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fashion. Problem is I’m dying on the vine after a half lap around the arena. In front of visitors, I trip on nothing and end up with my face in the sand and Linaro is laughing. Ever see a horse laugh? It’s quite humiliating. I didn’t particularly enjoy eating sand (especially with my new tooth). But as I stood up and spit out the sand, I decided I should have tried a passage or a halt. I wonder now what the clients really thought. I think they bought a breeding out of pity. Later, in Germany, closely watching the expert runner/ handlers at the Holsteiner Verband, especially Gerrard Muffels, my education was rounded out in the fine art of running in hand. This is why I do not do it today. There is a finesse, fitness and sixth sense of the handler that can make or break the showing of a horse.


More Adventures Holsteiners are bred to jump. We’ve seen a ten month pregnant mare jump over her gate for no specific reason other than the grass was greener elsewhere. (I’ve learned the true meaning of that old saying!) The day the stallion Quinar jumped his six-foot Jurassic Horse Park gate to go for a stroll in the neighborhood was very memorable. Fortunately we were home when neighbor “A” called to say he had a large stallion in his front yard trying to get into his mare pasture (presumably to party) and “face fighting” with another stallion through a seven foot fence. Of course Quinar was all lathered when we got there and he promptly took off. He went to neighbor “B’s” garage which was occupied by the neighbor and they scared each other silly. He then came back to the fence line at neighbor “A” and after about 45 minutes we finally caught him. He calmly walked back to his stall sulking and pooped. Darn; party’s over. Years ago we bought a new toy—my


first tractor. I was excited. I was going to be productive on the farm. Finally, a way to clean out the run-in sheds with ease. But at the same time, my new toy can also wreak havoc on the environment and buildings. Have you ever forgotten how high the front loader is and taken out ten feet of gutter on the barn? It’s easy. It’s like peeling a banana. It’s still not fixed. Big thing on the “honey do” list, which is in volumes now. In all seriousness, my scariest tractor story involved


Karen. Shortly after mastering the operation of my both productive and destructive toy, I suddenly found myself creating tractor projects. One, in particular, was getting rid of the grass and topsoil where we planned to create a


Koi pond and waterfall feature. Since we live on an ocean island, Karen had walked out to the edge of the 60-foot cliff that plummets to the waterfront. She had found a perfect place to dump the grass and sod I had dug up. It had rained earlier and the steep hill of grass down to the cliff edge where Karen was standing was very slippery. The tractor was in four-wheel drive and I was going slow, but it didn’t matter. I had no control and the tractor was sliding! Reverse didn’t work. Praying didn’t work. I was headed straight for Karen who looked at me like the “deer in the headlights.” Seconds felt like hours. Just 15 feet from her I hit the lever and slammed the full bucket down. The tractor finally came to a skidded stop just four feet from the edge of the cliff and Karen. It was then that we realized it was time to change our pants… I mean our plans. Naturally, on a breeding farm, there’s the foaling


season. That magical time when at 3:00 a.m., you’re deep into a great sleep, and you must suddenly awake like a cat and race out, hopefully with clothes on, to witness the miracle of


birth. Okay, it’s not always 3:00 a.m., and this one time we were lucky. Tanner went into labor shortly after noon on a warm, sunny spring day. We casually packed up all the birthing gear and went out to assist. Another pregnant mare was in an adjacent small pasture and due about two weeks after Tanner. We had no sooner helped deliver, clean up and imprint on a beautiful, healthy filly, when we looked towards the other mare as her water broke.


Warmbloods Today 81


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