Baby Come Back aka Lilo; Bay mare; DOB April 24, 1998 in LA; by Dusty Sassafras out of Little Rumble.
Nuces aka Stitch; chestnut mare; DOB Feb 17, 1995 in IA; by Give Me Strength out of Noose. Raced until age 5.5 in OK and IA.
Introducing the 2 new additions to our "herd". I have mentioned in previous blogs about a polo rescue in Montgomery NY. Mark and I went on a road trip to look at 2 rescue polo horses currently in their care. Mark rode both very sweet mares, and I even wanted to climb onto Stitch. It was decided to adopt Stitch. Both horses had been together for a year, and Beth, the manager/owner of Squirrelwood, asked if we would also take Lilo, at least for 6 weeks to see if she would also work out as a polo horse for Mark. How could we say NO? Home they came and settled in nicely. Mark has already taken them to a few polo games, and has gotten several compliments on Lilo and Stitch. Now, if my ankle would just heal quickly so I can ride Stitch!

Mom, can you---?

Whenever I hear these words, I know I'll be asked to do some task. More often than not, its not a simple task like "turn on the TV". The other day Mark brought a mountain of polo wraps into the house to be washed. He didn't specifically ask me to wash them, but strategicly place them where everyone had to step over them to get to our foyer. Right know I have nothing better to do, so of course I washed the wraps. Once they were washed he asked "Mom, can you roll-up the wraps"? I don't know exactly how many wraps Mark owns, but he once told me that he only needs to wash the wraps every other week. His math is 5 horses times 4 legs, wearing wraps at least 3 times each week, so 60 wraps each week. This means he has approximatley 120 wraps! No, these were not all purchased! The majority of the wraps were ones that went unclaimed after polo season ended at Blue Sky last year. He also does a similar thing with dirty, stinky, saddle blankets. These, he conveniently hangs these on the backs of the kitchen chairs.Todays "Mom, can you" was to make egg salad sandwiches (he did boil the eggs), and fill bottles with water, and put them in the freezer so he would have cold water at todays' polo practice. He didn't ask me to roll polo wraps, but brought a bunch into the house, and piled them in the middle of the living room floor. He started to roll a few, I started to help him, and then he went to do something else, leaving me to finish the job. I commented on the fact that some of the wraps were very thick and wide, while others were very thin and narrow. He told me that he uses the thin ones under the tendon boots, and the thick ones on the horses'back legs. "Mom, can you maybe sew some bright colored thread on the ends of the thin wraps so they are easier to find"??

She's Safe

This sweet little mare is now safe in quarantine. She has a nasty wound on her poll, and is very headshy. Once she settles into her new surroundings, she will be sedated and the wound will be further examined.

Is She Safe Yet?

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I check the Camelot Feedlot horses each Thursday for polo horses. Horses are run thru the auction on Wednesday night, and ship to slaughter on Sunday, so there is a narrow time frame to pull the horses. The above mare was listed this week. Due to my current "mobility" situation, we could not take this polo mare. Squirrelwood Equine Sanctuary, located in Montgomey, NY specializes in polo horse and draft horse rescue. Upon seeing the polo mare at Camelot, I immediately emailed Squirrelwood, to see if they could take her. This morning I got the good news that they would take the mare. The next step is calling Camelot to secure the mare, transportation, and quarantine. Fortunately Squirrelwood will be able to provide these services. I will assist providing the funds for the mare's "bail". I'll keep my readers updated. Hopefully we will have saved another polo horse from ending-up on some European's dinner plate!

The Princess and the Pony

The Horse Show

Over the weekend, I had the honor and pleasure of judging 8 trail classes at a local horse show. When I aggreed to judge these classes, I assumed I would arrive at the show, be given judging cards, and just sit in my wheelchair, and watch riders ride their horses through an obstacle course. A small club was managing the show, with few volunteers. I quickly learned that I also was required to design the course, make copies of the course for riders, set-up the course, post copies of the course around the show grounds, and a few other time consuming tasks. I am still using a wheelchair, so had plenty of time to do all these tasks. I volunteered Tom to set-up the course, with me barking orders, like "move that log 3 inches to the left". I went on-line to read up on judging this type of class, and course designs. The #1 problem I had was deciding between 2 riders that scored equally. This was especially true with the kids participating in the lead-line and WT age 11 and under. The riders are so cute, and in my opinion should all receive ribbons, but it is what it is. The only way I could think of making the decision in the lower levels of classes was what I called "appearance and suitability". Was the child confident, dressed appropriately, and fit the horse. For example: Two riders complete the course perfectly, but one isn't wearing proper attire, is 5 years old and riding a 17 hand horse, and is hanging on for "dear life". The same thing occured in the upper level classes. Open English Trail, may be open, but wearing a polo shirt, or no suit jacket, is going to earn you a slighty lower score, even if your horse completes all of the obstacles. What is the rider's attitude. I'm sorry, but it is a real turn-off when you need to use a crop to get your horse over the bridge! To parents and trainers, please don't critize the judge. I'm sorry if you think the magazine in the mailbox is too big, or you can't reach the raincoat because you horse is too tall, or too small. If your horse would stand still, and listen to your cues, these obstacles would probably not be a problem! All in all it was a successful day. I couldn't have managed without Tom's help. He was a real trooper throughout the day, even though he keep saying "I don't remember volunteering for this job"! Thank you, Tom. We are already on the list of judges for next year! BTW The horse in the photo is my "Fancy" This is a photo of her and her previous owner, Jen. It was taken 2 summers ago. Fancy was 26 years old! Aren't they beautiful?

World's Tallest Holsteiner