Horse History at a Yard Sale

I took last Saturday off from my usual weekend horse pursuits, the better to attend a large outdoor antiques fair in an eastern Washington farm town. Afloat in a sea of decidedly non-equine items, I wasn't thinking about horses at all--until I spotted the memento of some other horse person's big achievement.

There, perched on a shelf between green Fire King mugs and an "Ozzie & Harriet" lunchbox, was a first-place trophy from the 1979 National Appaloosa Show in Louisville, Kentucky. Price tag: $10. I had to have it. Not only did I grow up in a family that was passionate about showing Appaloosas, I also started my career with a job at the Appaloosa Horse Club's breed journal. I knew, better than most of those thronging the antiques fair, just how coveted that trophy would've been in certain circles.

As I paid the dealer for this treasure, she mentioned that she'd found the item at a yard sale in a small town not far from ApHC headquarters in Moscow, Idaho. "It was in a box with a bunch of other Appaloosa trophies," she said. "The box had a lot of hay flakes in it, so I'm guessing it spent some time stored in someone's barn. But
that's all I can tell you about it."

The trophy will soon have a more glamorous home, as part of an exhibit at the Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center in Moscow. Once I take my donation to the museum, it'll be one of very few National Appaloosa Show trophies to be displayed with the breed's other artifacts. Although thousands of such trophies have been awarded over the show's six decades, most never leave the families that won them and took them home. Instead, they reside in personal places of honor reserved for once-in-a-lifetime memories.

I wish I knew whose trophy this was. There's got to be a story there.

Blankets, Etc.--Let's Talk Brands

Now that I've coughed up the truth about my bulging collection of horse clothing (see previous post, "Confessions of a Blanket Addict"), let's delve into the subject of favorite brands. I'll share mine and hope you'll reply to do likewise. It'll be our own version of Consumer Reports. Here's what I have hanging on all those tack room hooks:

* Big "D", blankets and sheets alike. This is my standard go-to blanket brand. It's tailored to fit stock-type horses, which is what I have. A Big "D" stays in place without shifting or twisting, has quality hardware and durable fabrics; some of my Big "Ds" are 20 years old and still in service. Love the show-coat lining in the Big "D" All American.
* Toklat. I only have a couple of these, but they're the workhorses of the entire lineup. Just about indestructible!
* Robinhoods. This is my favorite brand for neck warmers, the neck-only coverings that've replaced head-covering hoods at my barn. The horses seem to find them more comfortable than full hoods, and they're much safer--no eye or ear holes to get caught on anything to hang a horse up. I've tried a couple other brands and they're were skimpier on cut and less durable than the Robinhoods. Robinhoods also makes my preferred brand of "equine undies," those stretch-fabric garments that serve as mane tamers/blanket liners. If your objective is to maintain a show coat, these are outstanding items to reach for.
* Kensington. My brand of choice for fly sheets, as they wear like cast iron. I have yet to have had the horse that could tear a hole in one.
*Schneiders Adjust-a-Fit. These blankets and sheets have a great feature that allows you to adjust the shoulder-area fit--which is great for young horses whose shoulders haven't yet developed or for older horses that aren't very wide in front.
* Weatherbeeta Arion. A heavy-duty, all-weather turnout garment that features blanket and neck warmer in one. It's a bit of a chore to put on (picture yourself slipcovering a sofa), but once it's on, it STAYS on and gives tremendous coverage.
* BMB. Like Big D, this brand has good stock-breed fit, quality hardware and good fabrics. I especially like the brand's satin, full-body, Pro Show Cooler, as its hook-and-loop closure system makes it easy to slip off right before a class
* Sergeant's. I have several of this brand's blankets and sheets, purchased from good sales offers, in fun, bright, trendy patterns and colors. They're attractive and wear well. The only drawback: They're cut very full through the shoulders and thus don't always fit the more narrow-fronted critters.

OK--your turn! Post the dish about your faves. I'm sure there are other great brands I haven't yet "buyed and tried," so send your tips this way.

Confessions of a Blanket Addict

"Hello, my name is Juli, and I'm a horse-blanket-oholic. I have no power over my disease ...."

Those were my thoughts last night after I went to the barn to snuggle up the horses against a sudden September temp drop. How in the world did one woman with just a few horses end up with enough horse clothing to cover an entire herd?! It started so innocently, and then .... Will scientists someday discover a gene that's responsible for my blanket-hoarding behavior?

As long as the weather was nice, I didn't have to confront my affliction--I could keep the door to the blanket room closed (yes, it takes a room to hold what I've amassed). But once that weather turned to the precursor of winter, I had to face a fact: I'm the Carrie Bradshaw of horse blankets. Just as the "Sex and the City" character couldn't resist "just one more pair" of Manolo Blahniks, I can't seem to resist "just one more blanket" designed to fill some specific horse-nut need.

My inventory includes items like these:
* Blanket for newborn foal, "just in case."
* Blankets (and sheets) in all incremental sizes from weanling to grown-horse size 82.
* Corresponding "equine underwear"--those stretch-fabric items that cover head/neck/body.
* Full-body horse suits that resemble fuzzy pajamas.
* Every size of neck warmer, plus the full-head hoods they've now replaced.
* Fly sheets, bathing coolers, post-workout rugs, rain sheets,
turnout blankets.

Neatly suspended from rows of wall hooks, these decidedly horsey-smelling items are sorted by size, color, specialty use, and state of repair. A "Needs Repair" bin sits next to the latest stack to have come back from being fixed. There's a box of spare buckles and straps--never know when you'll need those--and a shelf groaning under
the weight of laundering products. Not to mention a row of go-to-town halters in colors to match the corresponding coverings.

If this isn't a classic case of horse people and their weird priorities, I don't know what is. I haven't bought a new dress for myself since 1995, when I needed something besides jeans to wear to my daughter's high school graduation ceremony. That same dress worked just fine four years later, when I watched her receive her college diploma. The story's different when it comes to special-occasion horse blankets. I'd much rather see my horse slip into something new than do likewise for myself.

I think it may be time to sign up for a 12-step program. But first, I have to study the tack catalog that came in yesterday's mail. There's a pre-winter sale on horse blankets, and I need to get my order in before they run out of my horses' sizes ....

Stinkin' Thinkin'

Have you ever had to bury a dead horse? Ever had a stiff, bloated horse carcass lying somewhere on your property until a renderer--if you could even find one--could come to haul it off? Ever had to figure out how to get a 1,200-pound corpse winched onto a flatbed trailer, so you could deposit it in a landfill or at a crematory? Ever had to fend off your offended neighbors as nature had its way with the rotting remains of a horse you couldn't bury or haul off after its euphemistically "humane euthanasia" by poisonous chemical?

I'd like to ask those questions of Willie Nelson, Bo Derek and the 263 members of the U.S. House of Representatives who recently gave the nod to anti-slaughter legislation. While they're busy winning fans and votes with their save-the-horses sentiments, I'm wondering about the environmental realities of turning some 90,000 horses a year into garbage, polluted air and water tables, or maggot meals instead of food and other useable byproducts. I'm wondering how long it'd take an enacted anti-slaughter law to lead to anti-breeding, anti-owning, anti-using, anti-everything-horse laws, too.

Because you know something, Willie, Bo and friends? Making a stink
about slaughter is going to have some stinking repurcussions.

All the Riderless Horses

I have the good fortune to live in a western state--Idaho--that's about as horse-friendly as you could want any place to be. Land's relatively inexpensive, the atmosphere's far more rural than urban, and places to get out and ride are almost unlimited. No surprise there, seeing as how 80 percent of Idaho is public land, owned by state or federal governments. If I had the inclination, I could ride from the edge of my property to a trail system that'd take me all the way to Montana.

I'm not the only horse lover who's been drawn here, or to other parts of the West, for the chance to seize all these equi-opportunities. Based on the numbers of horses I see as I'm driving to wherever, I'm in a secular Mecca for horse owners.

So why is it that I hardly ever see anyone out RIDING all those horses? I see plenty of pickups go by, loaded with hay for feeding the critters, and no shortage of the chase-'em-go-rounds otherwise known as the round pens made popular by natural-horsemanship gurus.

But riders? People actually USING their horses as something other than lifestyle ornaments? That's a different story.

Sure, I may see half a hundred riders at a local horse show or on an organized, well-promoted trail ride. What I don't see, on anything resembling a regular basis, are people out riding their horses for reasons that don't involve trophies, ribbons and door prizes. Riding their horses for R&R. Riding them for exercise. Riding them for the simple and glorious reason that they CAN ride them.

I'm not sure what this means. Do I just happen to do my traveling at the wrong times of day? Is everyone busy riding his horse while I'm tucked in bed, fast asleep? Is it just an illusion that the scores of roadside horses in my domain are grass-fat and underworked? Is the phenomenon of the riderless horses isolated to Idaho? Does my latest eyeglass prescription somehow filter out the sight of horseback riders?

Or--have we simply slow-loped into an era when people would rather feed and look at horses than saddle them up and ride them?