Book review

I haven't ever done a book review on my blog. Not once. There are a few books in my arsenal library and occasionally if I hit a block wall with a horse or come up against some issue in training, I typically know which book to look in and sometimes even what chapter.

So on a quick trip back to Hell I popped into the Half Price Bookstore. This is typically stocked from what people bring in to clear their shelf and space at home or sometimes overstock or other similar suppliers.

I found 3 books actually but I will only review the one for now since although I have cracked open the other two for a brief peek before purchase, I haven't gotten far enough into or thru them to form any opinion on the book yet.

Secrets of the Top Equestrian Trainers, by Tina Sederholm.

She interviewed 10 different trainers from 10 different backgrounds. While a few of them have been to the Olympics, one of them is considered "A Coaches Coach", one trained racehorses in England, one is a Natural Horsemanship trainer and while there is a strong dressage, jumping and eventing influence, reading their words you just get the feeling that they are super easy to get along with.  As we all know- there is some amount of information to be take away from each.

Taken from the chapter on Ann Kursinkski- "I have taken this maxim of Don Millman's. "Compete like you train and train like you compete." This means you are as focused and sharp when you are training as you are when you compete, and yet as relaxed in the ring as you are in training."  Now I know what you're all thinking, because I'm with you on that-> HA! Easier Said Than Done! But it absolutely can be done, of course this means a bit of disrespect and probably thinking some obscenities.  

The book is an easy read. The author's notes, questions or opinion are in Italics and lead into the next point to be made with an easy way of flowing from one to the next. It made my 2 1/2 hour flight from Hell to home go by really quickly even though I was having a tough time seeing the words. Yeah because of age and apparently I must need reading glasses now....

I found my copy for $8 and the price on the back is $29 US. I haven't gotten all of the way thru it, but so far I am not disappointed in it at all. Each trainer interview is roughly about 3-4 pages of reading, so it is an easy book to pick up for a few minutes and set down to come back to later. 

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Even if you aren't interested in competing, there's plenty of good information about how you might manage your own horses or barn. All of them seem to agree that it takes work, guts, grit, determination and dedication to get to the top or be successful. They each put in the time to get where they are and still do to stay there. Much respect, they've earned it. 

Cons- the only thing I can think of and this really isn't even any kind of a negative thing- it leaves me wanting more. I would like to see another similar book, a more updated version with more trainers. Maybe a Western version with cutters, reiners, working cowhorse, barrel racers, endurance riders and that type of thing. There could also be one focusing on driving for that matter. Each discipline has plenty of good trainers to choose from. We may not all agree on what or how other people do things, but maybe hearing their words as they explain the method of their madness, we would have an understanding of them and how or why they do things we don't understand.  

Here is the back cover with a few of the names included in the pages.

Richard Davison
Yogi Breisner
Mark Rashid
David O'Connor
Peter Charles
Rodrigo Pessoa
Lyra Kyrklund
Robert Dover
Henrietta Knight
Anne Kursinkski

Whew!

A couple weeks ago, I was riding a horse for a friend of mine. My two were tuned out in the pasture where I was riding and Katman was having a "Beyond Asshole" kind of day. He thought it was a good idea to charge the horse I was on, just about every time we came near him. Of course I scolded him and even used the horse I was on, to charge back at him with me waving my arms at him and yelling at him to "Knock IT OFF (insert random obscenities here...)!!"

When I brought them in Saturday afternoon, I looked down at my mares leg and noticed her knee was swollen. I brushed it off, thinking it was her 'bad' knee. I looked again and seen that BOTH knees were big. The right one because it just is and the left one was all puffy and swollen. Ahhh Crap!!!!

Of course as we all do, my mind raced to the worst case scenario. "OMG and Son of a B!TCH! Her good knee is f'ed up now too and I'm going to have to put her down. "  Because if her good knee is f'ed up like her bad knee, No I will not hang onto her and put her thru hell for my own selfishness. Sunday both knees were swollen, the right one more than usual. Double Crap!

I started calling aound for a vet to do X-rays. One vet clinic sees horses, but they don't have the equipment to do radiographs. Another clinic- their vet had heart surgery not too long ago and he is "In and Out" so call back to see when he might be 'IN'.  The next one was Gawd Awful expensive and then another one was waaayyy across town. Finally I got in touch with a clinic not far from the barn and was able to schedule an appointment.

The good news...

1) For one, my mare stood quietly and was a Rock Star the whole time and didn't need to be sedated or even twitched. This can be unlike her in new places and it saved me a few $$$ on the bill. Whew!

2) The rads? No fractures. My grey Arabian mare Mi Moneta, years before I got her had been kicked in the pasture and had 'spider web fractures' all over the bone in her right front leg. I feared this for my mare. Thankfully there was nothing of the sort. Double WHEW!

3) There are some changes in her knee, it looks like she has the starting of arthritis in the left knee. Not much but some and it is a relatively small area, so fairly minute.

4) The right knee, even with all of the calcification going on in the joint, the vet said that it wasn't as bad as he had likely expected. Overall, considering everything, he said her joints look really, really good for an 18 year old horse.

That was REALLY good to hear, but also not all that surprising either. She is not worked often and when she is, it isn't exactly strenuous.... Plus she gets plenty of turnout in pasture.

So there we have it. I was going to put her on a joint supplement anyways. Now I just have a more informed reason to do it. And it's not at all as bad as I was expecting. I won't be putting her down any time soon because of this. Hopefully there will be no more surprises like this for a while. A loooooooong while....

 

Sweet release

Last Monday I lost a dear friend. She had been battling cancer for the past few years. While I'm sad about the loss, I have also been relieved to know she is no longer suffering.

Rather than focusing on the fact that she's gone, I have been remembering the good things she's done and things she enjoyed in life. She loved her dogs and there were several she owned with personalities much larger than they were. 

I imagine her riding her big red horse Rebel. Mounted on him she was fearless. Rebel was a great horse in the fact he was a total badass, yet a babysitter at the same time. They both had their quirks but that's what made them a good match. 

She loved her truck and the Saab she owned long ago. Hated living in Hellizona (that makes two of us!), was very outspoken at times and she was very smart at some things like the rest of us. She was also married to a wonderful man who had also beaten cancer a few times himself. 

Although I will miss being able to call her or text, I know she will be watching over several of us and haunting us when we screw up. She had a twisted sense of humor and if she had her way, at the end of the funeral service, closed casket of course, would have had the organist repeatedly playing Pop Goes the Weasel just to screw with everyone's head.

She will be missed but I'm sure she is happy to be with her parents and family who has passed before her. 

RIP Auntie M. Love ya much and I'll see ya on the flip side!

PS- please skip the part about sorry about the loss. Instead let's use the comment section to celebrate things we have loved about those we have lost