Last Observation

For my last observation, I decided to go to Hunter Creek Farm and thank every person who helped me with my project. Without the contribution of trainers, assistants, riders and the maintenance crew I wouldn't have been able to conduct my observations and learn all the things I know about hunter jumping horseback riding.

While I was there I spent a good amount of time talking with the trainer about starting to practice Hunter jumping horseback riding; she gave an exact price for the sport and materials I will need. Then, she showed me the horse that I would ride and the days and hours I would have to be there. After we talked, I took a moment to think and I realized that even though I love horses, hunter jumping horseback riding is not the sport for me. The first reason is that I can't work because I am an international student. This means that i am living on a very short budget and this makes it impossible for me to afford this expensive activity. The second reason is that I should devote most of my time to school and this would represent a distraction.

Hunter Creek Farm is beautiful place, where you feel surrounded by nature and good people. They told me I could keep going every week to visit them and spent time with the horses. I would recommend to practice this sport in this great place and I know that someday I will have the money and the time to practice hunter jumping horseback riding.

Observation Seven

Arthritis is not just a painful condition for people, but it also affects horses. Fred, oldest horse at Hunter Creek Farm, is suffering from the earliest stage of arthritis. The good news is that eventhough he has some serios symptoms,the cartilage has not yet been damaged, this means that the veterinarian has been able to accomplish a huge advance by following a very simple treatment.

This treatment consists in allowing the animal to rest (anywhere from a few days to a few months), give the horse anti-inflammatories injected into the muscles or the affected joint, and also pursue physical therapy, such as ice or heat treatments.

This picture shows some of the medicines that are used fro joint and muscle care


Unfortunately, Fred is not the only sick horse at Hunter Creek Farm. Foxen, a beautiful white horse, suffers from asthma. His illness is usually controled, but in the summer his symptoms get worst and the veterinarian gives him a special treatment.Cyproheptadine is the antihistamine used for the treatment of Foxen's allergies and asthma.


To avoid infections caused by the flies that come with the heat of summer, Hunter Creek Farm puts fly masks to every horse.


These were the three new things I learned in my most recent visit to Hunter Creek Farm, this past friday.

Observation six

Yesterday, March 12, I spent the whole day at Hunter Creek Farm, watching how they received and introduced Shadow to the rest of the horses. Shadow, a new colt that came into the family, is a young dark brown horse with lots of personality and a beautiful posture. He is now the youngest one in the group and everyone wants to try him. Every time a new horse comes in, the trainers experience is a bittersweet feeling because they immediately fall in love with the new one, but they have to keep in mind that if no rider feels comfortable with him and no one buys him, they have to send him back.

When a new horse comes to the farm, the idea is to give him the basic training and evaluate if he has the capacity to become an excellent horse that will give a good reputation to the rider and Hunter Creek Farm. Despite the fact that this is only his fist day and that he has not received any training yet, a lady is already very interested in shadow, she described him as beautiful, powerful and gentle horse; she said her young boy felt in love with him as soon as he came down from the truck.

After a very short demonstration, she is decided to buy Shadow. She mentioned that her son got into a car accident and he is learning to walk again. The doctor suggested horseback riding to accelerate the processes and recovery. For this reason, she is not really interested in a horse for competition and hunter jumping, but to be a friend and a tool for her son.

Fifth Observation

Last Sunday, Hunter Creek’s riders were invited to another horse show to compete. The horse show took place at the Volunteer Park in Plantation Acres, the same place where the last competion took place. Two little girls and two adults from Hunter Creek Farm participated in the show. The two little girls moved up a division,and competed against more advanced riders, which made it harder for them, and the two adults stayed in the same division.

The day started early, at 5:00 am the two ponies got lounged and then got a bath. The two horses although did not get lounged, they got baths too. At 7:30 the horses arrived at the horse show, where they got brushed and ready for the show.
This time the show was even more crowed and the competition was tough. It was a good experience for the little riders because it helped to prepare them for future shows.

I wasn't able to stay until the show finished, but my friend mentioned that this horse show was not as successful as the last one. Although every rider got a ribbon, they did not do their best.

About the Interview

Two Saturday's ago,February 6, 2010 I was going to interview the trainer at Hunter Creek Farm, but she had an emergency and left after practice. My friend introduced me to the next person that could help me with my research, and that turn out to be the perfect candidate because she was able to give me the point of view of both, a trainer and a rider.

I interviewed a very interesting 28 year old woman named Sandra Gomez. She is an assistant trainer and a rider ar Hunter Creek Farm.

Materials that are used to prepare the horse

Girth


Saddle


Saddle Blanket


Baby Pad


Martingale

Fourth Observation

This past Saturday at 1:00 PM I went to Hunter Creek Farm. My goal was to interview the trainer and at the same time watch riders either hack or train. The first thing I did was observed how the horses are prepared before they get ridden. (as you can see in the pictures), this is a long processes that may take up to 20 minutes. The first step is to take the horse’s blanket off; blankets are used only during cold weather. Once the blanket is folded and put away, a vacuum is on the horse to get as much dirt out of the horse’s coat as possible. After vacuuming, the currying begins. A grooming mitt is used for this. The purposed of currying is to help finish getting the dirt out, as well as the hair that the horse is ready. Currying is done all over the horse’s body. Brushing comes next; usually two brushes are used to make the job faster, the horse’s body gets all brushed as well. Then the horse’s hooves are cleaned out, subsequently, the tail and mane are brush too and the horse is ready to get tack up.

The first step is to put the martingale if the horse uses one, then comes the baby pad, which goes under the saddle blanket and the saddle. Once these are put on the horse the girth is put into place. The girth holds the saddle in place. Afterwards, the bridal is put on the horse, and the horse is ready to get ridden.

In this observation I was able to learn the difference between hacking and training. Although a horse can be trained while being hacked, I am referring to training as a lesson for both the horse and rider. The hacking generally consists of walking, trotting and catering. It can last from 15 to 10 minutes. While training might take up to an hour, during this time, the horse warms up by walking, trotting and cantering for around 10 minutes or so, then the jumping begins. As I mentioned in one of my earlier observations, what is done during training depends on what the horse and/or rider needs to work on.

Finally, when the trainer finished her class, I was able to interview her and learn about her experience, opinion, knowledge and some very interesting stories that are going to be extremely usefull for my next paper.

In addition to the pictures from that day, I will like to show you some images that will represent each material that is used to prepare the horse.