ECAHS
Member News
News from Gainey Cornerstone Arabians
By
Denise Gainey
New ECAHS
members Robert & Denise Gainey of Gainey Cornerstone Arabians are proud to
announce their stallion HG Esquire placed Top Ten Open Sporthorse
In-Hand Stallions at this years Arabian Sporthorse Nationals.
With very tough competition in the ring, HG Esquire received an overall
score of 165, placing him 3rd in a class size of 30.
As a 2-year-old, HG Esquire was presented
at the first VAHA Sporthorse Evaluation in Herndon, VA at Frying Pan Park where he received not
only the highest category score but the highest overall score as well. Along with comments received from the
evaluator, Peter Hansen and HG Esquire’s scores, it was at this time Robert and
Denise decided the Sporthorse division would be the
discipline pursued.
Gainey
Cornerstone Arabians located in Amelia, VA is a small family owned and operated
breeding farm that strives on breeding foals that can be versatile enough to be
a family horse AND compete at the Regional & National level in a variety of
disciplines. Conformation, pedigree, and disposition are critically important
in the horses GCA owns and breeds. As a
family operated program, it is essential that everyone be able to handle each
and every one of the horses on the place and ensure that it is an enjoyable
experience!
Robert &
Denise Gainey are also pleased to announce HG Esquire was recently certified by
ECAHS at 46.77%. At the time of this
printing GCA is also anxiously awaiting the certification results of the
remainder of horses in their program.
Robert & Denise Gainey state it is most exciting to be able to
become a member and participate with ECAHS and look forward to a most exciting
future with their Crabbet related stock!
Currently HG
Esquire is in training and will stand the 2006 season at Jonesborough Farm, LLC
located in Culpeper, VA.
Larry Jones and HG Esquire are gearing up for this years show season in
the performance division. The two of
them together are a great team! In 2005
HG Esquire participated in the NC State University Stallion Auction and is
currently participating in the MECAB Gold Seal Stallion Auction (expires
1/31/05) as well as the Sporthorse Prize Money
Auction (begins 1/15/06 and expires 1/31/06).
Robert & Denise are very much looking forward to this New Year and their involvement
with ECAHS and they invite your inquiries at anytime! You can visit them online
at www.gaineyarabian.com or by calling 804.690.2408
Proud ECAHS
Members
Robert &
Denise Gainey
Gainey Cornerstone
Arabians
In their Own Words – Stories
of Members and their Horses
MAIA STORIES
by
Lawrence J. Fedewa
The other day I
was working in my home office and I heard thunder in the west. I looked up and
saw our little herd of four mares trotting toward the stable. Looking more
closely, I could see that Maia was herding them. Maia is my ten-year old maiden Arabian mare. She is dark
gray, with white mane and tail, typey face, correct
conformation, wonderful Western gaits, good sense, and everything you could ask
for in a trail horse. But none of that mattered now. What I saw now was Maia herding her little band to the safest place on the
farm if you want to avoid being hit by lightening in the western sky: the back
of the stable. At first, I wasn't quite sure that the episode had to do with
the weather; after all, horses move about at various speeds from time to time
for no apparent reason.
The rain came
down in buckets but stopped after about fifteen minutes. I noticed the horses
slowly move away from the stable after the rain. By half an hour later, they
were back in the pasture grazing. Then I heard thunder again. This time I got
up and watched what would happen. Sure enough, Maia
started them back toward the stable, aided by her trusty lieutenant, Moniq, a younger, even darker gray Arabian mare. This time
they all went more efficiently, and were safely behind the stable by the first
raindrops. Another brief cloudburst after which they moved
out again. This identical sequence occurred twice more in the next two
hours, until the front had passed -- a total of four times which I witnessed.
There is no question in my mind that Maia herded
those horses to safety every time the thunder started. I don't know why, and
I'm not sure I'd believe it if I did know. The only thing I know for sure is
that I didn't get as much work done as I wanted to that afternoon.
There are other
stories about Maia. The most dramatic is told by John
R. Aldred, D.V.M., who bred her and raised her for the first seven years of her
life. When Maia was a coming two-year old, her
weanling full brother, Lucky, was suddenly orphaned when their mother was hit
by lightening and killed instantly. Usually, such a young orphan will be
allocated the lowliest place in the herd, and will in fact be in jeopardy of
not surviving because of the meager feed, the hazing, and the constant
pestering of the rest of the herd. With no one to look out for him, Maia's little brother was in serious trouble. Doc was
watching closely, because he thought he might have to remove the little guy
from the herd. He was astonished to observe, however, that the little Lucky was
in fact thriving. On closer inspection, he noticed that big sister was
constantly standing up for him, keeping other horses at bay, and generally
acting like his lost mother. This from a maiden filly in her
second winter. She continued to care for him until he grew old enough to
take care of himself. To this day, Doc says he has never seen anything like
this in sixty years of breeding horses. Other old hands say that the only thing
like this they have ever heard of was when a stallion will occasionally
"adopt" a little orphan and look out for him. Neither Doc nor anyone
else has even heard of a mare who has been a mother
doing this, let alone a young filly.
That is the best
Maia story, but here is one more. When we finished
our stable, we brought five horses over to Cedarwood.
Among the horses were Maia and a twenty-eight year
old mare named Missy. Missy had become an outcast in the big herd from which
all the horses had come. She was never nearer than 100 yards to the rest of the
herd; she was so gaunt, sickly, and depressed that her owner thought she was
coming to Cedarwood to die. What actually happened is
exactly the opposite. Maia immediately started
treating her like a foal -- she didn't let her stray, she made her follow the
rest whenever they moved or started playing, she made
sure no one bothered her when she was eating or drinking -- it was quite
amazing. Missy's reactions were heartwarming. She started playing with the
other horses, galloping, kicking, laying down (which many old horses don't do
because they are afraid they won't be able to get up), rolling (both sides
vigorously -- just like Maia), going crazy whenever
she was separated from the others -- which her owner was used to doing as a way
to protect her. (In fact, Missy's owner took awhile to adjust to Maia's Missy.) Today, Missy's coat shines, her muscles are
hard, she has gained weight, she is eating green grass again, she is loving life. In fact, she now goes on long trail rides
again, and shows every time that she is all heart.
I say she is all
heart, because she insists on trying to keep up with Maia
on the trail, even though in our circle of riders, Maia
has a reputation as some kind of "superhorse"
on the trail. Maia carries a heavy rider and a full
Western rig, goes anywhere (almost), trots and canters up and down steep hills,
for four or five hours at a time, and is just as anxious to run in the last ten
minutes as in the first ten minutes. In fact, until the temperature gets up to
the eighties and nineties, she hardly even sweats. The first day I had her, it
was early spring. I put her on a longe line to
"tune her up" for a few minutes. Two hours later, I was still trying
to see what kind of a horse I had, as she was still cantering happily around
and hadn't even worked up a sweat! Even over rough terrain, Maia
is as sure-footed as a mule. And, if asked, she can retrace every, single step
of the way home no matter how many miles -- no shortcuts, no deviations, no
confusion with the way we came last time, even if we made a mistake.
For Missy to try
to keep up with Maia is a challenge indeed. But she
is so full of her new confidence, that she doesn't
want to come up short. Maybe, in her own way, she wants to thank Maia, to show her the effort was worthwhile. But Maia doesn't seem to want any thanks. Once Missy had been
"rehabilitated", Maia left her alone, and
now treats her as she does any other member of her little band.
I told this
story to my veterinarian, Dr. Nancy Sitarz, and asked
her if she knew of other mares doing such things. "Only Arabians", she said.
Copyright 1997
by Lawrence J. Fedewa
All rights Reserved – Printed with Permission
MORE
MAIA STORIES
by
Lawrence J. Fedewa
Maia is a
funny horse. Like last night. Normally, when I put the horses into the stable
at night, I walk up to Maia, the leader of our little
herd of four mares and one gelding, put a rope over her neck, and lead her in,
knowing the others will follow. But last night it was raining, the ground was
all mud, it was late, and three of the horses were standing at the lower gate
when I got there. So, I just opened the gate and let them follow me in through
the front door of the stable. I soon realized I had only four horses in their
box stalls. Where was Maia? I opened the back door,
through which they usually enter, and there she was. She came right up to me,
but I didn't put the rope around her neck as usual; instead I just opened the
door, stepped back, and invited her in. This, of course, was not at all the way
this was supposed to be done! She backed away and went trotting up the hill in
back of the stable and off into the west pasture, wanting me to follow and play
a little hide-and-seek with her. But I was not in a playful mood. So I walked
back into the stable to do some chores.
Five
minutes later, I was standing near the front door, reading my trainer=s log,
when down at the other end of the building I saw a little white nose stick out
from the other side of the door. It was soon followed by a white head, and an
inquisitive eye. I pretended I didn't see. Finally, the whole Maia appeared. But, instead of walking directly into the
her own stall, which is the first one from the back of the stable, she
proceeded to walk the entire length of the building, right past the other
horses who by now had their heads outside their stall-guards into the aisle and
were watching every move. I pretended I didn't notice her. She walked all the
way to where I was standing and nudged me with her nose. Whereupon I put the
rope around her neck and led her back down the aisle, past her followers, and
into her stall. Obviously, I had to be reminded of the proper order of things.
Maia is a 1987
purebred Arabian mare, whose dark gray dapples have by now faded into a sort of
darkened silver, topped by a white mane and tail. For an experienced rider, she
is a wonderful trail horse who has the athletic ability to do far more than I
have ever taught her to do. But she also does funny things. For example, in the
pasture (though no longer under saddle) she has a habit of whipping her head
like a bullwhip whenever a negative thought crosses her mind. It may be caused
by something obvious, as when her serious grazing is interrupted by someone or
something. Or it may be that she is being asked to do something she didn't
think of, such as being called by a human. Or it may be something which is
totally unfathomable by mere humans such as we. What is really funny is to see
her laying down in the pasture, supposedly resting, but eating the grass around
her, and occasionally whipping her head at some unseen irritant.
She has
other peculiar little habits. When anyone goes to the pasture to bring her in,
she is apt to start a gentle little game of "catch me!" She doesn't
run away, she just turns her body away from you, making it impossible to put a
halter or rope on her. She never walks more than a few steps, and we both know
she is going to come in; but she wants her little game first. Finally, if she
is approached head-on, she will stand and be caught. In the field, she rarely
watches you looking straight at you. Instead, she watches you from the side.
That way, if you give her some excuse to jump or run, she can take off without
ever telegraphing her moves. Sometimes, when we don't have time or weather to
exercise the horses in conventional ways, by longeing
or riding, we play a little game with them, chasing them all over the pasture.
This is one of Maia's favorite things in the world.
She always waits until the other horses have already left, then she runs like
her life depended on winning. She always catches up, sometimes even gets ahead.
But the younger, faster mares see how fast she is coming, and they start really
booking. Suddenly they all stop, and wait for us to do something. The other horses
see us coming and start moving away, but Maia waits
until one of us has almost caught up with her, then she takes off, galloping as
fast as she can go -- and it starts all over again. Sometimes you wonder if
horses are really very smart, but they know this is a game, because after
chasing them around for a half hour, we can change our body language and walk
right up to any one of them.
Maia always
takes what my daughter calls "air nips" while she is being saddled.
She stands still, she doesn't do anything bad; but she doesn't like the
cinch strap. She doesn't object to it being tightened, only to it being
introduced. In fact, one time I was talking to someone, and my daughter was
reaching under Maia to hand me the cinch. I guess I
took longer than Maia thought was appropriate,
because she neatly kicked the buckle which was under her body at the time.
How she managed that little feat is still a mystery. To register her protest to
the idea of the cinch strap, she looks back at the saddle, and takes a little
bite of air. She doesn't come close to anyone, and she obviously does not
really want to bite anyone, but she does want to register her objection for the
record. She has just the opposite reaction to the bit. As soon as she sees it,
she reaches out and almost grabs it with her teeth, for all the world like it
was her favorite meal.
Maia does not
like to ride in the ring. She pins back her ears ever time she is asked to
change gaits. Again, she does everything she is asked to do, and does it
very well, tremendous athlete that she is. But she looks like an angry
horse. Take her outside the ring, however, and she is the most willing,
enthusiastic horse you'll ever ride. Maia's trainer
says that outside the ring she is a different horse, and that is the truth -
and don't try to change it, hear?
Extraordinary
athletes, especially basketball players, are sometimes said to have
"athletic arrogance", meaning that their unbelievable feats of
physical strength or agility are usually a result of their intense desire to
accomplish a goal -- put the ball in the basket, for example. So focused on
their goal are they that they take for granted that their body can do what is
necessary to achieve the goal. It never occurs to them to doubt their physical
capacity to do what ordinary people would consider impossible. They have
"athletic arrogance". Maia has her own form
of athletic arrogance. Sometimes, it is just funny, as when she tries to cover
up a little slip with a little buck. She is as sure-footed as a mule, and she
just can't bear to admit that she slipped! Other times her athletic arrogance
leads to more complicated consequences.
I
reconstructed this story by later examining her hoofprints.
My daughter, Kirsten, and I were just returning from a leisurely trail ride,
when all the other horses came running to the pasture fence to greet us. In the
area where we were, between the fence and the road, there is a shallow culvert.
I was watching the horses coming and Kirsten and I were chatting about our welcome,
so I wasn't paying attention to my own mount. Maia,
we later discovered, thought I meant for her to walk straddling the culvert. So
rather than stop, or move to one side or the other like any ordinary horse, she
was giving me a very smooth ride by trotting with two feet on one side of the
culvert, and two feet on the other side. As the rider, I didn't feel a thing.
As I turned my attention back to our path, I realized that something wasn't
right. So I asked Maia to bear to the right, without
realizing that this would unbalance her. Even so, she would have made it, but
the ground was wet and soft, and her left front hoof slipped just enough to
drop her shoulder and deposit her rider gently on the soft uphill, a distance
of about two feet. That was the easiest fall from a horse I have ever felt. But
it does go to show that athletic arrogance is not always a good thing!
Right now
she is in our AFat Lane@ with Moniq, a younger dapple gray, purebred Arabian mare. This
is a strategy to keep them from too much new green grass during the Spring
green-up, and thus protect them from founder. Maia is
really there because Moniq has shown some tendency to
founder, and Moniq
cannot stand to be alone (although losing a few pounds won=t hurt Maia either). Every once in a while, you can see Maia think about the fact that she is locked up, away from
the rest of the herd. And it makes her SO MAD! She pins her ears back and runs
up and down and chases poor Moniq, and looks at the
house as if to say: AWhen are
you going to rescue me?@ After
while she settles down. Until she thinks of it again. Then it makes her SO MAD!
Maia is a
funny horse.
Copyright
1999 by L. J. Fedewa. All rights reserved. – Printed
with Permission
Sheik’s Prophesy
By Merrie Boone
I have had many wonderful Arabian horses
throughout my life. I could tell you a
special story about each and every one of them. It truly is the spirit of the
Arabian horse that makes them so very special. I'd like to share one of my
special stories about my riding gelding Sheik.
Twelve years ago I was finally in the position
to have a horse again. I had grown up with horses, but as most of us do I had to take a break from having
horses to attend college. I got married and had two young children so horse
ownership was on hold for awhile. I had
horses of various breeds throughout my life and finally was in the position of
having a horse once again. Sadly, I let
my heart rule my head and bought a thoughbred whom I
felt very sorry for due to her living conditions and what she had gone through.
Being young and foolish I thought since I had trained horses I could rehab this
horse. Long story made short, one day this mare decided she was going to unload
me and went bucking and whirling right towards a fence. I knew she would either
rub me into the fence or even go through it, as she had no regard for her own
safety, much less mine. I decided to bail off. During the process I caught my
foot momentarily into the stirrup. Thank God the stirrup did release as I would
have been dragged and perhaps even been killed. As it was I shattered my ankle
in 15 places. I came close to actually losing the leg as the reason it
shattered was that I have the beginnings of osteoporosis.When
the surgeon tried to piece me back to together like "Humpty Dumpty," the screws did not want to adhere to the bone
as the bone was so soft. Finally I wound up with 19 screws and 2 plates from
ankle to mid calf. I was non weight bearing for 6 months ( including not being
able to drive) and on crutches for 11 months. This was a low point in my life
as I have always been very independant and had to
depend on others for simple things.
About a year after the accident I finally was
able to walk without crutches and contacted a friend of mine who had a very old
reliable half Arabian. I have always lived my life literally and figuratively
in that if you "fall off the horse" you get back on and ride again.
As I tried to ride my friends old arabian gelding,
the pain in my ankle was unbearable. I
came home and just sobbed as I thought I would no longer be able to ride. I
remember being in church soon after and was very sad. I told a friend perhaps
this is God's way of telling me I am no longer to have horses. My friend
pointed out that if God truly did not want me to have horses I would no longer
even have the desire to be around them.
Not long
later Sharon Noonan, Bill Noonan's
wife, told me that they had a Arabian foal born at their farm ( True Blue
Arabians). Sharon and I were teaching Sunday school together at the time. This
got me thinking...Some of my best horses were horses that I had raised and
trained. I was thinking if I got a foal, by the time it needed to be trained
for riding, my foot would have healed enough to actually ride. I mentioned this
to Sharon the following week. She spoke to someone she knew who had alot of Arabian foals born at their farm. I was invited to have a look at their foal
crop of over 30 foals . I was asked exactly what qualities I was looking
for. I described what I had in mind. I
wanted a colt that I would geld, with excellent conformation, good disposition,
good strong bones, one that would mature around 15 hands (as I am tall), that
would also be competitive if I wanted to show, but also it would be my saddle
horse. I was asked even what color was
my favorite. I answered "Chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail or
bay." I was led over to this three day old colt.
I swear there was light behind this colt whom I
was to name Sheik. My heart leaped in
recognition that this colt was "the one." This colt was as bold as brass tacks and was
exactly what I was looking for. Being the "good horseman" I asked to
look at all the foals. I really liked the imported Russian stallion *Prosit and his get. I especially was impressed with RSA
Prophet who is a bay stallion sired by Prosit. I had
it narrowed down to two colts , each being sired by Prosit.
I asked to see them again with their dams and watched how the dams behaved. The
one colt's dam was pretty flighty and the other mare was very calm. This was
the dam of the 1st colt( Sheik) that I
had immediately connected with. I bought that colt that day.
I decided to name the colt after my mothers
half-Arabian Hendrick's Sheik. For those of you who
were involved with horses during the 1960's and 1970's Hendrick's
Sheik was the partner of Johnny Bergueson and their
traveling show was called "Johnny and the Sheik." My mother had
raised Sheik and broke him to ride and taught him tricks. She sold him to
Johnny when she was to get married. There are ads even today in the Western
Horseman of Johnny and the Sheik. In memory of this wonderful horse I named
Sheik after the original Sheik. Sheik's registered name is Sheik's Prophesy (
as I know this horse will do great things in his life).
All summer I came to the farm where Sheik was at
and played around with him, teaching him to pick up his legs, being brushed
etc... The foal grew up to be a magnificent adult-everything I had hoped he
would be. The summer when he was four years old I took him to the Crabbet Celebration
to be ridden in his first horse show under saddle. This was also his first canter class.
After I entered the ring , they announced that they would ask for a hand
gallop. I nearly exited the ring as it was a large class with 22 horses. I
thought this class could turn ugly very fast and wind up being a horse race. I
decided to keep Sheik in check and see how we did. When the hand gallop was
called out we started cantering along when suddenly a horse kicked out at us.
Sheik moved quickly sideways to get us out of
danger. I totally lost my balance and nearly was unseated. Sheik not only
stopped , but shifted his weight and caught me. I had literally lost my reins
and had grabbed him around the neck. He stood perfectly still as I hauled
myself back in the saddle and gathered up my reins. We continued on. To this
day, if I lose my stirrup or balance as sometimes I do due to that terrible
foot injury, Sheik will STOP
immediately. I have never trained him to do this. He just does this
instinctively as he knows he needs to protect me. He has only known me with my
injury and even as a young foal would make adjustments for me.
Not only did Sheik help me heal physically from
such a horrific injury, but in the process he touched my soul..... After I acquired
him I started doing research on his bloodlines as he is a Russian/Crabbet
Arabian. It is due to the qualities I have described in my story that has made
me fall in love with the Crabbet Arabian horse. I would have no other type of
horse as truly they are the horse of your heart......
Merrie Boone
Silver Dream Arabians