EU-Curly horse meeting

and open house on the Ranch Wolf

On the 6th of June 2009 the day had finally come – the Wolf-family invited Curly Horse breeders and fans from Germany, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and even from Canada for the EU-Curly meeting on their ranch to discuss, meet and listen to the well-organized program.

The program was full of professional presentations and a lot of knowledge was offered to the interested listener – from colour genetics and ostheopathy to the consequences of bad riding practice for the horse as foundering and informations from the “Bayrischen Zuchtverbandes für Spezialrassen” about the state of the Curly-breeding book. So to make it short, there was something interesting for everyone.

Thanks to the full activity of the Wolf-family the meeting hosted exclusively presentations of top-class experts who presented their knowledge in an understandable and sometimes enjoyable way. The catering was also fully organized and a rich dinner (prepared by the host himself) was served directly after a cake buffet.

The final point on the program was „Comanche“-riding and everybody who was interested in it was able to try it out. Karen Zierler from Austria brought with her an original “Comanche“-saddle and bridle especially for this event. Small groups of breeders and Curly-fans came together till late night to discuss and everybody was sure that each of them is really looking forward to the next Curly-EU meeting.

The next day just continued with activities because the open house day of the Ranch Wolf started.

It was absolutely fascinating to see how many volunteers helped on the Ranch during that day – each of them wearing a T-shirt with the typical Ranch label. Everybody was in good mood and obviously looking forward to the open house day. Booths of all different kinds were located in every corner of the Ranch – bull riding, games for children, shopping booths and much more. So everybody was able to find something interesting.

All horses were groomed to mirror finish and it was absolutely impressive how they showed the calmness they are trained and of course their natural cooperation. The gates opened at 11 a.m. and soon the crowd entered the Ranch. Lots of curious people finally desired to visit and get to know the Curlys and they were not disappointed. Unfortunately, the weather god played tricks on us and on the show that was planned with wind and rain. But he did not count on the Curly-fans because the program and the shows were presented with lots of laughing and good mood simply ignoring the rain. The audience as well ignored the rain as far as possible because the shows were too interesting and well-done to miss them.

One little girl stood next to me with a smile on her face. She was hugging a beautiful Curly Horse mare. She said that she did not have to sneeze although a horse is around and that I could not imagine how bad she used to feel with ordinary horses! I was deeply touched by her happiness and amazement. I drove home with a great and warm feeling as most of the visitors, I guess. Thanks so much to Petra and Tom for the great atmosphere, amazing hospitality and for the extra-ordinary and stunning impressions!

Curly persons of the month

To all visitors, participants, volunteers and Curlys

When my little daughter opened her eyes on this Sunday morning, she already smiled all over her face and said: "Mum, it is the open house day on the Ranch Wolf. Can we go there right after breakfast, can’t we?" To be honest that was not a question but a fact that my little girl made up in her mind. So we drove at 11 a.m. with a whiny child in the back of the car to the Curly Ranch Wolf in Bickenbach. As we were part of the first group of visitors arriving at the ranch, we were able to park directly next to the entrance gate. We continued to follow the alley into the ranch which is surrounded by trees and a white fence on both sides. On the left-hand side there is a nice, man-made lake and some sheep grass on its shore. There is also a little pontoon and a little island on this lake. On the right-hand side you could see the first Curly Horses grassing.

My daughter was completely delighted and said: "Mummy, look the Curlys! Let’s go on the meadows!"But of course I knew that you should not just go on the meadows. So we kept walking down the alley where nice little booths invited for a little shopping stop. You were able to choose within hand-crafted animals made from hay, bags and honey produced regionally. We continued to follow the alley and came to a large inner courtyard. In its centre you may find a purling fountain.

In this inner courtyard the Wolf-family had arranged dozens of benches and tables that invited us to have a little comfortable rest. The table-cloth design was "pinto" which told the visitor immediately that the Ranch Wolf attach importance to individuality. The left gate of the machine barn was widely open and you could see even more tables and benches in pinto-style inside.

On the right-hand side you could find a man-made cow named "Edda" that you were able to milk. This was great fun for both - younger and older people. Next to Edda you were able to find "Joe" which was a man-made electronic rodeo pony. With him, you were able to test how long you are able to bear a bucking horse. The time was measured for every participant and the one who was able to stay on Joe longest got a prize. Funny enough, the 9-year old son of the Wolf-family, who has nothing to do with horses, won this contest. His comment on that: "Riding on a real horse is boring but with Joe it is real action!"

"Mummy, where are the Curly Horses, I would like to ride!" My daughter pulled me towards the pony riding. And here they were: Two Curly-Horses to ride on. They looked at us curiously with big dark eyes. The curly mane of the Curly Horses moved from one side to the other due to the wind. My little daughter was desperate to ride the black horse that was called Tamzara – a well-behaved pony for children. And then finally, it was my little daughter’s turn to ride. A girl named Carlotta guided them through an ability trail over a rocker, through complicated bars, on top of a platform and down again and through colored bands. That was so exciting! My daughter smiled all over her face. "Mummy, the little pony does everything I want!"

Afterwards we went to get something to drink in really good mood. But we needed to hurry up as the show of the Curly Ranch Wolf was supposed to start quite soon. We sat down on the tribune of the riding arena. Unfortunately, it began to rain from time to time.

The program was as follows:

Tuana showed warming-up exercises and therapeutic riding with a horse neck ring. Theo and Lena demonstrated exercises to improve the seat on a horse and rode across an ability trail. Mara showed focus-riding with a horse neck ring. Every rider was not riding using a saddle but a special pad that was fastened with a strap.

Laura alias Crazy Frog showed a totally crazy dance without horse. Then the siblings Jojo and Fredi showed the so-called passenger-riding which was done as well with a neck ring. Natalia and Carlotta rode Tamzara and Diamond. At their demonstration you could observe calmness exercises for the horses as rope skipping and a vivid tolt as the Curly Horse mare Diamond is one of just a few gaited horses within this race.

The stableman Gina Rathmann rode the Curly Horse stallion Levi which is also the stud horse of the Ranch Wolf. He is trained in baroque dressage and Gina and Levi showed us what they learned during their last course with a famous trainer for baroque dressage Bent Branderup. It was an impressive show.

The dancing team of Petra Wolf showed afterwards that you can not only ride on the Ranch Wolf. Alena, Jessica, Laura, Lea, Michelle, Natalia and Selina showed the dance "Locca" after choreography of Petra Wolf. And finally, during that part of the show the rain stopped and the sun came out.

Then you could hear a "oh cute" from the audience when three amazing little foals side by side with their mums were guided across the riding arena: Two little Curly Horse mares and one little stallion bred and born on the Ranch Wolf. Levi is the father of all three foals. The mum of one mare foal is a wild horse mare called Breezen and this foal is tall, strong and very curious. The other mare foal is partly Arabian and therefore has a lot of temperament. The little stallion has no curly but silky fur but still has the hypoallergenic characteristics as the curled Curly Horses. This special fur-type is called "bunny-hair".

But that was not everything: Afterwards Christiane showed with assistance of Karina and Curly Horse mare Mae how the rider influences the horse from an osteopathic point of view. It turned out that many riding problems but of course not all might be caused by the rider himself.

The head of the Curly Horse Ranch, Petra Wolf, demonstrated how to so ground- and communication work with a Curly Horse. She guided the Curly Horse mare Chihiro with a black stick und a long guiding rope through an ability trail for example over a rocker. Furthermore she sent her in canter forwards into a trailer and later on backwards as well. Chihiro remained calm and was not rewarded with treats for this exercise. That’s how work is with Curly Horses on the Ranch Wolf and it is a great basic work for horse and rider.

The final presentation of the show was pure action. Pipi Langstocking came in the riding arena with her typical song on the Curly Horse stallion Levi. She rode around cones and barrels and jumped over an obstacle without bridle but with a neck ring. So she just had a little string around the stallion’s neck to guide him. During the jump, Pipi took her blouse off and wore a German soccer shirt underneath. Now she played soccer per horse. Mara and Paul Wolf kicked a large gymnastic ball across the riding arena and the Curly Horse stallion Levi prodded it with his nose. Everything was presented in canter and was accompanied with the "Germany soccer hymn". The audience acknowledged the show with great applause. The show was absolutely well-done and everybody was thrilled due to that amazing day on this wonderful ranch.

Right after the program we walked by a booth for horse accessories. Then we saw that they were selling lots there as well and the main prize was a real quad. Unfortunately, we did not win that one but instead we won a beautiful shirt with the Ranch Wolf logo.

The day on the Ranch Wolf was fantastic. We got a great insight into the Curly Horse race itself as well as in the work on the Ranch Wolf. We got the information during a talk with Petra Wolf that each horse is prepared for riding with ground – and communication work for a start. On the Ranch Wolf this exercises start with 4 year old Curly Horses. As a former horse seller I know that other breeders start the riding education of horses much earlier with 3 or even 2 year old horses when joints and fibres are not yet developed completely and correctly. But on the Ranch Wolf, health counts more than profit.

On our way home down the alley we saw that next to the lake there is a big trampoline and some boys played beach soccer at the shore. What a wonderful and amazing diversified day!