A very welcome Cold Front

The foals down the road were happy tonight when I visited. The 90+ high humidity weather finally broke and we were cooler with lots of wind. This made the foals a bit frisky. Since I was by myself I had to watch so that they didn't run into me so the photos aren't that great but here's a few starting with Aoife as the leader of the pack and ending with poor Banner's temporary but very motley appearance.

The motley one :-D

Nothing noteworthy really

I haven't posted for a little while as there has been a dearth of items to mention. Because I'm a native Iowan, the weather always comes up in any conversation. It originates from it's status as a farm state. The farmers always talk about the weather and I will guarantee that the weather that we are experiencing is the wrong weather for the farmers. It's too wet to plant or we didn't get enough moisture, or it's too dry etc. So I have to say that my propensity for bringing up the weather is inborn. That said, I will tell you that it has been very oppressive here the past few days. The kind of days where you're wet within a minute or two of movement. We actually turned our air conditioner on last night which we are normally too cheap to do.

Anyway, enough of that. Aoife, aspiring princess, has learned that she has to share the human with her peers. She can not push, nudge, kick or in any other way the other foals in order to hog the human's attention. She waits very patiently now while Banner and Brian get their scratches and rubs and then is thrilled when it is her turn. She is quite a character. I'm very pleased that Brian has decided that humans aren't so bad after all and that they can scratch places he can't reach by himself. Banner is adorable and she's starting to grow into her body - looking like a genuine Irish Draught.

Calum is going to make someone exceedingly happy. He is ravishing when he struts his stuff. A couple of nights ago his sister Una decided it was time to run around and buck and kick. That of course got everybody going (except Portia who is above that kind of thing when she's in charge) and they were having a great time. I wish I had my camera because Calum was extraordinary -- he had incredible presence and you couldn't take your eyes off of him. He's a lovely young guy.

Tidbits

Everyone's settled in very nicely. For all the gray Irish Draught fans, Aoife is going gray. I realized that Brian and Calum each have a harem at the moment. Brian has Maggie mom, Alanna, Banner, Grania and Aoife. Calum has Portia mom, Ellie, Neela and Una. Brian, the stand-off, independent young colt is coming up to me asking for attention now. He has discovered that he likes to be scratched. Aoife and Banner are actually arguing over which one of them I am going to scratch. The ones down the road are thoroughly enjoying the time down the road with the endless grass (so far), the stream and the hill.

Horse breeding is an art

I am very troubled about the future of the Irish Draught. There is no agreement within the different factions about what an Irish Draught is much less what it should be. Without a vision to work toward there is only chaos, ineptitude and animosity. While the infighting continues, the Irish Draught loses vital bloodlines and traditional traits every year. As humans, we seem to be unable to leave something alone, we have to "improve" it. The lovely ID is quickly losing its uniqueness and charm and hence its intrinsic value. Let's not force all horses into some homogenized warmblood template. Diversity is the key here.

Over the years. countless people have contacted me about the Irish Draught and the conversation has turned to their dissatisfaction with the continental warmbloods. It goes something like this. "They are just too darn hard to motivate" and "no fun to ride". Or they "have invested a small fortune in them" only to have them break down to become expensive lawn ornaments...or they "just can't ride the extravagant movement". My philosophy is that first and foremost, a horse should be easy to handle and fun to ride. If you can't enjoy riding the horse or you can only ride it safely in an enclosed arena what's the point? Who wants a horse that only a professional or advanced amateur can ride? I can attest to the fact that no one has ever contacted me and asked for a horse that isn't sound and is difficult to get along with.

The continental warmbloods have been very strict with their acceptance standards for their breeding stock and seem to have had a particular focus on movement for dressage. Over the years, I've often spoken about my thoughts about inspections and the resulting numbers on a piece of paper. I think I've even inspired others to use the same idea in various arguments. What I see in the warmbloods is an increasing emphasis on one trait with the resulting loss of temperament and soundness. That one trait is movement. The most outspoken Irish Draught breeders are falling into the same trap and the result is beginning to show with less bone and more difficult temperaments becoming evident in the Irish Draught.

The newest plan for saving the Irish Draught involves the suggestion of utilizing a rating system that has been successful on livestock. I personally see little of value in this idea for a couple of reasons.

Number one: The end result is merely more numbers on a sheet of paper and
Number two: I'm not breeding livestock. I'm breeding companion animals and partners in riding adventures. The traits necessary to attain this result are intangible.
Number three: The goal of the system is to "improve" the breed.

From my point of view, there isn't ever going to be a good workable plan for the simple reason that breeding horses is an art and you can't quantify art. As soon as you forget this fact, you've already lost the fight.

Recommended reading:

The Old Sort: of Connemaras and Sweet Corn by Caroline Nesbitt www.creativenonfiction.org/thejournal/articles/issue12/12nesbitt_theoldsort.htm

If the link doesn't work, either cut and paste the URL or use the links section to the left of these blog entries.

Home pasture

After Alanna and Banner's move, we consolidated the young girls with Portia and Calum. We thought there might be a huge fuss with Portia fighting tooth and nail to keep the girls away from Calum but it didn't happen. All went smoothly and everyone is getting along really well.
Below are a couple of photos of the yearling sport horse filly Neela showing off and one photo of little Calum.