Equine Affaire 2011
Feb 06 2011
Sorry for the non-Californians but I want to take today to discuss this year’s Equine Affaire and some things that I saw there, and hopefully hear from others who were there as well — I want to hear what you thought of these presentations (and other ones I didn’t get to see).
After we got done shopping (aka staring in wonder at the $189 Chris Cox Speshul Bridle and wondering who is dumb enough to buy one…it’s a fricken’ training bridle with a snaffle and cord reins, $189, seriously wtf…) and eating and browsing around, we wanted to get good seats in the main arena, so we headed inside in time to watch Jeff Cook’s clinic on correct position for the jumper ring. I’ve never seen Jeff present before, and I have to say, he is probably one of the best hunter-jumper people I’ve ever listened to. He has a great eye and the ability to explain to the student in a way that works…I saw for myself how the four riders were able to make adjustments and improve their rides even in the high-pressure situation of being watched by so many people at a horse expo. There was one girl who was on a big, feisty warmblood (I think) who had clearly lost his pea brain about the entire Equine Affaire experience. Her name was Elizabeth, and I gotta say, Elizabeth, you are a good rider and I give you credit for not getting off. I also give you credit for staying on when he tried to dart the opposite way that you were going and you lost your stirrups. It is nice to see that whoever trained you did not neglect the basics, so they get kudos too.
Jeff got on Elizabeth’s case for needing to be more subtle with her hands but, hey, I totally get it. I’d have been scared shitless on that horse — he was totally giving off the I’m-a-powderkeg-and-I’m-Gonna-Blow vibe. But ultimately Jeff was right, of course. The more you ride off your seat (and fortunately for Elizabeth, she HAS a great seat) and legs, and the less off your hands, the more that Pea Brain is gonna settle down and do something constructive with his energy. And he is a beautiful, athletic horse. Now, there was another girl who really needs to scale back and work on her flatwork, because her horse was repeatedly jumping her out of the tack and that was way scarier to watch that Pea Brain, because at least I knew the girl on Pea Brain could handle him.
As for Alyssa, I just gotta say, her horse is ADORABLE. I wanted to kiss his nose the whole time, and she rode him well despite his occasional high-spirited airs above the ground. If you were watching this presentation, I think it was a good example of a horse who was in a lot of bit but it was a good idea. Because Alyssa isn’t harsh with her hands, the gag bridle was merely a way to get adjustability when she needed it. I agreed with Jeff when he said she wouldn’t need it forever. Right now it’s a way for this horse to get into the habit of listening to Alyssa. I’d much rather see more bit like this than another horse in the group who was totally running off in a snaffle, rooting and diving and having a huge tug-of-war with his rider. Really, if they video’d this and you can get your hands on it, and you jump, watch it. I couldn’t have agreed more with every single comment he made, and he was very good at actually explaining things. Some people are brilliant riders themselves but useless at explaining. This guy has a real talent as an instructor.
The Extreme Cowboy Race is always fun to watch, and I liked everything about this year’s winner. His name is Greg Robinson and he was riding an adorable, very high quality AQHA stallion called Smart Spooks Playboy. His ride was really pretty fricken’ flawless, but it wasn’t just that. It was that this little horse was as happy and quiet of a horse as I’ve ever seen. Although he was absolutely broke-to-death with killer reining spins and a slide stop to die for, there were no sour behaviors. He looked like he was having a blast, and when they were done, Greg snuggled that horse as bad as I snuggle my VLC. 
So I got home and went to his site and I realized that he was a rather rare thing: A clinician who CAN ACTUALLY WIN SHIT. Witness the list of accomplishments:
Well, THAT Is a step in the right direction, isn’t it? Here is Greg riding the horse in a reining competition.
You think the world might be getting smarter, and people might actually start spending money on training and clinics with guys like Greg who can actually accomplish something, as opposed to the sea of posers who have never put so much as a ROM on a horse? We can hope, I guess!
The rest of the competitors were a pretty awesome bunch, too. I was particularly taken with the prettiest blue roan AQHA stallion I have EVER seen. He came in 4th. Everyone I was with said the same thing – what the hell, it’s a PRETTY blue roan, how did THAT happen? We are so used to seeing the hammerheaded Hancocks with the long backs. This horse was a freaking KNOCKOUT…big hip, gorgeous head, great legs, just pretty as the day is long, and of course super athletic and well broke to take 4th in the competition. His name is Dry Doc’s Blue Cowboy. See, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a certain color, I just want it to look like THIS…
Not like THIS…
Fair enough?
Finally, while we all think it is great that the Equine Affaire sells beer, when you start telling everybody behind me really loudly that a standing martingale is a tie-down and only the ones with rings are martingales, that is gonna make this blog. You are wrong – one is a standing martingale and one is a running martingale. A tie-down is a piece of western equipment that generally bears little or no resemblance to a hunt seat martingale. You’re welcome
152 comments to “Equine Affaire 2011”
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So many topics on this post to comment on. I so laughed at the Cox bridle price, I have several identical to those for the bargain basement price of about $50 but without any dingleballs…maybe THAT’s the reason my horses aren’t quite as broke as his!
Being an ex-reiner, I have to comment on the “Spook” video. First of all, NHRA is National Hot Rod Association, spellcheck people! I do like how quietly Greg rides the horse but that video looks more like a ‘colt-in-training’ video than a competition. His spins were very slow, shoulders stiff and clunky and his pivot foot continously moved back with each rotation. A good spin should look like a ‘whoosh’ not a bump di dee bump and the pivot foot needs to stay put. He trotted 4 steps out of the right rollback (2 point penalty) and his fast circles were barely more than a lope. LIttle degree of difficulty. Reiners need to RUN the large circles and come back to a slow lope for their small circles to show their willingness to change speed without resistence. His stops were basically correct in form but again, no speed and a lot of anticipation prevented a long slide. The backup was heavy in the face, stiff and crooked. We taught our horses to back off seat and leg with a draped rein then clucked for speed. No open mouth, no over-flexing and no locked shoulders. Like your comment on the jumping clinic, riding with seat and leg helps horses relax and too much hand makes them stiff and unsettled. (BTW, I have NO problem using my reins often – airs above the ground don’t mix with me as they quickly become my ass onto the ground)
Here’s a video of a real cutie, Spooks Gotta Gun, who is unfortunately overbridled IMO, but is a great example of lovely circles, fair stops, spins and backup. (1st stop is gawjus!) I absolutely love his tail color….can’t decide if he has dead-fish tail or it’s just the color change at the bone. Looks a bit floppy, a BAD reining trend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDwPtwtjZD0
Being a novice reiner I didn’t want to pipe up about the video but I’d have to agree the stops were not spectacular and the second spin was super awkward but then I noticed the horse was pooping during the spin, that couldn’t have helped. He’s riding with two hands with a snaffle. So it has to be a novice horse or colt to ride with two hands in competition. Most of his wins are regional shows it looks like. There’s not as many NRHA events listed. And yeah they should edit the title of the video to NRHA.
That video is actually from when he was younger and greener…I wish I had the video of the cowboy race to put up, you’d see how much more finished he is now.
I like that he wasn’t perfect at three. I’d be really scared if he was perfect at three.
Good point Fugs! My horse came apart before i had him (Futurity Finalist at the Congress at 3yo) and it took A LOT of work and hairy rides to put him back together. His poor little brain fried from all that pressure so young. I’m glad the FEI has reining now there’s more incentive to keep the horses sound past the futurities and derbies.
Here it is……the video you have all been waiting for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7UeUvPEqZA
I was going to post on that same thing yesterday but I bit my tongue. I have also experienced that in different states, different levels of finished can win. My mare was trained and shown (accumulating a show record) in one state but when she came to me she wasn’t finished enough to complete at the club here. Nothing wrong with her training, just not polished as well as the competition.
While watching that video pay close attention to approximately 2:10 where he starts to have a break of gate but it looks like Andrea catchs it before he goes more than a step. Also at approximately 4:52 coming out of the rollback he trots. Watch his tail on the rundowns how he puts it out. I don’t think it has been blocked. He is a nice horse and I love his bicolor tail!
Another thing I wanted to add. JMHO but I don’t think he was overbridled in that run. Look how low his head is in between some of the maneuvers.
Hi All,
Thank you for the comments on the video. I was the one who shot it and to be honest, I know next to nothing about reining. It is edited because (and please don’t kjill me) I didn’t think anyone would watch 10 minutes of someone riding in a circle. This video was meant for Greg to get a different view of the ride. Your comments will help me do a better job in the future. Yes, I fixed the tittle!
As I am privledged to ride with Greg regularly (he recongnized I needed addtitonal help with my horsemanship and was kind enough to invite me to board at this ranch, he only has one other boarder who is not in training) I must say that Greg does not “practice” cowboy challenge work with his horses. We don’t have obstacles set up in the arena and spend hours walking on tarps, carrying things, ground tying, etc., etc. Greg builds relationships with horses and builds confidence and trust with them,so that they are willing partners and trust their rider. What he has done with the training of my 15 yr old gelding and me is nothing short of a miracle (I have gone to a lot of trainers with little help. They mostly told me I had issues and my horse was fine.).
I must also comment that Greg riding Playboy and his sons (15 & 13) qualified for the WSSR World Finals as a team. Unfortunately, they were unable to attend due to his wife’s diagnosis of breast cancer.
Check out this video of Greg on Cowboy at a ranch rodeo (he’s team won).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smc1RSLknsU
Greg is the real deal and a well kept treasure in SoCal. In Lakeside you can toss a rock and hit a trainer, but few can even come close to getting the results in the short time Greg can. Not to mention he has reasonable rates, because he believes horsemanship should be available to all horse people.
Greg is conducting a clinic in San Luis Obispo Feb 26th and 27th. There is also a tenative date for Feb 19th for a clinic in Ramona. Check his website for more info and upcoming events. He has a lot of stuff planned. http://www.robinsonhorsemanship.com/
****Greg would also like to thank the fugly horse blogger for the kind words and would love to extend an invitation to come ride with him!
There is a video of the ECR from Sat. floating out there. As soon as I get my copy of it I will post it for everyone to see.
OK seriously, I’m going to call him…because I would love to ride with him! He has a great relationship with his horse and I always admire that so much. I get SO sick of seeing sour, unhappy horses.
Please do. You won’t be disappointed! 619-438-4069
@Rachael01 You’re a good sport! We’re picking on your video and you came back with a smile and a vow to do better, that will shut us up
A couple years ago my friend told her husband to shoot her if she ever got involved with all that endless riding in circles, reining stuff. Recently she just bought her second reining horse, and now can’t wait for the next show season. He’s never going to let her live that comment down! Riding in circles is hard! hahaha
@ NYCHIC,
No worries I appreciate the help. I really don’t know much about reining. That was the first reining event I ever attended. I had the camera with me and off I went. The last thing I want to do is show any rider in anything but the best light. These comments will help me bunches! Greg is such a great sport, he has never asked me to video him, or said anything about the fact that I do it, edit it, and post it without his knowledge. I appreciate him hanging in there with me and my learning curve!
Reining is a lot harder than it looks and I agree with everyone that riding a circle is tough, but it’s not always fun to watch. I get all pumped for the slides and spins!
Best of luck to all of you and I hope to see some of you at a clinic soon! As they say “have trailer…will travel” please don’t hesitate to call and set up a clinic in your area. Greg’s clinic rates are insane for the time and quality of instruction you receive!
I think I’m in love with this Greg Robinson, LOL!
Between his website, Fug’s glowing review and your cheerful, friendly post here, Rachael01, I’m getting a really good vibe about this trainer. I also think I need to move back to CA. I’m missing some good things, I think!
Well if you think you’re in love now there is a good chance you will join his clan of loyal followers if you ride with him. Let us know where you are at and maybe we can come do a clinic there. Email me at slide075@yahoo.com!!!!!!
Tried the contact number posted on his website for the SLO clinic. Verizon said the number has changed or is no longer in use. Do you know where in San Luis Obispo the clinc will be held? (I live local and want to know what the cost is for auditing).
Maybe it is just me, but I think the horses´ hind legs look really off! He almost looks like he´s hopping like a bunny. Looks really strange to me.
Otherwise, a really nice horse!
Fugs: I just love the roan stallion!!
The horse is a Splashed-white, ( one of the Paint colours) that is why he has a white tail. It is perfectly natural, and normal for that colour. The Gunner line has many of them.
What does ‘jumping out of the tack’ mean? I’m not familiar with the term.
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OT for this post, but might be an interesting subject for an other one: I recently got into an argument with some girls over this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-poku055d-Q
So. Equine twins: cutest thing since sliced bread or irresponsible breeding? I’m in no way an expert when it comes to breeding or health care for pregnant mares, but shouldn’t twins be pretty much avoidable these days? Or are there actually people out there who refuse to pop exes embryos because ‘that’s not what God intended’?
I have heard there are some cases when it’s not possible to pop just one so the owner is left with a choice of aborting both or to hope that one of the embryos is naturally absorbed my the mare. I personally would abort all, because I wouldn’t want to risk the mare, but what would you do?
Then again, the way I understood, the foals in the video were a surprise for the owner. That leaves two possibilities: a) the didn’t ultrasound at all b) they did an ultrasound, but misread it. So did they do none, only one or several misreading them all? How many times should you ultrasound to be safe?
Maybe some breeders can share their experience with twins/avoiding them. Do you guys think the video is cute and the birth of two healthy foals a miracle or where the owners of the mare being too careless and lucky not to lose all?
“What does ‘jumping out of the tack’ mean? I’m not familiar with the term.”
When you jump higher than the horse
… the horse’s effort springs you right the heck off his back. You may still have your stirrups and you may manage to land ok and pull it back together quickly, but when I see daylight between your thighs/knees and your horse over the top of your jump, I get very concerned for your ability to remain injury-free.
Generally fixed by lots of torture, aka work without stirrups. And sometimes it’s just a matter of a good instructor pointing out to you what you’re doing that is preventing you from staying with the horse. For example, you might be locking up at the knee.
Oh, and I own a mare on whom (before I bought her) the ultrasound missed the twins. She prolapsed and almost died. No one’s fault, at all. She is a tough girl and I’m glad she survived and now has a long riding-only career ahead!
“Or are there actually people out there who refuse to pop exes embryos because ‘that’s not what God intended’?”
Yep. Because Animal Abortion = EEEBIL. I mean, there are plenty of people who don’t GELD because … that’s what God intended. The nice folks who owned my horse before me are Kooky Home Schoolers because they don’t “believe” in vaccinating their children OR their animals. Herbal wormers only for them, too. Fortunately they only had him for 2 years, and fortunately it was past West Nile season when I got him, and fortunately my barn’s owner (who trailered for me) kept a straight face the whole time, and we just did everything after we got him to his new home. Because, you know, getting sick is “God’s Will.”
As for jumping out of the tack, aka “jumping ahead,” it’s a sure sign that someone’s been rushed through the learning to jump process. You need to build a firm base of support, and a sense of what your horse’s body is doing, so you can move along with him. I’d prescribe lots of lunging without stirrups or reins, with the rider closing her eyes and calling out which foot is falling where, and HOURS of riding in 2-Point position, again without reins at first, and eventually working up to trotting ground poles, teensy X’s, cavaletti…. and in an ideal world, working VERY hard at developing strength and balance so that you don’t rely on the crest release for too awful long. I used to trot and canter trails, up & down hills, in 2-point, which gave me a really great base of support and balance, as well as saving my horse’s back. I used to win lots of egg & spoon, but alas, was a little too chicken to jump anything much over 3′ though my horse could easily handle it.
Of course, sometimes when your horse is in a new or exciting situation, he’ll jump HUUUGE, and you’ll get taken by surprise.
Old fashioned sarcastic drill sergeant riding instructors are AWESOME. I was the most oversensitive teenager alive, and I BLOSSOMED under that kind of treatment, because I knew I was expected to take things seriously – and my riding was taken seriously, but I wasn’t allowed to take *myself* too seriously, if that makes any sense. After one particularly grueling lesson on a lazy Lippizanner, I was feeling a little grim, when my instructor said, “Wow. For a minute there, you looked like Betsy Steiner.” And I felt really really really proud, because I knew she totally meant it.
I worked at a breeding farm for several years, and we would scan the mares 3 times: 14 days post breeding, 30 days post breeding and 60 days post breeding. As we were doing artificial insemination, we were also monitoring the mares pre-breeding, so we usually were aware if a mare had had a double-ovulation. If we suspected a double ovulation, we scanned again between 14 and 30 days to make sure. We had a few instances of twins while I worked there, and they were always caught before the 30 day mark and “popped” (for lack of a better word). I think if you are breeding you MUST be responsible in this manner. We used a reproductive-specialist vet and never had any surprises or problems. (We did have a scare once when a mare got HUGE, but we had checked her three times and never saw anything, and it turned out she was just chubby.)
Twins do not need to to happen. If breeders don’t have the resources/funds to carry out what I described above, then they shouldn’t be breeding! Period!
Those colts were at the MN Horse Expo. I asked exactly that of the vet ladies there, the owner went through a divorce after the breeding and just didn’t get her stuff together in time for the ultrasound. At least she brought her mare to the best large animal facility around here for the foaling. It’s really unusual for twins to be so perfectly matched size wise too.
One of them did nip a kid who was trying to feed them a finger
.
Er, I mean the Equifest.
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_dcb7495a-48eb-529f-9a14-99fd7f33f4ba.html
Another 60 starving horses in Billings, MT. Some of the horses have been Euthed. Foals not weaned from dams at 6-7 months. Stallions breaking through fences or “getting out” with mares and random breeding. And the best? The owners who live on the property (as far as I understand it) “didn’t know the situation was so bad” but are “Experienced breeders and farrier”
OMG. Seriously- MOST of Montana is not this fucked up. I promise.
And the Leachman horses got airlifted hay but the dirty bastard isn’t going to see the inside of a courtroom until JULY. Oh and no horses have been siezed. Donations for the Leachman horses can go through the NILE 501c3. I know they have gotten over $30,000 for the horses so far so I think they are safe. We will start getting the blush of spring grass and water out here in about a month or two.
eeeek, well, I like both blue roans. Flog me
Also, nice to see a trainer who goes out and wins. We’ve got a new guy in town, putting on a big show of advertising and yada yada. I said “Well, what are his credits? What has he won?” Not a dang thing that I can find. Why would I send my horse to be trained by someone who isn’t out winning? If you’re all that, then prove it to me.
You bet. I mean, in any other profession, you’d be asked to show a track record of success. Just makes sense!
I would have loved to have seen the clinic on rider position in the jumper ring, (ok, I would love to have been in California yesterday instead of the snowy, cold mid-west). I have been working with my trainer on my position over fences. 12 years ago, when I was learning to ride again after a 20 year hiatus, I was taught to get up in the 3 point position and move my hands forward as I approached the jump. She is now working with me on keeping my seat back, weight in my heels, hands up and elbows bent so they can straighten and give over the fence. My mind understands all this, but my body panics at the base of the jump and I throw my body forward. I have this fear of being thrown backward as he goes over which I know is unrealistic. If you ever find a video of this clinic, I would appreciate it if you would post it. I would be the woman in the ring with the way too busy hands. They take on a life of their own. (I’m working on this. I had one excellent instructor respond to my statement that “I feel like I need to be doing something.” by saying “You do. Your job is to sit quietly on the horse.” Haha!) Thanks.
I hope the video does pop up. There are some snippets of his clinics and other EA’s on Youtube if you search Jeff Cook horse.
And you sound like me. I don’t jump anymore, but when I did, I was always afraid that I would be left behind and catch the horse in the mouth (which would basically traumatize ME…the horse would survive, I would have gotten the guilts so bad if this had ever happened!) My bad habit was I’d have loose fingers, after all, that way if the horse needs more rein, he can just take it, haha. Of course you land and are out of control which is the flaw in that logic…
In a perfect world, the horses would love for us to just stay still and balanced over his/her center of gravity and leave them to their job, but this is far from a perfect world and we humans do tend to screw things up. IMHO, you are much better off getting left behind even if you do catch the horse in the mouth or hit him in the back because the alternative is getting ahead and when you chuck yourself up the horse’s neck at the takeoff, that completely alters their balance at a critical place in the jumping process. Smart ones will learn to deal with it by chipping in. Really smart ones will learn to stop and the ones that are completely scared to death by all your movement up there will learn to hate jumping and become bad stoppers or get really quick with the run out and THAT is what will leave you eating lumber. Plus, once a horse has been lied to like that enough, it gets really hard to fix. Moral of the story – you don’t want to be either, but you are better off getting behind than getting ahead if you aren’t going to be in the middle.
And yes, I do know someone who was killed by getting ahead. She broke her neck on the landing side of the jump when she got ahead and her horse stopped. The “jump” was only 2′.
Isn’t that how Christopher Reeve’s accident happened? He got ahead and was such a big guy that it really did overbalance the horse?
Yeah, so many people think that correct riding is “just for pretty,” and don’t understand that it’s for their own safety. It’s something I have to patiently explain to parents of a lot of new 4H’ers – the kids who started bombing around bareback when they were 5 or 6, and only by the grace of all that is holy and natural athleticism and often a saintly pony are still alive.
I have had the argument so many times with people who say they don’t need to have proper equitation, they’re just trail riding. Then they fall off because they’re out there with their toes down, hunching over, no actual seat, etc. Well, do you like the Emergency Room? No? Then you might want to consider learning some of that silly equitation stuff.
I knew Reeve had been injured in a horse fall, but until you asked, Fugs, I had never thought to find out how! According to Wikipedia, it sounds like it was a bit nastier than just getting ahead – from what I could piece together, his horse refused the 3rd fence on the Training course at the CDCTA finals. Somehow his hands got tangled up in the reins and he landed headfirst on the other side, shattering his C1 and C2. His helmet prevented brain damage, otherwise, I’m pretty sure a fall like that would have killed him outright.
The Wikipedia article on Christopher Reeve has a 3 paragraph section about the accident in the article.
I just remember people who were there – I think maybe on COTH? – saying he got ahead of the horse. He was a big guy on a horse that was not a really stout horse, more of an elegant TB type. Could be just rumor, but it’s what I heard.
Again, eventing obstacles are scary!
I know a few people that have ridden with Jeff, and they rave about him. Very cool!
The average person won’t clinic with folks like Greg because they advocate basics and time and hard work and that’s boooorrriiiing. ;P C’est la guerre…
Love that roan — I have a soft spot for them and it’s nice to see a QH that looks like he can stop a cow, not eat one. Also, I notice he is GLEAMING. I can appreciate how hard it is to put a shine on grays and roans, so I’m doubly impressed.
Oh yeah. That horse SHONE when he came into the arena. So did Greg’s horse. So did the buckskin stud. All three of them were just the picture of perfect health and top condition.
I attended last year, and was underwhelmed by most of the presenters, and the orange sticks with some NH “trainer’s” copyrighted logo on sale for $60.00 at every vendor’s booth, so I passed this year. Sounds as though I just need to keep a closer eye on the presenters for next year.
Off to find out more about this Jeff Cook guy!
Ooooh I forgot to mention:
You should all be SO proud. I passed by Julie Goodnight at least 3 times without hollering “Hey, you idiot, what the fuck were you thinking recommending the use of a shock collar on horses?”
I have more self control than you folks think I do.
Was it self control or that you were lacking the appropriate company to encourage that kind of behavior
LOL…well at least one of my friends would have bailed me out of jail after the fight!
My chosen discipline is dressage. I met friends at Equine Affaire on Friday and saw Chris Cox’s 9:30 presentation on creating a natural headset (reward IMMEDIATELY when the horse offers what you want — a simple concept that many other “Money For Nothing” NH gurus do not stress enough). He spent most of the 90 minutes with an 11-y.o. Paint mare who was green and nervous. She had had many trainers in her past, so he established respect on the ground before he got on her back. She wouldn’t stand still when he tried to adjust the stirrups on the Western saddle. He said, sort of in passing, that he was hoping to get back to the natural way of going (Western horses) instead of the “pleasure gaits” of today with poll-wither headsets. No one cheered at his statement, but I was cheering inside because I HATE the way those horses go — and how they are warmed up. Rider’s hands above their shoulders, reins jerking left then right, bumping the horse in the mouth. HATE it.
I agree with you about his products and their costs, though. I have only purchased his book. (I love books. ;o)
My personal issue with many demo riders is, they need to clean their tack and themselves. If your tack is dirty and you look like you took time out from cleaning the barn to ride in front of the audience — and the clinician comments that he cannot get the stirrups adjusted because everything is “STUCK” — you need to spend more time after your rides cleaning and conditioning your tack.
Clean clothes that FIT, shirt tucked in with a nice belt on the jeans, boots polished, maybe a vest to conceal the tummy (speaking from experience here ;o), a helmet or appropriate headgear, hair neat and, if long, worn in a ponytail or bun, says a LOT about the respect YOU are showing the person who selected YOU to be in his clinic as well as the audience who comes to watch. It won’t improve the way you ride or the way your training program is working, but it says a lot about YOU. Not everyone is slim and trim (or young ;o), but neat and clean is good.
Another thing: The problems “amateur trainers” face are often due to — or made worse by — tack and equipment that does not fit the horse. Chris mentioned that the corners of the Paint mare’s mouth showed signs of pinching. Not sure if the corners were raw at the moment or he noticed scarring (the mare had had several owners), but he said the bit the current rider was using was not the right size, either.
Then I went to Axel Steiner’s morning and afternoon presentations in the Outdoor Arena. Both were for riders and horses Intro-Fourth Level. The single demo rider was a trainer who had a very talented warmblood/Paint mare, and she was able to demonstrate the “frames” for each level. The first session was “Training Tips for Intro-Fourth” and the second was “Improving Your Test Riding” also Intro-Fourth. The USEF Dressage Tests are new this year, and everyone was interested in the new things, so he also covered those — the first flying changes are just “three” across the diagonal without the need for counting strides between. The goal is to make the changes CLEAN.
I love Axel’s presentations. I’ve audited his clinics several times. He has great humor and includes auditors as well. His instructions are clear, and the demo rider was very talented as was her mare.
And yeah, beer and Margaritas for purchase at EA. Bad idea, but any way to make a buck, I guess. I stood in the line at the tri-tip/pulled pork/foot-long hotdog vendor. By the time we got to the front of the line, the clerks said pulled pork was “sold out.” (That sandwich was cheaper than the others — and the footlong hotdog was the most expensive, which didn’t make sense to me. I got a tri-tip ($9 and change), and it was meat and bun: No lettuce or tomato and the bun wasn’t even warmed. Just “out of the package” and split open to hold the meat. I know “fair food” is always $$$$, but the marketing at this place truly sucked. People would walk away if they read that pulled pork sandwich wasn’t available, but by the time you’ve stood in line, you don’t want to turn away and stand in another line I know marketing, and this is the last time I go to this event without packing my own lunch.
I love “window shopping,” and I tried on clothes and looked at EVERYTHING. My feeling is, if Equine Affaire’s vendors don’t have it, you don’t need it. ;o)
I agree with you about the stallion. Gorgeous and nice to know the rider/trainer DOES stuff with the horses ;o) A horse happy in his work is a joy.
I hate hate HATE the terms “headset” and “frame” because many riders & trainers have interpreted this to mean that they are THE end goals. I much prefer “carriage” or “collection” or “way of going” instead of worrying where the horse’s damn nose is.
I love the Hoosier Horse Fair because they serve the famous Pineapple Whip.
And the shopping – there’s no decent tack shop within an hour and a half of me unless you ride Western, so these fairs & expos are a great opportunity to see stuff in person that I have to otherwise get mail order.
I agree, but these “headset” and “frame” are the terms used and so I used them. We have the same issue with tack shops that cater to Western riders. If you find breeches, they are knee patch (self-patches, too) and the only tall boots are the kind that have the gigantic “formed calves” that resemble walking around with cantalopes stuck in the back of your boots. Ew.
Last time I went to Equine Affaire was in 2002. I watched a Monte Roberts trailer loading demo where he stated over and over that it was the halter that was getting the results. Actually it was his timing and ability to read a horse… But damn if there wasn’t a mass migration from the arena to Monte’s sales booth afterward, that crowd bought up those halters. I was swept up in the crowd on my way to the restroom, at first I thought there was going to be a line until they all peeled off to Monte’s stuff for sale.
The other thing that annoyed me was the 10-20 minutes of self promotion for both Monte and John Lyons where the crowd had to listen to someone blather on about how great they are for a solid chunk of time before they would do anything useful.
I saw some good stuff too but can’t remember many details. Clinton Anderson did a great trailer loading demo with a horse who had broken the owners nose twice. He took on a much more challenging horse than Monte and did a great job with it. His demo also lacked all of the shameless self promotion, that may be different these days for Clinton…
And I’d bet a thousand dollars people took home those halters and their horses STILL wouldn’t load.
If you want to know the truth about Monty Roberts, go here: http://horsewhispersandlies.com/
Read what his relatives and others who really knew/know him have to say.
About six years ago at Equine Affaire, we loaned a horse to Julie Goodnight, not even knowing who the hell she was. One of the event organizers asked if anyone had a horse to loan and we offered one of ours. Julie turned down our offer to bring the horse the day before her demo so they could get acquainted. She said not necessary because she could “ride anything and make it look good.” Well, OK. The horse was good natured, fairly solid but still young (5), and hadn’t been away from the ranch very often (just a couple Ray Hunt clinics). She hopped on about 30 seconds before her presentation and proceeded to basically slam the horse after she tried to stop him like a hunter rider. This little guy was a reining/cow horse; you had to sit on your “W’s” and slide your feet forward a little if you wanted to stop. He could really get into the ground, too, and you didn’t even have to pick up on the reins. The horse said “Huh?” at her body language and just kind of kept going along, looking kind of confused. Julie looked like kind of an ass and then, of course, took it out on the horse and his “unorthodox training.”
That is one beautiful blue roan. For some reason I really like ‘em – even fugly ones. This one is NOT fugly.
OMG on that blue roan!! He’s hot AND he can jump! No Gem Twist, of course, but he’s not splitting his legs and dropping one under his belly or something. Great find, Cathy! I’m going to save his name and website in case anyone I know is looking for a youngster. God knows there’s very little of quality out here in southeast WI. Or if there is, I haven’t seen it. Papa’s A Little Sexy is the only decent stallion I can think of off the top of my head, and he’s practically in Minnesota anyway.
I think I like this Chris Robinson guy. So many times a clinician with accomplishments only has those wins for Junior Reining in 1998 – 1999 listed. This guy seems to talk the talk and walk the walk!
Slightly OT: and speaking of clinicians – I may have an opportunity to ride in a dressage clinic with Jean Luc Cornille, if the event can get organized. I’ve never heard of him, but his website says lots of common sense things about using knowledge of equine biomechanics to re-educate a horse to move properly and so forth. He’s anti-rollkur which is always a plus. I’m game for just about any kind of educational opportunity, I was just wondering if anyone else who comments here has heard of him and can offer an opinion about his clinics, philosophy, training methods, etc. Is he going to be insulted when I bring my aging, Training level AQHA gelding into the arena with him, or should I try to bring a different ride? That kind of thing.
I should clarify that when I said “very little of quality”, I was strictly speaking Quarter Horses. No slight intended to other breeds.
Dry Doc’s Blue Cowboy is a nice horse, but I’m hoping this is one of their geldings.
http://chaosgraphics.smugmug.com/Horses/Dry-Docs-Blue-Cowboy/9293345_hkRWK#994708454_oHw4K
These folks are not that far from me, and they have this horse up for sale. This bay is a mare, and has had a couple colts by the blue roan. Yes, she is long as a train, and her colts are long too, but not as long as she is, so the roan at least improved them. I think they have her up for sale because they just can’t overcome that back even with a nice stallion. I think she looks like a sweetie, who would make a great ex-broodie toodle around horse.
I went for the first time ever, on Friday. It was wonderful. I didn’t watch much in the ring (I have no interest in Paso races, especially when half of the people cheat, and scare the bejeezus out of each other. One guy took off cantering less than a foot away from another rider, and she ended up getting bounced out of the saddle and run over. Load of idiots and abused horses.) But if anyone else was there, I’m wondering what everyone thought about Jonathon Fields? I tend to avoid clinicians, but I watched him for a while and he seemed to just… get it. If anyone knows more about him from personal experiences, I’d love to hear it!
I can’t say enough good things about Jonathan Field (no s). He does clinics locally and I’ve had the pleasure of attending a few. He is truly talented. I’ve never seen anyone “click” so easily with all types of horses and he does it almost entirely with body language. He’s also just a truly genuine, nice guy, and a great teacher. I’d recommend him to anyone.
I was at the same Paso Fino demonstration. I didn’t see what caused the lady to fall, but I gotta tell you, there was one little Paso Fino that was killing me. His feet were going going a mile a minute, but he was hardly moving. Sort of like when you are in low speed on a ten speed bike and you peddle like mad, but don’t go anywhere fast. He looked like he was going to come out of his skin any second. Definitely not my cup of tea.
Needless to say, being in Wisconsin, I didn’t attend. I’ve actually never even gone to Midwest Horse Fair here. I know all these “fairs” have good and bad clinicians, and it’s great you found a good one to see.
When we had our boarding facility, some of the boarders were really into Parelli, and asked to host a clinic on our property. I agreed, as at that time I hadn’t really seen much of his “training” procedures. What a JOKE! I was just stunned, at the people leading their horses around, and “flapping” their arms like ducks, to keep their “space”. I never saw a “cult” following like that before. I stayed as far away from the barn, for those 2 days as I could. Only sent to feed, clean stalls and bring horses back in. I still laugh at the amazement on the peoples faces, as I stood in the doorway of the barn, called the horses, and all came running in from our 12 acre pasture. They couldn’t understand how anyone could “train” horses to do that!!!
As far as the blue roan, he’s gorgeous!
I personally am not impressed with the reining video, and am amazed at the competitions he has won. I have seen mush better spins and stops, on my friends horse, that hasn’t won nearly as much. JMHO…
LMAO on your description of the Parelli people!
I agree with you Montes Li, not impressed at all with the reining video. I glad he loves and appreciates his horse but I’ve seen lots better then that, the horse looks green to me.
Love blue roans.
Haha! I totally agree on the tie-down vs. martingale – and other tack-swap horror stories. It’s like cinch vs. girth. I hear all sorts of differences and can only go by what the guy at Capitol Saddlery told me waaay too long ago. He says you cinch up a girth. Period. Western or English doesn’t matter, one is a verb and one is a noun.
Of course, I never hear it used this way. O well.
It may be nitpicky, but I’m sorry. This is a tiedown.
http://theharnessshoponline.com/images/1399T.jpg
I don’t see how you get that confused with a standing martingale.
http://meisterider.com/images/Legacy%20Plain%20Raised%20Standing%20Martingale.JPG
But in all fairness, it wouldn’t have been AS funny if she hadn’t been so loud and abrasive.
The guy at Capitol Saddlery was misinformed. Period.
I attach a cinch to my Western saddle.
http://www.ridethebrand.com/feature.php?story=61
I attach a girth to my English saddle.
http://equestrian.doversaddlery.com/saddlery/English%20Girth
I take everything I hear from some guy at a tack shop or some girl at the barn with a pinch of salt and make a mental note to do my research later.
Also, while “tie-down†refers to the strap that connects the noseband to the cinch, but it also refers to the entire contraption as in “you need to put a tie-down on that horse or he’ll break your nose.†The speaker, in this case, wouldn’t attach the strap to nothing, nor would they say “you need to put a tie-down and noseband and a breast collar and a loop of twine attached to the breast collar on that horse…or he’ll break your nose.†Because that would be silly.
The extra loop on a standing martingale replaces the need for a breast collar and loop of twine/shoelace/whatever’s handy. Like a cinch and girth, the structure varies slightly, but the basic function and mechanics are the same. Fugs, I would wonder if you may have missed the context of the conversation happened behind you at EA in a beer line.
Happened behind us in the stands – we heard ALL the context. This woman was arguing that the only thing that you call a martingale is a running martingale, whereas the standing kind was a “tie down” instead.
My only comment on the reining video is that I have no idea what we are looking at — edited clips from who knows what? Way too much editing. More tail wringing than I like, but I’m picky about that. If your spur use affects your horse’s tail, you’re using too much spur.
Regardless, I’ll take your word that he was impressive in person.
I am normally fairly strict about tails but I’ve noticed a LOT of reining horses are active with their tails (as are a lot of dressage horses) and if it’s NOT paired with a pissy look on their face/pinned ears, I don’t worry about it too much. Hey, at least that tail isn’t blocked!
In person, he clearly had a great relationship with the horse. That horse loves him. It was very nice to watch.
Well, there are “wringing” tails (pissed off horse), “active tails” (horse is using it as part of his body), “happy tails” (horse just likes to “swish” because it makes him happy).
Soooo many people in stock horses automatically count off for a moving tail, because since the 1980s, their top horses have routinely had their tails compromised – chemically or surgically, or leavint a tourniquet on it for a few hours, or a heavy fake tail added on. They’ve forgotten that a healthy, happy swishy tail is nothing to penalize.
i only went Saturday…saw Axel Steiner present and that was very fun…he spoke out against “rough riders” which was good to hear…and the rider and horse were a wonderful team
we also went to every presentation by Charni Lewis for braiding…she was very informative and fun to watch
my friend (who had the 4 day pass and went every day) saw the woman who was subbing in for Tellington-Jones kick a horse in the mouth…which was not cool…i probably would have punched her in the face and taken my horse out of her hands had it been my horse she kicked…but thats me…
Oh nice. THAT’S a great thing to show an expo full of horsepeople. Grrrr…
I don’t think Tellington-Jones herself is any better. I saw her do a trailer loading “demonstration” once and when she couldn’t get the horse to load by leading it on (duh! It had trailer-loading issues, that’s why it was there!), or by placing its front feet one at a time on the trailer (WTF?!?!), she had several volunteers pick up a couple of crossrails and stand there holding them at chest height on both sides of the trailer to give the horse sort of a “runway”. I could just see the horse barreling into those people and the crossrails and flattening all involved, and couldn’t believe she was actually advocating this method in front of a horse expo audience (usually novices – also, who usually has a couple of crossrails and six people standing around to help load your freakin’ horse?), so I got up and walked out before I saw if a wreck actually occurred, and/or if she ever did get that horse on the trailer. Very ineffective trainer/clinician, in my opinion.
I went to the Chris Cox website so I could see what a $185 bridle looks like. Wow. Really? They also have a $244 dollar version that, get this, comes Fully Assembled! For $244 for a plain leather headstall and snaffle, it ought to come with someone to catch, groom and saddle my horse for me as well…
ROTFL I know.
And I want to say…from what I know of Chris Cox, he really IS a good horseman.
But $189 for a basic training bridle is silly. I always wonder if they’re trying to make those bridles into status symbols, like a Vuitton purse. But everybody knows what that looks like, and I bet 1 horseperson out of 1,000 might know what an Official Chris Cox training bridle looks like. Status doesn’t work unless everybody KNOWS what it is.
I honestly don’t see much wrong with the horse under the ad. I don’t know how old the bottom left picture in the ad is, but in that one Dry Doc’s Blue Cowboy is a little ribby and thin in the hips, whereas the other blue roan isn’t. As far as advertising a stallion, Double SS Ranch did a good job. Without seeing what the other horse can do, seeing his offspring, or knowing his lineage, I couldn’t decide which one to breed to by going off of pictures along.
I don’t care about a little ribby. The horse at the bottom is as long as a Dachshund, and has a terrible shoulder. Those are things that impair performance and create a rough, unpleasant ride, not to mention an increased likelihood of soundness problems. That’s why I don’t like him.
Another thing I liked about the first stallion is that he actually has pretty good angulation in his hind end. The second stallion is way too post-legged behind to suit me. And that neck, really not sure if it was another horse standing behind him or there was a shadow–finally I decided he just has a thick, fairly low set neck to go with his straight shoulder. He’d probably be way too heavy on the forehand.
The horse in the stallion ad that is a “little ribby” and “thin in the hips” (I’m assuming bottom left corner) is one of the stallion’s 2009 foals, not the stallion himself.
Wow, this is exciting. I was at the EA too, and Willow Glen is where I ride and board. (:
I too loved Jeff Cook’s clinic. That little black mare was to die for!
And, of course, the Extreme Cowboy Race was awesome. When Greg got off and hugged his horse, I almost teared up! I felt awful for the girl that fell off… It looked like her horse may have stomped on her.
By the way, does Dry Doc’s Blue Cowboy have a bloody shoulder marking on that left flank? I saw that in the show and was wondering what it was.
The fall was WEIRD. I was far enough way that I don’t want to pretend I could see everything, but it really didn’t look like the horse did anything worse than prop on his front end. She did look like she got stepped on. I was wondering if maybe he spooked at the people on the end before he propped, so that she was unseated to begin with. Poor thing.
I’m not sure on the marking … but you could very well be right. Just a super striking horse.
I really liked the high school girl who ran it, and I thought she deserved a higher place. I was sort of surprised by some of the scores. I mean, Robin Bond’s a great competitor but it was NOT her night. She blew several obstacles and yet placed over Carly, the teenager, who I don’t recall failing to complete a single maneuver. So I can’t say I was totally understanding the judging, although I definitely agreed on 1st and 2nd place.
I noticed the mark as well and I think Dry Doc is a bay roan rather than black. His face also has a lot of brown in it and I couldn’t find if any DNA testing was done to confirm he is black with no agouti (bay) gene. I really do think he is a dark bay roan, but still a very good looking one.
Sorry, I know this is way off topic.
Somewhere around second last comment on the last post someone put up a craiglist add for a weanling named Steven, filthy, scrawny, none to good a hair coat, but cute little two-color ears.
Aside from all obvious, how can you even begin to guess if there is actually a horse under all the scrubbiness?
Weeks ago you also showed an old stallion that ended up at auction. He was once a really great animal. What are looking at to see a good horse from that state?
I mean, had I the wherewithall, I would get a weanling like Steven just to grow him, teach him manners and to ground drive, and see what I get, and probably be able to sell him on, since there is still a feeble market up in Manitoba.
But, it would be dumb of me, since I don’t know what to look for to see if he would grow into anything.
What do you look at in a little beggar, especially a situationally scrubby one?
Well, the nice thing is, you can see the bone structure.
I don’t worry if the head looks huge – that’s normal when they’re a starved baby, they’ll even out. I’d look at shoulder angle, hip angle…you won’t be able to tell too much about legs because when they’re super narrow (remember Prince?) of course they are going to toe out/be cow hocked. I mean, you can see if there’s something obvious like a club foot, but honestly, it IS hard to evaluate.
SAFE is in the middle of a website change or I’d show you a classic example. They had this filly who was down and in the death paddles when they found her. HUGE head, fugly neck, just hideous looking. Well, they saved her – I still am not sure I know how, all I can figure is the filly was tough and a lot of people were praying – and that filly is gorgeous. I mean, freaking gorgeous. Like “shit, I wish we had the papers” gorgeous. Clearly a very nice quality APHA horse…EVERYTHING got fixed with feed, it was even more remarkable than Grace because this filly was growing when it all happened and any rescue will tell you, it’s harder to save the starved babies than an older horse because so much damage is done while they are in such a vulnerable phase of development (and the parasite damage alone often kills them).
Hey Cathy, how about this blue roan? He’s nice, proven, and had proven offspring.
http://www.oswoodstallionstation.com/mecomblue.htm
Looks nice but I always like to see a side view…there is an awful lot you can’t see from the front or 3/4ths view.
I agree and at 16 he isn’t standing to outside mares. That raises a flag for me. I am NOT saying he has low motility but when I see they aren’t shipping, that is the first thing I suspect.
Now I’m in love with Blue Cowboy ♥ =3
*drool*
That’s what a Quarter Horse should look like and not the ones you see in halter. I don’t understand why he only got fourth, though.
I love that stallion! If I had the money or the experience to train, I’d love to snag one of his foals!
Oh, and I came across this horrific horse: http://hikari-kirin.deviantart.com/art/wow-160709540
Bad breeding or just really fat?
Wow, that is a seriously obese horse. Now we know what a 9 on the Henneke scale looks like. See also ‘insulin resistant’ and ‘founder’. Hopefully not, but I’m afraid the owner is killing it with kindness.
That monster horse reminds me of OBelix from the French cartoon Asterix and Obelix…dayum
I don’t know if he is a 9, but THIS one sure as heck is!!!
or…(not sure which link to put here)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59153457@N03/5429761466/
Dry Doc’s Blue Cowboy is breathtakingly beautiful! I love my buckskin beauty but wouldn’t object to having that particular horse in my barn.
Yeah, he walked in and everyone I was sitting with went WOW…from the most experienced people with national level show horses to the beginner who owns her first horse. Sometimes quality really does just shine through, obvious to everybody.
And what a treat it was to see all three of these stallions (there was also a big buckskin horse – something Dunit, didn’t get the whole name) behave like perfect gentlemen the whole time. The Dunit horse actually got his SHOE caught through the tarp and while he freaked, he basically just longed around the guy til it came off. Then the guy hopped right on and went to the next maneuver and the horse was perfect. The ability to recover after a scare like that is the sign of excellent training and an excellent mind that should be breeding on.
To see the connection and relationship Greg R. has with his horse is just obvious. It’s wonderful. You don’t see that with every rider and their horse. I had that with a horse I raised and then lost at 13yr. Unless you experience that you don’t know horses, I’m sorry. But it’s like poetry in motion, or watching an Eagle soar. It will take your breath away, and you will know it when it happens
LOVE the positive comments about the stallions! It’s good to know who’s out doing great things with their stallion. It’s easy to SAY that your stallion is wonderful, sweet, talented, etc and another thing to get him out there and show everyone what he’s all about. Kudos to those stallion owners and riders!
while I sure appreciate the sentiments about long backed hammer heads, in the world where we actually use our horses for work and they have a job, we don’t care what they look like. The 2 ugliest train wrecks I have are also the best bull draggers and bronc crashers we own. One is 18 and has never taken a lame step. Sure it might look like the front end and the back should belong to different horses. I can guarantee you the pretty little blue roan pictured isn’t going to physically be able to do the things I need, though I am sure he is a fabulous athlete and the guy underneath? Looks like he can put in a 10 hour day in a blizzard.
and while I agree that a “tie-down” and a standing martingale may not be the same piece of equipment, the sentiment and function is essentially the same. I spent 15 years riding hunters on the A-circuit before I married a cowboy. A properly adjusted tie down works very similarly to a standard martingale. However, many western performance horses come to rely on the resistance a tie down offers in some of the timed events. Since western bridles do not have nosebands, the noseband is an addition that goes along with the tie down. Most folks run their tie down through the ring of their breastcollar. If I needed a tie down and only a standing martingale was available, as long as I had a noseband to attach it to, it would make a fabulous stand in.
I think everyone would agree with you on your horses. I think most here just wouldn’t want to see people breeding horses that aren’t the best possible representative of the breed and good minded. I have a fugly foundation QH mare who is great for my husband but I wouldn’t ever breed her.
“The 2 ugliest train wrecks I have are also the best bull draggers and bronc crashers we own. One is 18 and has never taken a lame step. Sure it might look like the front end and the back should belong to different horses. ”
No one has ever said that you can’t have a poorly conformed horse that stays sounds and is a great working horse. However, that is the exception and not the rule. Facts prove that a poorly conformed horse has a higher chance of breaking down/being uncomfortable to ride/trouble staying sound. This does not mean that every poorly conformed horse will break down, just that they have a much higher chance of breaking down than a well conformed horse.
“I can guarantee you the pretty little blue roan pictured isn’t going to physically be able to do the things I need, though I am sure he is a fabulous athlete and the guy underneath? Looks like he can put in a 10 hour day in a blizzard.”
So now conformation faults equal stamina and guarantee a good working horse while good conformation means a horse can’t work? Sorry, I can’t wrap my brain around this. Simply because you have had great horses that happened to have less-than-ideal-conformation does not mean that less-than-ideal-conformation equals a great horse. Looked at from the other side, a pretty horse does not mean a great horse anymore than pretty means unable to put in a 10 hour day in a blizzard.
I had the honor of riding with Jeff in a clinic at William Woods University. The horse I was suppose to ride in it came up lame the Thursday before the saturday/sunday clinic, so they I had to ride a horse that I had never ridden before in the clinic (I did get to jump her thursday and flat her friday, so it wasn’t completely new) and she was a very different ride than the horse I was suppose to ride.
I’m pretty tall and this horse was only 15.2ish and she was a speedy little jumper completely capable of jumping 3’6″. The flat work on saturday was fine and the little jumping we did was ok (it was just a simple combination). We didn’t have any issues until sunday when we were jumping full courses. I was getting in her face WAY TOO MUCH and that just made her pissed off and faster. He noticed this imediatly and told me to let go of her face and just use your seat and voice and it was perfection after that! I am still amazed at how well it went once he got it to “click” in my mind!
He does an amazing job of working with everyone in the clinic. I am totally taking any opportunity I get to ride with him again!!
Can’t comment on the California Equine Affaire, since I am on the other side of the country, but for anyone going to the Ohio Equine Affaire in April, I will be there with my horse in the Youth Pavilion. Stop in and say hello!
Jeff Cook? OMG. Back when I was a teenager hunter-jumper groupie (we had friends who rode hunters) I watched Jeff Cook’s lesson at Sunwood Farms with Joan Kerron (in which she said, “Jeff, if you ride like that you won’t be able to have children.”). Must be the same Jeff Cook, huh? Wow, yeah, I’m old.
ROTFL! Well I guess she helped him out because he’s become quite a superstar.
Oh yeah, they were very good. All of their students were great to watch at the shows. I had the experience of seeing several different trainers back then, our friends moved their horses twice I think, so it was interesting to see the different barns. One distinct memory I have of that barn was a sign on the arena wall that said “GET SERIOUS. GET ORGANIZED.”
Greg Robinson is a great horsemen, he tries his heart out, and passes that passion down to his two sons and his daughter. I also board at Willow Glen, where that video was shot, and had ridden with him myself a few times, and he’s awesome. If you go on that youtube channel, and watch the video of him roping on “Cowboys Prayer” I own the gray horse in the video. I’m not the one riding him, my friend Dave is, but his name is Freddy. (<–random fact of the day) If I would have know Greg was going to be at EA, I would of gone! But then again, he lives like 20 minutes from me, so it might of been a waste of money, haha.
Anyway, thank you for posting about him. I'm glad he's getting some much needed press.
-Amy
I have been lucky enough to assist Jeff at two different clinics. He is just a really nice person, and can ride as well as he teaches. He did work for GM at Hunterdon for a number of years, so he is a stickler for flatwork. I would give my hind teeth to actually ride in a clinic with him – but I learned a ton on the ground and he was really helpful with giving me pointers on exercises to set (I was teaching riding full time at the time).
So is it safe to assume that Frank Bell’s 7-Step System is the same nonsense as Parelli?? I’m still trying to educate myself and saw the topic of trainers being discussed and thought I’d like to hear from people who are a lot more informed than I am. I looked at the awards listed on his site and they seem to be mostly awards of “appreciation” and I’m skeptical of anyone calling themselves a “horse whisperer.” I was looking at a trainer in my area who is “Frank Bell certified” but I want to be sure I know what that means, good and bad. Are all “systems” are crap? Are some better than others?
The only system I’ve ever seen work is taking riding lessons from a good enough trainer so that you become competent enough that your horse stops trying to walk all over you…because it doesn’t work anymore.
I went on Friday and had a blast. I bought some socks from Inkstables and I love them. I have the problem of my socks always falling down then I get a rash on my calves. But these socks stayed up and they come in very cool prints. I watched the Richard Winters and Chris Cox clinics. Good as always. I’d really like to attend a Winters clinic, I hear he does women only ones – no cocky wanna be cowboys to deal with. Cox is really a great horseman, I’ve audited one of his clinics and it really helped me with my mare’s headset and backing. And in his defense, if I were to go to broken horn and put together a bridle, it would cost close to $189 anyway. I prefer Myler snaffle bits though – which aren’t that cheap.
And can I just ask, what is the deal with Gypsy Vanner people? Are they always Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings type people? Sorry if I’ve offended anyone that does own a Gypsy and isn’t living in fantasy land.
And major props to the lady they did the Extreme Cowboy Race bareback on a Fjord – not easy!
Oh lord yes…the Gypsy people, all dressed up like…Gypsies.
Oh well, they’re having fun…but I still say, Gypsies are the next thing the bottom is going to drop out of. Gypsy Vanner breeder train wreck in 3…2…1…
Oh, some of the Gypsy Vanner people in my area (WA) are odd! There were ladies at the horse expo who were fully decked out in gypsy outfits complete with long skirts and hundreds of gold coins (?) clinking. Sadly, they didn’t bathe or hardly even groom their horses! The horses acted like they didn’t lead well and hadn’t been out in public, their manes and tails were definitely not “flowing” because they were all roped/dreaded and brown from lack of a brush, and they had manure stains. These were not just manure stains from laying down in the stall overnight, these horses had the yellow hue of laying in manure all winter and not being bathed before the Breed Demo! The expo was in May and everyone else had sparkly clean horses so it wasn’t a fluke weather issue. AND these people had the Gypsy Vanner horses for sale for between $10,000 and $15,000! It’s a shame because if they had the horses spotlessly groomed with beautiful flowing manes, tails, and leg “feathers” and leading at a pretty trot (or even a stately walk), someone may very well have fallen in love and bought one at that price! The gypsy outfits may even have played a positive part in THAT scenario. The skittish, hesitant, and filthy horses were not impressive and the women leading them in their garish outfits looked silly at best and neglectful and stupid at worst.
The Vanners’ demo riding was just before the first Axel Steiner presentation at EA, and my friends and I commented on the same thing, how DIRTY the horses and riders looked. The one with the silver mane and tail (dragging the ground) was beautiful, but only because everything is kept “bagged up” and therefore kept clean(er). The other Vanners looked very, uh, “workmanlike” — wooly, not particularly well groomed (but if they are warmed up, they would be sweaty and therefore “unkempt.” They looked just unhitched from their wagon, saddled up, mounted and ridden in.
My opinion means zilch, but in my opinion, if you like feathers, get a Friesian. They are already black, and dirt doesn’t show as much on black feathers as it does on white ones.
Just sayin’.
I can’t help it.. I just want to body clip all of those hairy horses, feathers and all
That’s actually how Gypsies traditionally dress. They also had a model of the traditional Gypsy wagon used, which had gay colors and designs.
Gypsy Vanner’s, clearly, were developed by the Gypsies to pull their wagons. I don’t agree with people getting on the case of the Gypsy Vanner owners wearing their costumes for an expo like that. After all, nobody seems to mind when the Paso Fino people wear their traditional Mexican charro costumes.
It’s a bias, I’ll cop to it. When I watch folks in traditional Mexican or Arabian costume, exhibiting their horses, it doesn’t even faze me. The costume is supposed to garner more attention for the horse and reflect its breed and heritage. When I see people parading around in “traditional Gypsy” costume, with their hairy faux-registry cart horses, I get insulted on behalf of the Romani people. The spectacle they make out of themselves also causes sincere doubt that they want anything other than more attention for themselves in order to further live out some bizarre fantasy. At that point, they might as well show up dressed as a character from Lord of the Rings, for all the credibility I’m going to give them. In this case, it sounds like the people who were the most dressed up were the ones who paid the least attention to the appearance of their horses.
At Royal Winter Fair in Toronto a couple of years ago, a friend and I were watching the kur with a very loud and opinionated woman sitting behind us. We already had the giggles but completely lost it when the woman, in all seriousness, explained to her friend how the dressage riders train their horses to swish their tails in time to the music for extra points. Honestly, tears streaming down my face XD
OMG…I’d have fallen off the bleachers!
while watching the Paso Fino breed demo at EA I overheard some ladies discussing,
“is that a Morgan?”
“I don’t know, it looks like one”
“yea, that’s a Morgan, Morgans are so pretty”
all while the announcer was describing the PASO FINO and the horses demonstrating their gaits. One of which had a very nice Classic Fino gait.
Chris Cox’s bridle isnt really that expensive.
$50-$75 for a QUALITY leather bridle.
Quality Snaffle bit will run you $75+
Mecate or sport rein setup can run anywhere from $50-$150
Slobber straps – $15-$25
bit hobble $5-$25
Plus his snaffle isnt like a typical one. It’s rings are fixed so they do not move freely.
The sticker price may seem shocking , but when you add up everything it isnt so bad.
So I guess that would make it a normal standard D-ring, eggbutt, or full cheek snaffle then.
While I will pay over $75 for a curb bit, I have never paid anything close to that for a good snaffle, all of my snaffles (sweet iron or copper mouthed) have been purchased under $50. You just have to know what a well made snaffle should look like, and I am assume by “fixed sides” that it was just an offset D ring that you can find anywhere. It isn’t anything special. I will spend a little more on a nice bridle because those take more abuse, but most of these clinicians just have plain harness leather ones with a logo concho at the browband. There is no reason to pay more than $10 for a bit hobble ( a piece of baling twine, not wire, works in a pinch!) I don’t care for the mecate/slobber straps on the snaffle look, and prefer split reins for training anyways, and most recently bought a pair of heavy, oiled, 1/2 inch, harness leather reins for $25 from the NFR. There is no reason to pay clinician prices, unless you like having everything put together for you already.
Thanks for the kudos for Elizabeth, the rider in the Jeff Cook jumpers clinic on Saturday evening. I’m Elizabeth’s mother and her trainer, and her “Pea Brain” horse is Clarkus Maximus. He is her Grand Prix prospect, and is a 9-year-old Dutch Gelderlander warmblood gelding. Elizabeth is 18 and has been riding since she was about 5–she rides all the horses in our training business. We were thoroughly impressed with Jeff and his teaching methods–he is an excellent clinician and horseman, and it takes a lot to impress me after seeing all the wanna-be trainers out there. We believe like Jeff does: LOTS and LOTS of hard work, no shortcuts, always practicing the basics, and treat everyone–horse and rider alike–with respect.
This was Clarkus’ first outing in a long time, and even though he started out very anxious and excited, he did settle down tremendously by the end of the clinic. He loves to jump, and was a lot better when he had more work to do. Elizabeth did start out a bit nervous, but also settled in as she went. Even though she’s my kid (and I am a BIT biased), I was very proud of her riding and attitude during this clinic. She and her horse were both completely exhausted at the end of the day, but it was worth it–they both learned so much. This is the 4th year she’s ridden at Equine Affaire, and we hope that they continue to bring in clinicians of this caliber. This was an excellent experience in every respect.
Glad you stopped by. Look, most horses would lose their mind in that situation…it’s way crazier than just a regular horseshow. Your kid did an awesome job dealing with it and I thought she used really good judgment. I particularly liked, and commented on to my friends, how she dropped her stirrups at the end when she was trying to deal with him being upset that the other horses had left the arena. That is SMART. That way if they do decide it’s flip-over day, you have an excellent chance of landing clear and safe. But you have to have a solid seat to drop your stirrups and she has that.
Clarkus seems like the kind of horse that NEEDS big fences to focus. Too much ability.
But hey, you channel that and you are golden!
I was one of the clinic participants at Equine Affaire, riding with Jonathan Field in his four-day clinic, and in one clinic with Julie Goodnight. I am also proud to call Greg a friend, and have ridden with him a few times.
I found Jonathan’s attention to us and our horses, and his engagement with the crowd really impressive. He brought a lot of value and gave a lot of information in a fun and down-to-earth style. I felt fortunate to be a part of his presentations, it was a big step for me and my horse.
Julie Goodnight lectured while I rode the rail for over an hour and barely acknowledged me.
If you are in SoCal and want to ride with a great horseman, please give Greg a call. You won’t be disappointed! I am so happy for this win, he works hard every day at his craft and it showed on Saturday.
“Julie Goodnight lectured while I rode the rail for over an hour and barely acknowledged me.”
My friends and I struggled over to the Outdoor Arena Friday afternoon because we wanted to see Axel Steiner’s second presentation. I wondered at the time how long Julie had been carrying on (and on and on and on). She was doing the “butt flap” demo when we got there.
It must be very disheartening to be selected to ride with a clinician and then be ignored.
I was disappointed. If I had trailered in just for that, I would have been furious. On the positive side, I was proud of my horse and I had a nice arena to ride the rail in and it was good experience for us. She’s a rescue and have been building our relationship gradually. I just expected more professionalism.
You are looking at it the right way. It was a great experience for your horse. Julie stalked by me a few times, looking like she thinks she is SUUUUPER speshul…not a smile for anyone. And as I say, I walked by quickly in case I had a Tourettes moment and screamed “HEY JULIE, WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING SUGGESTING PEOPLE USE A DOG SHOCK COLLAR ON THEIR HORSE???”
I have self control. I just thought it REALLY loud.
An update on my complaint regarding Julie Goodnight…I had applied before Equine Affaire to be taped for a show in the spring. I asked to be withdrawn from consideration after the clinic disappointment and explained why. I received an email from her today with an apology that was very nice, and was a sincere acknowledgement of my complaint. I wanted to share that here out of fairness to her since I had been critical in my previous posts about my experience.
“I was one of the clinic participants at Equine Affaire, riding with Jonathan Field in his four-day clinic, and in one clinic with Julie Goodnight.”
Oh! Were you the one with the little QH mare, Molly? (Or was yours Rocky, the Arab?) I only was able to watch the Saturday and Sunday clinics, but I liked what I saw from Jonathan Fields.
Yes, Molly is my horse.
LOVED Jonathan!
To be honest, I always thought that an English standing martingale and a western tie-down were the same thing, but just look slightly different… kind of like how a standard running martingale looks different from a training martingale that we use on Arabs, but they serve the same function… or how English and western spurs look much different. I agree with you that it is great to see clinicians who have actually achieved success in competition.
I’m not a big fan of blue roans but I am a person of “no good horse has a bad colour” type of person. If I found a good horse and it was blue roan it wouldnt matter but if I was a person who liked colour and looked only for colour a blue roan wouldnt be one. Now Blue cowboy is a fine looking horse, well built and well balanced not like that other you picture with a back longer than a school bus. The only thing that gets me is how he is standing camped under in front. Is that his normal way of standing or a just by chance he is standing like that?
I just wanted to point out that the stallion shown is not a true blue roan. He is going grey already.
I agree with you, he does seem to be greying out. You can totally tell by looking at the white dispersed hairs in his face and in other pictures you can clearly see he’s lightened up considerably with age, and his tail is extremely light near the bottom. I found his pedigree and it says his sire was bay and dam red roan, but one of the dam’s parents was a gray, so I think they mistook her for a roan instead of a grey. Either way, he’s a beautifully put together horse, just not a true blue roan. It’s kind of sad, he will keep lightening with age.
Perhaps you didn’t see all of the Extreme Cowboy Race, or you are only able to see your chosen breeds? There was a Curly there, *Champagne. Both the roans are nice horses, seen alot worse.
I only comment on the ones I like (or am appalled by, LOL). The Curly was well trained but certainly not as far along as the horses who placed higher. He wasn’t that maneuverable, and he certainly did not have any speed. But he’d be a nice horse to go take down the trail, for sure.
There’s been something I’ve been wanting to talk about for a little while and this is a good opportunity. That being, peoples’ gripes about the price of these guys’ tack and equipment. I’m familiar with all the ‘major players’ on the clinic scene and to my knowledge, none of them make the claim that their tack will magically train a horse. What they do say is that their tack is good, and that having good tools makes a difference. I’ve found both to be true. You need tack to train your horse. If you don’t care about quality, go with State Line stuff from the feed store. All tack is not created equal, as you well know. I’ve had a few of Clinton’s halters and a lead rope for 5 years and they’ve seen a lot of miles. I’m real particular about how my tools feel in my hands. If others would rather have cheap prices than good craftsmanship, I suppose that’s their business.
So with that in mind, here are a few prices on the individual pieces of a snaffle bit bridle from buckarooleather.com. I’m not even talking about top of the line here. This just midrange stuff that’s made of decent leather and well-constructed. Go to their site and check yourself if you want to.
Snaffle bit headstall: $43.75
Black Iron O-ring snaffle bit: $33.50
Nylon yacht rope mecate: $59.75 (btw if you buy this rope from the boating store it’s about 2 bucks a foot)
Harness leather slobber straps: $25.50
Total: $162.50
Those are just the pieces you need for a decent snaffle bit bridle. They have even better stuff if you want to get into that, with hand-tooled leather and hair mecates and you can spend even more money.
Yes, the clinician gear is more expensive but you get what you pay for. Yes, they mark it up (I suppose you expect them to sell it at cost) but as you can see, they don’t really mark stuff up THAT much over where you could get the same stuff somewhere else. I dunno what it is. Sometimes it seems like people who are into horses hold the opinion that good horsemen, people who have spent their whole lives building these skills so that they can do this for a living, aren’t supposed to make money. They’re supposed to be like every starving horse trainer I’ve met who’s usually on the verge of living in their horse trailer. Being successful somehow means that you’re ‘selling out’. I think it’s ridiculous. It reminds me of the people who will like a band until they become successful, then switch over and hate them because ‘they sold out’.
Grow up, people. It’s individuals like Chris Cox who are on the forefront of what Dr. Miller calls “the revolution in horsemanship”, which has made the whole dang world a better place for the horse. Stop begrudging them their success.
I began ordering from Big Bend Saddlery in Alpine, Texas as I know that is where a lot of working cowboys and horseman get a lot of their tack. It is not cheap, but will last a long time with care. I would rather save and pay for quality once than replace inexpensive tack over and over, but I can’t always wait to afford the item of my dreams. I have learned this lesson the hard way with hats, too. For what I have spent on moderately priced cowboy hats, I could have had a couple custom made that will last for years and look SO much better.
I was able to go part of Saturday, (had a family comitment on Saturday night so no Cowboy race). Went back on Sunday and finished the shopping. Saturday we watched three talks. One by Matt Sheridan: Body control from the ground. It was ok.
Bonnie Davis: Horse camping tips. She is usually a hoot and not afraid of telling about her mistakes and experiences to keep someone else from doing them. Also gives some good tips, (eg. Set your mirrors so that they are at least an inch wider than your rig. If the mirrors can get through so can you. Set up your horses, then turn your rig so that it is facing the way out in case of emergency, then set up the human part of camp. Always have a gun and know how to use it to put a horse down).
Craig Cameron: Trailer Loading. Worked with two horses, a grey mare, and later, a 2 year old chestnut colt that was both herd bound and rank. He apparently had worked with the colt the day before too, said he came around much better and wasn’t trying to bash his head in like he did on Friday. Also said most of his attetude would be solved if he lost his cajones. (Wasn’t stallion quality IMHO and hadn’t really been worked with). Got both to be self loading without a lot of force or temper. Lots of lunging unless they were by the trailer, and let them decide it was easier to go in than stay out and work..
Bought some bell boots, wormers, tree guards, tie clips, gawdawful colored halter (lets see someone else admit to buying THAT at the boarding stable…it shouldn’t “walk off” for a while), small mesh haynets, ect. Also had fun drooling over the trailers, barn set ups, treeless saddles, and various mechanical “implements of destruction”. There were two vendors that had so much bling in their wares it was a good thing that they were inside, could have brought planes down with the reflections coming off of the tack. (I prefer plain leather, synthetic, or roughout, SOO much easier to clean).
LOL, I got a BLAZE ORANGE longe whip using the same logic…everyone will know it’s mine!
So true. When I worked at a huge Arabian training barn we bought all of our equipment that may be in the warm-up ring in the most hideous colors that we could find. More than a few times other barns’ grooms would show up with a blaze orange or hot pink lunge whip and say “I know that this is yours.. found it at the ring”. Of course, the Mexican fellows were not very fond of using the hot pink lunge whips. LOL.
I was at the EA affaire with two of my haflinger mares for the haflinger breed demo on sunday. Here is our group, it went amazing!! I’m the one in Hot Pink. lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7BiYY_q6FI
Also for those of you talking about the gypsy horses, they dress in traditional clothing. Just like the TWH horses do and the Paso Fino people. Why bag on the gypsy costumes? And technically Friesians don’t have feather, a true feathered horse has feather that covers the hoof. ANd I videoed the Gypsy Stallion, Gaelic Dancer, with rider Jill, in the Extreme Cowboy Race! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njF6jptx_TU They did amazing and were the most talked about run Craig said. He almost pulled them for the wild card for sat night and wished he had. I LOVE seeing the different breeds, as the QH and paints just get boring after a while. I rode my haflinger mare in the 2009 and 2010 cowboy races, it was so much fun!!! I can’t wait to get my first gypsy, they are amazing horses! I’m hoping to get my haflinger stallion in the ECR next year, and then my Fell pony in it also in a few years.
We were squealing over how cute the Haffies were. I know that does not really identify us…but they WERE
Im glad to see someone local get a good review on this site, however a few things Ive noticed about Greg. And yes I have seen many of his horses so Im giving my own review on what I see.
Greg is a good trainer. Great? No. Good? Yes. Why? While Playboy is a great horse to base off of this horse is naturally very laid back, mellow, easy to learn. Ive noticed with Gregs horses they are easy to respond however be careful with leg contact. Ive noticed he doesnt use a lot of leg and when he does he comes down hard, not all the time, but a good portion. I know of 3 horses (reiners) personally that did not respond to leg the right way due to this, all of which were fixed by another trainer within a matter of a week.
I could go on with the little things that I disliked. To say the least these horses were moved to a new trainer and have progress massively within a shorter time than they had with Greg and have become less hot under saddle.
Again Im not saying hes a bad trainer, by no means. Hes just not a great trainer. He has his good points!! Very nice guy too. Just make sure you get what your paying for and drop in on occasion without notice.
Finally made it back over here.
A few quick comments first, it was great to meet you at Equine Affaire, Cathy! It was a long few days but well worth it. We had a great time, met a lot of terrific people and there were a lot of friends and clients we ran into there as well, some of which I had no idea they were going!
I rode my black NV Beau Bey son in the Deborah Johnson clinic on Arabian Hunter Pleasure held Thursday morning. Unfortunately we were the only ones in that clinic, which was sort of a bummer but I was able to get a really great ride out of my horse once he settled in and got to work, I had a National level judge give me a valued opinion on the quality of my horse and probably the most fun was all the people who came up to me randomly afterward to tell me how much they loved my horse. That was really cool!
I’ve got to say, I was less than impressed with Chris Cox. Having seen his television show on many occasions I was looking forward to his clinics. While I enjoyed the Thursday demo on putting a spin and rollback on a horse and loved the little roan gelding he rode in that clinic, I was sorely disappointed that he failed to ride the bay Half-Arabian mare at all and especially that he never even bothered to help the girl riding that mare. It was also disappointing that he spent so much time flogging the job the trainer who had started the roan had done, which was entirely unnecessary.
TBDancer, I figure you likely know this, but that Paint mare in the Chris Cox “headset” clinic was owned and ridden by a mutual friend of ours.
It was a last minute decision to bring Emma there because Cox told us back at the barn on Thursday that he needed a second horse for that clinic. We did not get home until after dark with my horse and were both exhausted, so there was zero time after taking care of all the horses and various ranch duties to really get her or any tack prepared to leave first thing Friday morning.
Now, I was not there for that clinic as I had a prior commitment on Friday (which lent even more to a lack of “proper” preparation), however my daughter was there and I heard firsthand accounts of that session from both of them. It wasn’t pretty. Basically, Cox was insulting, rude and completely mis-interpreted the mare’s problem. She was (is) indeed quite green. A ton of ground work has been done with her and her only real issue with the EA experience was being scared to death in the covered arena in front of the crowd. I’ve ridden her many times and can state from personal experience with that horse she is fine at home other than being a slight bit mare-ish sometimes, not wanting your leg on her side. The bit her owner was using on her fit her well, it was not the problem. In fact, on Thursday at his booth, Cox was trying to sell Emma’s owner his “special” bit even though we both explained it would not fit her very wide mouth. During the clinic when Cox decided to put his own bit on her, it was that bit which rubbed her mouth. She also has not had many trainers at all, having been started under saddle as an eight year old then bred again. Someone did a lousy job breaking her, my friend and I have been the only two others I am aware of who’ve done any training on her at all.
Cox made a comment to my friend that was ENTIRELY uncalled for, in front of the crowd, about her marital status. That was appalling to me. He was arrogant and made numerous sexist comments at other demos I saw with him over the weekend as well. My last comment on Chris Cox ~ it’s probably not a good idea to alienate a large percentage of your audience who flock to purchase the overpriced goods you have for sale. Needless to say, he is off my list of horsemen I consider experts in their field that I’d pay any attention to.
We did the same as Cathy, went to get our seats for the ECR and sat through Jeff Cook’s clinic on Jumpers. It was outstanding!! I was so impressed with him and his teaching style, that’s my type of instructor. The big chestnut horse I completely fell in love with, he reminded me of a Half-Arabian gelding I had several years ago, just a really nice solid guy. There is no doubt all four of those ladies came away from that clinic with something incredibly valuable. Good job, Jeff! Realizing that he was George Morris’ assistant trainer for a number of years explains a lot of why he’s so good.
Because we were partly there to promote our ETI (Equestrian Trails, Inc) Corral’s Matt Sheridan clinic coming up on March 12th ~ shameless plug
~ we attended both of Matt’s demos on Saturday. I first met Matt when he used to judge horse shows and I was extremely impressed with his knowledge and his ability to be a fair judge. When I discovered he was doing clinics, we sought him out and spend quite a bit of time at his place in Tehachapi watching him work horses before sitting down to talk to him. He’s an excellent teacher and I love the way he handles his horses. There is always a genuine respect for them and they all appear to love him back.
One of the things I’ve gotten into these past couple of years is the Extreme Cowboy Racing and Cowboy Challenges. Craig Cameron has created something pretty cool, though I’m glad they have added in so many stopping points on the course. When I last watched the ECR at Equine Affaire in 2008, speed was much more of a factor. Having shown extensively in that covered arena since it was built, and having galloped many Arabian Native Costume horses as well as having shown Hunters and Jumpers in that ring, I can tell you how slippery it can be! Slowing the speed down and trying to focus more on good horsemanship IMO can only enhance the competition. It’s great fun to watch and even more fun to participate in. Next year we may have a horse or two in there.
That little stallion Greg Robinson was on I liked, even though I was less than impressed with his spins and rollbacks, which were pretty bad. It could have easily been the crowd and the environment. He’s a natural stopper and you could see the potential under someone who could really campaign him at the NRHA level. That said, we’re looking into scheduling a clinic with Greg as we’ve heard many good things about him. Our club VP had mentioned Greg as a possibility for a clinician back a couple months ago, so hopefully we will get something scheduled soon.
Cathy mentioned the big buckskin horse and that was Bill Cameron’s stallion Dun It For Money, who’s a Hollywood Dun It son. I think it was pretty unfair he was so severely penalized for getting the tarp stuck on his shoe. My friend and I were both talking about how they should have checked that tarp after every horse, because they do easily get ripped and how easy it would be for something like that to happen. I went to one of Bill’s clinics a year ago and he was a pretty interesting guy who had some good stuff to offer, too.
I was pretty lucky I guess with my foray into the realm of Fair Food again this time around.
All of the meals I had were excellent! The only thing I missed out on was having a malt, but I’m over it. Well, that and the fact they don’t sell Mackinac Island Fudge any time other than during the L.A. County Fair! Best reason to ever go to the Fair itself come September! Especially now that there are almost no horse shows during the Fair anymore.
One final thing I wanted to mention in this long winded recap was about the Gypsy Vanner horses. Some friends of ours who are very involved locally in the Dressage world were handling one of the Gypsy booths at Equine Affaire and as usual did a great job of promoting their breed. Quick side note, there was NO representation of the Arabian horse, no AHA booth and no Arabian breed demo this time around. We’ll have to work on that for 2012!
Great to meet you too!
I really do hope your client’s Andy-TB filly comes to L.A., now I’m very interested to see her.
I was there, at Chris’ presentation on rollbacks. I think you’re just finding things wrong with him because you want to, because from where I was sitting he did try to help the woman with the bay half-Arabian mare. She didn’t really want to listen to him.
For those who weren’t there, the woman came out on her horse in full Buckaroo gear (full reins and romal, ornate spurs, palm leaf hat, whole 9 yards that didn’t look very used, if you get me) and was riding her horse straight in the bridle. The mare traveled pretty collected for the most part, but was missing a lot of foundation work laterally. In other words, this was not a real bridle horse. She was pulling on the bit a lot and gapping her mouth because the woman’s hands weren’t that good. I got the impression that she came into this demonstration thinking she was a lot better than she actually was, and was going to impress everyone by riding in the spade but she eventually had to two-hand the mare and operate the bridle like a snaffle just to get through the lesson. Not really the mark of a good bridleman (woman, sorry).
What’s my point? It’s possible that Chris knew she was just there to show off and didn’t really want to listen. The other girl with the roan really seemed to want to learn, and he helped her a lot. After the number of years he’s been teaching, he’s probably learned not to put too much effort into people who think they already know what’s what. I think you just dislike the man’s personality, which is totally fine. I’m just giving my opinion on what I saw, and I think you’re exaggerating.
I was giving my personal opinion and my impression of the clinic I watched. Nothing more, nothing less. You are obviously a Chris Cox fan and think he can do no wrong. That’s fine with me ~ your choice. After watching him live and in person, and after talking to him personally, he did not make a positive impression on me.
Had he really wanted to help the woman with the Half-Arab mare, he would have gotten on her like he did the roan horse, ridden her and explained what he was doing, as happened with the gelding. It appeared to be a case of him just not thinking the horse was anything he was remotely interested in riding, and when the woman was clearly not “getting it”, he made no effort to correct her mistakes but rather stated playing to the crowd and concentrating on his own horse. I would have been severely disappointed had I paid for that experience.
I find it kind of funny how when someone says “this is just my personal opinion” they act as though they think it somehow makes it automatically okay. Besides, I’m just giving my personal opinion too.
Yes, I do like Chris Cox. I’m not his student, or his follower. I just know good horsemen from bad when I see them and he is one of the better ones. I don’t think he can do no wrong, but I think that you think he can do no right. I like anyone who spends their lives dedicated to the art of horsemanship and actually does some good for horses in the world. I don’t begrudge them making a damn good living at it. You say you’re talking him down because of his horsemanship/teaching. I say both are fine. I say you’re just using those things as an excuse because you don’t like him personally. I say that’s fine, nothing wrong with that. You either like someone or you don’t!
Since when has having an opinion not been okay?? That’s ridiculous. Chris Cox did not make a positive impression on me. It’s my opinion and nothing more. I also know a number of other people who had the same poor impression. Having opinions is never wrong, it just is what it is. My impression was focused mainly on his horsemanship, not him personally, though he did to a number of people come off as arrogant and rude in some settings. I question his ability to read a horse based on comments he made regarding a horse I have a great deal of personal knowledge about and have ridden quite a lot. Why does that have to become “begrudging him making a good living” at what he does? Equally ridiculous.
Then you turn around and make rude comments about the woman on the Half-Arabian mare, not only to me but to the lady herself. Essentially doing the very same thing you accuse me of doing…but somehow it’s okay to insult her because she’s not Chris Cox? Ego much? I concur with her: Your comments hold no value anymore as far as I’m concerned. See, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.
Hi, I was the women on the 1/2 Arab in Chris’ Spin clinic on Thursday. Your observations are interesting and I’d like to provide a response as it seems what I perceived was totally different from what others saw.
First, if I didn’t want to listen I wouldn’t have applied and paid to be there. I was more than open to hear what Chris and to say and more than willing to try what he suggested. Part of the problem was you can’t hear very well in that covered arena, so half the time I’m trying to figure out if he was talking to me or what he was telling me to do! Did I think he tried to help me? Yes. He told me what my other trainers have – I have to get better with my legs. Now implementing it is the challenge, LOL. Did I think he spent more time with the other lady and her horse? Honestly, I don’t know. But I was happy with the time he gave me. I bumped into him a few times after that and he was always nice to me; I went by his booth to get his book and he was on his way out, but graciously and willingly stopped to sign it for me. If he thought I was there to just show off, he sure didn’t act like it (and from what I hear on the net, he sure wouldn’t have hesitated to blow me off).
The gear I was riding in is my reined cowhorse show gear. It’s been in full use for two years. So, the fact that it looks (I guess) “new” tells me I’m doing a good job in keeping it clean and conditioned. My saddle I’ve had for 6 years; if it looked “unused” that makes me REALLY happy!! It’s a rough out and hard to keep clean.
My horse is NOT in a spade bit. She’s in a medium port fixed shanked bit with a roller which is what I have to use for the cowhorse shows. Before the Clinic Chris’ assistant said Chris might want me to change. I had no problem with that and anticipated that may be the case, so I had brought my snaffle and loose shank billy allen bits with me to the Expo. I had them at the arena but was told I could ride in my cowhorse bit. Is my horse a full on bridle horse? Obviously not if she’s not in a spade and we are a work in progress in the cowhorse bit. I do ride her in the other bits for schooling and lessons, but even at cowhorse clinics with some of the big guys, they want you in the bit you will be showing in. And yea, if you’re in that bit (with the romel reins, which you have to show in) they have you ride two handed at times.
I had to laugh at the comment that I thought I was better than I was! I don’t think I’m all that great and was there to learn (the only reason I go to trainers is to learn and get better). I’m struggling with things and any help I can get I’ll take, even if it means that I have to ride in front of alot of critical people in an environment that my horse is not very happy with. So the combo of all that, yea, it does make me heavy handed (more so than usual). But I was there to get what I could from someone I would not normally be able to ride with. Was I there to show off? That has me LMAO …. Boy howdy! But I guess everyone has their opinion and more power to them.
Lady, I don’t know what was going through your head. I don’t know you. I’m just giving my impression of how you came off. Coming out in all that stuff you had on yourself and your horse gives the impression that you believe you’re on the same level as the people who use those tools well. Kind of like, if you were to come out dressed like a cop it would give the impression that you were one and you would look pretty silly if you weren’t.
Yep, you don’t know. Which tells me how much weight to give any of your future comments.
Is this Dry Doc the progeny of Doc Bar? One of his foals in the flyer has the same toed-out front legs as an AQHA mare I had. I think Doc Bar was her grandsire but he could have been her sire. She was a great horse; handy, sound, game, smart, and she had a lovely head. She cut, reined, jumped, won a few pleasure classes, my dad even branded calves on her. She’s 30 and retired now, enjoying lots of open space and younger horses to boss around.
Those turned out toes just jumped off the screen at me though, they’re just like hers.