Chapter 7

My Dad

My first spring on my ranch is a time of struggle. My father comes to live with Sarah and me on our ranch. My father is dying this spring. I receive a call on Thursday, March 31, 1990, that my father is hospitalized. I quickly run out and rearrange stock to fend for themselves for several days.  (I think that I will be gone just a couple of days.) Sarah and I climb into the Ford pick –up. I drive like a crazy woman and we are in San Francisco in five hours. My sister comes from Boston. I blow up the truck on Bay Shore Freeway on my way to San Francisco Airport to pick up my sister.  I sit on the freeway for two hours in broad daylight before anyone stops and helps me. All the “Yuppies” driving with their cell phones won’t even call in for help. My truck blew a rod though the engine. I have it towed to a garage. I have no idea how I get back to the hospital. My sister goes to the hospital on a bus. My dad is dying of congestive heart failure.
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am new to blogworld. can you recommend some morgan blogs. many thanks!

what would you do?

I was reading through old posts, that I haven’t seen yet. And came across a couple of driving posts that brought up how dangerous driving is. It got me to thinking about what we’re supposed to do in the event something goes wrong. Do you remove everyone from the ring? Should riders dismount and go to the center of the ring if another horse takes off in the ring? I had a bad fall at the Michigan All Morgan show after my horse was kicked by another horse as it passed us. I ask this because I have no idea what the smartest thing to do in this instance is….sit there and wait it out, exit asap, or go to the center.

I found this video on another blog, and it brought about the same question – what would you do in this instance?

I have gone to a lot of open shows recently and there is a lot of variety of classes so I was wondering what classes people would find interesting that we dont have now at the morgan A rated shows. These are a few that I have competed in and enjoyed:

Ranch Horse Trail

Halter- Western (I know we have sport horse and in hand, but not any western)

Showmanship 18 & Over

Equitation 18 & Over (with or without patterns, sometimes they are seperated)

I cant think of any others off the top of my head, I am sure there are more, but I just wanted to see what everyone thought…. Thanks

~Jessica

I was with a friend last night who asked me what I thought she should be charging to lease out her farm.  She has a six stall barn with water and electric on twenty acres adjacent to state land for riding.  She lives on the property but will not be doing the barn work. There is no indoor arena. She has a woman who plans to put three horse there and board three others, and offered her $200, which seemed a little low to me!  This farm is located in cental new york about 20 miles from a city. Any thoughts out there on what a fair price would be? Thanks!

Beth

Hi!

I’m doing a project for Driver’s Education. We have to pick a destination at least 1500 miles away, and I chose OKC since it may become a very realistic trip in the future! I live in Vermont, so it’s about 1600 miles. I have a few questions:

When traveling a far distance with your horses to OKC, do you stop at stables overnight? If so, which ones welcome boarders for a night or two? 

How many nights would you spend at various stables? What is the average cost of staying a night or two?

How early do you go to OKC, as I have heard that some people choose to board a week or two in Oklahoma before the Nationals.

Am I even going about this right???

Any information or input is greatly appreciated! Thank You!

I have a Morgan gelding that is not very old (I think he’s 9 or 10 IIRC) that needs a home. He is well broke to ride and drive and is about as safe as you could ever want one to be. He is quality and kind and smart and a super easy horse to have around. He was a finished show horse and has shown quite a bit. He has some soundness issues that we have thoroughly investigated and gotten to the bottom of (this horse has only been with us a brief time, so we don’t have actual history, only what the vets have discovered). Full disclosure and his x-rays along with the vet’s findings will go with him to his new home. I doubt this guy will ever show again, but he is a great horse that we think someone should be enjoying. He is pleasant on trails, although he isn’t going to take hard trail riding…he’s for someone like me that enjoys walking on nice trails, not trotting and galloping on cliffs and rocks:) He would be a wonderful horse for the person that has grandkids that want to come out and walk around on a horse, etc. You could have him turned out and not working for days/weeks and then get on him or hook him and he seems to act as if no time has passed. He is truely kind and has lots of knowledge. Basically, he’s OK for light use only. I don’t want this horse getting passed around or being run into the ground more…he’s a good guy and deserves a good person to enjoy him. Should he go to someone and they find in the future they can’t keep him, we’ll be happy to help re-home him again to ensure that he’s in a good spot. He has no bad habits, hauls,clips,bathes,ties, etc perfectly. If we don;t find someone for him, we’ll make sure he’s cared for ourselves, but we think he’d enjoy a person and light use and he doesn’t have that here. Anyone with interest can contact me via e-mail:
EMGJOKER@AOL.com
Stacy

Can anyone tell me what the rules are regarding horse ownership and showing amateur classes?  Does the amateur doing the showing have to actually own the horse being shown?

Thanks!

1959 National Morgan Horse Show at Northampton, MA

*sigh*

I have found another video.

 I get excited (I’m a dork) to see live action videos of our breed back in the day. Here is a video that I was, yet again, e-mailed. This video is of the Morgan Nationals (according to the video) in MA. There are so many interesting points to this video – a funny one is the narrator. He refers to the Morgans as “Sturdy Stallions”funny! They are sturdy, it just sounds funny. Also, notice the western pleasure class. How far we have come!!! Regardless, I think this is another really cool video and thought I’d share it with you all. I don’t know who owns it, but it’s pretty cool.

Hello, I’m Julie and I will be showing for the first time this year in Western Pleasure.  I have been an observer, fan, horse owner, Morgan lover for about 15 years, and finally have the finances to show.  I am so excited but nervous too.  Any tips all you seasoned show people could bestow upon me would be greatly appreciated.

One question I have is how do you “qualify” for regionals and Nationals? 

Thanks!

Julie