Training Special Mark

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So anyways...

We had a fun day today. A friend of Kayla's and his family came out to The Oaks and enjoyed the day with the horses. Nicolas, the father of Kayla's friend, is French and used to ride. He owned an Anglo-Arab (which apparently isn't so rare a breed there) that he rehabilitated from a fractured leg. So Nicolas and I had a lot to talk about. He really enjoyed being around Mark, who apparently was much like his old horse. We cooked out and chatted about how bad Bush was and how bad American's are hating the French these days.

Karen can't come out until next week, but I think she will be pleased with Mark's progress. He's become fat (the hay this year is really good as I mentioned below) and the massage therapy and exercising seems to be paying off. May be the prayers aren't hurting either. Regardless, muscle is showing up where it hasn't been. It would have been nice to have done this earlier in his training. But better late than never.

Thanks to all you lovely Dressage instructors for contacting me, but this well is dry. I've contacted the one (or actually it seems there are two) local trainer that interests me. If you're a trainer outside of Arkansas, feel free to contact me!

If you are about to read my rant below for the first time, you'll have to pardon the misogynistic tone throughout. I ended up pretty much the only straight male in a world of nasty women (and a couple of bitchy gay guys). I was raised by a strong, intelligent, and dutiful single mother. I love women. I respect women. I looked forward to competing against them in an honorable way. I expected horse-owning women to not only be compassionate, but more sensitive and stronger than the average person. For the most part, I have been terribly let down. My friends from both the old and new Meadow Creek are notable exceptions.

In a true surprise, our previous trainer actually squared up with Barbara today! I was just happy to have stopped the financial bleeding with him, but he actually sent Barbara a refund for the lessons he owed her. I didn't enjoy humiliating him publicly. I didn't do that to two other trainers that were far worse to me. I was just ready to be done with him. It was the only way I had to get his attention (and my horses' paper's signed). He calls like a colicly baby when wants something. Hopefully, we're done hearing from him....we had better be.

State of Dressage in Arkansas

Being done with Arkansas Dressage riders, trainers, barns, etc. gives me great peace of mind. The sense of relief is not unlike that of passing a large impaction.

This site was to chronicle the development of "A SSpecial Mark". Unfortunately, Mark's hip condition (a dropped hip) has become more of an issue than his previous owner (and now my previous trainer) claimed. Hopefully, I will be able to update the site with stories of his successful rehabilitation at a later date. If not, he will live out a long life with me as a friend (albiet a costly one).

Dr. Karen Hooks (our area's authority on such problems) says that Mark may be serviceable at some later date. We have an exercise and massage program that is supposed to replace his large amount of scar tissue with muscle.

If you go through this site, you'll see pictures and read stories of what was happening (it's amazing how well things were going) before we discovered the problems. Our previous trainer was livid when we decided to have Mark checked out. I had already suspected him of dishonesty from a number of deals with me. He owes me money (and Barbara). Fortunately we have a lot of good tack of his to confiscate for payment. I guess I shouldn't be shocked that he wasn't any less of a lying bitch than my two previous dressage trainers. College football coaches care more about their players than these people care about their students.

After 3 or 4 years of involvement with the Dressage community, I can truthfully say I've never seen a more classless group of people. They backstab each other every chance they get. This one nice lady occasionally gives lessons to kids (I think for free), so one of her trainer's other students is going to rat on her if she shows as an amateur. I just don't get that sort of behavior.

We built a wonderful web site for one of the Dressage groups (charged them like $200 for a site better than this one), but they were too lazy or stupid (I think the latter) to figure out how to update it. Their president, at the time, was our trainer. They sent us a letter firing us (although we weren't under any sort of contract). Our trainer didn't bother telling us there was a problem, despite the fact I took lessons from her weekly. In her defense, she's a coo-coo bitch. I like to think she was just switching meds at the time, but I had been interviewed after a horse rescue a week before. I think that angered her. I can't help if the media wanted to talk to me. Of course they wanted to talk to me instead. I'm not a raving lunatic.

The same society "forgot" to add up some of Barbara's scores almost screwing her out of their cheeseball end of the year medal. Again, Barbara's trainer was the president (or maybe vice-president, whatever) of this "association" at the time. The student surpassed the teacher. The teacher couldn't handle it.

One thing is for sure, the "Arkansas Dressage" world is no place for me. It's no place for a hard working, practicing, fun loving sportsman. The ladies of the dressage world have shown me why the word "sportsmanship" should remain a gender oriented term.

In this world, the "winners" buy pre-made horses that perform well enough for a year or two before the local trainers and the premenopausal riders turn them into atrophying mental patients. I wonder what happens to these $40,000 horses when they're done with them?

Need a riding instructor? Sit straight. Get your legs under you. Stick your toes up. Now, give me 50 bucks every week for the rest of your life. Apparently I've got that down, my last trainer just took my money and didn't give me the lessons.

My previous horse trainers all think it is ethical to train your horse half as much as you're told (and pay). Poor Bridgette has had two trainers screw her canter up so much she's frightened to canter in hand with me (yes, I can run with my horses for short distances). I think some miles on the trail and some time away from gadgets and tricks will fix her.

An old german rider once gave me the advice to "moon" the dressage judge at my first show. This is the best I can do...for now.

I hope the casual searcher finds this site before he/she makes the same mistakes. Feel free to contact me if you have a similar story and I'll get your opinions published.

Announcements

Boarders and Our Previous Barn Managers Need to Read This

Posted by: admin on 09/18/2005 10:29

Thank you John Seawright for proving something I already knew. Horses need hay. Horses need good hay. Horses need good hay all day long. Mark (a so called "hard keeper") hardly gets grain anymore. He eats good hay, any time he wants it. Why is this so hard for you barn owners to understand? I've had to fight and even sneak hay for my poor horses at these barns. Finally, we just started buying our own dehydrated alfalfa.

We're finally at a barn where things are simple, easy, and effective. Thanks again John. It is nice to be doing business with someone that truly cares about the animals and isn't trying to cut corners to save a buck.

Victory Challenge

Posted by: Raymond on 04/18/2005 05:03

I had a wonderful time as a spectator at this year's Victory Challenge.

The events were entertaining, even when the numbers of participants were lacking. The costumes were beautiful and the Liberty class was fun and the horses magnificient. I'm really looking forward to getting Mark up to speed. I was dying to ride the whole time.

The Arabian club members, by far, have the most class and the most fun. It was nice to experience true fellowship (and great food and drink) among NICE people that share my interest. This is what I expect to experience among honorable competitors.

Thanks to everyone that welcomed me to the culture of Arabian horse ownership.

Raymond

Catching Up

Posted by: Raymond on 03/09/2005 10:02 (Read: 1029)

I haven't posted anything for a while, but 2005 has been great for us. Things have been going very well.

We should have some new pictures of Mark up soon. He has really matured. He's almost fat. He's also been running a little hot lately (as I discuss later), so we're cutting him off from sweet feed (except his daily rations at the fence of course) and put him on a combination of Ultium and dehydrated alfalfa hay. We've heard the Ultium keeps the energy up, but makes them a little more controllable.

Missing Work

Posted by: Raymond on 01/12/2005 06:47 (Read: 1004)

It rained through the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005. At feeding, Mark has been begging for our usual routine of feed, ride, feed. He's getting all of the feed, but seems to be truly missing our time together.