Friday, August 13, 2010

Learning from the past but looking towards the future

I know, I know.. I said I wasn't going to go back to the forums.... but there is just this draw. I can't explain it except to liken it to a train wreck, or a movie scene in a movie where you know you should look away but you can't, you just stare at the screen in sick fascination, the whole time cringing inside because you know without a doubt what is coming next.

The topics that seem to make me sit and just shake my head the most are the ones, invariably from old timers, that lament over and over how things were in the "good old days" and sit around in sackcloth and ashes bemoaning today's standards and today's ways of doing things. Now, don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for the elderly and experienced horsemen, these complainers come from all ages and backgrounds so by "old timers" I don't mean old in age, I mean old in thought process and unwilling to open their mind or thoughts to anything except what they feel is correct and "right" the whole while casting aspersions on anything they don't understand or want to recognize as an actual workable solution.

Insofar as some people want to lament the old days and even go so far as to make comments along the lines of "all the great horsemen are gone" and "the so-called trainers / riders of today don't have a clue", that to me is thinking in a rut. How blinded you must be by constantly staring at the past to not see the plethora of skilled horsemen and women right in front of you. Yes, the old masters were great. If, however, their skills died with them then THEY are to blame for not passing this information along to future generations. I challenge this concept that there are no good horsemen or trainers available today. They are everywhere!! Just as in days past there are some that stand head and shoulders above the rest, by and large the horse industry as a whole is far superior to what it was, primarily because of this vast exchange of information and ideas. The tools we have and the access to knowledge that we have now as pertaining to training horse far exceeds what was available even 20 years ago.

Open your eyes! Yes there are some new techniques that are not optimal, but there were plenty of OLD techniques that were not optimal either. There are fresh ideas in the works on how to get the best from your horse and the level of health and well being care for horses had increased 10 fold from what it was. By and large, the horse industry has benefitted from an influx of new thought processes and ways of doing things....not from living in the past.

The horses in the show ring today are every bit as good if not better than what was available 50 years ago. If you want to argue they aren't, then chew on this for awhile - IF the horses today are not vastly improved over prior generations, then why on earth were prior generations bred on? Is not the goal of any breeder to produce consistently better with each generation of foals? If the horses are denigrating into something far less than what they were, then why continue on that line of breeding and planning? The horses today are more specialized this is true, and while both sides could be argued that this is a bad or a good thing it cannot be denied that there are many that perform well in more than one discipline and still trail ride on the weekends with their owners. This specialization doesn't make them less of a good horse than their great grandaddy that showed in 4 disciplines in a day, it makes them a highly trained, specialized athlete capable of performing their very best for what they are best suited for whether it is western, working cow, english pleasure or sporthorse. Call it a focus if you must, but I'd rather have a focused western horse that is at the top of his game than a western/english/hunter/halter that does subpar in all 4 disciplines.

There are many people out there that think their breeding program is the end all - be all of breeding yet invariably when they put a picture up it's of a horse standing, running or (and this is my favorite) grazing. (Seriously.. wtf? Ok so they can graze.. big deal?) These same people do not show typically, because they don't have the skills or techniques to produce a winning, balanced, cadenced, strong and athletic show horse for today's show ring. Yet they are the first to carry on about how things were in the good old days and how unfair it is that they can't show their horses (their untrained and unconditioned horses) in today's ring and be competitive.

There is a saying that goes something along the lines of "a rut eventually becomes a hole which in turn, will become a grave". I challenge any of you "old timers" reading this that want to think that things were so much better in the "old days" to open your eyes and appreciate what the newer generations are doing with the horses now. Don't be so quick to assume that because it's the here and now that the techniques used are inherent evil. Take the good that you can use and leave the rest, but don't get stuck in that rut so long that it becomes a grave. Otherwise you really will become "old" before your time, along with bitter and full of anger and hate that will wash over everything in your life.

Great Great Grandaddy Ibn Ibn Mr Perfect

yeeaaahhh....

A simple post on facebook elicited many responses that felt the same as I do on this topic.

What a boost the Arabian breed would get if more people quit talking ad naseum about what the great grandsire of their horses did and get out and start actually DOING something with the horse standing in front of them.

Right now standing in my field (if you can call a dirt lot a field) I have a daughter of Imperial Imdal and a daughter of Imtaarif. I won't go into the long list of accomplishments of all of these ancestors because quite simply, there is enough of that online. Google is your friend, l2useGoogle :) Are they genetic powerhouses? Who knows, the Imdal daughter is quite old and her breeding future is iffy at best, the Imtaarif daughter while built like a brick poophouse is unproven under saddle and while some would take her and breed her just to be breeding her, personally I want to see what her disposition is like as a riding horse first. To many in the Arabian breed and especially in the Straight Egyptian world, I have committed a mortal sin by not breeding this mare as soon as her age dictated she should be. That age being about 4 by most standards, 3 years old by many and by some crazy goofball standards, she should have been spitting out foals by 2 years old. That is a WHOLE other topic I will touch on at some point, some people need beating. Anyway, there she stands, a 6 year old virgin who may or may not be bred next year at age 7 depending on her training status at that time. Even my stallion who is conformationally correct and 43% *Ansata Ibn Halima by pedigree (had to get the required pedigree plug in there of course!!), is 7 years old with no foals. The question I get asked the most? Any foals yet? Not - How is he doing with training? Does he round well and use himself? Is he athletic? but basically all they want to know is do his testicals work. *sigh*

Now, my thoughts are this. The Arabian has been touted for centuries as being the consummate riding horse. That is R.I.D.I.N.G. horse, not standing around and looking pretty horse - though they do that with great aplomb too. This breed of horse was developed over centuries through some of the harshest terrain on this planet to be war horses. They lived with their masters, they were protectors, traveling companions, and were a daily source of use in some capacity for their owners, all in all they were of use to the tribes. The horses were revered and honored and cherished yes, but they were also useful ... they had a purpose which was not "stand around an be prettiful". Their beauty, the balance and harmony of their build, comes from their need to be functional and usable!

Along comes modern times and while we don't need to use the horse for travel or sustenance much anymore, man in all his infinite wisdom has morphed a living breathing war machine into a living breathing piece of art. At face value this is not a problem, but how many have ever seen a picture and knowing it was a painting, accepted the thought that artistic value being what it is the picture will never imitate exactly something in real life. That is why it is considered "art" and not "reality". Can you picture for a moment what a sight it would be if some artistic photos of human beings came to life exactly as they look in the art world? For that matter, it frightens me to think of coming face to face with some photographic subjects as well.. but I digress.

What is happening more and more with the Arabian breed especially, but you see it with all breeds of horses is that the human element is turning this living breathing creature into exactly what they see in old photographs and artwork. They place so much emphasis on bloodlines and pedigree and breeding the perfect individual horse (right down to measurements!!) that they have neglected the most fundamental element of what makes that horse an Arabian... the usefulness and soundness of the animal, not only physically but mentally as well.

I've heard it said that if the Bedouins could not handle a stallion they would not geld it because of religious reasons, but had no problem cutting it's throat. Yet we see time and time again stallions standing at stud that do nothing but create foals.... and for 2 generations their ancestors have done nothing but create foals! Then when one does wind up being tested or tried for performance the owners are shocked that their sweet lovable stallion suddenly isn't so lovable when you're asking him to actually WORK doing something! Yup, you guessed it, that bucking snorting bitching pain in the butt horse would have been a grease spot on the desert and the tribe would have moved on.. because life and survival depended on the horses being hardy but also being sane enough to be used as they were intended. You think they looked very kindly on the war mare that had to be lunged prior to every ride? Or refused to go across the ditch? Or bolted off at every shadow?

"There goes Akmed again, I knew he shouldn't have halter trained that mare prior to war training her *tsk tsk* damn those BNT!!"

I know I wouldn't be amused, especially when I was sitting butt in the dirt, watching my horse take off without me and the opposing tribe standing over me grinning like Chessy cats. *gulp*

In any case, I fail to be impressed anymore by horses that have pretty heads but no substance, that have a show win list at halter a mile long but nothing for performance. Yes, I realize many are just trail horses but in my area "just a trail horse" dictates directly into "crazy as a loon at a show and can't round up or collect for crap!" So no, it doesn't impress me. I've had a couple of foals at the house that were destined to be "just trail horses" because they did not have the conformation or mind to be an athlete - and that mare and sire were never bred again because of this. End of the day I want a horse that moves naturally round, that is balanced and has fantastic legs. A pretty face is nice, but is so subjective as to differing tastes. Personally I like a nice triangular shaped face and if it's dished that's great, if not it's not a big thing as long as it's supported by awesome legs, a well laid back shoulder, a deep hip with a HUGE motor and a brain between the ears that doesn't leave me in the dirt waiting for the neighboring tribe to come ruin my day and steal my cattle and womens because I had the misfortune of drawing the straw to ride the trail horse that day ;)

People.. they are riding horses. Get out and ride your horses before you breed them. Let them earn the right to to produce more, otherwise you are doing the breed and yourselves a great disservice. I won't even touch on the dog food brand "Pedigree" because it's well, just far too easy!! The auction houses are full of great pedigrees with nothing else going for them.... except that their great uncle 3 times back was a National Champion Whatever. Pfft... My great grandaddy could have been Einstein and it wouldn't have gotten me through advanced algebra. Stop resting your butt on the laurels of the names that have gone before and start resting your butt in a saddle on the back of the horses you are trying to convince John Q Public are so wonderful. Your farm, horses and reputation will all benefit from it.

As for myself? We have our first show this weekend, a warmup for a rated show in September where my stallion - the one with no foals on the ground - will be shown Halter, Sporthorse in Hand and Sporthorse Under Saddle, one class with a junior rider. There's just something about the smell of leather and sweat that makes me think "now this is a horse I could enjoy having in the tent" and he's on his way to earning his right to be a sire. Just don't expect me to be impressed when I ask and you have to tell me that your horses are just halter horses or just trail horses. What a sad day in the history of a war horse, to be nothing more than a bauble on the end of a lead line or plodding down the trail because they couldn't race across the sand if their life depended on it, and it very well might one day!