Here she Is

I got a call from Linda the barn owner at 1:00 AM telling me that Jazzy was going into labor. I rushed to the barn and sure enough Jazzy was going to have that foul that night. Some people might have thought that it was disgusting, but I found it to be quite amazing. Rev was born around four AM. It was a quiet labor and everything happened exactly as it should. Rev seemed to be a healthy foul. The first that that happened was we got her airways cleaned out so she could breathe properly. The complications started occurring when Jazzy would not let Rev nurse. It is curial for a foul to get milk with in the first hour of birth. It can be the cause of life and death between foals. Lucky were already prepared and had had a baby bottle ready incase this happened. I held Jazzy and Russell helped show Rev where to nurse. If I was holding Jazzy and he was holding Rev then everything was fine, but who can be out to do that several times a day. The vet was called and he told us to keep doing what we were doing for the next few hours and Jazzy would soon catch on. By the time the sun had come up and the dew on the grass was dry Rev was nursing on her own. When Rev was born she was a dark bay with a little dot of white between her eyes. Her legs were black all the way up to her knees. She was the cutest foul I had ever seen.

The experience

It is believed that most horses should have there first foul at least by the time they are 12. Jazzy had never been bread so breeding her at 15 brought about some concerns. The vet came and checked her out many times and said that she can probably get pregnant. Trying to breed her would do no harm to her so we went ahead a tried. She went to stay at Cornel Bradley’s and was around stallions to stimulate her go into heat faster. A horse can not breed unless she is in heat. A teaser pony is typical used for this. In the wiled it was very dangerous for a stallion to try and mate before a mare was in heat. The mares were also always the leader of the heard calling all of the shots.
We got a call from the breeders at Cornel Bradley’s telling us she was in foul. We were so excited the first stage was complete. It was really nice to bring her home as well. A horse is pregnant for eleven months. She started showing about five months into her pregnancy. I continued to ride her like normal until this point. When she started showing I started riding her with out a saddle. A lot of people believe that when a horse is pregnant they should not continue being in work, but this is not true. It is pretty much the same way with humans. Exercise is needed to keep the mom and the baby healthy. The type of exercise however is what has to change as the pregnant comes along. The feed that a horse has also has to change. The grain intake is not raised a lot, but a little. We also changed the type of feed to a feed that was specifically formulated for pregnant horses. The amount of hay that a horse gets goes up quite a bit. It is also important that a pregnant horse has plenty of clean water. Horses just like humans can get picky when they are pregnant. I noticed a big attitude change in Jazzy when she was about four months away from having her baby. She was grouchy and preferred to be left alone, but hey who can blame her. I can not imagine being pregnant for eleven months. It was funny to observe how the other horses reacted to her being with foul. I know a lot of people separate the mares that are in foal so that there is no chance of them getting kicked and causing damage to the foul. We kept Jazzy out with the same three other mares that she has always been with. I really think that the other horses knew she was pregnant. The leader of the herd KC really watched out for her. Jazzy is the lowest horse on the totem poll and it was obvious that she was keeping a close eye on Jazzy. During Jazz’s pregnancy she never had a scratch on her.

Jazzy and Rev

In the middle of July two years ago Jazzy a 15 year old Thoroughbred mare gave birth to a little Filly. Shortly after the filly was born she was given the name Rev. I was there when Rev was born and have had the privilege of working with her ever since. Training a horse from birth can be a scary thing. What a horse learns when they are first born carries over for there entire life. What if I did something wrong and missed her up? I read a lot of books about training and have had a very successful experience training Rev and I would like to share with the rest of you how I went about training her.
Jazzy is a very straight build horse and has pretty decent blood lines. She was bread to Cornel Bradley in July. Breeding Thoroughbreds are different then a lot of other breeding. There can be no artificial insemination it has to be done naturally. This is because the blood lines of a racing thoroughbred are worth so much. Breeding naturally proves that a horse has been breed with that certain horse. Artificial insemination can be taken to the lab and switched. It cost 1,000 dollars to breed Jazzy and that included a live foul guarantee. That is quite cheap for a race horse. Stud fees for top horses in Kentucky can go for millions of dollars. I can not imagine paying that much money for a baby horse that I haven’t even seen.

Rodeo

The English word Rodeo was taken directly from the Spanish word meaning round up. The Rodeo came about as a practice of cattle herding in Mexico, Spain, and eventually made it to the United States, Canada, South American and Australia. It originated as a sport for cowboys that had to have skills working hard on the ranches. Today is a sport designed to judge cattle and horses, test speed and skills of cowboys and cowgirls. Wyoming and Texas are the top leading states involved with the Rodeo. The season for the rodeo is between spring and fall. The weekend of July fourth is seen as the most critical day of showing in the rodeo. The rodeo has had some problems with animal cruelty and has been investigated.
The rodeo has been very popular for many yeas and is a constantly growing sport. There are several events involved meaning that there is something for everyone. Women have not always been a part of it, but thanks to the WRPA it is possible for women to compete.

Barrel Racing

Barrel racing is a popular event in which Quarter horses are used. IT is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider try to complete a patter around barrels in the fastest times. Men do compete in Barrel racing, but it is most commonly seen as a women’s sport. The horseman skills along with the horse agility are combined to safely and successfully complete the task. The pattern that has to be followed is in a clover leaf pattern around three barrels place in a triangle. The barrels are most commonly seen as three fifty five gallon metal or plastic drums. The challenge is to be the fastest one around the barrels with out knocking them over. The timer starts when the horse and rider cross the start line. At the end of the barrel pattern the horse has to be completely over the finish line before the clock stops.
It is judged purely on the time. There are no subjective view points that the judge has to decide. Precise control is necessary to winning especially in the top level. If a horse runs past a barrel or gets off patter then there is considered no time and they are eliminated. Five seconds a penalized if a horse hits or knocks over a barrel. Five seconds might not seem like a lot, but it almost always is that cause of a lost win. The horse and rider must trust each other and be able to work quickly and precisely to win.
Texas is believed to be the first state that started barrel racing. Women from Texas in 1948 were looking to make a place for them in the rodeo. The GRA came about from this which stands for Girls Rodeo Association. IT started off with only seventy four members and only sixty events. In 1981 the GRA officially became the WPRA known as Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. It is still popular today and is one of the most popular competitions. It has grown so much and is really popular often broadcasted on ESPN. The WPRA today has over eight hundred events. It makes over three million dollars and is now divided into twelve divisional circuits. Barrel racing is one of the fastest growing sports for women today. Top barrel racing horse can be priced up to 60,000 dollars.

Theraputic riding

Therapeutic riding is a term that was first used in Germany. Therapeutic horseback riding is also known as Equine Assisted Activity or Adaptive riding. Therapeutic horseback riding is used for a range of individuals with physical, emotional, cognitive, and social disabilities. Children are most often seen getting treated this way, but many adults are helped by horses as well. To put it in simple turns a special horse trainer teaches people with disabilities how to ride a horse. The environment around the horse also teaches students companionship, responsibility, leadership, vocational, education skills. The direct contact with horses makes the person feel that they are in control of the situation. To learn anything the student hast to pay attention to what the instructor is saying along with what the horse is doing. This provides a special environment in which to learn. There are hundreds of programs that are dedicated to using horses to help people. Most organizations run off of donations. Horses are also very unpredictable animals to it give the student a real life situation that they have control over. Thousands of people are helped by horses each year.

Horses like KC help millions of people every day. It takes a special horse to be involved with therapeutic riding. Quarter horses are one of the top breeds used for therapeutic riding. This is because of there solid frame and good nature. It is amazing to me how smart horses really are. When I first started riding KC and getting her ready for Linda to ride she was not perfect. When Linda rode her she was perfect didn’t do a single thing wrong. Horses know who is on them and just how much they can get away with. I really believe that KC knows that Linda is not quite as healthy as some people and needs to do things her own way. I had a quarter horse cross named Thunder. I love him because he was as ornery as can be it made my ride interesting. When I put people on him that didn’t know what they were doing he was perfect. He knew that I could handle him being a bit ornery, but the beginners would not have been able to. He was a really nice horse and would never do anything on purpose to get someone off his back.
Thunder was not a full quarter horse, but I think that this is the breed her resembles the most. He was short and stocky resembling more of the old type of quarter horse. He was very laid back; it took a lot to get this horse fired up about something. I rode him English dressage because that’s what I love to do, but he was not the best at it. I jumped him as well but his stocky body frame was not the best for jumping. I later sold him to a friend as a western horse. He excelled way beyond I had ever imagined. It has been researched that most Quarter horses excel in the western aspect of things rather then the English. I had a few little kids on him while I owned him and he did great. The calm personality was perfect for this. He was last on the totem pull at the barn he was at. He never got into a fright with any other horses just walked away if a horse pushed him around. However; he was living with three other mares so I’m sure that had something to do with it. He was really kind of a loner, but he was happy with that. I would never put a child on my Thoroughbred.
KC has a lot of the same characteristics a thunder. The main difference was that she was the leader of the herd of horses. I think this has to do more with personality traits rather then the breed. She is just as laid back and always has to be the one pulled out when little kids want to ride. It takes a lot for her to spook as well. KC and Thunder are my experience with quarter horse and now I will share with you some factual information about them.
Quarter horses are also very good at sprinting short distance races. The name Quarter horse actually came about because they are so fast at running a quarter of a mile or less. This breed is also known to excel at rodeos, horse shows, and working as a ranch horse. They are also commonly seen in reining, cutting, barrel racing, calf roping, and western riding. They are also shown English, but it is not as common to see them in this discipline. Quarter horses are the most popular breed of horses in the United States. There are over three million American Quarter Horses registered with the American Quarter Horse Association.
The modern Quarter horse is a lot smaller, shorter, skinner head and straighter profile. They are also a lot slimmer then some of the old types of Quarter Horses. They are still have a very muscular body and a big chest with powerful hindquarters. On average they stand anywhere between fourteen and sixteen hands high. There are two types of quarter horse the stack horse which is shorter and more compact with defined muscles. The racing hunter type is taller and muscles not as defined they look more like a thoroughbred. Quarter horses pretty much come in every color, but the most popular is a sorrel. They can also been seen as bay, black, brown, buckskin, palomino, gray, dun, red dun, grullo, red roan, blue roan, bay roan, perlino, and cremello.