Conformation

This is not to be confused with confirmation =)



According to wikipedia, Equine Conformation evaluates the degree of correctness of a horse's bone structure, musculature, and its body proportions in relation to each other. Basically conformation is how the horse is physically built. Just like with people, there is an "ideal" conformation for horses and this will change with what the horse will be used for.



I am hoping to Event with Santana (I will go into Eventing a little later on).



This horse's name is Livingstone and is the subject of an article written by Judy Wardrope titled The Right Conformation for an Eventer. He shows her idea of an ideal Eventing horse.



Here is Santana. I know the pictures aren't as good as the one above, but we will have to make do. She looks pretty good compared to this guy! She is a little undermuscled, she needs to be consistently worked, but I think putting that aside, she is built pretty well.
Anyone who Events will tell you that conformation is important, however the most important thing a horse needs in order to Event is heart. I dont really know Santana well enough to know if she has heart, but she definitely tries to do what I ask of her.

Fingers crossed that there is a future in Eventing for us!

Trinity River Farm

So those of you who know me are probably wondering where I keep a horse in the middle of the DFW Metroplex.

For those of you who dont know me, I live in a very suburban area with housing additions everywhere.

Would you believe that there is a "farm" less than 2 miles from my house? Yep, thats right. Its not the place of my dreams, but it is a cute facility named Trinity River Farm.

Julie Amendola is the owner/operator and she does a fantastic job. This facility offers lessons and boarding and mainly caters to English riders, focusing on Hunter/Jumper, Dressage and Eventing disciplines.

Here is a picture from the inside the aisle of the barn facing the tack room:

I am not 100% sure how many acres TRF is, but I would guesstimate around 15ish. The farm has a smaller outdoor arena with lights and offers an open jump course as well as many cross country jumps. There are approximately 15 horses owned by Julie on the property, some used for lessons. Currently I believe there are only 3 boarders including myself, however I am the only one in the barn right now.

Here is where Santana sleeps at night:

Originally, I was only going to pasture board her, due to the cost, however when she was turned out with other horses, there must have been a small war that night. When I came to the barn the next day, I noticed a small flesh wound on her left side hindquarter. It looked like a kick. It wasnt too bad, just scraped the hair off and broke the skin. I washed it out and put some Blu-Kote (antiseptic) on it. Her right hind leg was also very swollen. Her heel was cut open, but very minimally. It looked like she had a kicking war with another horse! She obviously made some connections which is why her leg was swollen and her heel was bruised.

Soooo...she is now turned out during the day with one other pony (who also gets bullied), Gracie, and stalled in the barn at night time.

Horses are expensive!!!

So when I was growing up, I never really had to worry about the costs of my horses since my parents took care of all of that for the most part. How NICE of them! Now, I am 27 so I know how the real world is and I know how much things cost, but geez the initial cost of the horse is NOTHING compared to the maintenance/extras.

Here is an idea of what I ("I" really means my husband and I)have had to spend so far (this is just for informational purposes, so dont judge me!):

Dec. 9, 2010

• Vet Check including farm call and x-rays-$560
• Coggins (test to check for EIA-a disease)-$35

Dec. 10, 2010

• Purchased Santana-$800
• Purchased used Henri de Rivel Saddle and Girth-$600
• Cost to haul Santana to Trinity River Farm (home for her)-$60
• Pro-rated board for the month of December-$218.50

Dec. 11, 2010

• Farrier (trim and shoe feet) service (thanks Nelle!)-$150
• Lunge Line, Bell Boots and Saddle Pad (equipment)-$68

Dec. 26, 2010

• Blanket-$130

This brings us to a grand total of $2621.50 in only 19 days!

And just for a cute picture, Santana in her new blanket last night:

Racehorse? Negative.

So like I said earlier, Santana was bred to race like most Thoroughbreds are. She obviously didnt make the cut which is how she ended up with me =)

According to equibase.com (a fantastic site where you can look up any racehorse and their racing history), she had a total of 5 starts. I wont go through all of them, but her first start was her best. The race was at Retama Park (see picture below) near San Antonio, Texas.

She finished 3rd in her first race which took place on September 9, 2009. I dont know much about horse racing, but the race was six furlongs on a dirt track. According to equibase.com, the footnotes about Santana stated, "SANTANA MARIA was forced out a bit at the start, raced off the pace while ridden along and failed to rally while up for the show".

As you can see, she just really never had a desire to race. She was started in 4 other races and didnt place in any of them. Her last race was December 6, 2009. Her total earnings...get ready for this massive number...$1068.

And, just for kicks since I mentioned her registration yesterday, here is what her papers look like:

Santana Maria

Santana's full registered name is Santana Maria. She is registered with the Jockey Club making her a full Thoroughbred. She was born on January 26, 2006.

Her sire is Magic Cat, a gorgeous 1995 stallion from Valor Farm here in North Texas.

Her dam is Deeya Maria. I do not know anything about her or what she looks like, but I know she had good breeding.

Now for the pictures of what these two can do!

Here are some pictures of Santana last summer from her previous owner:

And here is Santana's actual pedigree:

About Me...

I guess I will start with some info about me! I am currently 27 years old and live in the DFW metroplex. I am recently married (last March) to a wonderful and supportive husband who just had his 30th birthday.

I started this blog in order to keep up with my passion in life: Horses. I have been fascinated with horses for most of my life. I think I started asking for a horse for my birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day...you name it...when I was around 7 years old. I grew up riding a neighbor's horse affectionately named Killer. Obviously this was not the case. This horse was a big palomino gelding that wouldnt hurt a fly.

I started taking horseback riding lessons when I was around 11 years old. I rode at a pretty big barn in Flower Mound, Texas named Happy Horse Acres. This barn is still there, but re-named to Flower Mound Equestrian Center and under different management.

I learned basic horsemanship there and for my 12th birthday my parents bought me my first horse, Destiny. She was a lesson horse at the barn that had been purchased at an auction the year before. She was a beautiful grade (meaning "not registered") palomino mare and was around 7 or 8 years old. She stood 14.3 hands high. My parents didnt know much about horses, but they knew she was pretty and that was their main reasoning for purchasing her. She had several issues that I had to overcome, but thats another story.

I continued to ride for several more years after acquiring Destiny. I worked with a private trainer and we eventually moved Destiny from Happy Horse Acres to our house in Copper Canyon, Texas.

When I was 16, my parents bought my second horse, Dollar. He was a HUGE sorrel Appendix (Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse cross) gelding. He stood at 16.2 hands high and was build like a foundation Quarter Horse, very stocky.

Sadly, when I turned 17 and graduated high school, I had to sell them both due to lack of time. I was going to college and working a full time job and just didnt have the time to devote to them any more. Destiny was sold to a 13 year old girl and sadly Dollar was sold at an auction. A nice guy bought him to do some ranch work with.

This brings me to December 10th, 2010. This is the day that I picked up my new horse, Santana. She was bought in Decatur, Texas from a very generous woman who wanted the best for her.