Like Father, Like Son: The Story of a Courage

Emma got everyone talking about Thoroughbred pedigrees again, which is super cool. I really, really wish I was the pedigree queen who cared about breeding and shit, but I'm not and I don't. I do, however, have friends that are SUPER into it. So I coast on that.

My one friend who ought to blog and doesn't made me this. It's Courage's pedigree with photos of all the relatives she could track down, which is pretty cool.

His sire is Lord Carson.

def didn't get chrome from daddy

Courage was born 2005, so bred 2004. Per this article, Lord Carson's stud fee was 10k in 2002, 5k in 2003. Lord Carson won 12/27 races and made over 600k, so a decent stallion but not what you'd call "royally bred" or anything, other than his slightly pretentious name.

Oh and this. This TOTALLY sounds like Courage: "Grade 2 winner LORD CARSON (Carson City) died on March 16 due to head injuries he suffered while in the breeding shed. " Dramatic freak breeding accident? Yup. I can see that. Courage isn't even a stallion and he'd like to have one of those. Furthermore, depending on who you ask, that was either a totally random whoopsie or HIGHLY correlated with his rapidly plunging value in the breeding shed with an insurance renewal coming up. 

So that's kind of interesting. Definitely theatrical.

fabio-approved

Courage is a pretty unique guy--I was initially attracted to his confidence and calm and when further poking around Lord Carson lore (who knew?!), I found these quotes about the plain bay stallion:

"The first time I got to ride him was in November of his three year old year and he was already built like a six year old."

That checks out. C has always been BEEFY. Like "his race trainer put him on a diet" style beefy. He's built and he's not ashamed of it.

"And he had the body awareness of a mature horse too. And confidence. He was a bay horse and he had a swagger. He walked slowly, purposely, with the confidence of a lion and a kind demeanor."

Dying laughing here. Check, check, and check. Courage believes in Courage and Courage does what Courage wants. He always takes care of himself, isn't racy or quick, and goddamn he's an incredibly confident horse. He's scared of nothing.

"Lord Carson showed speed and used it tactically as a weapon. He didn’t need to go as fast as he could and he clearly wasn’t running scared. Other horses didn’t intimidate him and he used his speed wisely and with intimidation. He was just so damn cool."

Yeaaaaaah pretty much. He's totally unbothered by other horses and actually tends to do things just to get under their skin.

And then this: "It was in this moment that I saw another side to my kind, confident, friend He was pissed!" and "As soon as I lowered my body a few inches Lord Carson accelerated and his stride lengthened so far and so powerfully that his body literally lowered four or five inches."

Emotional and overly sensitive? Hm who does that sound like?

not courage!!

It's all from this article, which is super entertaining if you're obsessed with Courage and his quirks.

Other horses in his past are either so far back I just can't get excited or are super hard to research on account of being named after American State Capitols (I'm looking at you, Carson City). Or you know. Never did anything interesting or were super important to anyone (cough Lori Gail wtf woman).

Courage is a genetic dead end due to the whole "gelding" thing, but it makes me laugh to know he comes by it all honestly.

racehorse courage!!

Horsemanship, Relationships, and Success: A Closer Look

Alyssa came out and took some BEAUTIFUL pictures of Courage and I the other day.

right? how did she do this in an indoor??

Well let's back up.

First level is stressing me out. Mostly in a good way, but it's there. Even with an indoor, it's hard to ride in the winter. It's impossible to be consistent, and 85% of the time, I'm more concerned with relaxation than actually doing anything interesting (though when I word it that way, it actually seems like a good thing).

we've come a long ways in two years

I am a very driven, motivated person, especially with a big goal and a deadline staring me in the face. That makes it hard to accept that three days a week, I just toodle around the indoor on the buckle and chat with friends to give Courage a physical and mental break. I want to just WORK WORK WORK GIT 'ER DONE all day every day to super-extra-double guarantee that we don't embarrass ourselves at shows this year.

But I can't.

My horse would go nuts.

More importantly, I'd burn both of us out and change riding from a hobby that I enjoy to an all-consuming task that isn't fun for anyone.

And no one wants that, really.

So when Alyssa came out and took some beautiful pictures of us the other day, it was an amazing reminder of what I'm building with Courage. Not just pie-in-the-sky goals. Not just a vehicle to chase an arbitrary award from a bureaucratic organization that really is just in it for the money. That isn't what first attracted me to horses. If and when we achieve it, that won't be the pinnacle of why I'm here. I came to horses because I want more.

A relationship with a living being.

A partnership between predator and prey.

A subversion of the natural order of things in a way so simple and beautiful that it defies explanation.

Horses bring out that which is most in us--cruel people are made crueler and kind people are made kinder, all from the influence of the horse. They are a breathing thousand-pound microscope highlighting all that which is strongest in us.

And to me, the most and dearest and best thing is that relationship, that partnership. Not the awards. Not the satin. Not the glory.

It's going into his stall and breathing in the essential aura of horse. It's knowing that despite our disparate backgrounds--predator vs prey--centuries of blue blood vs middle class girl from nowhere--we can come together and be something more than just the sum of ourselves.

Something indefinably beautiful, even if only to ourselves.

I know everyone else sees a stiff old warhorse, a washed-up racehorse, a lower level dressage horse that's never going to "amount" to anything. He's a failed event horse. A creature too difficult for the average ammy and too old and plain to interest top talent.

That's not what I see. To me, Courage has become one of the most beautiful and amazing horses to ever grace the planet. I see the fanciest horse I've ever been lucky enough to call mine. I see soft brown eyes and a fighting spirit. A worthy partner. A fellow creature who challenges me to be the very best version of myself, every single day. He's someone who pushes me. Someone who makes me try. Someone who reminds me every day that success isn't counted in year-end points or national awards or public recognition.

Success is waking up every day and being proud of who I am. Proud of who I'm becoming. Success is doing all the hard work behind the scenes that no one will ever see or appreciate to create the groundwork of the person that I've always wanted to be. Success is going to bed at night satisfied with the life I lived that day.

Success is so much more than horse shows.

I still want my bronze medal. I'm still going to panic about not being ready and if I'm good enough and if I've trained Courage correctly and ALL the minutiae that's tied up in this silly sport of ours.

But if we never show again, never garner another ridiculously overpriced piece of $2 satin, I already know I've achieved everything I came here for.

everything.

A Family Tree for Courage

Our photographer/historian/biggest fan, Ellie, put together a sweet pedigree with pictures for my man C-rage. I'm not a bloodline nut (although I should be), but I really, really like going through it.

I don't know enough about thoroughbred research yet to say anything really definitive, but Ellie's addition of pictures is fascinating.

Blushing Groom

Courage naturally moves with a tense underline and his head up. It's not just race training because A) different race horses go different ways and B) the angle at which his head joins is neck just accommodates it. Here's Blushing Groom, from his sire line.

Look familiar? I'm seeing that extreme engagement and uphill movement with head up and ears pricked. It's like my horse in red!

yup. all those things.

I don't have a picture, but his next closest relative on the male line is Explosive bid. In her searchings, Ellie ran across a COTH thread discussing his offspring.

And I quote: "Brilliant over fences, very balanced, the older he gets the better. Requires a very firm, quiet rider, at this point could not be ridden by someone who wasn't very sure of themselves, not because he's bad but because he requires leadership. "

Huh. It's like they were writing about my horse.

Majestic Prince

Then there's Majestic Prince. He's pretty far back. We could talk about the slope of his shoulder or that strong loin connection or that nice hind end or even his well set neck and intelligent head, but why break it down like that when we can all just admit one thing:

That is one sexy-ass horse.







So is that. 

Obv

And who can forget Lord Carson? He was one of the classiest sires on the west coast until his untimely death in a tragic breeding accident.

Yeah, try explaining that one to your non-horse friends with a straight face. I can't.

Still. This isn't an action or conformation shot, but I love the way it catches his confidence and soft, intelligent eye. You might also catch a wiff of plain bay...








I'm the farthest thing from a bloodlines guru, but I love looking at where my horse came from and I absolutely believe in learning these names. I find that because Thoroughbreds require live cover, bloodlines tend to be very regional. Thus, the popular sporthorse TB sires on the east coast are pretty inaccessibly to me, but by learning about horses I know and like, I can find lines to follow. :-)

Fun Things

I haven't seen my lovely pony since Tuesday, when she got her feet done. I will hopefully be out tomorrow, but first I have to get my senior paper finished. Don't worry; I'm pretty close.

When I was out Tuesday though, I managed to visit some friends of mine who live near Izzy. They breed warmbloods. Izzy was actually born on their property, though they didn't breed her. (Her mom was boarded there temporarily). I hadn't been over to visit in a while because I've just been really busy.

Willowgate Farms

It was fun to visit with all their horses. They really are lovely animals. Beautiful faces, amazing movers, nice to be around. She's not on the website, but they have a 3 year old buckskin warmblood mare (not sure of the specific breed) who is lovely. If I had a ton of spare money lying around, I'd buy her. And an OTTB. And my old mare. And a Halfie.

You see why my husband doesn't want to own property? I'd fill it up in no time.

Here's a picture of Izzy and I, because I like it.

Baby Daddy

No, I haven't bred Miss Izzy. I just realized that I wanted to post a picture of the crush I have for her. She's sort of met him (they were at the same show), and of course, she's in love with him. She's a silly little hussy though. She's pretty much in love with every stallion and gelding she's ever met. The only one she takes exception to is the stupid ugly donkey that's out at the barn. I guess I shouldn't call him stupid; he's very intelligent, but he is ugly and he's always getting out. Also, he's a stud. The other day, he got out while I was leading Izzy to the hitching post, and he tried to mount her. She kicked him really hard twice, and he gave up, but still. My poor girl was almost raped by a donkey. How horrid.

Without further ago, here's her potential baby daddy: http://traceybajt.exposuremanager.com/p/2_9_4_jumpers/08bfc-79722

The next two pictures are of him, too. He's a 16.2 Dutch Harness Horse named Vini Vidi Vicchi (not sure on the spelling). Fancy mover, so the baby wouldn't be much of a hunter, but the stallion jumps like a dream. Also, he's apparently gentle and easy to get along with, which would be nice to add to Izzy's temperament.

Sigh. Maybe in a few years. I keep dreaming about them wanting to have a warmblood baby on the ground, so they offer free breeding, but really? I don't think that's likely. I can't be this lucky at everything I do.