This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Arthur Rivoire)
Hello Everybody from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia - I've been following the List all summer, but haven't had a moment to post until now. Our Nova Scotia Beginner Driving Vacations finished for the season on Thursday, and we now have time to breathe and think of other things. Thanks, Claudia, for writing about the Dutch Show (Celebration). ALBERT WEZEMAN'S PRESENTATION - Claudia and I attended the Dutch Show together, and I agree with all she said. I, also, was most touched by the incredible program put on by Albert Wezeman from the Foundation for Epilepsy where they use beautiful Fjordhorses to help people. To elaborate on that presentation --- There were handicapped people riding in the center of the big ring. Some rode on their own, others with side walkers. There was at least one rider on a lunge line. There was a 4-wheeled carriage being driven around the crowded ring amongst the riders and lungers. The driving was adept, so much so that I wondered why a non-handicapped person was part of this demonstration. I kept wondering until someone pointed out that the driver had no arms. Her hands were attached at the shoulders. I couldn't believe my eyes. The woman was a skilled driver. She drove fast and accurately in amongst all the people and horses. You'd have to say it was one of the toughest obstacle courses ever devised. The most impressive part of the demonstration was --- I don't even know how to describe this thing . . . It was a 4-wheeled vehicle made out of pipe pulled by two horses, but it wasn't pulled behind as in a normal vehicle. The bed of the vehicle was over the backs of the horses with only their heads and necks sticking out. It looked like a three-level square-shaped scaffold. -- This scaffolding enclosed the two horses on 3 1/2 sides, with the driver sitting behind. The part over the horses' backs had a roof from which hung a power hoist. This vehicle was like a square-shaped covered wagon, or maybe more like a four poster, canopied bed, except it wasn't pulled behind the horses - It hung over the horses. The "bed" headboard was pipe with pipe diagonal bracing, and the canopy was also pipe with a plastic tarp covering. -- Yes, that's more like it. -- It was a bed over the backs of the two horses. The "mattress" was made like a woven hammock, and slung, like a hammock, between the pipes. It was attached by leather straps, like the old stage coaches. Bedded in this hammock, within inches of the horses' backs, and directly between the two horses, was a child. A child too ill or physically handicapped to take part in the therapy program in any other way but this. -- Because of this innovative, "home-made", inexpensive contraption, special people are able to participate in, and benefit from this unbelievable program. --- This is definitely not just a carriage ride for a seriously ill child. It's much much more than that. It's valid therapy. The child is physically helped by her closeness to the horses. She's almost on top of them. She can smell them, and she can absorb the healing rhythm of their motion as they walk down the road. Someone much more clever than I could do a better job describing what we saw. I can't tell you how touched I was by the sight. I think the thing that got to me the most was the message of hope this demonstrated. That even in the most "hopeless" cases, there IS hope when caring people try hard enough and use their powers of imagination. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LUNGING SEVEN HORSES AT ONE TIME --- I have to say that this demonstration is very high on my list of Dutch Fjord Show Memories. The demo was put on by a group of girls from Germany. It was synchronized lunging, and it was marvelous! All the horses were in matching black tack - black lunge cavessons and lines, surcingles, and cruppers. The girls were in black pants and vests. The horses performed dressage movements like shoulder-in and half passes, all in unison, and all at the end of the lunge lines. With the seven girls standing in the center, the seven horses trotted and cantered head to tail at the end of the lines. It looked exactly like a wheel, and it was absolutely a smashing show. I've got some good pictures that I'll send to the Herald. ---------------------------------------------------------------- THE AWARD I ALMOST DIDN'T GET - Arriving at the show in Hoenderloo, Claudia and I were given tickets for the Friday night party. However, Claudia had made dinner arrangements for us in Amsterdam with a friend of hers. All day Friday I debated whether to go to the Studbook Party or go to Amsterdam with Claudia. Almost at the last minute, I decided on Amsterdam, so called headquarters and told them we wouldn't be coming. There was a kind of silence on the other end, and the girl said, "YOU SHOULD BE HERE!" She didn't say why. I hung up, and as Claudia and I were getting ready to leave, I had the strongest feeling that I should go to the party, so called headquarters again to say I'd be there. --- Once at the party, I ran into Bob van Bon, and he grasped my hand and said, "I'M SO GLAD YOU CAME. YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHY LATER." Still, I hadn't a clue. ---- Around 10 pm, as speeches were being made, I heard the loudspeaker asking that I come up on the stage. Well, the gist of it was that Mr. Brouer, president of the Studbook, presented a wonderful pewter plate incribed - "Carol and Arthur Rivoire, Beaver Dam Farm Fjords, Honored Members, Nederlandse Fjordenpaarden Stamboek." Mr. Brouer gave a speech in Dutch and then repeated it for me in English. The award was to acknowledge our contribution to the Fjord breed. --- Afterwards, Bob van Bon took me aside to say VERY EXPLICITLY that the award was for BOTH Arthur and I, not just me, because as he said - "I like Arthur so much." Bob took great pains also to be sure I understood that the Dutch words on the plate meant "honored members" not "honorary members". --- I am unabashedly proud of this award. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLAUDIA HAS AN ADVENTURE ALONE IN AMSTERDAM - Because I decided to go to the Studbook party, Claudia went alone to Amsterdam. She drove to Apeldoorn, and took a train to the big city meeting her friend for dinner. Dinner took longer than expected, and Claudia was very late on an almost empty train back to Apeldoorn. She had to fend off amorous men (which she did with great skill, diplomacy, and Southern charm), and on the dark road through the forest back to the hotel, she had an encounter with a wild boar. Claudia was unhurt. The boar probably was, judging by the fractured bumper we saw the next morning. I'd arrived back at the hotel hours before, and was frantic with worry. She should have been home. She's not! What can I do? -- When she finally arrived, we poured a couple of stiff bourbons, got into bed, and with a lot of laughter, recounted the high points of our evenings. FOURTH MOST EXTRAORDINARY THING THAT HAPPENED - After the show, Claudia and I spent three days in Amsterdam. On our last night, we were walking around looking at restaurant menus in windows. After coming out of one doorway, a young woman getting off a bicycle said --- "CAROL, IS THAT YOU?" She looked a little bit familiar, but I didn't know her. Finally she said, "I'm Suzanne, Monique's sister", and then I remembered. Monique had been with us as an interne for several months 12 years ago, and her family had come to visit. That's the only time Suzanne and I had seen each other, and she recognized me on a street in Amsterdam. --- How many millions of people live in Amsterdam? It was a wonderful trip. Best Regards, Carol Rivoire Carol and Arthur Rivoire Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II R.R. 7 Pomquet Antigonish County Nova Scotia B2G 2L4 902 386 2304 http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/beaverdf
