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Emily's Horse Page!!! ♥ I LOVE HORSES ♥ I LOVE HORSES ♥ I LOVE HORSES ♥ by Emily, age 11, future horse owner (hopefully!!!) Biscuit! ~ My Favorite Breeds ~ Stuff I Learned ~ Lesson Diary ~ Horse Books ~ The Campaign

Hi!!! My name is Emily and I am 11 and I am HORSE CRAZY. My mom says I have been horse crazy since I was 3 and saw a pony at the fair and would not get off. I take riding lessons every Saturday morning at a barn near us (my mom says don't put where) on a school horse named Biscuit who is the best horse in the entire world. This is my page about horses. My dad helped me with the computer part but I wrote ALL the words. My mom checked the spelling. I don't have my own horse YET. See The Campaign at the bottom. (Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, please read all the way to the bottom.) I don't have any pictures on here because we don't have a scanner and my mom's camera is the regular kind so the film has to go to the drugstore. My dad says maybe for Christmas. (A scanner. Not a horse. I asked.)

BISCUIT!!! Biscuit is a Quarter Horse gelding (a gelding is a boy horse that can't be a daddy) and he is buckskin which means he is the color of a graham cracker with a black mane and tail and black legs. He is 15 hands tall. (A hand is 4 inches and you measure at the withers, which is the bump at the bottom of the neck where the back starts. So 15 hands is 60 inches to his withers. His head goes way higher than that!!) He is 18 years old which for a horse is like a grownup but not old-old. He is a school horse which means lots of kids ride him for lessons and he is SUPER patient and does not spook at anything, not even the tractor, not even the barn cat jumping out of the hay. Things Biscuit likes: carrots, being scratched on his neck right under his mane, going out to the field, and me (I think). Things Biscuit does not like: the horse trailer, when you brush his belly too hard, and the gray pony named Smoke who bites. He has a soft nose and when you give him a carrot he makes his lips go all wiggly. Sometimes he puts his head on my shoulder when I'm brushing him and my teacher Miss Karen says that means he's relaxed. I say it means he loves me. We are both right probably.

My Favorite Breeds There are hundreds of breeds of horses. These are my top three. I got the facts from the big horse encyclopedia I got for my birthday and from Miss Karen and I checked them twice!! 1. ARABIAN The Arabian is one of the OLDEST breeds of horses in the whole world. They came from the desert of the Arabian Peninsula where the Bedouin people bred them thousands of years ago, and they used to keep them in their tents at night! You can tell an Arabian by its face: it is "dished," which means it curves in a little between the eyes and the nose, and its big eyes and little muzzle. They carry their tails up high when they run. They are not very big (usually about 14 to 15 hands) but they have SO much stamina, which is why they win at endurance riding, which is races that are like 50 or 100 miles long. Also here is a cool fact: a lot of Arabians have one less bone in their back (one fewer lumbar vertebra) than other horses, which is part of why their backs are short and strong. Almost every breed of light horse has some Arabian in it somewhere. Colors: bay, gray, chestnut, black. Gray Arabians are born dark and turn white as they get older!! I want a gray one. 2. QUARTER HORSE This is Biscuit's breed so of course it is on here. The American Quarter Horse is the most popular breed in the United States and its registry (the American Quarter Horse Association) is the BIGGEST breed registry in the world. They got their name because in colonial times people raced them for a quarter of a mile, and they are the fastest horse in the world over a quarter mile, faster than a Thoroughbred for that short a distance!! They are very muscular especially in the hind end, and they have calm brains, which is why cowboys use them for working cattle and why they are the best school horses (BISCUIT). They can do everything: western, cutting, barrel racing, trail riding, even jumping. They come in lots of colors like sorrel (that's the most common), bay, buckskin (BISCUIT!), palomino, gray, black, and dun. About 15 to 16 hands. 3. CLYDESDALE Clydesdales are DRAFT horses, which means the giant kind that pull heavy things. They come from Scotland, from around the River Clyde (that's where the name comes from!) and farmers there used them for plowing and pulling wagons. They are HUGE, like 16 to 18 hands, and can weigh 2,000 pounds. The thing everybody knows them for is the "feather", the long silky white hair on the bottom of their legs over their hooves. Most of them are bay with a white blaze on their face and four white legs. Their hooves are as big as dinner plates. You have probably seen them in the beer commercials on TV pulling the wagon, that's Clydesdales. Miss Karen let me pet one at the county fair in August and its head was bigger than my whole body and it was the gentlest thing ever. I would like one but my mom says where would we put it, which is the same thing she says about ALL horses. Honorable mentions: Thoroughbreds (racehorses, super fast, super tall, kind of hyper), Morgans (a really old American breed, all of them come from one horse named Figure who lived in Vermont a long time ago!), Shetland ponies (tiny and stubborn, Smoke is one, Smoke bites), Appaloosas (SPOTS), and Paints (patches).

Stuff I Learned So Far I have been taking lessons since March (7 months!!) so here is what I know now that I didn't know before. How to groom a horse, IN ORDER (the order matters!!): Tie him up with a quick-release knot. Miss Karen made me do it 20 times until I could do it with my eyes closed. It's so if he pulls back you can pull one end and it comes undone. Hoof pick. Pick out all four feet FIRST, before anything else, so if there's a rock in there you find it. You stand next to his shoulder facing his tail, run your hand down his leg and say "up" and he picks it up. You pick from the heel to the toe, away from you, and you go around the frog (that's the V-shaped squishy part) and don't dig at it. Curry comb. The rubber round one. Go in circles all over his body (not the legs, not the face) to loosen up the dirt and hair. Biscuit LOVES this part and makes a face. Dandy brush (the stiff one). Short flicking strokes in the direction the hair grows to flick off all the dirt the curry comb loosened. Not on the face. Body brush (the soft one). Long strokes the way the hair grows all over, including the face, gently, and the legs. This makes him shiny. Mane and tail comb. Start at the bottom and work up so you don't rip out hair. Stand to the SIDE of the tail, never right behind him. (Biscuit would never kick but you always always stand to the side because it's a rule.) Sponge his eyes and nose with a damp sponge, and a different sponge for under the tail. Don't mix them up. I mixed them up once. Never again. Then you tack up! Saddle pad, saddle, girth (loose first, then tighter after you walk him a little because horses puff up their bellies on purpose!!), then bridle last. Posting trot!!! The trot is super bouncy, so in English riding you "post" which means you go up and down in the saddle with the bounce instead of getting bounced. Up, down, up, down. It took me about a month to get it and it felt like my legs were going to fall off. Then there's the DIAGONAL: you are supposed to rise when the horse's OUTSIDE front leg (the one closest to the fence) goes forward, and sit when it comes back. Miss Karen says "rise and fall with the leg on the wall." If you're on the wrong one you sit for one extra beat to switch. I can feel it now without looking down!! (Most of the time.) Other stuff: You mount from the LEFT side. Your heels go DOWN. You look where you're going, not at the horse's ears (so hard because his ears are so cute). Reins are for steering and stopping, NOT for holding on. You hold on with your legs. Halt, walk, trot, canter (I have cantered 4 times!!!). Horses can't see right in front of their nose or right behind them so you always talk to them when you walk up so they know you're there. And you NEVER run or yell in the barn.

My Lesson Diary Saturday, August 7. Trotted the whole way around the arena posting on the right diagonal and Miss Karen said "YES EMILY" really loud. Biscuit got 2 carrots. Saturday, August 14. Poles! We trotted over poles on the ground, 4 in a row. Biscuit just steps over them like they're nothing. I have to stand up in the stirrups a little (two-point) and I did it and didn't fall off or anything. Saturday, August 21. It rained so we didn't ride but I got to help Miss Karen do ALL the school horses' feet and I learned how to put on a fly mask. Biscuit looks like a superhero in his fly mask. Saturday, August 28. CANTERED!!!!! The third time ever. It's like a rocking chair, it's way smoother than the trot, you sit deep and go with it. Only for like half the arena and then Biscuit decided that was enough and trotted, but I CANTERED. Mom watched from the fence. I think she got scared. I was not scared. Saturday, September 4. Fell off. Okay so, it's fine. We were trotting and Biscuit stopped really fast because Smoke (the biting pony) got loose and ran across the arena, and I kept going, right over his shoulder onto the sand. It didn't even hurt that much. Miss Karen says everybody falls off and you're not a real rider till you've fallen off 7 times (that's a saying) so I have 6 to go. I got right back on because that's the rule. Biscuit felt really bad, I could tell. He put his nose on me after. I still gave him a carrot because it was Smoke's fault. I now have a big bruise that I show everyone. Saturday, September 11. Cantered again and this time all the way around!! And I learned about leads, which is which front leg goes further forward when you canter, and it's supposed to be the inside one, and Biscuit does it right automatically because he's smart. Saturday, September 18. Miss Karen says I might be ready to try a little tiny crossrail jump in October. A crossrail is two poles that make an X, so the middle is like 1 foot high. I have been thinking about it all week. All week!!! Saturday, September 25. Groomed Biscuit ALL BY MYSELF with nobody helping and got him tacked up in 15 minutes and Miss Karen checked the girth and said it was perfect. Rode for an hour. Trot, canter, poles. Then I got to turn him out in the field and he ROLLED in the dirt right away like all my brushing didn't happen. Horses.

Horses in Books I have read all of these. Some more than once. Some more than five times. (Black Beauty.) Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. It's really old (1877!!!) and it's told by the HORSE, which I didn't know books could do. It's about his whole life and the nice people and the mean people who own him. I cried when Ginger... I'm not going to say. Just read it. It's the best horse book ever made. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. About the wild ponies on an island in Virginia and the kids who want one of them. There is a REAL pony swim there every year where they swim the ponies across from the island!! I want to go SO badly. Also read Stormy, Misty's Foal and Sea Star. King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry too. About an Arabian horse a long long time ago who goes from Morocco to England and a boy who can't talk who takes care of him. It won the Newbery Medal. It's kind of sad and then it's not. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. A boy and a wild black Arabian stallion get shipwrecked on an island together!! Then they race. There are a million books in this series and I am on number 6. National Velvet by Enid Bagnold. A girl wins a horse in a raffle and rides him in the biggest race in England pretending to be a boy. I read it after I saw the movie which is really old and has Elizabeth Taylor when she was a kid. The Saddle Club books by Bonnie Bryant. Three best friends who ride at the same barn. There are like 80 of these. I own 31. They are fast to read and my mom says they are "fine." Thoroughbred series by Joanna Campbell. Racehorses. My friend Sarah and I trade these. My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara. A boy in Wyoming and a filly. This one is harder to read but good. Also the horse encyclopedia I got for my birthday which is not a story but I read it like one.

The Campaign For My Own Horse MOM AND DAD. This part is for you. (Everybody else can read it too, it's a free country.) I know a horse is a big deal. I know they cost a lot of money and not just to buy but for food and the farrier (that's the horseshoe person, every 6 to 8 weeks) and the vet and board at a barn because we don't have a barn. Miss Karen told me all the numbers and I wrote them down and it's a LOT. I know. But here is my case: Reasons I should get a horse: I have wanted one for 8 years and I still want one, so it's not a "phase." (Grandma said it was a phase in 1995.) I have not missed ONE lesson since March, not even when I had a cold, not even the day after I fell off. I do all the chores on my chart (see below) which shows I am responsible. I already know how to groom, pick feet, tack up, tie a quick-release knot, muck a stall (I helped Miss Karen), fill water buckets, and tell if a horse is sick (not eating, lying down a lot, hot legs). Miss Karen said (and you can ask her) that I "have a good seat and soft hands" which is a real compliment in riding. Riding is exercise and it's outside and it's not TV. I have $212.50 saved from birthdays and my allowance and the lemonade thing. I know that's not enough. It's a start. I would take care of it EVERY DAY. Before school AND after. I would get up early. I get up early for lessons already. Sarah's family leases a horse, which means you pay some money every month and it's kind of yours but it's still the barn's, and Miss Karen said that is a good way to start. SO. I would take a half lease on Biscuit. That's my actual real proposal. A half lease. On Biscuit. Please. My Responsibility Chart (since June): Chore How often Did I do it? Feed the dog (Rusty), morning and night Every day Yes! Missed 2 (camping, doesn't count) Make my bed Every day Mostly. Okay, 80%. Mom says 70%. Dishes after dinner Mon, Wed, Fri Yes Clean my room Saturdays Yes (after lessons, but yes) Homework before TV School days Yes!! Clean tack at the barn Saturdays Yes and I do Sarah's too sometimes What my parents say: Dad says "we'll see" and "let's talk about it when you're 12." I am 12 in February. That is 5 months. I am counting. Mom says "a horse is a 20-year commitment" and I say YES EXACTLY THAT'S THE BEST PART. Current status of the campaign: Dad said he would "talk to Miss Karen about what a half lease costs." THAT IS NOT A NO. I am putting it on the Internet so it is official. Dad said this. September 25, 1999. Witnesses: me, Mom, Rusty. Coming soon: a page just about Biscuit with a picture WHEN WE GET A SCANNER, and a page about my first jump (October!!!).

Other Kids' Pages I Like Katie's Kitty Korner - Katie is 10 and loves cats the way I love horses. Cats are okay. Barn cats are the best cats. Jake's Bug Collection - Jake is 9 and collects BUGS. Ew. But it's a good page. The Dragon's Den: Tyler's Page - dragons are basically horses that fly so I approve. Rescue Greyhounds: Life After the Track - greyhounds are the horses of dogs. Rusty is not a greyhound. Rusty is a couch. Dayhikes with Dad - a girl named Emma who is 8 and hikes with her dad. Trail riding is hiking but better (sorry Emma). Back to the Enchanted Forest

You are horse lover number to visit!!! (Some of those are me. And Sarah. And Grandma.) Do you love horses too??? Do you HAVE a horse??? Tell me about it!!! [email protected] (My mom reads my e-mail first. That's the rule. Please don't write anything weird.) Last updated: September 25, 1999 (right after my lesson!) © 1999 Emily. Biscuit belongs to the barn (FOR NOW).