Akhal-Teke filly “Azmele”

Original Upload: Posted by permission

~~~

Tulip, a Morab gelding who will turn 21 on June 21,2009  is endurance riding’s most enduring equine, with 20,805 miles to his credit and he is still going strong.

Tulip‘s name? The rumor, according to Dr. Les Carr, Tulip‘s owner, is that a bed of lovely tulips was nearby during Tulip’s birth.

The 15.2-hand Tulip, registered as a half-Arabian by the Arabian Horse Association, is by the Morgan stallion Calamity’s Pizzaz, whose sire is from the Kingston line. His dam, Belif, is a granddaughter of Bu-Zahar, a son of Ferzon-Hall of Fame sire of National Champions.

Carr, of Somerset, Calif., has amassed 46,460 miles of his own during his 24 years of AERC competitions. Both Carr and Tulip exemplify AERC’s commitment to valuing equine longevity.

Although he has completed four 100-mile rides, Tulip’s specialty is the 50-mile endurance ride, especially when combined into AERC Pioneer Rides, which include at least three consecutive days of 50- to 55-mile rides. And the grey gelding’s not burning up the trail; he and Carr tend to finish towards the back of the pack in most competitions.

“The AERC motto is ‘to finish is to win’,” noted Carr. “However, winning can be accomplished in different ways. One way to win is for the rider to make the decision to ride the same horse over a long period of time and place at the middle or tail end of the ride. This approach has been my choice.”

Most years, Carr and Tulip would complete around 1,000 miles of competition a year. Their highest mileage year was 2006, when the completed 1,970 miles. Along the way, the pair have picked up numerous awards from AERC, including regional mileage championships and Pioneer Awards.

At age 74, Carr keeps himself in shape with bodybuilding and weightlifting when he’s not riding. At 5’8″, he keeps his weight at a trim 148 pounds. A practicing clinical psychologist, Carr considers riding “a mystical and spiritual experience.”

Carr has no plans to retire Tulip. The pair have already completed 670 miles in the current ride season. But Carr said that he and Tulip will no longer be doing as many five-day Pioneer Rides (250 miles over five days), instead focusing on one-day 50s and the three-day, 155-mile Pioneer Rides.

“Life along the endurance trail is unpredictable, in line with our universe that is inherently chaotic and unpredictable,” said Carr.

But the septuagenarian, who rides along with his wife Jill and her trustworthy mule, Walker, at his side, Carr hopes to ride Tulip as long as possible along the endurance trails.

NewsLink:

Photo: Lynne Glazer

Wild Mare and Foal
New Forest, England

Original Upload

They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.
Henry Ward Beecher

And they who for their country die
Shall fill an honored grave,
For glory lights the soldier’s tomb,
And beauty weeps the brave.
Joseph Drake

With the tears a Land hath shed
Their graves should ever be green.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Vincent and Ursula

~~~

Two inseparable horses are set to retire together after spending a total of 30 years in London’s Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch.

Vincent, 22, and Ursula, 21, have built a special bond over the past 18 months after sharing adjoining stalls and playing together in the field at the Met’s stables in Surrey.

Not wanting to separate the two, the staff has arranged for the retiring duo to be sent to the same farm in East Sussex to share out their lives, together.

This was a special exception as horses are rarely retired to one location.

Inspector Alan Hiscox, chief instructor at the Metropolitan Police’s Mounted Branch Training Establishment, said: “Vincent and Ursula have contributed to every aspect of policing in the Mounted Branch, from frontline patrols and ceremonial duties, right through to training our younger horses and new officers”.

The Mounted Branch was established in 1760 and currently has over 140 officers and 120 horses at eight operational stables spread across London.

They have a  variety of roles including, high visibility patrols, public order duties as well as specific crime initiatives and specialist events, such as   trooping the color.

Every officer and horse receives extensive training. They ensure that both horse and rider are well equipped to deal with the rigors of policing in the capital.

Vincent and Ursula have both had illustrious careers having  served at football matches at Wembley and also at the Queen’s Birthday Parade.

Inspector Alan Hiscox  says: “I have had the honor of riding both Vincent and Ursula, they are very special horses.

“It has been very heartening to see them grow close and they deserve many long and happy years of retirement.”

Both horses will now live out their lives together. They will occasionally be ridden, go for walks and spend time in pasture.

They will be well looked after in their deserved retirement.

Original Upload:

Filled with history and heroism, adventure and rivalry, and, ultimately, the alliances between horses and people, Nobody’s Horses will stir the emotions and imagination of horse lovers, humanitarians, and anyone who loves an uplifting tale of second chances.

Descended from the greatest horses of the American West, the wild horses living on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico were national treasures and living legends.

But in 1994, after years of suffering through periodic droughts, food shortages, and all the dangers accompanying life on a military weapons–testing site, scores of horses suddenly died. And almost two thousand more were in such dire straits that they were unlikely to survive.

Large-animal veterinarian Don Höglund was called in to organize and lead a team of dedicated cowboys, soldiers, and other professionals in removing the surviving horses and their offspring to safety.

Nobody’s Horses tells the dramatic story of these noble animals’ celebrated history, their defiant survival, and their incredible rescue.

~~~

Link: University of Nebraska Press

Link: Amazon Books

No more tranquil music for horses
~~~

A woman who plays classical music to her horses to keep them calm has been told she must pay for a public performance license.

Rosemary Greenway has been playing passages of opera and orchestral symphonies on the radio to the animals at her stables for more than 20 years, convinced that it helps soothe them.

But at the Malthouse Equestrian Centre in Bushton, Wiltshire, England there will be no more music, and perhaps some very nervous horses now residing there.

Because her stables employ more than two people, she received a telephone call from the Performing Right Society which has been targeting stables as part of a drive to get commercial premises to pay for the music played around the barn.

In defense, a spokeswoman for the society said: “Of course, we don’t ask people to pay for music played to animals. “Mrs Greenway was only asked to pay for music played for staff, like any other workplace.”

The radio is now turned off except for Sunday when there are no staff at the stable yard.

It has long been thought that music helps to calm anxious animals.

Last year a study at Belfast Zoo found evidence that playing Elgar, Puccini and Beethoven to elephants helped reduce stress related behaviours such as swaying, pacing and tossing their trunks.

Perhaps the Malthouse Equestrian Centre might consider purchasing some soothing CDs to calm any horses that have become anxious over this “no radio” ruling.

~~~

Link: Have A Spooky Horse?  Try Tchaikovsky!

Original Upload:

“Mayflower”

In Southampton, England there is a pony that is creating a rush of emergency calls from caring people that are driving by her pasture.

The message to the fire brigade is always the same: Come quickly, a poor little pony is stuck in the mud.

The reason for the emergency calls is not that the pony is sunk in the mire, but that she simply has very short legs.

Her owner is considering putting up a sign outside the field to advise motorists that “Mayflower”  is a stocky pony, not a stuck pony.

The problem with putting up a sign is that one day she might actually get stuck and then the fire brigade won’t turn up, says the owner.

“Mayflower” is a cross between a Shetland pony and a New Forest pony.  She inherited the Shetland’s short legs and the New Forest pony’s long body.

Her unusually short legs compared to the other ponies in the pasture that surround her cause Mayflower to stand out, or rather semi-disappear.  Thus the cause for all the excitement.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s animal rescue team have been called out numerous times to rescue the animal since it started grazing on the salt marshes at Redbridge, Southampton.

This has included  a specialist lifting vehicle, 12 fire fighters, two to three fire trucks plus an animal rescue expert.

Every time the highly trained firefighters rush to the scene they find the same horse … “Mayflower”.

So, what does Mayflower think of all this?

She simply trots her little self off to prove that she’s not stuck at all, but quite simply minding her own business doing what ponies do … grazing.

]]> http://simplymarvelous.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/the-999-pony/feed/ 8 Simply Marvelous http://simplymarvelous.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/spring-scene-isnt-life-just-grand/ http://simplymarvelous.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/spring-scene-isnt-life-just-grand/#comments Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:22:19 +0000 Simply Marvelous http://simplymarvelous.wordpress.com/?p=1565 ]]>

Original Upload:

Lis Hartel and Jubilee

~~~

Lis Hartel, an equestrian who won two Olympic silver medals for Denmark in the 1950s despite being paralyzed below the knees because of polio, has recently died, according to the Danish Equestrian Federation. She was 87.

Lis Hartel’s equestrian career was one of true heroism.

In 1944, at age 23, Hartel was paralyzed by polio.

She gradually regained use of most of her muscles, although she remained paralyzed below the knees.  Her arms and hands also were affected.

Against medical advice, she continued to ride but needed help to get on and off the horses.

After three years of rehabilitation, she was able to compete in the Scandinavian riding championships.

In 1952, she was chosen to represent Denmark in the Helsinki Olympics.   Prior to this time women were not permitted to compete in the Olympic Equestrian events.

Even though she required help on and off her horse, Jubilee, she won the Olympic Silver Medal.

Lis Hartel and Jubilee
with Gold Medalist, Henri St-Cyr

Following her stunning performance, as Lis was helped down from her horse, a gentleman rushed to her side. It was the Gold medal winner, Henri Saint Cyr. He carried her to the victory platform for the medal presentation.

It was one of the most emotional moments in Olympic history.

Lis Hartel at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
She became the first woman ever to share
an Olympic podium with men.

In 1954, Lis Hartel won the unofficial World Championships in Aachen, and the Olympic Silver Medal in the 1956 Olympics held in Stockholm. She became the Danish National Dressage Champion seven times.

Lis Hartel was the first Scandinavian woman entered into The International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in New York, and was named one of Denmark’s all-time top 10 athletes in 2005.

In 1992, Hartel was included in the Scandinavian country’s Hall of Fame.

Lis Hartel is widely credited with inspiring the therapeutic riding schools that are now located throughout the world.

Shortly after winning the Olympic medal, Lis Hartel and her therapist founded Europe’s first Therapeutic Riding Center. This soon came to the attention of the medical community and Therapy Riding Centers spread throughout Europe.

By the late 1960′s equine riding was accepted by the America Medical Association as an “invaluable therapeutic tool”.

Today, the spirit of Lis Hartel lives on around the world.

Through her inspiration countless handicapped children and adults have become heroes in their own lives through their work with horses.

~~~

Original Upload: