Saturday, July 29, 2006

how it all began...

Nineteen years ago upon this very day it all began. I got a pair of Spangled Old English Game Bantams. I named the male "Wilson" after the breeder, and I named the female "July" for obvious reasons. It all started with two birds. Wilson was a mean little booger, he and I never got along all that well. July was such a sweet little thing. She was my showmanship bird at my first show, the Sacramento County Fair in 1988. There were three breeds I had been considering when we went to look at birds: Buff Laced Polish, BBRed Old English, and Spangled Old English. I'd been quite smitten with Polish in pictures, but when I saw them in person I wasn't as thrilled. But the Spangled OE.. there will always be a special place in my heart for Spangled OE! It's hard to believe it's been nineteen years. Let's hope it lasts many many more!

In other news...

I rode Shylah without a bit tonight, just put her in a halter. She was a lot better, no head flinging, and she didn't carry her head quite so high. I think a lot of that must just be her conformation and how she moves. I'm so used to Gwen, who is pretty much completely horizontal. Plus with Shylah being so small, when she puts her neck up I can reach out and pat the top of her head! Very strange. Anyway, she seemed to be more responsive in just a halter. Hmm. I think I'll have her wear the bit around for a while (in the corral, or tied up) and see if just having her deal with it more often might fix the problem (or else make it worse, we'll see).

Stupid spell check still isn't working!

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