Eddie Macken (IRL) & Carrolls Flight (ISH) – 1987 CSIO 5* Dublin Grand Prix
A Friend And Customer, Irish Legend, Eddie Macken
A customer had a problem with a six year old warm blood jumper: the horse had been castrated a few months earlier and his behavior was deteriorating rather than improving. He was pulling back and breaking the strongest rigging they could put on him, in other words he was refusing to tie and if his behavior wasn’t modified, he was going to kill someone or he would kill himself when he throws himself backward and flips over. Horses can be like people, they can get on a tangent with strange ideas in their head and really mess up a program.
A horse that won’t tie to a fence, a well, a tree, or a post is a liability to his rider and to himself; actually, he is a dangerous liability.
This particular horse is 16.3 hands and weighs just shy of 1400 pounds; he is young, strong, athletic, and can move at what seems to be the speed of light and this is too dangerous to be around, being caught flat footed around this horse will mean being crushed (literally) or killed.
The owner is a competent horsewoman that competes internationally, she can’t spell fear, so this wasn’t the usual scenario of having more horse than rider, but the horse was definitely assuming the role of chief rather than Indian and there was definitely a fly in the ointment somewhere. The owner was expecting me to bail her out of this situation. When a highly talented blooded horse develops a personality quirk or behavior pattern that is dangerous it should be nipped in the bud, before the habit becomes habitual and the horse is too dangerous and considered useless. These warm blood extreme athletes often look for excuses to be belligerent; with this one I had an edge, I’ve worked with him since he was three and luckily, he likes me. I planned to try to use this to my advantage.
Before my arrival, I had instructed my customer to buy a new soft nylon rope, 3/4 to 7/8 inch diameter and 34 feet long, a size that is used packing in the mountains to secure the top pack and steady the panniers.
When I arrived, she showed me the new rope and I was not impressed: it was the soft cotton type about an inch and a half in diameter. It had a steel eye woven into one end by one the local sail boat outfitters and it was nearly as useless as teats on a boar hog.
My customer had seen me do this to another colt several years ago, she knew what was about to happen. “Why didn’t you buy the 3/4 inch soft nylon?” I asked.
“I didn’t want him to get burned,” was her reply.
“You know this stuff stretches like rubber and keeps on stretching, until it is three times longer than what you started with.”
“The boat chandler told me it wouldn’t break.”
It was obvious she put some new parameters up for the boat chandler and being used to boats he assured her that this was the rope she needed complete with a steel eye splice braided in, and all for $150, for a rope you could buy at the hardware store for $20 dollars. Sadly, one of the disadvantages of being born rich is that you have a poor concept of the relative value of articles that the rest of us need to weigh carefully as to whether our personal budget can afford the expense compared to the object’s value and utility.
She led the horse out and I had another disappointment, he was wearing a new nylon halter with a single thickness leather crown piece. This was another slight deviation from instructions that compromised the procedure even more. I told her the reason I asked for a new nylon halter was that you could pull a semi out of a ditch with one and it wouldn’t break.
She informed me that the guy at the tack store assured her that it wouldn’t break. I should have insisted we go to the tack store and the hardware store for the right equipment; unfortunately, it was almost noon and I had nine horses to work on that day. Who knows, maybe I was being like an old spinster grammar school teacher and being too rigid in my standards: maybe these other people were right and I was wrong.
I led the horse to an old cedar tree with a four foot trunk; I new the tree would hold and I knew the horse would blow, these were the most predictable factors in this drama that was about to begin. I tied the cotton rope around the horse’s chest with a honda or a lariat knot placed in the center of his chest so that I could run the rest of the rope between the front legs and through the brass ‘O’ ring on the bottom of the halter. The rope was then tied to the cedar tree with a bowline so that the horses head was secured about 18 inches away from the tree. It was taken for granted that the horse would scrape some hide off against the tree in his struggles. Being careful not to get my fingers caught in the knots and have the horse pull back and losing digits was foremost on my mind at this stage. The horse was secured without incident and I backed away while he studied the rigging that had him secured to the tree. He waited a little over a minute and he threw his hind feet underneath himself and rolled up his back like a cat while straining against the rope and twisting his neck and head back and forth with his front feet off the ground. After staying suspended in the air for a minute or so he dropped back down to catch some air and study the rope some more. Part of the strategy of this procedure is to restrict the breathing with the lariat around the lungs when his struggles tighten the lariat, when he quits fighting the rope releases enough for him to breathe again.
I looked at our highly recommended rope and noticed that the horse was now standing four feet from the tree and the rope had enough slack to droop about two feet. I’d step in and retie the ropes, but I would probably just get caught in the next explosive tantrum; just then, the horse threw himself backwards with the extra force he could generate with the extra slack provided by the stretched rope and the crown piece exploded and flew apart as if it was loaded with a charge of dynamite. The horse did a 180 and rolled over backwards, when he stood up, the lariat fad tightened around his gut just in front of his hind legs and he was now kicking insanely at the rope and tree. He was in panic mode because of the pain and the situation was out of control, I drew my knife, walked up to the tree and touched the rope with the blade, ‘pow’ it blew apart like I had cut it with a straight razor.
Suddenly, the rope that I had asked for appeared from out of the tack room, I put a rope halter on the colt and we started over. This time our rigging held and the gelding fought against the tree, the rope, and himself until he was exhausted. This time the horse fought and the rope tightened around his ribcage, restricting his air and brought his chin to his chest when he tried to rear up on his hind legs. It took about 30 seconds for the horse to become civilized once again.
He stayed tied to the tree for the rest of the day without incident. Once in a while, I’d take a break and walk over to check the knots and touch the horse while speaking softly to him, to reassure him or provoke him, that was his choice, but he had learned his lesson. He hasn’t pulled back since.
The ‘colt’ wasn’t really a colt, a colt is an un-castrated male horse under five ears of age, if he is castrated as most are, he becomes a gelding regardless of his age, if he is five ears od age and still intact, he is considered a stallion. The term ‘stud colt’ is actually an oxymoron, at least in the parlance of the old horsemen of the past.
America, led on by a duplicitous media, managed to vent anger and frustration over several issues against former President George Bush. Some of this negativity was created by the president by his own policies or lack of policies. His indifference to the people’s concerns over spending and his lackadaisical approach to the illegal alien invasion was more than enough create a backlash of resentment towards the president and the Republican Party as well, a feeling of guilt by association.
Consequently, the public was ready for change and the Progressive/Euro-Socialists rushed to fill the breech. Manufacturing an image or political stage persona, complete with an ever present teleprompter with canned speeches and calculated responses to preprogrammed questions as well as women who could faint for camera cues, thus the super candidate Obama was literally created from nothingness.
The public was benumbed with the less than stellar oratorical skills of George when they were seeking the measured cadence of a refined statesman: suddenly, the seemingly refined Black Man stepped to the podium and delivered the reassurances of Hope and Change, that the public was desperately seeking. He seemed so perfect, a Brad Pitt with brains; although there was nagging and persistent problem that reused to go away. There were slight discrepancies in the man’s documentation; well actually, there is no documentation, neither academic nor of basic citizenship proving eligibility. Sadly, for President Obama, there are states that are working to deny him the right to be on their presidential ballots in 2012 unless he can prove he is eligible to be to hold the office.
For almost a year into Obama’s presidency, people were willing to overlook these matters of documentation in the forlorn hope that Obama could deliver us from our problems; unfortunately, after 20 months our problems seem to be increasing exponentially and our president is still unwilling to produce documentation of academic achievement or of his eligibility to serve and the American public watches while Nationalized Health Care is imposed against the will of the people and so-called stimulus plans seem to be nothing more than Chicago-style graft on a monumental level and the future of our grandchildren is compromised so that loyal Progressive/Euro-Socialists can retire as mega-millionaires.
If we think back to our six year old gelding tied to the tree, it is easy to imagine an American public that has become disappointed and resentful over being castrated or having a Republican President ignoring a public that wants a sound fiscal policy with a balanced budget and enforcement of our borders and immigration laws.
Being tied to the tree with an inferior halter and a rope that stretches to the point of absurdity, is easily transposed to the horse sniffing the Socialist system and balking or trying to rid itself of this phony system that is doomed to failure. When the horse reacts the bonds of Socialism will try to restrain the horse, at least until the halter breaks and the horse flips over backwards and reverses his position so that now the bondage of Socialism is no longer restricting his breathing, but is tightening its grip around his gut in an attempt to kill him. The horse is struggling in desperation and fear and the ever tightening rope of Socialism is is a ligature that will soon kill the horse. The rope of Socialism has to be cut or the horse will die.
Once the correct rigging is applied, representing the Free Market and our Constitution, the horse tests his boundaries and submits. Our system isn’t perfect, but like the correct ropes and halter, it’s way better than anything else that has been tried.
The situation with the gelding and the last election happened because if a catalyst, the election of Obama was predicated upon George Bush: I have no idea what caused the problem with the colt, unless he was just pissed over having his nuts cut out.
A young horse with limited experience is more than willing to try a new behavior, much like our youth vote who identified with the Progressive/Euro-Socialist candidate, who thought the new candidate would be free of corruption and lead the country to a new Utopia that would provide them with all their worldly needs; at least until the rope began to tighten around their gut and they realized that corruption was rampant and business as usual was the real agenda.
This fall we can cut the Progressive/Euro-Socialist ligature wrapped so tightly around our guts, instead of a knife, we will use the ballot and hope that this time we have a legislature that will listen to the will of the people.
A Grande Prix Jumper is worth about $500,000 to two million; so for myself, I will continue to ride horses that people give me, because they are scared of them.
A professional horseman for over 50 years, Skook continues to work with horses. Skook has finished an historical novel, Fifty Thousand Years, that traces a mitochondrial line of DNA from 50,000 years ago to the present. The story follows a line of courageous women, from the Ice Ages to the present, as they meet the challenges of survival with grit and creativity. These are not women who whimper of being victims, they meet the challenges of survival as women who use their abilities without excuses or remorse, these women are winners, they are our ancestors.
Fifty Thousand Years is available in paperback and e-book, it is getting great reviews. You can purchase a copy here; Visit me on Facebook.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dylantheauthor
Patvann #47:
It’s because people can only think inside the box–in black and white terms–that we are in the trouble we’re in.
Minuteman26:
I don’t care what you think. You know the deal. It will solve everything. Take it.
John Galt #46:
Wrong. Corporate taxes are not necessarily higher in America. The US has a variable rate depending upon deductions. I’m sure CEOs manage to maximize their company’s deductions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_around_the_world
I’m afraid you’ve been listening to Steve Forbes too much. Please list the “myriad of other reasons”–but, please cite some facts that make your comments relevant, and not just Republican talking points.
Actually, I imagine, after dealing with you on several issues, you didn’t provide any links because the remainder of your response is just based on your opinion without facts.
What’s with all the wiki links?
Do you have a pay per click arrangement with them?
You do realize that wiki is NOT considered a reliable source since the information on their site can be edited by any and everyone at whim?
How about some non wiki sources for a change.
You’re more likely to be taken seriously that way. Or not.
TADCF, you again with that insulting my friend,
get educated and lower your volume,
we dont need thatkind of talk here.
By the way, on the “cite the source” issue that you’re bandying about, I’ve already addressed you on that one.
Of course you ignored it because it was inconvenient for you.
Aye Chihuahua #54:
There are opinions, and there are facts. Sometimes I state my opinions, based on facts. Sometimes I simply state facts. If questioned about my opinions, I document them as well as possible. Documention of facts are much more straight forward. Do you not believe that one should question when someone is positing a statement to be a fact? Do you not feel it’s important to separate fact from fiction?
Wiki is certainly a reliable source for most purposes–aside from academic research. If you find something in wiki that is not accurate, you should bring it to the attention of the person using the citation, cite the source for the contradictory evidence, and take the appropriate actions with wikipedia themselves.
That’s the point of rational discussion.
@tcdf
Wikipedia is about as stable as a sand dune… anyone can edit it at any time. I often edit out adjectives and adverbs that are obvious attempts to spin a bias.
Donald Bly:
Sure anyone can edit–that’s how they keep current; but the edits are double-checked for accuracy. It’s a better source than no source at all–which seems to be used on the majority of right-wing sites. Beside, like I’ve said, you can always contest the truth of the source material with an independent citation.
@tadcf:
Repeatedly sourcing Wiki is a sign of a lazy and/or addled mind.
I see that you still haven’t gotten busy sourcing all of the supposed facts you’ve quoted here.
You said all we had to do is ask…yet you still haven’t complied.
Why is that?
Aye Chihuahua #56:
You’ve addressed the situation to your satisfaction, not mine. If you’re going to require me to go through all my postings and specify citations, so should you. This task is indeed impossible. The issue is not to provide citations for ever thing one says. but to be able to provide citations when a certain fact is called to question.
I have argued according to this format. Even when I’m wrong–I remember a specific time with an exchange between myself and John Galt–I’m not afraid to admit it. To me, every discourse is a learning opportunity–not a chance to propagandize
@tadcf:
Then might I kindly suggest that you refrain from asking others to do what you admit is impossible for yourself.
Instead, if someone posts something that you disagree with, then go research and find the source to support your opposition.
We’re not source shy here. Nor do we just post things willy nilly with nothing solid to stand on.
You appear interested in the minutia of sourcing and the resulting bog down of debate more than anything else and you make yourself look like an idiot asking others to cite sources for every single statement when you’re unable or unwilling to live up to your own standard.
On the contrary, I find much of what is said here is based on nothing. I do the research and post it, and I expect the same intellect integrity and courtesy to be reciprocated by yourself. Unless of course, you subscribe to the tenet ‘it’s right because I say it is’.
There’s a part of your audience that I don’t suppose whom I’ll ever be able to convince that there is another way to think about thing. But for those who appreciate a contrary, reasoned opinion, I will continue to offer such, unless you block me from the site.
I too am not shy. How many of you regularly argue on left-wing sites? If asking for evidence of what people say makes me seem like an idiot, I’d say that that perspective may more adequately describe the attitude of those who are doing the judging, as opposed to the judged. And, I do not bog down the debate in minutia. In fact, my input probably stimulates debate–after all, you can’t have much of a debate with only one view. As for the minutia, I have to resort to some common expressions: 1) The devil is in the details; and 2) It’s all true but the facts; 3) You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
@tadcf:
Well, in response to that stunning example of concentrated stupid I will resort to a common expression:
and
@tadcf
No, you find much of what is said here does not conform to your daily readings from HuffPo or Kos, so instead of detailing yourself just why you think the information is wrong, you take offense at the poster who mentions the info, and scold them for not holding your hand across the vastness of the internets. Your plea is the plea of the lazy.
When it is deemed necessary, such as a new study or uncommon fact, many of us here document our sources. If it is a widely accepted fact, we don’t necessarily do that.
Read into that what you will, but it isn’t up to us, or you, to document, link and source everything that is said here. If you feel the information is wrong, then prove it, instead of marginalizing it because we haven’t shared links with you.
John Galt and Aye Chihuahua:
I’ve proven you both wrong on many occasions; it’s just that you live so much in this blissful world of being right, you have become immune to any evidence of being wrong. I suggest you, and many of your followers, go to your local community college and subscribe to a basic course in logic, political science, and philosophy of science. You may find some material that may change your outlook on things.
Now before you cry educational ‘elitist’, keep the following statement in mind: “Credit card agreements are written on average at a 12th grade reading level, making them not understandable to four out of five adults, according to a CreditCards.com analysis of all the agreements offered by major card issuers in the United States.” http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2010-07/us-credit-card-agreements-unreadable-to-4-out-of-5-adults.aspx?storyid=29543#ixzz0xABwbyhQ
Everyone should become more educated to better understand the modern world. Your native intelligence and thinking skill may have been sufficient in the 1950’s, but they’re no sufficient today. in fact this lack of education is the reason why the U.S. is not at the top of game world-wide. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/19/US-slipping-in-education-rankings/UPI-90221227104776/
Now you can believe these statistics, or consider them a left-wing plot, which ever floats your boat.
I, personally, can withstand arguments with people whose opinions differ from my own; but I have little patience with those whose notions of rational thought includes calling their opponents ‘idiots’, and other such derogatory terms, with the sincere belief that that tactic wins the argument. Since the common rules of evidence and proof mean so little to you, in lieu of opinion, I must cease to waste my time and yours.
With the exception of weighing in on your initial topics of discussion–with intention that some of your group may have some interest in a dissenting opinion–I will no longer your comments on my email.
Thank you.
tadcf; your education and thinking skill is suspect, and also your manners,
when you visit someone in their house, you might use better form of conversation,so not to leave any trash ,when you leave.
@tadcf:
That’s pure, 100% unadulterated dog squeeze sir.
You see, that’s the problem with you. You make these claims, offering not one iota of proof, expecting to be believed when, in reality, you’re the one who has been proven incorrect over and over. And yes, I can cite the posts.
It’s perfectly understandable if you don’t want to engage…that is typical of those who have been round house kicked multiple times.
Just be aware that if you do choose to engage, it would behoove you to cite your sources carefully and thoroughly because we will be right here vigorously pushing back on your propaganda and lack of accuracy.
Furthermore I, speaking for myself only, will not spoon feed you. I cite my sources. It’s up to you to read the information and present opposing sources if you so choose..
By the way, attempting to insult our intelligence and education level was a nice touch. How exactly is that different from someone calling you an idiot?
Oh, that’s right, it’s not.
@tadcf
I don’t believe that I’ve ever called you an ‘idiot’. Ignorant, yes, but that is an entirely different animal.
As for education, I believe I can speak for both AC and myself in agreeing that higher education is indeed a worthy goal in one’s life. We do not disparage those who have pursued it. What we do, however, disagree with is the notion that man(singular) is not as equipped to contemplate and successfully deal with life, in general, unless he has a higher education. That is elitist thinking, and you have engaged in it here on FA.
And, I have a philosophy on life. It’s my own as adapted from other’s writings and teachings. I do not need to attend a community college, or higher, to expound on that which I deem as wrong, and certainly not in line with the founding fathers ideals.
Suggestion: Rather than infer, combatively I might add, that our opinions are somehow derived from the ‘daily right wing memos’, as you imply, I suggest that you look at the opinions and thoughts expressed here as individual thoughts and ideas, and then proceed to argue the contrary. You might find a more receptive audience, and less combative response to your postings. Just a thought.
To get people like tacdf to grasp a concept… you really need to write at a 3rd grade level.