October: Halloween special 2015
volume 10
The Saddle Club Gazette
The Letter From the Editor
By Zeus (Lyla)
BOO!! Zeus is here to terrify you all! That means if you
happen to find a plastic bag in your horse’s stall, it was a prank!
JK! Happy Halloween Everyone! Isn’t this the most exciting thing
ever? The Halloween Parade is going to be so much fun! This
month’s competition is a Silliest Show name competition! Come
up with three silly show names that you would call your horse!
Email them to me and we’ll have a horse show! Don’t forget to
play our horse’s favorite Halloween game: Tricks for Treats!
Teach you horse a trick and give him a treat!
Happy Halloween! ~Zeus- the demon horse.
Upcoming Events
Zeus
Boo! Hey everyone! The temperatures are dropping, but
that doesn’t mean a soft horse won’t warm you up. Here’s
what’s going on in November. On Friday the 6th, there’s a
Centered Riding Clinic for humans. It’s open to all ages, so
sign up! Saturday 7th through Sunday 8th an Open Centered
Riding clinic will take place at the barn, it’s also open to all
ages, so reserve a horse and trot on over! Don’t forget,
Thursday the 26th is Thanksgiving, and be thankful for
everyone at Cricket Hill and our beloved four leggeds. Also,
go horse shopping on black Friday! Have a great Halloween
everybody!
Kent Equestrian Trials
By Lyla Andrick
He pounded the ground behind us and we ran out of the way of the
chestnut cantering up the hill. He took that final jump and galloped to the
finish line. On Sunday, October 4th, Lyla, Erin and Paris galloped on over to
Kent Connecticut to volunteer at the dressage show and walk the crosscountry course. At the trials we met some great people who showed us how
to do bit check. Bit check is when you inspect a horse to make sure he has a
regular snaffle, make sure spurs are on right, and not hurtful, and to measure
their whips. All of our participants passed the test! Erin and Paris were
assigned to run tests from the judges to the score tent. We watched the
beautiful big horses and little ponies perform their tests from the graceful big
horses to the naughty ponies, we saw how to conduct ourselves in the show
ring. We watched the show jumpers take their course in less than a minute!
Finally, we went to the cross-country course to walk and watch the other
riders. We learned a lot from the trials, one day, one of us might be there too!
The Story of Horsey Hollow
By Lyla Andrick
Once upon a time there was a pony by the name of Boo. Boo
lived in a little town called Horsey Hollow. Boo was in love
with a pretty pony mare by the name of Pumpkin. Pumpkin
liked Boo too. Boo worked at the old church next to the big
graveyard. He had only one enemy.
In love with Pumpkin, the handsome thoroughbred, Dark
Shadow, or Shadow, hated Boo. He was jealous that Pumpkin
loved Boo more than himself, this jealousy angered Shadow.
Boo’s only weakness was that he was superstitious, he was
afraid of his very own shadow. Shadow constantly taunted Boo
by scaring the white socks off of him.
It was a dark night and Boo was planning on visiting
Pumpkin for her birthday. Boo had spent weeks agonizing over
the perfect gift for his beloved pony friend. He had decided on
getting her an apple cake and a flower for her mane. Boo trotted
along the familiar, well-lit path. Boo spotted a sign that read
detour. Boo looked to the left.
A cold shiver ran down Boo’s spine. Boo knew the path very
well, it was the old dirt path that wound down by the graveyard.
Boo looked around the blockade closing the road. He saw
nothing alarming on the other side, but never wanting to disobey
the law, he walked down to the creepy, dark path. Boo twisted
his fuzzy ears around, hearing eerie noises here and there.
A shadowy figure rushed past Boo nocking him down.
Strange voices shouted Boo’s name.
“Boo! Boo! Boo!” They screamed. The poor pony stood up
and continued to walk slowly along the dark path. Boo was
disrupted by another shadowy figure coming from the other
way, knocking him down and spilling his apple cake all over the
place. Boo held onto his flower for dear life as more screams
called his name.
Boo broke off at a fast canter and ran as fast as he could to
the safety of Pumpkin’s cottage. Strange things flew by him as
he ran past the graveyard. He saw a black horse standing there
with an eerie white smile. The horse tossed Boo’s crushed cake,
which had apparently been stolen from him, at Boo’s head. The
horse missed and it splattered on Boo’s flank. Boo kept running
eager to get to Pumpkin. A tree fell in Boo’s path.
Boo, who was on an energetic adrenaline rush leaped the tree
and galloped down the path. Wind rushed through his ears and
voices called him. Suddenly, a black horse stood it his path. It
was Dark Shadow. Shadow hurled a pumpkin at Boo’s head.
Boo couldn’t duck in time. The orange pumpkin flew at Boo
and Boo hit the ground with a thud.
Shadow sneered at the pony and walked around him in a
circle. Shadow reared up high and laughed an evil laugh. The
nasty horse trotted away and disappeared into into the woods.
The next morning, Pumpkin went for a walk along the dark
path as she did every morning to pay her respects to her
grandsire in the graveyard. She was startled to see Boo lying on
the path with a dying rose in his mouth.
STAFF Layout: Lyla Andrick. Reporters: Lyla Andrick, Erin
Feiner, Lulu Levy, Paris Levy Lula Langdon
The Scoop
TSCG Photo Gallery
By Lula Langdon
This month all of your unanswered questions on horses will be
answered.
Q: What is roman riding?
A: Roman riding is when a rider is riding two horses at once. He does
this by putting one foot on each horse and standing up. When the rider
does this he looks like a roman chariot racer hence the name.
Q: What is a Dala horse?
A: Dala horses originating in Sweden are wooden statues of horses. It
was originally made as children’s toy. Today they are the national
symbol of Sweden.
Q: What is the messy hair myth?
A: A tangled mane reveals that fairies have been riding or playing
with the horse.
Q: Do horses have hair or fur?
A: Horses like humans are said to have hair not fur.
Tate’s Halloween by Erin Feiner
When I woke up that morning, I remembered that there was show so I
decided to keep myself nice and clean from my bath the day before.
That's when I heard the voice:
“GET OUT OF MY STALL…”
I looked around and saw no one there
“GET OUT OF MY STALL…”
I still didn't see any horse in my stall.
Later that day my rider/ friend, Erin, came to my stall.
"Hey Tatertot how's it going? Ready for today," she asked.
I turned my head and saw another colt next to her.
Weird I thought…
As she got my halter I got a mouthful of hay and walked to
door.She walked me down to a grooming bay and that colt continued
to follow her.
That's when I heard that awful whining…
“TELL YOU AND YOUR FRIEND TO GET OUT.....”
“Weird I've never heard that neigh before,” my friend said.
Oh yea duh! I forgot Erin and humans can’t understand our
language.
“GET OUT.”
That's all the voice said this time
This made a shiver run down my back.
She must have noticed because she turned around from talking to
her friend Lulu and said:
“Oh Tate are you okay? You seem spooked"
I wanted to tell her about the voice but all that came out was little
nicker.
Then I heard him, a little yearling, he sounded a little misty but I
could hear him.
“GET OUT!” he said.
“What are you talking about I wouldn't leave this barn unless my
rider took me,” I said.
“THIS IS MY BARN, LEAVE.”
“I'm not going to leave just because you told me too this is my
home and I'm not leaving.”
“THIS IS MY HOME TOO.”
“Well this can still be your home, why can't we share it?” I asked.
“WE-well, maybe…”
“Well I got to go win a show,” I said. “Good bye.”
“Good bye,” the colt said. “Happy Halloween,” the colt said,
winking.
“Wai-wait, what?” I stuttered.
Then I woke with a start, I realized it was morning.
Real Halloween morning.
Oh it was just a dream…
“Just a dream…” I said as I went to go have my morning hay. When I
looked up I swear I thought I saw the foal in my stall winking at me.
Cross Country at Kent Equestrian Trials
#BcuzErinandTate [are awesome]
Lula and Maddie: fun in the photo booth
TSCG Top Ten
TSCG Photo Gallery
Misty
Guten Tag! Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you
are enjoying your candy! The best part of Halloween
is spending time with friends watching movies in the
movie shed. Ever since they installed that HD TV in
Delilah’s run-in-shed, we’ve been watching movies
non-stop. Here are some of my favorites.
1, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (BEST)
2, Twilight
3, Once Upon A Time (TV series)
4, Goosebumps
5, Good Witch Halloween (Hallmark sappy)
6, The Headless Horseman
7, Hotel Transylvania
8, Into The Woods (not very scary)
9, The Great Big and Scary Flapping Plastic Bag
10, The Things that Scare Ricky, a documentary
To be honest, those last two movies give me
nightmares. Ricky watched his personal documentary
once and it still haunts him. His movie constantly
updates as he freaks at new things every few weeks.
It’s fun to get all dressed up and parade around the
barn! Can’t wait to see you all at the Halloween Show!
Au Revoir, and beware, Misty
Dressage at Kent Equestrian Trials
Jackson Speaks: About the body
By Jami Wallace
Body parts, body parts, so many body parts! Say,
here’s a quiz question: how many bones do I have in
my body?
Last time I talked about elbows and how they go
missing. I realized that in order to have elbows, you
need to know where your shoulder blades are. Mine
are on either side of my front end, just above the legs.
You look at them when you’re trying to see if you are
on the correct diagonal. The shoulder blades are also
known as scapula.
Your shoulder blades move longitudinally (left to
right). If you are tight or tense in your upper back then
the shoulder blades cannot move. If they cannot move
then your shoulders can’t rotate with your hip sockets,
your arms get locked into place and then you cannot
have that soft, elastic connection to the bit, which is in
my mouth! Whew!
So, if you want “me” to be “on the bit”, it has to be
inviting and sort of float in my mouth. But you cannot
do that if your shoulder blades are not moving. Give
them a little shake every once in a while when you’re
riding and see if they can move. You can do it anytime
during the day. Carrying a backpack or working over a
computer screen, I am told, can lock up your shoulders
and scapula, so make sure you slide them back and
forth a couple of times a day. In fact, practice moving
just one at a time!
So, if you have moveable shoulder blades then you
can have rotating shoulders and lovely elbows that
bend and give. Sounds like a horse’s dream come true.
We can talk about the “unbendable arm” next time. Or
you can go to one of Jami’s Centered Riding Clinics
(next one is in November) and learn all about this stuff.
~Jackson ( I’ll be 40 in January)
Madison the “Stallion”
Sunny’s fan club! Who doesn’t love her?