First of all, I board at the best barn ever! Hay and turnout all day, options of grain, organized feeding system, clean, dry, awesome people, amazing jumps, heaters in the tack up areas, and the property owners are wonderful! Nothing to complain about right now...that never happens.
All the boarders are sweet and friendly, I love them! So happy to see one of them qualify for Maclay Finals which is this weekend. Alessandra Sozzi qualified on her black gelding, Zygo, for Region 6. Mark and JJ (our trainers) were so proud to see her qualify and they busted their butts to prepare her. They are also the best trainers in the world. ;)
A girl from my previous barn, Eva, qualified on the backup list. She wasn't able to go, but so proud of her making it that far,
Only 2 riders made it to the President's Cup Grand Prix jump off at the Washington International Horse Show. Kent Farrington and Blue Angel secured the blue ribbon in this $125,000 Grand Prix with a fabulous jump off beating Brianne Goutal who came in 2nd place. Read more about the last day of showing at the WIHS here.
I love this photo because it does a great job representing the class, money, fashion, and lifestyle of many of those equestrians who travel the USA for the 'A' shows...especially the money in California. It just screams upper-class in a clever, fashionable way. This rider must be a superstar for jumping in hooker boots!
From the West Palm Events Website, hunter/jumper shows in California. Photo by Anthony Colisfas.
An article in the Chronicle of The Horse about my friend and her gorgeous horse, Truman. Can you believe this horse is OTTB? He looks like a warmblood! Truman has enriched so many people's lives bringing people together in friendship, I have an urge to snuggle him! :)
Keiri Kaneps (left) and Elizabeth Hund with Truman in 2012 at Estes Park. Photo by Flying Horse Photography/Todd Sutherland, taken from Chronicle of The Horse article.
It sure was exciting watching the cross country at Colorado Horse Park the other weekend which included Region 9 USEA Championships. It is just as fun re-living the excitement with Christy Cumberworth's photos! Her photos really are excellent, she captures the ideal jump for each rider...we all know that takes talent. I don't know how many times I have taken a photo of the horse on stride out from the jump when I want a picture of the horse going over the jump.
Washington International Horse Show is underway in Washington, DC! The show takes place in the heart of DC off of 6th Street, directly east of the White House at the Verizon Center Complex. They literally build horse show grounds in the middle of the city and streets, it's quite impressive.
Horse begun arriving over the weekend from all around the world. All horse trailers are required to stage at the Prince George Equestrian Center (doesn't look as fancy as it sounds btw) from there Johnson Horse Transportation takes the horse's to the Verizon Center.
On Tuesday, 22nd, Dudley MacFarlane and Authentic win the Washington International Adult Amateur Hunter Championship kicking off the WIHS.
Horse showing started yesterday, Tuesday, with the many hunter classes including the WIHS Adult Hunter Championships. Other highlights of the show include a $10,000 Open Jumper class and WIHS Children's Jumper Championships Wednesday, a $33,000 Jumpers Stake and $20,000 costume Gambler's Choice on Thursday, a $50,000 Speed Class and $25,000 Puissance on Friday, and ending with a $125,000 President's Cup Grand Prix and Hermes Equitation Finals over the weekend. In between these top money classes is an extensive list of hunter/jumper classes and other fun non-horse show events including a Shetland Pony Steeplechase, Celebrity Barrel Race, and Autograph Signing.
Last year's President's Cup Grand Prix winner was Reed Kessler on Cylana. @Lawrence Nagy
The Puissance brings on the edge of your seat excitement where horse and riders are challenged with an incredibly high jump that keeps going up! The height to beat is an impressive record of 7 1/2 feet set by Anthony D'Ambrosio on Sweet N' Low in 1986.
I had all these plans to cover Hanover Grand Prix and the Pennsylvania FEI World Cup Grand Prix, but I ran out of time! I only got to Fair Hill, so I am just going to have to post it now...
Fair Hill International.
This year marked the 25th anniversary of Fair Hill International CCI**/*** event in Elkton, Maryland which took place Oct 16th-20th, this past weekend.
I've always wanted to visit this event, the cross country looks stunning with the fall colors. The festival seems like a local hit with other events like car shows, dog shows, local food, and live music. Big names show up for the event, this year Phillip Dutton,Kim Seversen, and Buck Davidson made an appearance.
Looking over the results I was rather shocked at the amount of eliminations and withdraws from both the CCI Two and Three Star. It could have been the rain that caused many to withdraw or become eliminated. Cross country jump 13A, a double brush, did cause most of the eliminations. For the Three Star, out of 25 riders, only 15 went clear on cross country. There was a total of three falls.
First place for the Two Star was Sparrow Nio, a grey 15.3H Connemara cross who recently started doing Advance competitions back in September.
Inmidair (I love that name!) took first in the three star with rider Jan Byyny. Her first place win includes a free round trip to any international competition of her choice, valued at over $20,000.
A local girl borrowed a horse trailer and the divider bar went through her horse's side. She doesn't have enough money to pay the bill of $4,200. I do not have a lot of money either, but I figured I could spare $20. I called Colorado State University and gave the name of the horse, Cheerio, and the owner's name, Sherry, to make the donation. It was very easy and they are mailing me a receipt.
Sometimes we spend so much time worrying about our own bills, how to afford going to the next show, or saddle upgrade that we forget about our neighbors, fellow horse friends, and the barn just down the street that may need our help. There are so many people and horses that walk the a fine line between being able to afford a horse and giving it up. We all know how expensive horses are in Boulder County, average horse board prices are in the high $600s! People deserve to keep their horses, to many people those horses are their family.
I hope that you have a few extra bucks (maybe you could spare some latte money) to donate to Cheerio and Sherry. Random acts of kindness are what keep our community together.
Dover offers $50 toward a new Rambo blanket if you send in your old Rambo or Horseware blanket in to Dover. Your old blanket will be donated to local charities and rescues. The offer does not apply to blankets on closeout.
More details may be found here on the Dover site. A list of eligible blankets to purchase using this program may also be found here.
Autumn Hill Farm in Longmont, CO just outside of Boulder will be up for auction on December 4th. This property features indoor and outdoor arenas, over 90 acres, and beautiful historic barn. Details of property and auction found here.
Recently added Cos I Can to Pony Stats Page. Irish Sport Horse winning over $1.7 million with Shane Breen and recently purchased by Reed Kessler. Find other horse stats on the page.
Cos I Can
Breed: Irish Sport Horse Nickname: Cosi Sport: Show Jumping Sex: Gelding Year Foaled: 2003 Color: Bay Markings: White star, white socks Height: 16.5H Rider: Reed Kessler Interesting fact: Irish Show Jumping Team's horse with rider Shane Breen, recently purchased by Kessler in 2013. Won over $1.7 million in prize money with Shane Breen. Equipment: Flash noseband. Pelham bit with running martingale. Recent Accomplishments Major Highlights Only:
Represented Ireland several times in Nations Cups
Member of the winning Irish Team both at the CSIO5* at Hickstead, and Dublin CSIO5* in 2012
3rd in the Bunn Leisure Derby Tankard
1st in the Bunn Leisure Derby Trial at the CSIO4* at Hickstead.
3rd in the Prize of AachenMünchener at the CSIO5* in Aachen.
Best Irish Bred horse award at Nations Cup in the CSIO5* at Hickstead 2013
1st at Prix du Conseil Generale d'Ille et Vilaine at the CSI3* in Dinard.
Last year, during Rolex, I visited the Kentucky Equine Humane Rescue. I actually went to consider taking a horse to keep my older gelding company. I ended up going a different route and helping out a friend and then, recently, after she left I adopted a more local horse. I didn't get the chance to adopt a horse from KEHR, but I think about them all the time.
When I was there all the horses were so happy. They had giant pastures with wood fencing and green grass and the barn was clean and cozy. It was a wonderful place, the kind of place horse girls dream about. They had many horses that would make beautiful riding horses. It wasn't your typically horse rescue, it didn't feel overcrowded. It felt peaceful, well kept, and professionally managed. The people were kind and happy to show us around.
They need our help. I was able to make a small donation of a few hundred bucks and I plan to donate again next year. They will take any small amount and it is a tax deductible. Please consider donating.
Heck, why not adopt?! Their adoption prices range from $250-$1000. Some really wonderful horses for riding too. Not only would you be saving a horse, but the money adopting one horse will help many others at the facility.
Cliff Haines, show jumping WEF ring master, passed away last weekend on Oct 13, 2013. It is thought that his death may have been suicide. My thoughts and prayers go out to this family. His obituary may be read here.
The horse community seems rather shocked he is gone. Most people describing him as a cheerful man who brighten everyone's day and made the show jumping community feel like a family. He will be greatly missed.
Reed Kessler and Cliff Haines
Cliff Haines with Jessica Springsteen at Suncast 1.50m Award Presentation @Sportfot
It is amazing to me how much horse's will tolerate. I have never dressed my horse up in a Halloween costume. Even as a kid, my riding instructors were very traditional, working types, but I can see how this would be fun...for kids. I think it's kind of weird for adults to get into it, especially if it's a show and you are squashing the children competition. Can you imagine what George Morris would say?
Here are a few costumes that are pretty outstanding. Good ponies! Happy Halloween!
The wings would freak my horse out, we would probably take flight with those things.
Super cute pony and not running away from his dragging tail, good pony!
A grey or black horse would make a good poodle.
This seems acceptable, a cute little girl on her Halloween pony.
This one is my favorite.
This horse has got to be uncomfortable, all that costume followed by a larger human being plopped on his back gabbing on the cell phone. I feel bad for this one.
Living in Colorado there is some hard ground around here and that hard ground may lead to horse injury. My barn does not have an arena, so riding in the fields is mainly what I do. Here are some tips to keep your horse's legs going strong.
Check if your riding surface is really as hard as you think. Can you hear hoof beats? Maybe sometimes you are able to hear them and then other days you hear nothing. That should be a good indication on the ground surface condition at the time of your ride.
If you have field options, choose a field that has irrigation. The ground may be more soft and easier on the horse's legs. I have 5 pastures and I only ride in the 2 pastures that were at one point used for haying.
Tall grass isn't always a bad thing. May be hard to see hazards, so check it out first on foot. Once you go around a few times, the grass lays down, adding a little extra cushion.
Change pace and terrain as much as you can. On the hard ground it's important to shift weight to avoid overworking muscles, ligaments, tendons, or bones. This may be achieved by changing pace frequently or changing terrain. For example, two trot circles followed by a trot up a hill and then a trot down the hill.
Try Magic Cushion, it's a hoof pack that is easy to apply. Acts as an anti-inflammatory to help prevent hoof pain and heat.
If the ground is frozen consider just walking with short bursts of trot or consider riding down a quiet dirt road. The traffic of cars keeps the road somewhat warm and the ground will likely be less frozen.
Condition your horse to hard ground by slowly introducing the horse to the terrain, adding a little more time or a little more intensity each ride.
Shoe the front feet to get the soles off the ground and add more comfort. If you already have shoes, consider asking your farrier to review the shoeing.
Consider pads or rim pads if you horse appears foot sore after a ride.
Warm up properly, with lots of walking on a free rein, collected, extended walk, before going right into trotting. In the arena we do a lot of trot warmup, but on hard ground you should do more walk warmup.
Listen to your horse. If they move lame or sore after your ride try something different. If you have tried everything, it is likely that the horse just is not built for hard ground riding or needs a few down days.
Turn your horse out on that pasture. This naturally conditions horses to the ground at their own pace, which is typically the best way.
Add water. Perhaps there is a small 20 meter circle flat area in your field you ride often, hose this area before your ride.
Stick to small jumps and ground poles. Instead of raising the jumps, consider making the exercise more complicated. Save your horses legs by not overdoing it, once he performs the jump as desired tell him good job and move on to something different.
Consider wearing sport medicine boots. Honestly, I think these boots are more important for arena riding because they provide tendon and soft tissue support which may be needed when the horse sinks into soft ground. However, I see how these boots could benefit field riding because of this support, especially if the horse trips. Professional Choice boots claim is that it absorbs 26% of the impact from the hoof and as much as 45%. The testing was performed at Oklahoma University. I have successfully used sport medicine boots after my horse's torn suspensory (an injury result from sinking in deep sand footing when landing from a jump), it seemed to help with recovery.
Consider cold hosing or wrapping after a really hard workout. This may help in recovery. Just like people who train for triathlons or running whom religiously do hot/cold treatments and compression socks. There is actually compression socks for horses!
Another human athlete practice is stretching and application of pain relief ointments for example using icy hot on humans (don't use on horses). A similar practice may be performed before/after on your equine athlete. Vetrolin is similar to the human version of icy hot. Post workout stretching is the key to any athlete and I am surprised not more horse owners stretch their equine friends. Here is an extensive list of stretching techniques.
Ask your horse to move round. Don't let him invert and load his front legs with shock. Again, just like human runners, you want to practice good form to prevent injury.
Horses are different, my older gelding likes the stability of the hard ground. He has arthritis, a coffin bone chip, and an old deep flexor tear all that happened in his earlier life of being an arena horse. Since he has been out on hard ground he has not had one lameness issue and goes great. He doesn't have any major structural abnormalities though, where my other horse does. The younger horse has a club foot and sometimes working him on the hard ground intensifies the short stride of the club foot. The intensity of riding on the hard ground really depends on the horse's body and it's condition overall. Young horses should be especially careful as their bone structures are still developing.
I think arenas are great, but I do think they may be overrated at times. The best asset of an arena is not having rocks or uneven terrain. Many people create an arena that is too deep, which may cause lameness due to stress on ligaments and tendons. The horses that need to be most careful on hard terrain would be those that are use to living and being worked on soft ground. Horses that are conditioned for the hard ground usually do okay. I believe to some level horse's were built for riding in a grassy field, it is their natural environment. We have conditioned them to ride in arenas, but we are also doing more then what they are built to do, like jumping. Bottom line is listen to your horse, support him the best you can, and be reasonable about the workload on hard ground.
A new horse means new tack. Picking out new bridles and determining what color blankets and saddle pads a new horse will be wearing is at least half of the excitement. When Indy came along, I was shopping within 24 hours...could not resist, it is too fun!
Buying Indy was a total stab in the dark, I know nothing about the horse except he desperately needed a home. Not knowing his potential, I didn't want to blow hundreds on a new bridle or halter. I decided to shop around and fell upon the SmartPak brand halter and bridle. A friend told me she was rather impressed with their tack, so I thought it was worth a shot.
Both arrived in the mail today! The bridle was a pleasant surprise! Great quality with a soft feel, not stiff like most new bridles. The color was a deep, attractive chocolate brown and the stitching is flawless. Probably one of the better bridles I have owned. To give you an idea; I just had a Pessoa $300 bridle come in the mail and ended up returning it. Comparing the two bridles, I would say SmartPak is the better quality. This bridle is more then appropriate for local shows, schooling shows, or to have a nicer looking schooling bridle. In most cases, depending on show and class, I would say it is good enough for the 'A' shows too.
The halter was also great leather. A little more tough then the bridle, given that it is a halter that would make sense. Really liked the option of being able to choose my halter color. The only downside was not being able to choose the buckle material. My halter is black with gold buckles, I would have preferred silver. Either way, great quality on the halter. Quality wise, I would say the leather is one or two steps below the Walsh brand halters. If you want a nice halter without spending over $100, I would strongly suggest this halter.
All in all, I thought the items were a great deal and worth the money. SmartPak did not disappoint and I am considering buying more bridles from them for my other horses!
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