The Horse Thread

wonderpony · May 10, 2021

Harvey said:
What's a turnout?

That paddock might be the biggest one, but there are six or seven of them. I've never seen more than maybe 20 horses at once and that was only one time. How many horses are in that barn? I don't know.

I'll take some pics of the riding area next time I'm there and it's sunny.

A turnout, in this case, is a paddock or field that you let the horses into. A turnout can also be a blanket for high maintenance horses that the humans don't want to let grow a winter coat.

What's the name of the place, or the town? Nosy horse humans always want to know about facilities.

Harvey · May 10, 2021

It's called Mercer Meadows, just one part of a huge county park. Tonight I stopped at the Pole Barn "exhibit" and read the plaques.

In 1929 it was built as the AT&T Pole Farm, 1600 acres that, for years, was used as the hub in the US for international calls. The calls were routed via short wave radio towers.

If you called Europe, Asia or South America, between 1929 and 1965 from the US, your call came through the Pole Farm. In 1965 AT&T put up a satellite that put the whole thing out of business. At the end, at the peak, it was handling 2 million calls a year, and that ONE SATELLITE could handle 10m. Or something insane like that.

In 1993 our county paid 8.6 million for the land, and I think parcels have been added on to it. In 2013 it opened as a public park with horse farm, bass ponds, parks, bird sanctuary, some woods, and miles of gravel path. I can hop onto the trail from my house in the time it takes for the drummers intro in Oy Como Va. I do the same loop every night, the longest I can figure out without repeating anything. Maybe 12-15 miles?

More pics from the zone:

They Reopened My Zone

Up until recently, I underestimated my reliance on the zone.

nyskiblog.com

MarzNC · May 10, 2021

Harvey said:
It's called Mercer Meadows, just one part of a huge county park. Tonight I stopped at the Pole Barn "exhibit" and read the plaques.

Really huge . . . 1600 acres combining all the sections.

" . . .
The main barn at the Equestrian Center was built by the Janet Schaafsma in 1979. After it was acquired by Mercer County in 1994, the barn was updated to include 31 stalls, indoor and outdoor rings, and eleven horse pastures.
. . ."

Mercer County Park Commission

The aims of the Mercer County Park Commission shall be to provide recreation for all persons of all ages and creeds. To meet the recreational need as it exists and as it changes with the times and to serve, promote, encourage, and stimulate interests in leisure time activities for the benefit of...

mercercountyparks.org

tirolski · May 11, 2021

wonderpony said:
Katie and I used to do a lot of "hunter pacing." We would go out with a friend or in a group. There was a course of jumps, which you could jump or not, and a top-secret ideal time. The time is loosely based on the time a (fox)hunt would take while out hunting over the course of fences. We loved doing that She would pretty much pull me down the driveway to my friend's trailer in her enthusiasm. She loved jumping and would just lock onto the jumps and go. Once, I had to almost run her into a chain link fence to stop her after a line of jumps because she was having so much fun. View attachment 9363

A friend’s daughter worked for Beezie at her place near Caz and they flew with horses in jets to places & then went jumping.
Their horses live better than most folks do.

Broke in Europe, a Beezie Madden Story

Today, the name Beezie Madden is synonymous with American show jumping and Olympic medals. But there was a time when team USA’s most decorated rider was short on both money and good horses. Though never on ambition, it would seem. The year was 1989. Twenty-five year old Beezie (then “Patton”)...

horsenetwork.com

witch hobble · May 11, 2021

We have raised our kids as townies, but my younger daughter, currently a junior in HS, has become quite the equestrian lately. She kind of got into it late compared to lots of horse girls. Has always been an animal nerd. Trained our dog in agility when she was 9.

In 2013, on a cross country road trip, we went on an afternoon horseback tour while in Glacier National Park for a few days and it really made an impression. A few years later we got her a couple lessons for her birthday one summer. And she hasn’t looked back.

Last year, during the height of the confusion over the pandemic, with school remote and lots of things shut down, she started taking care of the 3 horses at the small barn on the edge of our town where she had been taking lessons (the owners are older and were taking lockdown “orders” VERY SERIOUSLY). She and another girl were feeding, exercising and caring for the horses all spring. Every day.

We felt very lucky that she chose such a healthy habit to occupy all that time and to keep her busy. So many peers were making poor choices or just holed up on their devices.

She joined a small team and competed in flats and fences last summer and fall, and is thinking about Ag school (Animal Science or equine science) for college.

I ski tight, steep glades. I paddle challenging whitewater. But hopping on a 1100 lb animal and jumping it over a 3’ fence? That’s pretty intimidating.

Also intimidating: owning or leasing a horse!

The “Medicine Hat” Paint in first photo is Roxy, the lesson horse that she has ridden for years.
The Bay in the second pic is Hero, who is an OTTB (off track thoroughbred.....I had to be educated too) that she is helping to train and who we might wind up leasing for a year.

I’m not a horseman but love that she gets so much joy from it. It really has become a major driving force in her life.

Harvey · May 11, 2021

Nice. She certainly looks comfortable.

Brownski · May 11, 2021

Such a difference between my experience and the refined equestrians here. We weren’t jumping stuff, at least not on purpose. We crossed a few small streams on our regular rides and occasionally a horse that had happily walked through the water a hundred times in a row would decide he/she felt like launching for the other side instead. Some times the guest stayed on but it was funny either way.

tirolski · May 11, 2021

witch hobble said:
View attachment 9373

We have raised our kids as townies, but my younger daughter, currently a junior in HS, has become quite the equestrian lately. She kind of got into it late compared to lots of horse girls. Has always been an animal nerd. Trained our dog in agility when she was 9.

In 2013, on a cross country road trip, we went on an afternoon horseback tour while in Glacier National Park for a few days and it really made an impression. A few years later we got her a couple lessons for her birthday one summer. And she hasn’t looked back.

Last year, during the height of the confusion over the pandemic, with school remote and lots of things shut down, she started taking care of the 3 horses at the small barn on the edge of our town where she had been taking lessons (the owners are older and were taking lockdown “orders” VERY SERIOUSLY). She and another girl were feeding, exercising and caring for the horses all spring. Every day.

We felt very lucky that she chose such a healthy habit to occupy all that time and to keep her busy. So many peers were making poor choices or just holed up on their devices.

She joined a small team and competed in flats and fences last summer and fall, and is thinking about Ag school (Animal Science or equine science) for college.

I ski tight, steep glades. I paddle challenging whitewater. But hopping on a 1100 lb animal and jumping it over a 3’ fence? That’s pretty intimidating.

Also intimidating: owning or leasing a horse!

View attachment 9374

The “Medicine Hat” Paint in first photo is Roxy, the lesson horse that she has ridden for years.
The Bay in the second pic is Hero, who is an OTTB (off track thoroughbred.....I had to be educated too) that she is helping to train and who we might wind up leasing for a year.

I’m not a horseman but love that she gets so much joy from it. It really has become a major driving force in her life.