BB&G, Part 3 & Self-Critique, a la George

Bet you thought I was done talking about B. Barns, but nope, there are still more tales relating to this establishment! (

I distinctly recall the 4-H meeting when some of the kids' parents joined us because Trainer had a special announcement to make. I was very worried because I think I had heard she was losing her lease on the property. But no, she was much excited, bubbling over with big talk. A sort of blueprint document was spread out, and little 3-D paper buildings plunked down: we were looking at plans for the new, improved BB Luxury Equestrian Estates development! Huh?? Our Club President's dad was a developer, I knew that much (they had two horses at the barn) and apparently he was the one behind this grand idea. There would be a huge, round indoor arena, several barns, improved pastures, and a number of homes.

I didn't quite know what to make of this. I didn't think Trainer had a lot of money, so I didn't know how it was all going to work, but I sure hoped that it would because I really loved my barn life at BB&G, the 4-H Club, and "my" lovely girl American Mare. Trainer was an excellent instructor and I learned a ton about riding and horse care from her. She was generous to a fault, never even charging me a fee to ride her horses at shows or for her time at them; I showed for the cost of entry fees and trailering. She genuinely loved horses, loved teaching and was a huge advocate of 4-H. For those qualities alone I would remember her fondly.

Long story short, sadly, the Luxury Equestrian Estates never were built (although the property today, is, in fact, covered in large homes). I assume Trainer had a falling-out with President's Dad, and/or he couldn't get financing. Trainer, kids and horses were forced to relocate, and the whole establishment picked up sticks and moved to a new facility about 15 minutes away. It was a far cry from the old one, unfortunately. Not much turnout, one ring, and a barn. The whole thing was surrounded by busy roads.

I continued taking lessons, doing 4-H and showing. We didn't just go to 4-H shows, by the way; we went to another series of local unrated affairs as well. These were held at a place called Freedom Farms. I liked the fancy ribbons they gave out there, and it was an appropriate level of competition for me.

I actually have one picture from a 2'6" jumping class taken when I was around 15, the only actual real photographer's photo I've ever gotten of me at a show. But I refuse to share it on the grounds that you would instantly lose all respect for me - yes, it's really THAT bad. :-) I would like to think it was just "a moment in time," but I have a distinct feeling that any jumping photo of me ever taken is going to have my toes out at 90 degree angles... and probably a lot of other faults. (I know I have mentioned the toe thing before. Here's the deal: I can sit on the floor, put the soles of my feet together, and lean forward until my head touches my feet with my knees all the way on the floor. Now those are some funky hip joints! So I walk/stand very duck-footed and have always struggled to turn my toes in while riding. Nowadays nobody seems to care much but back then... whooo. Not good.)

Every time I look at this picture (that no, I'm still not going to show you) I crack myself up imagining what George Morris would have to say if I submitted it to Jumping Clinic. After he had wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes, he'd write something like this:

"This rider needs to work on tightening her leg. Her heel is down, but I can see daylight between her knee and the saddle. I have never seen a toe turned out that far - it is well beyond the maximum 45-degree angle. Returning to small crossrails and no-stirrup work would help strengthen the leg.

The rider is not so much as jumping ahead, as simply standing in the stirrups. Her hip angle is far too open and she has not let the thrust of the horse close it. Her short release is okay, but one hand is far higher than the other. Her eyes are up and she is looking for the next jump.

This horse is merely stepping over this little jump and has a bored expression. I cannot evaluate her form accurately with this small fence, but I would like to see her knees more even. The mare needs some groceries and she should be braided and her hooves polished, even for a small schooling show. She needs a better-fitting browband as well.

Whomever thought it was a good idea to attire a teenage girl in a loud, white/blue/black/red plaid coat, jodphurs with garters and paddock boots should be taken behind the barn and shot. This outfit is not appropriate for her age and looks ridiculous. Also, the excess stirrup leather needs trimming." 

I was riding the chestnut OTTB mare who was the other main lesson horse at BB&G.  She was a stereotypical opinionated redhead and we really didn't get along all that well (Patty Flower mostly rode her, in fact). I fail to remember her name, which tells you something. At any rate, she was a hard keeper and didn't have a lot of bloom to her coat. She could jump 3'6," though, and her front end sharpened up over bigger fences.

As far as my hideous outfit, it's called "I borrowed the jacket from Trainer and therefore the price was right." Picture something like the above, except with a narrow red thread, tailored in luxurious 100% polyester double knit. You could wad it up into a ball and stuff it into your backpack, and upon extraction it would instantly spring back into coat-dom. We knew I needed tall boots, but having had no luck thus far finding any off the rack (and my long-suffering mother sensibly refusing to get customs), I was consigned to paddock boots and jodphurs even though I know now I was definitely too old for them. I remember thinking the paddock boots, which had punched toe caps, were really pretty spiffy.

Regarding the standing in the stirrups - I have no idea why this was going on. I have a few snapshots taken of me jumping in a lesson (at night, in a dusty indoor, so not exactly the best quality) and I'm not doing it in those, and certainly my instructors have never mentioned it, so I think it was a function of nerves/a flat-jumping horse/what have you. I may have weirdly-assembled hips, but they do bend! :-)

Towards the end of my career at BB, I started riding a new school horse, a fugly-but-cute bay gelding named Little Brown Jug. Mare was pretty much retired; she'd developed a large and painful sarcoma or melanoma under her tail, and Trainer was trying to get another foal from her (she'd had one in the past, a colt whom T kept and stood as a H/J stallion). Jug was a TB, but had a full-sized horse head on a pony body. The story I got was he had been starved as youngster and his growth was stunted. We got along very well, fortunately.

I have a distinct memory of my last class at my last show ever as a junior rider. It was a 4-H show and Jug and I were waiting for our turn on the outside course. The sky was fast-darkening with an approaching storm. To the sound of rumbles of thunder we made our way around the jumps; Jug was a good jumper but being so small, he made 3'6" feel like a lot taller. Up and over we flew (with me being jumped loose over a couple of fences that had to have been at least 3'9") and as we finished I remember thinking, "Well, this is it. Who knows when I'll ever show a horse again?"

It took twenty years.

(Story coming!)

BB&G, Part 2

It was a cold winter's night when I happened to look out the window of my trainer/4-H leader's home and saw a scene much like this one. Yes, I really was the one who first saw it and no, it wasn't the grotty home I was standing in that went up in flames (though with the general level of care lavished on the place, it would have surprised no one). It was the other, older and currently unlived-in house on the farm that was blazing away. This was located about a quarter mile away down the lane which is why nobody had noticed until then.

I had never seen a house on fire and I was shocked. I think I stuttered and pointed and then finally got out the words, "The house is on fire!" followed by, "NO, NOT THIS ONE!" A dash for the door did ensue amongst my fellow 4-Hers, but it was to see the sights, fortunately not because they thought themselves in imminent danger. Any plans to discuss the care and feeding of the senior horse (or whatever topic we had been assigned) were instantly dismissed, of course, and the rest of the evening was spent watching the police, firetrucks and firefighters deal with the "disaster." The truth was, nobody really cared; local teenagers had been using the place as a party joint and it was just as well that someone's (possibly) careless cigarette had burned it down. The house was quickly reduced to ashes and the general attitude was, "Good riddance."

The house fire was but one of many memorable moments during my 4-H career. Here are some others which didn't involve property destruction:

Horse Bowl

I think I mentioned that I joined our brand-new Horse Bowl team right away. Horse Bowl, for those who are unfamiliar, has nothing to do with this; no, it's a game- show type of event with teams competing to answer equine-related questions quickly and accurately. You ring in and if you answer correctly score points; points are also subtracted for wrong answers, so you have to feel confident before hitting your button. My good memorization skills and love of minutiae served me well in this endeavor. Team members were assigned areas of specialization, though, and unfortunately I was given the dry and uninspiring topic of "Nutrition." I would have been much happier with "Anatomy," "Lameness," "Tack," or pretty much anything else but that's what I got. So I studied my little heart out learning things like the ten essential amino acids (I still know most of them...) correct Ca:Ph ratios, and ration-balancing, which I particularly hated because it involved math.

Our team did well enough one year to make it to the State championship. We didn't win but I acquired the nice little trophy that stands on my Horsey Shelf. Being in Horse Bowl was a great experience and I recommend it to any young equestrian. (Still going strong in NJ - here's the website)

Presentations

Every year a 4-Her participating in Horse Project (and I would imagine other projects, too) had to prepare a report including visual aids to be presented first to the club. It could be on any horse-related topic you chose, and you were judged individually, not against anyone else. I think we received evaluations ranging from "Poor" to "Superior." If you did well enough you could advance beyond club level. Luckily, I've never had much of a problem with public speaking but some kids had a terrible time.

I remember two of the presentations I did in particular. One was about equine teeth - I still recall a lot of what I learned - and the other was on Lipizzan horses. That one was particularly fun because I had a slide show from when I went to Vienna to see them at the Spanish Riding School. This presentation was a huge hit. I received a Superior score in the club, a Superior score at the County Finals, and earned myself a trip to the State Finals, where I also received a Superior (yes, I was very nervous there!). I always wonder if anyone else in NJ 4-H ever had photos of the real Lipizzaners as part of their presentation? Here's the trophy I was awarded at State:

They were very smart to make these out of Armetale - no polishing needed! 

Horse Shows

I have to say my favorite aspect of being a part of 4-H was - the horse shows! Our shows were held at our lovely county fairgrounds, where there were at least two standard rings and an "outside" hunter course, on the grass. I really didn't know what to expect the first time I went to a 4-H show but I quickly learned. Some people were very serious competitors, had nice horses, and were pretty cutthroat. Others were content just to be there with their little backyard ponies and have a good time. I guess I fell somewhere in the middle: I liked to win, and I got to ride some pretty good horses, but I always tried to be complimentary to others and help out when I could. 

Well, MOST of the time. There were two people in particular who I remember vividly from 4-H showing, Navajo Saddle Blanket Girl, and Sandra J., who I very happily could have strangled on numerous occasions. Sandra J. and I had History behind us. Her mother had been my Brownie Girl Scout leader and a nastier woman has never lived (even my mom agreed). She played favorites with her daughter all the time, which drove me bonkers, and Sandra herself was a spoiled rotten brat. Then, to my everlasting dismay, the family acquired two horses for their little darling (actually a horse and a pony) that they kept in their backyard right down the street from me. I wrote about this here. If I didn't despise Sandra already this definitely did the trick.

Sandra belonged to another 4-H club and was always at the shows. 4-H classes were separated by age, not ability, so we would wind up in the same ring a lot. Sometimes she would beat me, and sometimes I would beat her. I'm afraid I was rather pleased when the latter happened. In particular, I recall a certain Sr. Equitation on the Flat class.... 

It was the last show of the season and I was riding a bay OTTB mare called "Mom's Apple Pie," "Mom" for short. This girl belonged to Trainer's Daughter and was her Big Eq/Maclay horse. Mom sure had the ability for 3'6" but she was HOT, hot, hot. (Trainer's Daughter did okay on her but they never made it to the Garden) To ride her, using TD's Prix de Nations saddle, no less, was a real treat and I was determined not to screw up. Mom was behaving, I'd managed to force my toes in every time I passed the judge, and things were going fine - until we were asked for the right-lead canter. I can remember exactly what happened. I cued her for the canter depart and Mom went UP, not forward. I asked again - same result. Finally, on our third try, I got her settled enough and away we went (thank God on the correct lead). Unfortunately, the judge had seen the whole thing. I knew any chance for a ribbon was gone.

So imagine my utter shock when I not only placed in the class, I was awarded the BLUE RIBBON.    I burst into tears and flung my arms around Mom's neck. This was a good-sized class, by the way, with at least 15 riders (prob. more). When I was leaving the ring I spied Trainer, who was laughing and shaking her head. She came to meet me at the out gate and said, "All I can say is I guess the judge liked the way you handled that blowup, because she was definitely looking RIGHT at you when it happened." 

So there, finally, is the story of the old blue ribbon hanging in my BR. It's special because it represents the pinnacle of my junior equitation career, and because I beat Sandra J. to earn it. :-)

The top of the rosette reads "MC 4-H," for Monmouth County 4-H. 

Navajo Saddle Blanket Girl rode a horse that was badly groomed, and badly in need of about 100 lbs. She had a permanent scowl on her face and never talked to anybody. She used her crop too much, too. She actually won a lot of ribbons but I was not alone in my disapproval of her appearance and methods. One day we were doing a class on the outside course. 4-H had a rule that if you were jumping, you had to have the chin strap on your hard hat down. All we had then was the little elastic bands, but they had to be under your chin. This class had around 10 or 12 people in it, and one by one, everyone had issues on course: refusals, run-outs, even a couple falls. It was just a mess. Amazingly, I managed to get around okay (I don't remember what horse I was riding) and the only other one who did was NSBG. Guess what?? She forgot to put down her chin strap! I was awarded first place, solely because of that. Ooooooh, she was mad! I think she would have liked to bash me a good one with her crop, never mind her poor horse.

Our goal for the county season, which consisted of three or four shows, was to qualify to show at State during the NJ State Fair. I actually did qualify two years, in at least two classes (Hunter Pleasure for sure, I think Sr. Equitation on the Flat, and some over-fences class as well) - but wasn't able to attend the State shows due to timing and cost. It's okay, I still feel lucky that I was able to participate in 4-H at all!

P.S. Something possessed me to try Googling the name of my 4-H club and to my astonishment, I found a digitalized newspaper article from Nov. 18, 1980 that mentions the club. The officers are listed and I was the Secretary! I have ZERO recollection of that so it's pretty funny...