This message is from: "Foxfire Pine Stump" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Well, we (Lidamir and Betsy Lewis) had a wonderful time at the U.P.
Equifest
this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! We were participants in the
Parade of Breeds part of the event. Hundreds of people stopped and oooooed
and ahhhhhhed at their first real-live, up close and personal interaction
with a Norwegian Fjord Horse! (Lidamir , 5 y.o. mare by Gjest x Mira)
We had barely unloaded when the live coverage radio interviewer (Mike)
came
over and interviewed us. Lida was charming, sweet and unflappable. She did
not try to eat the micropone when he said "Now this is a horse of a
different color...." I could see her thinking.... "you haven't seen my
relatives, have you?"
He wanted to know about her color and mane, the usual curious
questions....
and as a non-horsey person was open to learning and asked great questions.
He was amazed at her winter coat and she withstood it all, standing in the
aisle quietly enjoying the attention and the spotlight and the flurry of
activity in the adjacent arena and on our aisle during the interview. He
finished the interview with "You've just got to come to Equifest, just to
see this beautiful rare horse!" Lida just nosed him and smiled and said
"Why
thank you, Mr. Bi-ped, now where's my hay?"
Many visitors stopped by and asked questions while we were setting up.
Because this was an educational event, as well as lots of demos and
clinics,
I saved part of her mane to trim while I was there so folks could see how
it
was done... so that in itself stimulated and answered many questions and
comments.
Many people were impressed with her ho-hum attitude about things that sent
the horses around us climbing the walls. Saturday and Sunday mornings
opened
with a flag ceremony.... one of the local rodeo queens galloped around the
arena with an American flag to a recording of the Star Spangled Banner.
Through the 4 foot gap above their stalls, all of the horses on our aisle
could see and hear just the top of the flag and the flapping noise it made
along with thundering hoof beats. That first morning, it sounded like the
whole aisle was in a fury.... horses kicking, screaming, running around
their stalls....and visitors scattering away from those stalls. Even our
Paso Fino stablemate ran in circles. I looked at Lida as she lifted her
head
an inch and said "Ho Hum, what's the big deal?" She merely flicked her
ears
in the directions of the different noises. Other than that, she didn't
move
a foot.
She was mildly excited late Friday when she and the next door QH stud
discovered each other... for a few hours she went into brazen hussey flirt
mode, teasing him and squealing. (She was in season LAST week...) Then
they
put up plywood upper panels between them and crushed that budding romance.
"Awww... she said, you guys are no fun at all!..."
One of her biggest fans was a young man, Josh, who was wheelchair bound
and
used a computer to communicate. Because he could not see over the bottom
stall panels to really see her, I asked him if he would like to see her
better and pet her. "Oh yes!" he wrote. When I opened her stall door, she
looked at him and slowly reached out to sniff his touch screen. He got
such
a chuckle out of that... We all laughed and wondered if she would start
using it too! He fed her a treat and grinned hugely at the touch of her
muzzle. They visited for many minutes, and she didn't seem to notice all
of
his hardware. These Fjords! They are just so special!
When he left he wrote: "She is soooo lovely!" This was probably the high
point of the weekend for me.
On Saturday, we had a three to four minute arena presentation to do, for
which I had to write a script.... How can you say enough about a Fjord in
3
minutes? While the script was read, I lead Lida in and up toward the
bleacher stands full of people. Uh-Oh.... last night when we practiced the
stands were not full! So, plan B.... turn her and back her up toward the
stands while they read the description of Fjord markings and colors....
dorsal stripe, etc.... Well, I was able to get her close enough for the
crowd to go ooooo and oooooH....in unison! When I turned her to the side
for a profile view.... ummmm she was having none of THAT crowd! So we did
a
few unplanned in hand circles. I did have the foresight to have the arena
set up for an at liberty situation, so after circling several times, I
took
her away from the crowd and released her, where she showed some lovely
movement, toward the exit panels! Using my best John Lyons round pen
techniques I had her trot and canter... but a large indoor arena is NOT a
round pen! When I thought our time was up, I stepped in front of her and
said Whoa. She stopped and walked toward me and stood directly in front of
me (Turn and come in) I patted her head and said "Good for you!" Then I
turned and walked down the center of the arena to the center exit.... with
her in perfect leading postion, quiet, calm and with no lead! As we
walked,
I heard her whisper..."Sorreee... I lost it for a minute, I wasn't sure
what
you wanted and all those bi-peds wiggling around ooooing and clapping
scared
me.... ooops! I forgot to pay attention, but it was really fun to act like
a
kid for a minute.... forgot I was a Fjord, since I am the only one here."
At first I thought... how awful a representation that was for this breed.
I
was very impressed with how she listened when I was clear! Some people
commented on how impressed they were with her obedient quiet down nature
after getting excited about the crowd. So while our presentation was not
perfect, we did the best we could.... we have some work yet to do.
I met an incredible woman, Tracy Porter, a John Lyons certified trainer,
watched several of her demos, including jumping her stallion through a
ring
of fire as well as round pen and ground work. I am looking forward to
spending some time with her in the future, working with Lida. One of the
most inspirational things she said this weekend was about thinking outside
the box to come up with solving problems with horses... not a quote but it
was something like this: If I try to think outside the box it assumes I AM
IN A BOX! I do not know everything.... and I am not in a box. So I will
search and ask and try until I can find a creative solution that works. No
trainer knows everything there is to know about horses. There are not
drive-thru solutions. It takes time, effort and commitment to find the
solutions. We have become a country wanting fast food answers to
everything
and horses are not fast food!
In regard to horseshows... I am not wild about showing, this was an
educational event. So much interest was shown in Lida and so many
questions
about Fjord versatility, they would love to see more Fjords next year....
doing a variety of disciplines as demos.
There were things about this event that I could see can better serve both
audience and exhibitors, I will be back next year better prepared both to
help promote Fjords and the event.
In any given situation, we are either part of the problem or part of the
solution. I could have used some brochures from the NFHR.... I had only
the
2 that came with my membership, so I stapled one to Lida's stall front. I
had the new Fjord Herald to share... but only my own personal copy, plus
some older ones. (A perfect reason to keep the Herald in print and not go
strictly electronic....)
Does our website have a PDF file printable brochure? If so, I couldn't
find
it. Some of the breeds had mountains of printed material, but then they
have
thousands of members. Promotional Committee? Suggestions? I did put a
request for info here on the list on September 4th.
Fred, have you considered finding a John Lyons trainer to work with? They
work with common sense, kindness and small steps, building blocks, to
address fundamentals. You have always been so helpful, I am sorry to see
you
in this state.
You and Lois are both in my thoughts.
Sorry, this is longer than rope....I had a wonderful weekend with
Lidamir..,
cold wet and rainy, she was pure sunshine for our first public adventure!
Betsy Lewis and Lovely Lida
In da U.P. of Michigan
The FjordHorse List archives can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
