Destruction

The trailer has been stripped of the carpet and the lino. The knee-crusher and back-killer of a dinette is gone. The dead space behind the dinette has been opened up and the fresh-water holding tank has been removed and cleaned in preparation for its new, more convenient and space-saving location. The old couch has landed in the landfill and the resulting space is set to be converted to office space. The hallway’s bathroom sink is gone and the plumbing in that area is now ready to accept the washer/dryer combo. The flush toilet has been removed and the composting toilet is ready to be installed. New faucets, taps and a water-saving shower head are ready to be put into position.

Most of this destruction I did myself in less than a week, and my body is well aware of the various muscles used in weilding the pry bar, cutting carpet, cutting lino, pulling staples, pulling more staples, pulling even more staples, unscrewing hundreds of screws and hauling the two loads of unsalvageable stuff off to the dump.

Construction

Saturday starts the construction phase, which will prove whether all the mental processes, scheming, plotting, imagining and planning transfer into functionality. The lino in the hall, bathroom and bedroom goes down in the morning and the washer dryer unit will be installed in the afternoon. Monday the trailer goes in to get the new battery bank installed. Thursday the truck gets an oil change and a coolant flush so that it is ready for the trip too.

I’m thinking it will take at least two days to load and semi-organize the trailer for five months on the road.

Departure

Although the actual departure date has not been determined, I will likely be gone by the end of October. The first destination is Monrovia/Arcadia in the greater Los Angeles area, where my friend Jude from Equiarts has offered free parking for my visit. Nice lady…and a talented artist too. Check out her site: www.equiarts.com 

For those of you near I-15 (from Montana all the way to California) who wish yours truly to stop by should speak up quickly. I may be able to accommodate a quick visit or two on my way to the Golden State.

Next

After California, I will either go to Nevada or Arizona, where I will continue with the modifications to the trailer (painting, organizing, storing, reorganizing, more painting, etc.).

Other locations will depend on jobs – private client work, clinics, seminars and/or equine expos and fairs.

BTW, if you want to hear me speak at a horse fair or equine expo in your area, contact the organizers and let them know. It might be a bit late for some schedules, but there’s always the next season, since I hope to do the snowbird thing next winter as well.

Other Work

Wherever I land for a stretch of time, I will be working on the next two books and some online courses. I would love to hear what sort of online courses you would like to have access to. So far a photographer will be writing some courses, a horse player (betting) will be writing at least one and I will be doing some as well (conformation and possibly genetics/bloodlines).

Mother Nature

All in all, I think that Mother Nature gave the geese and ducks the right instincts. They flock off for the winter, and I am going to join them!

Wish me luck.

I’m not exactly sure what possessed me to do it other than I could. I write (articles, ads, website text, e-books, etc.), I build websites, I give clinics and I consult (in person and online). None of which requires me to be at home. In fact, much of it requires me to be away from home.

I have often written articles from hotel rooms. Las Vegas, Normandy, Paris, Aachen and Hong Kong come to mind. I also go away to write my e-books to avoid distractions. Have laptop will travel, right? So why stay at home through another Canadian winter? In fact, why have a stationary home at all?

As George Carlin posed it: Why was I working to provide housing for my stuff, and why was I continuing to acquire stuff to fill the house?

When you haven’t spent any time in your own living room for three years, except to do the housework and water the plants, why do you need a house with a living room?

I can write from almost anywhere and basically only need a connection to send and receive. If I am mobile, I can visit more clients at their farms, I can cover a wider variety of shows or competitions and I can add to my photo collection for clinics and e-books. Marvelous!

So, I sold my car, bought a ¾ ton and a fifth wheel travel trailer (mobile office with living quarters) and will be taking this show on the road. I haven’t sold the house yet because it isn’t exactly the best time of year to do that, and I am undecided about renting it for the winter. Either way, I will be leaving the north in a month or so for warmer climes.

And strange as it may sound, I am finding the process of downsizing quite liberating. I thought I would have trouble parting with many of my acquisitions, but, no. Bags of clothing, shoes, accessories and linens have already found their way to charities. Some of the bigger pieces will be advertised for sale starting next week. Anyone need bookcases, desks, tables, chairs, living room furniture, plants?

I have one friend who has spoken for all the novels, and his Jeep will be over tonnage on his trip home. One client is taking nearly all the Thoroughbred studbooks I have amassed over the decades. Another is getting a couple of the older ones.

Which leads me to you, my dear readers…

I will still have numerous educational/reference books of the equine variety to sell. Breeding and history books from several warmblood studbooks (Hanoverian studbooks, many of the European registries, Selle Francais, Irish Sport Horse, etc.) and produce records from the Selle Francais and Anglo-Arab registries. I have vet books, conformation books, training books and even some VCR tapes (oldies, but classics). There are enough of them to fill several boxes since they fill several bookcases here. I hope to sell them all as one unit. I have no desire to sell them singly or a few at a time. And I do not relish the thought of shipping them either. I might, and I say MIGHT, be willing to deliver them if the location is on my immediate route, but weight is going to be a factor. It will also be a factor for commercial shipping and related costs for the buyer(s). Maybe a few of you could form a co-operative and buy the lot and divvy them up or sell them in a fund raiser? Maybe start a library for your horse club?

However, I do not have a list of titles at this time, but will post it when done.

And then I have a collection of caps (baseball-type) from World Cup Finals, Olympics, Breeders’ Cups, Rolex, Spruce Meadows, Pan Ams, horse expos, seminars and so on. I will sell them as a package too…I hope.

Anyone interested in any of it? If so, please contact me.

Oh, and if you want me to come to your area for horsey things or a visit, let me know and my travels may just take me to your neighborhood.

Yours truly,

Ms Ad Venture

(formerly, and sometimes still, known as Judy)

Some days I wonder just how the horse industry survives. Over the last few decades, I have observed a few things that I would consider unethical, but, either I am becoming more observant or the rate of occurrence has increased.

Agents

Some long-standing traditions within the industry have always puzzled me. How is it not a conflict of interest for an agent to take a percentage when he/she buys a horse for a client? Are they not tempted to buy the most expensive horse? In certain circles – racing for one – this has been the norm for ages.

Nowadays, that isn’t good enough for some. Now the agent, who is frequently the person who will train the horse, coach the rider and/or house the animal, is often bold enough to demand a commission from the seller too. When this tactic has been presented to me, I have simply told the agents that I will tell their client they are taking a commission off both ends. Not advised if you need to sell, but definitely advisable if you want to look at yourself in the mirror.

It is now not uncommon to hear people turned off because a stable owner, trainer, agent or coach ripped them off. Shame on all these people; they deter newcomers to the industry and make it more difficult for the rest of us.

Media

Have you noticed that many horse publications, especially the online versions are just amalgamations of press and media releases sent from various competitions? Some releases are even produced by entities with one or more vested interest and they are published as news, not the advertorials they truly are.

And, in case you think that you get information that is more balanced by reading articles that were written by journalists, know that they are often asked to slant their writing to suit the advertisers. I have actually been told (in emails, so I can prove this) that “our readers do not have that opinion.” How could they have that (or any informed) opinion if no one ever tells them another side to things?

I have had my articles edited to the point that the whole article has a different meaning. I asked for my name to be removed from one such piece as I did not agree with the publisher’s edited version. My name was not on it when it was published, but it was placed amid several other pieces by me, with no indication that it was written by the publisher instead of yours truly. My response? I quit writing for that publisher and all three of her publications. That same publisher has recently lost another journalist for ethical reasons, but there are lots of releases to fill the pages and satisfy advertisers, I guess. I shake my head in sadness.

Heros

Have you noticed that in most coverage of equestrian competitions it is more about the humans and their degree of celebrity and that very little is said about the horse? I recall a time when I learned that this horse was related to that horse or about some backstory that made the horse the hero when either watching or reading about a competition.

As horse people we all know that horses have personalities. What do you know about the individual personality of the top horses in any of the disciplines? We don’t even know a horse’s favorite treat, unless a sponsor is involved. And even then, we are led to assume that the sponsor’s product is the horse’s fave because the rider/owner/trainer is pictured with the product or is quoted in the ad.

Would you rather know that the person likes chicken curry and cheese crackers or that the horse does? Do you care what annoys or pleases a particular human or what annoys or pleases a particular horse?

Gone

Fortunately, because I charge either a flat rate or an hourly rate, I have not had to avoid mirrors on ethical grounds. But I do miss the days when I could write an article describing a famous horse, quirks and all, and actually have it published. Or when I could talk about my observations without having them go through the sponsorship screen before being published.

If you want a different product or a different industry, it is up to you to demand it. If you are reading this, you have access to the internet and can send messages to media outlets or to regulatory bodies or to sponsors, since they all have an internet presence, making your views known. Or…you can do nothing, except maybe complain.

That is the question.

Every so often I google myself, which, despite sounding rather strange, can be informative for me. It is nice to read unsolicited comments.

But…

I often find that I am quoted incorrectly or that I am used as the proof to someone’s opinion even though that ‘proof’ is inaccurate. I have found that this is particularly evident in various forums.

For instance: I have never declared that sprinters are built downhill, and most certainly have not studied racehorses with that ‘view’ in mind. In fact, I have often asked people to define ‘downhill’ in general (not racing specific) and asked for examples. Of the examples presented to me with a description of ‘butt higher than withers’, all of the mature ones have actually measured higher in the withers than at the croup…at least so far.

Maybe the next time someone points out a horse that is built downhill, you can measure it and see if it really is or whether it is an optical illusion.

One of the goals I hold dear is to be objective and to not mislead. Therefore, I try to avoid falling prey to optical illusions. In my PowerPoints, one of the first things I do is show how optical illusions can fool our eyes. Some of you may recall looking at photos right side up and then up side down. And remember, my first book was entitled Ten Conformation Myths.

As to the comments that I expect all horses to compete at the top level of a particular sport or discipline, all I can say is that one has to set the bar somewhere when trying to help people understand how conformation affects function. One way is to use the world’s best horses in order to demonstrate how they function so well in their sport/discipline and how they differ from horses in other sports/disciplines. They are used as ideals or points for comparison – and perhaps as goals for breeders and/or competitive riders and coaches – not as the only acceptable type.

Do I believe that all horses need to be built to be the best in the world? No, but I do believe that we humans need to understand that just because our horse is by Famous Stallion and from Champion bloodlines through the dam, it may not be built to meet human expectations. By showing how far a horse is from championship form (functional conformation) or from the ideal for a certain sport/discipline (functional conformation) , we should be able to set realistic expectations for that individual and keep it happy and sound within its own comfort zone. That is my sincerest wish for every horse, and it has been for a long time.

Those who have emailed me within the past couple of decades or so may well have noticed the following quote in my replies:

"My goal - as always - has been to do well by the horse. 
That usually is in the best interests of horsemen as well, 
though I know that what I say and do is not always (hardly ever!) 
appreciated in the short run." James Rooney, DVM

Just a quick note to let you know that there has been interest in staging clinics/seminars in Oklahoma and Saskatchewan as well as the one in California mentioned in my last post.

I could list several excuses, but the truth is that I simply lacked the motivation to post much of anything on this site. That is something that came to a head – or saturation point – after the WEG experience last year. Other happenings within the horse industry as well as with some of the magazines in which I am published did nothing to improve the situation.

But any lack of motivation is on me. It is up to me to get over it or move in other directions. I have done some of the latter as of late.
Watching the ParaPan Am Games on TV reminded me that mindset plays a huge roll in what one can accomplish and what one can overcome with a willingness to adapt.
Recently, I have been watching the IAAF championships in track and field with an eye towards the bone structures most suited for the various sports. There are correlations between the mechanics of certain human sports and the mechanics of various equine sports. Therefore, I consider the time spent as research and not purely enjoyment.
Usain Bolt is a prime example. No doubt he is an ideal sprinter given his record, but, at one time, he was considered too tall to be a sprinter and was steered towards middle distance running. Aside from his height, he is, to my eye, built exactly like a sprinter when it comes to bone structure and proportions.
This serves as a lesson regarding how we determine in which direction to send a horse. I seem to recall that Gifted at nearly 18 hands was considered to be too tall for dressage and that Touch of Class at just over 15 hands was considered too small for jumping. Hickstead had several knocks against him, including his height, but he won Olympic gold anyway.
So…guarding against making inaccurate assumptions should be important, right? I hope that is the case with the recent Young Horse competitions, but I find the lack of objective measures to still be a hurdle to accurately predicting future excellence and, more importantly, long term soundness. I think using more objective measures would benefit the horses, the breeders and the buyers. In addition, the Young Horse programs would benefit through an increase in more precise predictions.
It is important to remember that maintaining the status quo is usually a human decision. Nothing stays stagnant in nature. Some people have positions to protect, some have egos to guard and so on, but if you think using objective measures is a better idea, it is up to you (singly and cooperatively) to affect the required changes.

It took a while and taxed my brain, but I am pleased to announce that I built a new website. The goal was to get it online before going to the World Cup Finals and tweak it as time permits.

Thanks for the suggestion, Elise!

Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.equineconformation.com/

Life happens and plans change. In the horse world one has to be flexible.

Contrary to the original intention of covering the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas and then the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event and the Kentucky Cup, I will be covering the Las Vegas competitions only.

The Kentucky portion of the spring trip has now been cancelled.

Due to family health issues, Cathy will not be accompanying me; therefore, I will pass on the Kentucky events since I was there last year and can write my pedigree articles without attending the competitions.

Hopefully I will be in Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup races and the Keeneland Mixed Sale in the fall.