Stu's Fam!

So, let's talk about Stu's fam! For starters, his JC name is String Music, and he ran one whole race....where he was dead last until the homestretch, and only passed some horses because they faded due to actually exerting themselves. 

Anyway. Stu's sire was Street Cry.

What a chunk...

Street Cry won the 2002 Dubai World Cup, the 2002 Stephen Foster Handicap, and placed in the 2002 Whitney Handicap, but he's probably best known for siring both Zenyatta and Street Sense. He stood at Jonabell Farm, with a $150,000 stud fee, then later stood at the Darley Stud in NSW. Oliver Tait, Darley's COO, said that he produced "easy horses to train" that were "tough, willing, and genuine." He was euthanised in 2014 due to a neurological condition, though I'm unsure of the exact condition (would love to know). He sired 7 Grade I winners prior to his death. 

Street Cry goes back to the well-known, polarizing Mr. Prospector, via his sire, Machiavellian. 

The infamous Mr. P.

Mr. Prospector was fast, sired gobs of foals, but is also vilified for passing along crooked legs and soundness issues. With that said, he's sired some sound ones - Fappiano is a great example of a TB that a lot of us "like to see" in a pedigree when picking a prospect. 

With that said, Machiavellian's dam, Coup de Folie, was sired by Halo, who was by Hail To Reason, two names I very much like seeing in a pedigree! Granted, they are very far back in Stu's lines, but I was still pleased to see them. Her dam was by Hoist The Flag, another nice sporthorse name, and by Natalma - who was Northern Dancer's dam, too. 

Halo / Hail To Reason - both droolworthy, even if Halo was batshit. 

Stu's damline starts with Contralto, a 2002 model with one start. I can't find anything on her, other than that, unfortunately. However, what's so exciting about her is her sire, A.P. Indy.

I see a lot of him in Stu...

A.P. Indy was the 1992 Horse of the Year. He won the Peter Pan Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths, then went on to win the Belmont in 2:26, and eventually the Breeder's Cup Classic, which was the final race of his career. His dam, Weekend Surprise, also sired Danzig, a name I wish was in Stu's pedigree. A.P. Indy went on to sire horses such as Pulpit, Rags To Riches, and Bernardini. His sire, of course, was Seattle Slew. 

Seattle Slew - 1977 Triple Crown winner.

Contralto's dam was Note Musicale, who was by Sadler's Wells - yet another great name in a sporthorse pedigree.

Sadler's wells - such a looker.

Sadler's Wells won the Irish 2000 Guineas, the Eclipse Stakes, and the Phoenix Champion Stakes. He later went on to be the leading sire in GB and Ireland 14 times, and sired 323 stakes winners! His name is found in several UL event horse pedigrees. 

Two other names way back in Stu's family are Buckpasser (1966 Horse of The Year), Secretariat (though that's not surprising, haha).

Of course, you always have to look at the horse in front of you, but there's something fun about researching bloodlines. 

:D 

Willful Ignorance is Destroying Horse Sports

Willful ignorance.

There are a variety of definitions for this behavior, and it's pretty self-explanatory, but I think my favourite comes from Margaret Heffernan, who writes (in her book, Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril) that we are sometimes blind in situations where “we could know, and should know, but don’t know because it makes us feel better not to know.”

Willful ignorance happens all the time. I'm guilty of it. You're guilty of it. It's human nature - we like to be comfortable. The most distressing example of willful ignorance/blindness probably happens within families in regards to child abuse. Once cases break the news, we ask "how could they have been so blind?" Well, willful ignorance is sometimes the reason.

But, what does this have to do with horses, and horse sports in particular?

When I was younger, there were 2 ways to increase your knowledge about horses and riding: read books, and take lessons/learn from someone in-person. I did both of these things, of course, as did many of you, I'm sure.


However, the books were relatively few in number (compared to today), and you either played roulette at your local tack store, ordered a title that looked interesting from one of the few mail-order catalogs that existed, or your heard about a book via word-of-mouth and you ordered it from a local bookstore. We didn't have the luxury of surfing around Amazon or any other online retailer, back then. Most of my books had photographs in black and white, if they had any images at all - and they were from film photos, not digital ones!

Trainers were sometimes found via the good old phone book, but were also often suggested via word-of-mouth, and by how well their students rode. This is true today, to some extent, but the biggest difference is that it was much easier to hide abusive practices and improper training techniques before smart phones and the internet came along. 

Nowadays, though, information is available 24/7 via the internet, and even the quality of books has improved. Smart phones allow us to capture data in the moment, and make it immediately available to the rest of the world. Knowledge that I might not have been able to find at my public library in the 80's and 90's is now available for free, and instantly, at the click of a mouse. This is cause for celebration, certainly!

So, with all of this easily accessible information, with all of the videos and photos that we can reach for free online, why is it that horse sports seem to be going backwards in terms of animal welfare and rider/trainer knowledge?

I know I'm not the only person to notice this, but it's not standard dialogue at most, if any, barns. And I believe that's because 99% of riders and trainers are willfully ignorant. Let's apply Heffernan's definition a little closer to home:

We all could know how the horse's muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments all work together, and what that means in regards to training methods.

We love our horses, so we should know this information in order to preserve their mental and physical health.

But we don't, because it's easier for us to keep using incorrect and potentially harmful methods instead of admitting we might be wrong, and it's less work to keep using the same method than take the time to expand our knowledge.

And, at the end of the day, none of us want to admit that we might be harming our horses, because that is an uncomfortable proposition...it makes us feel better to ignore this possibility.

Ouch, right? Even worse, is that many people, when presented with reports and information, still turn blind eyes to the problems with their methods via the backfire effect. My favourite one of late is people that continue to argue for the use of certain training gadgets, even when presented with the basic physics that make their very arguments invalid.

All one has to do is look at the recent Adelinde Cornelisse and Parzi situation to see willful ignorance in full-force. It was way easier to shower her with praise for a "great decision" than to call her out for trying to compete an ill horse that was clearly not okay even in the warm-up, because doing so would be uncomfortable for everyone involved - not just Cornelisse herself, but supporters of dressage, in general. It's never fun when your sport comes under scrutiny for welfare concerns. But, sometimes it happens, and the right thing to do is face the concerns openly and honestly, not sweep them under the rug via spin doctoring.

This sort of behaviour is all over the horse world. It ranges from minor/innocuous (ex. the concept that polo wraps can actually provide support, etc.) to major/abusive (ex. rollkur, LDR, bloody mouths, bloody spur marks, etc.). And I believe it's one of the reasons we keep seeing so many strange things in the horse world, these days.

But, here's the good news.

It doesn't have to be this way!

You have the power to change. Yes, you! And, you have the power to influence other people to change, too, by setting an example and challenging them to do the same.

Double-jointed snaffle

Stop simply parroting things you hear other riders and trainers say or recommend. Question everything!

Have you been using a certain bit for years, and you either can't remember why, or you use it because you -know- it's a good bit?

I challenge you to do research on bits and bitting, and - here's the clincher - to be open minded to ideas and information that are outside your comfort zone. You may walk away from your research feeling the same as you did when you went in. But, be open to the concept that at the very least you'll walk away with some new knowledge, and you might even have a new point of view on equipment.

The trick is to dig deep! Don't just read the first "article" you find about French-link snaffles (since that's the "gentle" bit of the moment), because it'll just tell you what you've been saying for years, and that's not the point. Keep looking. Keep searching. Don't just look for information about bits. Instead, research the anatomy of the horse's mouth, learn where the nerves are in the horse's face, challenge the claims that bit manufacturers make, think about how you apply rein aids and what effect that has on the bit in the mouth.

Once you find some information, check and see who wrote it. Are they selling a product? Who funded their research? Is the research credible? In other words, be cautious.

It's going to feel like a stretch. It might feel gross. It will probably feel like a lot of work.

Be open. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm very firm in my beliefs when it comes to training methods and equipment. But, on the same hand, I'm also constantly searching and constantly testing my beliefs. It's the only way to fight the willful ignorance trap.

You might be sitting there, saying "Why bother? my horse is happy, I'm happy, we're getting good scores, he's sound....there's no need!"

If that's your mindset, well, I can't change that. I do, however, have to reference Albert Einstein to end this post, though.

You owe it to your horse to know how his body works, and to actually know how your equipment effects him, instead of being a sheep that repeats things you've been told by trainers, manufacturers, and other riders.

Stay thirsty for knowledge, my friends!

#nosebandchallenge

 Okay, so the meme is a little goofy-looking, but it's still got a great message...

Forget just UL riders - I challenge everyone to do this! And the two fingers have to be in the location in the photo, not in the natural hollow/depression formed by the horse's face. You know, the place where most people check, where it's easy to shove fingers into and claim the noseband is loose? Yeah, not there.

It's important to remember that the cavesson lies practically on top of the infraorbital foramen, which is where one of the branches of the trigeminal nerve emerges. 

Additionally, for those of you that use flashes/drops/figure-8s/etc, these nosebands lie nearly right on top of another branch of the trigeminal nerve, which emerges from the mental foramen on the lower part of the face.

Horses also need mobility in their jaw to allow for normal swallowing, which is a great indication of relaxation. Because the body is made of connected parts, tension in one area easily reverberates to the rest of the body.

So, for those of you already riding with loosey-goosey nosebands, I'll up the ante: take the noseband off, especially you "dressage" riders. The whole point of dressage is lightness and harmony...what better way to show this off than be removing what should be a superfluous piece of tack, in the first place? #ditchthenoseband 

Part of our job as riders/trainers/horse lovers is understanding what powers these beautiful animals, as well as taking responsibility for the equipment we use and how we use it. It is vital that we don't lose sight of the ethos of horsemanship.

Jerks!

I was at a horse show, recently, and overheard someone complaining that their horse had "turned into a jerk," once they went into the ring. The people listening laughed and commiserated with the rider, and I think one of them even scolded the horse in a teasing fashion.

Now, bear with me, here. The rider was being relatively light-hearted, and she certainly didn't mistreat her horse in any way, at least not that I saw. We've all had bad rides, and we're entitled to complain, aren't we?

The complaining isn't the problem. It's the mindset that's the problem. Even if it's said in jest, a statement like this is a bit concerning.

Of course, there are many riders out there who rally behind the flag of The Horse, reminding all of us that horses don't have to do any of the things we request of them, that we should thank The Horse for being so willing and forgiving, and that we should always look to ourselves before blaming The Horse for (in our eyes) unwanted behaviour.

The problem is that I keep running into riders that repeat this mantra, yet turn around and label horses as jerks, failing to take responsibility when things go wrong during a ride.

There are many reasons why this happens. One of the major ones is probably a chain reaction, where this sort of blaming mentality is passed down from a trainer to a student, who then becomes a trainer, and passes it along to their students, and so on and so on.

I think the root of the problem runs much deeper than that. I think there's an obvious lack of accountability in society today - all you have to do is open Facebook and you'll see a tidal wave of posts blaming others for problems, yet how often do you see someone take responsibility for their own actions, via social media? My guess is never.

Workplace problems are blamed on bosses and coworkers, marital stress is blamed on the other partner, canine behaviour problems are blamed on the dog (this is a sneaky one, but isn't it remarkable how so many dogs out there today are "rescues" that were "abused" and this excuse is used to cover every issue from aggression to inappropriate urination?). The list goes on and on, but it's a slow waltz to a melody of pointed fingers.

Knock this shit off. Grow up, acknowledge your faults and shortcomings as a rider, as a friend, as a lover, as an employee. And then DO something about them.

Your horse - and the people in your life - will thank you.