Re: Gypsy Fjord

[Jean Gayle]

This message is from: "Jean Gayle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Dave when you say certain numbers of Amish and gypsies take care of their
horses others do not I think you are describing the horse owning population
as a whole.  Sounds like an exciting gathering of the gypsies.  I remember
their caravans years ago here and in Europe.  We were always warned by my
British grandmother as children to "watch out the gypsies will get you"

By the way I took the " friendly one" to Ann Appleby's yesterday about forty
five minutes from me   He loaded without a quiver, gave me a very indignant
look when I checked on him at a rest stop.  I have an extra high extra long
trailer for my warmbloods and he barely cleared the manger and was having to
pick up the hay from the side of his mouth.  It did not stop him from eating
of course.  Ann has a great place where I had taken riding lessons years
ago.  She has recently purchased it and made some very good changes in the
arena and barns, etc  I got to see Wez, such a grand fellow and now stall
neighbor to Gunnar my boy.   Misha the stallion handsome and friendly, a
lovely old fellow "Moses" who had been Ann's early dressage horse, a very
sporting type year old filly, an old one eyed proud stallion in the field
with an about to burst in foal mare etc. All fjords except Moses, who
probably thinks he is also.  Her fields are large and neat, the whole place
and the horses were in prime condition,  I had visions of moving in!!
Don't panic Ann.  Gunnar will be there for a month and twenty rides to see
if he can be induced to become a dressage mount.   We are lucky that she
took us.Jean






Jean Gayle
Aberdeen, WA
[Authoress of "The Colonel's Daughter"
Occupied Germany 1946 TO 1949 ]
http://www.techline.com/~jgayle
Barnes & Noble Book Stores

Gypsy Fjord

[Dave McWethy]

This message is from: " Dave McWethy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Yes, I would not expect Gypsies would necessarily take good care of horses.
That is in fact something I want to see at Appleby, how they are relating to
their horses.  I wouldn't be at all surprixed if like the Amish, a certain
number take good care of the horses and really pay attention to them, but
most others don't.  Certainly in England, as elsewhere, many if not most of
the Gypsies are poor.  Wherever that happens, horses don't tend to get
priority.  Most of the people are not even involved with horses.  The ones
who are, they are the ones I want to watch.

It's amazing when you point your attention to something, you find evidence
of it in front of your eyes.  Yesterday I was at a fundraiser for Pony Farm,
a place where I give driving lessons a day a week.  The woman in charge of
fundraising had spent time working as a nurse in a hospital in Romania.  I
learned from her that her husband is Romanian, and in fact 1/4 Gypsy.  I met
him and talked with him.  One of the things I learned from reading is that
Gypsies had been slaves in Romania for 400 years until the 1850's.  They are
still a substantial part of the population there, but are much despised, and
subject to attacks since the fall of the communist regime, which,
ironically, protected them.  This man I spoke to said Romanians will
actually spit at Gypsies on the street.

In Romania he had been treated poorly even though only partially Gypsy,
because of his dark skin and eyes.  I asked him if in this country if anyone
knew he had Gypsy ancestry and he said not at all.

Even though his father was non-Gypsy, when his parents died in his youth, he
was adopted and raised by a Gypsy family.  He had lived on the same street
as this family.  I thought this was a remarkable act of charity on the Gypsy
family's part.  However, his father did not want to teach him the Romani
language, as he felt it better his son didn't know it.

One of the provoking situations in Romania is the success some Gypsies have
had since the fall of the communists in becoming wealthy by trading and
importing, as the Gypsies will usually prefer such occupations to employment
for wages.  So in addition to traditional attitudes, the Gypsies become a
scapegoat for Romanian's own frustrations in a stagnant economy.  It was
very interesting hearing details of this from someone who had been there
recently.