Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider

Skip to the End....

2011-07-04T12:04:00.001-04:00

I've clearly been a bad blogger, so I apologize to all those following my progress with my new mare. Shit happens -- my job really got a little out of control there for awhile and I was working at all hours of the day and night. Can I just tell you how tired I am lately?

Then, the unthinkable happened. My mare, who had been ranked 5th in the world in her division, ripped her front shoe off during a (particularly pretty) sliding stop, and strained her deep flexor tendon. Cue the handwalking, cold-hosing and wrapping that all of us who've owned a horse have had the misfortune of going through. Last month the vet okayed me riding and training her, but not my trainer. Not yet. Her tendon is not fully healed and too much strain could really damage it again. I like how confident the vet is that any riding I do will not impact her tendon in any way. If I thought about that in more depth, I might feel a little wounded by what it might imply. I haven't, so I'm not bothered in the least. :)

Well, onwards and upwards. My mare has been back in training with me for about a month and her leg looks great. I showed my first official show in June -- the first to count towards qualifying for affiliates before heading to OK for the Rookie of the Year competition. Without really doing any sliding stops, and having one day in which Miss Gracie thought it might be a good idea to blast off on me and run out of control to her stop, we managed a consistent 68.5 score throughout the 4 days. Not great, but nothing to be ashamed of either. We were consistently in the top 5 rookie riders and seem to be poised to easily qualify for affiliates in September.

Next weekend I have my 2nd show of the season. My goal is (obviously) to score a 70, but I still seem to be having a lot of issues with my stops, so that may not work out. My secondary goal is to not minus at least one of my stops. Meaning - for all you non-reining folks - that I do at least one correct stop. I'm consistently getting a zero (correct) score on all the other maneuvers, so that's just the next step. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sue Canizares Ceramics - Blog Pause

2011-02-04T16:24:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm totally going to do a little mom-promotion here. I figure she's spent so much time and money and patience on helping me with my riding career, that I owe her one (or a hundred).

If you don't know about Etsy, you need to get on that, stat. It's a great little online marketplace for artists to sell their work. I buy from there all the time because I like to support small artisans rather than your neighborhood Gap. Plus I really like the idea of getting unique, one-of-a-kind items. What can I say - I like to be an original.

Anyway, my mother is a very lovely, unique ceramic artist and she just set up shop on Etsy. The work she's promoting there includes some of her smaller, quirkier gift items. If you get a moment, stop by and support the mom who has worked so tirelessly for her horse-obsessed daughter over the years.

Dangers of Addiction - TackTrader

2011-02-01T19:44:00.001-05:00

I am seriously (and dangerously) addicted to TackTrader. The first thing I do when I get up is check in to see what's been newly posted for sale in the last 24 hours. I'd like to say that I'm not simply doing this for kicks, but that I am honestly just trying to fill out my show wardrobe on the cheap. That's a mainly true statement. :)

Anyway, when I bought my mare I decided that I would only invest in quality pieces of tack and equipment. I did things cheaply before and ALWAYS regretted those decisions. Cheap leather and shoddy stitching seems to break before you know it and suddenly you're out a whole bunch more money than you'd be if you'd simply sucked it up in the first place. But I didn't anticipate just how freaking expensive Western tack and show clothing is! My mother and I had the misfortune of discovering this upon our visit to Oklahoma City for the NRHA futurity. Ha! And I thought I was going to score some awesome deals. Yeah, good luck with that. Instead I got sticker shock. I mean, $350 as a starting price for headstalls?! And there's even reins involved! To say I was shocked is actually an understatement.

Undeterred, I decided I would still figure out a way to invest in the best quality for my mare. And yes, I know that bling is not necessarily the thing for reining. But my Gracie is just so pretty -- I think she deserves a little sparkle.

I know people like Ebay, but I think it sucks. It's just a place for tack companies to resell at high prices, and those bridles which are listed at reasonable prices just get caught up in a bidding war in the last few moments. I know that's just the way of Ebay, but I'm totally over that. That's where TackTrader comes in -- it's like a mecca of amazing used show equipment that's in great condition. And mostly reasonable prices. If you act fast enough, you can eventually get what you want. After about a month of searching (and studying what style of headstall would look lovely on my mare's head), I finally scored the headstall pictured above. It's a used Champion Turf with some mileage on it, but kept in superb condition. And the incredible amount of silver fit the bill perfectly. Not to mention that I only paid less than a third of what it originally cost.

Check the site out. If you're serious about competing in the show ring, but are on a limited budget, it'll save you loads. Now I just need to find chaps!

So It Begins...Mandating Helmet Usage

2011-01-31T19:43:00.000-05:00

As I have predicted for a long time, we are slowly headed towards the requirement of safety helmets across all equestrian sports all the time. So we're still pretty far away from that, but new regulations have been passed to require all riders showing at national-level dressage competitions in this country to wear a safety helmet, starting March 1. This is kind of huge, guys. I certainly thought it would take longer to get this type of ruling passed, and honestly the only reason I think it went through now is because Courtney King-Dye's accident is still pretty fresh in everyone's memory.

Essentially the terms of the regulation require that all riders will have to wear a helmet while mounted on any horse that is showing in any national-level classes (USEF/USDF classses). Even in the warm-up arena. Even a trainer who just pops on your horse for a moment to do a quick tune-up. It will be mandatory. And all riders 18 and under are required to always wear a helmet, even at the FEI level. Which is not the case for senior riders (I mean over 18 riders) in the FEI division -- these riders can actually still opt out and simply wear the top hat. So, it's clearly not perfect, but baby steps, people, baby steps.

I, for one, am thrilled. The more regulated helmet usage is, the more normal it will seem to people and the more people will think nothing of wearing them all the time. I honestly believe that in the next five years we're going to see more and more movement towards a policy that will require all riders to wear safety helmets all the time, including international events, and including western divisions. And let me tell ya -- that's gonna be a toughie. No one has ever said a word to me about wearing a helmet in reining and I've never perceived any strange looks, but I do feel like the lone weirdo out there doing my thing. I cringe when riding with the junior riders, their heads uncovered. I just can't see how a look or a lifestyle should supercede my health and safety. And here's how I look at it for me -- if just one person at the reining show looks at me and decides that wearing a helmet isn't as embarassing as they originally thought, then I've done my job. Normalization is the first step in acceptance.

The Year of Zenyatta

2011-01-21T21:03:00.000-05:00

So, the great Miss Zenyatta won the Eclipse Horse of the Year honors this year. It was not unexpected and though I've argued that she just didn't wage the better campaign, and therefore didn't honestly deserve the HOY honors, I do truly think that if it came down to a choice between Blame and Zenyatta, I would prefer that she take the prize. Many commentators argued that Blame beat her fair and square and deserved the title, and I get that point of view. He beat the unbeatable horse. That's a totally defensible position to take. The problem is that in a few years people will remember Zenyatta and people won't remember Blame in the same way. I wish I could say that HOY wasn't a popularity contest, but it sort of is. Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra both revitalized a hurting industry and their fame reached far beyond the typical racing fanbase. I feel conflicted in writing this, but I do think that between Blame and Zenyatta, Zenyatta was the right choice to make. I still argue that her connections did her wrong by refusing to really challenge her station, but I don't deny that she was a great horse, worthy of this legacy. As I've said before, I just don't think she got the opportunity to prove her real worth.

In the end, I think that Goldikova should have been crowned the Queen, but she just didn't have the recognition in the States that she needed to earn her the HOY honors. I held out a sliver of hope for her win, but it was nearly impossible. I suppose that ultimately the Eclipse HOY award needs to go to a horse that has really touched the US hearts and captured our public's imagination. Goldikova just never managed to reach beyond the avid racing public over here, and as such she just never had a chance. But Zenyatta, in her own way, deserves the honors and I am proud to call her Horse of the Year. Her name will live on forever in our racing history books and I will be able to say I saw her when....

Obligatory New Year's Post

2011-01-06T19:46:00.001-05:00

I basically got a raging head cold on New Year's Day. What a way to ring in the new year, eh? So, while I stare bleary-eyed at the screen and dream of the day when I'll be back out at the barn, I figured what better way to recuperate than blog about last year and my goals for 2011.

First off, though I know this is more in line with Thanksgiving than New Year's, I want to just put it out there that I am so very, very thankful to have the support of my family who've helped me buy my first reiner. This mare is a beaut and I am grateful to have her. It was totally out of my reach to afford such a talented, competitive horse in the Hunter and Dressage worlds, but reining -- while pricy -- is not out of control by any means. I am more than grateful to my trainers who took a soured dressage queen who adamantly announced right and left that she would NEVER show again, that she just wanted to have fun and made her realize that the two notions could actually be compatible. Color me shocked....no, reallly. I was that miserable with riding. I can honestly say that I'm happier and more confident as a rider and as a person than I've been in years. In fact, I can't remember the last time I felt this content.

So, my goals for this year are really very simple. Firstly, I refuse to be too hard on myself.  I have to recognize that I have progressed extremely fast in a completely new discipline and not get pissed at myself when I suddenly hit a roadblock. That's a REALLY hard one.

Secondly, my trainer recently handed me a show schedule that is ridiculously packed. This schedule encompasses the shows that only my horse will do and the shows I have to go to, but still....it's the toughest show schedule I think I've ever seen. So, I have to first get myself motivated and excited about showing, but also balance that with my innate competitiveness.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I need to be a tough competitor, but remember why I started reining in the first place - to have fun.

And finally, I need to blog more and get more serious about this outlet. I aim to write more posts a week and go back to the original format of book reviews, video reviews and in-depth discussions of various famous horses/equestrians. Any suggestions are welcome!!

Besides that I just plan to chill out about the small stuff. The lead changes will come, I'll be more accurate in my guiding. And I'll get more and more comfortable with the warm-up pen. I've learned that the way I progress best is to just remain open, be patient and keep practicing. Those things work themselves out if you remain observant and thoughtful. Hope that doesn't sound like lecturing, but if there was one thing I learned from my teaching days, it's that adult students always overthink things: if you remain focused on the big items, the little details fall into place.

USDF Changing Rules on First Level Sitting Trot

2010-12-28T19:01:00.001-05:00

So, I'm late to the game on this one (see -- I really am blocking out news of the dressage world), but I just recently became aware that the USDF changed their rules to allow posting trot in First Level. This is to take effect in the 2011 tests. I was taken aback by that decision, though in retrospect I don't know why that should have been the case.  One can go on and on about how it's really for the good of the horse and his/her spine, rather than the dumbing down of dressage, but I find that very hard to believe. I get the arguments in favor of posting, really I do. It is better for the horse, in general, and I often post when warming my mare up for her reining sessions. However, I also feel that it's not ridiculous to ask a horse/rider combination to be able to sit the trot in a First Level test. You can practice a lot of posting at home, so as not to strain the horse's back, but in a show I don't see that it's a complete hardship to ask for sitting trot on the day of the test. If you've properly muscled up and prepared your horse, s/he should be able to handle the sitting, regardless of dressage education and/or age.

Really the larger problem here is that more and more people are completely unable to sit the trot properly. Even in my days as an instructor I found this to be the case more than I expected.  And call be a bit old-school in my thinking, if you'd like, but I think that if you're prepared to show first level, you should be schooling second level at home. And if that's the case, then you'd better damn well be able to sit your trot.

Sitting trot is a very difficult skill to learn -- I get this, I truly do -- I spent months, years even, teaching certain students how to master the sitting trot. But just because it's difficult doesn't mean that it should be skipped over or shoved aside because judges are tired of seeing riders bouncing all over and jamming their mount's back. These riders should be properly penalized. Trainers should be prepared to explain to their students why they can't show first level until they master the sitting trot, no matter how long it takes. Call this USDF decision whatever you want, but it's clear to me that it's just a further example of the dumbing down of dressage. If the reiners that I ride with (not all of whom are riders with a great deal of finesse) can execute a relaxed, engaged sitting trot without a lot of thought or concentration, then our dressage riders should be able to do the same. Sometimes it's a matter of riders trying too hard and becoming rigid, sometimes it's a matter of riders being overmounted (how many 5'3" rider/17hh horse combinations do you see out there?), and sometimes it's just a matter of the rider having a weak core that could be aided by Pilates/Yoga work. Sitting trot is not an impossibility; I believe any rider can do it, otherwise there would be far less Western riders out there (and don't try to tell me it's because the jog is so slow that it makes it easy - sitting trot is sitting trot regardless of acceleration and cadence). We dressage riders just tend to overthink everything and/or overmount ourselves, which is outrageous in itself. If more riders opted to ride a smaller moving horse with a bit less impulsion, they'd be doing themselves more favors.

Funny story: just the other day my reining trainer exclaimed that no one had any business riding a horse bigger than 15.3hh, regardless of rider size.  I don't totally agree with that statement, but dressage/hunter riders do tend to have a warped idea of how to match themselves with a horse. If you're a strong enough rider this doesn't matter as much, but if you're just a hobby enthusiast or just starting out in the sport, it can make a huge difference in how quickly you progress.

And if nothing else about this post sways you, then think of this: if you cannot sit your trot, then it doesn't just end there.  As an instructor you quickly learn that sitting trot is just the most obvious expression of a larger problem with a rider's core lack of core strength and ability to engage the core, yet keep the hips and spine relaxed and flexible. The fact is if the rider is stiff in his/her sitting trot, you can bet that s/he is also stiff during halts, during transitions, half-halts and a myriad of other important movements essential to our sport. I've seen it proven time and time again.  Removing sitting trot from first level, to my mind, just ensures that this problem will only become more endemic.

Who's Got a Prettier Face?

2010-12-23T20:42:00.004-05:00

Pics of My Pretty, Pretty Girl

2010-12-23T20:36:00.001-05:00

So, these aren't the best, but I'm afraid that I'm limited by the dark and gloominess of Syracuse weather. Plus, my little Gracie really wasn't too interested in having her picture taken. Frankly, she was pretty pissed that I kept her from eating grass. :)

This last one is a show photo from last year -- Miss Gracie and my trainer. How cool does she look? She's all "I got this, Dad."

Courtney King-Dye: The Power of Tragedy

2010-12-08T20:13:00.001-05:00

Reports are out today that Courtney is officially back in the saddle, working to transition from the hippotherapy riding that she's been doing back to the level that she was working at before her accident. I'm very, very glad that she going to be okay and able to ride again. It'll be a slow process, of course. As she acknowledges, "[she] hopes to ride dressage horses again this winter, and compete in Grand Prix by the end of next summer, but understands the need to be realistic about her recovery."

Even more importantly, I hope this is a wake up call to dressage riders to rethink their decision on helmets. I know that more and more riders are choosing to ride and show in their helmets, but it's not enough and there aren't yet enough of the right kind of role models. If you're a high-level, high-profile rider, you should make the decision to wear helmet, just to set the proper tone for riders who want to emulate you. I hope that she will make the decision to always wear a helmet from here on out and in that way her accident will bring about positive change in the dressage world. I complained about her hypocritical stance on helmets over a year ago when she dodged a audience-posed question about her thoughts on helmet usage. She wore a helmet while exhibiting at the 2009 Syracuse Invitational, but was vague about her personal feelings towards the equipment. It was the right time and place to effect true change in the world of dressage, but she remained noncommital. However, I am hoping she might have changed her thoughts due to her posting of October 13 on her website, stating: Another thing I learned at WEG is top riders are role models. Everyone watches us show. So I changed my mind about helmets. There's a personal decision involved, yes, but if what you do affects someone else, then show them the right thing. If it's made a rule, everyone will show in one, and you'll look incomplete without one...

Better late than never.

First Comes Frustration

2010-12-08T19:49:00.000-05:00

So, I've owned my mare for 2 weeks and 1 day and I have officially entered the period of frustration. Not with her, mind. Just with myself. Going from riding a good school horse to a really nice, well-trained, open-level reiner is like trying to taking leaps across a wide chasm with my eyes closed. On my last lesson I discovered that with certain things I've taken a few steps backwards -- my lead changes are crap. I can't elaborate more on that - they're simply crap. I always thought of myself as the lead change queen when I was practicing dressage, but these reiners are trained just so differently... What I've learned: essentially I just need to figure out how to do absolutely NOTHING. Which is difficult for an ex-dressage queen. I always half-halted, rocked my weight back, set up the new bend, held the inside leg to outside rein connection steady and timed my changes just so. Ha! Good luck trying to do any of that with a reiner. Basically my job is to stay out of her way and and let Gracie do the heavy lifting. This is so incredibly difficult to do and while I'm getting better, it's still a struggle.

However, while I can see my way to correct in terms of my lead changes, my sliding stops are really the bigger concern. The first few times I rode my mare -- before I purchased her -- the stops were easy. She knew what she was doing and I was content to let her show me the way. She's one of those gliders (this is a term I've just been recently taught) who slides so smooth and easy over the ground that you barely feel it. In fact, I still sometimes think that she didn't stop! It's just so smooth that you just don't feel the transition at all. But now that I semi-know what I'm doing, I'm struggling to get my timing right. Timing in the sliding stop is kinda tricky to explain. Every time you begin a rundown you have to get a picture in your mind's eye of what it is you plan on doing and where you plan to execute the stop. You don't necessarily think of the stop. In fact, it's better if you don't - you really want to act as if you're going to run straight into the wall in front of you, giving the horse no indication that you're about to ask for a stop. Then, you just have to feel the right moment of peak speed and in that split second you swing both legs forward, say "whoa!" and really anchor your seat in the saddle by lifting your shoulders and essentially performing a crunch. So, there's getting both the timing of the right moment to ask for the stop as well as the smooth execution of the request. And believe you me, it's not so easy. I've got the right feel for the right moment. That's the easy part. Yet somehow I cannot swing my legs forward and crunch into the saddle smoothly. I keep get jolted out of my seat. And I think I know why, at least partly: for one, I've been looking down at the horse, which is clearly not helping my position; secondly I'm just a bit weak in my core muscle group. That quintessential crunch/reining stop position takes far more strength that it looks, especially when you are riding a really talented horse who can slide 15-20 feet without even pulling on her mouth. I've been practicing pilates like crazy -- and it has helped enormously -- but nothing works like riding regularly.

But when I look out the window and see the 26"+ of snow that has fallen (and it's still going!) I just feel so frustrated. Haven't even gotten out of the driveway for two days now. Ugh....winter just started and I can't wait to see it end.

Shameless Website Promotions - Stock up on Supplies!

2010-11-30T16:17:00.001-05:00

Since it's the time of year to shop, I thought I would mention that right now HorseLoverz and Horse.com are both offering really awesome sales. I just spent a chunk of change at Horse.com yesterday and got away like a bandit. Examples: I got some Cowboy Magic conditioner for $3.99, Vetrolin Shampoo for $5.49 and EZall Detangler for $13.95. Cowboy Magic detangler is offered for a decent price, too, but I gotta admit it's not really my favorite product. I know everyone swears by it, but it just seems to leave my hands really slippery and I'm not overly impressed with the way my mare's tail turns out. I haven't tried the EZall yet, but I read on some forums that it was pretty great. I mainly liked the fact that it wasn't petroleum-based. So, I'll let you guys know how it is.

HorseLoverz is extending its Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales for a couple more days (I think) and with it you'll get 10% off and free shipping on all orders over $75. So, if you're in the market for some supplies, now is the time to order them. I love HorseLoverz because they have such a wide array of items. Like it's not exclusively Western or English and I can buy an off-billet, some polos, some vet supplies and maybe a new and interesting brand of liniment I haven't seen before all at the same time. So many times I have to shop at three different places to get the stuff I can get at HorseLoverz. That really annoys me. And the other cool thing about this place is the fact that they have many items in bulk quantities (not that I need this, but maybe you do!) as well as in tiny, trial (or travel) size quantities. I just adore the small sample sizes. I just bought a 2oz tube of Corona ointment and a 3oz bottle of Absorbine liniment for less than $7 total. I love being able to stock up on these items that I want to have around, but don't have a lot of use for on a regular basis.

Anyway, between these two sales I spent about half what I budgeted on supplies for the next few months, so do yourself a favor and check them out while they last.

My Vote for Horse of the Year - Goldikova

2010-11-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

Watch her race from this year's Breeder's Cup and tell me she's not a force to be reckoned with. This five-year old mare is based in France and has placed in the top three in 20 of her 21 career starts. She may not have the name recognition over here as Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta, but the mare may be even more impressive. She's won 8 of those above-mentioned races against the boys. And she's won a record three Breeder's Cup Miles in a row.

Most impressively, her handlers are not retiring her after this spectacular win. She's staying in training as a 6-year old with an eye to winning the BC Mile for the fourth time next year. If that's not class, I don't know what is. She's already won the Cartier Horse of the Year Award, the European equivalent of our Eclipse awards. There's no doubt in my mind that Goldikova should win the HOY award over here as well, but fat chance of that happening with the fans and critics tripping over themselves to throw the love in Zenyatta's direction. I suppose we'll see soon enough.

Equine Warfare and Hollywood - Robin Hood

2010-11-17T20:08:00.000-05:00

I can't find any excerpts of the movie online, but I wanted to mention I recently watched the new Robin Hood movie with Russell Crowe and I literally squee'd with delight at one of the early scenes. They actually demonstrated how horses were used in wartime back in the day -- more precisely, there is a scene in which 3 or 4 horses rear up and bash down a castle (I think?) door. I was giddy with excitement because I'm not sure I've ever seen such a thing in the movies before. I mean, we always discuss how dressage was used in the art of warfare, but you never really see that depicted on-screen. Has anyone noticed this scene or am I really just too horse-obsessed? And are there more depictions of this sort of equine warfare that you can remember in other movies? Couldn't come up with another.

Anky at the WEG Games

2010-11-17T19:56:00.001-05:00

I'm late to the game with this, but wanted to put up Anky's reining video from the WEG games. She's definitely not terrible, but she certainly didn't belong on the world stage in the reining discipline. Maybe I'm overly prone to being paranoid, but I find it highly suspicious that she qualified as the reserve on the Dutch reining team, and suddenly one of the horses had to pull out, so in steps Anky. The fact is that she's okay at this sport -- I honestly think I like her reining style far better than her dressage style -- but she's not wowing anyone. Her horse doesn't stand still and she's just too hands-y. She'd do better to lengthen her reins a few inches and stop worrying about his head -- believe me, I should know!

Anyway, call me a conspiracy theorist, but it certainly didn't do reining (and the entire WEG Games) any harm to have Anky riding, especially in a new sport that's promoting itself heavily as the Next Big Thing. I'll bet it drew a lot more of the dressage enthusiasts, and it certainly gave the NRHA a boasting point. I suppose it's a little of sour grapes for me -- if she rode dressage the equivalent of how she's riding in reining, she certainly wouldn't be on the world stage. And that really bugs me. I can't begrudge people wanting a cross-over star, but maybe she needs a little more time to finesse her skillz. Frankly, I'd be a little embarassed to do what she's doing, even though admittedly she's put a lot of time and work into this and it shows. So, I guess that's the thing I really ought to take away from this -- not to be embarassed of putting yourself out there, no matter what the criticism. If I could get better at doing that, I'd be on my way to Rookie of the Year.

My First Purchase - Best Leather Halter Ever!

2010-11-13T20:34:00.000-05:00

I finally received my gorgeous, new, custom halter from this Kentucky leather craftsman. I was worried about ordering it from this place because there were so few reviews of it online, but can I tell you how amazing and wonderful it is?! For $43 I got a custom-made, exquisite piece of craftsmanship with triple stitching everywhere, thick 1" strap construction, and solid, beautiful brass hardware. The leather is even softer than I expected - it's like your favorite pair of jeans, just the perfect ratio of suppleness and resiliency. And can I brag about the fact that in the $43 price tag is included a $5 brass cheek nameplate that's REALLY well-engraved. My mare looks like a million bucks and I'm thrilled. On the Chronicle of the Horse forums, they recommended Quillin's and Walsh, but I saved a ton of money going with this supplier and I really couldn't be happier. Plus $5 ships any order anywhere in the US and you really can't beat that. I also ordered a lovely royal blue, Walsh nylon halter for everyday use for Gracie with a lovely brass nameplate and the whole order shipped for less than $60. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this place. And they'll repair any broken hardware or leather at any time -- how can you resist this place?!

A New Adventure

2010-11-11T19:22:00.000-05:00

I've been mainly horseless for the past three years of writing this blog, which is honestly one of the reasons I started it: to have an outlet for my horse-y needs. But as of Monday, November 15th I will be the proud new owner of a 6 year old, palomino reining mare that I call Gracie. Her daddy is this handsome fella:

That's right! I've got a Wimpys Little Step mare who is pretty damn talented, if I do say so myself. For long-time readers of the blog, you should know that I'm a recovering dressage rider and instructor. :) No, seriously, though....I just was over dressage and what it takes to actually get to the top (and then when you see horses like Totilas at the very upper echelon, it really makes you question the tenets of your sport). So, I decided if I was going to start at the very beginning again and learn something new, it had to be something so foreign to me that my ego wouldn't get in the way of learning. AND it had to appeal to my controlling, type-A character. So reining it was and now that I've been doing this thing for a year, I think I'm really getting the hang of it. Gracie is just a lovely surprise that kind of fell into my lap.

But now that I own her, I've created two goals for us next year. Firstly, I aim for my trainer to campaign her and win a world title on her next year. If I hope to ever own her long enough to breed her, I want her to have a solid show record. She already has $7k+ in earnings -- we'll hopefully add a title and bunch more money to the pot. Secondly, I hope to be Top Ten Rookie. My secret goal is to get Rookie of the Year title, but I'm trying to be realistic and I think scoring in the Top Ten at Oklahoma is doable. I think.

So now that I've announced it to the world, I hope to document our journey from buying the early supplies to my wins and defeats at the shows. Look for it to start tomorrow! And I hope everyone will enjoy the ride along with me.

Zenyatta Retires After First Lost of Career

2010-11-10T20:35:00.000-05:00

So, there's a lot of chatter on the various boards and news sites about Zenyatta's second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic. The majority of people all appear to take the position that the mare proved herself worthy in the end. That it was a stroke of bad luck, that she just made her move a bit too late and had she been afforded a few extra seconds, she'd have won handily. And you know what? I'm not going to argue that point. It's quite possibly true. She's clearly an ultra-talented horse, a horse deserving of most of the accolades thrown her way. She may well have won had the finish line been but a few strides farther. But I find it really hard to believe that people are using this near-miss as some sort of proof of her worth. Yes, she is a great mare. She has had a far longer career than most racehorses and until a few days ago she'd never lost a race. On paper those are amazing facts for any horse until you consider that all of the 19 races prior to this most recent Breeders' Cup Classic took place solely in California and that she was only pitted against males once at the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic. Of course she won that day and that should have been the start of a brilliant 2010 campaign. Yet her owners and trainers wasted the year running her against the usual female suspects back in California. I couldn't possibly conceive of a more poorly-concocted season.

Let me take a moment to clarify -- I don't begrudge the mare her fans, her legacy, her talent even. If it seems that way, it's only because I am greatly frustrated by her entourage. They had the opportunity to put Zenyatta to the test, to toughen her up and provide her with some real challenges. Every year we bemoan the lack of great racehorses, and when one comes along we coddle her. I don't know of another way to say this, but that Zenyatta is an extraordinary horse, but one that we never truly saw the best of.

There was no reason that Zenyatta had to admit defeat Saturday. Had she been more accustomed to dirt tracks (the dirt spraying in her face) and the challenges of running against colts, she would at least have had a fighting chance. Instead they babied her and rested on their laurels, announcing her retirement even before the Classic was run. So, no, I don't see her second-place finish as proof of her worth. I see it as proof that she was mis-managed and never really reached the apex of her talent. And why is she being retired?! Just to prevent losing face after the premature retirement announcement. Because the mare clearly isn't done running yet.

Without making this a Zenyatta v. Rachel Alexandra stand-off, I just want to point out that Rachel's handlers managed her impeccably. They pushed her to the brink, even when she started to falter. Sure, she could have entered the 2009 Breeder's Cup Classic. That would have been the icing on the cake, but she really didn't have any more to prove. Zenyatta, on the other hand, was just as (perhaps more) talented, but was pushed only ever once or twice in her career, before retiring with a nearly blemish-free record. What's the point? Sure, no one likes a loser, but time will dull the losses and history books will keep the memory alive of great horses. What I'll remember is the arrogance of Zenyatta's owners and trainer and that will always (unfortunately) leave a bitter taste in my mouth when I recall this first and final loss.

Rachel Alexandra is Retired

2010-09-28T17:52:00.001-04:00

I suppose this gives me the opportunity to run this baby photo of Rachel Alexandra yet again; it offsets how sad this news makes me, though I'll be the last to argue that the mare should keep going. I've been meaning to post something on her lackluster year of defeats, but I gotta be honest....it just didn't feel good to meditate on Rachel's burnout. She's not the same horse she was, but that doesn't take away in the tiniest bit the fact that during her peak last year, she was one of the most brilliant horses I will ever have the pleasure of witnessing. She deserves to go down in history for her triumphs.

But her heart wasn't in it this year. Rachel had lost the drive, the lustre. It wasn't that she was a bad horse; it was just that she was suddenly so average. Even lesser company would outrun her. So as much as I hate the decision to retire her, I certainly can't blame her entourage for doing it. It's hard to keep running a champion that doesn't seem to carry the same magic, who appears to be struggling. It's probably not the fairest thing to do, but some of the greats have hit bottom and kept going. Some even staged comebacks. I'd love to see Rachel get the opportunity for a comeback, but I have to face reality and admit that it's not the wisest thing to do financially. She's a valuable horse, one that shouldn't be risked just for the sake of history. She proved her worth and I suppose it's time for me to let her go prove her value as a broodmare.

Jess Jackson said it more eloquently, "'As you know, despite top training and a patient campaign, Rachel Alexandra did not return to her 2009 form. I believe it's time to retire our champion and reward her with a less stressful life. We are delighted she will retire healthy and happy to our beautiful farm in Kentucky."

Here's to you, Rachel. Thanks for restoring my faith and giddy excitement in horse racing.

Reining Newbies - Penalties & The Dreaded Zero

2010-09-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've walked you through how judges are looking to score a reining pattern and why I think their scoring system is so well-designed. Now what's up with all those 0's you're seeing?

That's another aspect that I sort of love about the scoring system. Besides the addition or subtraction of points for each movement, depending on its quality (great/correct/not-so-great), there are also point deductions for deviations within the pattern.
If it's a minor deviation -- like over or under spinning by one-eighth (up to one-quarter) of a turn, a delayed change of lead, break of gait, failure to pass the markers denoting where a stop is supposed to occur, etc.... -- these can result in deductions of anywhere from a half-point to 2 points. These are minor penalties, but they can add up pretty quickly. Accuracy is the name of the game in reining.

A major deviation is something along the lines of the horse bucking or rearing during the pattern, the rider grabbing hold of the saddle or touching the horse with his/her free hand... This will result in a 5 point deduction. You really want to avoid this type of penalty as a rider. And you can get multiple penalties like this. Say I grab hold of the saddle for a brief instant and let go; I get an automatic deduction. But if I were to grab hold again, it's a whole new deduction added on to that. In some ways, I might as well keep holding on once I've done so -- it'll only result in the one deduction.

A 0 Score is basically the result of a the most major deviations. This could be:

the use of two hands: if you're supposed to be going one-handed (there are classes for green horses or green riders where you can actually go two-handed), even simply touching the reins with your other hand is an automatic 0.
going off-pattern: say you make a mistake and go the wrong direction to start -- you're done. You just went off-pattern and scored a 0. And this is surprisingly easier to do than it sounds, as the patterns are so alike with such minor differences that you can simply start riding the wrong pattern out of habit. Or you might simply do something as silly as executing the rollback the wrong way.
over-spinning by more than a quarter of a turn: this is one you see ALL THE TIME. Sometimes you forget to count properly, sometimes you are so focused on correcting an issue that you accidentally allow it to happen, and frequently you simply spin so fast that you just make a simple mistake and spin five times instead of four. It happens A LOT.

There are others, but I think this gives you a really good overview of what penalties exist and why you might spot a ride that looks great to your eye, but somehow ends up with a 0. The basic rule of thumb in reining is that things happen so fast that anyone and everyone can royally screw up and easily score a 0. The newbies do it; the best riders in the world do it. And there's no do-over. It may seem a bit harsh, and I suppose it is, but I love it for it's sheer simplicity. It's pretty black and white; the judges are empowered with the ability to make that snap judgment and they have the strict rules behind them to back them up. As a rider you have to always ride your best, but stay humble. No matter how good you are, in the blink of an eye you have every bit of chance as any other rider as exiting that ring with a big, fat 0. Everyone gets them; it's just a matter of when.

Frankly, I wouldn't hate seeing this being adopted by the dressage community. They'd never do it, but I like the idea of it. There should be definite instances where the rider/horse combination is clearly off-pattern, for whatever reason, and the chance of getting a 0 score serves to make you that much more honest. Reining clearly defines itself as a sport in which there is no resistance, the horse is willingly guided. If you go off-pattern at all, if you break gait for longer than half a circle, go backwards for more than two strides....these are all signs of resistance and will result in a 0 score, as well it should. Why we wouldn't adopt a similar attitude in dressage is beyond me. Dressage purports to be THE sport in which horse and rider work together in teamwork, without any resistance. Why wouldn't we be just as stringent in our requirements for demonstrating that?

Reining Newbies -- How Scoring Works

2010-09-28T11:41:00.005-04:00

Since the first part of the individuals are going on right now in Reining (and streaming live and FREE on USEFnetwork), I thought it might be a good opportunity to give a concise overview of how the sport is judged.

In a nutshell, in a high-level event like this there are three judges, all scoring independently of one another. The thought being that the scores from three independent judges will combine and the average will even out the potentiality of one judge scoring a movement a little higher or a little lower than the others. All three scores are added together and taken as the final, which is why you're seeing 200+ point scores.

There are essentially 10 patterns in reining, each consisting of the same movements: stops, circles, rollbacks, spins, lead changes, straight lines. However, the flow is different from pattern to pattern, so the judges have a scoresheet with a section for score and/or penalty notation for each movement. They also have scribes, similar to dressage, so that they never take their eyes off the rider/horse combination.

The reason why reining tends to be SO MUCH more objective than dressage is down to the fact that every horse and rider combination enter into the arena with the exact same starting score. The assumption is that you will execute a correct ride. I mean, that's the ultimate goal, right?! So, everyone starts from a completely equal footing -- a score of 70. Then, over the course of executing your movements, you can either earn more points (in 1/2 point increments up to 1 and 1/2) or lose points (also in 1/2 point increments up to -1 and 1/2) for every movement. The main idea is simply to be correct -- execute the movements by the book and you'll exit the arena with a 70. Great, right? And there is no score for perfection. You can simply really impress the judge with a spin, for instance and he might think, "heck, this person did that so great I'm going to give him 1 and 1/2 extra points." There is no comparison to other riders really, since you're essentially just trying to impress the judge at that very instant. It's such a simple, pure system that as a competitor, you really do feel like you're helping the judge (hopefully) give you the extra points. You don't feel, as is the case in a lot of dressage, that somehow the judge is holding back a little to see what the competition is like, before giving out those 8s or 9s.

It comes down to my simple belief in this statement: If your baseline (like in dressage) is perfection -- a 10 -- then you're already at a disadvantage. It stands to reason that judges are less likely to give out top scores with that sort of benchmark to compare against. You feel pressure to give high marks only to spectacular rides; the onus is on the judge to have a rationale for doling out an extra point here and there. However, if your baseline is simply "correct", then, yeah, it's a lot easier to want to give out the extra points, to praise people for a bit more finesse (if it exists, of course).

Reining Live Feeds

2010-09-27T16:20:00.001-04:00

Hey, while you have to pay for live-streaming any of the popular WEG events, reining is being offered FREE on the USEF network site. And if you missed the weekend's events, including Team USA's phenomenal rides, they're also replaying the entire coverage. I'm going through it now religiously.

There's something to be said for getting involved with a sport that is still working on its mainstream popularity.

Team USA Wins Reining Gold

2010-09-27T16:14:00.000-04:00

Team USA won the reining gold medal very handily yesterday, making that three consecutive WEG championship titles. Belgium -- color me surprised, I had no idea they were so highly-ranked, but I am also newish to the reining world -- took home the silver, in what is the country's first WEG reining medal. And Italy took home the bronze for the third straight year.

RC Fancy Step is proving to be quite the superstar, much like his daddy before him (Wimpys Little Step) and his half-sister, Wimpys Little Chic. I admit to be being a bit biased toward him, as someone is giving me the opportunity to buy another of his half-sisters....and it's giving me definite pause.

Like Adult Swim. Only in French.

2010-09-15T18:49:00.001-04:00

Okay, I rented this movie off of Netflix the other night and I instantly fell in love with it. With only 10 minutes into it, my husband and my mother both turned to me and asked, "Are you sure you didn't write the screenplay to this movie when you were 10 and the Belgians just got ahold of it?" Seriously, if you love crazy, non-sensical fast-action cartoons in the vein of South Park and nearly all of the Adult Swim selections, you will LOVE this. Trust me on this.

And if you're a horse-crazy girl on top of that, well...you'll just be in heaven. One of the main characters is a horse, aptly named 'Horse.' If you were anything like me when you were a young, horse-obsessed girl, you spend hours playing with your model horses, making them talk and run around in a particularly frenetic way. This little movie perfectly captures that 8 year old's need to 'show' a character talking by shaking it rather violently to and fro. And from there, it just runs wild. It's even better if you speak French, but my husband doesn't know a word of the language and still thought it was spectacularly hilarious. What a pleasant little gem of a movie!

The Many Iterations of William Shatner - NYTimes.com

2010-09-08T18:25:00.000-04:00

The Many Iterations of William Shatner - NYTimes.com

Somehow I missed this profile of William Shatner in the NY Times over the weekend. I love how horses and his equestrian activities are featured so prominently. He's just one of those celebrities that I really believe loves his horses and works hard at riding. Not like other celebrities I have met/read about.

Who doesn't love this man?!

My Wife Knows Everything!

2010-08-26T19:47:00.000-04:00

Cute! I love this video and the race announcer plays it well. Impressed he was able to keep 'em straight, frankly.

Book Review: Not By A Long Shot

2010-07-28T22:53:00.000-04:00

Two years ago my sweet, devoted husband decided to buy a bunch of horse books to give me for Christmas, one of which was called "Not By a Long Shot" by T.D. Thornton. Like the totally ungrateful wife I am, I completely ignored this book because it wasn't one of the books that had been on my wish list. My husband had taken the iniative to buy me something that would be a surprise and for that same reason I looked on it with suspicion.

So, when faced with a 5+ hour train ride from Syracuse to NYC earlier this month, it was with some residual guilt and trepidation that I decided to finally take a stab at reading this book. Armed with a couple of back-ups, too, just in case...I boarded the train somewhat bored by my reading possibilities. Yet within minutes I discovered my gross error; this was clearly destined to be one of my favorite books EVER!

I love the casual writing style of the book. There's no obvious narrative, no cast of characters with a story arc. It's really just feels like you had the good fortune to sit down with Mr. Thornton and swap stories. Ultimately his overall topic is Suffolk Downs, a hard-knock racetrack in Massachusetts that has seen better days. What I admire most is his way of offering up a gritty, grimy view of the track and its inhabitants without romanticizing it or depressing his readers. There are no rose-colored glasses you get to put on when reading about small-time trainers who drug the hell out of their barely-viable steeds to eke out a tiny living, or jockeys who are struggling through multiple injuries and drug addictions to earn just a pittance, or even the somewhat sad, obsessed figures who spend every moment of their lives at the track just addicted to the handicapping and wagering, regardless of how much they win (or most likely, lose). Yet, despite all of this, you just feel how much Thornton loves and respects his subjects. He is not an outsider looking in; he's already been swept up and seduced by that world, no matter how dysfunctional it may seem. In one of the early chapters of the book, Thornton notes that all the track participants -- the ones there day in and day out, whether it be bettors, trainers, grooms, or simply press -- refer to themselves as racetrack degenerates. Normally I would hate the use of this term, but somehow it is so fitting in this context. There is a certain mix of contempt and obsession that fuels these people, especially when you consider the class of track that they are inhabiting (this is not Churchill Downs or Saratoga, people). Your average person doesn't spend every waking hour at a racetrack, especially not one like Suffolk Downs; it is a sort of compulsion. One that I can understand perfectly. This is Noir at its finest, except it's not fiction.

If anything, Thornton made me really understand the industry in way I couldn't begin to comprehend on my own. I fully admit to having been very contemptuous of casinos on racetracks and small-time trainers that wore their horses down in small-time claiming races, eventually churning out horses only fit for rescue organizations or, worse, the slaughter house. I haven't changed my ultimate opinions on either of these things, but he certainly opened my eyes to the complexity of these situations. Racing, in some ways, only survives because of these things. It is a difficult thing for me to admit, but I can see now why that world has been so slow to evolve. As in everything, it is primarily due to a difficult-to-unravel concoction of absurd politics and fear, that horseracing is in such a crisis point. I will have a harder time condemning those in the industry now, having a better handle on their viewpoint. But don't worry: politicians will still have my ire to bear.

You simply have to read the book to fully grasp its beauty. It tackles everything from a discovery of the Thoroughbred who paralyzed Christopher Reeves in his girlfriend's dressage boarding stable to an examination of the regular racetrack "characters" who are the most loyal -- and perhaps looniest -- patrons of the track. Think of it as a collection of essays and you'll be far better prepared. Thornton just paints the picture and you are immediately drawn in. By the end of the book, you feel a bit depressed, as if you just spent a year at the track yourself and now have to return home to your far duller existence.

I just want to leave you with one more thought. There was one passage of the book that made me stop dead. I must have re-read it 4 or 5 times, with tears in my eyes. Never had I read such an eloquent expression of how it feels to be compelled to the racetrack. My horse-y friends can't understand my horseracing obsession -- it's seedy and filthy and everything proper riding isn't. But like Thornton writes, "[...] I recall being about five or six years old and watching my father, Paul Thornton -- tight-lipped with his serious face on -- saddling racehorses from the other side of the fence at the Rockingham paddock (children were not permitted in the saddling enclosure) just before the visceral, throaty surge of the crowd during a wild, stampeding stretch drive. I didn't have it all figured out, but I knew I wanted to end up on the other side of that damn fence where the horses and jockeys were, the epicenter of action." It's a simple description for a powerful, complicated need to be at the track. You just feel it in your very being and it's nearly impossible to describe to people who haven't felt it. And ultimately it's why this book is such a success -- in reality T.D. Thornton just spends 300+ pages expanding on this passage, describing why -- despite the gritty, harsh realities -- all the degenerates, including him, have made the choice to be there.

William Shatner's Breyer Horse

2010-07-23T20:38:00.000-04:00

I wish I still collected Breyer horses. Hell, maybe I'll start again, especially when I hear that the newest Breyer model horse is a Saddlebred horse called All Glory. All Glory is a multiple roadster winner with William Shatner (and his wife) holding the reins. I have such a soft spot for William Shatner; he is so very serious about the horses he owns and he is pretty decent rider. I've seen enough to know that he isn't a weekend rider, even if his acting schedule likely tends to get in the way of more professional equitation goals. I've just had the displeasure of meeting so many wealthy people over the years who really don't have lofty aspirations, don't care that much for their horses....it still bowls me over when I encounter someone who genuinely loves what s/he does, not riding just to show off in front of his/her peers. William Shatner would be riding regardless of how much money he made. Though, I don't deny it, the money helps! Money buys you some amazing horses. Here's the model:

And here is his namesake, with his adorable driver.:

LUCK Looks Like A Lady

2010-07-19T16:55:00.000-04:00

So, I see HBO has given the green light to the production of its newest series, LUCK, about the horse racing industry and starring Dustin Hoffman. The pilot was directed by Michael Mann, which is a plus in my book, but I'm reserving judgment until after I've seen a few episodes. I feel like this is the sort of thing that could go either way, and judging from how many TV shows I actually like, it has to hit a pretty high mark. But anything that increases the visibility of horse-racing has gotta be okay in my book. Ugh...except for maybe that new Secretariat movie -- I don't know guys, it looks pretty cheesy.

Red Dead Redemption: One More Reason to Love It (Hint: The Horses)

2010-05-28T17:33:00.003-04:00

I am a true fangirl when it comes to Rockstar video games; they can almost do no wrong in my book. That's why I was so thrilled to come across this article on how the Red Dead Redemption development team spent so much time and effort on making the horses in the game realistic. They declare that the game's horses are "like nothing else in gaming." And when you check out the trailer, you definitely see the payoff. As an avid gamer who also loves horses, I really have to hold my tongue when playing most video games. The horses typically look rather ugly and block-like, and by don't even approach correct movement. The Red Dead Redemption horses look really nice. To a trained horsewoman, there's still much room for improvement, but I definitely won't be embarassed when playing this game. Now if they could only get the money to do this for actual horse-centric video games.

Shocking! Casinos Aren't the Cure to Horseracing's Woes

2010-05-25T18:45:00.000-04:00

Came across a lovely article by John Clay that simply stated what I've been trying to tell anyone who'll listen, for years: slots machines are not the way to go when trying to re-invigorate the horse-racing industry. I really don't see how this is particularly shocking or illogical for anyone who has actually visited a racetrack with slot machines. I'm speaking anecdotally here, as I don't have a lot of figures to back me up, but it should be clear to most people that slot machines and horses are apples and oranges. The people there for the apples are not interested in the oranges. And vice versa. Maybe the casinos inject some cash into the overall facility, but not the daily handle. You cannot convince me otherwise.

Especially when I see tracks like Keeneland, Saratoga and Del Mar making loads of money, running fewer races with bigger purses. And now we can add Monmouth to this list. This track looked forwards to the future and opted to cut the meet way back, bolstered purses and generally made the track a destination spot. The key here is to make horseracing chic. Accessible, but glamorous. This is the oldest trick in the book. Just look at Hollywood; they've been peddling that game for decades. And frankly it seems like the easiest thing in the world to glam up horseracing. It already possesses a rich and colorful history; the players are riddled with the rich and famous (or could-be famous). Capture this fabulousness and you'll capture a whole new generation. I mean, it shouldn't be surprising that Churchill Downs' nighttime racing caught on so dramatically: it's sexy, fun and a brand new option for people looking for a good night out.

People, this is not rocket science. If you're lacking in ideas, please feel free to give me a call. With the right backing I could be a real thought leader in this movement. Seriously. The industry needs me. :)

Sloths Are Even More Wonderful Than I Imagined

2010-05-21T08:56:00.000-04:00

Via Jezebel, I discovered this amazing video of baby sloths at a sloth orphanage. I grew up reading all the Gerald Durrell books and whenever he mentioned sloths, I always imagined such wonderful, exotic, fascinating creatures. Funnily enough, though the animals are barely doing anything in this video, they have managed to live up to all those expectations:

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

Joe Louis, The Saddleseat Rider; Also Entitled, This Post's Devolution into Questioning the Lack of Diversity in the Horse World

2010-05-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

I was poking around the LIFE magazine online archives and came across this wonderful gem -- Joe Louis, famous heavyweight boxing champion (yeah, that Joe Louis), was a bit of a horse fanatic. He rode, he bought a gorgeous farm which he turned into a riding stable and horse show grounds, and he was even instrumental in organizing "America's first all-Negro horse show," as LIFE magazine terms it. AND, all you saddleseat fans, he appeared to be a saddleseat rider!

I'm not a fan of boxing, but I have more than a passing interest in it. It's not like I'll watch bouts on television, but it's more a matter of me becoming a bit obsessed with some boxers themselves.  I suppose it's because I've always had a bit of excess agression in me, to the point where I could understand why you would want to go stand in a ring and abuse yourself (and your opponent) like that. There's just this deep, primitive understanding of it that resides within me. Don't worry -- I don't plan on beating anyone up....at least not yet, but my husband stands warned. :)

And now I find it even more fascinating to discover that two boxers, in whom I have always taken a bit of an interest, were / are true animal lovers, in a way that I find very tender and endearing -- Joe Louis, with his horses and Mike Tyson, with his pigeons. If you're interested in a really moving portrait of Mike Tyson as more than just a emotionally damaged, violent force of nature, I cannot recommend more highly, Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird by Andrew Blechman.  Not only will it compell you to completely reconsider how you feel about pigeons, there is a wonderful chapter on Mike Tyson and his love and obsession with pigeons, specifically racing pigeons.  If I remember correctly, the author was not even really permitted to speak with Tyson -- apparently Tyson takes his birds so seriously, that it seems he was fearful to allow that side of him to be exposed to public scrutiny -- but he still manages to humanize him in a way that I never before considered possible. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough, if only for this chapter.

But now the discovery that Joe Louis was also an animal lover. And more importantly -- HORSE lover! I have been truly won over. Someday soon maybe I will post on the long tradition of black saddleseat horsemen in this country; it is a rather fascinating phenomenon to me. Saddleseat obviously originates from the need for comfortable, quiet horses to oversee the large estates in the South, but what no one really likes to admit is that the horses and trappings associated with the discipline were also signifiers of a certain class. Which inherently means that not only were the most beautiful, smoothest, most high-steppingest horses signifiers of wealth, but also of race.  It was the purview of the wealthy white citizens to spend time showing off their best horses.

Yet, similar to the world of horse-racing, Saddleseat became dominated by a load of now-semi-forgotten, talented black trainers whose prowess with handling and gentling the best of the best movers could not be denied. So, in a strange twist of events, this genteel sport was subverted by these gifted trainers, and despite their skin color, they crossed class boundaries. Seems like Joe Louis understood this, especially when you consider that he put on the first horse show for African-Americans only. And there he was, front and center, decked out with a horse originally bred to be proudly ridden by the type of folks who claimed to 'own' his grandparents. He made it to the big-time and bought the ultimate status symbol.

Yeah, yeah....who cares if that wasn't his main goal in doing saddleseat. Sure, he probably just loved horses and saddleseat was in its heydey in the 30s and 40s.  Frankly it doesn't matter what his motivation was, he was still defying class and race distinctions and I love it. The problem I have has always been this: where is the diversity in riding nowdays?  I don't often see people writing about and speaking about this, but it has always been a point of worry and guilt in my mind. Maybe it was just especially apparent to me growing up in Virginia where my class at school was over 50% non-Caucasian students, but not once did I encounter a person of color riding a horse during the 8 years I rode there. Something about that never set right with me, but I either never dared speak about it or I just never could articulate my concerns. Even now, it still appears to be a sea of only white skin. Oh, forgive me, except for the groom and stablehands...even the jockeys (one of the more lowly positions in the horseracing world it seems to me). Those are the positions in which I see a preponderence of diversity and I gotta be honest: That really makes me uncomfortable. I wish more people were willing to talk about this in the horse world.

FEI Stewards Manual Annex -- Head Position

2010-05-13T13:43:00.001-04:00

The guidelines have been published. I am impressed that they really spent the time on really giving good direction as to what does and does not constitute hyperflexion, while still allowing stewards to rely on their own good judgment. Great start!

Official Trailer for Secretariat

2010-05-07T08:14:00.001-04:00

While I know I'll watch this regardless of the quality, so far this trailer is not offering me any proof that it will overcome the Disney taint of feel-good, children's animal movies. Well, except maybe for John Malkovich. He looks awesome in this.

Which makes me wonder where they went wrong when, in a movie entitled Secretariat, I am most drawn to a human character. At least so far. Trailers are often really bad indicators of the quality of a film, so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but Hollywood would do well to go back and watch Phar Lap a few times to remember how to make a wonderfully engaging story about a race horse. One in which the horse is plays a true starring role, simply because of the realistic bond between him and his groom. That was one of the issues I had with Seabiscuit -- it was all about the story, the people surrounding the horse, but the horse just didn't present a strong figure that I engaged with.

A Horse You Should Know -- Canonero II

2010-05-05T19:36:00.000-04:00

I defy you to watch that video and not be desperate to learn more about the story of Canonero II. Previously unknown to me, I discovered this horse's amazing story a couple of years ago, oddly enough in a book entitled, The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing by Steve Davidowitz. I have an obsession with books whose authors make broad proclamations and aren't afraid of pulling punches when it comes to their opinions. Gee, I can't imagine why....

Deemed "The Greatest Upset of Modern Times" by the author -- though whether this still holds true after Mine That Bird's Derby win last year, I don't know and don't particularly care all that much -- this horse has a much more compelling story (at least in my humble opinion). Canonero II was the people's horse. A story for the ages. One of those once-in-a-lifetime, the stars aligned at just the right moment, in just the right way kind of story. And the casual racing fan (case in point - me!) had never heard his name before.

Just take another look at the video. Starting from the 18th position and slowly picking off his competitors...there is greatness there. Luck may have touched his forelock that day, but Lady Luck clearly wasn't the only reason he won. He had talent, loads of it to judge by that race alone.

However, after that race, Davidowitz writes "It seems that most did not believe what their eyes had seen. They called Canonero a fluke, a skinny horse who looked undernourished who somehow had managed to win the Kentucky Derby through a lot of blind luck. [...] It was embarassing that Canonero had just beaten the best-bred, most expensive horses in the land, most of them born and raised in Kentucky."

But despite all the sneering, he broke out of the gate fast once again in the Preakness, raced head to head with the speedster of the race, Eastern Fleet, and then proceeded to zoom past him, setting a new track record.

God, what a story! To hear it from Davidowitz's ears, the horse was an unwanted, crooked-leg yearling, sold to an Edgar Caibett in Venezuela for $1,200. He didn't show much talent as a 2-year-old, but that changed as a 3-year-old. He appeared to blossom into a formidable stakes winner.

What happened next is almost not to be believed...Amazingly enough, the decision was made to ship the talented colt to Kentucky for the Derby. Why on earth they considered that they had much of a shot, even with the wins in Venezuela, I just can't fathom. Anyway, to get the colt to Louisville, his owner booked him on a cargo plane to Miami where he would be quarantined for 48 hours before the 1,000 mile trailer trip to his final destination. "Unfortunately a terrible tropical storm broke out in midflight, forcing the pilot to return to Venezuela, where Canonero had to remain on the place for about 12 hours before a revised flight plan was approved for a restart. Once in the air, engine trouble forced still another return to Venezuela. About six hours later, the third attempted flight took off and detoured an extra four hours to avoid more turbulence en route to Miami. Everybody on board, including Canonero, had suffered some form of illness during the arduous flights.

Upon arrival in Florida, Canonero was kept onboard the aircraft, sitting on the Tarmac for the duration of the 48 hours of quarantine. The van to Louisville turned out to be a single-horse trailer hooked up behind a 1965 Oldsmobile. Arias, the leading trainer in Venezuela, and his groom, Pedro Quintero, shared the driving chores straight through the 26-hour trip."

Not surprisingly, when the horse finally made it to Louisville, he looked pitiful. By all reports, his ribs were clearly visible and people were publicly exhorting the trainer and owner to rethink the horse's entry. His subsequent win was deemed a fluke, a complete stroke of luck and one which would be erased come Preakness Day.

One of the most interesting aspects of this story is that Arias, his trainer, was a bit of a maverick in the horse-training world. When all other horses were put into sharp works prior to the Preakness, a race that favors speed, Canonero was galloping slowly for a half mile. That's it. People took this as a sign of his overall lack of talent, when they really should have looked to this trainer as a bit of a unique genius - the likes of which may never be seen again. Particularly in hindsight, as his horse won the Preakness handily. Canonero didn't win the Belmont - he had a case of hives and likely should have been scratched. But interestingly, Davidowitz remarks, "[...]Arias never was accepted as a bona fide training talent despite his success, mostly because he used highly unorthodox training methods that did not accent speed.

Ignored and dismissed as lucky, Arias was not even invited to attend the Kentucky Derby trainers' dinner that always includes ever trainer of a Kentucky Derby horse, nor was he given any token recognition at the end of the year for developing Canonero..."

Imagine this - a trainer who pulled off a feat that few others could have or even would have attempted. He was essentially shunned from the pantheon of great racing trainers simply because he was different. What a ridiculously stupid, insular view. He clearly had a training genius that eludes modern trainers. And even if they did exist nowadays, what would be their incentive for stepping forward? In fact, who would hire them? Even if you could point to Juan Arias as a shining example. It's disheartening when an industry becomes so fearful of change that we cannot even celebrate the few fringe members that are true artists.

This man deserves recognition, however belatedly. And Canonero needs to be more of a household name. Maybe I'll have to be the one to write the book.

The Worst That Horse-y Fiction Has to Offer - Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen

2010-04-27T19:43:00.001-04:00

In honor of Sara Gruen giving a lecture tonight in Syracuse, I decided to finally write up my book review of her debut novel, Riding Lessons. I warn anyone who loved Like Water for Elephants to just probably stop reading now and just know that I positively hated this book.

Seriously. I have heard that Like Water for Elephants is a good book. Even my mother loved it, which says a lot actually if you knew my mother. The thing is that I couldn't be bothered to pick it up and find out for myself. And all because Riding Lessons is such a painful, excruciating mess of a book to get through. I get really worked up about this book and its follow-up because when I came across it in the bookstore, I was SO EXCITED! I love to discover new horsey-themed books. And I can overlook a lot of flaws just to get my dose of horse fiction.

Not in this case. There are so many cliches! Annemarie Zimmer is the next great Olympic rider whose dreams are shattered when her beloved horse falls, killing himself and injuring her severely. Of course she never rides again. The story picks up decades later when she returns home to the family farm -- her husband divorcing her, her petulant daughter hating her....CAN I JUST SAY THAT I UNDERSTAND WHY?! She is quite possibly the least sympathetic character even written. She is stupid, selfish and has poor judgment. In general, I just had no interest in knowing anything more about her and I frankly couldn't care less about what little plot development there was. It was a case of her not being capable of taking care of the farm, not being able to care for her daughter, rescuing a horse that....wait for it....turns out to be the brother of her beloved horse who got killed, and it goes on and on in that vein, if you can believe it. The dialogue is terrible, the characters are unsympathetic and you couldn't pack in more cliches if you tried. Of course, the requisite happy ending is tacked on, but by the time you get there you're just honestly shocked that you didn't quit reading. The only thing I can say in my defense is: horses. Otherwise I would not have gotten through the material. And that really isn't a good enough excuse. All the writing concerning horses is unrealistic and just annoying. Not even worth reading for a dose of horsiness.

Busy Mom from Ohio, a commenter on Amazon, sums up my feelings perfectly:
"...I would be really upset if I had bought this book ... it was a painful novel to read and I just finished it an hour ago. I cannot express my shock that Gruen, who wrote one of the best novels I've read in some time wrote this book.

But this book is a big disappointment. If you love to read about horses and all that, you will be disappointed. This book is about a train wreck of a woman named Annemarie. Annemarie is one of the worst characters ever in the literature world as she is selfish, self-centered, self-pitying and rude. She comes home because she lost her job and her husband wanted to divorce her and plus, she wanted to help her parents since her father was diagnosed with ASL. She ends up driving the family's business into the ground, alienates her daughter even more and instead of resolving her differences with her father who was dying, she just hides in the stables and moan about how hard her life was ever since her accident. This is perhaps the weakest character I have ever come across and I do not say this lightly. She has a horrible meltdown throughout this book and it was very painful to read (I skimmed through a lot of it). Frankly, she comes across as a very spoiled, very privileged selfish brat.

Needless to say that this book is a major disappointment and even though it predictably ends well, the ending doesn't salvage a sour taste that this book has left me with."

And don't even get me started on the sequel. Maybe tomorrow.

Edited to add: Here's a really specific example of how the writing concerning horses is completely unrealistic. On page 43-44, when she arrives back to her family home, checking out the horse business she's supposed to be taking over, the French classical dressage trainer is teaching a student and his horse. He has a double bridle on, but is clearly (based on his difficulty executing the movements asked of him) not an educated grand prix horse. But even if he were, it is ridiculous to think any random horse capable of doing what is described next, no matter if freaking Nuno Olivera were on board, "The man and horse are moving in sybaritic union now, floating effortlessly through one maneuver after another: a full canter pirouette followed by a canter half pass with lead change, and then impossibly - brilliantly - a capriole. The horse leaps into the air and hangs there, seemingly suspended. At the apex of his flight, his hind legs shoot out behind him."

I'm not even going to try to explain why that passage is utter poppycock. Any competent rider knows exactly what I'm talking about. Which makes me really question why this book exists...if her audience were horselovers, then what the hell is she doing writing about a capriole on page 44? Yeah, like that'll establish credibility. And if this is for just random people and the horse stuff is just peripheral, then why bother even having all the horsiness? It just lures people like me in and bugs the shit out of us.

The Sins Of Our Fathers

2010-04-20T18:25:00.000-04:00

Call me crazy, but I cannot figure out the mess that has turned out to be the disqualification of McLain Ward's horse Sapphire from the World Cup show jumping finals in Geneva, Switzerland. Fran Jurga is doing a fabulous job over at the Jurga Report in gatherng explanations as to what hypersensitivity is, how it is tested and the FEI's protocol in dealing with these situations. Her latest post is a video of an FEI vet defining hypersensitivity and its potential causes (all of which can be quite innocent -- or at least induced without intent to harm). I'm reposting it here:

I still can't really make heads or tails out of the situation. I get that McLain Ward is furious and confused by the disqualification, but I guess I can't see a reason for the outrage / appeals to the FEI that are being lodged. Maybe I'm naive, but it seems that the FEI acted appropriately and consistently with its policies, and I don't believe they have an agenda against any rider.

If you're really fascinated by this story, you ought to take a look at this article by the New York Times. I never realized that McLain Ward's father was the infamous criminal who arranged to have 4 horses killed in an insurance scam. That was incredibly shocking to me, but it's clear it has had at least a psychological effect on McLain Ward. He's been trying to keep his nose clean, so to speak, for years, but you can tell he has a bit of a complex about the industry being out to get him for the sins of the father. Can't blame him, but you wonder how much of his outrage at the disqualification stems from this distrust at the industry's governing bodies. I can't say I wouldn't be thinking the same thing. Must be hard to have a career in horses and have that skeleton follow you around. I don't think I could do it personally.

How to Get a Horse to Jump -- NOT!

2010-04-13T14:08:00.000-04:00

If it isn't clear to you that this is cruel and excessive punishment, then you should probably stop reading my blog now. Michael Morrissey is way out of line on this and someone (judge, please?) should have instantly disqualified him. You can't ride at that level and expect to get away with shit like this. Someone needs a real dose of gratitude and humility.

Sylvia Bishop, Racehorse Trainer

2010-04-13T12:48:00.000-04:00

Everyone needs to read this article from the December 1961 Ebony on Sylvia Bishop, who was quite possibly the first black woman to be licensed as a racehorse trainer. It's a great read and I love that she emphasizes kindness and gentleness in the horses' training. So brilliant -- I had never heard of her before and I think it could make for an interesting biography.

The Prix Caprilli Tests

2010-04-13T10:28:00.001-04:00

I never knew about the Prix Caprilli tests before. They make perfect sense and really ought to be offered at far more shows around the country, both jumping and dressage. For those who have never heard of these tests, they are like a dressage test with low crossrails included. The judging is based on the dressage system (with a mark for each movement) and you get overall marks + coefficients for gaits, submission and impulsion. Obviously they take into account the fact that the frame will be less collected for a jumping horse, but a general impression of accepting the bit and roundness is expected.

How wonderful. I really wish elements of dressage were better incorporated into more disciplines, especially when showing. To me dressage is not the ends, but the means via which we improve the general movement and well-being of all horses throughout all disciplines. I guess what I mean is that I wish I could see more all-around horses being shown today.

Blue Ribbon Series -- When What You Wish For Isn't What You Really Wanted

2010-04-12T16:49:00.001-04:00

As longtime readers of this blog may know, I have the greatest love for horse-themed fiction, especially of the young adult variety. In fact, I have a massive collection of it. So, it may come as no great surprise that I am a bit of a conoisseur of even the cheesy 80s series of horse books that encompass the Saddle Club series, the Thoroughbred series, the Linda Craig series (which was really mainly a redesign and reissue of the original 60s era books), etc...

In keeping with my contrary ways of liking only things that no one else appears to have discovered, I present the horse-crazy series that I cherished above all other series. At least when only comparing amongst its peers in the 80s/90s. If you have never had the occasion to read the Blue Ribbon series, then you really should.  If you look hard enough you can still get your hands on the 5 books that managed to be published before it was clear that no one else was reading these books and the series was abruptly canceled. They are fairly rare, but over the years I have managed to locate two copies of the entire series. Yes, two copies -- I somehow forgot that I tracked down the first set and bought the second set before that realization sunk in.

I'm presenting you with the second entry into the brief series because I recently read it during my brief toe-dip into the tumultuous waters that are purchasing a horse. And ridiculous as it may sound, it kinda soothed my soul.

So what sets this series apart from the others? It's a bit hard to explain, really. In some ways it fits all of the cliches. Three girls whose love of riding forms the basis of a deep friendship? Check. One girl -- Dara -- is filthy rich with a gorgeous horse. She is beautiful and boys trip over themselves to be near her. Oh, and don't forget, she and her horse make an unstoppable team who win nearly all the blue ribbons. BUT! She's new to town and her wealth and status can make her seem snobby. Will she manage to overcome her haughty demeanor and show the town that she's just one of the girls?!

Kate is more of the tomboy-ish one of the trio. Her mother runs the local boarding/training operation, where all the girls board their horses and/or ride. Kate is high energy and talkative. She is supposedly the most talented of the three, but she just needs the right horse to take her to...gasp!...the Olympics. BUT!   She still retains too much love for her steady-Eddie horse who just doesn't have the talent to take her all the way. Will she finally come to terms with the fact that her horse is holding her back?! Will her competitive side finally show her the way to stardom?!

And finally, there's Jesse.  Her character arc makes up the requisite sad story of the books. Her mother died recently and the family relies on her to do alot of the cooking, cleaning and taking care of her siblings (are you feeling really bad for her yet?). They don't have a lot of money and she can't afford to own her own horse. She previously leased a mare at the farm until the owner decided to breed her and Jesse is left horseless yet again. Will Jesse ever feel like part of the horsey gang? Will she ever have a bit of luck?

Hey, I think I missed my calling. I should be writing back-cover blurbs for young adult books. Anyway, it's plain as day that this hits many of the typical teen horse book criteria. However, there are some things that pretty significantly set this series apart from the rest:

Boyfriends do not occupy an enormous amount of text. They're there and the girls all have boyfriend troubles, but they do not take up all of the girls' time. And the girls do not fight over the same guys. These are two major things for me. I always wondered how people could be such good riding when they were spending all their time fighting and chasing boys. Most significantly they were not riding! Ugh, I hate that.
The girls do 3-day eventing, which means they do jumping and dressage. And dressage is not made out to be some super tedious means via which they can do the more exciting jumping bits.
Obviously the author knows horses and riding. S/he (for the life of me I cannot figure out if it was a man or woman who wrote these books -- Chris St. John is like the most vanilla of names) describes things mainly accurately and uses the proper terminology (there is even a glossary in the back for those of the non-horse-obsessed ilk). No one performs miracles on horseback. There are no riders suddenly mounting a half-crazy horse and taming it. People get frustrated. They fall. They don't win. It's like it's breaking every rule of the genre right there.

There are other things as well, but those are the major items I keep coming back to every time I pick up these books. And the gist of this particular book in the series kinda drives all of that home for me. Essentially the story revolves around Kate. Her beloved horse is really holding her career back and her trainer is trying, very gently, to nudge her towards that understanding. His brilliant idea is to sort of trick her into exercising and showing the horse for him until he finds the right buyer for it (wink Kate wink). Ah! But the plan backfires when Kate protests that she doesn't have the time for another horse, but her horseless friend Jesse would LOVE the opportunity. And so, reluctantly on the part of Jesse, Kate's trainer, and virtually everyone else, Jesse ends up riding this hot powerhouse of a horse. I can recap every point, but what you mainly need to know is that this ultra-talented horse is the opportunity of a lifetime for a girl like Jesse. He is brilliant and Jesse and he win all of their shows. However, the entire time she is riding the horse, Jesse is basically in cold sweats and panics. There are equal parts of enjoyment and nervous breakdowns when she realizes just how overmounted she is on him. And when she finally realizes that she would rather not ride than ride that particular horse anymore, she speaks up and explains her feelings. In the end she understands that sometimes the best horse is not the most brilliant, most talented horse. Winning is not the end-all and be-all. Sometimes you just want the flawed horse with whom you share a deep connection.

Besides breaking the rules of the genre, it's just a lovely message. And one I needed to hear after turning down the purchase of a horse of a lifetime. I could have bought a horse that would propel me into the primetime, but I chose not to for a myriad of reasons. Mainly I just didn't feel like it was the right horse at the right time. Yet, I kicked myself day after day for not taking the opportunity to prove my talent to the world. And silly as it may seem, this book made me realize that you have to choose the path that makes you happiest. And happy does not always equal accolades and glory.

In Defense of PETA

2010-04-08T18:58:00.000-04:00

So, I am aware that this post may not garner me many new friends. PETA is an extremely polarizing organization, one that seems to either engender irrational hatred or profound allegiance. I find I fall somewhere in the middle and though PETA would likely denounce a great deal of what I do (horseback riding) and what I think (I eat meat, though only meat from small, local farms), I would like to think that there is common ground between my beliefs and theirs.

The thing that really bothers me, and what has moved me to write this post, is that the majority of animal lovers that I have met throughout my life are staunchly opposed even to the existence of the organization. And that really, really bothers me. I find it supremely unfair to denounce PETA as a terrorist organization which acts out of ignorance. The fact is that the members of PETA are very clear in their beliefs and they are not without merit. Their purpose is to act as animal rights advocates, believing that humankind does not have the right to use animals for any purpose whatsoever. And that is a perfectly fair standpoint. I challenge anyone to read Peter Singer's book, Animal Liberation, and not come away with at least the slightest notion that maybe we are all wrong about the present state of the world and that animals are entitled to the full range of rights that humans have. His arguments are very calmly and solidly laid out. AND THEY MAKE COMPLETE SENSE. PETA has done nothing more than take his arguments and hard-sell it worldwide.

Look, I made choices at some point of my life which have completely negated any ability for me to be a card-carrying member of the group. My riding is exploitation. Probably the way I entice my cat to perform tricks for friends is exploitation. And, perhaps most importantly, the fact that I eat meat is the worst kind of exploitation. I realize all of that and I honestly can't fully disagree with them. Part of me thinks they may be right, but I can't give up the riding and in my heart I believe that riding is a relationship, not subjugation.

So, in short: PETA would hate me, but I don't hate PETA. That's the thing that I don't get: how you can love animals and completely denigrate this group. They are merciless, brutal. They will bombard you with images that most humans should not have the stomach to view. They take absurd, overwrought actions (remember the human breast milk ice cream campaign?) and are not remotely bothered by exploiting beautiful, naked women in pursuit of their goals. But in the end, they are the only group with the balls to publicly challenge deep, long-held beliefs about the conditions and welfare of animals. Shock tactics work precisely because they scorn politeness and manners, because they touch on taboo subjects. More than ever, animals need advocates. For every blood spattered, fur-wearing celebrity picture, there are hundreds and thousands more pictures of starving and abandoned animals. People would rather focus on the shocking and obnoxious aspects of PETA without acknowledging the message behind it. You can't tell me that those tactics don't offer some good, if only by challenging us not to accept the status quo just, you know, because... Advocacy shouldn't have to always be polite and mannered. Sometimes you just can't get a point across any other way than by startling them. Humans will always be more inclined to fret over human rights. It's only natural. Animals will always appear to be afterthoughts. And that's why PETA is so important -- to jar you into changing that train of thought.

On the Obligation of an Industry

2010-03-30T19:28:00.000-04:00

There was a touching letter in BloodHorse today, written by Herb Moelis of the Thoroughbred Charities of America. He is retiring as president after 20 years and took the opportunity to write an open call to the racing industry, exhorting all members to make the care and welfare of horses at the end of their career an obligation rather than a choice.

For those who may not be aware, the TCA is a fund-raising organization whose mission is "to raise money for distribution to more than 200 charitable organizations in Thoroughbred rescue, retirement, retraining, research, education, jockey & backstretch, and therapeutic riding programs."

As anyone who is even a casual fan of horse-racing knows, there are far more unwanted Thoroughbreds churned out by the industry. Many of these end up neglected or even slaughtered. Moelis' point is that by making financial support to charitable organizations an obligation to everyone involved in the industry, you would easily be able to provide the necessary care and support for these unwanted animals. It makes perfect sense. Why shouldn't the burden of responsibility fall on the part of all racing participants (from all sectors from breeders to trainers to jockeys and vets) to ensure that the horses will be provided for, even after their useful life is over?! Moelis states it most eloquently: "How about the racetracks and owners, where annual purses are about $1 billion? How about purchasers and sellers at the sale companies’ auctions, where about $652 million changes hands every year? How about the vets, trainers, and jockeys, all of whom make their living from racehorses? If we were to assess a small percentage on everyone who participates in the Thoroughbred industry, we could accomplish our mission without burdening any one sector.

My point is pretty obvious. The necessary funds are there to care properly for racehorses when their careers end. We, as an industry, must step up and support a program that is an obligation, not a charity—to support racehorse retraining and retirement."

Whether or not this will ever happen is a huge question mark. I am optimistic, but not holding my breath.

Only NYC Carriage I Approve Of

2010-03-25T14:45:00.000-04:00

I can't add to the brilliance of this -- an artist who made a Hummer into a horse-drawn carriage, which currently can be seen on the streets of NYC.

Video Killed the Radio Star!

2010-03-25T11:27:00.000-04:00

I am torn! I really, really want to enter this Purina blog-o-spondent contest to get to go to the World Equestrian Games and cover dressage and/or reining. BUT! I detest doing anything video-related. Why, oh why must this be a video submission? So, do I swallow my pride and get over it? Probably....but I'm going to have to work on my "happy-happy, get-up-and-go" enthusiasm. I admit it may not always be my strongest quality. Maybe after a glass of champagne!

Band of Horses -- Hearted for its Equine Relevancy (& the Music)

2010-03-16T09:13:00.000-04:00

And the Tragedy that Befell Rachel

2010-03-15T19:54:00.004-04:00

Without Further Ado, I Present the Greatness that is Zenyatta

2010-03-15T19:52:00.004-04:00

Rachel v Zenyatta - It's Off

2010-03-15T19:50:00.001-04:00

On Horse Racing - Rachel Alexandra-Zenyatta Showdown Is Off, and It’s a Wise Move - NYTimes.com This article really eloquently expresses my feelings on the whole Rachel vs. Zenyatta thing. As we are all aware by now, over the weekend Zenyatta kicked some ass with her first race back since the Breeder's Cup. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Rachel Alexandra who appeared to have some trouble, finishing second to a horse that probably shouldn't have even come close to her heels.

The problem is really that Rachel waged a grueling campaign last year and was rightfully allowed to rest for the past 6 months. Alas, all that time off seems to have agreed with her so much that even Steve Asmussen admitted (even prior to Saturday's race) that she was clearly not 100% back in shape yet. A race under her belt probably pushed her closer to that mark, but she's not in racing form and may need some time to get back to that point.

As Joe Drape points out, this is just going to fuel the fires of rivalry between the various Zenyatta / Rachel camps, but it's so ridiculous. This race does nothing to diminish Rachel Alexandra's greatness; it just shows that she's still just an animal that performs according to her strength level and, possibly, mood. Last year's racing card took a lot out of her and only time will tell when she will regain her powers, if she does. And it is possibly she might not. We always have to face that fact. Athletes seem to peak before anyone is ready to give them up. So, we all have to be patient. In the meantime, it is useless to speak of Rachel's inferiority to Zenyatta: she already proved her point on the track and in the legacy she will leave behind. Whether she and Zenyatta ever meet on the track? Well, I'd like to see it, but I won't be devastated either way.

Have You Heard the One About the "Campaign" to Encourage Dressage Riders to Wear Helmets?

2010-03-10T19:45:00.001-05:00

I write "campaign" primarily because it seems like a big show, a way to capitalize on the events du jour. If you haven't heard, Heather Blitz, a professional dressage rider, has issued a call to action. A call for all dressage riders to wear their helmets when riding. So, you think, this is great! What's your beef, BunnyRider? Well, since you asked....

Initially, I was charmed by her zeal. What better way to promote wearing a helmet than to have a premier, professional dressage rider wear hers while on the circuit in Florida? Ahhhh...but it's actually not that cut-and-dry. Let's put aside my inclinations to simply roll my eyes when hearing about her campaign. Oh look, Ma, a rider who rarely wore a helmet previously is now calling on everyone to wear one. You know, because of the tragedy. Then, I realized that was just being ridiculous. I can't expect people to change if I ridicule them for doing so. She deserves congratulations, right? Well, no actually. All it seems that Heather has managed to do is capitalize on Courtney's accident to raise her profile through this campaign-sham. You may think all is hunky-dory if you simply looked at her facebook fan page with this photo of her in a helmet displayed prominently. You might think that she is as good as her word. Especially when you glance over at her horse's fan page, with the photos posted of her warm-up ride at the Palm Beach Derby. Yep. Helmet, check. Oops...but if you click to view all of the photos from her warm-up ride, you'll find this little gem. If I am not mistaken (and I don't think I am) it is a photo of Heather swapping out her helmet for her top hat. You know, for the actual showing part of the day. I guess her little helmet-wearing campaign doesn't extend to showing. Just warm-ups and schooling. Talk about really going out on a limb for something you believe in.

I call this a major FAIL.

But Dressage Just Isn't That Dangerous

2010-03-06T17:36:00.000-05:00

I cannot even begin to count the number of times I've heard that one before. So while it is incredibly distressing to hear that Courtney King-Dye has suffered a major head trauma after falling from her horse, I cannot say that I am terribly surprised. I am flabbergasted at how the majority of dressage riders just dead-on refuse to wear a helmet. Or wear a helmet for schooling sometimes -- depending on the horse dontcha know -- and never wear one during a show. I find it troubling and distressing. I've often spoken on this subject: it's a bit of a pet topic of mine. I was one of those kids that watched high-profile dressage riders and thought to myself, I can't wait until I'm old enough to ride without a helmet. In retrospect, how stupid was I?! And to tell the truth, the only real reason I feel differently on the subject today is because I had one beloved dressage instructor who ALWAYS wore her helmet, whether she was schooling or whether she rode a Grand Prix test at a show. She believed in them very strongly, and as I idolized her, I also became a strong supporter of helmets as well. Seriously, you guys, for no other reason than I just looked up to her. That's all it comes down to sometimes, and all of these Olympic riders without helmets are just encouraging more of the same. Except in this case, the tradition the younger generations will carry on is fraught with danger.

When Courtney came to the Syracuse Invitational to do a demonstration/clinic, one of the questions posed to her was in reference to how she felt about helmets in her sport. She skirted around that issue and I was frankly very irritated with her. In that demonstration she did wear a helmet, but she never had an honest conversation about how she felt about it, about whether she wore one all the time (most of the time, I believe, was her answer) and whether she felt they should start making an appearance in the show arena at the uppermost levels. What I'm saying is that she had the perfect opportunity -- an adoring audience, full of teens and college students -- and it was clear she just didn't want to take on the controversy. And if she wouldn't, who will? We need some young, high-profile role models in our sport willing to make that stand.

So now we hear that she was trying out a young horse at her farm, not wearing a helmet, and the horse tripped and fell; she struck her head. Seriously, why do equestrians do these things to themselves?! It takes two seconds to put a helmet on. It might save your life. The only things, I believe, that would prevent someone from putting a helmet on (especially if you opt to wear one sometimes) is either sheer laziness or fear of looking bad. I cannot think of another option, unless you are really vain enough to care about how your hair may look afterwards, but because that option is so repulsive I choose to ignore its existence.

And I never, ever want to hear another person tell me:

A helmet may still not completely protect you -- No shit! Does this even warrant a response?! Where is the logic in disregarding a safety device just because it is not 100% effective. I'd like to ask them how they feel about their birth control plans. Maybe we should just do away with those, too, because they're only 99% effective.
A helmet may cause you more damage -- Yes, and it is possible someone may lose control of their vehicle today and crash into the side of your house, but the probability that this will occur is likely very slim.

Look, I'm in the reining world now and I wear my helmet. My instructor doesn't wear one, but she has never said a word against me choosing to do so. When I show, I will be wearing my helmet. I may be the only one out there, but it only takes one person to start to make a difference. The western world is going to need to start making that change, too, and that's going to be an even tougher sell. I haven't been immersed in this world long enough to know how that will work itself out, but the dressage world already has the reasons to change and the tools to do it (there are some pretty nice looking English safety helmets anymore, I might note). Until there are high-profile people willing to step up and show in the helmets, it will continue to be the status quo. And I will continue to have little sympathy for people like Courtney King-Dye. Don't get me wrong, what has occured is tragic and I feel for her family, but she made a very bad choice for the wrong reasons. Someone needs to point that out.

Rachel - Zenyatta Match-up

2010-02-06T17:17:00.001-05:00

It was the only fair thing to do to announce Rachel Alexandra as the horse of the year; both mares were awesome, but only one consistently broke the rules. But as soon as the announcement was made I was sure that it would be no time before the inevitable cries for a match-up between the superstars became deafening. Sure enough, we've got our first offer for a $5 million purse should the two mares meet up at the April 3rd Apple Blossom, a race for fillies and mares 4 years and up. Personally I can't see it happening, but who knows....

What I do know is that I dread the thought of a meeting between these two racing stars. It's all just superstition, but I just can't believe that any good can come of it. I think it's fair to ask our racing giants to face each other -- it's our best way of judging greatness, I suppose. But ever since the Ruffian - Foolish Pleasure match race I just cringe at the thought of two fiercesome opponents willing to destroy themselves for a win. And I do think these ladies are driven enough to destroy themselves in their desire to be out front. That prospect scares me. Maybe I'm just a wuss, but I'd rather consider them on their own merits and if they meet, they meet. No extravagant build-up. Just let the dice fall where they may. And if they managed to never meet on the track, does it really even matter to their individual records? Those should speak for themselves.

But then I also consider the great rivalries of yore and I feel bitterly confused again. Who knows? Maybe I'm just a bit of baby when it comes to these things. Maybe a Zenyatta - Rachel match-up would be the best thing to hit horse racing in a long time.

When It's Not the Right Time

2010-02-06T16:57:00.000-05:00

So over the past month and a half I was offered the chance to buy a fantastic reining stallion (see above), partly fell in love with him and somehow still made the decision to turn him down. Subsequently, I've spent the past week alternating between being confident that this wasn't the right time to make a blind leap of faith and crying myself to sleep, fearing that such an opportunity wouldn't come around again. At least not for a long while.

I think...I mean I know I made the right decision for my present circumstances, but I also feel like I'm in mourning for a horse I never needed, nor was actively seeking. How do you keep yourself from regretting the right decision?

Anky Reining, Part Deux

2009-11-19T17:34:00.001-05:00

Another Anky reining video. Embedding has been disabled unfortunately (booooo!), but you can watch it here. It's her first reining competition and it's funny for me to watch, since I've recently taken up the sport myself. I feel like I know exactly where all her mistakes are coming from: the desire to make corrections with both legs when you just need to take your legs off and use the reins. The getting ahead of yourself (i.e. already thinking about the next movement when you should be focusing solely on the task at hand). And the hard time you have sitting back sometimes; seriously, it's hard to get that behind the motion. Well, you're not really, but it is a totally different feeling to that of other disciplines.

But good job on Anky all around! I hope to look half as good at this at my first reining competition. Hell, who am I kidding?! With my ego, I plan to look as good as her. :)

Also, what is with people's compulsions to shield top riders from criticism? (I am assuming that that was the intent in disabling the embedding.) I mean, dudes...she's a grown woman who has existed in the public eye for long enough that I think she can handle any critiques people choose to throw her way.

Pony Round-Up

2009-11-19T16:52:00.003-05:00

Odds and ends that I've been holding onto for the past week:

Interesting article from the New York Times about how racehorse trainers seem to get barred and/or fined for drugs, yet still find an easy return to the track. Asmussen, Rachel Alexandra's trainer, is cited as a prime example and I have to admit I've always felt a bit uneasy about praising RA's connections knowing that drug charge was hanging over him.
An LA Times article that I briefly mentioned in my Zenyatta / Breeder's Cup post a couple of weeks ago. The debate about whether synthetic has done anything beneficial at all is still raging on -- you all know where I fall on the issue, but it does appear (at least anecdotally) that synthetic didn't really live up to the hype and in some ways quite severely (I'm speaking here of the possibility, cited in the article, that hind-leg injuries appear to be more prevalent to horses running on synthetic versus dirt).
Summer Bird will run in the December 6th Japan Dirt Cup. Good on him and his connections! I am glad to see he hasn't made an early exit to the stud farm.
Today the FEI approved a new doping test program. Glad to hear it, but will be happier when I see more details on the program. But.It does appear that riders will be required to keep a logbook of their horses' treatments. Suck it, Isabell Werth!
Speaking of drug testing, there's this phenomenal Onion article skewering the NY Marathon pseudo-controversy as well as performance enhancers. Totally absurd, but you can't help but get a kick out of it.

The Wisdom of C.W. Anderson - Part 1

2009-11-18T18:55:00.000-05:00

I picked up a ratty old copy of "Complete Book of Horses and Horsemanship" by C.W. Anderson that was languishing in my pile of as-yet-unread children's books, and was delighted to find it was a delightful little read, charming in its selective choices of topics and peppered liberally with wise-sounding axioms, ancedotes and second-hand stories, such as:

"The horse is a dignified animal. Tell him he is a fine fellow in good English - not baby talk."

"The true horseman sees much and says little. We can emulate him to some degree if knowing little, we say little."

"There have been many fine horses. Swaps, the Derby winner from California, and his archrival Nashua, considered by the veteran trainer "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons the most powerful stayer he ever trained. Bald Eagle was a splendid Cup horse and Kelso was one of the best. Then there were the great ones of other days. Those who saw Hindoo, Syonsby, Hanover, and Domino are gone. And the tracks are so different that comparisons can have no meaning. There is no way of accurately evaluating horses of different eras; possibly not even of different years. Only if they could appear on the same track, all in top condition, might we get the answer. And possibly not even then."

You can't help but be delighted by the simple finality with which he makes his proclamations. When I write my book, I should want it to be exactly the same.

Okay, So How Do We Fix Dressage?

2009-11-11T17:01:00.000-05:00

Educate yourself. Read books, read articles in print magazines and on the Internet. Watch videos and study photos. Ask questions from people you trust when you may not understand something. It is so important to first have an understanding of what constitutes correct dressage training and I'm not talking FEI rules here. I'm talking the centuries of available dressage (or riding) theory that existed far before we set up competitive rulebooks.
Make small changes in every aspect of your riding: This can be as simple as buying a drop noseband instead of a crank noseband. Loosen the reins on a regular basis and check to see whether your horse is in proper self-carriage. Don't overbend the neck in your corners. If you're an upper-level rider, train in the snaffle more often. Your goal is to be at or slightly above the vertical. Don't be afraid to let that poll come up; encourage it to.
Don't be afraid to speak up. If your friend / trainer / barnmate is doing something that you feel strongly against, discuss it with them. Question them. You won't be able to change everyone's mind, but you can voice your opinion. Keeping quiet just adds to the problem. If you are unhappy with your trainer, you can say so and you can find a new coach. You have the power and if you have the education to back yourself up, you have nothing to feel guilty about.
Write letters to the FEI, to the USDF, to any high-level trainers and riders you may know. Express your feelings on hyperflexion. Don't rant, don't make pseudo-scientific declarations. Explain simply why you don't feel that it ascribes to the classical traditions of training and its use should not be rewarded.
Challenge riders and trainers at clinics and lectures when you see them riding BTV or in more extreme cases of hyperflexion. Don't take clinics from people who do not ascribe to the same philosophy of training as you. Don't waver on your dedication to your beliefs, no matter what anyone may say against you.

These are just some of the things that you and I can do on a small-scale that can effect change. There are probably others -- feel free to leave comments! Remember, this is not just about banning rollkur. Sure, if you want to sign the petition going around, then feel free if it makes you sleep better at night. But banning rollkur at the warm-up in FEI events isn't going to change dressage. You can still train rollkur up until the final days of showing and then ride differently. I'm not saying it's not a good idea, but it won't get rid of rollkur.

What needs to happen is for all of us to write letters to the FEI, to magazines, to high-level judges and trainers which outline the need for a better judging and scoring system. We need to be able to (and empower judges to) eliminate horses who have blow-ups in the show ring (like the rears and running backwards at the last Olympics); score very severely horses whose noses are behind the vertical (whether by a little or a lot); reward harmony and correctness over flash and showiness. I admit that I don't have all the answers as to how we put this into place, but someone else can and will do. But only if we demand it.

Oh, by the way, remember this? This is how a competitive frame should look:

Clarifications on the Blue Tongue Controversy

2009-11-11T16:00:00.000-05:00

Following up on the heels of yesterday's post, I thought of a couple of clarifications I wanted to make before delving into solutions for the FEI. Firstly, the blue tongue in and of itself is not good, but a lot of people who have been riders all their lives have had horses slip their tongues between bits, over bits, stuck their tongues out to flap in the breeze, etc... These things happen. Blaming it on rollkur is going a bit overboard. At the Syracuse Invitational there was a horse with his tongue flapping in the wind who performed great. At the paddocks prior to every horserace are thoroughbreds with tongues hanging out, swollen and bluish whether from having tight chain shanks pulling on their mouths or horses biting their tongues out of pre-race nerves. This is not uncommon and though I don't ever like seeing it, I can't deny that it happens and that it's not one thing that causes these issues. I don't know that hyperflexion caused the blue tongue, so I'm not going to speculate on that and, frankly, I don't see that as the ultimate issue at stake. That being said, had it happened to me I would have probably stopped my horse and checked to make sure there was no larger problem at hand. At the very least I would have stopped and had a walk break. That Patrik did neither of those things troubles me.

The simple fact that he rode his horse for 90 minutes to 2 hours does not bother me greatly. If that was indeed the case, then the horse did not appear unduly stressed, breathing heavily or sweaty. Clearly he was in the kind of condition that would allow him to work for that long. The thing that does bother me is the assertion that the horse was ridden in rollkur for the entire length of that time, with only one walk break (as epona.tv explained in their FAQ). That definitely changes things for me. I don't think any horse should be ridden in any working frame for that length of time without several breaks.

Syracuse Invitational, Day 2

2009-11-11T14:37:00.000-05:00

Last night's posting reminded me that I hadn't yet discussed the "clinic" on October 28th at the Syracuse Invitational. The topic was "Riding the Top-level Performance Horse in Every Discipline" and was demonstrated by Anne Kursinski, Ian Millar and Courtney King-Dye. And I could go through the entire event, moment by moment, but that's precisely the reason why I've been holding off on writing this post -- that seems kinda boring to do. So, let me just give you my impressions of it and why my post on the blue tongue controversy reminded me of that night.

See, the basic conceit of the evening was to demonstrate how riders in Hunter, Jumpers and Dressage all use the same foundation to training their horses. The idea was for the audience to watch the warm-up portion of the session to observe the similarities in training and riding. Straightness, throughness, lateral softness, good transitions, true bends and so forth and so on. And I don't knock it. It's all true. However, I just want to point out that Ian Millar was simply outstanding and completely outshadowed his fellow ringmates. His reins were droopy, his horse forward and super responsive, and he sat there extremely quietly as if doing nothing. And yet, the whenever John Madden (the announcer) would direct our attention to the beauty and art of riding, he immediately directed our attention to Courtney King-Dye.

Dressage, in theory, is supposed to equal harmony. But when reflected into reality, this is not the case. When will we feel confident enough to acknowledge that? Ian Millar epitomized all of the tenets of what good high-level dressage should be, and here I was being instructed to worship Courtney. She was fine, end of story. The horse looked a tad tense and she looked like she was very active in a workmanlike way. Not my idea of beauty in motion, but not terrible. Just not my dressage ideal. Particularly (and this brings me to the point of the blue tongue controversy) when you realize that her horse was ever so slightly behind the vertical during the entire ride that night. That's really what gets my goat. We have gotten to a point in dressage where our we don't even seem to remember what a proper frame looks like anymore. And the problem is exacerbated by riders showing and giving public demonstrations with their horses behind the vertical slightly.

Sometimes a rider does long and low, stretchy frames. Sometimes you might ask for a slightly deeper frame than you would compete in. Everyone does this; it's called training. The problem I have is when a training frame replaces the competition frame. When you are a top rider it is your responsibility to educate your audience and ensure they are viewing a correct representation of your sport. Mistakes happen, no doubt. But 45 minutes of a horse never coming in front of the vertical should NEVER happen. On the vertical at the very least, but BTV for 35 min of the entire ride is amateurish. If you can ride at Grand Prix, surely your horse is strong enough to carry himself properly. If not, you have no business doing demonstrations or showing. You need to stay at home and put some more work into the horse.

Ian Millar's horse, by comparison, was lovely to watch because his frame was up, nose poked out more often than not. Sure, he wasn't as collected as Courtney's horse, but his movement was free and joyous to watch. Dressage is present in a variety of riding styles; it is the harmonious elevation of a natural way of going. And if you ask me Ian Millar's jumper embodied that expression in a way that Courtney King-Dye's horse did not.

This though, is the deeper problem within dressage itself and is what leads to people riding deeper and deeper and eventually trying rollkur. It is the absolute fear (for lack of a better word) that the horse should ever approach the vertical, let alone come above the vertical. We are so busy softening and suppling that we seem to forget to ride up and out. And if the general public only sees riding like this, then not many people can distinguish between what's right and wrong.

On Blue Tongues and Other Controversies

2009-11-10T19:43:00.002-05:00

Ah, yes. It is positively viral; the roar heard around the world directed at Patrik Kittel, with the full ire and venom of an audience who feigned absolute innocence of such a phenomenon heretofore. Okay, most of you probably already know I'm speaking of the infamous "blue tongue" event at the World Cup Qualifier in Denmark.

Firstly, I just want to say that the absolute hatred being directed towards Patrik Kittel is shameful. He is being scapegoated by just about everyone in the equestrian industry and it's a very unfortunate position to have to be in. I don't condone what he did and I think his riding was reprehensible. BUT. As I have discussed before, Patrik is certainly not the only rider training in this manner. He is one of many, in fact. He is doing nothing that hasn't been seen before. Only now spectators have suddenly awoken from their dressage reverie and just about declared, "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" I admit I find that a bit unfair. Frankly, he is just another symptom of a broken system. This is a system that seems to find no fault to the rollkur system of training even though it basically goes against every basic tenet of classical dressage training. A system that turns a blind eye to such an incident in the warm-up of a major international event, even though a complaint was allegedly lodged against what was occuring. A system that rewards such training methods simply by giving high scores in the show ring. (Is not dressage the art of training? So, awarding any score to a horse trained in the hyperflexion manner is rewarding that style of training.)

The problem is not Patrik Kittel. He deserves to be punished, of course, but we all share responsibility for the "blue tongue" incident. We share it when every time we revel in Anky's wins. We share it every time we don't speak up about any trainer or rider whose horses are always behind the vertical (and that goes doubly for all those collective cries of "When you ride at his/her level, then you can critique him/her. Otherwise keep your mouth shut!" every time the average layperson dares to critique a professional rider) We share it every time we assume that dressage implicity equals beauty and oneness and lightness. Dressage is the same as every other discipline; there is the good and the bad and we must not think we cannot criticize a person simply because dressage is an exalted art.

And might I point out that with the exception of a couple of riders walking out on a long rein, there is NOT ONE rider riding in the "blue tongue" video whose horse is at or in front of the vertical. How did we get to this place in this sport? Rollkur is just the natural extension of our collective amnesia as to how dressage is supposed to be ridden. Hypeflexion is despicable, but there is a larger problem in our sport and it has been left unchecked for far too long. Why did it take a blue tongue for us to realize that?! Patrik is not the problem. Dressage is the problem. Even rollkur (in and of itself) is not the problem. A governing body that does not take action against all riders riding even behind the vertical is the problem. A scoring system that can overlook terrible training techniques is the problem. It's lovely that suddenly everyone stood up and took notice of our ailing sport, but scapegoating one man is not how we will solve this. And frankly, banning rollkur is going to be nigh to impossible as well as just a symptomatic fix. I'll post tomorrow about what I think we could do specifically to change dressage, but then again, I covered it before here and here. It's not rocket science. It's requires a complete overhaul of our sport and specifically our scoring system.

If you would like to watch the video, it is here. And the filmakers FAQ is located here. (Also, you best believe that as a spectator -- unlike the filmakers -- I would have so been in an uproar about what I saw to anyone who would listen. I find their explanation -- the incident had already been reported and journalists aren't supposed to interfere -- is an insufficient response. Believe you me, I would have caused a major scene, lodging more complaints, filming, as well as verbally shaming him every time he passed.)

More Zenyatta

2009-11-10T17:09:00.000-05:00

Finally! Steve Haskin has published a really lovely Breeder's Cup Classic recap. One of the only truly recaps that just exudes pure joy without falling back to comparisons between her and Rachel Alexandra. In this case, I would rather just dwell on the positive and inspiring, not the inevitable infighting. Definitely worth a read for a story that captures the mood for those who couldn't be physically present.

Yes, I Am Also a Nerd

2009-11-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

Who else is ridiculously psyched about the fact that the horse genome has been mapped out in full and will be published in full in Science? This could have an amazing impact in the way we understand and treat equine diseases. It's terribly exciting and I'm hoping I can get my hands on a copy of the Journal.

I Love Cats

2009-11-10T16:04:00.001-05:00

It's About the Campaign, Not the Horse

2009-11-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

It's official! Zenyatta won the Breeder's Cup Classic, making history as the first female horse to win that race. I admit I was a bit surprised - not necessarily because she won, but because she had never been tested against boys before and you just never completely know how a mare might perform in that instance. But she won. And impressively. Her owners and trainers should be commended for finally putting her up against a higher class of horses. Not that she didn't race good fillies and mares. I just don't see the point of segregrating the sexes, especially when you've got such a spectacular horse as Zenyatta. It was beyond time to challenge her at a higher level.

As to who should win Horse of the Year honors...well, I still believe that title needs to go to Rachel Alexandra. She won the Kentucky Oaks by the largest margin ever recorded for the race. She won a triple crown race from a post position that no horse, regardless of sex, had ever won from before. She won twice against Summer Bird, the only other horse that could pretend to have a shot at the title. She is only 3 and managed to be the first filly to win the Woodward and against older male horses. Okay, she didn't show up for the Breeder's Cup, but I fully respect and agree with that decision. It has been proven on enough occasions that dirt horses with no prior races on synthetic or turf are at a disadvantage on synthetic surfaces. And though I haven't read it in full yet, I recently skimmed the results of a study just published that synthetic has not been proven to be very useful in the battle against racing fatalities. Unfortunate, but not unexpected. You don't solve problems by treating the symptoms.

And so the point remains....Rachel Alexandra has performed magnificently over the course of the year at a far younger age than her rival. Look, it's ridiculously unfair to have to compare these two super-horses. You cannot fault them on anything. They are both brilliant girls and the fact that they are racing in the same year should make us take pause and be grateful at having the chance to be connected with both of them. We always moan about the lack of talent and public appeal, but now we have it and instead of lauding them, we are picking sides and pointing out the rivals' faults. It's silly. I do believe Rachel Alexandra deserves to win HOY, but not because Zenyatta didn't win well-enough. If I have to admit it, I believe it's because Jess Jackson chose to push Rachel Alexandra beyond her limits before he really needed to. He was never content to let her rest on her laurels; he risked her losing very early on. Zenyatta is 5 and has only been racing in California against fillies up until now. And I have to ask why. That's what ended up hurting her in my opinion. Her campaign was waged far more cautiously than it needed to be. Not by her fault, obviously, but her relations should have been quicker to push the mare. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain from it. And she proved that yesterday by winning the BC Classic. Imagine if she had been doing this all along throughout this year... Then, there would be room for debate as to who is horse of the year.

Judging the Hunt-Seat Horse -- A Lesson We Could All Stand to Learn

2009-11-02T20:05:00.001-05:00

So, as I mentioned last week (and if you’ve been following my Twitter), I attended the Wednesday seminar entitled, “Judging the Hunt-Seat Horse” being offered at the Syracuse Invitational. I have to admit I walked into the class expecting to be bored out of my mind. I mainly registered for it just because it seemed like the most interesting of all the seminars being offered all week and I wanted to feel involved with the show in a greater capacity than simply as a spectator. What I discovered about halfway through, though, was that it was actually a very fun, interesting course run by a couple of thoughtful, opinionated hunt-seat judges – Greg Franklin and Diane Carney. They both train out of stables in Illinois and I hope to have occasion to perhaps interview them for the blog at some point.

The audience wasn’t just a bunch of hunter snobs, but rather a unique mix of 4-H’ers studying for their judging certificates (and their moms), Cazenovia College students of all disciplines, a young girl whose family raises Arabians, a young man who had a Western riding background and an adorable little girl who came with her mom to learn how to better train her pony. Can I mention again how adorable she was?

And so began the lecture. After introductions were out of the way, we got down to business and for the most part Diane led the bulk of the discussions. It seemed pretty apparent from the start that her intention in teaching this class was to give the average horseperson (okay, yes, the average hunt-seat rider) better insight into the rationalizations for scores and placings and to gently remind everyone that being a judge is a very difficult and demanding position. It was obvious that above all they really wanted to dispel some lingering misconceptions about the hunt-seat scoring system, namely that a judge played favorites and/or that scoring was not founded on a sound, rational system. If anything, I think Diane spent a little too much time trying to defend the system from a non-existent firing squad. It immediately made me suspect that she was going to tell us judging was not subjective. She did not (of course), but even so she spent such a long time trying to build the case that hunt-seat judging was so very structured and rigorous that it kind of was lost in the fray a little later when she stated matter-of-factly that, yes, judging is, in fact, subjective. If they had gotten that aspect out of the way firstly and then discussed how judges had to act reasonably and responsibly in spite of the inherent subjectivity to their sport, I think it might have made a bit more sense. More on that later, but I do want to just note that despite my critiques they were extremely candid about their jobs and responsibilities and tried to provide a thoughtful discussion about the inherent personal choices involved in judging.

For instance, Diane made the point that her judging standards (and presumably all judging standards) stem from her personal values as a horsewoman. She is a stickler for the rules, first and foremost and that informs nearly every scoring decision she will make. If the rulebook says only one courtesy circle, then she expects only one. She expects the correct lead upon entering the ring and beginning the course. And so forth and so on. She readily acknowledged that another judge may be more or less lenient than she on certain aspects of the rulebook.

She then took us through the minor and major faults listed in the rulebook and what she thought should be the judging rationale on each aspect. Again, while I appreciated what she had to say on the matter, I still feel like it was a bit of equivocation on the issue. Sure, they could tell me all day long what their opinions were on each fault, but it didn’t make it ‘correct.’ There was no 100% correct or incorrect. Well, not entirely. A rail down is pretty clear, but I think you get what I mean. As Diane and Greg finally came around to saying late in the afternoon – this is totally subjective. One judge’s ideal is not the same as another’s. What is important is that each judge be fair and consistent in their own set of values. And moreover, in some ways, the scores are not the important part of the judging. At the end of the day, you want to ensure that the horse who deserves first is placed first, that the horse who deserves second places second, etc… That resonated with me deeply and made an enormous amount of sense. Yeah, as long as I (as a theoretical judge) have a value system, judge all the horses consistently against that system, ensure that the horses place in the correct order according to that value system, and, most importantly, I can give my explanation for every decision that I make, then I have succeeded in being the best judge that I can be. I liked the candor with which they described this process. More importantly, I like that they each made the declaration that a good judge has an opinion. It may not be a popular opinion, but it is a clear, decided opinion. What say you readers? I think I could excel at this judging stuff. :) Okay, all joking aside, it is 100% true and I was glad that they spelled it out so clearly to the audience of mainly younger exhibitors. You may not always agree with the judge’s decision, but it is an educated decision and it must be respected.

As I mentioned earlier, I almost wish that the structure of their course had been changed around a bit. I really think that I would have been hooked FAR SOONER if Diane and Greg had simply stated from the beginning: “Look, hunt-seat judging (like a lot of other equestrian disciplines) is almost entirely subjective. We want to explain how we, as judges, work within the confines of such subjectivity. Just because we base our scores and placings on our opinions and on our personal values as horsemen, that does not mean that there is not a clear rationale behind every single one of our choices. And that is what we want to talk about today – the rigorous structure that backs up each and every one of our decisions.”

Ultimately though, I suppose it didn’t really matter because by the very end, I completely understood all of the above and more. I had a far less biased opinion against the hunt-seat system. Hell, I think I even came away thinking that hunt-seat judging is fairer than dressage scorings. I questioned Greg about how he approaches the start of every new class. You have an ideal in your head, but in the end, few people will approach that ideal. What happens if you judge, for instance, the first rider a little harshly and then realize later in the class that, in fact, the horse and rider combination actually better approached the ideal than the rest of the competition? He was perfectly candid about this and noted that it does happen and that you are perfectly able to change the placings around after the fact (though before any ribbons or announcements or whatnot), especially if you decide that a particular horse deserves to place higher than another. In some ways, I wish that we could do that for dressage. I know we all like to pretend that competing in dressage is a competition against yourself. But that’s a real crock of shit. We pretend that because the scores are calculated mathematically at the end of the test that each ride is judged in a perfect vacuum of objectivity and pure, absolute visceral reaction. The problem is that that simply is not true. The dressage judge must use the same basis as what Greg and Diane outlined to me. It is just as subjective – each judge has a different set of standards, a different ideal of perfection. So, not only are our judges grappling with the same issues, they also lack any control over the final placings. What if that one horse and rider combination really didn’t perform spectacularly, but did display the overall sense of togetherness, lightness and submission that should be representative of the sport? Just like in hunt seat there should be an overall rhythm and pleasantness to the ride that demands to be compared against the other competitors. Why not? Would that really and truly ruin the sport? Or would it perchance just encourage riders to work more on how the individual movements in a test work together as a whole and flow more smoothly and elegantly together instead of just executing a series of movements as if in a vacuum? Surely we all learned a lesson from last year's silver medal-winning Olympic ride in which the horse managed to rear up and run backwards? I am certain that such a ride would have been excused from the ring in hunt-seat. And rightly so. So, maybe we can all stand to learn something from our fellow disciplines and be open enough to do so.

Syracuse Invitational, Day Two -- Photos

2009-10-31T10:32:00.003-04:00

Again, courtesy of The Syracuse Post-Standard.

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Syracuse Invitational, Day One -- Photos

2009-10-31T10:30:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of the local newspaper, The Post-Standard, as my camera decided it would do exactly opposite of what I asked it to do....

Syracuse Invitational - Day One

2009-10-28T11:44:00.000-04:00

Also, I'll be at two of the ticketed events at the Syracuse Invitational today. I'll be taking notes and photos for you. The first thing I'm attending is this afternoon at 2:30 -- "Judging the Hunter Seat Horse". And then, later today (at 7pm) is the big event -- "How It’s Done - Dressage and Jumping by George Morris, Ian Millar & Courtney King-Dye, presented by Practical Horseman." Although apparently George Morris has subsequently canceled due to illness. But in his place we'll have Anne Kursinski. I used to love watching her and Starman in the 80s. Anyone remember Starman? He was one of those few jumpers I becomed obsessed with as a kid. Him, Big Ben, Milton and Abdullah. Maybe there were a couple more, but not a lot. I wasn't as enamored with the showjumpers, but every so often one would come along to whom I would just become so attached.

And I'm dragging my poor parents along to the Budweiser World Cup Qualifier on Saturday. This, I am SOOOOO excited for. I grew up watching the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden and by the time I was ready to attend in in NYC, it moved! So, I will finally realize another childhood dream.

2009 US Arabian Nationals

2009-10-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

FYI, for all those Arabian fans out there. Nationals are currently going on (through October 31st) in Tulsa, OK. All the details are here. And if you can't make the trip to OK (likely the majority of us) they are offering live web streaming of the show here. I rather love the energy and excitement of a big Arabian show and they don't really come bigger than this. It's worth seeing once, even if Show Hack and Park aren't your thing. There are some impressive animals out there.

Plus ça change...

2009-10-27T19:39:00.000-04:00

An excerpt from William Youatt's "The Horse" on the demise of the racehorse industry:

"Childers and Eclipse did not appear until they were 5 years old; but many of our best horse, and those, perhaps, who would have shown equal excellence with the most celebrated races, are foundered and destroyed before that period.

Whether the introduction of short races, and to young horses, be advantageous, and whether slowness and usefulness may not thus be somewhat too sacrificed to speed: whether there may be danfer that an animal designed for service may, in process of time, be frittered away almost to a shadow of what he was, in order that at 2 years old, over the 1-mile-course, he may astonish the crowd by his fleetness..."

Still rings true today, doesn't it. Amazing that we have been grappling with the same issues for over 100 years now. I've been quick to defend early 20th century racing and breeding as superior to our own, but maybe it's all been on a slow decline since the late 1800s. Kind of astonishing to think about.

Have You Ever Considered How People Clipped Horses Before Electricity?

2009-10-20T18:47:00.002-04:00

Has it ever occurred to you to wonder about whether people used to clip their horses? And if so, how did they do it? I had always seen those mechanical hand clippers that looked a misery to have to use. You still see them for sale in vet supply catalogs and I was always curious as to who still bought the damn things. Also, how did the blades stay sharp enough to keep cutting for what I assume must take hours and days to clip a full coat? These are the things that keep me up at night.

And yet, until today I had never seen this -- a foot-operated clipper.

How new-fangled and complicated-y! It's like some joker tried to come up with the scariest, most dangerous looking piece of equipment to perform a clip job. Well, in my mind he succeeded greatly. This particular device was featured in the 1899 edition of The Private Stable by Jorrocks (a pseudonym -- which I find especially funny; would it have been just that terrifically shocking to publish this work under his real name?).

And accompanying the picture is this description: "The process of clipping was formerly done with a pair of shears and a comb, but the hand and foot power machines have, except in remote districts, superseded this primitive method. [...] Although there are men who make a speciality of clipping horses, any competent stable servant should be able to perform this task in a satisfactory manner. [...] It is said that the record time for clipping a horse with the hand machine is one hour and twelve minutes." Seriously?! Dude, that really puts me to shame. I think the fastest clip job I have done took me two days. Granted my horse was not the most cooperative, but still....I AM SLOW.

Endust and a Dream of Shiny Ponies

2009-10-19T16:08:00.001-04:00

I was cleaning my room over the weekend, aghast at the frighteningly large dust bunnies I unearthed under and behind the furniture, when suddenly in what could possibly be termed an Endust-induced halluncination I was suddenly transported back to when I was a very small child. Every weekend I had the exact same ritual: I took down every single of my Breyer model horses from their shelves, inspected them thoroughly (some were in need of constant medical attention, as my Breyers were not show ponies, but hard workers that invariably suffered broken bones -- I still feel the guilt, mom) and polished them until they gleamed. I trotted out the Endust and a clean rag and set to work, making those coats shine. Actually, my parents made me use Endust, which I secretly hated because to my mind it only added a satiny finish, not that slick, corn-oil glossyness that I coveted. So, when my parents weren't looking I'd sneak into the cleaning cabinet and pull out the Pledge. They probably could have cared less frankly, but I somehow thought I was doing something incredibly naughty, which probably only fueled my pleasure. The Pledge was where it was at. My horses were nearly greasy with product, but they shone. They looked like the halter Arabians I was so trying to mimic.

I had a load of favorites, but I remember Ginger (pictured above) from the Black Beauty Collection as being my first. Even as a kid I always loved the crazy chestnuts. But I think what really drew me in was the balanced, collected canter. What can I say? I was always obsessed. It was beauty incarnate to me, regardless of her vaguely ugly head and thin mane and tail. And she was a TOTAL WORKHORSE. She never broke down (I'm looking at you, Black Beauty) under the stresses of competition. Hey, she was the total package.

Drool-worthy: Keeneland Library

2009-10-15T18:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a nice little article on the Keeneland Library, devoted solely to the Thoroughbred horse and its history. It had me literally drooling. Sign me up to live in those archives. In fact, I am considering writing a book on a thoroughbred horse just so that I can do research in those vast stacks.

Embarrassing Post #5 Billion

2009-10-14T18:38:00.002-04:00

I fully admit that I will be purchasing at least one bottle of the special "Rachel Alexandra" wines that Kendall Jackson is putting out. Possibly two. A large part of me knows how incredibly silly this is, but I also love Rachel A. and I love to drink wine. So, my fear of looking silly is far outweighed by my desire for good wine. And yet, on a more serious note, I know how emotionally overwhelmed I get when I encounter some old collectible that was attached to a famous racehorse in history. So, okay, on one hand it's just a way for her connections to cash in on a marketable brand. But on the other, I know from experience that it's a legitimate way to connect yourself to a legend in her own time. I want to be that person who trots this bottle out 40 years from now and proudly shows it off to someone for whom Rachel Alexandra is just a stuffy name in a horse book.

On How I Simply Overlooked Sea the Stars

2009-10-14T09:49:00.001-04:00

I had trouble sleeping a few nights ago and my mind became obsessed with the idea that until October 4th I hadn't been very familiar with Sea the Stars and certainly hadn't yet started to follow his career.  As any good horseracing fan knows, he won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on October 4th and was proclaimed the next great thing, a horse for the ages. And the first thing that struck me was that we seem to have a very strong group of horses racing this year, so many so that I can't seem to follow them all. Look, I fully admit that I am just a casual, but passionate, fan. I only have so much time left in my day after I finish working, blogging, riding, reading, etc...to devote a modicum of my attention to racing news. It occurs to me, however, that the majority of people who are already casual horseracing fans, or who could be favorably inclined to do so, simply don't have the capacity to follow the hundreds of races running every week. We can't filter out the great horses from the merely good. It takes time and effort. I'm not saying this is bad -- it's just reality.

The problem really is that there is a glut of racing going on constantly everywhere. Most other sports are not being run every day, all day, even competing with one another for audience attention. Sure, sometimes baseball or football games overlap, but not maybe 2 or 3 are running concurrently. Not 5 or 10 or 20.  If you work in the industry, then sure you might be able to devote the time and energy to follow all these races, but if, like me, you have limited capacity, you're going to get terribly frustrated. And in the case of Sea the Stars you'll become a fan just as his career peaks, and in a dramatic anticlimax he will be retired shortly after, for all the wrong reasons.

I hate to say it, but this is why racing doesn't bring in the fans like it used to. Too many races. Racemeets that are far too long. Too many mediocre animals out there racing. A casual observer doesn't stand a chance. Okay, yeah, I understand that part of the appeal to the sport is that it takes a certain kind of person to be a true fan; one who is willing to do more than pick a side and hope to win.  Horseracing attracts the kind of person who likes the work and formulating a method. That's all well and fine, but there is a limited number of people out there who fall into this category. I need focus. And I believe that it is partly up to the industry to focus me. I simply cannot and will not be able to follow 50 races over the course of a weekend and keep up with the stats. The thought is simply overwhelming. 5 races? Sure, I can do that. Cull the races, I say. So some tracks go out of business and mediocre horses are retired. That's very unfortunate, but in the overall grand scheme of things, it would be a boon to the industry as a whole.

And then, maybe more money would be focused in fewer races that remain to encourage and support those owners to continue racing their animals. Because all of these changes are for naught if the next great superstar is simply retired for stud duty.

Antimony - Poison or Coat Conditioner?

2009-10-09T11:21:00.000-04:00

I was watching "A Most Mysterious Murder" the other night, a delightful little british series that re-enacts real crimes in history -- not famous ones, just ones that held a bit of infamy in their day for having never been solved -- and attempts to deduce who perpetrated the crime and why. Well, the very first episode (The Death of Charles Bravo -- Google it and you'll come up with loads of informative articles and sites about the circumstances of the murder) hinges on a bottle of antimony being used by a groom on the horses in the yard. The stable-boy is rubbing his horse down with a rag soaked in the stuff to, as he describes, make their coat healthy and shiny. I immediately was interested -- I love looking up old remedies for horse care -- and you can well imagine my surprise when not a few minutes later the narrator explained how antimony is, in fact, a deadly poison. You should watch the movie if you want to know the rest of the story (and if you love murder-mysteries and documentaries, this should be right up your alley), however I was incredibly intrigued by this substance that was ostensibly as poisonous as arsenic (if not more so), but in wide-spread use on horses. Inquiring minds need to know.

So, I spent the week studying old veterinary remedy texts dating from the mid-1700s to the very early 1900s (I love you, Google books) and have discovered that the poison was indeed used to improve a horse's coat and condition, amongst a myriad of other uses. As excerpted from The Pharmaceutical Journal, Fourth Series, Volume 12, January - June 1901: "Their action has never been understood, that is to say their modus operandi, their effects, are visible enough and despite the uncertainty of their action in human practice and the abandonment of these forma of antimony by the medical profession, they are found to assist markedly in producing a good coat, a soft thriving skin, in horses when mixed with sulphur and other simple ingredients. That the peculiar silkiness of the hair is due to antimony is demonstrable and only one other agent is there which can produce a like effect - arsenic." Now there is no mention anywhere of the stuff being rubbed directly onto the skin of any animal. In fact, it was also known to be quite caustic and also used in cases of canker and thrush in an external application to the frog of the hoof. For coat conditioning, it was always to be ingested, either ground to a fine powder or made into a liquid solution, but I imagine that the dramatic elements of the movie needed a more insidious looking application of the stuff. But they preserved the overall reasoning behind using the poison, for an improved coat. I read several texts that indicated that the hair of such animals would veritably sparkle.

And while very extremely poisonous to humans, antimony was given in much larger doses to horses without ill effect. Though in large enough doses it does still kill. Interesting how in small doses poisons can sometimes produce appealing effects (at least to a human eye). However, it must be noted that an other common use of antimony, in tartar emetic, was as a wormer. It is easy then to draw the conclusion that dosing with antimony would simply kill off the worms in a horse, thereby improving the horse's overall constitution, fatten him up a bit and put a healthy shine on the coat.

Just When You Think You've Seen It All -- Tap Dancing Horses on Film

2009-09-28T11:50:00.000-04:00

This comes to you via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's pet/film blog: FilmHound -- Eleanor Powell tap-dancing with a horse in the 1945 musical, "Sensations." Amazing. Really. You have to get about 3 minutes into the clip to see it, but the first three minutes are worthwhile viewing. If only for possibly the only musical featuring ladies dressed entirely in hunt attire, from the skin-tight breeches to the well-appointed tails. Kind of awesomely hilarious to view at least once.

And then the tap-dancing scene is a bit surreal. The poor horse is piaffing like his life depends on it. Or perhaps like he just got stung by a bee. It's a bit giggle-inducing even though you're left feeling a bit sorry for the little fella.

Shameless Product Review - Blankets!

2009-09-17T18:01:00.000-04:00

So, blanketing season is just around the corner, as my mother likes to remind me constantly. In her mind, starting from July onwards, each passing day is just one step closer to 80 inches of snow. I hate to even begin to consider that prospect.

I always hated to blanket my horses. Mainly because I've always had cranky mares that snapped at me everytime I even thought about the word blanket. But I've also never been one of those people who felt the need to body clip and blanket the hell out of my horses. I mean, if you're going to work your horse in the winter (which I assume you are), he or she should be comfortable, not sweat and be able to cool out easily. This is not rocket science. Sometimes this is fairly easily accomplished simply by blanketing slightly more heavily throughout the season, to prevent excessive hair growth. But some horses' coats get a little out of control, and some horses run extra hot and sweat at the drop of a hat. So I can understand the need for some judicious body clipping, but people can also take it out of control. The majority of amateur horses in barns do not need a full body clip. It's silly. I particularly cringe at the prople who do a unnecessary full clip and then have to put so many blankets on the poor horse to keep him warm, that the weight alone is probably more aggravating to him than a bit of cold.

Regardless, whatever route you choose, we ALL blanket our horses at some point. And of course, the blankets get ripped and destroyed before you even put the horse back in his stall. Horses have an uncanny ability to discern the weakness inherent to every blanket and immediately exploit it. You may infer from all this that I am not a fan of spending a lot of money on a blanket that I know I will have to replace before I can even pay it off on my credit card. So, what's a girl to do?

Well, ebay is a great place to go for blankets, of course. But as much fun as I have browsing on ebay, I find I don't actually buy a lot on that site. All the major tack stores have great online sales obviously, but I find that my favorite blankets, the ones that have held up the best and have an awful lot of thought put into their design, are actually those from Schneiders. I know, I know. Arabian trainers swear by this outfitter, but if you tell anyone from outside of that world about this place, their eyes sort of glaze over. It's like you've suddenly started speaking a foreign language.

That is crazypants! Schneiders has some of the best prices you're going to find on high-quality blankets. Most of the prices hover somewhere between $60 - $120 and they have amazing post-season blowouts where I've gotten deals at half off the above prices. If you think that just because they are known as an Arabian & QH tack store that they don't have bigger sizes, think again. In fact, I find that they cater to alot of problem-sizes. They have "Big Fella" sizes (sizes up to 94) that aren't like your typical large sizings, in that they actually add on 2" for broader shoulders and 3-4" to the sides. They have pony sizing, foal sizing, even mini sizing. Those ranges are typically better than your typical tack shop. And one of my very favorite features is the adjusta-fit system, available on an awful lot of their wares. THIS IS GENIUS! And it will do wonders towards preventing rubs on the withers and shoulders. Honestly, all this 'system' consists of is an adjustable strap right where the horse's neck meets its shoulder. The strap controls the amount of pressure on the horse's back and withers, which is a literal lifesaver for the difficult to fit horse. I am not kidding. You must see it to believe me on this. Add all of to this their 1-year guarantee on many of the blankets and I don't really see how you can go wrong.

So, for all of you contemplating your winter blankets purchases, you would do really well to snoop around at their site. If you don't find what you want, well, there are plenty of options elsewhere. But I think of Schneiders as my little secret (ensconced as I am in the land of dressage queens and hunter princesses) and I really hope to give the tack shop more exposure outside of the non-Arabian & QH crowd.

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze

2009-09-15T11:30:00.001-04:00

I got a little teary at the news of Patrick Swayze's death this morning, though I'm not entirely sure why. I was never obsessed with him as many girls were. I never thought he was much of an actor. Though I admit he did floor me with his performance in Donnie Darko as Jim Cunningham, the motivational speaker and closet pedophile.

But I suppose I did love him simply because he was so involved with his Arabians throughout his life. I have a soft spot for anyone who loves horses, and in particular Arabians, since that's the breed I grew up around. So, here's to the tremendous love and gentleness of Patrick Swayze's spirit -- it's on full display here in this video of him showing a baby halter horse.

Edward Gal and Totilas: Or, My Break-Up With Dressage

2009-09-14T16:16:00.001-04:00

So, Edward Gal and Totilas. What to say? No, really, I mean that. I have been at a loss for words these past 2 weeks. I think the future me may well be able to point to this moment and say that this is when I lost my appetite for competitive dressage entirely. I'm not going to post some long rant about this, but this is not what I aspired to when I started my long journey into the world of dressage.  I want it to be known that I wish to take nothing away from Totilas -- he is beautiful, powerful, calm and happy. He is a remarkable horse and will win over the hearts of many.

But this is also the dressage of a showman, not a craftsman.  And it is clear now that this is the future of competitive dressage. This dressage values flash, a horse that is so gifted that he can literally blind us to the fact that his movement is more show and spark rather than truly correct. Indeed, I am more impressed at how effortlessly he can spring up and fling out his limbs without once changing his frame. Ah, silly me. I am still entrenched in old dressage, where I thought that extended trots required lengthening of frame.  I suppose the horse does deserve a new record mark for having the sheer power to execute to near-perfection, tricking our collective eyes to see what I would have sworn was the impossible. It is as I have always said since day 1 of this blog: horses will eventually willingly adapt to execute everything we ask of them. Totilas is a prime example of this - his sheer power is such that he manages to perform semblances of movements that can almost trick you into thinking they are correct. I have not yet seen such a dizzyingly, gorgeous example of my own warning.  The power of his passage and extended trot are a very convincing smoke and mirrors act.

I accept that this is the new direction of dressage. I accept that this will win over the hearts of far more people than previously imagined, perhaps making the sport more exciting to the masses. But I will call this dressage and its practitioners out on their hypocrisy. I was duped into thinking that at the end of my quest for oneness with my horse, I would find my place in a room full of nameless artists, slaving away at their craft. In fact, I was actually greeted by a troop of neo-Victorian conjurers that envelop me in their excitement and mystery.  It is all at once charming and disappointing. I am excluded from this dressage. Or maybe I am excluding myself. It's unimportant really. I do not give up on dressage per se. I just give up on competitive dressage riding. I prefer to seek the truth of harmonious riding via good equitation, no matter what discipline or who may wish to guide me -- from the self-taught jockey to the Saumur master.

Hey, no tears! We might be breaking up, but dressage and I will always remain good friends.

Moments I Am Grateful Horses Are Prey Animals

2009-09-14T10:10:00.002-04:00

This has totally nothing to do with horses, but I couldn't resist embedding this incredibly disturbing video. Animal instinct is so much more powerful than you even realize. Humans have so lost touch with a vast portion of body language that even experts are not always in control of a situation.

The Perils of Riding a Racehorse

2009-09-11T16:39:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I didn't actually ride a racehorse at Saratoga, though I was offered a couple of opportunities to mount up on a pony or even exercise a horse. But fuck that! Seriously. I do not stick to narrow thoroughbreds at high speeds. And for God's sake I've tried, but that is one thing I know is totally beyond my abilities. Put me on a nice wide-barreled horse and I am good to go, but thoroughbreds are a different story.

However, I did do something I had been desperate to do ever since my last visit to Saratoga. I finally got on that racehorse simulator at the Racing Museum. Actually, I need to put a caveat in at this point. I was desperate to do it, but was also scared silly, especially at the prospect of many people gathered around to watch me. But my parents, as always, sort of pushed me to do it, all at my drunken request the night before. And that's how we got to this point:

Do not hate. I may not have the jockey physique or form down (also, yes, I do have a hair net on), but I am of the utmost seriousness when I tell you that THESE SIMULATORS ARE NO FREAKING JOKE! Your balance and strength are tested like you would not believe. And the patented jockey crouch is no help while cantering and galloping along. At one point, I believe I sat down and tried to adopt a pseudo-dressage position (well, as best I could with tiny stirrups) just to remind myself that, why yes, I did know how to ride. But the kindly simulator operator did not stand for such circus riding; it would be the jockey way or the highway, miss.

For those of you who've never done this before, the museum puts you on the non-robotic horse first. That's the one pictured above. They just want to test your strength and ability to get the rhythm of a galloping horse. The above horse is the Equicizer -- you can find more information on it here. It is not a mechanized horse; the only way it moves is via your own motion, so you are completely in control on this particular animal. And honestly because of that, it felt much more comfortable to ride. I think it also helped that the stirrups on this model were of a more realistic length (i.e. shorter) so that I could better imagine what it was I supposed to be doing.

And just when I got the hang of that, we switched over to this bad boy:

See what I mean about the stirrups being a lot longer on this model. They've wrapped them around the iron to make them shorter, but the museum really needs to shorten them even more. I struggled more with this horse, not only because I was no longer in control of the motion, but also because my stirrup length was sort of a very short jumping position. So, the entire time my mind kept snapping back to my old days of two-point sessions. The bottom line is that I think I prevented myself from being able to share the full experience because the entire time I kept telling myself: "Sit up and away from the horse. Heels down. Eyes up." When in reality I should have jammed my toes down, thrown my seat way back, flattened my back, hunkered my head down and launched my arms well away from my body. But old habits die hard and damned if I have ever tried to do anything like this style of riding before.

Anyway, the above-pictured horse is, I believe, the one made by this company (albeit an older version at this point; I think the racing museum's simulator was installed nearly three years ago). This version is mechanized and was controlled by the afore-mentioned operator. To add to the excitement, it also has a video monitor that gives you a visual reference for the movement that you're feeling. First they do a couple of seconds of a slow gallop, just so you get your bearings on this new machine. Then, they load up a training ride, which is essentially an exercise on the Oklahoma Training Track. It all seems good and not that fast and you're totally tricked into thinking at this point that it'll be fairly easy and fun. But as soon as you're about 15 seconds into the training ride, the operator said I should save my legs for the real stuff - the two and a half minute race simulation. Okay, it's true I was feeling the twinges of fatigue in my legs, but I'm thinking that I'm totally strong and I workout and ride and all that. Who wouldn't be able to do this?

Yeah, right. The screen flips to the confines of a starting gate and the mechanized animal is shifting slightly. At least I think it moved; the video tricks your senses into feeling things that aren't perhaps there (I learned that while during the training ride, my horse veered sideways and I was all prepped to follow when I realized the animal beneath me was still straight as an arrow). And it suddenly dawned on me that I had literally just finished reading a poster in the museum that said a horse could jump from 0 to 50 mph in just over two seconds. Fear gripped me suddenly. What was I thinking; this robot packed the equivalent strength and power of a real animal and I was far out of my league on how to handle a full-out galloping horse, while propped up on my stirrups.

Dear reader, when the gate opened, I cannot possibly tell you the sheer force that propels you forward. All my riding instincts just kicked into survival mode and didn't let up for the rest of the race. I held my stomach as tight as possible, plunged as much weight through my heels as I could bear and held on for dear life with my calf muscles. Not pretty, not my typical riding methods, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Within 20 seconds, I think I wanted to cry. Within 30 seconds, my legs started to go numb. After about 45 seconds I started to think that maybe this was a huge mistake and I was not going to make it. It's funny --- to my parents (and the rest of the several dozen people gathered to watch) it looks deceptively easy. But I kid you not. There is a massive amount of speed and force being thrown at you that you have to try to process so quickly and stay with. At the minute mark, I had to quietly order the operator to slow the machine down. He hesitated, let me know that it couldn't be sped back up, and I (think) I barked, "I don't want it to go faster!" So, slow it down he did, but to my fatigued muscles it felt like no respite at all. To cope I started to blow the air in and out of my lungs, slowly and steadily, just trying to focus on something besides the excruciating pain of movement. By the 2 minute mark, the horse lunges forward and your muscles are so numb that you're hanging on by sheer force of will.

And then, something snaps. The finish line comes into view on the screen and you know you're at the homestretch and you suddenly get this wave of euphoria. You suddenly want to win and despite the intense fatigue, you throw your entire body into the rhythm, handriding all the way to the wire.

My muscles are dying here, as you can witness by my hunched-over upper body.

But I have never been prouder of myself than having conquered that entire race. I found physical reserves that I never thought I possessed. I might have had sweat pouring down my back, legs that were like jelly for hours afterwards, a heartrate that would have spooked my doctor (and which took at least a half-hour to normalize) and the thirst of a man stranded in the desert for several days, but I did it. Let no one ever laugh at the physical stature of any jockey within my presence. I had a taste of their job and it is intense, to say the very least. Every step for days afterwards served to remind me of that.

Also, I would DIE to have a riding simulator at home now. I WILL find the werewithal to finance such a thing one day. I just have to.

Horse Sculpture in North Carolina

2009-09-11T14:00:00.001-04:00

My husband is currently on tour with a band and found this really neat horse sculpture outside a gallery in Greensboro, NC. Of course, he knows well enough that I prefer pictures of horse-y things to pictures of band stuff.

I quite adore it.

Pictures! And Did I Mention How Nice Everyone in Saratoga Is?

2009-09-10T18:20:00.001-04:00

See, it's not that the barn and stalls look bad. They obviously don't. It's just that I expected them to look like the most spectacularly immaculate facility I have ever seen. In fact, it looked like several fairground facilities that I have shown at before. Which is fine....just not imposing.

The lovely man above was a real doll. He grinned and told the guys behind him to "Smile for the lady!"

Me and John T. Ward's wife, Donna. She invited me to her farm in Kentucky, so she'd better watch out for my imminent visit. Also, yes, I do realize the irony inherent in posting my photo on an anonymous blog.

The best picture I could take of Bill Mott. Yes, it's crap, I know. But he didn't seem to want his photo taken. I can't imagine why. It's not as if he's not busy training racehorses.

This is like the shittiest photo I have ever taken. But I had to post it for two reasons. A) the horse was gorgeous. B) The jock was the sweetest man in the whole world. He must have posed for about 5 photos for me, all of which got totally ruined. So, anyways...I'm sorry jockey-dude. I really appreciated how sweet you were. I just obviously shouldn't be in charge of the camera.

The Phipps barn. A step above, obviously.

D. Wayne Lucas' stables. Again, it's just a tad nicer back here. :)

I have a soft spot for Lucas. Don't ask me why. Childhood nostalgia maybe?

Gorgeous horse. Originally I had thought he was looking at his blackberry and I was going to make some clever quip about how even the outriders are addicted to the crackberry, but then I realized he was just reading a piece of paper. So, I haz a fail there.

The track was disgustingly sloppy, but the day was super hot and muggy. Poor horses were coming back so hot and exhausted from struggling with the slop and the humidity.

Oklahoma Training Track Tour

2009-09-10T17:59:00.001-04:00

Jesus, having infections throughout your head just about kills any drive to do anything. And knowing that my job is particularly busy right now is not helping. Anyway, now that I can see properly I wanted to belatedly get to the rest of my Saratoga posting.

Maybe I'm just so far removed from the real racing world that I just sound like a clueless hick when I discuss it, but I hadn't heard about the Oklahoma Training Track Tour ever before this last trip to the Spa. It was about a week before I was due to leave when I just had a slight break-down -- I just HAD to see the training stables, the view from behind-the-scenes. However, it just wasn't apparent how to go about doing that, so I ended up googling a myriad of different boolean combinations, when PRESTO! The Oklahoma Training Track Tour run by the horse racing museum popped up. I signed us up instantly.  That was how it came to be that my poor, obliging parents were forced to get up at 6am on their vacation so that I could get a glimpse of what the racing scene is like from the inside. I can't speak for them -- there was some definite fatigue and yawning -- but I loved every second of it. Though I feel like I should go move to Saratoga and run the tour myself, I couldn't fault the gentleman who led the guided tour. He had more patience than I when fielding questions such as: "Is that statue of Seabiscuit life-size? I heard he was very small." Or "Do horses like to stand on their hind legs?" I know, I know. I'm terribly impatient when it comes to people whose only knowledge of a horse is which end is the front and which is the back. But.Seriously.People. Think a bit before you speak. If Seabiscuit was really as small as the statue in their courtyard he would be racing against dogs, fool! I would just feel the need to smack people in the middle of my tour -- which may be entertaining, but not good for business. (Also, as a sidenote, I just want to point out that everyone on my tour was only interested in racing because they had read Seabiscuit. And wasn't that just the best book you've ever read?  Wasn't that an amazing story?  I have an internal battle with myself constantly about that book. On the one hand it was really fascinating and well-written. On the other hand, it seems to be many people's only reference point for the horse world, and in particular racing. There are other books. Other movies.  If you loved it that much, learn more about that world.  Maybe it's my obsessive-compulsive personality, but I cannot fathom having even the slightest interest in something without diving into it feet-first until I have either devoured everything on the subject, or eventually tired of the subject. This is spoken by a woman who became obsessed with pigeon racing which spilled over into a fascination with Mike Tyson that continues to this day.)

I just coped by pretending the tour guide and the other participants had mystically disappeared and just lost myself in my obsession for the track. I almost felt like I wasn't an obvious outsider and that somehow I belonged there. Ha! I know I stuck out like a sore thumb. I was the one with a giddy smile on my face, taking notes and photographing everything.

So what did I learn?  Well, for one it was strange to learn that one mustn't waste precious stall space on a pony, so they occupy makeshift shelters that are tacked on literally everywhere you look. I felt a bit sorry for their pathetic quarters, especially in relation to the beautfied stalls occupied by their more valuable counterparts.

I was also a bit taken aback at the condition of all the stalls. I just always imagined that the thoroughbreds of Saratoga always lived in the lap of luxury and frankly, their stalls were just meh. In fact, if I were an owner I'd be a little squicked out by the obvious wear and tear on the barns there. The wash racks are just cement blocks, the manure piles are giant and out-of-control.  It was just like at every show facility I've ever been to. Which I suppose is normal, but it just really struck me as odd.  Some of those horses are probably worth twice what those barns cost -- seems like it would be worth updating them in order to reflect the money inherent to the sport.

I don't even think I want to talk about the grooms' and hotwalkers' quarters. Obviously that wasn't part of the tour, but what I saw was pretty bad and I felt really terrible about that. How can you ask people to care for your expensive when their own conditions are so bad? You know, I can't even think about this because I realize that I, too, have been guilty of this behavior in the past with the staff caring for my boarded horses. I continue to be really conflicted and hope that I'm wrong about their quarters.

BUT. The MOST IMPORTANT thing that struck me throughout the entire tour was watching the riders exercising their horses. Those are some damn fine riders. They put me to shame. They put some top dressage riders I know to shame. I submit that if anyone wants to see a prime example of what it is to be a light, ultra-balanced rider that knows how to stay out of his horse's way, you simply need to go to a racetrack. I would kill to ride like that. And it just cemented my firm belief that excellent equitation is not owned by any one discipline. Years of lessons and study do not a rider make.  After watching these talented individuals, I wholeheartedly believe in the notion that there are simply riders and trainers who are self-taught masters. They may not understand the theory behind what they do; they may call the techniques by a different name, but they are most definitely classical riders.

Trust and Love - The Story of Calvin Borel and Rachel Alexandra

2009-09-07T16:33:00.002-04:00

So, what can I say about Rachel Alexandra that I haven't said before? What can I possibly add to the chorus of adulation ever since her win in the Woodward Stakes Saturday?

She is everything, and more, that I thought her to be. Prior to Saturday, I constantly proclaimed to anyone who would listen how historical her run in the race would be, regardless of whether she won. I became so practiced at listing dozens of reasons why she couldn't win that I nearly forgot to just be excited about the race. Hell, let's face it, I was worried sick. It's not that I didn't believe in her. I've just become so accustomed to having my heroes torn down when I least expect it -- I do love tragedies, mind -- that I find it hard to keep the hope alive. Secretariat, Native Dancer, Spectacular Bid, Citation, Man o'War...they all lost at least once while on their winning streaks. But my Rachel Alexandra eked out a victory. A small one, but a victory just the same. Her place in history is now guaranteed, as it should be. Books will be written. Maybe a movie made. I feel she is my generation's only superhorse, pushed to her limits and rising to the challenge. She is not simply a good or great racehorse. She is a champion, a tough champion that isn't going to be retired after two wins with a bowed tendon or some such. She is the perfect combination of speed, gameness, and physical toughness.

Despite my hatred for large crowds, I wish I could have been at Saratoga to have seen the race live. I wish I could have felt the crowd's energy swell when she entered the track, and heard the wall of noise that cheered for her. The story is that the filly got so spooked by the intense roar that she dumped Calvin. I wish I could see video of that somewhere, but really...that's just a perfect touch to her entire story. The tense dramatic moment that could be interpreted as a bad omen.

I just know Steve Asmussen's heart dropped when he saw the blistering pace being set in the first quarter mile. I can't blame the man -- I'd have been hyperventilating (I saw it on replay, so I was spared the fear of an unknown outcome). People can (and most likely will) critique Calvin all they want for this ride, but I think he is a genius. A bloody lucky genius, to be sure, but a genius all the same. That race was all set up to exhaust Rachel Alexandra with two sprinters determined to gun her early, box her in and leave her struggling to recover ground at the very end. But Calvin just beat them at their own game -- he simply outran the sprinters. It was an incredibly brave thing to do, to think you could do that and still have enough horse left over to pull out a victory. Part of it was probably blind faith, but I think you have to realize just how important his relationship is to their partnership. Working her regularly in the mornings can only give Calvin the edge when the duo is tested. There is trust there and love. And sometimes those are the only two things you need to pull off the impossible.

PhotoPhobia - Just Because I Like That Word

2009-09-02T17:38:00.003-04:00

I need to apologize to anyone waiting for the Saratoga posts. Apparently Saratoga also gave me a debilitating upper respiratory infection and conjunctivitis in both eyes. So, yeah, I am living like a vampire. Which when I was 14 seemed like it should have been kinda cool. Now it's pretty painful and lame. I hope to be recovered in another couple of days and can approach my laptop without sunglasses. Until then, please be patient.

Thanks!

Saratoga Raceway and Zombies

2009-08-27T08:55:00.004-04:00

So, I admit that I completely forgot the camera the night we went to see the harness racing. Honestly we weren't even planning on going that evening. It just turns out we had just the right amount of alcohol and good food to decide that we could stay out all night. Over to the Saratoga Raceway it was.

Firstly, I want to note that Saratoga doesn't seem to do the best job of advertising the harness racing. Maybe it's different when the flat racing isn't in season, but no one appears that informed about the raceway. Questions about it seem to result in a faraway, glassy-eyed look. That in combination with a very noncommittal "oh, yeah" had me prepared for the worst. At least I did know that it was a raceway / casino. That's pretty obvious from just going to their website. If you didn't know better, it might even seem like the place is all slots machines and nightclub. You'd be hard-pressed to find any relevant data on the actual harness racing, which is quite sad really. The harness racing should be placed front and center. I don't care that it's not a money-making proposition anymore or that it doesn't draw the crowds; to be perfectly blunt, those horses and drivers are the only reason that racino was built. They are the ones out there every evening, offering a formidable display of skill and bravery that should be promoted, not willed into obscurity. I think the least we can do is offer them a prominent showcase and a semblance of respect. Can we not in this day and age come up with a marketing plan that purports to make harness racing cool again? Where is the harness racing equivalent of the Seabiscuit book? Greyhound anyone? Niatross? Bret Hanover? Dan Patch -- there was a great book written recently about him. Let's parlay that into some coolness factor for the harness racing world.

But I digress. As usual. Anyway, the Saratoga Raceway was a pleasant surprise. In fact, I am reluctant to admit I might even like it a bit better than the main track. But only because the crowds are smaller, the track is smaller and you get a great view of the entire track no matter where you are positioned, and, because the horses circle the track twice during the course of the race, you feel more involved with the outcome. Again, this is just my opinion, but the action does manage to really captivate you in a manner that I've only really felt in flat racing during the final stretch run. Of course, you can't really compare the two. They are two different animals and the skill of the harness racers seems to come into play even more than during flat racing. People can argue this point, of course, but it seems that strategy plays a much larger role in harness racing. It's not so easy as you might think to break out of the jumbled, flying mess of wheels and limbs without some real forethought. And I'm not saying that flatracing doesn't take skill and strategy. I'm just saying that it seems to be a lot more difficult for a longshot to take control of a harness race, and that there is no room for error at all. Sometimes there's a little more breathing room in a flat race to be able to make a bit of an error, correct it and still win. Maybe I'm wrong, but harness racing appears to be a bit less forgiving.

While the harness racing itself was a lovely excursion that I will be sure to be repeating, the casino aspect of the facility was kind of like being an extra on a 'z'-level horror movie. Scores of people sitting transfixed in front of vibrant computer screens, pressing buttons and winning a couple of dollars here and there. If you think "Shaun of the Dead" was an absurdist satire on the zombifying of our society, then you need look no farther than the slots machines at the casino to see it come to life. I fully admit I don't go to casinos, nor am I much of a gambler, but I can readily understand the appeal of a poker game or betting on horses. The dead eyes and stupor of a person mesmerized by the screen in front of them is downright creepy to me. I suppose it just comes down to my irritation at these people completely oblivious to the action happening all around them (I'm speaking of the horses obviously), lost in their computer screens. Why come to a harness track at all? It seems more leisurely to stay at home and attain the same dazed state in front of the television or your gaming console.

But what do I know? I can't understand not being mesmerized by the fleet horses racing not 300 feet away from the slot machines.

I Gave a Thumbs Up to Calvin Borel

2009-08-26T18:08:00.003-04:00

So, I'm back from Saratoga with a million things to report. AND PICTURES! That's right! I am learning to be more blog-savvy, y'all.

But first things first. I SAW CALVIN BOREL! Somehow we made it to the track at just the right moment on Saturday to end up standing right next to him as he was being given a leg up. Someone next to me called out to him and for some reason he thought it was me and he grinned and gave me a thumbs-up. What a sweetheart. He just oozes charm and goodheartedness. I adore him and, while I realize I'm totally biaised, I just think he can do no wrong riding-wise. He has an amazing work ethic, seems to really believe in his mounts and appears to have an uncanny sixth sense that lets him bring the best out of an animal.

I'm working on getting up the nerve to call his agent and see if I can't score an interview. The worst he could say (and likely will) is no.

Saratoga, Bishes!

2009-08-20T09:18:00.001-04:00

Yay! I am off to Saratoga tomorrow. Hopefully I'll come back with loads of pictures and stories for you.

PS - I will just die of happiness if I get to see Rachel Alexandra!

Phar Lap - The Lure of Taxidermy

2009-08-20T08:50:00.002-04:00

Dead Horse “Lives” in Marvel of Taxidermy (Dec, 1932)

I love this!! It's the original story of how the taxidermists prepared and mounted Phar Lap. I agree it's creepy, but that's part of the appeal for me, too.

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Drilling for Oil: Or, The Other Side of Horseracing

2009-08-19T15:17:00.004-04:00

So, this is the story of a racehorse that doesn't have a high profile. In fact, I never heard of him before a week ago. Born in 2003, out of Won't She Tell, a half-sister to Affirmed and by Giant's Causeway, a stallion who raced in Europe and won 5 straight Group 1 races in 2000, earning European Horse of the Year honors. High and mighty connections, it would seem.

But Drilling for Oil was, as Ken McPeek, his trainer, was quoted in this Bloodhorse article from May 2007, "an extremely difficult horse to train." Maybe that had something to do with the fact that he didn't make his first start until the age of 3. It was an inauspicious debut, finishing 8th. He broke his maiden a month later, perhaps ready to finally show his worth, but it wasn't until his 4-year-old year that he would win a stakes race. Two in fact. The Grade 3 Elkhorn Stakes and the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap. Alas, these were his only career wins. He seemed destined only to be the runner-up in his subsequent outings.

His is the story of many a racehorse. Had you heard of him prior to this? Really? Think long and hard about that. But I suppose I'm being unfair, honestly. Compared to the thousands of un-noteworthy claimers around the country, Drilling for Oil led a privileged life. His were legitimate brushes with fame; a Grade 3 win is not to be sneezed at. Then again, he never saw the kind of glory of a Kentucky Derby or Breeder's Cup winner. His winnings only totaled around $266k. You could say that he was always fated for ignominy. Well, except for maybe in the breeding shed. His connections were probably worth an admirable figure there, at least in some countries.

So, he was bought and shipped off to Peru where he would perform stallion duty. His previous owner, Lansdon Robbins, was quoted as saying: "'We are very happy to see Drilling for Oil go to a farm that truly appreciates all of his accomplishments,' Robbins said. 'We have retained the Northern Hemisphere breeding rights to the horse, and we wish them the best of luck.'" Wow, be a little less effusive about the horse, will ya? I mean, who doesn't see through this canned statement for its true meaning? Hey, thanks for taking him off our hands. No blue-blood American breeder is going to bother retaining his services, so go ahead and do what you will with him.

And no, I don't really have a problem with that. At least in theory. Yeah, it's a business. Your job is to make a profit where you can. A new owner was willing to purchase Drilling for Oil and maybe his bloodlines were precious to Peru. Good on them for recognizing that.

Alas, you've all surely read the headlines by now. It's the only reason I'm writing this piece, unfortunately. Drilling for Oil was stolen and slaughtered for meat. I want desperately to conjecture on the circumstances surrounding his death and what could seem like a severe lack of security at his new home. I would love to pass judgment on an industry that churns out perfect athletes and then spits them out, letting them fan out to all parts of the globe when their career is perhaps less than illustrious. No one certainly foresaw that end when he was just a colt grazing in the pastures of South Carolina. Back then his future was full of hope.

But I can't pass judgment. Not really. Not without being hypocritical. Because who among us hasn't sold a horse without that cold fear and shame passing over us, even for an brief instant. Once that money exchanges hands you have no control over the future of that animal you tried to care for and protect the best you could. That doesn't mean that Drilling for Oil deserved this fate. Or that there was no gross incompetence on the part of his current owner for letting this happen. Then again, sometimes these things happen.

And while I'm sitting here writing about Drilling for Oil's tragic story, there just happens to be a glut of thoroughbreds across the country who are broken down, desperate for new life, abandoned or abused. We churn out far more of the animals than the racing industry can support, and its a travesty really. That's the result of the thousands of press-worthy rags-to-riches stories that clog our national consciousness. The thought that maybe, just maybe the underdog will blossom into a hero. America eats that up. Even I can't help but be swayed by the narrative sometimes. I guess we just can't pretend to be surprised by the consequences.

As If Riding Is Not Enough - My Fear Credentials

2009-08-14T08:31:00.003-04:00

So. My logical next step here is to explain why I consider myself to be so qualified in talking about, deconstructing and helping people to overcome their fears. Well, here goes...

I suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder as a direct result of working in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Weird, right? That I've been writing for about two years now and never though to mention that fact before? Well, honestly, it's because the event may have changed me and informed a lot of my actions since, but I don't want it to define who I am. I don't really want to be known as that rider/blogger who was there on September 11th. I mention it only insofar as it explains why I feel so strongly about this subject.

Anyway, let's not pretend that I was a perfect human being prior to this date, which spontaneously triggered shock, depression and high-level daily anxiety totally from out of the blue. That's silly talk. I was always wound a bit tightly. A bit nervous by nature, but nothing that interfered with normal daily activities. After September 11th though, it was a completely different story. It was as if everything posed an equally lethal threat to me. There was no differentiation between, for example, my worry about tripping on the sidewalk in heels and the potential for being trapped on subway car with a suicide bomber. Both prospects held an absolutely equal amount of terror for me. Every day that I managed to survive seemed like a complete miracle to me.

In the midst of this, I had to essentially re-learn how to do virtually everything. From learning to walk down the street again, to entering public spaces, to listening to loud music. Obviously I 'knew' how to do all of these things. Everyone does, right? But suddenly I had to learn to do them whilst attempting to block out the alarms in my head that screamed: "THIS IS A BAD IDEA! DON'T DO THIS! YOU'RE TOTALLY GOING TO DIE! SHIT, WHAT WAS THAT?!!" And somehow I managed to do this, but even I recognize that I am not the same person I was before that day. I have think about everything just a bit differently; I move just a tad more cautiously...

So, what does this have to do with riding, you ask? Well, good question. My PTSD caused me also to ride differently. I was suddenly anxious and tense on horseback. With a flight response that probably rivaled that of my horse. I felt myself looking at everything suspiciously, considering its ability to scare myself or my horse. My years of riding knowledge were desperately trying to tell me brain how silly I was being, but my body just would not respond.

At first, like any normal, passionate, ambitious equestrian I was devastated. I convinced myself that I was damaged and stupid. I convinced myself that I HAD to give up riding, as what I was doing was dangerous and distracting. I told myself that I would never overcome this overwhelming fear.

Oddly enough, it was then that I re-discovered my strengths through teaching. My experience has given me an empathy for timid, fearful riders that I'm sure that I would have otherwise developed, and these riders flourished under my eye. And honestly, all it comes down to is this basic point -- when fear kicks in, there is no differentiation between small fears and big fears. Essentially this means that you lose all perspective. Most riding instructors don't seem to grasp this simple, but important concept. Once I have been struck by those panic pangs, I can no longer differentiate between what would normally be a generally anxiety about my foot slipping out of the stirrup or a complete terror at having a horse bolt full-speed across the arena. In those moments, the level of danger posed to you is THE SAME.

This is of the ultimate importance for a teacher to understand -- when your student is gripped in the throes of a fear, you could be dealing with someone who may not be completely rational at that moment; they may have lost their perspective. Therefore, you cannot disregard a student's fear. You cannot place a hierarchy on it. There are no small fears. Your job, in this moment, is to validate their fear first and foremost. Unless you can do that, you aren't ever going to fix the problem, simply cover up the outward symptoms.

I say that sometimes you have to stand on the edge of insanity to really understand it. Okay, maybe it doesn't need to go that far, but using that standard, please just call me the fear expert. :) If I can claw my way back from a person who couldn't get out of bed in the morning and face all of the terrors of the day to who I am now, then I believe anyone can. And those are not hollow words.

The Great Match Race Pin

2009-08-13T09:44:00.003-04:00

Yay! I have been trying to post this for days and blogger kept returning error messages. Anyway, I just wanted to share one of my lovely finds with you. I bought this pin at a flea market in Brooklyn. For a dollar. They had no idea what it was, and though I'm pretty sure it's not a major collector's item, I was thrilled to find it. Do a google search and virtually none of these come up, for sale or otherwise.

For those of you who maybe aren't in the know, these pins were given out free on the day of the tragic match race between Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure. And though I really wish I owned the Ruffian pin, I'm pretty happy to just own this tiny piece of history. I guess it's even more fun to know that I discovered it buried amidst a pile of hundreds of other absurd pins. I unearthed it and am giving it back a bit of its original glory.

Fear and the Rider

2009-08-12T19:00:00.004-04:00

This will be only the first in a long and ongoing series revolving around fear and horseback riding -- my own personal fears, my struggles with reconciling those fears with being a successful rider and instructor, my coping mechanisms, my experiences with fellow riders and trainers and their attempts to belittle / undermine me for having these problems, my disbelief at finding few texts willing to address fear and riding, and, foremost, my empathy for fearful students, which has resulted in some very successful methods to help conquer their own personal demons. All of this probably sounds self-helpy, but hopefully that will prove to be farthest from the truth. Let me say it now: I do not find that visualizing a good ride will ensure that I have a good ride. Repeating positive statements to myself do not, in fact, boost my self-confidence and create positive endorphins. Maybe I have more than my share of skepticism at such methods or maybe I just believe that, at least in my case, my fears and anxieties have taken such a deep hold on me that positive-thinking is about the last thing that is going to have any effect on me.

Anyway, my hope is just to challenge a lot of what is fundamentally wrong about how we think about, speak about and teach horseback riding. But first, I want to spend the remainder of this post making a few confessions / declarations:

- I have been riding all my life and yet there are many a day when just the prospect of mounting a horse has struck me with a paralyzing, incapacitating fear. I can remember having a particularly bad day in which the best I could do was walk around the arena a couple of times, mounted, and then call it day.

- I am an excellent rider with great talent and exceptional feel, but my trials with overcoming fear have: caused me to consider myself worthless in comparison to other instructors, lost me many an opportunity to further my riding education, and caused many of my peers (and people whom I considered friends) to call me a 'pussy,' stupid, weak and that, more generally, I didn't really want success enough if I wasn't willing to overmount myself.

To add insult to injury, I do not, nor have I ever, shied away from saying, "No, I don't feel confident / strong enough to ride that horse,' or ' You know what? This may seem silly to you, but I'm too scared to do that right now.' But years of experience with this have taught me that people do not perceive knowing your limits as a strength, but a major fault in your character. To this day I have never, ever heard uttered from a professional rider's mouth, the words 'I am afraid.' In equestrian culture this is taboo. I think this is patently absurd and by making these declarations, I hope it will, at the very least, open a dialogue. Maybe a few people will recognize themselves in my own experiences and if I can help just one person, that would be worth it. And if that one person is only myself, well so be it...

Just Another Example of Population Control

2009-08-11T17:17:00.008-04:00

You know, some people might call this dangerous, but I like to think of it as a form of population control. :)

The best part is the caption, which reads: "This young man of Sussex, England, mounted on his shaggy steed, has attended fox meets strapped in his hunting saddle-chair since he was a year old. The white horse has apparently turned away in disgust at the novel arrangement."

I ADORE that last line. Why can't people still write non-fiction books that offer awesome judgments in the guise of detached scientific observation?

I Want to Be This Little Girl

2009-08-06T19:16:00.004-04:00

"See what Prince will do for me." Prince Albert, Ida Cuthbertson's "famous educated horse." Brown Studio, Riverside, circa 1909.

I need to know about this! Stat! Interwebz are totally failing me now.

PS - If this wasn't clearly printed 1909, I would claim this girl as me.

Common Ground

2009-08-06T14:44:00.005-04:00

Apparently the editors over at Horse and Hound have been thinking the same thing I have lately about modern competitive dressage. They embedded the video of the Reiner Klimke / Ahlerich gold-medal winning performance on their site and remarked:

"How times have changed in the dressage world! Take a look back at the gold medal-winning performance of Reiner Klimke on Ahlerich at the 1984 Olympic Games. While the horse's movement is far less dramatic than today's top dressage horses, it is a clear picture of harmony between horse and rider with the poll at the highest point throughout and impressive levels of relaxation.

Not only have the standards of performance changed, the type of horse has also moved on. Ahlerich is a lighter framed horse compared to the powerful warmbloods seen today at this level.
So do you think that the development of dressage and dressage horses over the past 25 years is a good thing, or do you hark back to a return to 'good old days'?"

LOVE IT! Though I do take offense at the traditionalist sentiment inherent to the phrase 'good old days.' As if good, solid riding is somehow old-fashioned. Hopefully that was meant tongue-in-cheek.

This does serve as a reminder to note that whenever I review a modern dressage performance (like Totilas') I always refer back to my 'guide' -- this particular ride. It is my guideline for everything and if it isn't for you, well, all I can say is it should be. The ride itself is not without mistakes, but I don't care about mistakes. No ride will be perfection. What is important is the level of harmony and relaxation; the mistakes that are permitted and corrected simultaneously. I always felt that this test was likely not very different from how Ahlerich was ridden in his home arena. And that's what I always thought competitive dressage was supposed to be, just a venue to exhibit the level of training you consistently achieve at home.

Pony Round-Up

2009-08-06T08:41:00.002-04:00

If you haven't seen this link to a BBC news report, you must. It was filmed by tourists in Israel as they were driving down the highway. For some bizzare reason, horses were galloping down the road, and for some even stranger reason all the cars on the road were still in motion. Maybe I'm just a horse nut, but if I saw horses galloping down a road I was driving along I would most certainly stop and pull over. They are simply too unpredictable, and in the video this is demonstrated by the horse's attempt to jump on and over a car. Shockingly, horse and driver are both okay.

The saddest part about the whole thing is that (because I knew everyone was okay after the accident), the only thing I could focus on throughout the video was just how pretty the pinto horse is and what a lovely jump he tried to make.