Meet Al Capone.
That's what they call him in the dressage field, anyway.
This is Stormy, an Anglo-Arabian of eight or nine years. He weighs in at about nine hundred pounds, and is about 15.3 hands high at the withers. In layman's terms, 5'1.2" at the base of his neck. When he's out doing dressage with his owner and handler, Rachael Dean, this horse goes by one of two other names - Al Capone and The Mad Hatter. Rachael was more than happy to be interviewed about her gelding, who is "not technically male because he doesn't have balls." She has been the proud owner and mother of Stormy for a year and a half now.
How did you come to own Stormy?
"I snuck online and went on something called Equine.com, just to look at horses for fun. Just messing around, I ended up getting a combo that only got ten search results; there, I found Stormy. The rest were mares. (And I don’t like mares.) I showed mom, who wasn’t very happy that I was online and not doing my chores, but she agreed he was cute and humored me by calling to see where he was. He was priced at the exact amount of money we had for our horse budget. Someone else was interested, so we went that very day to see him. There was a snowstorm warning to stay indoors unless it was an emergency. We drove there; it took about 4.5 hours because of the storm. The snow was about knee deep. He hadn’t been ridden for about a year. The lady pointed into the stall and said 'this is Stormy'. He just stared at us. She took him out and lunged him, then set up a jump to show how he did with that. He jumped on his own. He tried to bite me when I tried to brush him, but the owner gave me a peppermint to give him. He was fine after that. I tacked him up and rode him, even though I hadn’t ridden in a couple weeks. He refused to do much at first, but he had a great springy step. Best canter on the face of the planet – very controlled and smooth when he wanted it to be. His gaits were great, and his jumping was perfect. I was sold, but mom thought I was insane. He is a bit short for me, but I don’t think that’s a problem we can’t work around. Jennifer (the owner) was honest about him – his quirks, how he hadn’t been ridden. We left to think about it, found a barn and had him on trial for a month. I fell in love and have had him ever since! I’m never selling him. He has a good twenty years left.”
What quirks does he have?
"He likes to eat anything I’m eating…he even wants to try meat. When he’s crosstied, he tries to sneak up on you, but if you look at him he runs back to his spot and stands at attention. If you try to give him his wormer he spits it out, then hides in his corner and won't look at you. If he doesn’t want to do something he pitches a hissy fit – if hes learning something new he’ll buck, toss his head...ten minutes later, he's fine. He's afraid of tractors for whatever reason. If he goes over a certain speed he starts bucking – which is hilarious. If people are watching, he prances even more. When hes proud of himself after jumping, he'll buck since he has a lot of energy that he doesn’t know what to do with. He likes cellphones; if he sees a cellphone he’ll try to eat it. He doesn’t like water much. He avoids stepping on water if at all possible – he even skirts around puddles. He follows me even without his lead rope. And when I’m done riding him he rolls in the dirt like a weirdo."
So what do you two do together?
“Well, I ride him. What I do the most is dressage – basically very refined flatwork that works on the connection between horse and rider. Not many younger people ride dressage. It’s not as flashy as higher levels; in higher levels the horse has to be more in tune with the rider. You can’t bully a horse into doing anything. Some things are things they can do, but aren’t things they do usually – crossing their front legs while walking sideways and spinning on their haunches, for example. The horse has to be submissive but not dull, you'll lose points for a dull horse. I jump him just for funsies. I show him during the summer…we’ve won eleven ribbons together in only one summer of showing. He's placed at every show we’ve gone to; I’m very proud of him. Sometimes I ride him out back for fun, it’s called hacking: just riding wherever you want. Three day eventing (arena jumping, dressage, and cross country, which is jumping in the field, usually with natural jumps) is my goal for him for next summer, what I want to do with him ultimately. I'm working on getting him into jumping more – looking for jumping lessons.”
What is your favorite story about Stormy?
"Any show I’ve ever taken him to has been a blast. I can’t pick one story, but if I did it would be… the day after Halloween, there was a schooling show. I was a nervous wreck since I hadn’t properly prepared, but my instructor made me go to teach me a lesson. He (Stormy) was a jerk in the warmup arena since I was nervous. They feel that. My instructor told me, "Rachael, you need to show him who’s boss. Kick his arse." So I went and did so, and he was like "OH MY GOSH! There's someone up there!" After ten minutes, he went perfectly. We were in complete harmony, and that’s where I want to get him. To where we’re in tune with each other on almost every ride."
Is there anything else you'd like to mention about your gelding?
"I put my horse above the vast majority of people I know. He doesn’t talk, which is great. He’s a dork. He goes really nice when I ride him, but when I’m on the ground he’s a doofus. He has a really quirky personality, really laid back. Out of the seven horses I’ve owned, he’s the best. He’s a very one-person horse, he won’t do things for other riders. The thing that makes him so fantastic is that he’s a tiny horse and he thinks he’s a macho stud. He’s very in your face, and thinks he’s huge. He’s a rescue, which makes me even more proud because he can kick really expensive horses’ butts. He makes me happy; no matter how crappy my day’s been, I can go to the barn and get on my horse and it’s like nothing ever happened."
After the interview, I did a bit of research on Anglo-Arabians myself. I came up with some interesting things:
The Anglo-Arab is a versatile, talented riding horse due largely in part to the size and speed of the Thoroughbred being combined with the endurance and elegance of the Arabian. Known as an excellent competition horse, they are capable of competing at the highest international levels. Anglo-Arabs are known for their athletic ability and good temperament – described as intelligent, even-tempered, willing, bold, and honest – and they have been used for jumping, dressage, eventing, and most English disciplines. (As opposed to Western-style riding.) They have also been used in the military. Typically, they stand at about 15.2 to 16.3 hands at the withers.
An Anglo-Arabian horse is the result of a cross between a stallion and mare of any combination of the following breeds: Thoroughbred, Arabian, and Anglo-Arabian. However, the offspring must have at least 12.5 percent, or 1/8th, Arabian blood to be considered Anglo-Arabian. In the United States, it is considered a partbred Arabian horse, rather than its own breed, and is registered in a different section of the Arabian Horse Association. Typical colors of the Anglo-Arabian are chestnut, bay, and grey, and the overall confirmation of the best of the breed is more similar to the Arabian than the Thoroughbred. This means a long neck, prominent withers, studier body and a deep chest; their heads are fine-boned, though not overly concave, with strong bones.
Sources: The Fact Book of Horse Breeds by the Pony club, and Wikipedia.
No comments:
Post a Comment