Today, I found my 16.2h warmblood in an area of the field where I didn’t expect to see him.  It’s an area that periodically gets wet, and one of his favorite places to play.  Last spring, after he pulled a shoe for the second time, we cordoned it off with two bands of Horseguard tape and fiberglass posts (non-electrified).

As I got close to the area,  I saw that the lower band of tape was broken.  I removed the top band and walked in to lead him out.  He just got shod last week and I didn’t want him leaving one of his nice new shoes with the borium studs in the muck.

He acted as if he wanted to watch me repair the fence, but I knew he just wanted an opportunity to walk back in and slosh around.  I shooed him away and he obliged, being the gentleman he is.

Continue reading →

The line up of clinicians at this year’s Equine Affaire includes three of my all-time favorites:  Anne Kursinski, Tina Konyot and Jimmy Wofford.  Although their disciplines are showjumping, dressage and eventing, respectively, they share a classical tradition.

I rescheduled lessons and obligations so I could relocate my life to the Big E for four days.  I was there all day yesterday, all day today and tonight, when I went to the extravaganza they call Fantasia with my nieces.  I got home after midnight, and I have to be back early in the morning to see Jimmy!

Unfortunately, I need a lot more sleep than a horse, so I can’t give you the highlights now.  But you can look forward to lots of notes & quotes from this clinic junkie in the coming week.

My niece Samantha, who rides with the IEA (Interscholastic Equestrian Association) High School team at Rising Star Equestrian Center in Medway, Massachusetts, has qualified for Regionals!

Sam has been blessed with the ideal rider’s body and it was difficult for her to find tall boots that were tall and slim enough.  But that’s not what got her those ribbons that are hanging all over her room.  It’s her talent, her desire and ability to bond with any horse she rides, and her competitive nature. Sam wants to win.

Getting ready to ride

Continue reading →

This sign makes me proud of the state I live in:It’s cute and it makes me laugh, in part because I don’t know any horses that have feedbags.

It also makes me smile, as it reminds me of happy memories.  The first week I moved to my farm, I was unpacking boxes in the dining room when I heard “clip, clop, clip, clop.”  It sounded like a horse-drawn carriage.  And it was!  A matching pair of Belgians and a woman with a long blond braid who waved as she past the house.

Continue reading →

This apple is perfectly balanced on an old Crosby flat saddle in my sister’s dining room (you know, horse people!).

Admittedly, it looks a little off-balance because we’re used to seeing saddles on horses’ backs rather than on low-withered, croup-high dining room chairs.  But our apple is balanced nonetheless.

As riders we are always attempting to find our balance on horseback, whether we’re going over a fence in a jumping saddle, riding half-pass in a dressage saddle, or doing a spin in a western saddle.

On a green horse or a freshly off-the-track thoroughbred, we want to be light in the saddle. Going over a fence, we want our center of gravity to follow our horse’s center of gravity without wavering.  We want our seat slightly in the direction of movement at the half-pass in order to lessen the horse’s effort in crossing his outside hind leg and to encourage the horse to move his body in the same direction as our seat bones — where he’ll be more balanced underneath us. If we shift our weight during a spin, we’ll make it difficult for the horse to keep his inside hind leg as a pivot.

Continue reading →

I got back in the saddle for the first time today, after nearly 19 weeks in recovery from the fall that broke my back.

How was my back in the saddle?  Fabulous, I’m happy to report!

Of course, I had a lot of help and I helped myself by setting things up for success.

I followed the advice of my Yankee-Irish horsewhispering boyfriend:  The slow way is the fast way and the fast way is the slow way, a saying which loyal readers of my blog have heard before.

I picked the perfect pair to help me find out what I could and couldn’t do in the saddle — Rachel Markels Webber, longeur extraordinaire, and her vaulting horse Pico, she of the smooth and rhythmic gaits.

The biggest surprise of the day?  Sitting the trot was easier than posting the trot.

Continue reading →

Naito Shijuku, Yotsuya, No. 86 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

This woodblock print in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum (but currently not on view) is fascinating on so many levels, not the least of which is its perspective.

Created in the 11th month of 1857, it depicts not only the hindquarters of the horses but also their manure.  The place is Naito Shinjuku, the first stop on the main road out of Edo.  The low perspective reflects the nature of the place, as Naito Shinjuku was founded in 1698 as a semiofficial center of prostitution.  The girls who worked there were described as “flowers blooming in the horse droppings.”

For the horseman, perhaps the most striking aspect of this work of art is the straw wraps on the horses’ hooves.  Up until the 19th century, plaited horseshoes such as these, made of rice straw, were used to protect horses’ feet.  The straw slippers could be replaced as necessary.  I’m sure they felt more natural to the horse than today’s boots.

Isn’t it great when your horse is happy to see you?

Today, I went out to the field where my young warmblood is turned out with three other geldings.  He was at the far end, congregating with the others nibbling the last of the clover.

I stood near the gate, said “hello” and spoke his name.  He heard me before he saw me, turned around in a half volte and straightened (good boy!), then trotted towards me, his long legs covering the length of the field in an easy, athletic stride.

Continue reading →

Or did you want to go to the Olympics, the way I did?

Client Amy Goodusky has made it to the finals of eventingnation.com’s blogging contest. Congratulations Amy!

The topic for the final entries was “Money and Eventing,” with instructions specifying that the finalists include quotes in their entries.  Amy asked me to contribute my thoughts and I suggested that eventing could adopt NASCAR’s business model.  That way, the Europeans could try to figure out how to afford to compete over here, instead of vice versa.

Continue reading →