Cats Costume Discussion Board

So, after some encouragement, I decided I'd end the ridiculous slews of shoutbox equestrian posts (which may or may not really happen) by opening up a horse/equestrian thread here since it seems we have a lot of enthusiasts.

Any sort of horse welcome, be it real, MLP, costume, whatever. Pictures, Video, Stories, tell all.

I'll start us off.

When I was fifteen, I was invited to work with the coach of the U.S. Olympic Team. Prior to this, I started riding around twelve and played in the jumpers (which was my main discipline--objective: fastest time without knocking anything down) as well as equitation (which is on the rider's form and ability to control the horse through many tests). For Equitation, I was pretty successful getting 4th overall at the end of the year for two NJPHA titles, including second place in the Finale, reserve champion at Devon, and champion at the Catskills when I was fourteen.

With my new trainers, I went from competing at a shaky 3'6 course to competing in the Low Juniors (4'3 with spreads to 5'), and was going to move into the high juniors (4'6) with hopes of qualifying for Young Riders (4'11--aka Junior Olympics for people under 21). At home, I'd school up to 5'; Olympic Grand Prixs are at 5'6 max. Unfortunately, at seventeen, I lost my best friend and horse, Grando 181, to a horrible colic where his large colon flipped 360 degrees at both ends. I didn't ride for six years after that but recently am back in the saddle trying to remember everything again as I green break a three-year-old horse and work with a green six-year-old and eight-year-old. My biggest accomplishment with Grando was getting 4th out of 98 in our first international competition (Note: In that video, round one is immediately followed by the jump off--I highly suggest watching around 1:43 if you want to speed and tight turns). Also a trick if you're looking to buy a jumper; look at their hind end, not their front. If they have an extra kick in the air after the jump pretty much to make sure they don't hit it, they're more athletic and more inclined to enjoy their job and win.

Kinda a huuuuuge text block. I owned a total of five horses and leased one, though not at the same time. All of them have wonderful, permanent homes now.

Age 17 w/ Grando 181


My other big jumper, King. (Yes, we really were going that fast.


Okay, your turn. I want to hear about and see some horses!

I wish I could say I started at an age of 4, or have been horseback riding since the very moment I learned to walk. Nope. No way. Unfortunately I waited 26 years until I sat on a horse for the very first time. Back in 2005 I was unemployed for 2 months, my girlfriend finally ditched me, so I had enough time to try something different. I usually am always open for new and crazy stuff, and horses have been fascinating me ever since. Some months before I climbed onto a horse the first time in my life I saw my gf riding a horse. She really got me going. So I went to that stable she used to ride, and said "hi ... I'd like to ride a horse". You just can't imagine how astonished / strange they looked at me ... and I don't want to know what they thought at that moment (I do know now, though, and my assumptions fully applied *lol*). However, after my first horseback riding lesson I dismounted and had SUCH a grin in my face. I was literally high for the rest of the week (my lesson took place on a Tuesday) - and I continued using lessons.

So I have been horseback riding for 4+ years, fell off a horse 4 times (and cracked laughing afterwards each time) and am about to buy me a horse within the next 5 years or so. A Shire Horse, if that rings a bell. :-)

Oh, and here some pics:

My foster horse (Panja):
http://vlado.junetz.de/pferde/DSCF0359.JPG

The horse I love to ride most (Purple Rain):
http://vlado.junetz.de/pferde/DSCF0354.JPG

The naughtiest horse in the stable (Lolita ... what a name...)
http://vlado.junetz.de/pferde/DSCF0357.JPG

And in facebook you can actually see me riding (actually flying) on Purple Rain. *lol*

Lolita looks amazingly adorable, Panja looks like a sofa, and Purple Rain (best name ever) I already saw and said looks quite spunky. Pictures woooooot!

You're lucky you've only fallen off four times. I can't count how many times I've fallen off because I've gone off well... a lot. Worst injury was being knocked out for half-an-hour and a sprained thumb with major concussion, oh wait, no, what was worse was crushing all the cartilage in both of my knees. That was awful. Thanks to one of the stallions getting me. Ugh.

OMG, it's VINTAGE ABT!

My first horse, Yankee. Off the racetrack, I taught him how to jump. Many wins... but more falls than wins (must have fallen off him at least 30 times, and he was the one who I was knocked out with). Though the falls weren't his fault; I was having a major growth spurt when I had him so my balance was changing drastically, and riding a very green horse well... wasn't so smart for a 13-year-old. He was a OTTB.

And this was my 5yo Dutch Warmblood, 5th Symphony (or Magnum as we'd sometimes call him). I went to Holland and brought him back with me! In the picture, he was probably 7.


And my third horse, Karabah. Russian TB. I fell off of him a total of 3 out of the 12 times I rode him. Hardest horse ever. I got King right after him and traded Karabah in for Grando, who of course was my precious. And yes, Karabah was only two inches too tall to be considered a pony. That was my FAVORITE groom ever, Antonio.

Last time I was on a horse I was 7, and it was a pregnant poney on a carousel at the zoo <33

I have never had any horse loving. At the camp's outing at a farm, last summer, a white mare ate grass out of my hand. She was beautiful!

What type of horse is Grando? He is beautiful. This spot fascinates me, because of the beautiful duo the horse and rider makes!

EK, if you ever come to my neck of the woods, I'd be more than happy to take you to the barn with me and we can play with the baby horses (well, they're not foals, but 3 and 4-years-old is still considered a baby!)

And thanks so much for the compliment on Grando! He was an Oldenburg, which is a germanic breed. His father, Grandeur, was extremely famous as he won the world cup three consecutive years in a row, which is unheard of, really. The star on his face kinda looks like a lightning bolt, doesn't it? What I liked about him was that even though he was HUGE and went like a freight train, he was so sweet. He still was fast and strong and sometimes hard for me to control but in general he was incredibly sweet. I think the reason why there was so much of a bond was that he was abused before I got him, really badly actually. We're not sure what happened but we could tell from how he behaved--he'd hide in his stall, which was hard to do for a big horse, but he was convinced he'd get hurt, and every person who rode him (he was for sale at the time) fell off him. I got on him, he stopped at a jump because he thought we were trying to hurt him, I went flying, prepared myself to hit the ground, and he stepped to the side and caught me so I wouldn't fall off. Then, the next few times, he jumped unbelievably high and well.

Ahh! I make no sense right now! I'm so excited about you and CS and the MLPs!

This was the day we got Grando after I tried him. He was really unfit and abused then:


Same day but I absolutely love how you can tell he's happy.

Edit: Forgot to mention I love the tiny pink snip on his nose! SO CUTE!

This was him only three months later:


And guh, I gotta show this video. This was our warm up over smaller jumps, so there's no super fast jump off and I'm going somewhat slow (he really wasn't slow ever, which was good, but he was relaxed, and we did some tight turns to practice) but I had so much fun with him, and he had fun too. The way you can tell if a horse is happy is with their ears. If they're always forward, they're extremely eager/happy.

Video of Grando! <3

I miss him so much. I can't believe it's almost seven years since I lost him... wow.

Grando sounds like he was lovely! Sorry to ask, but did he die? Was he all that old? Do horses live over a decade? I would have assumed 15 years was good for a horse? Them being at their peak at around 7-8?
I'd like to care for horses more than ride them, probably. Brush their manes, and feed them, and let them run around a vast property!

I had a lot of fun watching your video. I'm interested in the human-horse bond, and I am curious of the training process as well. People who talk about horses always sound like they are talking of human friends. I'm fascinated by the capacity of adaptation of horses. They have such memories, too. The world "trust" always comes back when a rider speaks of his horse.

I'm more confident around ponies, really. I think a part of the reasons I'd be scared to ride is because I'm so short. I'd need a small horse, and a very lazy, unexcited one at that! I am scared to ride a bike, to some extent, lol.

Ponies and foals are my thing, a lot more
I also like donkeys, but they don't really like me back, usually.

Donkeys can be evil. Except the mini-donkeys because they're too cute even if they bite.

For Grando, yeah, sadly he died in 2003. He was only 11. Horses now live up through their late 20s and often their 30s and sometimes 40s now, so he was very, very young. For competition, the prime age for competing is 9-14 so he was pretty much perfect. His large colon flipped 360 degrees at both ends; we're not sure why. We gave him a seven hour surgery and he woke up but we had to euthanize him a few hours later because he wasn't going to make it through the night and though it hurt me so much we needed to do the right thing since he was in so much pain. I was able to say goodbye at least. Oh, gets me crying any time I write about him (like now). He was just a remarkable best friend, best I've ever had without question.

We sometimes called him Pumpkin because partly his color and partly because my trainer said I was like Cinderella and he was like my pumpkin that turned into a majestic carriage. Sometimes we called him Punkin because we teased one of the girls at the barn who didn't know how to write pumpkin and misspelled it on the white board. We also called him SUPAHHHSTARRRR. He -loved- that nickname. Just LOVED it.

Bealive it or not I ride a couple off years back when I was a little kid (must have been around the same time when Cats had its premiere, gosh times flewing!) and I especially remember a norwegian fjording (I think its the name off the race in english) that I got some sort off friendship with even thou he (I think it was) wasnt mine. I dont think I have any pictures not (it was back when computers werent in every mans hand.) I wish I could get up on a horse nowadays cause riding is fun, well as long as you dont fall off... *Thaught he will cause a minor earthquake*

Grando was a gorgeous horse--and you're right, he went from looking fearful and nervous in that first photo to having his ears up and alert, therefore happy, later in the day when he found out he wasn't going to get yelled at and hit. I've been told animals really appreciate good homes if they've been abused because they know what a bad home really is. I firmly believe that, too. And a friend's a friend, regardless of species. I miss my kitties that have passed on, even though some of them died over a decade ago. Love is a powerful bond, but I also know they've gone back to their *real* home and someday I'll see them again.

I've never ridden a horse. In fact I've never really been around them. I'm very much a city girl, so for me if it doesn't have an engine or at least some sort of mechanical parts it's not a mode of transport. And I'm also allergic to everything with fur or feathers so learning to ride a horse would probably not be the best course of action for me. I'm tolerant to cats because I've had them all my life, but four is my *absolute* limit (I only have two hands and so much room for food bowls and litterboxes, and right now I'm at capacity with three! O_o), and I can never *not* have cats unless I want to lose that tolerance.

My only experience with horses has been of the plastic pastel variety, aka My Little Pony. I only go for the G1s as the G2s just look odd and the G3s just look really creepy, like they should suddenly start spinning their heads 360 vis a vis The Exorcist or have a sound chip that plays O Fortuna or something similarly creepy. My collection is only a couple dozen and I'm learning to restore them although most are in really good shape. The only thing I need to do is reglitter the symbol on a Starshine. She's got some serious glitter rust/loss and it's easy enough to do with clear acrylic medium and embossing glitter, I just need to get up off my ass and *do* it.

@Prof, you were super close! In America, we call them Norweigan Fjords! I greenbroke one who only knew how to trot. I don't think I was super successful but I got a decent canter and some jumps in, I think. Hard to remember since it was so many years ago. He was unbelievably comfortable so I don't blame you for liking them!

@DM, thanks so much and I'm glad you could see the difference. That was the fifth time I rode him but the first time he was officially my horse, and I just thought the change was drastic, and also with how he was sort of overweight but so unfit that he was boney at the same time, then in the one from Florida where we were all dressed up for a horse show he had kinda flawless conformation with solid muscle and good weight. He really became a freight train, and even though sometimes it was hard to be confident enough to keep holding him back when he'd see the jumps and say, "CAN I GO NOW?! " he was the most amazing horse ever. Funniest quirk about Grando ever in terms of his fear, this one actually is funny rather than sad: he was terrified of ponies and miniature horses. I'm not sure why, but he seemed to think there was just something wrong with them and would freak out, spin, and take off the opposite direction any time he saw one!

Also, I don't know anything about MLPs (though I have a feeling I will slowly learn since CS and EK are going to be adopting mine!) Though I gotta admit... if one played "O Fortuna" I'd so want it because that's hysterical and awesome. You should post up your MLPs. I want to see.