trinitydressage.com Blog

Meli (Mel) had her debut horse show this past Saturday. Granted, it was a local, unrecognized schooing show, but for her it might as well have been the Olympics. You see my Mel has had her ups and downs and, when it comes to people, it’s been mostly downs. She is well bred and had enormous potential until in her weanling year, a barn manager let a halter grow into her face and then wonder why Mel hates people. Try sitting on 600 pounds and pulling a halter like that OFF a young filly. And for some reason, after she was started she became absolutely uncomfortable with mirrors in arenas. Thankfully, there are rarely mirrors at competitions, so I wrote that off as an obsticle but not unsurmountable. The key was to find the perfect rider/trainer for her.

Enter Jenny Garver. She has done an awesome job of working with Mel and getting her to find some of that potential she has locked away deep down inside. They work together well and happy – so much so we thought we’d try a local show and find out if they could even get anything positive accomplished.

It was more than I could have hoped for. Although they also did well with scores (62.8 and 66.5) – those were actually secondary to the ability of the mare to work off property and be relatively calm and yet expressive. The priceless grin on Jenny’s face for 3 days was the big reward. Seeing hard work pay and building trust in the horse was a thing of beauty for me.

On an editorial note – I had the opportunity to visit with a friend at her work – a wonderful spay/neuter clinic called ‘No More Homeless Pets’, in Mission, Ks. Absolutely amazing how they have everything orchestrated to work with low income individuals, and also the tireless work of the rescues that bring in sometimes 100’s of feral cats for spaying. Anyone looking to donate money to a group that uses it on a local level could do well in checking out this organization. Keep up the good work!

More muck to shovel – of the business type – so til next,
The Chief Mucker Upper

The knee surgery is about 4 1/2 months old. Everything is working fantastic, and I am now correcting the defensive postures I have been riding with for the last __ years. More years than I want to admit. Like teaching a baby to walk, I am re-learning the steps to do something correctly and – damn it – it takes longer than I want. Patience is such a virtue and it’s a shame it was never mine……..

My Regan Rose (Black Rose) has been a life saver in helping me get back into shape and balance so I can soon begin working some of the other horses. (who have enjoyed their vacations immensely)

A solid school horse of the type like my ‘Black Rose’ is an invaluable tool in teaching and correcting. Everyone should have access to one such as her and I fee; incredibly lucky to have found her.

Now…..if I can only find her picture I can share her with you.

Surgeon appointment today – at which I think I’ll start complaining about the scar. No – just kidding. The surgeon will be thrilled to learn that Humana Insurance has FINALLY after all these months and a formal ‘review’ decided they cannot legally wiggle out of paying the insurance claims. What a great operation Humana is (NOT) and it’s been interesting to talk about them with some medical people. Humana represents the direction that a federal health reform should take – and instead of starting at the medical level – I would go in to each of the insurance firms and start the pink slip party at that end.

Balance of barn doings for the day? Order grain, delivery of hay and repairs. Always repairs. Anyone searching for suggestions for gifts for barn/farm owners can always do well with gift cards to Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply,….you get the drift. Large animals = large repairs.

Chief Mucker-Upper/repair queen

After nearly five months, this is my first ‘free’ weekend – one that is not scheduled from dawn to dusk with things I should do, must do, am required to do. It’s almost too much freedom. However, after these months of schedules and deadlines, my home/property is demanding a much needed cleaning, straightening, and maybe a little Feng Shui to get things back on track.

The KCDS horse show at Longview is going on today and tomorrow. Not one person that I know is participating. Why? The list is long and truth telling. The facility – although beautifully situated in a such a parklike setting – has a ton of problems.
1. The warmup ring is inadequate for more than 50% of participants.
2. The footing. We say this every year, but fit never improves. They groom the surface. The base and construction was not to standard. Even the people they have hired to ‘fix’ it, say they were told to bandaid the solutions and not really get the job done.
3. The stalls – this week with all the rain, several of them are flooded.
4. Location. Hey people – in business it’s always location, location, location. Security is an issue – even during the day. We’ve got breakins even during the day during the show last year. So I’m supposed to leave a horse there – overnight? Right. duh
5. Inadequate prep due to weather. The spring monsoons have been here and after spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, there are some people who cannot attend because they are flooded in to their farms…….many more that have not been able to practice in outdoor arenas that have been inches under water for weeks.

What happened to the indoor arena idea that was tried in March? Hale Arena?????? Central location, indoor show, good security…../well maybe the KCDS board will reconsider for later in the year. Afterall people, this is KANSAS/MISSOURI where the weather is consistently inconsistent. Remember, this is WHY people LEAVE here. We stay because of a variety of simply unavailable answers…..but the weather is NOT why anyone is here. Lets work on that indoor thing – because at least 25 people I know who could/should/would be showing this weekend will not use the Longview facility anymnore, which means there are skads more people I do not know that would add to this total. ****and oops Charity – I did not mean to leave you out. You are indeed showing this weekend and we all wish you the best. Hey – did you pack those waterwings???? *****

Upnote: New baby – a filly – for Tracy. One down – 4 more to go. May babies are fun.

Construction update: 4 new stalls should be in by Monday night. This means that the 3 year olds will begin their work shortly – and we’ll see what we’ve got when it’s under saddle. No more guessing.

As many of you know, in the real world I have an accounting practice. When tax season ramps up, it is impossible for me to ride for several reasons, and therefore I have not been on a horse now in a couple of months. I think all of you can understand why I am looking foward to being able to resume a somewhat regular riding/work schedule again, by the end of this week.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you say. April 15th is Wednesday, so you’l have all day on the 16th to sleep and goof off. Well for all of you who think only the horse business is crazy – may I say with true and deep sincerity, the accounting/tax business IS JUST PLAIN NUTS. (And so may be the people like myself, you try to make a living in such a bowl of cashews)

For example, what other industry can one work in where the client is just plain angry that the goverment is doing this, that or the other, and YOU are the only one they can yell at……..which they do……UNLESS you can perform miracles and remove all their financial stress. Now, an accountant does not control WHAT people spend their money on, WHO spends the money, or HOW MUCH money they spend. We see the damage (’scuse me – the receipts) and from that we are supposed to say kind words of encouragement. Like, ‘Way to go screwball, you bought WHAT??????????????’ Just kidding. Of course we are always supportive and encouraging – afterall they are the clients, which makes them always right.

Horse world news: Molly has purchased her very first horse, thanks to dad. (Way to go, Robert!) So Miss Molly will now have the fun of working her very own pony, and learning to enjoy all the aspects of horse ownership.

Tracy continues to work with Michael Beining nearly every day Michael is in town and not off giving clinics. The two stallions are coming along wonderfully. Ruffles is a sweetie – and he doesn’t seem offended by being called such a girly name of Ruffles. Stanley does remember it is nearly spring and in the spring a young man/stallions attention turns to romance. So Mr. Stanley will shortly be looking for hot dates. Actually, any day works out for Stanley and a hot date (now – does he remind you of any men YOU KNOW?????)

Foaling season for Tracy will begin at the end of April and go thru May. There are six new babies on their way and their breedings are quite special, so we will be anxious to see the offspring as soon as they arrive. Tracy, Jenny & Jim will be handling all the foaling at their farm (Yippee!@@!!) as they are outrageously more qualified than I am for that job.

The 3 yr olds begin their training shortly – actually as soon as I can get the temporary stalls up so they have some place to come inside and learn about civilization. They will begin by doing several weeks of ground work and then progress from there. Time for them to go to work.

And time for me to go BACK to work on taxes. Hopefully by my next post I’ll have sat in a saddle and begun the process of reconditioning. Large,economy bottle of Advil and Tylenol are on hand and ready to use.

Awake late this evening, I’m wondering what event tonight could have POSSIBLY made me remember the Governor Palin comment about lipstick, pitbulls and soccer moms????? I’m also thinking you could replace the words ’soccer moms’ with Dressage Queens.

On more cheerful notes, the clinic with Michael Beining these last days has been productive. The horses are going well. We had a friend join us for some rides, and have enjoyed her company. There are big plans in the works for more intense training and competitions, especially revolving around a couple of the more promising horses. All fun and exciting.

The annual Trinity Farms Christmas Party is next week – yikes – time to finish all the presents. And no, everyone cannot have a free months board………

On an totally editorial note, I think it would be fun to add questions/answers to this blog. Now, please feel free to email me with any and all equine, farm, pseudo socialite questions and I’m certain you’ll get an answer. Ahhhhh come on = work with me people. I’m happy to come up with a few myself ——–as in:
Question: Why is it necessary to feed several smaller meals, instead of one large meal.
Answer: Besides the fact that it keeps the 1400 lb beasts from kicking down their stalls and being general Mules about everything, it also spreads the digestive process over several hours. And because performance horses eat grains, the grasses in the hay compensate for the acids created in the grain digestion, and reduce the occurance of ulcers.

Oh yeah – the stupid horse escape of the day. Geni – who blew a gate and decided upon a nice, friendly downunder ‘walkabout’. Tomorrow the weather goes to crap and I’ll bet she won’t be so sorry to see the handler THEN.

All summer long, I was greated by boarders and other horsey types, with mournful looks and bedraggled appearances. They would say – if only it wasn’t sooooo hot. In the hot weather, they just Can’t ride. Wait until it gets cooler.

OK PEOPLE – WE’RE HERE NOW…………………………………

Obviously, the cooler weather was supposed to be San Diego weather (you know – 70 days and 50 nights) Apparently the brisk rain/sleet/snow mixture of the last 2 days was NOT what you had in mind?????

The ponies were oblivious to your absences. In fact they played with such gusto that we notched two seperate injuries today. One due to a double barreled fence kick and one….well with Tommy, who knows. In any event, he came in with blood and a scrape on a coronet band. Nothing life threatening in either case.

Josh got his first experience of the morphing personalities of cold weather and horses. Jazz blew thru a gate and led him on a merry chase, which ended somewhere in my front yard. The tractor always seems to act up too, when the weather is cold, so I’m certain Josh had a wonderful time today. I kept trying to remind him it was a lot like the weather he likes while hunting in western Kansas. Somehow, I don’t think he saw the similarities.

Note to Santa: Bring all horse people more long underwear.

til next,
Chief Mucker-Upper

Well, Black Friday might mean a profitable retail day for most of the world, but for us at the Farm, it means a good day in the saddle or just working around the ponies. (remember, i call ALL of them ponies – including the 17.2 hand Shire)

On a retail note, I have personally listed some tack for sale on a user friendly, nationally advertised tack site. One item is a saddle and one item is a bridle that I no longer use. Much to my initial delight, I started to receive inquiries about the items for sale………….in fact I started to receive TONS of inquiries. About ‘the item’. And imagine my confusion when people actually wanted to pay me MORE than what I was asking – for ‘my item’. And no one wanted to actually ‘look’ at ‘the item’…..they just want to send me large cashiers checks for ‘the item’. And would that be ok? Of course one person actually called it a ‘bridle’, and wants to purchase it for…………………are you ready…………………..I mean, are you truly ready…………………….for his 106 year old grandmother…………………..the item……………

I fell off my bed laughing at that one.

Ok people. Admittedly, I live on a farm in one of the lowest populated areas in the U.S, which may make me seem undoubtedly stupid, however the internet, my education and my occasional use of my braincells tell me that scamming has certainly become more sophisticated than before.

But keep sending in the purchase requests. Reading those emails beats watching TV, anytime.