Australian Shephoarder

It's a Horse, Of Course

We have been on a "trial period" with Tatabra Oprah and as with most things, that trial period came to an abrupt end.
Those who deal in horses have to know the predicament buyers are in: by the time the selling comes around, the buyer has fallen in love with the animal.
With real estate and autos, there are standard sales contracts. Horse traders are still lacking in that document.
When you buy a house or car you can physically see imperfections and either let them go or demand they be fixed. Horses, unfortunately, may not display their imperfections for quite some time. And, those imperfections cannot be buffed out or cleaned up.
It's a risk that makes the stomach acid roil.
But it's a necessary risk & we are taking all possible precautions before the plunge.

Another Week, Another Show

Second show in two weeks around here and last week was an interesting time on the back of Tatabra Oprah. The daughter and the experimental horse do well together.
Competition will be much the same this week, maybe a shift, but not much different.

Miss Oprah is Green

Here's the lovely young Tatabra Oprah ready to go into one of the Children's classes at the Tulsa Spring Goshow: She had a fairly decent show, considering her training status is that she's "green," and doesn't get many lead changes & many of the other more subtle trained qualities.

Busy Weeks

We are busy with two horse shows for the next two weeks. The amusing thing is, we are showing two horses, neither one is ours.
That giant sucking sound really is the money getting sucked from my wallet.

Moving On...

I've been thrilled over the past years to post photos of my daughter and her thoroughbred Atticus Finch, but in this equestrian discipline, the riders "outgrow" their mounts. It's only fair two win so many state championships before "trading up," and that's what we've been trying to do for over a year.

Atticus has been on the sale mart for a year & has been shown all across the US. Now, we're finally a step closer to actually letting him go, which is the most difficult part. We've had plenty of offers for him, but for us to give up this beautiful animal, the circumstances and the person must be perfect.

There have been LOTS of prospects, but none worth mentioning until now. May I introduce Tatabra Oprah:
She came to us from South Carolina, (that is where Atticus went.) She is originally from Argentina. She is a warmblood selle-francais cross.

She is very kind and extremely beautiful. Some of the others we have tried have been "adequate," but we are very impressed and hopeful on this prospect. She moves beautifully and seems to love her work. Plus, we think she has charisma. She seems to want human contact and she appears to listen to conversations.

With the wind gusting incredibly over the past 48 hrs, she hasn't spooked at things flying by or jumps falling over. Very nice girl.

I think she's the kind you want to take home with you! She's marked with what "they" call "God's Thumbprint" according to the trainer; that's the small dimple-like indentation on her neck (shown clearly in this photo.)

Our other horses have been geldings and I don't have experience with mares. That's my next quest. To determine: dream horse or nightMARE?

Kudos

We've been trying to sell Mr. Atticus Finch, the 10-year-old chestnut thoroughbred gelding; and in marketing him as a Children's Hunter or Small Junior Hunter, awards were earned. Specifically, he is the 2007 Oklahoma Hunter Jumper Association Children's Hunter Champion, 2007 Hunter Jumper Exhibitors of Oklahoma  Children's Hunter Champion; and Emily is the  2007 Children's Equitation Champion for both of those state organizations as well. Congratulations!

From Cool to Cold

Five degrees.
That was the temperature Sunday morning as we headed to the horse show in Lake Saint Louis. One of the reasons it is a great facility is because all rings--warm up and show--are indoors as are all stalls. One barn is disconnected & naturally, that was where we were stalled.
Getting there is always "iffy" in the wintertime & in years past we have had to stop and spend the night at a roadside motel--they highway patrol closed roads because of heavy snow.
One of the things we never miss when we attend a show at the National Equestrian Center is a quick visit to Greene's Country Store.

It sits just adjacent to the equestrian facility.
This store is awesome.

Show vs. Snow

So we are off to our first 2008 show next week in good ol' St. Louis. One of the concerns is that it always snows or ices on the day of travel; or that a winter storm will hit while we are there.  Wintry travel is no fun especially in the part of the US where folks aren't used to wintry travel.
We are taking both Atticus and Buddy, who we hope will have a very excellent year, fully recovered from the 2007 year of colic.

Outside of Nursing, Life Goes On

The new horse show year has begun and we are preparing for another year competing in "juniors." We all love Atticus dearly, but like others in the hunter jumper world, riders can only take a horse so far. We've done childrens, then juniors; last year back to children's to try to market Atticus; and now back to juniors. We'd like to buy a "better" junior hunter, but have to sell Atticus first.
Letting him go is like slicing out my daughter's heart. Well, he's just not going unless he goes to an "approved" rider, who must meet her high standards. Those standards are personal, judgemental and very picky. In a year and a half of him being on the sales market, ONE person has been considered an appropriate placement for him. ONE.
Many have inquired and have been refused. Sitting at the in gate for all these years, she witnessed riders and trainers all over the area & country and how they treat their horses. I'm not sure he'll ever go anywhere & that's just fine.

That Time of Year

This is the fourth consecutive year we've attended the Oklahoma City Hunter-Jumper Goshow. Rumor has it that we'll be dodging some serious State Fair Park "improvements." We never can decide whether OKC is really an "away" show or not. It's really not too far to drive, especially after a month and a half of showing far from home. Our schedule this year didn't allow for two weeks of OKC, but we are looking forward to the second and final show week.