figuratively speaking of course, when it comes to whether a horse is an eventer or a show jumper.

Some horses HATE to get their feet wet and deeply fear water. It's almost impossible to train that fear "out", it's so deeply ingrained. I always breathe a sigh of relief when a young horse isn't fussed when asked to traverse their first creek!



(For non horsey folks, mares and geldings/stallions compete equally in all non-racing horse sports, as do their riders so no sexism implied in my post title).

I rode a LOT when I was young - haven't been on a horse now since probably 2000, but I used to ride this one guy who LOVED the water. I used to take him to an old quarry (this was in NW Miami, Near Miami Lakes) and there was one section that had a gradual beach to it, instead of the 3 feet of shallow then a 45' plunge, like most old rock pits.

Anyway......he would prance and splash around, then jump off the edge of the slope to start swimming, like a damned Labrador! I used to take a long lead and his halter with me, and we would both....er...undress, as it were!

I rode a thoroughbred that was like the one in the vid. Run like the wind, but a tiny creek? No bloody way, Jose!

This guy:

And no, that's not me up.

Michael Jung & Fischerrocana FST:

the first several were being led....
what do you think?


I'm going for "ain't afraid of nothing!"

And though I've never been to a 3 day event (would LOVE to attend one), I am aware they have practice runs, so I know that horse had been though that before....



But still...no freaking fear AT ALL!

Nice.

BTW, and FWIW, the ONLY way to travel to a 3-day:

http://fthr.com/products/horse-trailers/living-quarters/luxury-horse-trailers/villa

Click the vid. The Horse accomodations start at the 3:20 mark.

What a rig, eh?! lol

There's no trial runs for this event.

Horses competing at this level have absolutely no fear and they LOVE what they're doing. They've already seen many variations of this type of water jump and just intuitively understand (along with the rider's direction and control) that the water is safe and they can confidently jump in.

And what a rig is right?! If I won the lottery....

I would have thought they would at least be given the opportunity to survey the course with their mounts. Interesting.

I really do want to attend one. There is one in Ocala (not too far for me to travel) if I am not mistaken. I'll have to look it up

Just not in a very elegant way!

All the other ponies and horses loved splashing through the creek. Mine? Wouldn't get close.

Reminds me of my friend's horse. When I was at her house, because I was a novice rider, I would get her old trusty horse. She would ride whatever young horse she was breaking at the time. Her favorite horse was the one who had a thing against water. She'd rear up every time - unless I went into the creek first with the old guy, then she'd follow like there was no question everything was fine. But she just would not go first into water. AS you can see in this video - sometimes peer pressure helps

I was riding a neighbor's quarter horse on a trail ride. We came to a little bitty creek. Everybody else simply stepped over it. When Cowboy (he was trained as a roping horse) came to it, he gathered himself and jumped across. Boy was I surprised.

I later told the owner what had happened. He said, "Oh yeah, somebody trained him to jump. He loves it." Uh, thanks for telling me. I did manage to stay on, though.

But it makes a lot of sense for a dog breed with arctic origins, where water is freezing and deadly.

(By the way huskies are not generally an easy dog. Sure, they are cool. They like people. But maybe not you more than anyone else. They shed immense quantities of hair, they dig, they won't stay out of the trash, they are escape artists, they "sing" and talk sometimes more than you or your neighbors would like them to, and they won't do things just because you say so, not even for a treat. It's almost like teaching a cat. They are miserable in hot weather. Ours is from the animal shelter.)

Had both kinds of dogs too. Ones that loved the water and ones that hated it with a passion

BB would climb or walk right into the shower with me!

He spotted it 1st. Next thing I know, we were going about warp 9 in the opposite direction

I ended up having to get off him and drag him up to the water's edge. And then a funny thing happened. Once he got close enough to touch it, and realized it was water, his inner lab came out and he plunged in, dragging me along with him.

Dunked his face all the way in, lifted his nose and then sprayed 2 hosefuls of water out his nostrils Splashed around like a puppy. We were both soaked, but we had a blast.

I so wish somebody'd had a camera on him for that!

Now where I'm at, in the springtime my girls have to wade through water to get into the arena pasture, which was the 1st one that was grazable this year. Maizie is fearless, and Dahli tends to follow her.