KCS

Not riding

2008-08-31T03:42:00Z

Every day I wake up and promise that today I will go out and ride. And every night I go to bed guilty because I do not ride. Some days, other than feeding or making sure she has water is not injured, I don't even go out to see her. Maybe if she were boarded elsewhere that would be excusable, but this is right out in my back yard.

Since my mom died (blogs from 10/2007), I have ridden a rollercoaster of emotion that I never thought possible. During some days, I think, my life is not so bad and I am getting over the pain, then suddenly I start to cry uncontrollably. I can't explain it to anyone, I feel embarrassed that I can't control it, I just cry anyway. It doesn't warn me, it doesn't make sense, it just hits me -- sometimes right where I breathe or speak -- and I have no explanation other than my Mom, my friend is gone.

So weeks go by and I do not ride. The one thing that has always gotten me back on track and feeling better and I can't even bring myself to go out and do it. I feel so much guilt, I fill my days with nonsense and still can hardly go out to the barn. It is not just riding, but I can hardly spend time with her (the mare). She doesn't deserve that. When does this ennui end? What can I do to change?

My baby is going to Police Horse school

2008-06-18T15:30:00Z

My littlest angel is now 3 and ready for the first Police Horse training this Saturday. CJ, my lil' solid paint buckskin, who was born and raised in my arms is now ready for Mounted kindergarten where he will experience formation, crowd senarios and the ever big, bad, scary sensory training. Let's just hope I stay in the saddle!

Rose Parade 2008

2008-02-12T17:30:00Z

Reprint from article published by Equisearch News, Tuesday January 22, 2008.

Wed, Oct 17, 2007: Email from the Mounted Enforcement Coordinator of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department:

Ladies and gentlemen:

The 2008 Rose Parade will be very historic for the Sheriff's Department Mounted Posse. The United States Olympic Equestrian Committee will have twelve Olympic contestants riding in the parade. They have requested assistance from the Sheriff's Mounted Posse with supplying the horses. As you know, the horses that they compete with would not be capable of handling the intense sensory of the Rose Parade.

They are requesting that we supply 12 suitable solid colored horses for their Olympians to ride while the owners walk alongside in their appropriate Sheriff's Department uniform. Our personnel would be viewed by millions as they walk the five mile route with their equestrian partners.

The Olympic Committee will provide professional horse transportation from the L.A. Equestrian Center with farriers, groomers etc. to care for each animal before the parade.

There will be a selection process and equine evaluation prior to the event. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I have been riding for the LASD Posse as a Civilian Volunteer since 2002. My mare, PC (Poppas Peppy Chex) and I have gone through many hours of training together and have also ridden in multiple parades. Though I grew up in the Pasadena area and even lived 6 blocks from the parade for 11 years, I have never had the opportunity to be a part of it. So I submitted our application and after a “testing” day, to see if the horse would be able to handle the parade activity, we passed (of course she passed!)

Part of the expected suitability was that our horses were not “shaggy,” or poorly represented. Since I always keep my horse blanketed and stalled even in California, her coat is rarely shaggy, but the day after Christmas, my 18 year old daughter and I were out body clipping her as well as another of my horses, a 3 ½ year old Belgian/Paint gelding we got free as a 4H project 2 years ago. Apparently the “solid” requirement was a bit loose and the horses chosen depended more on their temperament than color, and the department also chose him. “Ringo” is a mostly white, chestnut pinto. He also underwent the clipping process. Working an hour or two each day, it took us nearly a week to get both horses completely finished. Add to that the Santa Ana winds blowing hair up our noses and mouths, and aching muscles getting down in the dirt, my daughter announced if the President or the Pope wanted their horses body clipped, the answer was NO!

On Sunday, December 30, I loaded up my trailer with my two horses, clean, shiny and ready to ride and traveled to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, where the horses were to be housed for the 48 hours before the parade. The plan was to get the horses fitted with the type of equipment the Olympians would ride, determine which horses would be ridden by whom and in what order. The plan was that this would take about 10 minutes. Four hours later, our horses were finally selected for their individual riders and disciplines, fitted for their equipment and put in their stalls. At this point, we had still not met the Olympians but were working with their team. Since I live 2 hours from the LAEC, my trailer would be my home for the next couple of days. One other LASD member stayed too, Captain Juanna Lamb, and we kept our eyes on the 12 horses.

On Monday, the day before the parade, we had a chance to work our horses at the facility and ride around on some of the area trails. LAEC is a gorgeous stable/show facility where all of the out of state horses are kept pre-parade. Then, though most of our horses were pretty clean, the groomers arrived to bathe and braid them for the next morning. All 12 horses were scrubbed again. They joined another few dozen horses at the wash racks including the Mini Mystique Driving Drill Team and the Budweiser Clydesdales. I didn’t have a camera to take the picture of the mini’s getting bathed next to the Clydesdales, but I wish I had.

Squeaky clean, our horses rested in their stalls until 11 pm when two huge horse transport semi trucks roared up to take them to “the pit.” This is an area within a few blocks of the parade start where a freeway ends and all the equestrian units in the parade prepare. For nearly a mile, hundreds of trailers and transports are parked while the horses wait to be called by the “White Suits,” those ubiquitous members of the Tournament of Roses. One by one, our horses were led into these behemoth trailers, stalled and fed for the 6 hour wait. I felt like I was sending kids to camp. We were able to get a couple more hours of sleep until our inspection time of 2 AM. Two Sheriff vans drove the 11 walking escorts to the same “pit” where we dozed until about 4:30.

At 5 am, the horses were unloaded and tacked up by a team from Silver Gate Farms.

This was the first opportunity we had to meet the Olympians who would be riding our horses. PC was going to be ridden by Hunter Jumper Olympian, Beezie Madden, and Ringo would be ridden by Dressage Olympian, Guenter Seidel. The horses were fresh and ready to go, the riders ready to go, and we were facing the first of the 7 miles we would be walking that day. (The parade is 5 miles, but the staging area at the beginning adds another mile and the finishing area for equestrians is yet another mile (uphill!) from the parade end.) Ok, I am not complaining, but it just has to be said.

Though a couple of the horses were a bit excited by the sounds and floats, band and the US Air Force flyover, they all settled down before the end of the first mile. Even though I have grown up seeing the parade (live and on TV), I was amazed at truly how well run it really is. The White Suits have it down to a science, and are completely competent. The people really do line both sides of the streets, sometimes hundreds and hundreds deep, for the whole 5 miles. In the downtown area, the tallest buildings still have people peering from upper windows and balconies. The experience was unforgettable and made me proud of our wonderful country. People cheered the USA team; some called out individual names or had signs (“GUENTER ROCKS!”) Sure, I was tired and my horses were tired, but I was proud both of them and of the opportunity I had to do this. Would I do it again? Hmmm…ask me in four years!

Life and the end of life

2007-10-18T18:38:00Z

I have been thinking a lot about the passage of life and death. As I sit here at my computer in the kitchen, my mom is a mere 30 feet away from me in a hospital bed in her room, living out the last days of her life. I go in every 10-15 minutes and check on her, help her get the necessary things for living and breathing (water, a bit of food) and try to stimulate her with some light conversation or maybe some music or tv. Every day is different. Yesterday was better than two days ago, today, not as good as yesterday. I remember the strong, vibrant, beautiful woman I have known for nearly 50 years, and wonder about how our bodies decay and then move on to become part of another world. There is no fear here, in fact, there is great peace. ("Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27.) But there is sadness that I won't have her sweet smile and gentle southern drawl to see and hear. Yet, I long for her to transcend this life and be whole again -- it hurts to see her in this weakened, descimated shell. I cry sometimes, I laugh with her, I remember.

Most of the rest of my life is put on hold. I haven't riden or even scratched my horse for almost a week. My children feed and clean for me, but other things are wasting away outside and I need to care for those things too. I need to exercise all these horses. I need to water my plants. I need to make sure there is enough feed stored out there for all my critters. Other than that, I just need to be here. If she lasts another week, or two or even three, I need to take this time to be here for her. I know in my heart that some down time is ok for the horses, but I feel guilty about not having the energy to at least go out and be with my beloved mare -- both for her and for me. But sometimes you just have to take the course laid out for you and try and not get distracted by what is left undone. This is my course for now.

As both a child and a parent (and grandparent), I see the course of life laid out. Here we are at this moment. We have no other moment and we will only be here a limited time. It seemed so endless when I was younger. Remember to love so much, give so much, enjoy so much of that life while we have it.

It RAINED on our parade!!

2007-09-22T20:09:00Z

You hear it never rains in California ("but man, it pours")? Well, today, for the first time in years for September, it poured! But we had already agreed to do a Color Guard for the Route 66 Parade. Horses got bathed and clipped, tack cleaned....all just to get downpoured on! I carry the American flag and usually check the top periodically to make sure the eagle is facing forward, but everytime I did, my face got drenched! My usually demur, stay inside while it's wet, mare looked at me like I was nuts, ears half mast the whole route. And when did the rain let up? Just as we ended the route.