Horseplay

I spent Saturday morning watching Ian and Mila while their parents painted an upstairs bedroom. Ian owns a large stuffed pony...

... and he started a game of "get bucked off, bump your head, and get a kiss from Grammy" that he repeated over and over.

 I was able to get a quick film on my phone - we must've played this fifteen times before he tired of it!

I need to get that boy a helmet.

A Snowy Mess

I was wise yesterday to visit Abby before the snowstorm hit us today. It has been a rough day.

I didn't build this snowman, but he sure looks like how I feel!

When I got up this morning, the weather app on my phone had us under a winter storm warning with about twelve inches of snow expected.

And yet, our superintendent didn't even call for a two hour delay - he kept schools open, despite the fact that the storm had arrived early and we were having a rain/sleet/snow mixture several hours before the school buses began running their routes.

At school, the entire staff was dismayed and disgruntled that, with such dangerous weather coming in, our students were being asked to attend school. Maybe if we were a school corporation that was in town, it might have been reasonable, but we aren't. We are a rural school district. Geographically, we are the second largest school district in the state of Indiana, and we put 1.5 million miles on our buses annually as a result. (I think our square mileage is around 450 square miles or so. )

Our buses negotiate the Wabash, Wildcat, Wea, and Tippecanoe river valleys on one lane roads in isolated areas. Often the school bus is the first vehicle on the road for the day, not a good thing when the road conditions are poor.

We paid big time today for our superintendent's decision. As the weather worsened, mid-morning he announced that we would close school early at 1:30. We pulled out our emergency dismissal plans and made sure every child knew what his or her family's plan was to get them home.

The high schools dismissed at 12:30, an hour earlier than us (our buses run double routes, high schools first, then elementary/middle schools next.) At 12:45, I received word that already a bus was stuck in the parking lot at one of the high schools and blocking all traffic.

About fifteen minutes later, a fellow teacher's son texted her and said his bus had been out running its route but was now stuck in the snow "somewhere."

And so the afternoon went.

1:30 came around and only three of our twelve buses had arrived. Those children were loaded and headed out for home. The buses trickled in, but an hour later, we were still waiting for three buses. (Part of the problem was that two had arrived, but were stuck in the snow on the lane leading up to Hershey.)

 I could see one of them out my classroom window.

 Looks like it narrowly missed that electrical pole when it slid off the road!

Finally at 3:00, an hour and a half after the children had officially been dismissed, we were instructed to bring our remaining kiddos to the gym. I had six of my twenty-four still with me, and was not surprised to see about two hundred other children pouring into the gym.

Our principal quickly met with the teachers, thanking us for staying, but then asked those of us who lived the furthest away to please leave and not stay in the worsening conditions. I am one of those who travel the furthest, but, like the others who lived far away, I stayed until we got a movie going for the remaining kids and one of the three missing buses had arrived and was loading.

(Photo from WLFI.com)

A picture of another one of our buses which has slid off the roadway and is on the edge of a ditch.

Then my own saga began.

Like the two buses, I got stuck in the parking lot and had to be pushed out by three other teachers.

Then while trekking down the rural roads and sliding around in the heavy, wet snow, my wipers stopped working and my windshield quickly became snow covered and I could not see. I couldn't pull off anywhere, (there are only fields on either side of the road and I knew I would get stuck again)  so I had to put my flashers on and stop right there on the road, get out of the car, clear the heavy snow off my clogged windshield, and get back in.

To my dismay, I discovered as I began driving again that my windshield wipers were still not working and my windshield was quickly covered up with snow again. Miraculously, a small hole stayed open and I was able to limp into the gas station a couple of miles down the road near where the interstate crosses the countryside.

I was pretty shaken, but I got out, cleaned the window again, and tested the wipers a couple of times to make sure they worked. Gathering my courage, I got back on the road and headed toward home.

Normally I take the interstate home, but an emergency vehicle was blocking the on-ramp. Up ahead on the road was this:

(Photo from WLFI.com)

Several jack-knifed semitrailers that had closed down the freeway.

(Photo from WLFI.com)

The interstate was icy and snow-covered in some spots, and there had been a parade of alerts crawling across my phone all day as the storm progressed, what with accident after accident shutting down sections of it for a couple of hours.

So, I ended up going a different route home, taking Highway 52 and its bridge over the Wabash River at the base of a significant hill. Normally the bridge and hill aren't a problem. But when you have snow and ice... The bridge ices quickly and is the site of frequent crashes. And the hill - you have to get a good head of steam to get up it. Not easy when the snow and ice are forcing you to crawl.

Luckily I made it over the bridge and up the hill safely. Turning onto the road that led to my home meant that I was back onto snow covered roads that desperately needed plowing. I drove slowly to avoid sliding and skidding as best I could.

Almost home! My neighborhood is on the far edge of town and is surrounded by fields, so its streets were deeply covered in snow. As I came around a bend in the road, I saw it was blocked by another school bus from our school corporation!

I live on a street parallel to the one it was blocking, so I was able to get home. (I got stuck in my own driveway, though, and couldn't get into the garage.)

 I could see the bus out my dining room windows and across my neighbors' yards. It was there until 4:30 PM, three hours after dismissal time. Those poor kids!

I am home now, and our buses have completed their routes. My guess is that we will have a snow day tomorrow as we are expecting more snow, the winds to pick up, plus the sheriff and county management have issued travel advisories, asking folks to stay home.

I sure hope a lesson has been learned from all of this, and that the next time we have warning of a bad storm, a better judgment call is made.

And, as I think of Abby, I am grateful she has a warm barn, her BFF Diablo, and lots of fresh hay and water to help her get through this awful storm. But she'll have to wait for her next delivery of candy canes. I'm staying home until the weather clears and the roads are plowed!

That Horsey Smell

A big winter storm is coming our way tomorrow with heavy snowfall and blowing winds  - we're already under a winter storm warning. I doubt I will be able to get to the barn for a couple of days as a result, so I made sure that tonight I got out to see my girl.

She heard my car, greeting me with a soft whicker and coming up to the gate before I could even call to her. (Naturally her BFF, Diablo, came right up, too.)

I gave Abby a couple of candy canes, and she crunched them happily and then nuzzled me, looking for more.

 Oops! I'd come out to the barn straight from work, so I still had my good clothes on. But I really don't mind remnants of hay on my clothing.

Or my hands, either. Abby licked them after she ate that last candy cane, but her nose had some dirt smudges on it that she transferred to them.

There was a sweet aroma that came along with the dirt - hay mingled with horsey goodness.

My hands smelled so good, I waited until I got home to wash them.

My Circus Ponies

I was chatting with a hobby friend about my love of circus ponies, and she suggested that I do a post about the circus ponies (and horses) I have in my collection. It was a fun challenge and it took me a bit to pull everyone together. This post is for you, Sue!

Freeman Leidy Circus Ponies

What I can gather about these is that they are from a 1930s/1940s pottery in California.

 (Picture of pink pony is from eBay seller.)

I had no idea how big or heavy these pieces are when I first discovered their existence! They are about twelve inches high and weigh a lot. I'd guess about two pounds each.

 There are two ponies, a head-up and a head-down (reminds me of the Hagen Renaker ones!)

 I have both the purple ones now and have my eyes out for the blue pair. They are hard to find undamaged - in my purple head-up pony, the china is crumbing inside that hole where the plume broke off. They are big, heavy, and highly fragile. (I have since fixed that plume.)

I also have the coach that goes with the purple ponies. Like them it is massive, but the interior is hollowed out as though it was meant to be a planter. As a result, it is not as heavy as the ponies. It, too, comes in pink and blue as well as purple.

Hagen Renaker Circus Ponies

My first two came from my friend, Nancy Falzone, many years ago. I fell in love with them and started keeping my eyes open when I discovered they had been reissued in other colors.

I have a second set of the black and white Hagen Renaker circus ponies. I bought these from Barb Ness.

Lynn Lindgren sold me the next two HR circus ponies.

(Both photos are from Lynn's MH$P sales listings.)

That vivid blue harness color is gorgeous!

I have another head-up pony with maroon harness.

I bought this one from Lucy Kusluch.

 I have no idea who I bought this piece from, but it was most likely eBay.

The same with this pony - probably eBay.

Shiken Circus Ponies

Hagen Renakers have been copied frequently in the past, and Shiken is one of those that copied them, sometimes very closely.

I saw this one on eBay and thought it was the real deal until I looked more closely at the ad. (Photo taken from eBay listing; Barb Ness, seller.)

She had included several photos, including one with the Shiken label.


Brimm-Bradley-Kelvin

 Gayle Roller had these Brimm-Bradley-Kelvin circus ponies in her collection and sold them to me. (Photo by Gayle.)

 Their scale is a little off when you put them all together.

But I was really glad to add them to my growing circus pony collection!

Donna Chaney Circus Pony

Donna Chaney custom painted this curio sized resin circus pony for me. Someday I will buy one of her large china pieces - a grail for me!

Breyer Circus Ponies
Kathleen Moody is one of my favorite sculptors - her pieces always seem so alive. I think her circus ponies are charming.

(Photo from Google images.)

My pair is on a lower shelf in my curio cabinet with lots of pieces I'd have to remove in order to get to them. So, I am using a stock picture rather than risk breakage.

Breyer also made this pair in palomino for BreyerFest; I have yet to acquire those.

Remco Horse at Liberty

I got this model kit as a child for Christmas and quickly assembled it. 

 (Both photos of Remco kit and assembled piece from Google Images.)

It is tucked away in my hobby closet, and the glue has yellowed the seams badly. But I still love it!

Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus Horses

These two gaudy pieces are souvenirs from the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus.

 Anyone who knows Breyer can tell that this is a knock-off of the Breyer Western Prancing Horse.

And that this pearly guy is Breyer's Western Horse (which is a knock-off itself of a Hartland piece.)

But I don't just collect circus ponies - over time, I have collected accessories to the circus.

Like these Hagen Renaker circus dogs.

(Picture taken from Lynn Lindgren's MH$P post when I bought them.)

They were copied by (who else?) - Shiken.

(Photo by Nancy Kelly and from her sales post.)

I have these three Hagen Renaker circus elephants.

(I'm on the lookout for different colored bases.)

And, I also have three Breyer elephants, but I don't have the one from Circus Boy. It's one I am currently looking for.

I love the comical Hagen Renaker camels.

I am not sure they are really supposed to be circus animals, but with those fez hats on top, they sure look it to me! So I include them with the other circus pieces of my collection.

Finally, there is my favorite piece of jewelry (wedding rings aside.) My circus ponies pin!

I found it in a junk shop in tiny Gilman, Illinois way back in the 1990s. It cost $3. I have seen them listed on eBay and Etsy for $75!

There are some other harness color variations of the Hagen Renaker circus ponies, and then that Breyer Circus Boy to find. But the hunt is part of the fun of collecting, so I am keeping my eyes peeled!

Sue, thanks for the suggestion! This was a fun post to research and write.

Speaking of Tack...

When I was hunting for that bridle to photograph earlier this week, I pulled things out of my hobby closet that don't often see the light of day. One of those was this:

 The tack box my father made me back in the 1990s!

I had attended NAMHSA's very first NAN in 1995, and my tablemate had had a tack box that, when opened, had pegs and hooks that held saddles, bridles, and other things needed for performance showing. She let me take a couple of pictures of it, and my dad did the rest. He actually made two; this is the smaller of them.  (The other is quite large and difficult to transport.)

 For whatever reason, my father had some old salesman sales cases on hand; they'd held samples of vinyl siding. (Go figure; my dad never sold vinyl or anything else; we lived in an all-brick home. How he got those is a mystery.)

I dabbled in performance showing briefly back in the 1990s and got a couple of Top Tens at the 1995 and 1997 NANs, but now I prefer collectibility classes when I show.

I have one other western saddle and a vintage Breyer english saddle that are elsewhere, and some Arabian costumes and a Native American costume that are put away in tubs.

That "mystery bridle" and documenting it has got me thinking that I may have found a new project - documenting the makers of the saddles, bridles, halters, costumes, and harnesses in my tack case and elsewhere. Recording hobby history is becoming more and more important as we earlier (not older; earlier!!) hobby folks age and begin to disperse our collections or even pass away, leaving behind things that are important examples from early collecting.

Sounds like I have a project for Spring Break.

Mystery Bridle - It's Real!

I heard back mid morning from Susan Bensema Young  about my bridle, and she confirmed that mine was the real deal and one that she had made. Lucky me, she even included its history, and then some cleaning suggestions.

We chatted several more times during the day which made for a pleasant model horse sort of day. With her permission, I post her email with the history and cleaning tips below.

Many thanks, Sue!

Hi Lynn,

Your light is fine… YES!!!!   Yes, that bridle is definitely by me (SBY, TSII).  It was made in 1996.  A photo shows a batch of 5 bridles sent to Susan Taylor, finished February 8, 1996, of which it is the middle one.  The bit is by Rio Rondo/Carol Williams.  I'm just amazed it isn't more corroded than it is!  Twenty years old, exactly…  Made during the first flush of excitement over learning the Pineapple and single interweave buttons (summer 1995).  This was the start of a career in miniature braiding… I still love doing them.

CLEANING NOTES

Use a Qtip or kleenex to remove the green (copper sulfate) from around the buckle tongues/rings.  This is caused by the copper in the tongues/rings reacting to the leather.  The only way to truly cure it (other than by erecting a barrier, i.e. plate the metal with something: silver, rhodium, chrome, nickel or gold) is replace them with a metal that doesn't contain copper.  I usually use stainless steel.  Aluminum would also work.  (I don't have any good Aluminum wire.)  I discovered stainless steel wire in about 2000.

Folklore has it that cleaning with vinegar discourages the corrosion.  I have found this true. Folklore has it that painting metal parts with clear nail polish discourages corrosion.  If the polish is truly oxygen-proof I have found it delays tarnishing by up to about 10 years, but not forever.

Enjoy your collection,

Horsefully,

Sue

Mystery Bridle

I was reading Susan Bensema Young's blog this weekend about a bridle that she had found on MH$P listing herself as the tackmaker. Susan did not remember having made that bridle, got out her binders where she tracks everything she has made, and confirmed that it was not her work.

As I read that post, and saw who the MH$P vendor had purchased her bridle from, the story was eerily familiar. I, too, had bought a bridle from the same original owner at that same BreyerFest, and it, too, was labeled as having been made by Susan.

I know the original vendor about as well as I know any of my hobby friends - it's all long distance friendships with sporadic meet ups at model shows or events. This friend has always been open and honest with me, and if the bridles she was selling were not by Susan Bensema Young, then I would assume it was an honest mistake. Susan Bensema Young, on her blog, graciously alludes to the same thing - no one is pointing any fingers of blame.

I felt it was important that I verify my own bridle, especially so that, if I ever sell it or pass it on, I can share accurate information about its history. (As the hobby grows, its early history is becoming more and more important.)

So, I contacted Susan, explained the situation, and asked if I could send her photos of my bridle to look at. She agreed, and so I snapped some shots and sent them earlier this morning.

 I had left the bridle in its original package as a means of documentation.

 That blue glow on the bit is just the lighting in my office at this hour of the day.

Susan Bensema Young used the braiding and hardware on the other bridle as a way to determine if the work was hers or that of another tackmaker, so I tried to get shots of that for her.

I cannot imagine creating something so tiny and intricate!

I am very interested in what Susan Bensema Young has to say. If it is her work, hooray! I wanted a sample of her work in my meager collection of tack, and that is why I bought it. If it isn't, I will remove the tag on the bag with Susan's name on it and keep it as part of my tack collection anyway.

After all, it is a very pretty bridle and an example of early hobby tackmaking.

What Constitutes a Horseman?

(Or horsewoman, the term I prefer for myself.)

In the January 25 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse, new columnist Julie Winkel authored the "Between Rounds" column. Her own "horsey credentials" are very good and she is an experienced horsewoman.

But.

Her article came across to me at times as supercilious, condescending  and patronizing. She celebrated her own background of being the daughter of horsey parents and growing up on a ranch where she learned through experience how to care for and ride horses while at the same time taking pot shots at other horsefolk she has encountered.

She wrote about not having the financial means to take professional lessons or to show, but then fussed about big name trainers who went to those shows and won the blue ribbons, calling them "dudes" (she defines that as people who don't know anything about horses or misunderstand them) in the next sentence.

The article had some very good points, but sprinkled throughout were snarky, "better than you are" comments. And frankly, these arrogant remarks made it difficult for me to take her other tidbits about horse care seriously despite those sterling credentials she presented at the end of the article.

I believe that there is always something you can learn, regardless of the field you are in. I am a teacher, I have a Masters degree in Education plus fifteen hours post-Masters studies in Gifted Education. I have published papers in four well-respected education journals (Research in Science Education, Language Arts, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Teaching Children Mathematics.) But I can watch a new teacher who I am mentoring and see things I want to try with my own class.

I'm a mother of six children. I know a lot about parenting, but as I watch my own kids parent their little ones, sometimes I don't know how I would handle certain situations they may be dealing with and am a loss when my own child asks for suggestions.

I am, and always have been, a backyard kind of horsewoman. Unlike Winkel, I did not have horsey parents (despite my father's brief foray into pony ownership in 1936.) My parents supported my horsiness and gave me eight riding lessons, the only formal training I have ever had. (I am not counting the 4-H clinics and training; that certainly contributed to my ability to ride as well as care for my herd over the years.)

All through junior high and high school I managed our horses by myself, rotating pastures, carrying water, grooming, feeding, and learning, learning, learning.  I read Horse and Rider, Practical Horseman, Western Horseman, Equus, and Horse Illustrated avidly.

I learned to drive a trailer and haul horses, how to do basic horse health care, how to tell a good farrier from a bad one, and I even trained one horse under saddle.

Winkel and I have some pretty similar ways as to how we earned that moniker of "horsewoman." And yet, I think she would categorize me as a dude.

The take away for me after reading her article is this: the basic premise or definition of "horsewoman" varies depending on who you are and your perspective. I may be in the "Winkel dude category," but I am comfortable around horses and confident that I can care for my own so that they are happy and healthy. And isn't that the goal, what all true lovers of horses want for the horse?

I am a horsewoman.

A Parent/Teacher Conference Surprise

You never know what might come up during parent/teacher conferences. Usually we discuss a student's academic progress but once in a while I get a surprise from a parent who would like to talk about something else.

Spring, 2004 conferences had one of those conferences.

Craig was at the University of Illinois then, and I was teaching at Yankee Ridge Elementary School in Urbana. My conferences with parents were going well that spring, and next up on my schedule were the parents of a sweet girl, one who I knew was a horse lover like me.

I began our conference as I always do by asking her parents if they had anything, concerns or otherwise, that they wished to discuss.

"Are you going to watch the Olympics this summer?" asked the mother, leaning forward excitedly.

That was NOT what I was expecting to be asked!

I said that I was, and she smiled and said, "Well, we have a family member who made the US Equestrian Team and will be riding in Athens!"

It turns out that my student's cousin was someone whose name was very familiar to me. (I have been a faithful reader of The Chronicle of the Horse for decades.)

It was none other than Chris Kappler on Royal Kaliber!

(Picture pulled from Google Images.)

Well, I TRIED to be professional and steer our conversation back to academics, but I'll admit that that was one conference in which I let my horsey side out. (And in my defense, the parents brought it up and wanted to talk about it! So I'm good, right??)

The rest of that school year my student's family kept me apprised of what Chris and the team were doing as they prepared for the Olympics. I enjoyed having such an unexpected window on the event and anticipated those Olympics probably more than any other before or since.

Royal Kaliber and Chris ended up winning Team Gold and Individual Silver. But... Royal Kaliber also sustained an injury due to the poor footing and needed to be euthanized in October, 2004, never coming back to American soil.

That was shocking and incredibly sad.

Breyer has since immortalized Royal Kaliber as a model in its traditional line.

(Picture pulled from Google Images.)

Of course, I bought it when it came out. It is one of the few models I have that has never been removed from the box. There are mixed emotions when I look at it - it is a reminder of a very happy summer, of a family I knew and a student I taught, but it is also a reminder of the tragedy that took place shortly thereafter.

I keep my Royal Kaliber tucked safely away in my horse room. Maybe some day I will remove it from the box, but for now, I am content knowing that I have the reminder of an exciting summer at my fingertips if I wish.