2020 Merry Christmas

 

Did you know that Blitzen has a sore hoof this year?  Blessi volunteered as replacement to pull Santa's sleigh. When you watch the skies on Christmas eve, look for a pudgy, hairy Icelandic running with the reindeer.

Blessi invites you all to a game of Christmas ring toss.  It's only costs a peanut for each attempt.   If you get the ring stuck in his mane, you owe him two peanuts.

Happy Holidays to all !

Pamela and Blessi

 

 

 

 

*Photos by D. Shrimplin

 

 

A Poem for Blessi

I won a small group writing contest for producing a humorous story.  The prize I selected was a poem about Blessi, who certainly deserves a book of verses.  For your reading pleasure, here is:

To Blessi
by Gabriel Stevenson

A horse is a horse of course,
But this horse is a Viking.
To my eternal liking,
He embodies the Norse.
Intelligence and force
This equine proudly displays.
When he works and plays,
This horse is something grand,
Pride of an Icy Land,
And heir of bygone days.
*
Land of Ice and Fire,
Like J.R.R. described.
When in Iceland you ride,
This is the steed you desire.
Sure, the Clydesdale is much higher,
And the Arab has more speed;
Over every other breed,
The Lipizzaner is most royal,
But the Icelander is most loyal
In the hour of your need.
*
You might think it funny
Or say it was a ruse
To see a horse dressed as a moose,
But this one’s sweet as honey.
Groomer of cats and bunnies,
Glutton for donuts and apples,
Herder of zombies and cattle,
He’s gentle as a lamb,
But strong too, like a ram,
When you’re in the saddle.
*
We feared that this horse we had lost
That our steed of valor,
We’d meet in Valhalla,
O’er the rainbow bridge Bifrost.
But his time had not yet come to cross.
For his health, Þakka Æsir.
He’s not fancy or dressy,
But he’s more than just a horse.
These verses without remorse,
I dedicate to Blessi.

Blessi and the Argentinian Fry Bread

Some friends and I went to an Argentinian themed lunch.  The group insisted the last piece of fry bread be saved for Blessi.  Judy fed it to him as a treat after a lovely ride.  Blessi thought this was the best "doughnut" ever.  He was willing to bow and do other tricks to earn more.

Blessi Tries to Earn a Treat

After Blessi had his teeth floated, I sat in my lawn chair and read to block Blessi's access to the outside and grass as he recovered from the sedation.

Blessi always lets me know when he has recovered.  He walked over to the chair and started flipping pages in my book.  If he has enough fine motor control in his lips to flip a page without ripping it, he is ready to eat. 

When I got up from the chair, I moved it away from the exit.  Blessi surprised me.  

He started experimenting with the chair.  Do I earn a treat if I shake the chair?  

How about if I knock it over?   

Did Pam leave some peanuts on the seat?  (I had some peanuts in my pocket

so I am convinced that some of the odor must have transferred to the seat of the chair.  He doesn't usually spend a lot of time sniffing seats.  Boy, would Blessi do well if he got to work the entry line at US Customs and he got to check for peanuts, apples, and oranges.)  In between experiments, he put his nose to the camera to determine if he had achieved the threshold of innovative behavior required for a treat.

Later we on a long walk in search of the greenest grass.

Blessi and the Shovel

Why do I usually put Blessi in cross ties?  So I don't spend hours cleaning up his explorations.  One day I had him in a single cross tie.  I turned my back for a second and he started maneuvering to grab some leftover alfalfa on the ground.  He also managed to use his butt to knock the shovel off the wall, which landed on his butt.  

His head did go up.  But then he got this look on his face as if to say "I meant to do that."

Blessi and the Apple Paddle

Several summers ago, Blessi and I attended a Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) tourney. One of the most challenging obstacles did not involve throwing a lance or chopping a head off a bandit--oh no, Blessi was fine with all that. The tricky part involved an apple.

One challenge consisted of balancing an apple on

a paddle, carrying the apple to an elevated box, and dropping it in. So Lord Johannes, the equestrian marshal, puts the apple on the paddle that I am carrying. And what does Blessi do? He starts circling to the right to chase the apple. He was convinced that the apple was a treat for him and if we circled enough he could get that apple.





After he stopped laughing, Lord Johannes

walked in front of us--calling "This way Blessi"--to get Blessi to stop circling. We followed him and successfully dropped the apple into the box.


Several summers ago, Blessi and I attended a Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) tourney. One of the most challenging obstacles did not involve throwing a lance or chopping a head off a bandit--oh no, Blessi was fine with all that. The tricky part involved an apple.

One challenge consisted of balancing an apple on

a paddle, carrying the apple to an elevated box, and dropping it in. So Lord Johannes, the equestrian marshal, puts the apple on the paddle that I am carrying. And what does Blessi do? He starts circling to the right to chase the apple. He was convinced that the apple was a treat for him and if we circled enough he could get that apple.





After he stopped laughing, Lord Johannes

walked in front of us--calling "This way Blessi"--to get Blessi to stop circling. We followed him and successfully dropped the apple into the box.

Blessi and I had a wonderful day this week.  My day was better than Blessi's since Blessi had his teeth floated. After the vet left, I sat in my lawn chair and read to block Blessi's access to the outside and grass as he recovered from the sedation.

Blessi always lets me know when he has recovered.  He walked over to the chair and started flipping pages in my book.  If he has enough fine motor control in his lips to flip a page without ripping it, he is ready to eat. 

When I got up from the chair, I moved it away from the exit.  Blessi surprised me.  He started experimenting with the chair.  Do I earn a treat if I shake the chair?  How about if I knock it over?  Did Pam leave some peanuts on the seat?  

 

 

 

(I had some peanuts in my pocket so I am convinced that some of the odor must have transferred to the seat of the chair.  He doesn't usually spend a lot of time sniffing seats.  Boy, would Blessi do well if he got to work the entry line at US Customs and he got to check for peanuts, apples, and oranges.)  

 

In between experiments, he moved closer to me to determine if he had achieved the threshold of innovative behavior required for a treat.

I didn't want to chance feeding a treat but I did take Blessi out for a long walk in search of the greenest grass.

Blessi as Laurel and Hardy Ladder Scene

Once upon a beautiful, sunny day in the Pacific Northwest. I spent most of the afternoon with Blessi. The pastures are very muddy so, being a smart horse, he doesn't run much on the slick surface. I took Blessi to the arena and let him run. As I was talking to a fellow boarder, I noticed that he seemed to be fixed on something near the viewing platform. I didn't think anything about it until I noticed that he had been doing something in that area for five minutes. Hum, maybe I should check this out..perhaps he has found a cup to play with and with his habit of flinging things I don't want to pay to replace any more drinking cups.

So I walked over and it was worse. The speakers to a stereo system had been mounted at just his height. He was running his nose over the surfaces looking for buttons to flip or pull. (Luckily speakers don't have knobs.) Blessi once removed all the magnets and markers off a stable bulletin board so he will "investigate" new items for amusement potential.

I diverted him and started to pull the trot poles out of the corner. I almost had to tie him to a post since he was so insistent that he was going to help. First, I put a pole down on the ground and he would nudge it with his nose to move it about. Then he started walking with me to retrieve the poles. I had to divert him again since the poles are heavy and awkward and he was trying to grab them. I just envisioned the two of us in a Laurel and Hardy ladder scene. The poles were stacked against the wall as shown in this scene.

Blessi and the Bags of Bedding Pellets

During my visit with Blessi today, I took advantage of some industrial sized excavators and back hoes to walk Blessi past these obstacles. No problem. Without any hesitation, he walked up to each, touched the tires, walked with head down around each of them.

Guess what caused the hold up? One of the boarders was unloading sacks of bedding pellets.
As I walked Blessi by, he froze about four feet away and refused to walk past the van. He gave me this look of enthrallment. "They might be bags of oats? Horse treats? Dog food is OK too? Pleeeese can I open these bags."

The family dog was hanging over the back seat also. And I have to admit it is exceeding weird to explain to the young boarder why you would like permission to take a photo of the back of her van.

Blessi Tries to Make Friends with Super Kitty

Blessi loves cats. Here he is trying to make friends with barn cat Kitty, who wanted nothing to do with him. Kitty followed Blessi and me into the arena, crying for attention. I picked her up and put her on Blessi's back. Kitty started kneading Blessi's back--voila happy kitty, happy pony. Blessi took a few steps and Kitty jumped off--not expecting her sofa to move.

Blessi's Favorite Snacking Place

This is Blessi's favorite place

most summers. The outdoor washrack behind the barn ensures lush grass. Beau the mini and Tessa would really like to join Blessi.

More Blessi and Judy at Working Equitation

More photos of Judy and Blessi at the Working Equitation clinic.

Blessi and Judy Try Working Equitation

My friend Judy rode Blessi in an introduction to Working Equitation clinic given by Jordan Banks at the Paddock Woods stable in Gig Harbor WA. "The discipline of Working Equitation (WE) was created to celebrate the partnership between horse and rider, with a focus on classical horsemanship and use of the horse for ranch work." During a competition, each rider will compete in a dressage trial, an ease of handling trial, and speed trial.

What a wonderful clinic to audit. I learned a lot about how to better ride obstacles. And the dressage horses really seem to love finding a purpose for why they are asked to do all those transitions and movements. And all breeds of horses including gaited horses are welcome in the sport. A Quarter horse, Fjord, Haflinger, Icelandic, Gypsian, Andalusian, and Friesian cross were at the clinic. 


Note If you start the trial in tolt however, the rider should maintain that gait. Poor Judy! Blessi kept switching between tolt and trot. He didn't help her out with any precision moves at this clinic but most importantly the two had fun!

If you are in the Seattle area, you should check out this clinic and sport. You can find the dates for any future clinics on Jordon Bank's facebook page or web page at Golden Horse Dressage.

Since the "aim of the sport is to preserve and perpetuate each country’s type of equitation, as well as the various working equestrian traditions and the tack and attire which each nation brings to the sport," I wonder what the tack and attire should be for Iceland?

Here is a link to the WE webpage: www.weunited.us


If you are in the Seattle area, you should check

out

The Power of the Candy Wrapper

I am absolutely amazed how much attention horses give to the crinkle of peppermint wrappers. As I was grooming Blessi, somebody walked by and unwrapped some celophane candy. Here is the resulting picture--such a proud head set. Normally I don't put Blessi in the cross ties when grooming but there was a lot of activity at the barn. Lot's of activity means many unprotected tack boxes. So better the crossties than 20 minutes helping to pick up scattered brushes, hoof picks, etc, or worse getting into a tug of war battle in the middle of the aisle over a bag of treats.

Blessi and the Rug

I have been trying to think why Blessi was so fascinated by the rug yesterday at the Pet Partner Certification. Then the solution, like a falling horse shoe, struck me in the middle of the forehead! The last time Blessi saw anything like a "rug" was the Easter Carrot Hunt in his paddock when I hid carrots and small peanut butter cookies under saddle pads, buckets, napkins, etc.

How sweet and typical of Blessi's thought process. He gets to go into a "house" for the first time and he immediately assumes that he has been invited to an indoor Carrot Hunt. "Of course there are carrots hidden somewhere under that rug if only I keep looking". (Hummm. wonder why he pulled up the masking tape on the rug since he has never "played" with masking tape. How did he even know that it pulled off the rug?)

And when he doesn't find a carrot under the rug, he assumes we are all there to pet and groom and talk to him--which is why he thought he needed to stay with the volunteer rather than walk by the neutral dog.

Blessi Passes Pet Therapy Test

Blessi and I passed Pet Partner Certification. I am so proud of this horse!!! In case you aren't familiar with the organization, Pet Partners "is the nation’s largest and most prestigious nonprofit registering handlers of multiple species as volunteer teams providing Animal-Assisted Interactions. With the highest caliber curriculum in the industry, Pet Partners trains volunteers and evaluates them with their pets for visiting animal programs in hospitals, nursing homes, veterans’ centers, hospice, Alzheimer’s facilities, courtrooms, schools and other settings."

I had to take 8 hours of computer-based training on how to be a pet handler plus pass a test. Blessi had to get a health certification. Then we had the team evaluation today.

This is a rigorous program. Both the handler and
the animal are scored separately. All exercises need to be conducted on a loose lead line. As handler, I need to be proactive, read Blessi's cues, and intercede if somebody needs coaching on how to interact with a horse.

Per photo 1 (the 5 additional volunteers aren't in camera range), the evaluation occurred at the Fleet Reserve Association Branch. As far as Blessi was concerned, he was thrilled to finally get to enter a "house." He was particularly interested in "kitchen" but he didn't have an opportunity to explore that area of enticing food scents.

Pet Partners offers certification for the team at two different levels--simple and complex environments. We are certified for simple environments, complex with full time organizational escort. Photo 2 shows us at the end of Exercise 5, Out for a Walk. Blessi scored a 1 (he needed a 2 for complex). Why you may ask did Blessi only get a 1 when he is so obviously walking on a loose lead line? Ha! Ha! Take a look at the mussed up rug in the back ground. As we were walking by, Blessi decided to roll it up. When I suggested that he not play with the rug, he started to rip the masking tape off the rug. Blessi had the room laughing so hard.

In Photo 3, Blessi is doing his back up 6 feet. What you don't see are his attempts to move chairs with his mouth to make the back up easier.

Blessi adored his full, restraining hug with volunteer Andria, one of the more complex requirements, shown in Photo 4.

Photos 5 and 6 show some of the complex situations in which Blessi just was an angel. He needed to walk through a crowd, have an object make an unexpected noise behind him, deal with volunteers portraying people with movement irregularities, have a couple get into an argument and then walk up for pets, have multiple people pet him. He just seeks out and thrives with this kind of attention.

The other exercise in which Blessi and I scored a 1, instead of a 2, was walking past a neutral dog. Blessi was fine walking past the sweet, old black lab. But he was late starting the walk because he insisted on staying and socializing with a volunteer and I did not set him up for success in the exercise by anticipating this.

All together there were 17 exercises. But Photo 7 shows Blessi's real challenge--"Leave the toy."

The Pet Partner Evaluater congratulated both Blessi and me on our team skills. But the real compliment was she asked after the test if her 6-year old grandson could come ride Blessi on his next visit.

Note we never officially became Pet Partners since I didn't pay the final membership fee.

Prepping for Pet Therapy Test

My friend Judy helped me and Blessi with some Intrizen crunches and preparation for the pet therapy certification scheduled for Saturday. Blessi is great with neutral dog (thanks Chica for playing that role), hugs, people arguing, ear touching, etc. However as Judy and I discovered when practicing, Blessi and I are not going to do well if there is any hay on the floor of the Fleet Reserve Association Branch.

Odin frá Búðardal

Blessi's registered name is Veigar frá Búðardal out of breeding by the late Skjoldur Steffanson. One of Iceland's most successful competition horses came off this farm Odin frá Búðardal (shares almost no genetic heritage with Blessi). Below is an article about how Odin is still competing at age 22. Odin ridden by Sigurbjörn Bárðarson broke the 250 m pace record in 2003.

http://www.eidfaxi.is/frettir/niu-islandsmeistaratitlar/120906/

A Tatoo of Blessi's half brother Leiftur fra Búðardal

How awesome is this? A tattoo of an Icelandic horse. This is Leiftur fra Búðardal, Blessi's much better known younger half brother. Blessi is 20 and Leiftur is 19 and still competing in pace races at 100 m. How awesome is that?

I didn't get this tatoo.  Stefon uses it as an illustration on his Facebook page and he gave me permission to use it on Blessiblog.

For those visiting Iceland, Stefon does amazing tattoo work. The studio is located near Reykjavík. How awesome would it be to return from Iceland with your favorite horse tattooed on your shoulder? Or if you want a delicate cross and necklace around your ankle or a forest across your back or a raven on your hip? Check out Stefon's work.

https://www.facebook.com/tattoostofan.rh/?hc_ref=ARQE1LFWJ9kE84uecHdDP7VvXX9xvwDyVPaLHhjzzO4OCmYgBgcLJAGTpHeTDrkoZbc&fref=nf

The Pony that Turned the Water on

A few weeks back, Blessi and I returned from a clinic. I took him to the wash stall to hose down his legs. I almost always offer him a drink direct from the hose. That day I was running a little behind schedule so didn't let him have a drink since he was going back to his paddock with a big tub of water.

It was a relatively hot day and Blessi must have been thirsty. After I shut off the water, he reached over to the taps and twisted one to turn the water back on (there was no shut off at the end of the hose). Now he must have been observing how this works for months because he turned the tap in the correct direction to start the water flowing. If you turn that particular tap too far in the open direction the tap itself falls off. So Blessi got his drink of water.

Blessi's actions remind me of an Icelandic horse story collected by Shirley Hibbard in her 1868 book Clever Dog, Horses, Etc. with Anecdotes of Other Animals. Under the section title I borrowed for the name of my posting, she quoted the following paragraph from The Scotmans newspaper article "Extraordinary case of equine sagacity".

"An almost unparalleled circumstance was noted at Muirhall, near West Calder. During the great heat that prevailed on a recent day, an Icelandic pony, the property of Mr. John Waddell, contractor, was for a time left to its own free will during the temporary absence of its driver. The pony, which had been driven for a considerable distance, and was seemingly actuated by a craving for water, was observed by the proprietor of Muirhall, and others who chanced to be in the vicinity, to deliberately walk a distance of fully fifty yards, and with its teeth turn the cock of a water-pipe projecting out of the road embankment, supply itself with a draught of the refreshing beverage, readjust the cock, and return to the position in which it was left."

Now Muirhall and West Calder at that time were noted for the quality of its breweries and distilleries, which may account for the absence of the Icelandic horse owner and, possibly, the trustworthiness of the witnesses. However, I was able to verify that The Scotsman published said article because I could see the title in an archives search of 19th century Scottish newspapers. Since I am not a citizen of Scotland, I could not view the individual pages of the newspaper to validate the actual quote. Interestingly, The Scotsman of that year published a newspaper article almost monthly about a new shipment of ponies direct from Iceland. Many Icelandics were purchased for use in the coal mines of that period. The book The Icelandic Horse by Arnarorsson, Sigurthardottir, and Guthlaugsson reports that 107,000 Icelandic horses were exported to Britain from 1850 to 1949.