have spent more than six months organizing the logistics of quality veterinary care for the horses. But they haven't even proved that they can provide adequate veterinarian care for the horses.

Mongol Derby Update

2009-07-06T17:39:00.001-05:00

Received today via email:
Hi Everyone,

Apologies for the group mail, you're receiving this email because your
contact details were published on a website or blog that has recently
featured the Mongol Derby.

We wanted to take the opportunity to send you the most recent news
release and accompanying document explaining in brief some of the
logistical arrangements for the Mongol Derby.

If you would like any more information or you have any questions please
do drop us a line - our websites may be written in a humourous tone but
we do take what we do incredibly seriously, particularly when it comes
to animal welfare for the Mongol Derby - we think that perhaps this tone
is sometimes misunderstood. It's also important to point out that horse
welfare has been at the very top of the agenda since the very beginning
of the Mongol Derby way back in early 2008 and these systems have been
in development for quite some time.

News Release as a PDF online:
http://media.theadventurists.com/files/newsreleases/MD09_Horse_Welfare_Press_Release.pdf

Horse Welfare and Race Logistics Document available online here:
http://mongolderby.theadventurists.com/files/newsreleases/MD09_Horse_Welfare_Logistics_Announcement.pdf

Regards,

The Adventurists

--
The Adventurists
media@theadventurists.com
Hamilton House | 80 Stokes Croft | Bristol | BS1 3QY

Fighting to make the world less boring
http://www.theadventurists.com

.....................................................................

This email and its attachments might be confidential. If it's not
meant for you, stop being sneaky and don't do any more sneaky stuff
with it. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily
those of the League of Adventurists, especially if it will get us into
trouble.

.....................................................................

Mongol Derby Alert

2009-06-29T14:11:00.000-05:00

Equestrian Exploration and Endurance Leaders condemn world's largest unethical horse race

What is being labelled as the world's longest horse race, has been denounced by an unprecedented alliance of equestrian, endurance and exploration leaders.

At a thousand kilometers, the Mongol Derby would be the largest non-sanctioned endurance race ever attempted. Set to be run this summer in Mongolia, nearly a thousand semi-wild under-sized native horses have been drafted into an effort which deliberately flaunts international endurance racing rules.

"There's no carefully marked course, no catering tent and no support; this is horse racing on a whole new scale. You will change steeds every 40 km so the horses will be fresh. Bleeding kidneys, broken limbs, open sores, moon stroke and a list of dangers longer than your arm stand between you and victory," warns the official race website.

The horse race is being promoted by Tom Morgan, a native of Great Britain whose company, The Adventurists, previously specialized in enticing adventure-hungry tourists into signing up to race junk cars to distant national capitals.

"We don't make any safety arrangements. Our adventures are designed to be just that, so organising a support crew would rather take the edge off things. People are made painfully aware that what they're entering into can be extremely dangerous," Morgan's website cautioned.

Connie Caudill, President of the American Endurance Ride Conference, is one of the many equestrian leaders who have warned that Morgan's Mongol Derby will severely damage the sport and may well lead to horses being ridden to death.

"This will set endurance racing back 50 years," Caudill said, then added, "This isn't an endurance race, it's entertainment that will undermine endurance racing all over the world."

Morgan's company sought advice from The Long Riders' Guild, the world's first international association of equestrian explorers. The Guild warned the tour company against encouraging the twenty-five foreign competitors, all of whom had paid nearly $5,000 for a chance to ride, to attempt the journey, as the Guild's mounted explorers had recently encountered wolf attacks, bubonic plague, rabies, flash floods, foul water, poisoned food, horse theft and personal assault.

"The Adventurists is preparing to embark on an ill-advised equestrian misadventure, one in which your company does not appreciate the many equestrian hardships and dangers being presented to the horses and riders," The Guild informed the tour company.

Regardless of the danger, Morgan is busy promoting what he calls "biggest, baddest equine affair on the planet." He is being assisted by Richard Dunwoody, a former British champion jockey turned equestrian tour guide. Originally hired to present a lecture on racing to the amateur riders, Dunwoody has announced that he will be riding as a contestant in the event.

Because he plans on drafting nearly one thousand native horses into his non-sanctioned race, Morgan sought tactical and equestrian assistance from an unlikely source, the international charity, Mercy Corps.

Operating in more than a hundred countries, with offices in Scotland and Mongolia, the wealthy charity agreed to accept a guaranteed £25,000 in donations from Morgan's riders in exchange for providing the tour operator with access to twenty-five Mongolian herder families and their horses.

"Mercy Corps are delighted to be a part of the first ever Mongol Derby," said Jennifer Adams, the Event Development Coordinator at Mercy Corps, European Headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. When asked if this partnership of participation meant that Mercy Corps was in the horse racing business, Adams answered, "I guess you could say that."

During an eight month investigation into the race, Long Riders in New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, Great Britain, Mongolia and the United States confirmed that neither the Mongolian government, nor the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international body assigned to protect endurance racing from exploitation, was involved in organizing the race.

"This is going to be all about the endurance of the rider, as opposed to the horse," said a spokesperson for Morgan's company.

Contestants are riding straight into danger.

"They're providing us with these yellow brick trackers, so we can activate the emergency beacon if our horse is injured and we can't walk it in," one rider said. "The only other time you're supposed to activate the beacon is if you feel your life is in immediate danger. There's only one emergency medical helicopter in all of Mongolia."

Food and water will also be an obstacle during the so-called Mongol Derby.

"We're still looking into the food options," the naïve young contestant told the press. "They're going to give us GPS locations to the wells, where we'll be able to get water, and they don't guarantee that the wells will have water. They want us to be careful because there are packs of wild dogs that surround those wells."

When it was learned that Morgan's race appears to violate the three primary principles of endurance racing, namely no commercial exploitation of the horse, a marked route and confirmed sources of water, the world's largest coalition of riders, explorers and editors launched an international petition asking the Mongolian president to halt the race and urging Princess Haya, President of the FEI, to ban the competitors for life.

Additionally, Britain's Minister for the Horse, Jim Fitzpatrick, has been urged to scrutinize Morgan's non-sanctioned race, and the Charity Commissions in England and Scotland received a complaint asking them to investigate the possibility that Mercy Corps participated in unacceptable behaviour.

Regardless of what happens out on the steppe in August, it is already plain to see that thousands of horse riders, equestrian explorers and endurance riders have banded together in an unprecedented act of solidarity designed to halt Morgan's spectacle.

For more information about the race, and to sign the petition, please visit the Long Riders' Guild Mongol Investigation & Petition
www.thelongridersguild.com/mongolia.htm

World Ride and Search for Equine DNA

2009-05-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

A Mounted Search for Scientific Truth:

In addition to being the first global equestrian journey, the World Ride will inspire the largest equine DNA search in history.

Working with leading equine hereditary specialists, Basha O’Reilly will be collecting hair samples from the breeds encountered on the World Ride. An international appeal is also being broadcast to horse-owners world wide, so as to include their animals from continents not on the journey’s route. The goal is to construct the first uninterrupted equine DNA chain, thanks to an unprecedented international alliance of equestrian, cultural and scientific co-operation.

The creation of the world’s first equine DNA chain brings staggering possibilities, including unravelling the origins of the horse.

Though the horse has lived alongside mankind for millennia, many of his mysteries are still unresolved, and because of a lack of modern academic evidence, equestrian concepts often end up being argued with more passion than proof. The global equine DNA project will offer a host of new answers in fields ranging from archaeology to zoology.

Breeds for which we have DNA hair samples – 29
Appaloosa, BLM Mustang, Brumby, Buz-kasi, Camargue, Cossack Working Horse, Criollo, Exmoor, Fell Pony, Fjord, French Trotter, Jackmabadi, Kazakh, Lusitano, Marwari, Mongolian, Mule, Noriker, Paso Fino, Pinto, Poitou Donkey, Quarter Horse, Sable Cream Dun, Shetland, Spanish Barb, Tennessee Walking Horse, Thoroughbred, Waziri, Welsh Pony (Section A)
Breeds for which samples are definitely in transit – 5
American Paint Horse, Missouri Foxtrotter, Rocky Mountain Horse, Mountain Pleasure Horse, Kentucky Mountain Horse
Breeds for which samples have been promised - 26
Azteca, Curly Mustang, Saddlebred, Silver Paint, Welsh Cob, Dartmoor, Peruvian Paso, Caspian, Kurd, Turkoman, Arab (from Arabia), Spanish Mustang, Manga Larga, Marsh Tacky.

To learn more about the world wide equine DNA collection project go to:http://www.theworldride.org/science.htm A submission form is available at the site for download.

Shift Happens

2009-04-22T10:19:00.001-05:00

Share Parelli

2009-04-19T10:19:00.001-05:00

Adobe House, the saga continues

2009-04-09T10:12:00.002-05:00

Up bright and surly this morning to work on the painting and get other tasks done before the need to run and find electric fencing supplies to finish the pasture fence at my mother's old pasture.
I glazed and defined more of the shadow areas with my favorite shadow mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue and lots of Liquin. Then back into the foliage of the trees to add better midtones and some highlights on the leaves. More color washes on the grass and a bit of color change happening on the two horses in the foreground. I know the front horse is a brighter chestnut than the one beside her, although the reference photos showed Missy darker and Ginger lighter, so I am adjusting their coat as I go along. Rather like shedding out for spring!
Now let this dry and try not to monkey with it until it does. There are times to paint into the "soup" ( I forget which artist used to call it that) and times to leave it to dry and glaze and scumble.

First color

2009-04-05T12:54:00.001-05:00

When I start a painting, after the underpainting is dry, I like to try and put color all over the painting. Not the exact colors, but more a loose, sketchy, color reference that strengthens the total work. The day I started the first color layer, for whatever reason, I was interrupted and had to cover the paints and leave the painting about half done. Today I was able to devote the morning to putting on the color layer. There is no attention to details. The shadow areas in oil are usually painted first. In the background, this is done and lighter leaf colors will be painted on top of this later. In the foreground, since the lane is in the dappled light of the trees, the shadows will be added later as a glaze on top of the road color. You can still see the underpainting peeking through the color layer. After this dries in a day or so, I will start concentrating on more details, but trying to work over the entire painting at the same time and not over do one area.

HR 305: Horse Transportation Saftey Act of 2009

2009-03-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

A bill before the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee would prohibit the use double-decker trailers for transporting horses across state lines.

Specifically, HR 305, or the "Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2009," prohibits the interstate transport of horses in a motor vehicle containing two or more levels stacked on top of one another.

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) introduced the legislation into the House on Jan. 8. It was later referred to the committee. Kirk represents Lake County, Ill., the site of an October 2007 double-decker trailer rollover accident that killed 17 draft horses in transit through Illinois from Indiana.

Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) co-sponsored the bill.

The legislation carries civil penalties of at least $100 but not more than $500 for each violation. A separate violation occurs for each illegally transported horse.

Click here to contact your Senator. Click here to contact your Representative.

Adobe House Project - Again

2009-03-20T13:22:00.000-05:00

The adobe house meets the canvas!

The final sketch is done. The canvas stretched on 14 x 20 " stretcher bars and the underpainting is done. The canvas was toned this morning to a reddish orange to give a warm glow to the entire painting as the paint layers commence.

Finally on the way to the "fun" part. Doing the actual painting. More soon I hope. The forecast for the weather has rain for everyday in the first half of the week. I am hoping to use the inside time and get to painting on this!

The Dog Whisperer Meets the Horse Whisperer

2009-03-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

WHOOHOO! We've got an AIR DATE - April 3rd on National Geographic Channel!

Read more on the Daily Parelli Blog

Adobe House Update

2009-03-03T17:09:00.000-06:00

If it is of any interest, at a later date, I will tell about what an interesting winter it has been. More than one house project... and a much different kind of painting. I have an entire new catalog of knowledge and skills I did not have before! I was hoping this project would be finished by now, but it seems every moment is spoken for lately.
I was finally able to put the horses into the pasture and make some of the structural updates to the buildings. Some changes will be strickly color so have to reside in what is left of my memory to complete.
The customer changed two of the horses around, so there are holes in them right now. Computers are wonderful for moving things around without the need to redraw everything.

Daily Parelli: Welcome

2009-01-20T07:27:00.003-06:00

The Parelli's have started a blog. If you are interested, here is the link:

http://heartanddesire.typepad.com/heart_desire/

It is brand new, and not many posts, but I am certain that will soon change.

Update to Stop NAIS

2009-01-16T09:49:00.001-06:00

This idea qualified for the 2nd round of voting and received 6,568 votes during that period. There will be another voting period upcoming. Stay tuned!

Help Stop NAIS

2009-01-16T09:31:00.001-06:00

Last Call - Please Help STOP NAIS! Win the Change.org competition!

"Protect Our Food Supply - Stop NAIS!" is still in the running at change.org, but we need over two thousand more votes to make it into the Top 10 Ideas. And only the top 10 entries in this online contest "win" and have their ideas presented at the National Press Club on January 16th and advocacy campaigns organized to promote them.

The competition ends this Thursday, January 15, at 5 pm eastern time. In addition to voting for stopping NAIS, please forward this email to all of your friends and the people you know!

Step 1: If you are not already signed up for the site, register at: https://www.change.org/admin/sign_up

Step 2: Go to http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais Be sure to click the box labeled "Vote!" to the left of "Protect Our Food Supply -- Stop NAIS!" Leaving a comment does not count as a vote.

After you click the Vote box, it will change color and show "Voted." If it does not do that, shift your mouse a bit and click again, because it sometimes take several tries.

Step 3: Email all your friends, and ask them to vote also.

The most important thing is the number of votes that the idea receives. If you want to leave a comment after you have voted, keep your comment short and clear.

Remember that all of the ideas are competing against each other for one of the Top 10 slots.

This is a very quick, easy way to help us raise awareness about NAIS and potentially get significant new resources for this fight. Please go to http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais and vote now!

WHAT IS NAIS?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently in the process of implementing the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) through the States. NAIS is designed to identify all livestock animals and poultry and track their movements. When the program is fully implemented, the USDA claims that the NAIS will be able to identify all premises on which animals and poultry are located, and all animals that have had contact with a disease of concern, within 48 hours of discovery.
Read more

Design Your Own Trail Obstacle Course - Associated Content

2009-01-10T16:12:00.000-06:00

Design Your Own Trail Obstacle Course
Easy project for building safe obstacles for the purpose of training the green trail horse prior to actually hitting the trail.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/85914/design_your_own_trail_obstacle_course.html

Making Chicken Diapers 1

2009-01-09T10:28:00.001-06:00

It is a wonderful world we live in. Things like this give me a reason to get up each day and marvel. What next? My sister is a seamstress and has been requested to sew all types of things, but I have a feeling, this would be a new one even for her.

The link was forwarded to me by the author of a chicken guide that I will be illustrating again. I just mention this in case you had wild thoughts that I was sitting in the studio entertaining myself by Googling "chicken diapers." Not yet, but I might be tempted!

The Adobe House Project

2009-01-04T10:19:00.000-06:00

One of my new year's traditions is to start, and maybe complete, a new artwork on the first day of each year. This year I have had a painting commission in my work que for, sad to say, almost a year now. The first day of 2009, I sat down at the drawing table with all my notes and reference materials and completed the second sketch of the proposed oil painting. I have not painted anything architectural for a long, long time. The saving grace is there will be horses in the painting. This time I think I worked out most of the kinks from the first preliminary sketch and have a more satisfying "cartoon" to base the final painting upon. The customer has some changes she will be sending and I will post the changes as I complete them. I have to admit, now that I have this started, I am anxious to continue and put some color to this work. Lots of warm colors offset by the cool shadows of the trees on the lane. Can a northern gal pull off a Santa Fe painter look?

Since I removed some trees from the side of the house, I understand there is another window that will be showing. I also need to straighten up the doorway lines it seems. They looked off, but held up well when tested.

It is something with the shadow on the door that needs the correction.

The horses will be redrawn to match actual individuals. The painting will be large enough, I hope, at 14" x 18" to include all the detail the customer is hoping to see. I got the impression this work was more about a memory and a feeling than the individual details, although the details seem important.

I can never remember for sure. Is it God or the devil that is in the details?

ArtCardsWanted.com

2009-01-04T09:58:00.001-06:00

ArtCardsWanted.com.

ACEO cards for the collector on a budget.

About Art Cards

Open Edition - Prints/reproductions of artwork that is printed in the standard card size. Open editions can be printed and reprinted depending on the demand for the card. There is no limit to how many will be printed. This can also be a mini-print of a larger original artwork.

Limited Edition - This type is also a print/reproduction, but there is a limit to how many cards will be ever printed/sold. These cards are more valuable then open edition cards, because there is only a limited amount of each card that is available in the world. Many times, limited edition cards will be numbered on the back of the card.

Original Artwork - This card is a unique piece of artwork done by the artist. It can be painted or drawn, but it will be 100% original and only one card exists in the world. This type of card is the most valuable.

Dog and Horse Cookies

2009-01-01T16:40:00.001-06:00

Christmas is the time for secrets and surprises. I decided this year to make many of my Christmas gifts for loved ones myself. As much as I wanted to write and share my ideas, the need to keep the gifts as a surprise was tantamount. First, that is what most gifts are: A surprise. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Second: I had decided to bake the bulk of my gifts. The need for secrecy here should be obvious. If my friends and family found out I was cooking, they would never visit during the holidays and there could be the possibility of restraining orders.

That is the reason I am sharing gift ideas with you now, after the main event.

Jet Ranger inadvertently gave me the idea. While he wants me to cook, many times the dogs are the final recipients of my efforts. My idea for gifts churned from this outcome. Why not cut out the middle man entirely? I would cook for the dogs! All the biscuits and cookies I prepared for the canine members of my extended family were tasted and tested by my own two dogs, Bella and Radar. Some even earned the "Radar Seal of Approval" if they were extra yummy. My friends and family with horses received home baked horse cookies.

I did a Google search and found a fantastic inventory of mini cookie cutters from Off The Beaten Path at (where else) http://cookiecutter.com

Here are my adaptions of the recipes:
Basic Dog Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup milled flax seed
6 tablespoons shortening
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon molasses
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients well
Cut in the shortening
Add egg, molasses, and water, mix well
Knead dough lightly on floured surface.
Roll dough out to 1/4+ inch and cut into shapes
Bake at 325 F for 30 minutes or until dough is firm to the touch.

Garlic Bites
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup ice water
1/2 cup dry milk
6 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon honey
Combine flour, milk, garlic
Cut in shortening and honey until mixture resembles cornmeal.
Mix in egg.
Add enough water so that mixture forms a ball.
Roll dough out to 1/4+ inch and cut into shapes
Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Basic Biscuits
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup flavored liquid (broth, bouillon, etc)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Roll and cut into shapes
3. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes.

Microwave Biscuits
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup dry milk
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup quick oats
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 tablespoon bouillon granules
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup hot water

1. Mix flour, milk, cornmeal, oats and sugar
2. Cut in shortening
3. Add egg, bullion, and hot water.
4. Knead 5 minutes
5. Roll out until 1/4+" thick, cut into shapes
6. Microwave at 50% power for 5 to 10 minutes, rotating plate.

Garlic Bites and variations on that recipe were the favorites. I exchanged water for chicken broth, eliminated the garlic on one batch and stirred in a small jar of strained turkey baby food on another. i have left out recipes that I tested that bombed. The recipes that included cornmeal were not as favored as the ones without that ingredient. Your dogs may feel differently.

Each concoction had its own cutter and it's own bag label. Making up the names and labels are half the fun. For example:

I found one horse cookie recipe that worked well. One other one started out okay, but then did not keep well in the zip locks. The nature of the horse cookies made it difficult to use cookie cutters, so I rolled each treat into a 1/2" ball.

Horse Cookies

* 4 cups grain (like oats, steam-rolled- I used grocery store Quick Oats as I was out of steam-rolled oats)
* 1/4 cup milled flax seed
* 8 tablespoons unbleached flour
* 1/2 cup molasses
* 3/4 cup water

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl.
2. Stir with large spoon until mixture is the consistency of thick cookie dough.
3. Grease hands and make 1/2" balls and drop onto a greased cookie sheet, spacing cookies 1/2" inch apart.
4. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour or until crisp.
5. Remove from oven, and cool for 30 minutes.

Many of the cookie recipes I have tried in the past were not on any of my horse's preferred menu. These definitely are, plus easy to make and keep a supply. This became my recipe for "Yee-Haws." I am still perfecting the recipe for the "Whoa-Ho's" and I will share that when it has been baked and tested.

So start off the new year baking and warming up those kitchens! Remember, your pets can not file complaints or divorce papers for what you feed them!

New Coloring Book Available

2008-12-05T12:38:00.003-06:00

Here, finally, is the project I needed to work so feverishly on before Christmas. It is an update to an older coloring book. Twenty drawings, all draft horses and mules, ready to color. And, here's the best part: Only $5 each from Mischka Press! Drawings are detailed and probably best for school age children and above.
Click Here To order

There are more samples on the Mischka web site. I hope you find it fun!

The Exodus

2008-12-03T21:59:00.001-06:00

The hay was moved quickly and efficiently during a warm and balmy Sunday. It was a day I would have rather been riding, but it was a great day to move the hay as well. We were also able to get the tractor moved to the new location the same day.

A few days later, I headed out to the pen to see if the little rescue fillies would load. I caught both of them right off, they just walked up and asked to be caught. I haltered them and put them outside the pasture gate and then caught Lil Bit and brought him out as well. His role was to be the older, steady role model for the youngsters.

Dulci went first. As she walked up to the trailer, on the first ask, she put a leg in and started to step up and then hesitated, doubted herself and backed up. Not bad. The girls had not been loaded since they arrived in April. I let her look the trailer over and sniff the floor. When she wanted to turn away and do something else, I redirected her to concentrate on the trailer. I started gently tapping the top of her croup with the carrot stick and stopped when she made any move forward. In less than five minutes total time, she stepped into the trailer. The bay filly was next. I had not worked with her as much and she was not as far along in her understanding. She did not have a "go forward" cue, so I started with that. Once she understood to go forward when I asked, she willingly walked into the trailer as well. I put Bit in the back and shut the doors and we headed for the new digs.

They all walked out as quietly as they had loaded. They looked around, and started grazing. No running, fussing or fear. Just like I like it!

The next few days we continued to work on the fix-ups around the place and checked every post and every wire and ran electric tape to reinforce the safety of the fences.

Last Saturday was supposed to be a fairly decent day. We started early and worked all day. About one, it started a wet snow/rain. We continued to work, myself on the fence and Jet Ranger on the protective winter shed for the hydrant. By four, I was soaked. I decided my level of happiness is very dependent on the warmth of my feet and my hands. The snow was beginning to stick to the road. Jet Ranger decided he wanted to bring his three horses before he quit. I sent him on with the truck and trailer and came home to get warm and find some dry clothes. I looked at the weather radar after I was redressed, and gave him a call to swing by and pick me up on his way by. From the look of the radar it was going to get worse before it got better and even though it would be dark, it would be better to move all the horses that night.

A long time ago I thought I should write a book called 101 "Fun" Things to Do in a Blizzard. As life has progressed, it would be more appropriate to call it 1001 Things. It seems there is always something with the horses that has to be done while sane people are indoors. I can't imagine what people without horses do with all that free time and money. Think of all the fresh air, exercise and adventure they miss!

The big move is done and we are all moved to the new pasture. Everyone is settling in and they are entertaining themselves with the hay. The weather has been horrible except for a break yesterday and I tried to get everything possible done outside that I could but there are still a dozen projects I want to finish.

More soon on other things that have kept me on the fly the last few weeks! One big project is finished and sent to the printer today.

Training Clicker Give Away

2008-11-19T17:28:00.002-06:00

As promised, leave a comment between now and Saturday, November 22, to win a blue and white clicker for clicker training. Train your dog, your cat, your horse, your husband or wife, nearly anything that can hear... not that will listen, that can hear. There IS a difference!

AWOL

2008-11-18T10:29:00.001-06:00

I will be in and out for the next few days. To add to an already bloated schedule, the heaven on earth place that I have called "home" for the horses for almost seven years now has been sold. The fellow purchasing it is expressly using it for deer hunting. After considering the options, I decided to relocate for the winter with hopes of being able to return during the non-lethal seasons. I will be going from 389 acres of riding to ten. Ouch. I will have a barn to use, running water, electricity, a paved road, a real fence, all the modern conveniences. For the winter it will be so much easier, if less hidden and spiritual.

On the day the sale was to be finalized, the old mule, John, laid down and decided he was staying. I spent Sunday morning burying him. I was extremely thankful he was a small mule, since my back hoe was elsewhere and all I had was a shovel and a spade (and determination). There is enough about John for a full article, so I will just mention his passing for now and give him a better eulogy later. His owners had wanted him to be able to stay with the place and die there, and for probably the only time in his life, he obeyed their wish.

For the last two days I have been pulling up my electric fences. My hands are full of fiberglass and so are my gloves, so it seems I just have to endure.

Today I will be moving the corral gates and the things that need two people. Best bud, Norene, bless her heart, offered her afternoon to help. I offered to help her scope out a trail at her place tomorrow for the saddle club ride Sunday at her place. Not the fairest trade, but I will live with it until I can do better.

I will have the horses moved by the time shotgun season opens the first weekend in December. In the meantime, the weather is co-operating and I should be able to make an easy transition to the new location. The biggest chore is getting 34 large bales of hay moved and the back hoe home. Another good friend, Ron Collier, of the Moravia Mule Company is helping with the large items. Be sure to check out his website at MoraviaMule.com.

New GIVEAWAY tomorrow! Come back soon!

The Myth of Natural Horsemanship-Tom Moates

2008-11-15T09:05:00.000-06:00

via The Myth of Natural Horsemanship

More Clicker

2008-11-12T19:05:00.000-06:00

Another dreary wet and overcast day. Nothing really fun again that could be done with the horses that did not involve ankle deep mud. I took the warm mash of beet pulp, alfalfa cubes and senior feed to the old mule, John, and Lil' Bit in the west pasture. They were waiting for me tonight. The last couple of nights, John had decided I needed more exercise and I should trudge up and down the pasture hill in search of him. At nearly 40 years of age, his hearing has pretty well left him, and calling for him makes me feel like I am doing something other than trudging, but little else.

While they munched. I drove back up to the main pasture to see how well the horses that were in on the clicker game remembered. I filled my feed bucket and put five piles of grain out to discourage the bully horses from being interested in what the others were doing.

Cirrus paid no attention to the piles of grain and followed me up to the gate where we had played before. As the star pupil, he was ready and eager to have another go. He was reaching for the cone before I could get a good purchase on the bottom to present it. He had certainly not lost any of what he had learned the night before. Reo joined him as star pupil #2. He also had no hesitation with touching the cone to get a click and some grain. Since Cirrus was so far ahead with his understanding, I upped the anty on him. He had to touch the top of the cone and only the top of the cone to get the click and grain. No problem. One time he took the top of the cone in his lips. I clicked. Now the only time he gets a click is when he puts the top of the cone in his mouth. Only a couple of fumbles, and he is 100%. Reo is not as orally fixated as Cirrus, so it took him a while longer to go from only the top of the cone to lipping it. I would wait until he was at the top and made any wiggle movement with his lips near the cone, ever so slight, and he started to understand what I wanted and his upper lip got busier. Nimbus finally joined us. He was hesitant, as though he was not certain this still would work. He had a couple of long thinking spells, looking at the cone and not moving. He finally touched it. While he was slower getting the concept to begin with, once I asked him for just the top, I got just the top and the "put it in the mouth" all at once and consistently. I believe he watches and learns from the other horses (which studies have proven does happen).

The reason I am wanting them to put the cone in their mouth, is in a few days, I want them to pick it up from the ground and hand it to me. Then we can pick up other objects - like my hat when it gets knocked off on a ride. I need to read further in the book to be sure I am not out thinking myself on where I want to go. I have been teaching these three to bow onto one knee. Reo at 16.2 will be much easier to get on and off with that particular talent. I may add the clicker to what they already know about bowing and see if it increases the learning curve. Cirrus is the top pupil there as well. Nimbus seems to take longer initially and then jump ahead several steps. Reo is steady, easy, and takes it all in a steady flow.

The two alpha horses never offered to come up at all. Little MeToo stood at a respectful distance just outside the group and watched the entire time. She never came forward and asked for or demanded any grain. Tomorrow night, if she comes to watch again, I will invite her into the game. There was no fighting or quarreling again tonight and everyone took their honest turn and did not reach for grain they had not "earned." When the grain was gone and I picked the bucket up to leave though, they all glared at each other, snorted "back off", "so's your mother", and "I never liked you!" and scattered.

When in Doubt, Let Your Horse do the Thinking.

2008-11-12T13:46:00.001-06:00

To Bid, CLICK HERE!

Clicker Training 101

2008-11-11T19:38:00.001-06:00

For going on two decades now (I don't know why that seemed easier than saying 20 years, but it was) I have been interested in clicker training. When I first heard about it, I found a little metal frog clicker (that should prove how long ago it was) and attempted to use it on my old bay gelding with out much success.

I have had a book here: CLICKER TRAINING FOR YOUR HORSE by Alexandra Kurland for several years as well and just never... you know... took the time.

For whatever reason while looking up another item on eBay, I came across a set of four training clickers for a really good price and FREE SHIPPING - next to CLEARANCE, one of my favorite things to see. The clickers arrived and have been here for a couple of weeks. I carried one around for several days to see if I could self-modify any negative behaviors I might exhibit, but it was obvious, even to me, that I did not have the basic principles understood.

I had been carrying the clicker book around with me after the clickers came. I would tuck it under my arm on errands in case anyone made me wait in line, and I would lay it on top of the ever present pile of books that surround me hoping I would have a lightning strike of motivation to open the cover.

Last night was the night. I cracked the cover and did not just look at the photos and close it. I read the beginning chapters. Interesting stuff! The dogs were at my feet, there were meat scraps from supper nearby, the clicker was within reach... let's see, I need a "target".... Ah, a dressage whip on the desk (don't we all?) I had been meaning to take out to the horses. I rubbed the end of the whip tassel with some of the meat to make it smell interesting and placed it where it was just above Radar (the rat terrier's) nose. He reached up to sniff the end and touched the tassel. I clicked and fed him a treat. He is definitely interested now. Bella, the wonder dog, approaches to see what we are doing. I put the end of the whip close, Radar touches the end, I click, he gets a treat, and Bella runs. She still has some baggage she is working through. She did come back and watch and was able to tolerate the clicks and finally got a treat when she did not bolt when I clicked.

By attempt number three, Radar has this game figured out. I put the whip out, he touches, I click, and he gets a treat. We vary the pattern. Once in a while I ask for a "sit" instead. Click and treat when he does. I move the end of the whip up and he stands up. Partway up and he sits up. Move it as he is reaching and he walks on his hind legs. He has most definitely decided touching the end of the whip means something good. I ran out of treats and we stopped playing for the night. The look in Radar's eyes and the wheels churning in his little noggin was fascinating.

Now, what good is it teaching the dog to touch the end of a dressage whip I hear you ask? That's the beauty part! It was not about the whip, it was about the positive association with the clicker. Today at lunch we had chicken strips and I peeled some of the breading off for dog treats and held the end of the whip out. Radar touched it immediately and got his treat. He remembered his lesson from the night before. Now I ask him to lay down by saying "Down" and putting a treat in my fingers with my hand curled away from him and my knuckles against the floor. The position of the treat should lower him to a laying position by chance eventually. I wait. He tries sit. No good. He dances. He digs at my fingers. No, that doesn't work. He suddenly lays down in a sphinx position to study his puzzle and I click and give him the treat. Within less than two minutes, he is laying down on command. He was never taught that cue until today and it was that quick for him and best of all, he figured it out on his own. Bella was able to tolerate the clicker near her and that was enough for her to earn a treat until her confidence gets better and she can move on to better things.

Ever since I combined the horses into one herd, feeding any grain can get to be a pain, especially when it is muddy and slimy like it has been the last week. If I can't wade out to separate them, the bully, pushy horses get the lion's share of the grain and, of course, they are the ones who need it the least. Tonight I took my grain bucket out and placed a few piles of grain for the alphas to squabble over and took the rest up to the gate and called the lower ranking (all mine) over. A couple of them wanted in on the bickering, but Cirrus came over to check on me. I had an orange soccer cone about 6 inches high in my hand (but it could have been anything, just an interesting object), and the clicker and some feed in the other. Being curious, Cirrus reached out and touched the cone with his nose. I clicked and gave him the grain. When it comes to food, this boy is a genius! He ate his nibble, immediately touched the cone again, got a click and another serving. Now he is getting into it. He was like a lab monkey hitting the target and eating grapes. Bang bang bang. Now, brother Nimbus sees something is going on and comes over to watch. When he hears the click the first time, he flinches away and thinks it is the sound of the electric fence zapping him. Cirrus is busy playing the new food dispenser game and before long Nimbus decides the click is not aimed at him. He approaches cautiously and very carefully touches the cone. Click! He gets the grain. I hold the cone up for him again. He touches. Click. More grain. Nim decides to step back for a while and mull this situation over. Reo steps in. He blows very hard at the cone. Stretches and reaches to see what it is, but won't quite touch it. I finally help, and let it tip towards him as he is reaching and he touches it accidentally. Click. Treat. Reo is not sure what happened, but you can see him studying the circumstance. I hold the cone out. He studies it. Cirrus comes in and touches the cone. I click and treat him. I offer the cone again. Now Reo understands. He touches the cone, gets his treat and is in on the game. Nimbus comes back in to play and would really like to move the other two off, because he thinks he has this game all solved and would like to take over, but he ends up by standing in line with them.

This is where it got really fascinating for me. Treating Cirrus can be like feeding a shark sometimes. He can get grabby and impulsive about his food and you want to be sure and see all your fingers come back with you. He was in control of this treat though, and never once did he get excited or too brusk. I had three horses that would have been chasing and biting and arguing over a bucket of feed, all standing at attention focused on that cone. And even though I had grain right there in my hand that they could see and smell, no one tried to get the grain directly. They had all figured out that touching the cone was the secret to getting grain. On top of that, when I would hold the cone out and one would touch it before the other two and got the click, the other two did not try to get his grain. They stood patiently and waited. They knew they had not touched the cone and earned it! How wild is that?

I was able to feed my horses without a mad stampede and fights. The bully horses thought the clicker was the electric fence zapping and left us alone and I had no intention of changing that impression. I put the little girls into the round pen and played the same game with them so they could have their grain in peace as well.

It took a long enough time for clicker training to sink in, but I am going to try to clicker train every thing I can find!

I can't wait until Jet Ranger gets home so I can try it on him!

One for the Dog Lovers!

2008-11-11T14:45:00.000-06:00

TO BID, CLICK HERE

See You in the Pasture

2008-11-10T11:37:00.001-06:00

New wall vinyl design for a Monday morning.

CLICK HERE TO BID

May the Horse Be with You.

2008-11-08T08:48:00.001-06:00

Another clever idea I saw online was to take the vinyl quote and apply it to the front of the glass of a nice frame, then hang the frame without any backing (or a nice mat color). The vinyl makes a shadow effect and you can move it around without applying it to a wall.

To purchase this design: CLICK HERE.

A Tiny Bit of Shameless Self Promotion

2008-11-07T13:32:00.001-06:00

Have you seen or heard of wall words, or wall lettering? I had not until about two months ago and I saw a great deal of it used in the houses we were looking at when my daughter was house hunting. Egad! What an idea! Elegant lettering right in the home! Some actually said "Welcome."

I have been cutting vinyl letters for signs and trucks and windows for going on 14 years now. My thought after researching more about the popular quotes and seeing very little out there for horse and pet owners, I decided I should work up some ideas to fill the niche that I have already been shovelling sand into.

A vinyl quote for a barn door or stable.

And another for anywhere, actually. Tack room, trophy room, living room, training arena...use your imagination!

I am posting them for sale on my eBay store and at auction on eBay. I hope to be able to add a new design every day or so. If you have any favorites you would like to see, please let me know! If I use your idea, I will send you a copy of the lettering for free. I will also add some graphics to some as I go along. They will be available in a choice of colors as well.

Here is the link to my store: Caskey Studios at E BAY

Where's Waldo? Post Halloween Edition

2008-11-06T17:16:00.000-06:00

My Newest Book Released

2008-10-28T12:06:00.002-05:00

I received my comp copies of the latest book I illustrated for Storey Publications. Check it out!

Draft Horses and Mules

Storey’s Working Animal Series: Harnessing Equine Power for Farm and Show

Gail Damerow , Alina Rice

Hardworking and intelligent, draft horses and mules provide clean-energy power for an impressive array of tasks. Cultivate farmland, haul logs, give tourists quiet rides through historic neighborhoods, pack into the wilderness, or simply enjoy sunny drives through the countryside — draft horses and mules love to work, and they bring their strength and endurance to every job. This complete guide is all you need to learn how to select, train, feed, care for, and work with these impressive animals.

$ 24.95 US

Paper

Pages: 272

Size: 8 1/2 x 10 7/8

Color: Photographs and illustrations throughout; 16-page full-color insert

ISBN: 978-1-60342-081-5

Order Number: 62081

For more information or to order: Click here

Mixing the Herds

2008-10-23T19:48:00.001-05:00

I decided tonight when I did chores that it was the time of year to start putting the herds back together. I took old John, the mule, out of the pasture and let him eat his mush next to the truck. He is somewhere near 40, so I did not think he would appreciate the excitement of Jet Ranger's three horses joining the herd. I gave the others, Dulci, Sophie, Cirrus and Nimbus, some grain to munch on while I walked down the fence line to where the solar charger sits and controls the fence that separates the pastures to turn it off. (I'm no) Angel was near and saw me open the gate. It did not take her long to come through and pass me. Legend and MeToo were close behind.

The two little girls stared at the intruders like they were oncoming hordes of Mongols racing to burn their village.

They stayed together and held their ground for as long as they could. One of the horde was an obvious crazy woman.

A wild and scary daughter.

And the fearsome general who commanded this oncoming charge.

There was plenty of swirling, squealing and mud flying. My "boys" took flight and were starting to panic when they spotted me. They slid to a stop on either side, hid behind me and blew snorts of warning at the confusion and introductions. It is so good to know that in a panic, they both chose to be with me as their safe place! They stayed with me until Legend tried to run the girls and they both decided to intercede on the ladies' behalf and defend the girls. They took off at a gallop as a united front.

(If you look closely, you will see both boys. Cirrus is in the front here.) And gathered their girls back from the marauder's clutches.

It was a short time of confusion and running and everyone settled down. I took John down to the west pasture with Reo and Bit and put him in with them for now. He will enjoy the relative quiet of these two solid citizens until I need to put everyone together when we start feeding hay and having to haul water and keep it from freezing. I dread the winter to come.

It had been overcast for most of the day. As I walked back down the lane, swinging my empty feed bucket and the dogs trotting beside me, the sun came through a break in the clouds behind me. The sudden glow of light stopped me in my tracks. Every leaf, every blade of grass, every weed head, was on fire and glowing. It painted the bean leaves in front of me and the edges of the hills and clouds in the distance. I tried to take it all in. Just as suddenly, it faded and disappeared.

I loaded the dogs and headed back to the shop to work some more and look at tonight's photos. I really do enjoy playing the home version of National Geographic.

Any Bird Watchers Out There?

2008-10-14T09:55:00.002-05:00

The Sunday that the hay arrived and we were spending quality time with the horses and the dogs, we also had an unusual visitor. At first, it was flying with the turkey vultures, and was just another black winged object in the sky. As it got closer, we knew we had an eagle, but not certain what kind. Earlier in the year, before the snow had melted, I had spotted a bald eagle flying over the pastures. This one was with the flock of vultures. I would have to venture the guess that it is an immature baldy, but there seems something about the beak that does not seem heavy enough. Bald eagles were rare around here and are getting more common. Any one have an idea on what species of eagle this would be?

We zoomed as much as we could and these photos are then zoomed in on the computer, so excuse the pixilation.

Isn't She Lovely?

2008-10-08T09:59:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend, our winter supply of hay arrived. There are few things as satisfying as those rows of bales. A full tank of gas. A balanced checkbook without any minus signs near the last number. Those kinds of satisfying things. We had to jump out of the truck and play on the bales and check them all out. Ducinae stood at the gate and rattled it to get our attention. She thought she should check out these giant bales as well.

Goodbye Summer

2008-10-06T11:18:00.018-05:00

Summer is gone. Goodbye, Summer.

Goodbye to the red winged blackbirds along the roads and ditches singing for their territory and mates.

Goodbye to the killdeer that I waited for so eagerly as the first real indication of spring.

Goodbye to cold watermelon on hot summer days.

Goodbye to frolics through the growing beans.

Goodbye to the wild lilies.

Goodbye to the butterfly weed and the bees.

Goodbye to the endless dips into the horse tank by the dogs.

Goodbye to the endless summer flowers.

Goodbye to the monarch butterflies, you will be migrating soon.

Goodbye to the fields full of wild cone flowers.

Goodbye to the flocks of geese. Soon your W’s will be marking the skies.

Goodbye to the turkey vultures as well. You too will soon migrate south until next year.

Goodbye to long humid evenings. The days get shorter and shorter.

Goodbye summer. The autumn is my favorite time of year. Every day is precious before winter comes along to send us bundled and shivering to spend most of our time indoors. Every day reminds me of the things left to do as well as the things I accomplished through the year. Never enough time for it all.

I will add my “Goodbye, Summer” tune here. I hope it makes you a tad wistful as well…
Tom Rush - Urge for going

Fizzy

2008-09-30T11:22:00.005-05:00

His registered name is Barcardi Nites. Since I am not much of a drinker these days and since that name sounds more like a quarter horse moniker,his pasture name is Cirrus. Half brother, Nimbus, registered name,Midnite TooStep, has the same reason for a name change. One is my little dark cloud and the other a high flying, whispy cloud. Both Arabians. Both without registered Arabic names that no one can pronounce. Both with the same sire and born within a day of each other.

Cirrus is a left brain extrovert on the Parelli Horsenality chart. Happy, bouncy and full of himself, especially on-line or at liberty. He is "naughty" and very orally fixated. He has, however, been more trustworthy and quiet under saddle than many horses I have know and others considered "good broke."

I have been taking turns with Cirrus and Nimbus each day and one of our tasks is to "ride the rail." Well, not really a rail. I have a terrible time finding enough daylight to load up, go to the fairground arena and practice with a real rail. So, instead, we have been riding the lane and the bean rows are the rail. While we work on straightness, we also are practicing walk, trot and back uptransitions and cues.

Last night, Jet Ranger went out with me to play. It is unusual for him to not be working or flying so late that we don't get to play with the horses together. I brought Cirrus up to the play pen and he brought his horse, Legend. We messed with them and I attempted to get the mud off of Cirrus. After playing a while with driving from Zone 5 and some new cues I am trying to instill in the colts, I saddled Cirrus and played with him for a short time with the saddle on. We didside passes , figure eights, weaves and jumped the barrels to see if he had any bucks in him. I then asked Jet Ranger if he would like to ride up the lane with us and practice in our not-so-round arena, since it would be slow and casual. The evening was cool and lovely and perfect. He got on Legend bareback and I asked Cirrus toside pass over to the mounting block and got on.

We did a couple walk trot transitions and behind me Jet Ranger was laughing and asking we not trot anymore since he was bareback and in slick pants on a fat horse. Fair enough I thought, we can do backups and follow the beans (rail). I had just told him it was fine and we would not trot anymore because Cirrus was being fizzy tonight anyway, when the cork blew. Cirrus wanted to trot off. I stroked the near rein to ask for a slow down and suddenly we were straight up in the air. He came down and I thought that was the end of it, but his knees went stiff and he started his own little party. I was not counting the bucks, but I know after each one, I thought, "I got it!" and he would light into another. The ground was starting to look better than staying on. It was also looking closer after one particularly high jump. I went off and tucked, and yes, I had a helmet on. I want to be able to tell the stories myself about why I am so crippled up. I could see Legend doing some dancing and crow hopping behind me as I rolled and Jet Ranger slid to the ground to try and retrieve Cirrus as he continued partying into the bean field.

I stayed on the ground for a while and stretched out my back where I had landed. Everything was good. I laid there and listened to the rattle of the soy bean pods against their drying stalks as Cirrus imitatedTigger into the field. I considered whether the sand in the arena at the fair grounds would really feel any better when landing instead of a hard packed lane.

I stretched and evaluated as Jet Ranger brought my boy back to me. Cirrus was UP and bright and full of play. I backed him most of the way back to the play pen and then turned him loose in there with the tack still on.

He farted and went into acrobatics again, all around the pen. When I would ask him to move, he would tuck and buck the other direction. He ran and played and farted and bucked. When I asked him in, he high trotted in and blew the hard warning snorts over the top of my head. He finally was cantering and doing an extended trot to die for and getting all hisfizzies out. When his head came down and he relaxed, I rode him back to his pasture and he walked calmly and quietly in his usual way.

Here are my mistakes in retrospect:

Riding with another horse that was not his herd mate and possible pecking order competition.

Not taking into account the cooler weather and Cirrus' higher spirits when it is cool.

Not taking the time to pre-flight after the saddle was on and really see that he was fizzier than I should have ridden. Since he had never, ever, ever offered to buck or do anything unwarranted under saddle, I was too assuming and too anxious to have our evening ride.

Just maybe, I did not get all the mud off where the saddle was placed and Mr."Princess and the Pea" was reacting to the extra stimulus. He is so light and responsive, it could take just that little to create an adverse reaction.

This morning I am stiff. I have had a pain in my lower back all summer from an old injury and now, at least, I get to have the area move a bit for some novelty. And, yes, I will be back out there today. A little bit slower and a little bit wiser.

Knock it Off!

2008-09-26T14:34:00.002-05:00

I'm serious, you two! Don't make me come out there!

Sliding Stops

2008-09-24T15:56:00.004-05:00

During the night and early morning, it rained a half inch. Norene, my best bud and AZtrek survivor, had scheduled riding for this morning. Since we had not had a chance to ride together all year, I did not want to miss the opportunity.

After getting the horses, it took the best part of an hour just to get the mud off of them. I chose to ride Nimbus today. The colts need the experience out with an older horse, and the last couple of times, I had ridden brother Cirrus. Our planned route was to check out the places in the pen where the trees had been cleared from the fence after a near tornado had come through and dumped trees and to find the new paths the clean-up fellow had made. The thing I had not counted on, was just how slick, long, cut grass on top of wet grass on top of mud could be. Nimbus is still learning to tuck his butt to go down steep hills and I know we had never been out where the footing was so slick. We were doing well, although Nim was having a tendency to rush the hills instead of picking his footing. It was about the fourth or fifth big hill when he started skittering and then started sliding. There was no stopping. He slid until he slid sideways and we both gently laid down. I was off and he got up. He was a little startled by my sitting on the ground, but otherwise he turned around and waited for the re-group. Norene had brought her camera along, but missed the action packed part of the mud skiing. She did record the skid marks we left down the hill. I highlighted our "track" in orange in case you can't pick out the damage we did to the dirt.

A couple steep hills further, I decided that wisdom was the better part of valor, and lead Nim down the hills. All the better to have him practice standing still for mounting, anyway. We did have our first canters together up some of the smaller hills. His first mounted small creek crossing ended up being our first mounted jump across a creek. The usual five foot long and three feet high to go over a one foot wide and four inch deep obstacle. On one particularly muddy hill, without any grass, he did find where to tuck his butt and did a nice controlled slide for a few feet. It just takes experience and he was a champ the entire time. Shortly after I got back to the shop and Norene had gone home and to work, I received a copy of an email (from our other "sis", Cindy) that summed up our morning:

None of that Sissy Crap
Are you tired of those sissy 'friendship' poems that always sound good,
but never actually come close to reality?
Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship.
You will see no cutesy little smiley faces on this card-
Just the stone cold truth of our great friendship.

1. When you are sad --I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile -- I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in.

4. When you're scared -- we will high tail it out of here.

5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining, ya big baby!!!!

6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.

7. When you are sick --Stay away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.

8. When you fall -- I'll pick you up and dust you off--

After I laugh my butt off!!

9. This is my oath...I pledge it to the end. 'Why?' you may ask -- because you are my FRIEND!

Friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth.

Have You Heard?

2008-09-24T14:44:00.002-05:00

Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer) and Pat Parelli are doing a television show together?

Parelli Weekend, Kansas City

2008-09-22T20:38:00.002-05:00

I am back from my Parelli weekend in Kansas City. Last chance to see the tour this year and I understand next year the format of the tour stops will change and there will be only seven American stops. Luckily, two will be near enough to attend.

I took a ga-zillion photos with the Nikon D-80. The lighting in the arena and the quick movements of the horses and people are always a difficult thing to capture properly. I experimented with settings. Some worked okay and some were plain bad. I have two favorite photos out of all the ones I took. One favorite of Linda Parelli.

And one favorite of Pat Parelli.

Winner of the ACEO original art give-away is...

2008-09-19T08:26:00.002-05:00

N. Faye!

Congratulations!!!

I will have another give-away soon, so keep tuned!

Cougar or Chupacabra?

2008-09-16T17:09:00.003-05:00

Lately, there have been rumors of a cougar being sighted in this part of Iowa, and in particular, just within a mile of where I pasture the horses. A couple of fellows say some of their hunting dogs went missing and were found hanging in the fork of a tree and not in a condition to follow them home. So far though, no tracks and no actual verification. We have been keeping a careful eye out for any signs.

We did find an unfortunate victim while doing chores the other night...

It was difficult to tell just what had caused this unusual mutilation.

Then.

We saw it.

Not a cougar.

No!

But a dreaded CHUPACABRA!!!!

for anyone not up to speed on cryptozoology, here you go:

Chupacabra (also Chupacabras /tʃupa'kabɾas/, from Spanish chupar: to suck, cabra: goat; goat sucker) is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico (where these sightings were first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American communities.[1] The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1990 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail. Most biologists and wildlife management officials view the chupacabra as an urban legend.[2] From Wikipedia.org

Legend no more! Run, Radar, RUN!

Dancing Ponies

2008-09-15T17:07:00.004-05:00

The Arabian "boys" Cirrus, Lil Bit o Bask and Nimbus

Sophie:

Dulci:

ACEO Original Artwork Give-away

2008-09-12T12:02:00.001-05:00

For anyone who does not know what an ACEO is:

ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals". These cards have one main rule - they are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches - the size of a trading card.

The reason for this is, of course, that Art Cards are made to be traded! But while artists were happily trading cards, the general public was left out in the cold, having no Art Cards to trade. A group of artists realized this, and quickly made their cards available for sale at remarkably low prices so that everyone could join in the fun!

Cards are also sold either as originals or editions. Make sure you know which you are buying! If it is a print it should say so, and it should be numbered and signed, usually on the back.

And, you can read more here: http://www.art-cards.org/

How do I enter? You ask in an excited and anticipitory voice.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. Contest will end on September 18th, 2008 at midnight. I left plenty of time since I have SO many readers, I want you all to have a chance.
%^P

The winner will be selected using a random number generator that will chose a number that corresponds to your comment number.

Here is the ACEO you are attempting to win for your very own.

Colored pencil on drafting film. Original piece in a protective hard sleeve. Good luck!

Mural Mosiac Unveiling Tomorrow

2008-09-02T18:18:00.000-05:00

Mural Mosaic
International Collaborative EQUINE Mural Masterpiece now completed.
Le Cadeau Du Cheval- THE HORSE GIFT
*********************************
A stunning collaborative mural combining 187 of some of the finest equine
artists from around the world is now complete and will begin to tour the
world. The 22.5 foot high mural combines 238 various equine themed
paintings together, with NO DIGITAL EFFECTS, to form one unified mural
masterpiece. Designed by Canadian artist LEWIS LAVOIE- the mural brings
together the amazing talents of equine artists from such countries as
Canada, USA, England Germany, Finland, Romania, South Africa, Argentina,
Peru, Australia and Mexico. This mural is considered by many to be the
most definitive collaborative equine masterpiece ever created celebrating
the worlds love, admiration and respect for the horse.
The first unveiling will be at ”The Masters” in Calgary, Alberta Canada, Sept
3-7
About Mural Mosaic: "Unity through diversity"
Mural Mosaic brings together hundreds of individual paintings created by
hundreds of artists into one unifying image. Each painting reflects an
individual's unique creativity and style. When a painting is completed it is
carefully placed in sequence within the mural to assemble one masterpiece.
For more details, imagery and interviews please visit:
or contact Phil Alain at 780-718-7635 - email .
MURAL MOSAIC
Unity Through Diversity
Mural Masterpiece Featuring 238 Individual Paintings Combined to Form
One Unified Image Celebrating the Horse
www.muralmosaic.com
phil@muralmosaic.com
www.MuralMosaic.com

Mural Mosaic

2008-08-25T13:55:00.000-05:00

My panel for "The Horse Gift" is finally in place in the mural. Number 203. You can see the entire mosaic at

http://muralmosaic.com/Cadeau.html

Make Your Own Fly Traps

2008-08-23T17:36:00.009-05:00

The fly problem in the horse pasture has been terrific this summer. Usually, I purchase several of the commercial "trap and toss" type fly traps and hang them in the trees.

This year, with the price of everything but flies going up, I did not want to pay the new prices for the traps. So, I have been making my own. I am now ready to share the successful aspects of my trap making.

The hardest part has been baiting and setting the thousands of traps necessary to deplete the population.

For the more time efficient version, here is what you need:

A 2 liter plastic bottle
An exacto or utility knife
Duct tape
scissors
some string

Right at the top of the label, start a slit in the plastic bottle.

Using the scissors, continue to cut around the bottle next to the top of the label, until the top of the bottle is removed.

Remove the cap and invert the top of the bottle, spout down, into the rest of the bottle.

Secure the inverted top "funnel" to the base of the bottle with a couple of pieces of duct tape.

Continue to tape the seams of the top with the duct tape.

With the exacto knife or a leather hole punch, make a hole on each side of the bottle and thread a piece of string to hang the trap.

I have tried several different recipes for the "bait" and here is the one that has had the most success. You should make it in the amounts you need in order to fill the number of traps you have constructed. Fill the bottle up to about 1/2" from the inverted opening.

Water
about 1 cup white sugar
some vinegar to keep the bees from getting caught
a couple of drops of dish soap
part of a banana peel

There are other recipes for homemade fly bait on the internet and you can try some variations to see what works best in your area. You can also purchase fly bait liquid and add this and water to your own traps if you don't want to brew your own. The flies go in, thinking they have found fly nirvana, but have a hard time finding the opening to escape before they tire and drown.

I cut the string when the traps are full and burn them with the feed sacks and replace the traps as needed. A two liter bottle will hold a great number of pests that would otherwise be tormenting the horses. It takes only a few moments (my, how time flies) to make a trap.

Finished Panel

2008-08-13T09:54:00.001-05:00

Doing the Dog Paddle

2008-08-12T09:56:00.000-05:00

Dulci, then and now

2008-07-13T09:56:00.000-05:00

Punks and Ponies

2008-07-13T09:55:00.000-05:00

The Horse Gift Panel Update

2008-06-25T09:53:00.001-05:00

Wagon Train

2008-06-25T09:53:00.000-05:00

The Horse Gift - another update

2008-06-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

The Lazy Woman's Guide to Hoof Trimming

2008-06-08T09:45:00.000-05:00

The Horse Gift Panel Update

2008-06-06T09:50:00.000-05:00

Dinner with a Friend

2008-06-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

Le Cadeau Du Cheval - Mural Mosaic

2008-06-04T09:48:00.000-05:00

Laminitis Learnings

2008-06-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

Bella and the Bunny

2008-05-20T22:02:00.005-05:00

There is a game we play each night on the way to the horse pasture to do chores. In the months when the cottontail rabbits are out along the road, Bella sits bolt upright in the front seat and watches for rabbits. If I see one before she does, I point at it and say "bunny" and she becomes riveted on the bunny. This is the same game I used to play with her predecessor, Banjo, so it was amazing that she "knew" the game immediately. We also spot "big bunnies," the whitetail deer that cross the bottom almost every night. It is the highlight of her day when we spot bunnies on the way to the pasture.

Sunday night it finally happened. Bella disappeared for a short while and the next thing I knew, she came up from the brush with a bunny. She had actually run one down and caught it. When Radar dared to look at her prize, she jumped on him and gave him a thrashing. He was crushed. His best friend and protector had gone White Fang on him. He stayed with me while I played with and rode Nimbus and walked around with his head low or laid quitely with his eye skyward.

I wondered again at Bella's mysterious past and how she might have survived before being caught and brought to the animal shelter in Nashville. She was deadly efficient in dispatching the bunny and knew with a surgical skill how to get the hide free. I let her enjoy her success and after putting Nimbus away, I asked her to jump into the horse water tank for a rinse. She was a little too feral and o'natural to take in the truck and back to the house. She played in the water and Radar jumped up begging to be put in too. Radar does not like water. He thinks Bella is nuts for diving into water the way she does. That night he wanted in the tub with her. I hoisted him in and since it was not as deep as usual, this time I let him go and he dog paddled circles around Bella. I called Bella out and lifted Radar from the tank. They took off playing and Radar was hysterical with glee that his friend was back. I let them run in the long grass until the worst of the wet was gone and then told them to load up.

The next night, the birds and coyotes had pretty well taken care of the rest of Mr. Bunny. Bella cast around checking out the information, then gave me a look and headed out to find another rabbit. I had a short time to spend that night and had to call her in before she had much hunt time. I am thinking about a negotiation with her for a "big bunny," say, this fall, for the freezer. I'll share if she will.

Tonight I played with Cirrus, Nimbus' younger brother. He is a monster this year. I need to measure him, but he has gotten very tall. He is still spring loaded and full of himself. He is a far better horse than I deserve and I need to be sure he is able to be everything he can be. He has a jaw dropping extended trot and just does everything with extra flair and drama. I was too busy watching him move to take photos. He rode off like he had been ridden everyday and not six months ago. He remembered some things I had forgotten. The last few times we rode last year, I had put a cookie on top of several barrels around the pasture and we would ride to each one and he would find his prize. It took me a while to figure out why he kept wanting to go to the barrels in the round pen and check each one out. These guys learn so fast, you have to be super careful to not teach the wrong thing.

Dulci and Espy (Hope) actually played tonight. This was the first time I had seen them feel good enough to play. They chased each other around a tree and then Dulci took off bucking, although her bucks reminded me of a dainty lady tipping her teacup with her pinky finger raised. It was wonderful to see her feeling good enough to play and show interest in life. Later on she chased Radar a little and I was able to catch part of that interaction.

Dulci and Radar

Book Review: The Soul of a Horse

2008-05-18T11:24:00.003-05:00

I had been receiving email notices about the release of The Soul of a Horse for several months. It said it was a book from "the creator of Benji - canine superstar," Joe Camp. I puzzled over this information. The "Benji" I remembered was a regular on Petticoat Junction, appeared in a Jerry Lewis movie in a small role, and I thought was owned by an man named Frank Inn. "Benji" was actually a rescue dog named Higgins. I was obviously not up to speed on the creator of "Benji" so I requested a review copy.

I found I was correct about Higgins and found that Joe Camp was the writer, director and producer of the "Benji" movies. He has also written other books, three novels and an inspirational nonfiction book.

I received the copy very quickly and instead of sitting it on the "to be read" shelf, started reading the next day. The introduction by Cash worried me by the third paragraph when Cash (Joe's horse) proclaims horses have "been through it all. Ice Ages. Volcanic periods, Meteor strikes. Dinosaurs..." Dinosaurs? Not from any fossil evidence I have ever heard about. The rise of mammals was a long, long time after dinos.

The story then actually starts with a fictionalized account of a wild mustang's life. This story continues throughout the actual story of Joe and his relationships with his horses. This part of the book I truly felt needed to be a book of its own. It is a nice story for fifth and sixth grades, but though he tries to tie the threads of his two stories together, the tie is weak and for the most part, I felt there should have been two books here.

I was delightfully surprised when I got to the actual writing about Joe and his experience in wanting to add horses to his life and his subsequent experiences. It was a delightful read and I found myself not wanting to put the book down and finding excuses during the day to return to snag a few more chapters in some stolen spare moments.

Joe says himself: "Discovering the mysteries of the horse is a never-ending journey, but the rewards are an elixir. The soul prospers from sharing, caring, relating and fulfilling. Nothing can make you feel better than doing something good for another being. Not cars. Not houses. Not face-lifts. Not blue ribbons or trophies. And there is nothing more important in life than love. Not money. Not status. Not winning. Try it and you will understand what I mean. Apply it to your life. It is the synthesis of this book and why it came into being."

The book has great insights and is told in an engaging manner. Highly recommended.

http://www.nakedhorsemanship.com/

Filly Update

2008-05-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

The girls are doing well. Hope (Echo is of the opinion she needs a name like Nadea - Russian for Hope, or Esperanza - Spanish for Hope, to give her more elegance) let me walk up to her in the pasture and put my arm around her. A first for her!
Dulci is sprouting new hair like a freshly sown and fertilized grass patch. Her bald areas are soft and no longer scaly and making dandruff snow. It was a tough week for her. She really was going down hill in a hurry. She is bright eyed and frisky again and the worst seems to be over.
I never saw any live lice on her, but I did find nits (the eggs on the ends of the hair) and spent several hours combing her with a nit comb. I used a pour on insecticide for lice (fleas and ticks as well) to kill any adults. All the symptoms pointed to a lice infestation. Results can be unthiftiness (check), rubbing of the neck, face, flanks and rump (check) and anemia. With all she had been through, they were draining the last of her resources.
I added a week’s worth of antibiotics to her recovery as well.
I have taken more showers than I care to count. Each trip to feed and groom would leave me with imaginary (god, I hope imaginary) creepy crawlies, and I could not wait to get to the shower. Horse lice are host specific and will not live on anything else. While they might be finding out I am not a good host, I thought they should learn to swim.

Sign of the Cat

2008-05-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

I put the tables up and struggled with a 3 foot by 10 foot sheet of plastic that would bend and droop at the worst times. I cleaned the old reside from the surface, gave the entire thing a cleaning and prepped the paint. This was to have a yellow background with red, black and green lettering. I decided to not do the painting in the garage like usual, and do it in the big room where the dust was more under control while the paint dried. The garage is still not rearranged from a long winter of repairs and tracked in mud, so it seemed the best to work in the cleaner area. As I finished the last smoothing roll of the base coat, I thought to myself "I need to close the door between so the cat does not get in here." I bagged my roller for use for the second side and closed up the paint can and the phone rang. Needless to say, as I talked, I did several other small chores and cleaned up from the painting. I ran some photocopies Jim needed and burned another DVD of photos of the Parelli clinic for a participant. The phone rang again. And again. By now I had decided to ride the bike to the motor bank and to get the mail and as I passed the sign to take the bike out, this is what I found. I was right. That door should be closed to keep the cat out. She has one yellowish paw and no other "signs" of her curiosity except the evidence left at the scene of the crime. She is asleep in her chair now, in a failed attempt at innocence.

Pasture Privileges

2008-05-14T09:52:00.002-05:00

The early May morning sky was cloudless and bright blue. A late frost sparkled on the green grass and a cool haze floated in the valleys and creek beds. The sun had just appeared in an answer to the coaxing of the singing birds.
The night before, we had let the fillies out of the round corral and into the three acre pasture. They had earned their pasture privileges. I was up early that morning to see how they had done through the night.
As I topped the lane, I could see both fillies at the bottom of the hill. I opened the gate, slipped through and started to walk down the hill to see if they would come when I called. As I got within sight, Hope looked up and nickered. I could now see that Dulci had somehow managed to scoot under the electric wire and was on the other side of the fence in the pasture with Jim's horses and the mule. I walked on down the hill. I had not brought a rope or even a piece of twine. Dulci let me catch her but wasted no time in letting me know that the fence would bite. Getting her back through the tape was not going to work. I walked back up the hill to get a rope and lead her to a gate. The nearest gate was the infamous mud trap and the other gate meant passing through the other herd. As I neared the top of the hill, Dulci whinnied to me. Her whinny drew the attention of the other horses on the next hill and I saw Legend snap to attention. Throwing his head high, he trotted down the hill in a straight line to Dulci. The next thing I saw was a copper colored streak with a white blaze streaking in front of Legend's thundering hooves and outstretched neck. They made two loops before I lost sight of them.
I quickly gathered my rope and headed down the hill. Legend had trotted back to his herd with a "took care of that" attitude and I could see no sign of Dulci. I continued down the hill and called. No sign still. I feared she had been run into the soft marshy soil at the bottom and had been trampled by Legend's oncoming blast.
I crossed the fence and kept looking. As I passed a small grove of trees, I heard a slight nicker, and Dulci poked her head out of her hiding place. I slipped the rope on her and we headed for the gate. In the cool morning air, waves of heat rose from her chestnut sides and made an aura around her. When I stopped, she would press up beside me. I decided the muddy gate was our best bet. I carefully walked across the dry spots and opened the gate. I could stand now on the solid side and ask her with the rope to come through the gate.
As we walked back up the hill to the corral, Hope trotted up behind us. Dulci saw movement behind her and bolted forward until she realized the oncoming shape was that of her friend.
While the fillies ate their morning oats, I did some adjustments on the electric tape that had been placed horse high, but too high in a low spot for small fillies that could slip under.
Since that morning, the fillies have stayed in their pasture and Legend's "herd" has stayed in theirs. I have been fighting the effects of lice on Dulci and she looks like a patchwork horse with hair patches and bald patches. I also started her on a series of antibiotics to help get over this hump in her recovery.

Photo Blog

2008-05-14T09:51:00.001-05:00

I was finally able to get the photo blog working and accepting photos tonight. Check it out at http://caskeyphotoblog.wordpress.com

Nita Jo Rush Clinic

2008-05-13T09:43:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-05-02T19:35:00.003-05:00

Today I took down the Christmas tree. Well, not really down. I put a huge garbage bag over the entire thing, decorations and all, and wrestled it up the stairs to storage.
The middle part of the building where we celebrated Christmas last year has been pretty much shut off to help save on heating this huge barn of a building. We pass through to do other things and get to the garage, and walk past the Christmas tree. Like ignoring the elephant in the room. "What Christmas tree?"
The stairs in this building were constructed when people were smaller and not expected to live as long. One of the reasons they did not live as long was from climbing stairs at that pitch. Alternatively, if the stairs do not kill you going up, they have an even better chance to take you out going down. I can attribute some of my reluctance to store the Christmas tree to a survival instinct to see another Christmas.
There is something about a Christmas tree in May, that even with all the decorations still intact, looses a huge part of looking festive or even attractive. Hard to explain.
I left a yuletide Hansel and Gretel trail of ornaments as the tree, garbage bag and I battled the stairs.
A handy tip for anyone taking their tree upstairs: Unplug the extension cord before you head up the stairway.

The Last Couple of Days

2008-05-01T19:00:00.000-05:00

"White Horse in Sunlight" 4 x 6" oil painting

I took Dulci out of the round corral while Jim and "Hope" had an in depth discussion about whether or not she was going to be caught that night. "Hope" kept up her end of the conversation quite well and brought several new and unusual topics to the table.

While they discussed, Dulci and I went for a short walk and little stops for grazing in the green grass along the lane. I got out my mixture of gentle iodine and baby oil and treated the skinned places and dandruffy areas again. The first treatment last week did wonders and the hair is quickly returning and the scales from her tail have disappeared. She seems to appreciate the attention and leans into the rubbing.

The tarp that had been covering the hay had blown nearly off, so I rearranged it and laid it out flat on the ground and let Dulci graze around it. She worked her way up to investigate the tarp on the ground and after she lost interest, I walked forward and over the tarp and asked her to follow. She never hesitated but stepped right onto the tarp. Her knees went up to her breast bone with each step as she tested the crackly ground, but she never faltered and never got scared. We hung out together then and she grazed and watched Hope and Jim.

The good ending was that Jim won the debate and Hope got caught and rewarded and turned loose again.

I have been busy with the last of the redraws for the Storey Publications book on Draft Horses and Mules coming out this fall. I will need those all done and sent back in a couple of weeks. Once I could see the final form of the book, there were a couple of drawings I pulled and decided to redo that I felt could be better.

My "boys", the Arabian half brothers have become real horses this year. They will need lots of riding and driving. No more little babies, this winter they shot up (and out) and look magnificent. When they shed the last of the winter belly fur, I will take some photos. Their black hides look like mirrors. I will have to start getting up before daylight soon and start playing with them. It's the only way to make sure my day starts out right.

12 Step Program

2008-04-30T13:41:00.000-05:00

It may be broadly stated that, with the single exception of goldfish, of all animals kept for the recreation of mankind the horse is alone capable of exciting a passion that shall be absolutely hopeless.
-Bret Harte

The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem

My name is Bethany Caskey and I’m a Horseaholic.

Pat Parelli divides the human race into two groups. There are the people that love horses…and “the other kind”.
If you have the affliction of horse love, you understand the condescending nods, the bewildered sighs, and head shaking of the “other kind”. You are viewed as otherwise sane and but for this eccentricity, a pleasant companion. You may or may not remember the exact moment the horse bug bit.
For some of us it was a genetic wildcard that came as easily as our first smile. There was never a conscious effort. It was just always there.
Popular for quite some time have been the twelve step programs. I would suggest a similar program for horse-a-holics. There is no hope for a cure as with the other programs, mostly because we don’t really want or need one. We can use these steps to help explain our linear passion and to understand just how hopeless we are. The majority of our society has been trained to understand and tolerate an addiction.
The Twelve Step tradition is a time tested method used for various obsessive-compulsive behaviors. These simple tools for living have been used by millions of people to successfully change their lives and recover from certain behaviors. Sharing and support in groups with like-minded individuals and ongoing fellowship is a major ingredient in the success of this program.

The Twelve Steps of Horse Addiction

1. We admit we are powerless under the rule of our horses - that our lives have become periods of servitude interspersed with occasional chances to purchase new play things for the horses that “own” us.

2. We have come to believe that there is no power greater than our horses that will keep us sane and happy.

3. We have made a conscious decision that we have turned our will and our lives over to the care and entertainment of our horses.

4. We have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our barn, and still think we might have room for just one more horse.

5. We have admitted to God, ourselves and our friends that our shoes will always be muddy and there will be horsehair and horse snot on our clothes.

6. We were entirely ready to remove all these defects of character, but decided against it when our horse nickered and nuzzled us.

7. We humbly asked for removal of our shortcomings - so we could have more time to spend with our horses.

8. We made a list of all persons we had slighted when we were late because of chores or a long trail ride, and became willing to make amends to them all – even though they still didn’t want to hear about our horses.

9. We have made direct amends to these people wherever possible, except when they didn’t want to help us unload the feed bags.

10. We have continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it to our horse... who knew it from the start and had been telling us all along.

11. We have sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our horses as we understood them, praying only for knowledge of their will for us and the power to carry that will out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we will carry this message to those faced with Horse Addiction and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

(This parody is based on the original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, which can be found at the Alcoholics Anonymous website. In no way should this be looked on as an insult against those with a drinking problem. Warning! Actually following these steps will only make you more popular with the horses around you, and should not be attempted by those who wish to be anything other than horse people for the rest of their lives.)

...

2008-04-29T17:02:00.002-05:00

All horse things progressing well. Dulci now comes to the gate when I arrive and says "Catch me, please." In a few days they will get pasture privileges. It was super cold last night so did not do much with any of them, the wind cut right through everything. I can pick up all four of her feet and hold them and tap on them. She has been extremely good about her feet. I have four others in need of a spring hoof trimming. Oh joy.

I have been using the bicycle to tool around town, doing errands and getting the mail and such when I don't need the truck or car. I have a shoulder bag that works well for carrying small things.

I have noticed a change in my take offs and landings. I used to be able to slow down, stand on the near side pedal and step off the bike and walk it to a stop. I tried that the first day and not only did my knees scream obscenities at me, the walk to a stop was more of a stumble forward several running steps. I have resorted to doing a full stop and putting my feet down and even that has lost any sign of grace, since I usually forget the proper brake or which foot I want to put down first. I used to be able to step on the off side pedal, push it forward in one fluid movement and be in flight as the bicycle seat gracefully met my bottom side. No more. Now it is one, okay two, hops, the bike wobbles forwards (if I'm lucky) and then the seat smacks rudely into my hind side. I can't imagine that my bottom has dropped one to two inches in only twenty years. It has to be that new padded seat the bike shop put on.

Success!

2008-04-26T19:55:00.004-05:00

I thought it was time to post an updated photo of the new rescues:

Oh, wait, wrong photo. This is the neighbor's bison. So easy to get confused. It is the same color as Jim's rescue :^P

Tonight all the patience paid off. I went into the round corral and the chestnut filly let me walk up to her and touch her, but walked away. She let me walk up and touch again and walked away. I went to the corral panel and snapped the rope onto the vertical post and laid the rope out. The filly watched. I walked up to her and caught her. She knew once the rope was up, she was caught. Figuring out she needed to be in the corner was beyond her figuring. Thank goodness they are smart and understand what happens next so quickly. I used that to an advantage. I love it when things work out like I think they should! She even let me lead her by her mane up and to where I wanted to play with her. I put the rope around her neck, went and got oat toasties for the two of them and then took the rope off while she ate and I gave her a good grooming with a curry and picked up all four feet. So here is a photo of her tonight. It will be worthwhile to see how she fills out in the coming months.

She has a name now. Dulcinea. Dulci for short.

"Dulcinea is a fictional character who is referred to (but does not appear) in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote. She is also known as Dulcinea del Toboso, Aldonza Lorenzo, and Aldonza de Toboso.

Seeking after the traditions of the knights-errant of old, Don Quixote finds a true love whom he calls Dulcinea. She is a simple peasant in his home town, but Quixote imagines her to be the most beautiful of all women. At times, Quixote goes into detail about her appearance, though he freely admits that he has never seen her.

Don Quixote describes her appearance in the following terms: "… her name is Dulcinea, her country El Toboso, a village of La Mancha, her rank must be at least that of a princess, since she is my queen and lady, and her beauty superhuman, since all the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are verified in her; for her hairs are gold, her forehead Elysian fields, her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral, her teeth pearls, her neck alabaster, her bosom marble, her hands ivory, her fairness snow, and what modesty conceals from sight such, I think and imagine, as rational reflection can only extol, not compare." [Volume 1/Chapter XIII]

In the Spanish of the time, Dulcinea means something akin to an overly elegant "sweetness". In this way, Dulcinea is an entirely fictional person for whom Quixote relentlessly fights. To this day, a reference to someone as your "Dulcinea" implies hopeless devotion and love for her.

She does appear in stage and film adaptations of the book. In cinema and on stage, she has been played by (among others) Sophia Loren, Joan Diener, Hollis Resnik, and Vanessa Williams. In the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha, she is a self-described whore. Her given name is (Aldonza), and a prominent arc of the musical follows her distrust and then fervent belief in Don Quixote's quest. She begins as someone who has no self-worth, Aldonza, and through Quixote's belief in her, she begins to believe in herself as someone of great worth and takes on the name Dulcinea. Also in the musical, a priest sings a song called "To Each His Dulcinea", in which he reflects that although Dulcinea does not exist, the idea of her is what keeps Don Quixote alive and on his quest."

I think it fits her. Only the delusional see the potential beauty there.

Meet Dulcinea

Raleigh DL-1

2008-04-25T20:54:00.003-05:00

My sister is as devoted to riding bicycles as I am to riding horses. Maybe more so. We both get to wear spandex when going on long rides and are not embarrassed to be in public in our "garb" so it could be some bizarre quirk in the DNA. I have been talking for the last couple of years about fixing up my bike and starting to ride again but had the excellent excuse that tires and tubes for my vintage bike are almost impossible to find.

For Christmas, my sister appears with two new 28" tires and tubes. End of excuses.

My memory puts hanging the bike in the attic sometime right after buying the building I work in now. That would put it at almost 20 years since I have ridden that bike. The only thing wrong with it when it went into storage was a loose rear fender. So 20 years in dry storage. I found out from the bike store owner when I picked it up after its tune up, new tire placement and new seat, that the hub shows the manufacturer date as 1964. I bought the bike for $99 in the early 70s, rode it to work every day I could, biked with my daughter on the back until she was too big to ride there and put it away around 1988. I still have the original manual.

My last visit to my daughter's she showed me a web site she found amusing: "Stuff White People Like" and I was amused as well until she brought up the article http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/61-bicycles/

and I saw a photo of MY bike. Don't worry, there is probably a photo or a description of your bike there as well.

My bike looks a lot like this one, but I am in search of the basket and the rack which seem to be only available from "Retro" bike places if at all.

Things like the head lamp that was powered by a generator that rubbed on the wheel and the saddle bag were long gone. The original leather seat needed replacing with a new modern cushy seat with a built in safety light. A new chain and gear link and it was ready to hit the road again.

I polished it up a bit after getting it home and took it out for a short spin. I had forgotten how much fun and how fast these things can tool around town! I took another loop for good measure.

Let's see. Fast, efficient, fun. I can load it into the back of my truck or car and it doesn't need its own trailer if I want to ride it somewhere new. I hung it upstairs for 20 years without any care and $138 brought it back to life. No vet. No feed. No need to keep fence fixed so it doesn't go to visit the neighbor's bikes. Hum. My sister might just be on to something here. Wonder if I can get it to nicker when it sees me?

The Two Minute Catch

2008-04-25T20:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday when I went to feed the rescue ponies, it took me a longer time than usual to catch the saddlebred. I had not caught her the day before because of time constraints and now I was having to make up the lost time. I finally resorted to playing the old trick i had learned as a kid with a horse that was so hard to catch it made me inventive and patient at the same time. I tied a long rope to a section of the round corral and eased her up to the triangular corner made by the rope and fence. She will let me rub her butt here, but not get close enough to actually catch her. With two in the round pen, playing the run around a look at me until "join up" or whatever you want to call it happens, is beyond my talents. Once she is eased up with the rope against her neck, I let her walk forward and take the rope through my hands and with her. She is making her own rope loop this way and I just have to close it around. Technique is everything and has to be learned, I guess, since the horse can bog their head down and back up and slip the loop. You just have to handle the horse and the rope in a way that does not happen. Then you can just stop the "getting away." This does not work with a frightened horse that is running through the ropes in a panic, just the ones not quite ready to give in and be caught.

While I had her last night, she got her oat toasties, got rubbed and brushed and then we spent the next hour or better getting caught. I would walk away and come back, throw the rope over her, take it off, walk away come back - until she was bored. I then did some flooding, which is a nicer way of doing the old "sacking out." Rubbing all over with exaggerated movements (with just hands) until she could stand still. She is touchy about her head, so I really concentrated on that and flipped the rope up and over her muzzle and head until she was anticipating it and catching it so it would rub her better.

Tonight it paid off. I went into the corral and just started to walk up to her like we had done the night before. At the last moment, she decided to walk off. I walked up again. She walked off again. I tied the rope to the corral panel and walked her into the triangle. She walked right in, pulled the rope forward, turned just right to make a loop on her own and was caught. Less than two minutes. We will keep going back to where she is comfortable until she doesn't need the entire routine to be caught. Since she did so well, it was time to just sit with her while she ate and not ask anything more. For the first time, the last two days, she has offered to sniff me and be curious. The fear is subsiding. I hope to have new photos tomorrow.

Drafting Film

2008-04-24T19:50:00.003-05:00

for sale on ebay

Thanks to Maggie on the Greywaren Art blog, (her link is to the right)I ordered some Durafilm drafting film in the double sided matte. I was familiar with drafting film for technical pens and that "old'fashioned" way of doing some layouts, but I had never tried the matte or using it with colored pencils. It was great! Very buttery. It did not take many layers, but Maggie warned about this drawback. You can color on both sides though which can make some funky effects. I started small with an ACEO sized piece and had a wonderful time. I will be playing some more with this film and seeing what a bit more planning can do to increase the detail and the effectiveness.

I sloughed around in more mud today- it rained yet again. Yesterday I fixed fence for the coyote pen. The ground is so soft, posts are just falling over on their own. My dogs were incredibly happy and incredibly muddy. It was a two shower day for them. Tonight they stayed home while I played with the new pony and fed the rest their oat toasties.

New ponies are settling in well. I got their vaccines at the vet and received a 20% discount for the shots. A good citizen discount for "rescuing" the little horses. I never knew there was such a thing. It makes you have the same sort of dubious pride as being able to park in a handicapped spot.

I love mud

2008-04-22T16:28:00.001-05:00

I just drove home barefoot.

This morning, the famous and fabulous MeToo (son Johnny's horse) had gotten into the small pasture surrounding the round pen and the new fillies. The idea had been to keep the newbies quarantined for a couple of weeks until we could see what cooties they might have. MeToo had other ideas and being a girl, wanted to hang out with the new girls and gossip.

I went out this afternoon to check on everyone, and thinking I knew where MeToo had slipped under the wire, took some extra wire down to splice into the fence line.

I drove home barefoot because I lost my shoes in the mud at the bottom of the hill trying to fix the fence at the gap. It is the muddiest place I could have tried to walk. Of course it did not look muddy until it was up to my knees. I walked out of one shoe and had to go back and find it. The next thing I knew, both feet were stuck and I was sinking fast. As I tried to lift a leg to get out, I tipped over into the mud. You know I grabbed the hot wire on the way down. (Feeling much better now. Everything is so clear) I dug my shoes out, walked up the hill in my socks and got in the small horse tank to wash off enough to be able to sit in the truck. My jeans and socks are in the washer and my shoes drying outside. I am done fixing fence! Done. Done! blech! That mud and water was incredibly stinky. Of course, before I could leave, MeToo had slipped under the fence again (from the look of her legs, she had crawled on her knees) and was right back where she wanted to be. She is welcome to all the cooties she can stand.

Horsaholic Part Two

2008-04-22T16:27:00.003-05:00

The weather, work, and other things kept us from going back until yesterday to try and bring the rescues home. For once, the weather cooperated with a planned event and we trucked south again to see if we could capture our wild horses.

This time we backed the trailer into the pasture and we were ready to stay until finished.

I walked out and caught the remaining Haflinger mare, DeeDee, and tied her up. Jim herded the wild bunch up the hill while I put some grain into the corrals. When they did come up, they all decided five in one corral would be more fun and cozy. Work with what you get, I always say. I had Jim hold the rope that formed the gate and sorted out the three we did not want to catch and let them slip out.

Jim went first and using the stick, started where he had left off with success before. It only took about 20 minutes this time to get the halter on. He lead the bay out and left me to work with catching the chestnut. I had to find a place she was comfortable again and work up from the back to the front. It only took fifteen minutes, but it seemed like forever. I had to really work on keeping my intent from showing - it takes so little for a person to focus on the goal (catching) instead of what the horse needs. They are still flinchy, but not over reactive and scared out of their gourds this time.

After the halters are on, things move along pretty quickly. We repeat the going up to the trailer. You work out here, you rest near here. Some hay and spilled grain on the trailer floor adds to the pleasant time they are having when by the trailer. We wait and let them explore and then walk away.

When they are becoming bored by this, we ask for more, until they try to get into the trailer... and then walk away again. Finally, with some rump tapping, my filly jumps into the trailer. We walk around in there. Have some good scratches and come out again and go for another walk while Jim tries it. When his filly decided to jump in, she did so with drama. She was airborne, looking like a Pegasus, when she realized what goes up must come down and decided at the last moment to put her feet down and land in the trailer. Same deal and out again. My next time at the trailer, a couple taps and she jumps in. This time I take her up front and tie her and close the stall gate. Jim's filly decides she has had enough for a day and tries to convince him that it would be much more fun to drag him around in the muddy places instead of going anywhere near the trailer. She changes her mind quickly. These gals are so poorly, they don't have the stamina to put up much of a fight for very long. She decided the trailer is a better deal and jumped in.

We stopped in the little town of Exline for an ice cream to celebrate and then brought them to to the pasture with nothing note worthy to report. We bedded them down in the round corral. Shared a tube of ivermetic paste wormer between them and called it a night. All in a day's addiction for a horsaholic.

I have found I have another addiction. I decided to clean up my paper files to see what I had in stock for drawing. I found I have been hording bristol paper. Like a lot. I had not been using it lately because I did not think I had any. Of course, I had just ordered some more the day before. So, now I really have a lot. I need to make some art on it now and use it for the book I want to try and finish! More on that later!!

Horsaholic

2008-04-22T16:26:00.004-05:00

I apologize for being MIA the last couple of weeks. Lots of things going on. Spring they claim, is here, although we had a tornado one night and two days later it was snowing and the next thing you know there was an earthquake.

It is time I made my confession. I am a horseaholic. I wrote a piece a couple of years ago about being a horseaholic, but my latest relapse has made the totality of my addiction public.

While cruising the local craigslist out of curiosity I found two large rabbit pens for sale for $50 each. Our house rabbit has been in the same pen for four years now (he lost house privileges not for being un-housebroken, but for a penchant for chewing computer wires in places unseen and unnoticed until way too late). I called the number and left a message that I was interested in the cages. As I went down the page, a listing caught my eye for five rescue "ponies" needing a home. They were within 25 miles it seemed, so I emailed the listing and asked for photos and information. I know I am addicted, but I still do these things when I have a spare moment and my meds have not kicked in. I receive an email back. Not only does the gal have photos, but she is the same person I had called about the rabbit cages. Hum. I figured I was meant to see these "ponies". We planned a Sunday afternoon to pick up a cage and look at the horses. The photos she sent did not tell us much about the ponies, except that they were thin and all had four legs each.

When we arrived, we could walk close to the horses, but not touch them. We looked. Took photos. Watched them move. They had come from an auction lot where the younger animals were stock piling. No market for slaughter for small animals, so it seems these were slowly starving to death. Some had shaved places on their necks. They had been used by some sort of vaccine lab in the Dakotas and their blood was used for the antibodies. A couple had been shaved on the top of the mane and that was where a microchip was supposed to have been placed for record keeping. Our hostess, Kate, had picked these five from the lots to try and upgrade and salvage. She had them for six weeks and had been feeding them well and getting some weight on them, but had only been able to catch one and halter her in that time. There was potential in the raw here. Very raw. Before we decided to do anything, we loaded our rabbit cage and drove home to look at the photos and talk.

Jim decided he would like to work with a two year old filly that has application papers to the APHA and had been a part of the "lab" herd. I choose an unpapered yearling Saddlebred filly. For a grand total of $100, we had two new horses to rehab. The trick was going to be catching them.

As a kid, I was always told I could catch a bird or a rabbit by putting salt on its tail. I totally believed that. I still do, since if the critter will let you get close enough to salt the tail, you are probably in a good place to actually make contact. Getting these fillies caught was exactly like that. The only containment we had to work with besides the big pasture were some 12 x 12 roped off corrals against the fence. We would be very happy to have that much.

We started after work in the evening a week ago. Kate tied up her Haflinger mares so they would not help in the process and it was fairly easy to get the fillies into the corrals since Kate had been feeding them in there. Since too much pressure would cause the fillies to blast out or over the rope, it was a study in patience and perseverance. Kate and her family went to have supper and left us to our devices. At first my filly could not look at me from her left eye, so we played with see me here, now here, now here, until she could stand still on either side. I was able to get a hand on mine and slowly follow her around and rub her itchy spots... for an hour. The first itchy spots where on her rump and I started with what she gave me and worked my way up. If I would advance to far, she would jump away and we would start over. Twice I was too pushy - I would raise a hand too quickly or the wind would flap my jacket, (of course the wind was only 30 mph that day) and she jumped the fence. I was able to walk her around and back into the enclosure each time... and start over. While we are doing this, Jim is still asking his filly to tolerate a touch. She can't stand a human hand on her yet and he does not want to replicate my jumping bean horse.

Slowly, slowly. I have managed to rub my filly with the lead rope and she allows it to dangle near her withers. She has finally given me permission to touch the front of her neck and that was a huge break through for her and you could feel her relax. I keep rubbling and scratching and snag the off side lead with a finger and bring it around. I fasten the quick release snap on the rope and I at last have a handle. I keep rubbing and getting closer to her head. It takes another 20 minutes to get her to let me scratch her head, but it feels good and she decides I am all right. I work the loop of the rope up with my scratching and make a loop around her muzzle and fashion an "indian" halter. I have some more control now and I play with her face and muzzle. No way the halter is going on there until she allows it. I rub with my hand and scratch with my fingers, then add the rope halter to the rubbing. Before long, it is rubbed up and in place and tied. I rub and move the rope halter off and clip it to the halter. We practice inside the pen leading. She does very well at first and then, as is typical, she has to try something different and she rears up, but catches in the ropes and topples through. I release everything and kick away all the ropes and ask her to be still. She is. She waits for me to get her untangled and then gets up. Since we have graduated suddenly to a bigger area, I switch to a longer lead and we head out for a walk. A few times she decides to test the rope and go away, so I let her drift and then ask her back. By the time it was dark, she was leading like a pro.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jim decides to try and touch his filly with a fiberglass stick. That works. He can be far enough away for her comfort level and still get some scratching in. Within five minutes she is accepting him close enough to rub with his hands. His patience pays off and within a very short time, he has the halter on.

Chestnut filly and I walk and go out to the horse trailer and walk by that a few times. We stop and look inside. I sit on the deck and let her stand for a while and then walk off again while Jim and the bay filly have a one on one discussion about leading. By the time we decided we had enough for one day, I was sitting on the trailer deck and my filly was standing next to me with her head and neck in the trailer. Good enough.

I was so wiped that night, I had deep charlie horses that would not walk out. My eyes were crusted shut from all the dust and dirt the wind had blown into them. I could barely move and I couldn't wait to go do it again.

An Interview with Cathy Choyce

2008-04-08T09:31:00.005-05:00

RURAL HERITAGE magazine has given the go sign on a new series of articles about artists that excel in creating draft animal artworks. The magazine will publish a one to two page spread on a living, contemporary artist. I have used the Equine Art Guild as my hunting ground to find the best artists out there to feature in each issue of the magazine from now until...?
RURAL HERITAGE is published every other month, or six times a year for you math scholars. I can't give away the articles here on the blog, you will need to find the magazine and read them (available at all Tractor Supply Stores) of course.
I would like to share that my first interview and choice for a draft artist is Cathy Choyce, http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Cathy was a delight to interview and was free with tips and techniques that as a wannabe sculpturer, I was delighted to discover. My choice was Choyce. That was NOT intentional!
Cathy was a horse trainer for 35 years and knows the look and attitude of horses, and it shows in her work. She has been drawn to the large breeds especially as a subject for her sculptures. Cathy also works in oil paint on canvas.
While you wait for the article to be published, either in the Spring or Summer issue, (no control over the editor) please stop by Cathy's site and take a look at her work.
For all you other drafty artists out there: I will be calling more artists and trying to get a good selection gathered for the upcoming issues. Given all the weird emails and requests we sometimes get as equine artists, I wanted you all to know this is a legitimate effort.

2000 Miles Later

2008-04-03T08:14:00.001-05:00

I am back at home base after a trip to Nashville and from there to Fletcher, North Carolina to attend the Parelli weekend there. The Parelli weekend was the bait that daughter Echo used to get me to come down for another visit. We had a blast, but all too short. I was able to play with the new camera (a Nikon D80) that I had been saving and trading older cameras to acquire. The low light, inside, and lots of action made getting a nice shot interesting. Boosting the ISO to the max helped and by day two, I was getting some acceptable shots. Next I will read the manual and fine tune what I found out by experimenting. The 75 -300mm lens really could reach out and touch someone as well. More later today on drawing and horses, but first I have some actual “job” chores to catch up on.

The Unofficial "AARP" Guide to Easter Egg Hunting

2008-03-23T09:03:00.000-05:00

For those who would like to know how the game is played, here you go:

First, the concept is pretty simple, it is just like the game daily played here called “where did I put the car keys/purse/coat?” with some variations.

1. You are purposely hiding the objects.

2. You will try to remember where you placed the objects and recover ALL of them.

My first year in school, my first school Easter celebration, the teacher hid all the eggs we had colored in class. Then the class had an Easter egg hunt. Everyone located their eggs but mine. It was at that time I knew the universe had a sense of humor and had singled me out to be a part of the punchline. I was special and singled out in the kindergarten class in a way I did not choose to be. Plus, my finely crafted food colored egg was gone. I was grief stricken. The days wore on. Talk of the missing egg faded.

I remember it was a nice warm day. Most days in southern California are warm in the spring of the year. The class sat down on mats around the piano to sing songs with the teacher. She opened the piano bench to retrieve the new music for the day. Inside the bench sat my egg.

Even hardboiled eggs can reach a certain bomb like state when left in the heat for too long a time. This egg was showing signs of transmorphing into something much more memorable than an Easter egg. It had gained a few interesting colors I did not remember adding to it at the time of decorating. With the skill of a trained squad agent, the teacher gingerly took hold of the egg and placed it into a large bed of facial tissues. Lifting the tissues by the corners, she then placed the egg into a box left over from Valentine’s Day. I don’t remember if I took that box home. Since I don’t remember, I am pretty sure I did not.

3. Traditionally, as in the story above, colored hardboiled eggs are used for the hidden object. Since we now need incentive to hunt, I suggest using only chocolate eggs and good chocolate eggs at that to insure that all will be retrieved in a timely fashion.

4. It helps to make a map of your hiding places. This should not be a casual activity like laying your keys down just anywhere, but needs to be thought through.

5. Count the number of chocolate eggs before you hide them. You can make a tally of the empty wrappers as you complete the search.

Have fun!

Fencing 101

2008-03-20T17:46:00.002-05:00

The two three-year-old colts met me at the gate again. The problem was it was the gate to the large pasture, not the gate to the horse pasture. I had just fixed the fence two days before, I thought. Not good enough to impress these two it seems.

I call Jim. “MeToo and Cirrus are out again.” “Where did they get out?” “The west side.” He sighs, “Can you be more specific?” “Okay, the southwest side.”

That’s the best I can do. The first half of the fence to the west is a thing of beauty. Wood fence posts alternated with steel. Wire strung tight enough to play a tune; it rolls gently down the hill to a small creek where a small culvert lets the water flow east into the pond.
From there south is “The Hill” and what passes for a fence, when visible, is not a well planned or secure construction. Scattered steel posts and electric wire and sometimes a quarter inch rope for visible effect make up the southwestern boundary of “The Hill.” It is one of those fences you hope you don’t’ have to fix because the animals probably won’t go there.

I put the colts back into the pasture and go for the white fiberglass electric fence posts and some tape and insulators. I know there is no way to carry steel posts and a post driver up there. I decide to start at the furthest corner away, since odds are that is where the problem will be.

I take the long walk up the east side of the pasture to the top of the hill and across the ridge to the southwest corner of the pasture. Sure enough, there is enough slack wire for some enterprising youngsters to slip under by the gate at the top. Easy fix. I make a few patches as I work my way down. Very soon I am at the edge of “The Hill.” For a brief moment I am smug that the colts are athletic enough to have figured out how to get through this fence at these extreme angles. Then my feet start to slip out from under me and I realize I am not athletic enough to fix fence at these angles.

I hook a loop of the electric tape over a sturdy looking steel fence post and use it to rappel down the side of “The Hill” to the next patch spot. The tape works well and I make my way from spot to spot this way – until the tape runs out – and I have to tie it off and climb back up “The Hill” without its help.

The time to try and remember if you turned the juice off the solar charger before you left or if this particular remaining wire is hooked into the real electric charger is not when you start to slide and forget and grab at the nearest hand hold.

I’m not sure where the notion that Iowa is flat originated. I t must have been an ill-fated marketing ploy to entice flat-earth believers to the state at some time. I feel lucky that there are enough deep-rooted weeds to hang on to or at least slow my fall if I should slip.

I finally reach a spot I can stand up straight again and survey my work. I come from a great lineage of fence cobblers. My grandfather used broken farm machinery to patch fence. Cows get out; drag the old hay loader into the broken wire. He never sold or got rid of anything that broke. It was far too valuable as fencing material. I’m not too certain he didn’t go to the neighbor’s farm sales to buy their broken machinery and haul it home.

I never had the wealth of broken and rusty objects to fix fence, but something in the DNA allowed me to see the potential of small trees and branches, metal sheeting and other found materials like coat hangers for fixing fences. Since all I ever had to contain were horses, my theory was if you can make it look really scary, they won’t get close enough to find out if they can get through it.

I am pleased with my work. It looks substantial if not scary. There is only so much you can do with this new modern electric stuff. Just one more thing, and it will be perfect.

I walk back to the pasture gate, again taking the longer, eastern route, to avoid another confrontation with “The Hill.” I start the tractor, stab a large bale and take it into the horse pasture. The way I figure, they should be so busy eating me out of house and home they will forget about the fence on “The Hill” or if they do remember it, they will be too fat to do a Snowy River through my cobbling.