Drill

Today Max and I went off to our customary Saturday drill session at the arena in Gabriellano Park. Since the weather had warmed up in a major way this last week so there was definately no threat of rain for a change so it was defiantely T-shirt weather which was nice for a change.

In the course of riding over to the park, I anticipated that Max would give me some trouble crossing a stream that I have to pass on the way (it's right after riding under the bridges spanning Foothill Boulevard and the 210 Freeway. For the past few weeks, Max has balked at crossing a stream that he's walked through hundreds of times in the past. The correct solution would have been to school him but I was in too much of a hury so I'd wind up jamming him through with spur and crop. This time I'd allowed extra time because I intended to school him on this crossing. As we rode up to is, I prepared myself for a refusal and subtly gathered up both reins and shortened up the right on (usually Max will swing around to the left).

Well, lo and behold, Max walked right through the stream like it was nothing at all! Go figure! Just when I was ready to devote time and energy to school him, it's not an issue anymore (for now, I guess). That was definately a pleasant surprise!

I wish I can say that the rest of the day was just as pleasant. I got to the arena with time to spare so I proceeded to warm Max up with the usual array of exercises. For the first part of practice, things worked out well and Max had a good time, especially cantering in line (Max is beginning to match pace with the the horses in line).

But things began to deteriorate when, for whatever reason, people simply were not paying attention as to the positions of their horses in line and their pace, especially going into turns. Parts of the line were either going too fast or too slow with no regard to speed or pacing. This is especially rough on Max since he's not the quickest horse and I have to work harder to keep him in synch. Granted that I make mistakes too but if people aren't paying attention to those around them, it just doesn't work well. It seemed to be more of a mad dash at times.

Also complicating things is that a few of the horses are anti-social so you have to keep one eye the situation so they don't try and throw a hoof or try to bite. One horse just doesn't like to keep pace in line and he's constantly shooting off to one side or the other (because of his temperment, he's usually placed on one end of the line or the other). Personally, I think it's a training/discipline issue but I'm no expert.

The worst of it came when we were working on suicide passes at the canter- this is where two lines in extended order pass each other at the canter so as to interleave each other. This wouldn't be a problem except we didn't have the entire arena to work with so it was expected that each line would start in close order, sidepass to extended order, pass each other, sidepass back to close order and then wheel about and do it again. All at the canter. With the space we had, this might work well with something manueverable like an Arab, but it's a lot tougher with slower, bigger horse and with Max, it's a real challenge. The problem was that people were doing things in a rushed manner and Max was getting left behind- I just can't do the whole thing in a short span, especially with people not paying attention to their spacing so I keep having to adjust my speed.

Granted that operator error played a part- I won't lie there- but it was getting frustrating and Max was getting very frustrated because he was trying to keep up with the other horses and not paying attention to my cues. Finally, after one horse next to me swung his hindquarters into Max's flank, I decided to pull out and take a break. Max is getting frustrated and I was getting pissed off- best to cool out because I need Max to keep his head.

After a break, we then worked on some other manuevers and due to people not paying attention, I wind up getting crashed into by another horse and rider- lucky Max isn't disposed towards being nasty because this could have gotten dangerous and resulted in a kick or worse. At this point, the practice ended.

I guess what really irriates me is when people are not paying attention or not taking it as seriously as they should. Basically it was half-assed riding and it makes things a lot more difficult. I have had practice sessions where everything really fell into place because people were taking the time to line up their spacing, watch where other people are, and doing everything at a controlled pace. To me, it makes better sense to learn a new figure at a slower speed until everything clicks and then start doing it faster. Finally, we really need more room in the arena, something that's probably not going to happen since it's a public arena.

Overall, it was an exhausting four hours and my shoulders and legs were sore. Max definately got a large bucket for his efforts.

More later.

Follow My Ass Ride II

Here's some more pictures from the "Follow Your Ass Trail Trial Practice and Trail Ride" last Saturday:

Max and I negotiate the motorcycle bars. After a couple of runs, Max had it so his legs didn't contact the bars at all. What a coordinated horse!

Max checks out his arch-nemesis- the bike!


Max checking out the empty aluminum coke cans in the plastic bad. He wasn't wild about this one and he got better after some practice. We still need to work on this one a bit.

Max checks out a baby stroller. While some people were actually able to pick it up and carry it, I wasn't quite so daring, especially since I have to bend way down to pick it up and my balance is at its weakest at that point.

Checking out the slicker.


Max crossing a stream. No problem!

In The Rain & Not

Yesterday I decided to take the day off from work and put in some quality time with Max (yes, this is a legit vacation day!). I decided to do my lesson today to make up for the lost time last weekend due to rain. It was cloudy and naturally, as soon as I'd groomed and tacked him up, it began to rain. I waited for awhile and when it seemed to be letting up, I decided to wam him up for his lesson.

We worked at the usual sorts of warm-up drills although it was steadily raining and Max wasn't too appreciative about my dedication and didn't appreciate getting soaked. I had on a gortex parka so I guess it was legit beef on his part.

Fortunately, just when it was time for his lesson the rain stopped and the sun came out. And did it get warm! The thing we really worked on today was the coming to a halt from the canter (canter-halt). Now, I can do this but to be honest, it's not the most elegant movement and I have a habit of getting out of my seat and not be centered. So we worked on this...

The thing with me is that I've been getting ahead of the vertical in my seat plus putting too much weight in the stirrups which in turn throws my legs out in front when I come to a halt. Let's be honest- coming to a halt from the canter is abrupt and for me, it really requires use of my leg and pelvic muscles.

So what the key is to keep a light pressure on the stirrups with the balls of the feet and actually lift your heel- well, it feels like lifting but in reality, the bottom of the foot is parallel to the stirrup pad. This is also something we worked on in the sitting and posting trot. The pressure and support have to come from the calves and legs, not by dropping your heels and putting pressure into the stirrups.

What? Raise your heels? This seems to go against everything you're taught when you start riding- KEEP THE HEELS DOWN! Well, yes...sometimes. There are those moments such as canter-halts when this isn't the case. You also have to keep flexing your ankles, moving your heels up and down. It's hard to describe but you have to be light on the feet and it actually makes a more stable and balanced seat. The legs are going to do a lot of the work and it it all falls into place right, you feel like you're an extension of the horse. OK, easy to say at a nice gait in a nice smooth arena. It's going to be a bit more tricky somewhere else- say out on the trail.

And yes, this dressage stuff actually comes in hand on the trail! So basically, the complete package on the canter-halt has to be:

1) Pelvis and shoulders square and centered on the saddle (you should be this way ALL the time when riding!).

2) Heels up/parallel with the stirrup pad and light contact with the balls of your feet.

3) When stopping, lean behind the vertical, keep your chin down and BREATH THROUGH YOUR DIAFRAGM (basically, it feels like you're leaning forwrd to breathe out- the best analogy is taking a dump :-))!

4) Kick up the horse slightly as you're stopping so to keep the horse from diving forward onto the forehand.

All easier said than done!

If everything is lined up right, your pelvis should not rise out of the saddle and you shouldn't be leaning forward.

OK, now I have to practice this...A LOT! :-)

By the time I was done with my lesson, Max and I were pretty worn out so I gave him a break and turned him out in the arena while I took a nap (the day was just too beautiful to waste! :-)).

And that was my day off...

The Follow My Ass Ride I

Today the ETI Corral that I belong to sponsored its annual "Follow Your Ass Trail Trial Practice and Trail Ride" (or "Follow Your Ass Ride" for short). I grant that the name sounds a bit strange but apparently it started some years ago when the ride used to be lead by someone on a mule and from there the tradition started. Apparently the mule hasn't been around for awhile but the tradition lives on.

Originally this event only consisted of brunch and a trail ride but this year Corral 20 decided to include coaching for trail trial competition to give a more practical focus. In planning this event, we gave thought to the prescribed ETI Trail Trial format and included various obstacles that would appear in a competition. We also made sure to include thngs that are commonly encountered that tend to spook horses such as bicycles, large logs, gates, and the like.

Besides setting assisting in the event set-up, I also participated with Max. Because of Max's issues with bikes, I focused quite a bit on this obstacle. For the bike, basically someone rode back in forth in a line while I both alternately followed and the bycyclist. I had done some preliminary work with the bike in the round pen last weekend so this wasn't a complete surprise to Max. Overall, Max did pretty well and while he shied on occassion, he didn't have a melt-down and he seemed to be gradually getting used to it. By no means are we complete and I realize that we'll have more work to do but it was heartening.

I also did some practive backing Max up along an L-shaped path formed by some logs. This worked out better than I thought and it appears that our practice with backing up, spinning on the haunches and spinnning on the forehand has really paid off. It's nice to see that I can manuever Max so precisely- I couldn't have done this a year ago.

After about two hours, we stopped for an excellent brunch followed up by a short trail ride up to the sheep pens. I normally avoid group rides with a large number of horses but I decided to do this anyway since I'm trying to get Max use to group situations where he'll behave. Overall, this also worked out pretty well- a couple of times he wanted to speed up on the way home but we managed to convince him that it was a better idea to listen to me.

Here's some pictures of the event. The photo quality may not be good since I took these while I was in the saddle and my camera is difficult to work with one hand (I really need to get one of the newer, more compact models!). Also, these trails are some of the ones that I most often ride.

Heading up the trail towards Middle Ranch. Last October, the hills in front were a blazing inferno. Quite a difference now.

Heading past Middle Ranch- it's on the right.

Past Middle Ranch, heading towards the Oaks. This is the best part of the trail- nice and wide and very shady. It's especially pleasant to ride here on summer mornings.

The Oaks. This is not a good view but this is a typical rest stop before heading up further in to the mountains.

Up at the sheep pens. The sheep are in the distance, off camera to the left. Notice the high power lines. Further up is the Doc Larsen Trail and the fire roads that I often ride on.

Columbus, New Mexico

Some not-so-good news about my favorite town, Columbus New Mexico. Unfortuantely, the drug wars in Northern Mexico have spilled over to a degree into New Mexico and Columbus in particular and I was disheartened to read about it in the LA Times. The full article is available HERE.

Very sad. In 2006-2007, I had the opportunity to meet and party with many of the local residents when we came out for the "Pancho Villa Days" commemorative celebrations (for more about my adventures, go here). This also included going accross the border to Palomas to a party put on by the Cabalgata organizers, courtesy of Eddie Espinoza and his wife- excellent hosts and we learned alot about what was going on there.

Me and my compadres were planning on going out this year but it looks like it's not going to happen due to financial pressures, work schedules, and life in general. Then to read this, it really makes it sad. To this day, I'll never forget riding Pablo, a Tennesse Walker, around Columbus on a bright warm day. It could have been 1916, things were that deserted.

With what's going on now, it's probably best to give it a miss this year. Besides, what Max didn't eat of my money, the IRS got. :-(

Here's some pictures from the LA Times:

The Mayor, Eddie Espinoza- great guy.

Sea Horse Anyone?

Given the recent rain storms we've been experiencing here in Southern California, this is what I'm considering for Max:

Superpowers at War - The End

I finally finished my solitaire game and the end result was a NATO marginal victory. The Soviets took alot of ground but the offensive ran out of fuel by about roughly along a line leading from Venlo south towards Liege. The garrison rules didn't help the Soviets in that close to 2 1/2 divisions were soaked up as garrison units (per game rules, to get credit for seizing city hexes, they have to be garrisoned by a Soviet unit- not merely have been passed through.

Overall impression: The rules and game system need some more development and polishing. Overall, things are OK but calculating the effects of terrain and interaction of the various types of units is clunky- it's not integrated very well and you constantly have to be referring to various charts and rules. It just seems clumsy and it gets tiring after awhile.

However, it's got some interesting ideas, especially in the varying combat results depending on unit quality. Also, the airpower and air transport rules are interesting with the possiblity of both sides operating at the same time at the risk of loosing points due to anti-air fire (unfortunately, the system for recording available/expended air asset points versus points permanently lost is not very functional and it requires you to keep track on scratch paper).

Whatever good qualities this game might have are lost due to the half-baked game system development and as such, it becomes just one of a large number of hypothetical NATO vs Warsaw Pact games that were churned out during the 1970s and 80s.

As such, it's probably not really worth doing a makeover on this one- there's a number of superior designs that are out there now.

Still More Vasquez Rocks Stuff

Here's another picture that I managed to get on my cell phone camera. This is Max tied up to the trailer before we started off.

Some of the Places I Ride

In my blog posts, I'm always referring to the various places I ride but they're sometimes hard to picture just from the words. Here's a few pictures that I took from my cell phone camera. The quality isn't that good and I wasn't able to use everything. Well, here goes:

The alley between the back of the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center and the nursery, looking west from the entrance off of Orcas Ave, before you enter Garbriellano Park.

Big Tujunga Canyon looking north.

The arena at Gabriellano Park. I do a lot of my practice with Max here.

Back To School...

Call it chasing a dream, fantasy or downright insanity, last night I actually went back to school!

First some background:

This wasn't a snap decision but rather the product of a long thought process that's been going on for a couple of years of so. Basically, I've been working at the same job for about 13 years and with credit for time served in the Army, I will be eligible for retirement in about five years or so. Given the poor economic times, I'm in no hurry to rush out the door but given the right sort of buy-out, anything is possible.

To be honest, there's really nothing in my current job that makes me want to hang around longer than I have to and it's unlikely that will change. Therfore, I've been giving thought to some sort of a second career (actually, more like a fourth career given my work history) and lately I've been leaning towards something that will have me working again with animals, preferably equines like my Max.

I worked with animals for about three years in the Army as an Animal Care Specialist (aka veterinary technician in the civilan world) and an additional three years in a civilian veterinary hospital when I got out. This was back in the 1980s and since then, the State has imposed more strict licensing laws so some sort of training is in order.

However, since I've been working with horses and dealing with Max for the fast eight years or so, I'm really more interested in the equine side.

OK, great but let's have a reality check here:

Just about all aspects of the animal business pay little- basically crap wages that you can't live on. Trust me, it's what originally drove me to other lines of work back in the 80s. Also, it doesn't help that the animal business is too a great degree dominated by females thus that means poor money (there I said it, now burn me at the stake!). So at a realistic level, I know I'm not going to make much money but I figure with the retirement, things might work out OK, along with my various historical research consulting gigs and the like (although this has pretty much dried up of late since the film industry isn't doing much here in the US/California).

So at a minimum, my animal education/re-education will make me a better horseowner (hear that Max!) and give me some good basic knowledge- always a good thing, the way I look at it.

To initiate this plan, the place to go is naturally Pierce College out here in the West San Fernando Valley. Naturally, I cooked up this plan at the most inopportune time last fall and all the classes were full by the time I'd applied and been accepted.

I grew up in the West San Fernando Valley and for years I used to pass Pierce College either on my way to school or work. It's a two-year community college and since I went directly to CSUN, I never went here or took classes (except for one abortive time in 1988 I attempted Spanish but gave up when faced with the prospect of sitting through three hours of class twice weekly in 100-plus degree classrooms) and we used to refer to it derisively as "high school with an ashtray". Registration was always a pain in the rear and there were far too many students in relation to the number of open classes. In short, a real mess.

When I re-applied last Fall, the process was painless and I was able to do it all online. While all the classes that I wanted were full, I was lucky to get a good registration appointment for the Spring and everything went just fine.

So here I am. I started with Ag Sci 602, "Horse Husbandry" and while I thought it was solely about the whole horse breeding/foaling process, it's actually the second part of a year long sequence of basic "Horse 101". Just the stuff I needed. I was pleasantly surprised in class and it promises to be a lot of good information.

Naturally, this is just the start and I'm only taking one class now, to ease into things. It's on Wednesdays from 7 to 10 PM so I have to hustle home from Downtown LA, change my clothes, and then brave the freeways out to the West Valley. It was a zoo for parking so I wound up not bothering and simply parked on Victory Boulevard and hiked. Next time I'll know better since there's more parking that what the map indicated (new construction).

What's also interesting is that while for years people were predicting the demise of agriculture/animal sciences at Pierce due to the complete building up of the Valley (aka developers screwing everything up), I was surprised to learn that the various programs are alive and well and in fact, there are NEW facilities being constructed to include extensive ones for horses. Very cool.

The one downside is that not all the essential classes are offered at night so I'm going to have to see what I can work out for my work schedule and if necessary, I can eat some vacation time. If the classes are good, I'm willing to do this.

Also, there's the reality that I may have to cut back on my reenacting activities and to be honest, maybe this has been a long time coming. Time to focus on something realistic and useful. We'll see how it goes.

I'm sure Max will appreciate the time off! :-)

Riding at Night In The Damp

The rain has temporarily cleared out and things dried out a little so tonight I decided to get in some saddle time with Max, especially since I won't be able to do anything until next Saturday (and even then, they're predicting rain).

Like on Monday, it was very cold and damp but at least there was no wind. Grooming Max was the usual joyous task and it was hard work getting the dried mud off of him- about a half hour's worth of work and there was quite a dust cloud when I was through.

The footing was still a bit muddy and combined with the cold, max was moving a bit on the sluggish side. We did the usual array of exercises and after about 45 minute's worth of work, Max slowly began to fire up. I did a combination of transitions- mostly collected and extended walking along with collected and extended canters. I also did a few side-passes but it was difficult getting him to step right and not fidget in place. At several points I had to get on Max about his lack of cooperation but overall he did what I wanted in a so-so way. Overall, I've had better sessions so I hope if things dry out more, I can get better work from him.

I also made him do some laps around the track- a combination of cantering and trotting so he definately got a bit of a work. As for the more detailed manuevers such as side-passing, we're going to have to put more work into it. It's OK but I'm not happy with it.

We'll see what the weather holds for the rest of the week and especially next Monday since I have the day off from work.

Cold War Memories: The Country Formerly Known as East Germany

Today I've decided that it's Cold War Memories Day and today's feature is the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), commonly known in English as East Germany. The DDR was one of those artificial creations that arose out of the Second World War when the Soviet Union decided that Germany must basically be dismembered (they have a habit of holding on to everything they take) and lasted until 1990.

Here's some information, courtesy of Wikipedia:

East Germany existed from 7 October 1949 until 3 October 1990, when its re-established states acceded to the adjacent Federal Republic of Germany, thus producing the current form of the state of Germany.

In 1955, the Soviet Union declared that the Republic was fully sovereign. However, Soviet troops remained in GDR territory, based on the four-power Potsdam Agreement, while British, Canadian, French and American forces remained in the Federal Republic of Germany in the West. Berlin, completely surrounded by GDR territory, was similarly divided with British, French and U.S. garrisons in West Berlin and Soviet forces in East Berlin. Berlin in particular became the focal point of Cold War tensions. East Germany was a member of the Warsaw Pact and a close ally of the Soviet Union.

Following the initial opening of sections of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, new elections were held on 18 March 1990, and the governing party, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, lost its majority in the Volkskammer (the East German parliament) soon after. On 23 August, the Volkskammer decided that the Republic would recreate the five pre-war states (which had been dissolved in 1952), which would join the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990. As a result of the reunification on that date, the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist.

Monday Night at the Stables

As much as I'd rather have stayed home, nice and cozy, I decided that I had to check up on Max, especially given the on and off again showers. I even heard from one source that it had even hailed out in the Northeast Valley.

I figured that it would be too wet to ride so I wore my muck boots and dressed warmly...and it was a good thing. Not only was it cold, damp, and chilly, there was also a moderate breeze blowing. It was almost completely clear and a full moon was out. I wasn't in any mood to ride nad the ground was just too swampy (yes, I could do it but why?).

Naturally, Max was completely covered in mud, both dried and wet but otherwise was doing just fine. His only reaction was his usual "so where's my treats?" Typical horse!

I basically turned him out into the main arena and chased him around a bit to get him started- he was definately energenic and it didn't take much before he was running around the arena and bucking and snorting (and farting). What a boy.

I took this time to muck out what I could in Max's stall- it's basically a swamp in there so I'll have to wait until things dry out a bit before I can work on the stall- looks like I'll have to get shavings and dry stall but I want to be sure the rain is over for awhile before going through the expense of buying them.

I decided to blanket Max since there was a bit of a windchill goign on and so he would be able to lie down on something other than mud. Finally I mixed up his usual bucket (which he enjoyed, of course).

Not much going on but during the winter you're at the mercy of the weather and the short days don't help (although they're getting longer).

Hopefully things will be a bit more dry tommorow.

More Wet and Rainy

Since my trainer was going to a show today, I decided to give Max a break and take him for a short trail ride. Because of the rain and muddy trail conditions, I have to plan the route a bit more carefully than usual so I decided to not cross the river and avoid low spots (last thing I want is to be the idiot on the evening news who had to be rescued by helicopter along with his horse).

It was overcast and very wet and muddy since another storm had come through the area. From Max's point of view, it was pure heaven since green grass is now everywhere- a horsey Hometown Buffet. Grooming Max was a bit more easy than yesterday since a lot of the mud had dried but it was thick and made quite a cloud as I curried him (think of the equine equivalent of Pig Pen from Peanuts)

We made our way down the wash and there were others who were also out with their horses- sometimes the cabin fever gets too much and you HAVE to ride, rain or no rain. The rain seemed to be holding off so I figured that so long as it hasn't a downpour, we were allright (my old Army parka definately comes in handy here).

Trail conditions, at least in the wash and around Gabriellano Park were better than the day before and things seemed to be drying out a bit. I decided to take him to the arena to work him a bit (even though I'd done this prior to leaving the stables). We did the usual stuff- lots of transitions, some rein-backs, half-halts and side-passing. The rein-backs were difficult for him, probably because of the wet footing. After about an hour of this, we then proceeded to ride around the park and then make our way home up Orcas Avenue. In contrast to yesterday, Max was decidely low energy today, except when heading home (no surprise there!).

By the time we returned, the clouds were gathering close and it looked like it was going to rain so we pretty much ended things at a perfect time. While we need the rain, I hope it dries out during the week.

Wet and Rainy

In contrast to what's been happening weather-wise for the past month or so, the weather has now turned cooler and more importantly, rainy- which is more the January norm than the 80-plus degree days with Santa Ana winds.

For me and Max, it's been interesting. I was unable to work Max at all last week due to rain storms and life in general so when I got the stables early Saturday morning, he was a bit more lively than usual. Normally, Max doesn't go crazy if he sits in a stall for a few days but with the weather change starting last week, I guess things were a bit out of the norm: real hot to real rainy.

Naturally Max was a complete mess, wet and muddy from head to hoof (nobody put a rain sheet on him and he's a tough guy anyway). Grooming was a real joy, especially since he'd started shedding the week before (I really HATE abrupt weather changes). To make it worse, I'd turned Max out to run around in the arena where he promptly rolled on his back just to reinforce the mud bath. Naturally, he then proceeded to run around the arena- good deal, work it all out while I get the saddle and tack ready.

After a 10 minute demonstration of bucking, snorting and farting, I proceeded to groom the boy and that alone took about 30 minutes trying to get as much mud off as possible. Finally, he was all taked up and half-way presentable so I proceeded down the street to my friend's house where we were to meet up and do our cavalry/drill team practice. After arriving there and pausing for about a half hour, we proceeded down the street towards the arena at Gabriellano Park. Usually Max is a bit of a slug heading out but today he was buzzed up and my friend's Arabians didn't help any- I really should have taken some time to run him a bit to work off the energy. Oh well, live and learn.

By this time, the weather was actually clearing a little so it wasn't threatening to rain (much). What was really interesting walking Max down Orcas Avenue was that at one point a car literally snuck up on us and the first notice I got was when Max started scooting forward and raising his head. While it was a regular car, I thought to myself that safety is really going to be an issue here if more people start driving electric cars since there's no engine noise or anything. Talk about getting the blood pumping!

We finally got to the arena and proceeded to warm up. The arena was a bit swampy, kind of like a beach, but the footing was fine. We then worked out for about an hour or so and once Max was working with the herd, he settled down a bit and did his job. We didn't have much of a turn-out for practice and there were only five of us so we ended the practice sooner than normal.

Afterwards, Max and I headed home and he was definately up for that. Just to make it clear to Max that life doesn't always work out HIS way, I then worked him some when we got back to the stables- mostly cantering, transitions and the like. He was a bit sluggish at this point (no surprise there!) and I believe that the mud probably was exhasuting him (it wasn't deep or anything but it definately softer than usual). After a vigorous workout, I then cooled him down and gave him a break. Naturally he was all alert when I got his bucket ready!

Horses are a lot like kids it seems- 1200 pound kids, but kind nonetheless. :-)

Equine Affaire II

Here's some footage of the sidesaddle demonstration that my friends from the Warhorse and Militaria Foundation put on at Equine Affaire:

This finished product really made things nice. The narrator during the program was awful and the setting sun didn't help filming at all with the glare.

Equine Affaire

This past Saturday I went out to Equine Affaire at the Fairplex in Pomona to help some friend from the War Horse and Militaria Foundation put on a side-saddle demonstration. It also was a good opportunity to blow a hole in my wallet with some shopping...

For those of you who may not know, Equine Affaire is an equine-related convention that's held at the annually at the Fairplex in Pomona. There are various exhibitions and classes put on by varous entities and, of course, there are vendors selling all manner of equine-related merchandise from saddles and tack to supplements to riding apparrel to trailers (some pretty BIG trailers).

Usually...unfortunately, the effects of the current poor economic climate were also present and in contrast to past years, there were significantly fewer vendors (I've been attending since 2004). The strange thing is that of the vendors present, it seemed like close to a third of them were selling supplements of one kind or another. Not very interesting once I'd secured my quarterly supply of Hylasport.

I'd budgeted about $200 for myself to spend there and all said and done, I came in under budget (not by much counting the $16 admission and the $9 parking fee). There just wasn't much that interested me so I would up with a supply of Hylasport, a hay bag for the trailer, renewing my subscription of Equus for two more years, and a hoof pick. Oh boy. Well, good thing there wasn't someone selling decent reproduction military tack from the 1870-1940 era!

I always like to hit the breed barn where various breed affiliation groups show off their horses to promote their breeds. This is where I first saw Fijord Horses up close and personnel- still want to get one one day although it really wouldn't fit with anything I do except trail riding. However, even here things were thin and it seemed to be much less than in recent years- and Fijords were definately missing. My friends were slated to show off a couple of the Arabian horses they were going to use in the side-saddle demonstration later on and that was pretty neat- helped shoot some video footage of that.

Overall, this year's Equine Affaire was nice but it really didn't grab me too much. There simply wasn't much of what I was interested in (supplements get old real fast) like interesting tack. Also, I just wasn't seeing any deals and the line at the Broken Horn booth was horrendous. I can simply make a trip to their store in Baldwin Park whenever. Maybe that was a good thing because my wallet could have been a lot lighter.

Well, maybe next year!! :-)