We have been through the
plethora of gadgets available to us,
dismissing those more outlandish ones and
finally settling on the dreaded running
reins, which for me is a bit like trying to
knit fog. How is it that I can cope with a
double bridle but draw reins make me feel
like I’m trying to ride a bicycle with my
hands crossed.
Incidentally, I notice that no one from BD
has contacted me via the World of Horses
site to tell me just why rein-back is
included in Novice 37 so I assume two things
: either no one from British Dressage
bothers to read anything I write or that no
one out there understands why either.
Anyway, I’ve got questions for you all out
there in cyberhorseland because you have to
appreciate that I am now a complete novice
again where horses are concerned because no
one handed me an instruction booklet when I
bought Tia . If they did, it’s definitely in
Portuguese and were it not for Tia’s
previous owners, I would have no knowledge
whatsoever about my mares 'previous' .
Fortunately, they have been more than
forthcoming when assisting me with Tia’s
prior history for which I am very grateful
indeed.
So for those of you out there who buy a
horse, when things go a bit wrong, never
feel afraid to contact the previous owners
for advice because any input you get from
them can be of the greatest help .
I bought a book by Sylvia Loch about the
Royal Horse of Europe and I was able to
establish the extent of Tia’s noble
bloodlines and breeding. She has far better
ancestry than me which is probably why she
has chosen to ignore me for the last 6 weeks
and who can blame her ?
It was an illuminating book which stated
just how different, how sensitive and how
clever Lusitanos are (and Iberians in
general for that matter) and it made me look
at my horse in a totally new light.
I loved MGB to the ends of the earth but she
was never a mystery to me. I knew that
Graham Fletcher had bred her to show jump,
she had lost her nerve and ended up at a
trekking centre which closed down. MGB had a
special talent for ditching people in the
depths of the countryside and then galloping
home . That’s where the Boss found her as a
four year old (at the trekking centre) and I
then found her lodged with Small Boss and
Big Boss after that. She became my best
friend; we had both been declared failures
in some way or another and we both went on
to prove lots of people very wrong indeed.
The greatest compliment MGB was paid was
that had she been 17.3 instead of 15.3, then
the Boss would have kept her for himself .
By contrast, Miss Tia Maria has bloodlines
going back several centuries; she comes from
such noble beginnings I suspect that she
would like me to genuflect each morning when
I greet her and place her apple upon a
golden salver for her delectation. I admit,
that sometimes I am overawed by her and that
can cloud my otherwise, quite rational
judgement, after all, a horse is just a
horse, right?
I have had a bending issue which has meant
that Tia would not bend to the right without
having a nervous breakdown.. She wanted to
bend her neck to the left whilst working
right and no amount of persuasion could
change her mind about doing so .
Horses will use all kind of evasions to
avoid doing something that causes them pain
or distress and sometimes it’s not real pain
but the very memory of pain that causes
problems. Tia’s evasions were worthy of some
of the great bullfighting horses of the past
which meant some really spectacular leaps
sideways, hopping on her hind legs in '
levade' , just like a Spanish Riding School
stallion and even sometimes a capriole where
she launches herself through the air, kicks
back mid flight and lands safely like
'Shutterfly', the show jumping horse all
prospective Olympic riders seem covet at the
moment. Her athletic ability really is
something else.
So why don’t Iberian horses do better at
International level dressage when they are
so capable ?
The problem is, I find, that they are of
another time and age. The movements they
perform are done in enclosed spaces like
battlefields and bullrings, unlike the big,
ground covering warm bloods bred initially
for carriage driving until crossed with
thoroughbreds and then re-labelled sport
horses when horses were no longer needed for
war.The talent shown by these warm bloods
whose ability to use up space in the arena
seems to be more important to modern judges
than the intricate and joyful steps of a
true 'high school horse'.
Iberian horses can collect, they can lower
their backs and show true piaffe and passage
, they can be ridden one handed because they
don’t lean into the contact and because,
when trained, they are truly light in front
and in self carriage . The big warm bloods
can cover the ground in fabulous floating,
toe flicking extensions in trot but look at
the collected paces and they don’t really
manage it in the same way that the
short-coupled Iberian horses do . (I must
remind you here that MGB was a short coupled
collected horse who showed 'little
extension' so I am not banging a drum for
Iberian horses per se).
I had a discussion with The Boss today about
judging and he said, quite rightly, that in
an ideal situation, when competing, the only
horse that you compete against is your own .
The judge should look at the horse as an
overall picture; the horse and rider as a
team ; entities in their own right and judge
the movements using the scales of training.
I fear that many judges don’t do this and
either consciously or more hopefully,
sub-consciously, judge horses against each
other. But I’ve written for judges in the
past and know that this is not always the
case.
So why am I having a rant ? Well, I’ve got a
mental list of judges who won’t like my mare
because of what she is so I should avoid
taking her to competitions where these
judges are in attendance, or should I ?
I might ignore the list because I think that
there is a place in the ranks for horses who
can collect and also those that work best in
extension without having to separate the two
types and I believe (maybe I am naive) that
one can be judged fairly against another.
Charlotte has informed me that Tia is ready
to compete before the year is out now that
rein back is no longer an issue, I think
it’s time to bring it on for Iberian horses
.
Wish me luck ya’ll ; And to all those owners
of warm bloods, I don’t have a thing against
them at all (Bonfire is a hero of mine along
with Barbiere ) it’s just that when you are
a five foot three dwarf with legs that
barely reach Mother Earth, sitting on a big
moving warm blood is like trying to sit on a
large moving building without falling off it
.
Next time I’m coming back as a svelte 5.8" ,
skinny as hell and with legs that go on
forever but with my luck, even if I was
given the perfect body I would probably be
allergic to animals and horses in particular
.
You can’t win, at least, not 365 days of the
year !
PS. If you would like to explore the
possibility of buying a Lusitano, please
Google Sherene Ramatallah at Sussex
Lusitanos. No, I’m not on commission !!!!
Until next time...
Karry Gardner
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