I saw the most beautiful animal in my life tonight. Mythulus? Just magnificent. I would love to just clean his stall, groom him, give him a shnoot kiss and hug. Such precision and training. The horses are definitely the Olympians in that event. I know the rider has to do this or that, but nothing like what the horse does. They know how to pivot, change legs, prance on one side, then the other on and on.
I think they should have an event for mules damn it!!!!!!!!!!
hee haw!
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Did you know that dressage consists entirely of movements that come naturally to all horses? You can watch even young foals doing the Spanish Walk or the piaffe quite naturally out in the paddock. When they get a little older and stronger, they do the levade and cabriole (the 'airs above the ground' that you see in the Spanish Riding School). The whole art of dressage is perfecting an understanding between the horse and rider wherein the horse performs these movements *when the rider asks him to*. It's not so much about obedience as understanding and trust.
More than once, I've seen horses turned loose in their practice arena and perform parts of a dressage test from memory. That tells me the horses really do enjoy 'dancing' every bit as much as a trained ballet dancer would. Sometimes, people say the horses are forced to perform like that. LOL! I don't know how a nine-stone woman can 'force' a half-ton horse to do anything he doesn't want to do!
I've heard that mules can do quite well at basic dressage training, but their skeleton (much more rigid than a horse's) prevents them from achieving the more flexible movements. I was thinking, y'know, that I like mules and asses for the same reason I have a soft spot for Bull Terrier dogs: they have such honest, trustworthy faces, don't they? ;-D
Trish, I will reply to everything tomorrow as I'm off to bed just now, but would like to tell you that what the hell did we ever fight about back in the day? We are soul sistas!
My adorage goes out also to Bull Terriers and Pit Bull Terriers as well. I adore a big honkin Rottwhiler and forget about horses and mules, donkeys.
I used to ride as a kid. I need sleep. I promise to do the website and answer both your posts tomorrow, which will be two days from now for you! Well, not really. And your in winter. Can anyone come live in Australia? Did a chunk of you die with Steve when that horrible day took his life?
To be continued...
ROTFL! I dunno... Who cares, anyway? This is nice. Let's forget the old days and start again, eh? ;-D
Yeah! I'm with you on all of the above.
Pit Bulls are banned over here, mostly because of irresponsible owners failing to take care of their behaviours.
Y'know, I had a wake-up call the other day with Alice. She's getting on in years (going on twelve this year) and is no longer the naughty bouncy jumper-upper she was as a puppy. Because of her breed, we've never allowed small children to be alone with her: she's *extremely* tenacious and while she's never ever bitten anyone, she utterly will not give up anything she has in her jaws. For example, tennis balls or sticks that people throw for her.
Well, last week, next-door's brand new chihuahua puppy got out of their yard and came into ours. It was yapping at the front door and had already eaten the cats' breakfasts. Without thinking, DH opened the door wide and the pup came right on into the house. Before *any*one could do anything, Alice had the pup in her mouth and was preparing to swallow!!!! I don't know *how* I got it away from her, but I did. There was no apparent damage to the puppy and Alice looked suitably guilty after being simultaneously bellowed at by DH, DS, DD and me. The whole incident has just reminded me that dogs will be dogs and when an apparent rat comes into view, they'll act! Lord! Imagine the tragedy that *might* have happened!
Meanwhile, the stupid woman who owns the chihuahua has tied it up on a five-foot rope and leaves it to yap all day while she's at work. Every dog in the neighborhood has been howling in sympathy as it cries. Something is gonna happen, I just hope Alice isn't involved!
No hurry! I'm here all the time!
Too right we are! It's the coldest one in many years! Brrrr! Three of our mice died this week from complications of being cold.
I don't know... I thought they could, but recently a friend explained to me that you have to have a job etc lined up before you come. Apparently, it's not all that easy? I've often thought you'd love living in Oz. It's so clean and outdoorsy here and we don't have the pace of living that US TV seems to suggest. And orchids grow outdoors with very little fuss! ;->
Why don't you come over and have a look? Our plant life is pretty spectacular in the spring...
Steve wasn't one of my favourite wildlife people, but I did think it was a terrible tragedy when he died so young and left a young family fatherless. What a freakish thing to happen! Stingrays are extremely common all around the Oz coastline and most of us give them a very wide berth because of the sting (which isn't pleasant). Who'd believe a stingray could pierce a person's heart like that!?
Looking forward to it! :-D
Nuff said.
That's too bad, they are the most lovely, sweet dogs. People train them to be killers and I wont go there because it is very upsetting to me. We have this angel on the National Geographic Channel named Cesar Millan. He is "The Dog Whisperer." Do you get that channel down unduh?
Clearly he shows how Pits are gentle beings. His perfect dog is a Pit and his name is "Daddy." Just a wonderful dog.
Good for you. There are certain breeds which do not go well with children, or noise or other animals, etc. I am freaking out because of this new movie which uses Chihuahua's as the stars. In two years I wonderr how many of them will be in the pounds. Same thing happened with Dalmations after they remade 101 Dalmations. Disgusting.
Yes, dogs are dogs and when people try to make them people they are done a huge disservice. Dogs are pack animals and need a pack leader. We could probably talk about this topic for our entire lives and still people will buy the wrong dogs for their conditions and personalities.
It is against the law in my city to have a dog tied to anything. If I ever saw one tied and in distress I've been known to climb a fence, pain and all, and rescue animals from their idiot owners. That poor little dog. Oy.
Sorry to hear it. Pet mice or just house mice?
Oh trust me, it doesn't just "seem" to be overly stimulated, it is. In the theaters there are no less than THREE suggestions on the screen before the film for people to please turn off cell phones, don't answer them if they vibrate, and now they have a suggestion not to text message as the lighted screen on the device may annoy the person sitting next to you. Now when kids are all hyped up, they are being diagnosed with attention deficite disorder and given medications, which stunt their growth rate on and on. There are ADD kids, just not the level they are being diagnosed.
Personally, I love every actor which comes out of Oz. Nicole and here yoga sister whose DVD I have. I love Russell Crowe and is Naiomi Watts from there? Love her too. Mark and I are truly looking to get out of America and move to a place which isn't extremely cold, but still has open spaces and animals. I think I would love it there, too.
Stay tuned...
Originally I thought he was a bit much, but he really did love what he did and what a way to die for someone, especially someone like him. I like his wife and Bindy has her own television show now. It's cute. I watch kids shows. I watch Zaboomafoo, Telletubbies, and Bindy the Jungle Girl! Nice, soothing shows.
...and openly and one last time, I truly regret ever having put you through any distress. When I started posting here again I noticed you stopped. I even sent an email to Karen asking her if it was my presence. Of course she said no. Looking at it, I'm not all that important! I have done a lot of work on my mind.
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When we watched it we were wondering how the horse knew what steps to do. I know horses have a gait which mimics a human gait. They use horses with parapalegic children to develop balance because of how close the movement is to that of our own norm.
I am very much against horse racing of all kinds, but this is a different thing. I didn't know it was called dressage, nor did I know the names of the different movements. I'm always so worried a horse will hurt itself.
It's obvious to me the horses enjoy what they do. They are much smarter than people make them out to be. Another of my favorites are the draft horses. They are so gigantic! There is a team here in San Antonio Seaworld. The Budweiser Draft horses are there. If it wasn't so hot I wanted to go just to see the new foal. I think there are a few. Even as babies they are so tall.
I imagine you saw "The Horse Whisperer?" Whenever I feel down I watch that movie, and other than the love story which is beautiful, the horse story is very healing to me.
Yes, they have beautiful faces. I always tell Mark they look like Asians with their upturned eyelids. When they are all cleaned and shined up they are so beautiful. They are built differently than horses. I mean, there is strong resemblance, but it is obvious to any eye, a mule is bulky compared to a horse.
They also take the heat much better, or so they say. In New Orleans the carriage rides are pulled by mules because they say they take heat better. I'm also against all of that! I am not against the Amish people using horses because they also don't use electricity or any other outside energy to run their lives. I have a feeling even the Amish traditions and culture is disappearing with this new generation of kids. They are hanging out drinking in town, having sex, all things which are not likely accepted by their community. Oh well, the world is going to hell.
I pray for everyone and everything and I wonder if the phrase "ignorance is bliss" rings true.
He learns stuff like 'My left leg moving behind the girth means please flex your body to the right' and 'When I sit deep down in the saddle, please slow your pace'. As he gets cleverer and remembers more, he can learn the signals for more and more complex movements. Most riders just kick hard to tell the horse to go and pull on the reins to make him stop. In dressage, it's not like that. It's a lot more subtle. The horse's mouth is extremely sensitive and so you give him a lot of his signals through the reins with the amount of contact you maintain through the bit.
I've never competed in dressage competitions because it's the training I really like, not the shows and stuff. So, I used to coach my sister and her horses. It's *great* fun, especially when you see the 'click' of understanding between horse and rider. Some people find the repetition and search for perfection quite boring, but those who do it are *really* dedicated and their horses are usually *really* bright.
'Dresser' is French and it means: 'To train'. So, 'dressage' is 'training'. The horse knows already how to do the movements, so the training is where you teach him the signals to perform each movement.
In a test, you might ask the horse to do a working (or ordinary) trot. Later, you might ask him for an extended trot, where he throws his feet forward and appears to float across the ground at great speed. It takes a lot of thrusting forward with your hips and weight to teach the horse to extend well! The rider isn't just sitting there: by the time he dismounts, he'll feel like cooked spaghetti! Then, there's the collected trot where you push him forward with your hips, but also 'collect' or restrain his forward progress with your hands. In that way, he'll trot with a short, prancing stride with more vertical movement. The pinnacle of these movements is the passage (pronounced 'pa-sahge'), where the horse looks as though he's dancing, suspended in the air between each stride and making even less forward progress. It's a pleasure to watch when done well! Actually, I lied. The pinnacle is the piaffe, where the horse trots on the spot, lifing his feet high above the ground and not moving forward at all.
If you search these terms on Wikipedia, they have great videos demonstrating them and showing the differences. I could go on and on about it all (as you know). LOL! It's a subject very dear to my heart.
My Ugly Sister bought a new horse a few years ago. Her name's Kate (the horse, that is, the sister is Francie). Anyway, Kate is a first-cross Clydesdale/Quarter Horse and when we went to pick her up, we got to meet her Sire. He's the most beeootiful boy! He stands about fifteen hands (which is shortish for a Clydie) and is piebald (black and white) like a gypsy horse. His mane is about two foot long and his forelock (fringe) is longer than his face. His tail reaches the ground and is thick enough to hide my DGNiece completely (and she's a chubby little six-year-old). Of course the 'feathers' (hairs) on his legs are long and silky-white and his feet are ginormous: about 10" in diameter. Ugly and I fell in love and wanted to steal him away with us!
Haven't seen that one. I read the book, though.
Ah, don't think that way! I'm probably the greatest whinger of all, but the world is going where the younger generation wants to take it. I'm afraid our day is past and what we enjoyed and found acceptable is long gone, just as our parents' ideas were out the window when we were young. I find it *extremely* hard to cope with all the changes going on in modern life, but I have great hope for future generations. I think our youth is learning from our mistakes and there are enough good people out there to forge a better place in the end. Never give up!
Nah! Ignorance isn't bliss, it's just ignorance. Knowledge is bliss and the more you know, the more you want to find out. ;->
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