My Reinert Review

If you have not started following Natalie Keller Reinert on twitter (@nataliegallops) or her blog
( http://retiredracehorseblog.wordpress.com) then you are missing out on a truly talented and knowledgeable author. The last fiction I read that captured both the inter-personal and horse-human connections surrounding race horses was Jane Smiley's Horse Heaven. Check her out on Smashwords.com/profile/view/nkreinert for the work reviewed below. Most of her available equine-centric writing is available for free download so take advantage of this opportunity and support a talented writer!

 

The Head and Not the Heart & Horse-Famous

Natallie Reinert explores the idea that so many horse-people find themselves wondering at some point or another, "Can I live without horses?" Through The Head and Not the Heart and Horse-Famous, readers glimpse characters in different stages of asking and answering what their lives would be like without equine company. Reinert does not sugar-coat horse ownership in either story, but instead exposes her readers to both the small, intimate details of horse husbandry, like bedding depth, as well as the exhaustion that comes from keeping a strict routine for the horse's sake.

One need not personally know what a hayfork feels like in their grip, or the way one's leg feels when set correctly for the trot, to appreciate these stories. Reinert conveys enough about those feelings, and like a good science fiction writer, for the horse world to a normal person is a foreign land, she introduces readers to the particulars as the story calls for more information. Though, if you do have these experiences to draw from the stories seem more rewarding.

In The Head and Not the Heart, we meet a young woman experiencing a quarter life crisis that revolves around the all-important question, “Can I live without horses?” She discovers her answer while visiting Brooklyn, NY with the help of two very different equines and one stuffed animal head.

Horse-Famous explores an obsessive response to the thematic question of whether or not the main character can live without horses. Where The Head and Not the Heart may be considered uplifting in so far as the characters progress, this short story glimpses the resignation of the main character to her passion for equines and the highly ritualized English school of horsemanship. Reinert creates a scarred, sympathetic character with skeletons in her barn.

Expendable

Natalie Reinert truly brings her writing talent to bear in this short, almost minimalist piece that takes place in the Aqueduct backstretch. Strong feeling went into this story and the reader is made to feel strong emotion about the glimpse of backstretch life at a notoriously tough track (any track that races during those winters has to be tough). No extra word stayed in this story. It gets to the point and remains just as vivid as necessary. As in her other writing, readers witness the good and the ugly of keeping horses. In this story the reader meets those who honor the domestication contract and those who do not. 

 

Breeders' Cup Classic 2010

Nicolas and I went down to the saddling paddock to watch the horses receive their final primping before entering the post parade. Zenyatta put on quite a show. She pawed her way down the tunnel into the paddock. She wore her dress sheet like a boxer wears a robe, which only made her jigging more like that of a prize fighter. The monster mare Zenyatta knew it was time to work.

Despite her awesome presence, I just could not completely discount some ofthe other horses in the field. Reasonable arguments for Paddy O'Prado, Quality Road, Blame were made. I even had an emotional desire for Cool Coalman to at least show. Zenyatta faced other actual graded stakes winners. All year she'd only run against a handful of mares and fillies and in the Ladies Secret, Switch made Zenyatta work for her win. What a great race!

Nicholas and I bet $10 on Zenyatta to show and quickly cloimbed the stairs to our poached seats. We could see the final turn and finish line well. The sun began sinking below the horizon and the track lights lit up the dirt, transforming Churchill's main track into center stage for the most anticipated race of the year.

It was magnificent watching Zenyatta follow her formula: hang back then start picking off horses as she comes around the final turn. The crowd, all of us cheered her on, past each horse, and we all believed she would even pass Blame. But she didn't. His head crossed moments before hers and we all fell quiet after a collective gasp.

Photo from ESPN Sports

Well hello, blog!

I can't believe its been almost a year since I wrote anything here. Let's re-cap.

I called Regalo's life-long vet back in Oxford and he recommended the multi-day deworming. After MONTHS of feeding him (a horse that used to get fat just looking at spring grass) 8lbs of senior feed to maintain a thin layer of fat over his ribs, he began to gain weight. The deworming worked. Lesson learned: get a second opinion.

Nicholas now takes lessons and rides which ever horse his teacher allows him to ride. He rode and worked with a quarter horse mare who'd been used as a broodmare for a while. She fussed a bit, but never showed a spiteful disposition, just a general "but I don't wanna!" Confetti, this mare, sold a few weeks back. She now belongs to a 13 year old. Now Nicholas rides a nice quarter horse gelding named Sultan. Like Confetti, he's a flea bitten gray. I'm not sure Nicholas likes him as much and I know Regalo doesn't like Sultan as much as Confetti.

The owner of Harris Heights now has some extra help getting maintenance done as well as a new riding companion. Trail rides occur more often and over many paths that he's mowed, which makes the going easier and allows for a faster pace in many places. Everyone seems to ride more now.

We have a new greyhound! I cannot believe I didn't post this! I'll have to make one just for her. She's the baby and sometimes a bitch in every meaning of the word. The boys let her get away with everything. Wait til you see her!

This blog is back on!

New Routine

I met another vet from the practice my barn mates employ. This vet owns the vet practice and I like him a lot more than the new, young vet that came out to give Regalo his yearly shots. As glad as I am to know this man, I'm not very happy that I needed to meet him.

Regalo's been losing weight at least since the beginning of October. I wormed him on the 3rd, but he still looked a bit skinny and his coat looked a little dull. I wormed him again around the 15th, this time with Equimax. After a week with no change despite significant increase in food prior and during the post second deworming week, I took a fecal sample to the vet clinic. It came back clean. So, why is my horse, who was always an easy keeper, now losing weight so fast despite grain, pasture, and recently hay?

The vet floated Regalo's teeth, but they're not the main culprit. It seems that Regalo, aged only 13, is indeed aging. His small intestine does not absorb nutrients as well anymore. Blood work confirmed that he does not have liver or kidney problems. The vet mentioned looking out for signs of Cushing's, but I truly hope that is not the case.

New Routine:
Equine Senior twice a day
Stalled at night with night feed and hay (water of course)
Fed and turned out in the morning

I'm the morning care giver since work prohibits me from consistently coming out at night to feed. I don't like stalling him, but there are some good things. For instance, he can eat hay without being run off by one of the pushy ponies in his pasture.

Hopefully he'll show some improvement in the next month and I can post before and after pictures. Some other good news: I can and should ride him now, even before he gains back his weight. This makes sense, but the vet confirmed that riding will help keep him in shape. If the rain holds off I will ride him tomorrow.

Endorsed

Apparently Jatamer had a career as a model. He doesn't like to talk about it.

Unleashed!

Chorni's behavior and attentiveness to our commands has improved since he and Nicholas started obedience lessons. I'm hoping my schedule will allow me to take Jatamer next semester, but this is really a side note. As many of you know, greyhounds are an ancient breed that do one thing very, very well, and that is chase and kill small animals. Because of this deeply inbred drive they must be kept leashed unless fenced or coarsed. In fact, even when coarsing the hunters normally do not "slip" greyhounds until they spot prey. We live in the city and while we have a fenced back yard and walk our dogs frequently, Jatamer's never been able to just run around off leash like Chorni. The boarding facility where Regalo lives has nice diamond wire fencing around the perimeter of the pastures. Today we decided to try Jatamer off leash in Regalo's pasture.

I felt like we were on a family road trip. We loaded got the explorer ready for the dogs, loaded the dogs, got the dog toy, Jatamer's basket muzzle, and finally set off for the barn. Why the basket muzzle? Remember the thing about greyhounds being good at chasing and killing small animals? That includes barn cats and sometimes even very small dogs (though he completely respected a chiuauah that lived with us for two days). He's comfortable with it since he raced with this type of muzzle and its a simple, cheap precaution against him hurting someone else's animal. Though he wore it most of the time at the barn, he never really seemed to need it.

Before letting him run around in the slippery mud we let him run around a nice flat, sandy arena where he happily zoomed a bit. Then we took him into Regalo's pasture. Things went well partially because most of the horses were on the other side of the hill from the pasture entrance. Regalo came after some calling and brought two of his buddies, who fortunately moved away when waved off and did not mind having dogs around. Chorni even helped me keep one away from Regalo and backed off when I told him to do so. I was very proud of both dog and hound today! As a side note, Regalo is great with dogs and now even seems to like the cats.

New Mounts

Nicholas and I finally started taking lessons. We've had one so far. After riding informally for 10 years or so I recently found that I do almost everything incorrectly. Joy! Nicholas posts much better than I do right now. He's more relaxed and does not automatically crouch into fetal position when the horse speeds up. I now have an excuse to spend more time in the saddle. Unfortunately, that time must be spent with another horse. All right, so riding different horses is actually a good thing. I just enjoy riding Regalo a lot more.

Since moving to Harris Heights I've become more confident and more assertive. Regalo pushed me around before and riding always involved a fight. Now everything is easy. He ground ties, he usually (still working on this) picks up the pace when I ask for it, he generally doesn't fight me much anymore. He'll still try to go to the barn instead of in the arena after a ride around the perimeter, but his resistance is very mild and very short. Riding Regalo is fun again. After some practice and a few more lessons perhaps I'll find riding other (non-gaited) horses fun as well.