Equestrian Tales

This article was basically about the relationship between a horse rider and his horse. The setting was set in the Bendigo Pony Club wherein a dressage and show jumping clinic was to be held. During that time, there was a disease lurking about and the horses had to be monitored for three days prior to the event checking for fevers, runny noses, and coughs. If one symptom existed in one horse, the event would be cancelled and the horses would be evacuated. This showed a very emotional investment between the owner and his horse for the event to push through.

Image source: www.theequestrianvagabond.com

Do you know a woman equestrian? Personally, I do know women who enjoy horseback riding. More than that, I know women who enjoy competing in horse competitions. One of those is Susan Dutta who is an international dressage competitor who won many awards. I admire her because of her skills and attitude. Obviously, she was able to achieve what she wants. Aside from the awards, medals, and fame, she was able to develop a different bonding or relationship with Grumshoes DC, her grand pix partner.

It has been many fruitful years for Susan Dutta and Grumshoes. The praises are very weel deserved by both of them. I hope there will be even more women equestrian who would be brave enough to get into this kind of sports.

A hunter pace is a form of competition involving horses and riders. In a hunter pace a trail is marked for horse and rider to follow. On the day of the competition, early in the morning, the hosts of the event send an experienced horse and rider to ride the trail as fast as it is safely possible to do so. This morning ride is called “the dead body run”, and it establishes two things: 1. that the trail is clear and safe for the competitors and 2. The “pace time”. These will be further expounded, well kinda, on the next entry. Source:Wikipedia.org

One of the countries in the world which uses horses as way of transportation is the country of Philippines. In the Philippines today, jeepneys are one of the major modes of transportation and the primary cause of traffic and pollution. With the fast paced lifestyles and the buzz of industrialization, you wouldn’t even notice them, the kalesas.

They were introduced to the Philippines in the 18^th century during the Spanish colonization. Back then, only the nobles and high ranked officials could afford a ride in a kalesa. It became one of the modes of transportation in the Philippines especially for commerce. A kalesa is used for travel as well as for transport of goods. Today though, they are rarely used in the streets except in tourist spots and rural areas such as Vigan City, Binondo, Intramuros and Iligan City.

If you want to give yourself a break from traffic and pollution, go give yourself a treat. Ride a kalesa and remember history.

Image source: www.wikipedia.com

The equestrian events organizer, British Eventing has placed their proposed move to a new and independent office on hold as the recession takes hold allowing them to save some cash that was supposed to be allocated for the said project. Reasons were mainly financial but there have been criticism from former top executives and members of the committee who have been asking the feasibility and cost of such a move by their group. The recession is taking its toll and nobody wants to spend a ton of money merely to move into an office they can call their own. Currently, BE is sharing its facilities with the British Equestrian Federation, the move would have given them independence and sole use of facilities at their proposed new location which would greatly solve their problem for space and the lack of it.
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Imagine the humiliation of a bronze medal winner from the 2008 Olympics in horse riding, Norwegian Tony Andre Hansen when his medal was revoked and he was suspended from the sport till early next year due to a detection of a banned substance on their animals. The substance was capsaicin, a derivative of the chili pepper plant that is used to relieve muscle pains for horses. This is also used by horse riders to train their horses to jump higher, placing it under their belly making it very uncomfortable for the horse thus reinforcing it to jump higher every time it misses a jump. The case was deemed as animal cruelty and thus resulted in his title getting stripped and a fine was issued to the said rider. He was one of four riders found to have the banned substance on their animals which the IOC tested for several banned substances, taking samples before the event. The sheer number of tests that were done, for both humans and animal participants and the ensuing investigation is why the verdict has only now been made known assuring the rights of animals and the equal protection they are getting from the Olympic governing body. Poor equines!

Image source: www.ovs.org

Deciding onto buying your first horse will be a very exciting experience for you but can also be a nervous one – and one you shouldn’t go without doing some careful thinking and planning first. A horse should be your trusted companion for some time – you owe it to him to make sure you pick the right one for you. Horses are amazingly beautiful and sensitive creatures. Horses require not only understanding and patience to have a horse as a pet but it also requires a whole lot of care. It may take a few months to find the right horse, but be assured that the wait will be worth it. One thing is probably certain – that palomino mare you had pictured yourself riding away on into the sunset may well turn out to be a bay gelding! But whatever size, color or sex you end up with, if you have taken your time choosing you will have a wonderful partnership.

I have read an article from the www.igha.org about Star. Maybe you are wondering who Star is. Star is a one of the horses purchased and “saved” by HorseAid from her killer buyer’s trailer. With the misfortunes experienced by this horse, Star still was able to live her last days happy with her new found family, HorseAid volunteers.

Most of her life, she was in pain because of the deformity (twisted foreleg) she has in her foreleg caused by an accident. The good thing here is, despite the sufferings she experienced with humans, she still have a compassion for them.

Since I was a child, I am used to seeing beautiful horses in the television, books, movies, etc. Even when I get older, I still see well-groomed horses with proper posture and good stature. Little did I know that there are also abused horses or those who were not well taken care of.

It is sad to see malnourished and abused horses. It is good that there are some organizations who are devoted in helping these horses. Thank you for these people who dedicate their lives in saving horses’ lives. Visit www.igha.org and you will learn more about these abused horses.

I was able to encounter an article dated last April 30, 2008. The article was titled: The Ride of a Lifetime in Wadi Rum. The British Horse Society started its fundraising of riding horses during the year 2000. Successfully, until now, this fundraising riding challenge is being continued. In fact, next year there will be another BHS Bedouin Riding Challenge from March 28 to April 5 of 2009.

There were many horse riders involved, professionals and even non-professionals. They traveled approximately 125km. They were able to raise �23,000 for BHS Welfare. How amazing isn’t it? You were able to have fun and adventure the same time, you were able to help.

Source: www.equestrian.co.uk