Tucker the Wunderkind

A Valentine

2012-02-14T07:30:00.000-05:00

Tucker asked me to post this today.... hoping that Sugar would login to facebook and find it. I thought it was too sweet not to share.

Also, Tucker has begged me not to show this to Hudson. He says he'll take away his stud card (I hate to break it to him...). Anyway, let's just keep this one between us girls.

Thank You

2012-02-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

I'm not really sure what the appropriate response is when one of your blog posts goes kind of viral and draws 100 times the traffic of a normal post... I mean I guess if I were really cool, I would just pretend like it's nothing and not even mention it. Since I've never really been all that cool though, I half expect people to start recognizing me on the street and the train platform. (I can just picture it. "Aren't you that girl, who writes that blog? You're hilarious!" "Who me? Oh, it's nothing really, but thank you so much," as I blush modestly.) Or maybe I'll get an email from Ryan's publicist threatening to have me thrown in internet jail if I don't stop convincing Ryan's adoring public that he's an equestrian (incidentally, Ryan, I'd be happy to meet you for lunch to discuss).

I've been told my next post needs to be incredibly funny, or really interesting and insightful, so that I somehow or other keep the thousands of new readers coming back. I've been told I need to do more Ryan Reynolds, or that I need to do Equestrian George Clooney (which I might still do, ladies), or that I need to do something else different but equally hysterical. Since I wasn't really sure what to do here, I figured I should just go with my gut.

So, this post is simply a Thank You. Thank you for visiting the site, thank you for laughing, thank you for commenting. Thank you for bookmarking, following, friending, liking, plus-one-ing, linking, and sharing with your friends. I realize it's just a silly little blog about a little girl and a big brown horse, and my last post was an even sillier little story about an imaginary handsome man who loves horses and horse-crazy chicks (an elusive creature I've been hoping to find my whole life). And I realize it's probably just those rock hard abs and that crooked grin that made you pass along that link... but I'm glad you did anyway.

It's just my tiny little corner of the internet, and I never thought anyone would really read it, but I am sort of proud of it. So seeing so many people stop by to read the last post, and then venture a little farther back through the archives to see what else I had to say, really made me smile. My 15 minutes of internet fame, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

So thanks, Tucker fans. I hope you'll keep on reading, and sharing, and commenting, and laughing.

p.s. -- While I have your attention, is there something you'd like me to cover? Something you want to see more of? Something that bores you to tears? If so, I'd love to know.

Equestrian Ryan Reynolds

2012-02-10T08:30:00.001-05:00

I'm sure by now you've seen Equestrian Ryan Gosling. It's been making the rounds. If it hasn't made its way to your corner of the internet yet, check it out. My hat's off to the creator. Seriously, so funny.

But as you know, imitation is the highest form of flattery, and I happen to partial to another Ryan... and his new movie is coming out today and all. So, I thought it would only be fitting to give you the TTW version of this concept: Equestrian Ryan Reynolds. Talk about every fantasy I've ever had....

Cures for What Ails You

2012-02-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

Several life events lately have sent me completely reeling (don't you hate when that happens), mostly non-horse related although I also had one of those "I'm ruining this horse" crises (probably just a side effect of the other life events), but at any rate, I've found a couple of sure-fire fixes that will, guaranteed, make you feel better.

Cure #1: Hug a Mini-Donkey

My roommate and I have long suspected that all of life's troubles would melt away simply by hugging a mini donkey. I field tested this theory, and it turns out to be true. The particular mini donkey I'm hugging in this photo is named Jelly Bean, and Puzzles is behind her. I love them. Puzzles is the precocious one, so she trots up to you first. But Jelly Bean is the snuggler. (Also, before agreeing to let me publish this photo, J.B. insisted that I let you know that her belly isn't that big. It's just her winter coat, she says. And while we're on the subject, I've got several winter layers on myself. Not that I couldn't stand to shed some holiday cheer. Ahem.) So my suggestion to you, if you find yourself in the midst of one of those horrible life events that leaves you grasping at straws and staring up at the sky in disbelief: Find a mini-donkey. Bribe it with food. And then squeeze it.

Cure #2: Encourage a Two-Year-Old's Pony Love

This is my niece, Ella. She is starting to love ponies, which, I assure you, I've had nothing to do with. I swear, she developed the ~~disease~~ ~~addiction~~ attraction all on her own. This particular rocking horse is only the second one I've purchased for her (along with only a dozen or so assorted stuffed animal ponies and unicorns). This one is pretty great because she calls him Tucker. And she pats him on the head and tells him he's a good boy. I'm teaching her to cluck. Which mostly just makes her laugh really hard. I also showed her the WEG Showjumping DVD and to my delight she clapped for the horses (she was in particular a fan of Phillipe Le Jeune's Vigo d'Arsouilles) and yelled "JUMP!" at every fence. Anyway, this child is a delight... if you have access to one like this, I highly recommend getting her a toy pony. It will definitely make you feel like at least some parts of the world are warm and fuzzy and covered in sunshine and rainbows.

Cure #3: Go Look at Your Horse.

Yeah I know this sounds like an obvious choice. But sometimes we get so caught up in the training, the program, the diet, the supplements, the tack, the gear, the yadda yadda yadda.... that we forget to stop and look at our horses. I did this the other night, just stepped back and took him in, and fell all back in love again. I looked at this gorgeous athlete and thought about how lucky I am to have him, and forgot for a minute about ruining him or improving his canter or wondering if we'll ever show in the High A/O's and I just remembered that at the end of the day, no matter what, I still acheived the dream I always had as a pony-crazed little girl. And then I realized he was looking right back at me with that goofy lovesick look on his face too. There is something about the singular way that a horse who loves you looks you right in the eye that can't even be put into words. So... there you have it. Tried and True Cure #3, go look at your horse.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a really good Friday Funny.

Update on Mclain Ward

2012-01-15T14:33:00.001-05:00

In case you haven't heard about this yet, Mclain Ward suffered a shattered kneecap (though originally reported as a broken femur) in a fall during the Grand Prix in Wellington yesterday. For the full story, please read yesterday's post first.

I haven't been able to find too much news yet, but there is an update reported on the COTH thread. According to someone who spoke with Lee McKeever (Mclain's barn manager, and one of the members of Sapphire's "team"), Mclain's surgery went very well last night, three of the four parts of the fracture are now held together with wires and pins, and another piece was removed. At this point, Mclain's doctors are estimating eight to ten weeks of no weight bearing, and a total of twelve weeks before riding.

Of course, the biggest question on everyone's mind right now is the Olympics, and whether one of the strongest members of our team will be able to participate. Given the schedule above, it doesn't sound like Mclain will be riding before the Olympic trials in March, but at this point that's speculation, and I am going to remain optimistic where one of my heroes is concerned.

Even if the trials don't happen, there is still a chance Mclain will be able to participate. As this Star-Ledger article pointed out, "[i]f Ward misses the trials but heals after that, he could still have a shot at the team as a subjective choice, provided he is able to ride and do well in a series of observation shows during the spring." If anyone can pass a subjective test, it's Mclain Ward. A Phelps Sports article issued this evening also stated that it's possible that Mclain will receive a bye to perform in the Olympics, given that Sapphire ("Sara") has two gold medals and Antares F ("Andy") has a gold medal from the Pan Am games.

I am not going to give up hope. An athlete of his caliber certainly has access to the best medical care and all possible advantages for a speedy recovery. For now, I simply wish Mclain a quick return to health and the horses and sport that he loves.

Mclain Ward Injured at WEF

2012-01-14T23:25:00.001-05:00

I bring you, unfortunately, heartbreaking news. Mclain Ward was injured tonight during the Grand Prix in Wellington. And in the same week that Sapphire went back to work. Ugh, just such terrible news.

Here is the story reported by COTH as of tonight:

Top show jumper Mclain Ward has broken his leg in a fall during the $30,000 Surpass Grand Prix in Wellington, Fla., on the evening of Jan. 14.

Ward’s mount in the class, Oh 'd Eole, veered to the left jumping out of a combination and both she and Ward fell. Medics attended to Ward, who was transported out of the ring in a medical golf cart and then to Wellington Regional Medical Center. The horse was unhurt in the fall.

According to his barn manager, Erica McKeever, Ward suffered a compound fracture of the patella, or a shattered knee cap, and is being attended by specialists at Wellington Regional including orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Craig Ferrell. As of 11:00 p.m., he was being prepped for surgery. The Chronicle will update readers on Ward's status tomorrow.

Ward and Oh 'd Eole won the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 on Jan. 12.

According to this thread containing posts from folks who were on the scene, however, Mclain suffered a compound fracture to his femur and a dislocated patella. I'm not sure which is the most reliable source of information, but in any event, it was a bad fall and a serious injury. I will do another blog post once I have more information.

Wishing Mclain all the best and a very speedy recovery.

Your Friday Fantastic

2012-01-13T07:30:00.000-05:00

That's right, not a Friday Funny, but a Friday Fantastic.

I started watching this video and thought, "oh cool, I did a drill ride like this in high school." Then around 0:46 I realized I did NOT do anything of the sort. You'll have to see it for yourself.

Disclaimer: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. And for goodness sake, wear a helmet. And with that said, on to the video.

These horses -- and riders -- are incredible.

Tucker Joined Facebook!

2012-01-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

Well, okay, in fairness, I signed up for facebook on his behalf. I never let him NEAR any device with access to the internet. I don't need 20lb bags of treats auto-shipped with my Smartpaks every month.

Anyway... I created a facebook page for the best big brown horse in the world, so now you can "follow" us on the Book. Mainly I wanted a space where I could share all of my favorite pictures of my boy, and I'm hoping it will attract additional readers to the blog and even further expand this wonderful community of readers that we currently have.

I will continue to add more photos, will use the page to provide short Tucker updates in between blog posts (or when things get crazy busy for me), and upcoming blog posts will automatically be published there. You can also post comments and questions for me there (hopefully nice ones?). I also plan to use it as a space to share some of the funny horse-related stuff and interesting equine news items I find. It's funny, I fought joining facebook forever, and now I can't really imagine how we ever did without it. I am a fan of facebook. Sue me.*

So what are you waiting for? Click that badge over there on the sidebar. Or click this link.

Thanks friends!

______________________________
* Please don't literally sue me. I would rather not have The Social Network II star a short brunette with glasses, nor have its plot loosely based on my real life events.

New Chapter

2012-01-10T13:03:00.000-05:00

It seems that even I can't escape the tendency to start fresh at the start of a new year, even though I generally don't like the New Year's holiday and think resolutions are typically setting oneself up for failure... I digress. The point of this post is that Tucker and I are about to start a new chapter, one which hopefully you'll all enjoy following along with.

You may have noticed I haven't been blogging about taking lessons lately... that's because I haven't been. It started for financial reasons, and then I was really busy for a while, and then I got sick... long story short, I've been doing my own thing for the past few months, with the exception of attending a clinic once in October and once in November. I thought I'd be missing my lessons terribly, but the truth is, I don't. And that's not a dig at trainers or at anyone in particular, and that's in no way shape or form to be interpreted as saying I don't need help (because I do, and I will), I've just been really enjoying figuring things out myself. Which came as a surprise to me.

The thing about my schedule is that I work long hours during the week, so I don't get to the farm until around 7 or 8 pm. While I still try to give my horse a good solid ride, sometimes Tucker and I aren't doing much more than getting his parts moving and enjoying each others' company. Which is something I'm completely fine with, and enjoy. To be perfectly honest with myself and you, though, I really don't have the focus, the energy, or the time to have an in-depth training session during the week. So that means I do most of my "substantive" riding on the weekends.

I had to take a step back and slow things down a while to realize this. Now that I've had some time without taking lessons every weekend, I've realized that if I take a lesson or show every weekend, I'm not really practicing in between. The truth is I am still working on things that I learned in my clinics, and those were months ago. And since I haven't signed up for the Olympics, I'm really in no hurry and would rather figure things out right and really "fix" them before I move on to the next project.

Since I'm not taking lessons regularly though, it means I'm not jumping as much. I try to set jumps for myself, but I don't want to be in the way of the other riders, and I can only do so much getting on and off to adjust the fences for myself, so I usually end up setting something very simple, or just jumping whatever little fences are set up for the lessons. Again, not such a bad thing, since we've been practicing fundamentals like pace, rhythm and straightness, but if we are going to be ready to jump around a 3' course again in the Spring, we need to do a little more.

For that reason, I've made the somewhat difficult decision to move Tucker to a new farm.* This came as another surprise to me, because I love my current farm. The facility is great, they get tons of turnout, nice rings, access to trails, I get along with all the other boarders there, and Cindy takes excellent care of my boy.   Plus, I love being the one making all the decisions about his feed, his program, what he needs and doesn't need, without feeling the need to conform to a trainer's "system" or "program." For the past year and a half, Tucker and I have been extremely happy there. So I've never considered moving him.

Then I started toying with the idea of getting an apartment of my own (which has since been abandoned because my roommate and I realized we'd be very unhappy if I did). One of the apartments I looked at was near the farm where my friend Kathleen boards, which sparked the conversation that a stall was opening up there, and got me to thinking about how this could be a great next move for Tucker and me. We'd have many of the same benefits we have now (great care, nice facility, trails, lots of turnout), and the added bonus of a fellow h/j amateur and friend on site.  We can help each other with setting jumps, building courses and grids, and grooming at horse shows. Neither one of us is riding with a trainer on a regular basis at the moment, so we've got a similar mindset. We'll call it the Amateurs-Helping-Amateurs experiment!

So it's settled now, Tucker and I will be moving to our new home at the end of February. I am very excited to be starting the new leg of our journey. Sorry for the somewhat long-winded post, but I had a lot to catch you guys up on!
_____________________________________

*This means a stall is opening up at my current farm. You've heard me rave about it, so if you are in the Mercer County NJ area and looking for affordable, quality boarding, email me at tuckerthewunderkind@gmail.com.

Horsemastership: Do Try this at Home

2012-01-09T16:30:00.000-05:00

So this weekend Tucker and I made plans to visit my friend Kathleen, at the farm where she keeps her horses, so that we could set up a gymnastic exercise for each other and jump Tucker and her horse through it. I had of course watched the Horsemastership sessions last week, and I was itching to try out the gymnastics that Kent Farrington had set up on Day 2. I had set up one of the simplest exercises the night before in our ring, which Tucker of course mastered almost immediately.

Crossrail with rail set 9 feet in front, and 9 feet behind

Needless to say I was more than happy to see, when I pulled up to the farm, that Kathleen was in the process of setting up the very same gymnastics I had in mind. We modified the exercise slightly to work with our ring dimensions, but the purpose was the same -- to get the horse to work out his balance himself and jump correctly, and to correct and steady the rider's position. We also had a five-stride outside line set to be a little bit forward, so that we could practice collection in the gymnastic and then going forward again in the line.

Tucker was a superstar. We had the exercise pictured above at the end of the ring, on the short side, and then down the center line we had a gymnastic of four x-rails in a row, set 18 feet apart, with a rail nine feet in front, nine feet behind, and exactly in the between each jump. In other words: ground rail - 9 feet - crossrail - 9 feet - ground rail - 9 feet - cross rail, and so on. I would jump the exercise above on a circle, then down the long side of the ring, and up the center line through the gymnastic, landing and turning the opposite way and repeating that in the other direction. Tucker was very clever about it right from the start, read the distances and regulated himself accordingly with very little assistance from me.

I worked on keeping my thumbs on top of the reins (per Kent Farrington), sitting on my "fanny" (per Anne Kursinski), and not getting ahead of the horse (per Mclain Ward). Incidentally -- in case I needed more absolute proof that I haven't been working hard enough as of late -- my core is aching today. My back, my sides, and my abs feel like I was rock climbing or maybe dead lifting yesterday. But, at least I'm pretty sure that means I was doing it right!

Once the gymanstic was flowing easily, we added the five-stride outside line to the exercise. Here, I had to go back to what I learned recently from another great mind, Eric Horgan, and get my "magic canter." The first time I headed to the line I crawled out of the corner and Tucker came to a pitiful slow motion stop. He would have jumped it (saintly horse that he is), but I pretty much begged him to woah as I realized we were about to leave from a dead halt. I struggled down the line once or twice and had to leg him out of it, but after talking it through with Kathleen, I came back around with a more engaged, more forward, more flowing canter and then found the right distance out of the corner every time, and easily cantered down the line. That's the thing about getting your horse willing and accepting of your requests to collect... you have to turn your brain on and ask him to go forward again when you need it. (Can you picture him rolling his eyes at me when I finally figured it out?)

When we made the crossrails bigger (we opted for huge x's instead of making them verticals), Tucker got himself into trouble the first time through, but it was a great lesson for him. He tried to give himself more room when the jumps got bigger and drift to the left instead of collecting -- which is a common Tucker solution -- but in doing so, found himself having to jump out over the high side of the last x, which was about 3'6". He managed to get himself over it, but the next time he came around and didn't even think about drifting one way or another... which was exactly the lesson I wanted him to learn. Kathleen reminded me to help him and "be part of the team" (another piece of advice we got from Kent F), so I found a better distance to the first ground rail, and then used my voice to help him slow down in the gymanstic. We did that a few more times and since Tucker was so good, we quit on that note.

So, all in all, a wonderful school, both for me and for Tucker. As I mentioned in my last post, I highly recommend watching the Horsemastership clinics on the USEF network. It's like auditing a clinic from some of the country's best trainers and riders, for free, in your pj's (with a glass of wine in hand, if you're so inclined). Tucker also recommends setting up some of the simple exercises they use, if you and your horse are up for it. Tucker feels that they are not only good for horses, but also great for their humans (who, sometimes, tend to be slower learners than their equine partners).

2012 George H. Morris Horsemastership Training

2012-01-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, despite what this thread would lead you to believe, it appears that Mr. Morris is in fact a mere mortal (could have fooled me... I mean, have you seen this?), and has been feeling under the weather. Fortunately, some of the most talented athletes in showjumping stepped in to teach this year's Horsemastership Sessions. What an amazing opportunity for the young riders participating in these clinics.

I have been reading the articles on the Chronicle, which you can find here:

Day One, Ann Kursinski and Beezie Madden
Day Two, Kent Farrington
Day Three, Mclain Ward

It is my new life's ambition to clinic with Mr. Ward. I don't care if it takes years for me to make this happen. I will ride with him. Oh yes, I will. And not just because I used to think he was cute when we were both still in the pony ring (Literally a lifetime ago. Interestingly enough my riding career did not pan out as well as his. Go figure). He focuses on the fundamentals, the reasons why a proper position is important, and boy does it show in his riding. He rides every Grand Prix course like he's trying to win the Maclay. (Maybe he is. He did come in second in 1993.)

I haven't watched the videos of the Horsemastership Sessions yet (darn working for a living thing getting in the way of my riding again), but I plan to snuggle up under the covers tonight and watch them all online. You can watch the videos online for free on the USEF Network, here.

Can't wait to pick up some tips and try them out this weekend! Of course, remember what happened when I said that last year?

In Which Tucker Does Math

2012-01-03T19:15:00.002-05:00

So I've been getting on Tucker's case lately about collection, particularly at the canter. After we've trotted and cantered and loosened everything up, and I go back to my canter work, I have been working on extension and collection. And the conversation goes something like this:

Me: Great canter. Now let's collect it for a few strides in the middle of this long side.

Tucker: NO. THIS IS STUPID. STOPPIT RIGHT NOW. STUPID! STUPID I SAY!

Me: Wasn't really a question. More of a command. Let's try again. Collect. Now. Please. And no bouncing up and down this time.

Tucker: FINE. (This is still stupid.) What is the point of taking longer to get somewhere? I could get us there much more efficiently if you'd leave me alone. Have I mentioned this is stupid?

Me: You mentioned. That's all I wanted though, thank you. Now extend, please.

Tucker: Well now THIS is more like it. Now we're talking! I could get down this long side in even less strides, by the way, if you'd care to tempt me.

Me: Quite alright. That'll do for now.

As I mentioned in my last post, I thought that placing some ground poles might make this conversation a little more... productive. So for one of my following rides over the weekend, I placed two poles on the center line, without walking the distance between them, so that I'd have to ride it off my eye.

The first time through I did nothing, just to see how it went. Since Tucker was a bit surprised by the poles, he put six strides between them. The next time, I gave him some gentle encouragement with my leg and he easily put in five strides. Then I asked him to collect a little and go back to six. No problem.

Me: So what happened to "this is stupid"?

Tucker: Well now that we are counting strides, this makes all the sense in the world. We're judged on how many strides we put in the lines. So we need to practice this. Duh. Everybody knows that.

Back to our line of poles. The next time through, I wanted to see if we could collect some more. So I asked for seven. Once again, no problem. Not even the slightest objection. From the same horse that thought the exact same aids were COMPLETELY STUPID the night before.

Then I wanted to go back to five strides, so I turned up the center line and really sent him forward, thinking he'd be expecting to collect. And then he got there in four. Seven, and then, FOUR. I think I can stop worrying about his ability to extend and collect.

We played around with this for a while because I was having fun and Tucker wasn't the least bit bored or annoyed. As I'd turn the corner I'd just randomly pick a number between four and seven, and that's what we'd do. And Tucker nailed it. Every. Single. Time. Such a good boy. Incidentally, I walked the line when I was done riding and it was about 60'. Which means he was adjusting his canter stride from about 8.5' to 15'. Not too shabby!

When I was in high school, I hated Algebra. Made no sense to me at all. Then I took Physics, and I barely even realized I was doing Algebra again, because we were applying it to something practical and interesting. Tucker apparently agrees. Collecting for its own sake is simply pointless and boring. But applying it to something practical (jumping), is something in which Tucker is most definitely interested.

Do you think I could teach him to count strides? Would be one less thing for me to worry about in the ring...

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

2011-12-28T12:15:00.000-05:00

Once the holidays are over, don't you breathe a sigh of relief that things can go back to normal? I always do. Not quite there yet since we still have New Year's to get through (my least favorite holiday, to be sure), but at least Tucker is getting back to his regularly scheduled programming and back into a better riding routine after my hiaitus, which I spent doing a lot of sneezing, coughing, sleeping, and cat-warming:

Lilly

Sterling

Yes those are the world's two most adorable cats. I completely agree. Terrible nurses, though. Always asleep on the job.

Anyway, now that I am back, so is Tucker. He came back to work feeling a little stiff and weak behind. I noticed that at the walk, he was really twisting his hind feet as he placed them on the ground, and looked stiff through his stifle and lower back. Once on his back, he just felt tight underneath me, like he was walking with his hind legs way out behind him, which I noticed went away by the end of the ride. So, we have been doing lots of long and low trotting, making him push forward instead of just plunk along, trying to get his back looser and hind end stronger (wish I could do hill work, but unfortunately not this time of year). He doesn't seem to mind the work at all and has been better with each ride, so I think the stiffness was due to time off, particularly in the cold weather and with less turnout that he'd usually have in the summer, and so far doesn't seem to be anything that concerns me.

Last week I got an early Christmas present, a visit with Nicku, who did me the honor of riding my lovely beast while she was here. She did a fabulous job with him and it was awesome for me to get to see my horse go, which is a very rare occasion for me since I'm always on board. Once Tucker got over his disappointment that this would not be just a pony ride, and Nicku figured out that Tucker's "go" button is more like a hair trigger (especially for someone with super strong dressage legs!), they made a really great pair. She also made a couple of observations that have really helped me in my last few rides. Another reason I love having someone else sit on my horse -- there is always something to learn from a fresh perspective, and I love when amateurs can help fellow amateurs.

First, Nicku noticed that Tucker doesn't want to take the outside rein. I think I have been working so hard on keeping my hands steady and keeping an even contact on both reins that I've gone too far and started letting him rely on the inside rein too much, to the exclusion of the outside rein. Which of course encourages him to lean in, and gives him the opportunity to bulge through his outside shoulder, two tricks that he finds very useful to avoid working too hard depending on what's being asked of him. So we have been working on that. I still want him to be balanced on both reins, but I don't want him to avoid/resist contact on the outside rein, which he's doing now.

Second, Nicku echoed Eric's advice, which is to do transitions within the gaits. We've been working on this... Tucker generally finds this completely stupid ("You said trot and I am trotting. What do you want now? Make up your mind lady. Sheesh."). The extensions are easier for him, mostly because of the way he is built and because he naturally has an 18-foot canter stride. But he can be a bit lazy, so the first couple are always sort of... pathetic. So we are working on getting him to be a bit more... responsive. I am trying to hear Eric's voice in my head yelling at me to GALLOP. I actually had some great hand gallops down the long sides of the arena on Saturday, so things are improving.

The collections are another story. His answer to the collected trot is to walk, and the collected canter to trot. I'm getting better about catching him with my leg before he actually breaks, but it's a fine line and he tends to get frustrated and confused easily (or at least feigns confusion well enough to disrupt the exercise). For now, since he is still building up his strength, I am only asking for a few collected strides at a time, but eventually I want him to be able (and willing) to hold a collected trot or canter for as long as I ask, and then go forward again when I ask, etc. Preferably, without making any executive decisions to change gaits entirely (which is both counter-productive and humiliating, since it makes me feel like a little girl who can't make her pony go).

I doubt he will ever enjoy this work, but I am hoping that in time he will tolerate it. I may go back to collecting and extending between poles on the ground, since he at least believes there is a point to this exercise, as it relates somewhat to jumping. If all else fails, I'm not above bribing him with stud muffins and canada mints, a fact of which he is well aware.

As to be Expected....

2011-12-18T13:17:00.000-05:00

... when you have to give your horse two weeks off in the middle of winter (stupid flu)... This pretty much sums up the ride yesterday:

It began with dancing and prancing in place on the cross-ties, and pawing dramatically whenever I left his side. Charming, absolutely charming. Delightful, in fact. At least he gives you fair warning though. Sort of a "mount at your own risk" signal.

Down to the ring we went, where I kept a firm grip on the reins (I can be taught), and hand-walked him around for a while, so the cute kid on her palomino pony could finish her lesson in peace. As soon as she left the ring, I let Tucker run around for a few minutes ... and run he did. Absolute mayhem, though he seemed to be having a ball.

Tucker's favorite moves:

1. The Chicken: Gallop as fast as you can straight toward mom, dive left as soon as you see the whites of her eyes. Best to wait until she puts her arms up in alarm. Freaks her out every time.

2. The Squeaky Toy: Gallop as fast as you can down the length of the arena, and when you get to the end, toss your head as hard as you can, spin in place, and squeak repeatedly.

3. The Hover Craft: Come to a complete halt. Turn to be sure that mom is looking. Jump straight up into the air with all four feet. Land bucking. Bonus points added for extra hang time.

4. The Wild Stallion: Extended trot across the arena, nose to ground, tail flagged, snorting as you go. Stop short. Raise your head as high as it will go so you appear at least 18hh tall. Snort some more. Take off at full gallop, pretending to hear/see something terrifying.

5. The My Little Pony: Without warning, decide to be done playing. Calmly trot or walk to mom. Place forehead against mom's chest. Wait for ear rubs. Snuffle pockets for treats.

What Not to Wear: Hunter Ring Edition

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Chronicle ran an article this week called "Hunter Fashion Dos and Don'ts." I usually love the COTH articles, but I have to be honest, I thought this one missed the mark. First off... what do I really want to see in the hunter ring? A beautiful, healthy, well-muscled (read, not obese) horse with a balanced uphill canter, a round athletic jump, and a rider who maintains her own center of gravity between, over, and after the fences. Those are the rounds that take my breath away. I have never had my breath taken away because I noticed that someone is wearing "the right breeches." But just for a moment, let's put aside the fact that we should be concentrating on performance, not fashion. This is hard for me to do, because I have defended the hunters more times than I can count as "more than just a beauty contest."

In a way, though, performance and rider attire do go hand-in-hand. The one point the article made, with which I did wholeheartedly agree, is that the rider's attire should never distract from the horse, who should be the main focus in the hunter ring (same goes for the rider's equitation, but again, off topic for today). One of my favorite hunter riders to watch is Amanda Steege, and what I love about her riding is that I don't even notice her.

Other than this point, though, I thought the article otherwise missed the boat. First, because it ignored some majorly glaring fashion faux pas that are rampant in the hunter ring, and second, because the article seemed to focus too much on the expensive parts of the hunter look, rather than what is necessary and appropriate. So here we go... "What Not to Wear: Hunter Ring Edition," by Tucker the Wunderkind. In order of importance, here is what I think is absolutely necessary to look your best in the hunter ring -- and ways to make it happen even on a shoe-string budget.

1. A sparkling clean, neatly clipped horse. You're there to show the horse off... so why on earth would you let him walk in not looking his very best? There is nothing less attractive to me than a horse going into the ring with a brown tint to his gray dapples, or a layer of dust visible form 100 yards. It takes nothing more than a lot of elbow grease and a willingness to rise at o'dark hundred to get a horse's coat looking nice for the show ring. (Hint: daily currying, and a swig of corn oil in their dinner, goes a long way to making them shine.) I also think it is imperative that hunters have whiskers, ears, a bridle path, white socks, and coronet bands clipped. I don't care if Pookie doesn't like it. Find a way (I prefer bribery). White socks just won't get white if the hair is too long, and if you think no one notices that her muzzle isn't shaved... well, I do.

2. Shiny tall boots. Note, I did not say expensive, custom, or embelished with alligator skin and tiny little rhinestones. No one can tell what brand you are wearing when they are on your feet. So long as they fit well, and you take really good care of them, they will do just fine. The boots I show in are the same ones I bought myself when I was 13, with my babysitting money. It pains me to add up exactly how old they are, but apart from having them resoled because the tread was getting slick, they are still in great shape and give us that polished ready-for-success look -- for the hefty investment of under $5 per year.

3. Clean, well-oiled tack. You'd think this would be a no-brainer. But you'd also be amazed to see how many people cut corners in this department. Tack should be a rich brown color, which means it needs to be cleaned regularly and oiled properly (once again, there are lots of inexpensive, good quality bridles out there. If you take good care of it, no one will know it didn't cost you half a paycheck). Clean tack includes a clean bit, a clean saddle pad, and a clean saddle. Giving the reins and the nose band a once-over doesn't cut it, in my book.

4. Good braids. I've heard the debate about doing away with braiding altogether because it's "so expensive." Guess how much I spend on braiding every year? About $10 in yarn, sharp scissors, a pull-through and a seam ripper. Braiding stinks, it hurts my back and makes my fingers cramp, but you have to admit, there is nothing more elegant than a well-braided horse. Braids should be tiny, lay flat against the neck, not twist, and be relatively uniform. If you're not braiding, make sure the mane is neatly pulled, laying flat (I spray with Quic Braid for this), and the tail is brushed out thoroughly. Tucker uses a fake tail, because he's not naturally blessed in that department, though I disagree with the suggestion in the COTH article that a fake is de rigeur.

5. Well-fitting breeches. I don't know what "the right breeches" are, Mr. Dignelli, but I do know what wrong breeches look like. Bad breeches are either skin tight (visible panty lines, is that really what you want people to notice over that two-stride?) or too baggy (sure, I almost pee a little if the jumps get big, but do I really want people thinking I'm wearing an adult diaper?). Try on lots of different brands at different price points, figure out which ones flatter you the most, and if they are going to break the bank, search for an online sale, stalk the consignment racks at your local tack store, or comb e-bay and the COTH classifieds until you find a pair in your size (you will eventually, I promise). I personally love the way the RJ Classics Ocala sidezip breeches fit me, but they are pretty pricey (IMO), so I only have two pairs (that only come out for clinics and shows) and I waited for a sale to buy them. I also seriously dislike super low rise breeches -- particularly with shadbellies. It's a no-no in my book.

6. A classic coat and showshirt. If you really want to get the look just right, you can never go wrong with a navy jacket and white show shirt. Here's another insider's tip for you: show coats go on sale all the time! Don't ever buy one at full price! I have purchased all my show coats (and I have a pretty decent selection at this point) either on consignment (one of my favorites, a classic hunter green one, was $25), or on at least 50% sale. My navy coat was free... someone at one of my former barns gave it to me because it didn't fit her anymore. All I had to do was hem the sleeves. Moral of the story? If you find a really good deal on a coat that fits okay, it's worth taking to a tailor to get it just right. Just make sure you show them that you need full range of motion in your arms. And of course, you can always try your luck at winning a gorgeous new hunt coat from Get My Fix, who is currently offering a gorgeous custom Hayward coat (and frequently offers lots of good giveaways). I'd absolutely love a wool one in navy, though I'd opt to skip the piping on the collar.

7. Black gloves. Non-negotiable in my opinion. You have to wear gloves in the hunters, and they should be dark, otherwise attention is drawn away from the horse and to your hands. Personally, this is one area where I think form meets function, because the right gloves, ones with a tackified grip, will help you keep a good feel on the reins. These Roeckl gloves are my favorite for summer, and these SSG gloves are my favorite for winter.

8. Hunter hair. I know, hair nets are stupid and you hate putting your hair up. But snoods are out of fashion in the hunter ring, and ponytails are out of the question if you're over age 8 (and even then, there should be two braids. With appropriately sized bows, people). I personally love the One Knot Hairnets, because they avoid the painful bump in the middle of your forehead from that second knot. If you need help, go here and type "hunter hair" into the search box. You'll find several threads where people will go on endlessly about how they do it. Just make sure the sides and the back are neat and tidy and your hairnet isn't showing below the brim of your hat and across your face. And while we're on the subject of your face, it doesn't hurt to run a baby wipe over it to remove the really obvious grime, but a full face of makeup while on a horse just seems wrong to me.

9. A conservative belt. Keep the bling for your Sunday hacks, a night out line-dancing, and maybe the jumper ring. Your belt should never, ever, be something someone notices in the hunter ring. I have a nice brown one with a brass buckle that I like, but black works too. Just keep the buckle small and be sure the width of the belt matches your belt loops.

10. The finishing touches. These are the last minute things you do (when time allows) at the in-gate to give you and your horse the extra little wow factor. Here is what I recommend. Wipe the horse over with a towel spritzed with rubbing alcohol, which will lift any dust that's landed on him during schooling. Wipe the eyes, nose, and mouth with a wet towel. It will darken these areas, which makes their faces shine, and remove gook. I also only feed him Canada Mints as treats on show days, so we never have green/brown/orange/pink lipstick. I don't use hoof oil (personal preference), but I do use a hoof brush to make sure his hooves don't have any caked dirt on them. Brush the ends of the tail so it flows nicely. Baby powder the white socks. Lint roll your show coat (if necessary). Wipe off your boots, or if possible, hop on the horse and then have a friend wipe them off. Now just breathe.

And there you have it... my suggestions for looking your very best in the hunter ring. It won't stop you from missing on that long approach diagonal oxer, but at least you'll do it in style.

Give Your Dreams a Chance

2011-12-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

First, a Quick Tucker Update: He's been pretty great since his little runaway episode (probably feeling guilty), but I've had the flu (ugh) and haven't seen the poor beast in over a week. I texted my barn manager today to request that she let him know he's not orphaned. I intend to see him soon. On to the blog post....

* * *

So today, as per usual, I dropped off my dollar contributing to my office pool's chance at winning the Mega Millions... since I sure don't want to be one of the few employees left who didn't become an overnight millionaire... you never know.

As I ate my lunch, I got to thinking.... what would be on my millionaire's shopping list?

Well, first and foremost, I'd buy a super fancy A/O Hunter. Something along these lines:

Lumiere and Jane Gaston (photo from Bigeq.com)

Could you just die for this horse? So beautiful...

No don't worry, of course I'd never get rid of Tucker. He'd just become a jumper and I'd play in both rings. Which, of course, would require a new wardrobe for him. No more fancy stitched padded nosebands for him, no sir. I'll take a figure-8 and some brass clinchers, please. And defnitely a set of these Veredus open-front boots. Given the size of our ears, we probably need a custom bonnet, too. Not to mention that all the horses would need coordinating winter wardrobes (like these, and these). Looks like I better put Smartpak on speed dial as soon as I win....

Then I'd need a pony for my niece (well, we'll say it's for her, but really I just want a pony), and obviously the pony would need a friend, so I think a mini donkey is in order.

Of course, I have a European vacation I'd like to take too.... And let's not forget that when I'm in Holland, I'll probably want to bring a nice young prospect home with me... (You see where this is going. Can you imagine how many animals I would end up with?)

And then of course I'll need something to transport my noble steeds in, since I plan to travel up and down the East Coast depositing at least some of my millions to the good folks at HITS. My current pickup and two-horse trailer just won't do. Nope, I'm definitely going to need something more like this:

The Sundowner 14' Limited Edition, please.

Naturally, I'll need something to pull it with. I think this F-450 King Ranch ought to do the trick. Have you ever been in one of those things? Oh boy would I love having one to call my own....

As for a home base? I'm not asking for much. Twenty or so acres, big enough for a nice barn, rings, plenty of turnout, and some little trails. Oh and I guess I'll need a place to live. How about a pretty little cottage overlooking the turnout fields? Maybe something with a stone fireplace, big picture windows, and a nice front porch? Just something warm and cozy for me and the beagles and the jack russells....

And then there's the barn.... let's spare no expense here. Give me all the ameneties. A big wide center aisle, plenty of cross-ventilation, those gorgeous Euro stalls with brass finials. These would suit me quite nicely:

www.kingbarns.com

(Go ahead and click that link. You know you want to see more pretty barns.)

Then we'll need some super fancy grooming bays, and big, well draining wash stalls. Including one heated and enclosed wash stall. I'd venture a guess that something like this would make me happy:

I'm thinking about 8 stalls would be just right. And all the stalls would have custom-designed automatic waterers with built-in heaters, and slide-out feed bins for quick feeding, and a drop down from the hayloft for hay, and a recessed ceiling fan, and a trunk in front of each stall just for their blankets, and a dutch door that led outside, with an overhang to keep the hot sun and the rain out of their faces.

Outside, I'd have big turnout pastures with run-ins and four-board fencing, and smaller stone dust paddocks for the really wet weather, and a trail around the perimeter of the paddocks with stone dust footing for hacking. And of course, a nice indoor ring close to the barn with crushed leather footing, big mirrors, and a heated viewing room, an outdoor ring with sand and stone dust footing and a watering system, and a grass jumping field. And lots and lots of pretty jumps.

Let's see... and for the humans... a nice lounge (with a well stocked bar please!), and a big feed room with a fridge and a sink, and a tack room full of brass hardware and wooden trunks and gorgeous leather.... Can you picture it? I'd invite all my favorite horsey friends to come and board with me in horse heaven.

Whew... now that was fun!

So tell me, what would be on your list? And what am I forgetting?

Thanks a Lot Buddy.

2011-11-26T10:06:00.001-05:00

Those were the words that came out of my mouth as I watched my horse gallop and buck away from me and off into the distance as I stood dumbfounded in our outdoor arena. The day after we are supposed to spend 24 hours being grateful for everything we have, I was reminded of what I am generally grateful I don't have. And that's a large, brown, obnoxious and recalcitrant creature hell-bent on being a complete imbecile, endangering others, and risking his own life for absolutely no reason at all. (Yes, I'm still mad at him. Don't worry, it won't last.)

Let me paint the picture for you. I have the day off from work. It's gorgeous out. Sunny, blue skies, no wind. I have to pull off my long johns when I get to the barn. It is unseasonably perfect weather. Naturally, I wanted to ride outside, and I figured that since I had ridden outside at my clinic last week it wouldn't be that big of a deal for that big brown ~~moron~~ ~~monster~~ horse I own. I did put a slightly stronger bit in his mouth though, figuring I'd probably need it. I'm not completely dumb.

So we get out to the arena and I set up a few small jumps, figuring we'd had two good flat work sessions this week and I'd practice what I learned at my clinic last weekend. Tucker followed me around like a dog, as per usual, ears at half mast. So I bring him back to the mounting block, tighten my girth, throw the reins over his head, pull my cooler halfway back, pull down one stirrup, and then pull down the other.

For reasons that no human will ever understand, the sound of the second stirrup hitting the end of the leather (a sound no horse has never heard before, obviously) signaled such severe and significant danger that Tucker leapt from a standstill to a gallop in a nanosecond. In part of that nanosecond, I still had one finger on the reins and contemplated possibly hanging on to him. And then he kicked out at me. Yeah. That's right. Attack the mother. Good idea. Thanks a lot buddy.

As he galloped a circle around me, depositing his (newly laundered) cooler neatly in a mud puddle as he went, I thought I might be able to head him off at the in-gate and prevent a complete disaster. I, of course, thought wrong, because a human trying not to run and frighten her horse is obviously much slower than a 17 hand warmblood barreling forward at Mach 10 on high alert. And out the gate he went.

My first thought of course is on the riders in the indoor, who were probably not expecting a large brown ~~idiot~~ streak of horse-shaped fury to come charging past the open doors. Not to worry, they were all smart enough to dismount as soon as they saw this ~~nonsense~~ potential disaster unfolding.

I head out after him, realizing as I go that my ~~special needs~~ special horse is now headed for the driveway, possibly the parking lot, possibly the road. As my wheels start turning I go from a brisk walk, to a jog, to a sprint. By the time I find him, I realize I am running faster than I thought possible, and may have stopped breathing a while back. I stop, panting, on the other end of the farm, where I find him trotting up and down the fence lines between the turnout fields, successfully agitating nearly every horse on the property in the process. Luckily, he's in an alley way with a gate on both ends. I shut the gate behind me, a smart move that experience has taught me. Tucker does not do well when he gets loose. He tends to panic, assume he is in trouble (I wonder why one would feel guilty after running away from and kicking out at one's human?), and will run blindly away from any and all two legged creatures, oblivious to all other potential danger.

So after an exasperating few minutes worthy of a three stooges skit, chasing my ~~evil~~ ~~stupid~~ ~~ridiculous~~ ~~free to a good home~~ panicked horse back and forth and up and down this alley, mud splattering everywhere, expletives flying, all much to the amusement of my four legged onlookers, I finally reach out and grab the reins (which, by some miracle, have stayed over his head) as he gallops past, and he spins in a circle around me, nearly dislocating my shoulder in the process. Did you all read about when Fen got loose, and how he came straight to FarmWife when she appeared? This was not exactly like that. One would hope with ears as big as my horse has, that he might have some mulish qualities. Apparently not on this particular day.

After making sure that the poor frightened mare turned out in the round pen had been caught, and seeing that the horses in turnout were quieting down, I march him back across the property to the outdoor ring. He is still snorting and prancing and generally carrying on like he's just been extremely brave in the face of certain death. I grab my lunge line out of my trailer as we walk past. He begins to humble at the mere sight of it. He knows what's coming. After a quick discussion about how we do not LEAP or STRIKE as we walk away from our mother on the lunge line, but rather we walk calmly in a circle until we are asked to TROT, and not GALLOP, Tucker finally begins to re-inhabit his own body. As I watch him trot around and around, I can see the old familiar "but I HATE the circle game... this is soooooo stoooooooopid.... whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...." expression on his face. After a few more minutes of this torture, mostly for my own edification, I let him walk for a bit and then climb aboard.

The ride was great. He was actually very well behaved. And I made him work his little tail off. We did not, however, get to any of the little jumps I had set up, nor did I work on too many of the things I learned in my clinic, other than practicing not slouching. I did, however, get a good reminder that we should always ride the horse we have today, and sometimes that means scrapping our plans. (There's a life lesson in there somewhere too.)

I'd ask if anyone wants a nice big brown horse, free to a good home, but I know there'd actually be takers... and I know I won't stay mad at him much longer. I did just buy a bag of carrots, and they're going to go bad if I don't feed them to him.....

Eric Horgan Clinic Recap

2011-11-23T12:11:00.001-05:00

So, Tucker and I were scheduled to do a clinic last week with Eric Horgan. In case you don't feel like clicking that link, Eric was a member of Ireland's Olympic Three-Day Event team at Montreal in 1976, competed in the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, 1992 Burghley International Three-Day Event, and the world-renowned Badminton Horse Trials. He was the bronze medalist at the 1989 European Three-Day Event Championships and is a two-time winner of the Punchestown (Ireland) International Three-Day Event. Just for starters. And that's not even getting into his coaching credentials. So, he's sort of a big deal.

Eric holding Court.

Then I get this email, saying that due to multiple scheduling conflicts and a couple of last minute horse soundness issues, the clinic would have to be rescheduled. My heart sank, knowing that Eric goes to Aiken, SC, for the winter, and wouldn't be back to New Jersey until the Spring. Then I read on, and saw that Eric was still going to be in town, and would be teaching lessons at a nearby farm (which happens to be owned by a fellow alumnae of my high school, the Ethel Walker School. Small world. Horse world is even smaller.). So... a private lesson? With a former Olympian? Who has a great sense of humor and an Irish accent? Where do I sign up?

You may be wondering why I was so desperate to ride with someone outside my discipline (resident hunter princess here). Well, first off, anyone that runs in the International circles that Eric does, and has been exposed to the best riders and trainers in the world, is always going to have something to teach little old me. And second, I rode with Eric frequently when I was in high school, and can honestly say that those clinics were the best pieces of riding I've ever managed. (Well, except for that one time when I ended up eating dirt, and came to, mumbling something about her getting behind my leg).

So after a few midnight (literally) body-clipping sessions after work last week, Tucker and I head out on a bright sunny November morning to introduce Tucker to Eric. On the way, we swung by Altea to pick up our blogging friends Amy and Sugar. Tucker fell instantly in love with Sug and had a momentary panic attack when he was separated from her for ten minutes while I tacked up. This should come as no surprise. She is one good looking mare. And even sweeter in person, if you can imagine. She didn't even mind Tucker's obnoxious space invasion, which drives most mares up the wall. Though she did eat all of his hay. But, he has always been more motivated by friends than food, so that was just fine with him. By the way, Amy and Sug are exactly the kind of travel buddies we like. They thought of everything, including bellinis. We love them!

When we started the lesson, Eric asked me about Tucker, what we needed to work on, etc. I focused on our major issue: getting the right canter, going forward, and maintaining pace. As it turns out, Eric was extremely helpful in this department. He watched the horses warm up and then brought us in to the ring to discuss what he saw. Though both horses travel quite differently, similar exercises were needed for both horses to improve their canter. Eric observed that Tucker has a naturally well-balanced canter, but that it's often very difficult to get a naturally balanced horse to work harder and really engage his hind end (yes, exactly. Tucker strongly believes that his natural way of going is good enough).

He also observed that I slouch. (Guilty as charged.) But here's a new way of looking at it: Eric gave us the analogy of how the natural horsemanship folks stand at the "driving line" and can send the horse forward or slow the horse by putting their body in front of or behind this line. So he wanted me to think about keeping my body behind the driving line, to keep my horse in front of my leg. For some reason, this concept really helped it click. As a result, there are actually some photos where I was sitting up. Look!

(Let's ignore the wonky thing my left arm is doing

and focus on the sitting up part for now, yes?)

We worked on transitions (and making me sit up through them). Walk to trot, trot to walk, then walk to canter, canter to walk. Once these were "crisper," we moved to transitions within the canter. Extend, collect. But not my usual gradual extension and collection. This was immediate: on a circle (around Eric), gallop forward, and then bring him back -- sharply, in just a couple of strides -- to a very collected canter, but all the while keep the canter "pinging." The first few times we did this, Tucker gave me a very unenthusiastic, slightly more forward canter, and then broke to a trot instead of collecting. To which Eric responded, dryly, "I can tell you do this a lot." Followed by, even more dryly, "That was Sarcasm." Yes, Eric, I get it. We need to work on this. Tucker eventually got with the program though and delivered that pinging canter that Eric was looking for.

We then worked on carrying this quality canter to a line of poles, which eventually became jumps. Has anyone ever had you work on the quality of your canter in the middle of a line? Yeah, me either. Quality of canter to the first jump, and even away from the second jump, yes. But in the middle of the line? I've always focused on stride length, but not canter quality. Would you believe the two are related? As in, if you have a better quality of canter, your horse's stride is much more easy to adjust? Makes perfect sense now. Never would have occurred to me before last Sunday.

As we worked on this very simple exercise, Eric broke down for us where the rides were going wrong. He focused a lot on recovery after the jump. To really drive the point home, he'd go stand in the spot where we actually recovered, and then stand in the spot where we needed to begin recovering (in case you couldn't guess, they weren't exactly right next to each other). As a general rule, I seem to do pretty much nothing for the first two strides upon landing. So in a six stride line, we have two big strides, and then four increasingly smaller strides. Instead of two or three balancing strides, and then three strides where I am just maintaining what I have until takeoff. So we worked on this, over and over, until I was better at it.

Once we added the jumps, Eric changed my jumping position a little, making me hold my shoulders back more so that I land in a better position to immediately start recovering upon landing. This worked pretty well too, which was a good thing, because we then added an end jump after landing from the line, that was either five or six bending strides away. Tucker showed his true colors here since I buried him to the end jump the first couple of times and he just shrugged his shoulders and hopped on over it. I finally got it though, and we ended on a great note, where I managed to land from each jump, recover, and maintain a decent canter throughout.

Very simple exercises, very big results. With a few laughs thrown in. Exactly what I was hoping to get out of this experience.

Now THIS is a good canter.

_______________________________________

p.s. -- Eric thinks I should try the jumper ring with Tucker. He says I'd have a blast with him. The hunter princess is mulling it over....

p.p.s. -- Photo credit for this entry goes to E. Skuba. Thanks again Libby!

This Friday Funny Brought to you by Disney

2011-11-11T11:58:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent last week with my niece. She's a huge fan of the movie Tangled (don't worry, I also had her watch the Breeder's Cup. For educational purposes, of course. And explained that a lot of OTTBs go on to great careers in the hunter/jumper world. It's never too early to learn). Anyway... seeing Tangled five times in a row was just fine with me, because I absolutely love the horse in this movie. I am fairly certain that his animators know Tucker. This is the gray cartoon version of my Wunderkind, I swear. My favorite part about this horse is that he doesn't talk (I mean, do you remember how off-putting it was when Starlite started singing?), but he's got a clear personality and he stars in some of the funniest scenes of this movie. There are definitely some horse lovers on the Disney staff.

I thought we could all use a little bit of silly this week. A few short clips below (just in case you don't hang out much with the Disney-going set). Enjoy!

Dear Tucker,

2011-11-08T12:06:00.000-05:00

I know what you're thinking. Where have I been?

Remember all that snow we had? Remember how all the trees fell down? Well that meant mom's house had no power. I know you see really well in the dark, but mom not so much. And I know you are nice and toasty warm under your Smartpak blankets, but mom needs heat. I don't grow a winter coat (thankfully). So I had to stay with your Uncle Mike. He is the one with the tiny human (like a filly, with two legs), whom you haven't met yet. You two are going to be adorable in leadline. I know how you love children, and she will be the cutest thing ever perched up on a big tall horse like yourself. And eventually, she will be the reason that you finally get to have your own pony. Yes, you're right. She needs to come and meet you. No, I don't think we can bring you to meet her. Although their backyard would make a lovely pasture. We'll think about it.

And then Uncle Mike had surgery on his knee, which kept me away a little longer. You remember when you hurt your hock? Well this was just like that. You know the drill. Three days of stall rest. Lots of medicine. Bandage changes. Ice and compression. Handwalking. Watching for signs of discomfort or colic. You know how mom is really good at that kind of thing, and like I said, Uncle Mike has a tiny human, so another set of hands were needed. I knew you'd understand.

But today is the day my love! I am coming to see you! I have been staring at your sweet face from the background of my phone (the little black thing I am usually carrying, which -- ahem -- now has teeth marks on it because you like to put in your mouth), and missing you very dearly. So I know you have missed me too, but I will see you soon! And I am bringing treats!

Love,
Mom

The Wrong Ending

2011-11-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

This story had the wrong ending. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

You were supposed to have an unprecedented career in showjumping, adored by fans across the nations for years, and continue to amaze us with your talent, agility, strength, and heart. You were supposed to be retired, with that wise old look on your face that teenaged stallions get, and paraded around the ring adorned with a blanket of roses. Crowds of people were supposed to stand and applaud your many, many accomplishments, music playing and riders choking up with pride and esteem. You were supposed to live out your twilight years in some big green pasture, calling out to mares across the fencelines, pinning your ears at geldings walking past, and nickering to grooms for treats and scratches.

You were not supposed to come crashing to the ground in a heartbreaking, violent, tragic way. The crowd was not supposed to look on in horror, hands clapped across mouths and tears streaming down their cheeks. You should have ended this competition with a victory gallop, a ribbon streaming from your bridle. There shouldn't have been a moment of silence. The competition shouldn't have been cancelled. This was definitely not the way the story was supposed to play out.

I haven't been blogging regularly lately because I have some kind of prolonged writer's block and I find myself with no idea what to say these days (but everything is fine, Tucker and I are well). I felt compelled to write something today though, both to honor this great horse and to reflect on how profoundly his passing has affected me. It has left me feeling morose, a little indignant at life, and completely empty.

Go home and hug your horses tonight. Tell them you love them and you're grateful for them. And be honored to be part of a sport that allows us to share in the lives of champions like Hickstead.

Jeff Cook Clinic Recap: Day One

2011-10-11T11:47:00.001-04:00

Day One, we were told, would be gymanstic-type work, and Day Two would be course work.

After we had walked around for a bit and the horses were loosened up, Day One started out with Jeff asking us to form a semi-circle around him, while he came around and inspected everyone's tack, making minor adjustments as he went. (Stirrups up or down a hole, a flash one hole looser, a martingale an inch longer, etc.). As he came around he learned each of our names, asked us what division we show in and what height we school at, what bits we were using, etc. When Jeff came around to me I said a silent prayer that Tucker would not frisk him for treats... thankfully, he did not. Small miracle.

We started out on the rail at a rising trot and Jeff worked on our positions. Things I heard: stretch up taller, sit on your imaginary back pockets, quiet hands, thumbs up, elbows in, left rein is longer than your right (a relic of my formerly completely twisted position). I also heard, "Stetch up taller. Taller. Taller. There." (Yikes! That hurt.) About half way through our trot warm up as I was circling around Jeff he said, "Do you feel what your left hand is doing, right now? You're nagging him. Do you feel yourself doing it?" My honest answer: "No. But now that you point it out, yes." Jeff explained how critically important it is to have quiet hands, because otherwise the bit becomes a punishment and the horse never gets a reward for being soft. Especially on a horse that wants to be as soft as mine. I vowed to fix this.

Jeff had us warm up in the canter and work on full seat, half seat, and two point. Not surprisingly, my "full seat" is really a half seat, and my "half seat" is really a two point, and my two point is just standing way too far out of my saddle. We worked on this with a little 18" crossrail at the end of the ring. By the end, if I tried my hardest to demonstrate a full seat, I could pretty much get the half seat Jeff was looking for. Still have some work to do on that....

The first jumping exercise we did was basically a serpentine through the ring, landing and halting straight after each fence, and then turning, picking up our canter, and on to the next one. By fence three, Tucker was convinced he was in trouble. Landing and halting straight surely was some sort of reprimand and Tucker was on the verge of a melt down: "Oh no I don't know what I did but I think maybe now everyone hates me and I'm a bad horse and I never do anything right and, and, and... oh wait, she's patting my neck. She wants me to go forward. I think maybe I'm not in trouble. Ohhhh. This is just part of the exercise. Okay, I get it. Stop and go. No problem. This game is easy."

This exercise got Tucker sooo light up front on the way to the fence that I actually had too much bridle using our normal jumping bit, and had to switch to something lighter for Day Two. I worked on not overjumping with my body, and keeping my thumbs turned up, which seemed to be the two most important pieces I was missing. Jeff seemed pleased with our progress after a few tries. I was amazed at how each horse improved as we did the exercise a few times.

The next exercise was a simple two stride off the left lead, set on the quarter line, but instead of landing and continuing left around the end of the ring, we had to land and turn right, into the wall, and back up the long side. The first time, Tucker was completely caught off guard. The second time, he landed right and I swear he was making the right turn even before I asked. Here again, Jeff pointed out that the turn was really nice and soft and I picked at him with my right rein. (I did? Do I really do this all the time? [Answer: see video footage. Yes, I do.]) Next time through, I was soft on my right rein, and Tucker executed a brilliant soft right hand turn, followed by a circle right, back up the two stride, and then a lefthand turn into the wall, and then over an end jump. This probably requires a diagram:

That isn't exactly drawn to scale, but hopefully you get the idea. The goal was to get the horses paying better attention, because we were asking them to turn in the opposite direction from what they were thinking. Tucker, being a child prodigy, picked up on the exercise immediately. There is no fooling him. But it did get him light as a feather, so that when we added two long approaches to oxers after this, he went forward, extended his stride where I asked, and stayed engaged and really light in his front end. Brilliant!

One other thing Jeff worked on with me and another couple of riders who were having trouble getting the right pace right from the start. He'd say "gallop!" and we'd ask the horse to canter off right from a halt in the corner, come really forward around the end of the ring, and then when we got straight to the fence he'd say "now cool it." And wouldn't you know, the perfect distance was right there every time? Get the right pace and the right forward rhythm right from the start, and the rest works itself out.

I loved these exercises. Even though this was the 3' section, the jumps were small (2'6"ish) so we could concentrate on the exercise and not worry about the jump itself. Jeff wanted simple changes if needed, nothing fancy, nothing too elaborate. He was also quick to compliment the riders who "worked it out" even when it wasn't pretty, and pointed things out that applied to the entire group or applied to another horse, so that we all felt like we were still learning, even when we were just waiting around for our turn.

At the end of Day One, I felt like I had a lot of new things to work on (and some of the usual issues too), but overall I was pleased with my riding and overjoyed with my clever horse. Think I could get one of those "Proud Parent of an Honor Roll Student" bumper stickers for Tucker's butt?

My Triumphant Return

2011-10-04T12:24:00.000-04:00

Testing, testing.... :::tap, tap, tap::: Is this thing still on?

I realize that my prolonged hiatus from blogging may have caused some of you to remove me from your RSS feeds or delete your bookmarks... but hopefully, you'll come back? I've got lots to tell, and I am done making up excuses for not blogging. I have been great at making excuses though. It started off with being too busy to write. And then I was too busy to ride, so I had nothing to write about. And then it had been a while, so I thought I had better make it a good one, and I didn't have anything exciting to tell you. And then I just got writer's block. And then... Well, you get the idea. But the point is I'm back and I've missed all of you. (Not only have I not been blogging, but I've not been reading either, and I have lots of catching up to do with you and your horses.)

My next couple of posts will recount the Jeff Cook Clinic that Tucker and I did this weekend, which was fantastic. Jeff is an amazing teacher, who made small adjustments to my position that had a huge impact, and gave us creative, different, simple but challenging exercises that got our horses responsive, sharp, light and engaged. He also has a way -- mostly through positive reinforcement I think -- of instilling serious confidence in his riders. I rode ten times better with him than I usually do, and mostly because I wasn't going around wondering if I would be able to do it. After the second day I thought... if I win the lottery, my horses and I will just follow this man around the country.

So here are the highlights:

1) At some point during the flat phase of Day 2, Jeff repositioned my seat so that I was sitting deeper in the saddle. As I tilted my hips forward and scooted my bum underneath me a little more, Jeff said to me: "There you go, you can sit a little deeper on him, don't worry, he'll allow it. You ride well." Thank goodness he turned his attention to someone else at that point because I literally started beaming and the only thought in my head was, "okay, I can die happy now."

2) Throughout the clinic Jeff made general observations about the sport of riding in general. My favorite was: "Do you know why the highs are so high with horses? Because the lows are frequent." Words to remember. He pointed out that he could make a nice easy course and tell us all we're wonderful for two days, but unless he gives us a chance to make mistakes, he's not going to be able to help us out. Took the pressure way off. At least for this little perfectionist.

3) Jeff repeatedly emphasized making the horses' jobs easier and more pleasant. For example, when we first got on in the ring, he wanted all of us to walk the horses around for a good 10 minutes or so, on the buckle. I got on and did what I usually do, which is ask for a long and low frame and ask him to walk forward, but Jeff corrected me. He used Tucker as an example to show how much bigger their step is behind when you drop the reins and let them walk around on the buckle with their noses poked out vs. when you ask for an "artificial" frame right from the start before they have a chance to loosen up through their backs. He then had us warm up at the trot with no contact with the horses' mouths at all for the first 7 minutes. Of course, Tucker started out with his head straight up in the air, but after a few minutes settled right down into a nice relaxed frame, all on his own, just from me sending him forward and asking him to be straight using my leg. I was impressed.

4) I love the way Jeff helped us out in front of the jumps. If we needed to come forward he'd just say, "Stay on it!" and if we needed to wait he'd say, "Now cool it." Maybe cause I never play anything cool, ever, I kind of liked being told to "cool it." Just seems like the right image to me. And when we got it right, he'd yell out, "GOOD RIDE!" and there was a conviction in his voice that just made you believe him.

5) After the flat phase on Day 2, when I had finally figured out how to quiet my hands and get Tucker to reach and relax through his back, Jeff looked at me smiling and said, "You're really right there on the edge of it with this horse now. He really wants to do it right. If we had another couple of days together to start adding some shoulder-ins and lateral work to what we've been doing, you'd have him exactly where we want them to be. Nice job." (Pretty sure I didn't hide the beaming that time.)

Stay tuned for a more detailed account of the exercises and courses from Days 1 and 2. It's nice to be back.

You Have to Laugh...

2011-08-24T13:55:00.000-04:00

This weekend I managed to sneak in a ride between showers on Saturday. Because of all the ridiculous rain we've been having, Tucker's overnight turnout schedule was all screwed up last week and as a result he was a tad fresh. He was holding it together really well in the outdoor ring on Saturday, until....

"PUMA!" (Tucker begins spastically scrambling at a noise in the tall grass outside the ring.)

"No... that's a sparrow." (I begin making efforts to regain control without further escalating the situation. He is now hopping up and down, in a motion not unlike that of a confused sparrow.)

"I am a WILD UNCONTROLLABLE STALLION! I am galloping through a white water river to rush us to safety! I cannot be stopped until the coast is clear!"

"No, you are a ridiculous gelding splashing around in a puddle, and you may be about to fall down. Please stop, before you hurt yourself."

At this point, I managed to get him back to a walk that more closely resembled that of an equine, rather than, say, an injured kangaroo or a cat after a cold shower. We continue sounding the alarm to other (non-existent) members of the herd through a series of snorts and huffs and similar high alert noises. I pat his neck, which is now a solid coil of tense muscle. I wait until I can no longer feel his heart beat bouncing my knees off my saddle.

The coast seemingly clear, I resumed my canter a little further down the ring and made a slow, controlled circle. Tucker gave me a heavy sigh and came back down into the bridle.

"Definitely a puma," he mumbled under his breath.

You have to laugh at moments like this. They sure make it impossible to stay mad at them.

2011 USHJA Hunter Derby Finals Recap and Results

2011-08-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

What an amazing event that was to watch! Fabulous riding, gorgeous horses, challenging courses. Such a thrill. In case you missed it, all the rounds are now available on the USEF Network.

The courses were beautiful, designed to look like an actual farm, with a little barn (yes, a barn in the ring), a pond, a bridge, a driveway, hedges, etc. It was so creative, and presented some real challenges! Here are the course designs (from the IHD facebook page):

Classic Round

Handy Round

Full Results:

1   C COAST Z LILLIE KEENAN 765.5
2   DECLARATION SCOTT STEWART 758
3   CARLSON TAMMY PROVOST 725.5
4   SIENNA PATRICIA GRIFFITH 725
5   CARLOS-BOY SCOTT STEWART 724
6   VALIANT TAMMY PROVOST 716
7 HAVANA VICTORIA COLVIN 714
8   SAILOR'S VALENTINE HOLLY ORLANDO 708.5
9   TAKEN KELLEY FARMER 705
10 GARFIELD SCOTT STEWART 668.5
11 CROWN AFFAIR JOHN FRENCH 545.5
12 PRAISE KELLEY FARMER 334
13 YES INDEED SARAH MECHLIN 308
14 TELL ALL SUSAN BAKER 303
15 EMPIRE SCOTT STEWART 298
16 TIMBER RIDGE ERYNN. BALLARD 286
17 FRANCESCA MAGGIE JAYNE 267
18 INCLUSIVE VICTORIA COLVIN 252.5
19 MADISON LILLIE KEENAN 231
20 BASES LOADED KELLEY FARMER 206
21 CLEARLY KELLEY FARMER 176
22 CR HARIBO HOPE GLYNN 146
23 BRUNELLO ELIZABETH BOYD 0
24 POETIC MAGGIE BOYLAN 0
25 POSSE COLLEEN ACOSTA 0

Jersey Boy, whose name is pretty much synonymous with the hunter derbies at this point, was the 2011 Series Champion, piloted by Jen Alfano. I didn't see their Day 1 round, but something must have gone uncharacteristically wrong because they didn't make it to the top 25. Just goes to show you never know with horses!

Lillie Keenan was awarded Top Junior Rider, and Susan Baker was awarded Top Amateur Rider. Susan did a great job in the Classic with her horse Tell All - it was an awesome round, but unfortunately just missed the cut off for the handy round. I was rooting for her as the amateur in the bunch though, and she did not disappoint!

Lillie's round was outstanding - she was the clear winner - and she is only 14! What an amazing rider. Soft, gutsy, effective, smooth, cool and confident. And she really let him rip in the Victory Gallop - I got a little teary eyed seeing that gorgeous horse covered in tri-colors gallop around the ring! You can see the awards presentation and the victory gallop at the end of this video, at 4:08:26. It'll make you smile, guaranteed!

Some lovely, lovely horses and beautiful rounds. The course was tough though, and presented some really significant challenges for a lot of horses and riders, which is how it should be in the finals. It was truly a joy to watch. Love this sport!

Live Video of USHJA Derby Finals Tonight!

2011-08-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

2011 USHJA Hunter Derby Finals Weekend!

2011-08-19T08:59:00.000-04:00

Hey there Derby fans, it's Derby Finals weekend down in Lexington, KY!

Yesterday was the jog and the hack (all horses passed for soundness in the jog). There are some really fantastic pictures of the Derby horses getting ready for the hack on the International Hunter Derby facebook page. The candids were like celebrity sightings for me -- I know most of the big Derby horses by now and I am such a Superfan (where are my foam fingers that say "Jersey Boy" and "Crown Affair"?) that I get a little giddy seeing candid shots of these amazing creatures (reminds me of US Weekly - they wear polos and heidi boots - just like us!). I highly suggest liking them on facebook for up-to-date coverage and scores of the rounds!

Today is the 1st Round of the Derby. The first round course looks like this:

(Also courtesy of the IHD facebook page)

I especially love the options starting at Fence 9 -- either land from fence 8 and roll back to 9, then jump the in-and-out toward home and keep turning left to 12, or land from fence 8, across the diagonal to the other option at 9, then hard right to the in-and-out away from home, and roll back left to 12. I'm so curious to see how most people ride that. I think I'd prefer the first option I described, though the second one may be a better opportunity to show off your horse's handiness. The design of that in-and-out is really cool, check it out:

(Photo courtesy of the COTH facebook page)

I will be following along on facebook today for the Round 1 scores, and I will re-post them here once they are released. So far this morning, two of my favorites, Clearly (ridden by Kelley Farmer), and Garfield (ridden by Scott Stewart), have the highest scores with a 341 and a 350, respectively. Stay tuned! There will be a recap on the USEF network this evening.

Also, tomorrow evening, at 6:25 p.m. Eastern (first horse on course at 6:45 pm), Round 2 will be streaming live on the USEF network. Friends and I are getting together to watch together. Some people have Oscar parties... hunter princesses have Derby Finals parties.... If you can't see the streaming video, you may want to check in at the COTH Hunter/Jumper forum. There is SURE to be a thread going as folks watch at home, and the commentary never ceases to entertain.

An exciting weekend in hunterland for sure! Check back here for more updates.

Update #1: Scott Stewart took home 1st, 2nd, and 3rd aboard Carlos Boy, Declaration, and Empire in Round 1. Empire is my favorite of the three!

Update #2: The Top 25 Results from Round 1/the Qualifying Round:

1st - Carlos-Boy/Scott Stewart;

2nd - Declaration/Scott Stewart;

3rd - Empire/Scott Stewart;

4th - Madison/Lillie Keenan;

5th - C Coast Z/Lillie Keenan;

6th - Garfield/Scott Stewart;

7th - Crown Affair/John French;

8th - Carlson/Tammy Provost;

9th - Sailor's Valentine/Holly Orlando;

10th - Timber Ridge/Erynn Ballard;

‎11th - Brunello/Liza Boyd;

12th - Yes Indeed/Sarah Mechlin;

13th - Valiant/Tammy Provost;

14th - Inclusive/Victoria Colvin;

15th - Taken/Kelley Farmer;

16th - CR Haribo/Hope Glynn;

17th - Clearly/Kelley Farmer;

18th - Posse/Colleen Acosta;

19th - Sienna/Patricia Griffith

‎20th - Poetic/Maggie Boylan;

21st - Havana/Victoria Colvin;

22nd - Bases Loaded/Kelley Farmer;

23rd - Praise/Kelley Farmer;

24th - Francesca/Maggie Jayne;

25th - Tell All/Susie Baker.

CONRATS TO ALL! (Some of my personal faves on that list... Empire, Garfield, Crown Affair, Brunello, Taken, Clearly, and Francesca ... but all of the horses above are simply spectacular!)

Ride for the Cure!

2011-08-17T15:08:00.002-04:00

For the past few years, I have participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which is a 5K to raise money for breast cancer education, screening, and research. For a few years, I was even the Team Captain for my old law firm (Go Pink Peppers!) Every year during the walk, I say that I should be doing it on horseback. Turns out that in the past few years, some states have begun to organize Rides for the Cure, and this year New Jersey joins the ranks. So, I formed a team and I am hoping some of my rider friends in the area will join me!

The event is a one or three hour trail ride, starting around 8 a.m. on October 16, 2011. There's no registration fee, but each rider must commit to raise $300 by September 23rd. Once you register, it's easy to seek donations through the pre-written emails that the Komen Foundation provides. If you're interested, you can get more details through the link at the top of my side bar.

This is a cause near and dear to me, as someone I care very much about is a two-time breast cancer survivor (and I now have a favorite barnmate who is also a survivor!). Additionally, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. 75% of all proceeds benefit local breast cancer education and screening programs. Last year, the affiliate invested $1.4 million into the local community to reach 45,000 women from Somerset to Cape May. The remaining 25% will support innovative breast cancer research bringing us closer to the cure.

I hope you and your horses will join me on the Ride (or if you are far away, please consider supporting my team)! Just think of how fun it will be to dress the ponies up in pink and ride through the woods! Can't you picture the Wunderkind's giant ears in a pink bonnet???

Bittersweet (but Good) News...

2011-08-16T16:55:00.001-04:00

So, my little spotted mare is sold. It's taken me a week to blog about it, though some of you saw the news on facebook already. I meant to tell you all earlier... I really did... but I was a little sad, and I needed a little time to stop being sad. (Let's just say it's a good thing no one stopped in at the barn after that trailer pulled away cause there was a big bay horse with tear stains on his shoulder at the end of the aisle!) But I'm not sad anymore so it's time to share the good news!

The last pic I took of my little girl

Julie has gone to a wonderful, wonderful home. She's gone to Green Apple Stables in Hillsborough, NJ (yes, just down the road from me!). I can tell from her new mom's facebook posts that she is already loved and adored, and each time I see that it makes me grin from ear to ear. She's been gone about a week now and so far I've heard nothing but good reports, so I have a feeling Julie is very happy with her new digs.

All settled in at her new place

The trainer at Green Apple, Kendra, is someone I've known for almost my entire horsey life. A little backstory. When you were a barn rat kid growing up spending every waking moment at the barn, do you remember there was that one teen-aged girl who was basically the coolest person your childhood eyes had ever come across? She was a great rider, an incredibly nice person, everyone adored her, and your dorky little ten-year-old self followed her around like a lost puppy? That was Kendra. She was definitely the best rider at our barn, rode some of the trainers' top horses, was always nice to me even though I was a really, really annoying kid, and -- this was by far the coolest thing according to ten-year-old-me -- every time she rode her polos and saddle pad matched her shirt. Guess which kid spent her babysitting money on polos and saddle pads in like ten different colors so she could do the same thing?

Long story short, I am overjoyed to be sending Julie to a home that I know for sure is a good one. Kendra has lots of experience with green horses and I have no doubt will do a great job helping her client bring Julie along. It's an ideal situation for everyone, and even though I miss my little girl already, she's only a ten minute drive away. I have to say, I feel really good about being down to one horse, now that I've gotten over my initial separation anxiety. And really how can I be sad when I am still so fortunate and have such a fantastic guy by my side?

Wunder in the Genes

2011-08-05T13:11:00.002-04:00

Hey folks, sorry it's been a while. For some reason we all seem to be taking it easy on the blogging this summer. I guess when the ground is covered in snow we spend a lot more time in front of the computers (and in my case, on the couch covered in cats).

I recently did a little digging into Tucker's pedigree, thanks to a little help from a friend who owned his mom, and was able to piece together most of his bloodlines:

Do you see what I see, way back there on his Dam's side? He's got WUNDER (and FLUEGELWUNDER!) in his blood, no wonder he's The Wunderkind! I am officially calling him Fluegelwunder when he's being goofy from now on, just fyi.

Some of the reference sires in his Dad's bloodlines:

Keizer, who you know already

Cireina, Damsire (with baby Keizer!), who passed along the EARS!

Nimmerdor, KWPN Stallion of the Century

Farn (who apparently passed on his drama llama technique)

Amor

Exkurs

And on Mom's side, we have:

Mom - Savoire Faire (with Tucker's little sister)

Sandsturm

Sendbote

Sender

I love this stuff. Not that I am an expert in Sporthorse breeding, but I love analyzing the photos and seeing what I can pick out that was passed along. For example, on the Sire's side, all of them (including Tucker) have the same eye, which gives them all a very similar expression. And on the Dam's side, they all have the same uphill build, high wither, and strong shoulder (which Tucker got too, along with a beautiful, floating trot that matches his mom's). Fun stuff!

Woodedge E.P. Bishop Hunter Derby Recap

2011-07-27T09:56:00.002-04:00

First: a few words about the course. The jumps were set up in a big grass field, with no fencing -- just a ton of lovely jumps scattered around a big grassy area with some little slopes here and there. The jumps themselves were great looking -- walls, logs, wooden barrels, straw bales, foxes, toadstools, big tall gates, brush boxes lined with evergreens, lamp posts, pillars. I pulled in and saw the field off to my right and thought "wow, that looks gorgeous!"

The courses were so cool that I decided I had to sketch them out for you:

Course #1

Course #2 - Handy Round

To sum it up, Tucker was a BLAST. He was really brave, jumped everything (was even a little underwhelmed by the jumps, as you can tell from the photos where he's basically cantering over everything), and very handy. I had the best day. Halfway through my handy course, I thought to myself "THIS IS SO FUN!" (How often does that happen at a horse show?)

We only had one slip-up all day... we hand galloped beautifully to fence #7 in the handy round, and then Tucker just forgot to pick up his feet all the way and hung a toe, taking the gate down with him. Of course, being the careful guy that he is, having rails makes him really ticked off and he almost had a temper tantrum upon landing, but I think the slick grass made him think twice. Unfortunately, he was flustered, and missed his lead change, so we cross-cantered almost all the way to fence 8 before I got him to re-focus and pick a lead. I ignored the cross cantering and just kept going forward with my eye on the next jump, so the last jump itself was actually good (a little redemption). So, I think we need to practice some hand gallops at home. I have a feeling, if I know myself, that once I saw the distance was there and we were on it, I probably took my leg off for the last stride. I remember thinking "ok, there it is, just sit still" and in hindsight, I should have said "there it is, just support."

All in all though, I'd say I have a pretty darn fabulous derby horse. I was really, really impressed with him. Everytime I asked him to do something (trot jump? hand gallop? long two-stride?) his response was "absolutely, I can do that." As I said to Alicia afterward, "My horse is really FUN." Do I think we'll be rubbing elbows with Jersey Boy and Brunello anytime soon? That's a no. But do I plan to enter all the local derbies I can get to from now on? Heck yeah I do. I think we might even end up being competitve with a little practice. Who knows? Either way, I am so happy that I have such a wonderful horse.

And... I can't wait to order photos! These are the ones I plan to order:

Head shot

Cantering

Standing with ribbon

What do you think?

Derby Photos

2011-07-25T18:03:00.001-04:00

I don't have too much time today so I can't give you the full recap, but Tucker was a super star yesterday at the Derby. For now... please check out the pictures at Ric Shaffer Photography. (Note: Tucker and I are not too photogenic over fences, but there are some cute ones here and there.) I especially love Slide #46, and I am definitely buying Slide #2, and possibly a few others.

Awwwwww....

2011-07-22T12:31:00.000-04:00

I love my barn. It is like a bajillion degrees out today (seriously, I got to court this morning and was a puddle of lawyer by the time I walked three blocks). I just got this picture texted to me, as I sit here in my nice air conditioned office, thinking about my poor sweaty beasts out there in this sauna-like weather:

With the caption, "Mommy these nice ladies took me to the pool!"

A good boarding barn is absolutely worth every penny. So nice to know your kids are enjoying daycare!

Hope everyone is keeping cool, and hydrated, in this heat wave. Tucker and I will be braving the heat this weekend to do a hunter derby on Sunday, hopefully it will cool down a little by then. Happy Friday!

Duncraven Horse Show, Reserve Champions!

2011-07-20T10:34:00.000-04:00

(You know what the problem is with letting yourself sink into a blogging slump for two weeks? You can barely remember the stuff you wanted to post about. Here's hoping that I can still recall this horse show well enough to retell it. Given that I usually lay in bed the night after a show and replay the courses in my head over and over again, pretty sure I can still pull it off.)

Duncraven is only 15 minutes away from my barn, so even though we were the second division of the day, it wasn't as crack-of-dawn of a morning as it could have been. I got to the farm, hooked up the truck and trailer in the early morning light, and got to work bathing my horse while he ate his breakfast:

Spoiled much?

Then I parked Tucker in front of the fan and loaded up my tack, then got him loaded (after a brief discussion where Tucker insisted he no longer fit in the trailer and needed me to open the divider... apparently he's got body image issues?) and headed down the road. We got to the show with exactly enough time to go to the office, check in at the ring, give Tucker five minutes on the lunge line, and get Alicia on and warmed up. Alicia did the first class, where Tucker was fabulous - calm, quiet, relaxed, jumping well, getting his changes - and then I hopped on, trotted and cantered a few times around the schooling ring, jumped 2 verticals and headed to the ring. I love that my horse doesn't need a lot of prep. Schooling rings make me nervous. Two good jumps and ready to go? My kind of warm-up.

The first class started with a single vertical on the diagonal, off the left lead, coming toward the in-gate. Entered, trotted down the longside and picked up my canter in the corner, and got a nice relaxed and forward rhythm, and he jumped it right out of stride. He landed left, gave me a fabulous clean lead change, and then it was up the outside line in six strides. I moved up a little coming out of the turn so we jumped in a little bit big, so I knew I had to wait a little. I fit in the five, but I should have waited the first three strides upon landing, and then softened for the last three. Instead I did the opposite -- did nothing for three strides until I saw where I was in the line, and then waited the last three. Not the worst thing in the world, but he jumps better when I'm not waiting to the base of the jump. I remembered to weight my outside stirrup in the air over the second fence though, so he landed right.

Next was a seven on the diagonal off the right lead, coming back toward home. We jumped in well, and then Tucker seemed to think we were either jumping a different fence or going to go around the second fence, cause he had his eye on something else and veered a little right, and I had to steer him back to center a little. Not the prettiest line in the world, but we worked it out. He landed left, and then it was another six on the other outside, going away from home. I remembered to sit through this turn and keep him coming forward (the in-gate was singing her siren song to him in the corner right in front of the outside line). The distance was going to be a little long coming in, but I didn't lean up my horse's neck and pray, instead I closed my leg, sat deeper, stretched taller, and made a decision. Amazing how that works isn't it? Then I remembered I'd have to settle in the line, so I just eased off my pace a little and he fit the six in perfectly. He landed right and gave me a great right-to-left lead change. Last fence was a tiny little birch jump with a hay bale under it (seriously, was no bigger than 2'6") so I just had to make myself be really, really, patient on the long approach to it and let Tucker find his distance. He was totally unimpressed and cantered right over it, but at least the distance was good. And he landed right. Good boy. All in all, a couple minor errors but not a bad trip.

I was equally happy with the second trip. First fence was a single vertical on the diagonal off the right lead, but it was set at a wonky angle so you had to go up the long side, then turn right even before you reached the center line of the ring to get to it. I looked at it over my shoulder though, and it was a nice big ring, so the turn was really smooth and worked out nicely. Unfortunately, the distance somehow got a little tighter than I had originally thought, and in hindsight I probably should have sent him forward and asked for one less. I think because of the short turn, I didn't get the same forward canter that I've been getting to my first fence in other classes. Then we landed right, and missed the second half of the change and he had to catch up a few strides late. Not totally egregious, but certainly not ideal.

The rest of the trip was great though. The next line was the outside in six, past the in-gate, I sat through the turn and sent him forward and this time the distance worked out even more nicely to the in. Then it was the long approach to the little birch jump on the diagonal, and again I just stayed patient on the mile-and-a-half it took to get there and we found a good distance (though once again he was underwhelmed by the jump), and this time he landed right (smart cookie). Then it was the outside line in six in front of the judge, and this time I worked it out much better and asked him to wait sooner so that I could be softer jumping out. He landed right, cantered really softly around the end of the ring, and then I went to my last line, the seven on the diagonal off the right lead, coming toward home. This time my goal was just to make the line be straighter. I think, in doing so, I collected his canter a little too much, because I ended up adding on the way in, but it wasn't a bad jump, and I was able to very softly, without chasing, move him up in the line by softening my hand and closing my leg, so that the seven worked out beautifully, and it was much, much straighter. He landed left and we finished with a nice closing circle.

Then we had a few minutes to hang out by the ring before our undersaddle and ran into a good friend of mine who snapped this really ~~goofy~~ lovely photo of us with Alicia:

Don't you love how my horse can stand with all four feet
pointed in a different direction? At least he's shiny :)

Tucker hacked beautifully, soft, and flowing, and quiet, reaching down through his neck and back, nice big trot, big lofty canter... and he won it! What a good boy. I was so proud.

When we were all done I tried to get him to pose with his ribbons but he said he was too embarrassed and didn't want me posting photos on the blog of him wearing his helmet:

"Tucker will you come out of there please?"

"No."

"Oh c'mon, what's the matter?"

"Everybody's going to make fun of me cause I have to wear a helmet."

"Will you please just let me get one shot of you with the ribbons?"

"Fine. But I'm not happy about it."

I gave it some thought on the drive home, and realized that my horse did exactly every single little thing I asked him to do at that horse show. I really couldn't have asked for more. What a little super star he is.

I disappeared, I know.

2011-07-19T17:30:00.000-04:00

I'm a totally unreliable blogger. You're absolutely right, all you readers who have been google searching for me and then visiting the page for a nano-second when you find it's the same stupid post that's been up for a week and a half. I've done it to you again, haven't I? How on earth are you poor souls supposed to make it through your work day without something mildly entertaining on the internet to read? The least I could do is point you to something else clever on the days when I don't blog so that it's not a totally wasted click.

I could blame work... I could blame exhaustion... or maybe it's summer and I'm out enjoying the sunshine instead of sitting at my computer. These things are partly true. But honestly I've been sort of moping and feeling entirely too sorry for myself, for a variety of reasons that I really don't want to explain because they're basically absurd, and you'll lose all respect for me because no one should let themselves mope over such silly ~~men~~ things.

I lack the ability to blog when I am focusing on what my life is lacking instead of all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for, because I can't stand the thought of whining to all of you and spreading my gloom over the world wide web (if you think about it, I should keep blogging when I'm being a sad sack, because writing about my lovely, lovely horses just reminds me that life really isn't so darn bad after all and I am at the end of the day a really lucky little girl). There is nothing like those big goofy ears or that little pink nose to remind me of that.

Anyway, I'm done moping now (she says with confidence, and determination!) and I have two fantastic posts coming up for you: one is about my horse show the weekend before last, where Tucker was reserve champion (!), and the other is about my fabulous lesson with Amanda Steege, from whom I learned a boat load of new stuff, and from whom felt a little honored and awed to be getting advice (and even a compliment or two for me and the Wunderkind!).

So stay tuned. I have good things to share!

Any Suggestions?

2011-07-08T13:33:00.002-04:00

It seems Tucker has learned a new game. A game I don't really like playing. I need some help.

You may have noticed a slight increase in frequency of posts about things that Tucker is pretending to be ridiculously afraid of (or maybe legitimately afraid of, I'm not sure). I'm beginning to suspect that this may be a game he's invented, which gets him out of work for a minute or two, and is starting to get on my nerves.

Since Tucker is generally the brave, unflappable, dependable sort, when he spooks at something (which until very recently, is a total rarity), we calmly walk up to it, sniff and snort, arch our neck, and then take a deep breath and realize it's just a tractor/cat/fallen tree limb/tarp/etc. We can then carry on the ride and he won't spook at it again, ever. I'm totally okay with this type of spooking -- cautious about a new object, but willing to approach it, and sensible once his brain has a moment to process it.

But recently, the list of things he's spooked at has become increasingly lengthy and somewhat ridiculous: a traffic cone; a pile of bricks; a puddle; a pile of wood; a lawnmower; a jump standard on its side; a flatbed delivering sheds (okay maybe I'll give him that one); a sleeping dog; a horse wearing a scrim; and last night, a stack of hay. Granted, many of these were during the rehab process, so I chose to ignore them figuring he just had too much pent up energy.

That brings us to last night. I brought Tucker in from turnout to ride and a torrential downpour started almost as soon as he was on the crossties. The loud noise of rain on a roof has always been something that for reasons unknown, scares the bejeezus out of my boy. This is legitimate fear - his eyes get huge, he can't stand still, his ears flicker back and forth, and his pulse races. I get it. It's really loud and he can't figure out where the noise is coming from, and he can't get away from it. We've had to make a couple of rapid exits from indoor rings to avoid major incidents, and once he is standing out in the pouring rain, he immediately stops panicking.

So, I got out the cat toys I keep in my trunk for just such occasions, plugged his ears, and stood by his side until the noise subsided. He does this thing when he is scared -- he used to do it as a baby all the time and now only does it when he's really freaked out -- he does a very quick back-and-forth nuzzling with his upper lip on my arm. It's a very clear "Mom don't leave I'm scared" message that is very different from his usual signs of affection, and it just melts me every time. What can I say?

As soon as the rain stopped, we went down to the indoor and I figured since he'd had a couple days off and he was already sort of on edge, I'd yank his tack off and let him bounce around before I got on. So he did his usual galloping bucking frolicking leaping routine for about 3 minutes and then walked over to me with a big sigh and a much calmer look on his face. Looked as though we'd have a great ride.

And we did -- except for the first five minutes, which I spent convincing him the hay stacked at the end of the indoor (which has been there a few weeks, which he's seen before, and which he had just been galloping past), was non-life-threatening. He at first refused to walk toward it but gave in after a swift kick in the gut, approached it with arched neck, snorting, and sideways walking, but as soon as we got up to it, he reached out and grabbed a bite. Really? REALLY? You're so afraid of it that you have to EAT IT? Needless to say I was annoyed, but I told myself to let it go and enjoy the rest of the ride. Which, for the most part, I did.

That is until the middle of our ride, when I trotted down the center line and he decided that the stacked hay, from this angle, was once again deadly. Are you kidding me? We're fifty feet to the right of where you JUST trotted by it and now you are once again terrified? And this time, he not only stopped in his tracks, but then got stuck in reverse and practically ran backwards. So I gave him a smack behind my saddle with my hand, we moved forward, and went down the centerline again, this time with pricked ears but no spook. We finished the ride in a nice relaxed manner, cantered in both directions, no more spooking. Note that he walked by the hay on a long rein at the end of the ride and didn't even notice it. Clearly, this is not a legitimate fear.

My theory is that the spook arrived during the rehab process because he was having trouble dealing with his extra energy, and now it has become a game, or a bad habit. I believe he needs to be reminded that he is not a spooky horse. I talked it over with Alicia, and we think I probably need to get on one day next week (not tonight, because we are showing on Saturday) with a stick in hand and get after him a little if/when he decides something is too terrifying for him to work. I'm fine with a little neck-craning or ear-pricking that you can ignore with a little over-bending or getting his brain busy with a leg yield or something, but I am kind of drawing a line at sticking his feet in the sand and refusing to move, and definitely at running backwards. Not cool Tucker, not cool at all.

But... at the same time... he is a huge wimp, and this will undoubtedly send him into a blind panic. I really hate the thought of freaking him out by getting after him, and a freak out is a foregone conclusion. When I use a stick to send him forward, even if it's just one or two well-timed spanks that wouldn't even warrant an ear flick from another horse, he will melt down and need to be talked down off the ledge for the duration of the ride. Such an ~~overdramatic~~ delicate little flower.

So... is there something I am missing here? Does anyone have alternate suggestions? Or am I just being a baby, and I should fairly and properly discipline the bad behavior and then move on? I am opening the floor up for discussion. I would love to hear any ideas you may have, especially if it doesn't involve me sitting on top of a 1200-pound powder keg who believes he's just been brutally attacked by a mother-gone-mad.

Tucker Looks Death Straight in the Eye... Er, Sort Of

2011-07-06T10:16:00.004-04:00

So Tucker and I had an interesting lesson on Saturday... sometimes I think he just wants me to remember that he is a horse, not a machine, and is just as prone to having a bad day as I am.

So we got to Alicia's early and walked around for a while, and the first time we passed Bean sleeping in the shade, Tucker scooted out from underneath me for a few steps as though sleeping dog = terrorizing monster. I laughed it off.

Then when we started to trot, Tucker stopped dead in his tracks spooking at the sleeping dog, from about twenty feet away. Okay, now he was just being intentionally silly so I reached back and gave him a good whack with my hand (which, of course, sent him into a blind panic for a few minutes), but from then on he was great for our flat work. So, I was willing to forgive a little ridiculous behavior. Nobody's perfect.

We worked on getting him to accept the outside aids with some shoulder-fore, some leg yields to and from the rail, counter-bending circles, then some turns on the haunches to get him stepping underneath of himself. Our canter work was really good -- he felt forward and moving off my leg, but it was light and balanced. He really feels like his fitness level is back to 100%, and I think our canter is better than ever now.

Then we started jumping, working on a big cross-rail set in the middle of the ring. I love cross-rails that have steep rails, I feel like they make him jump so well - round and tidy with his front end. It was set on the center line, so we were making a big figure-eight of the ring. Since Tucker thinks he's clever and will always land the lead based on whatever direction you landed last time, we had to keep getting a lead change, which he never missed. The changes feel so solid these days, it's hard to imagine how much trouble we used to have with them. Amazing what happens when I stop twisting myself around like a pretzel up there!

Then we put together what was going to be a very cool hunter derby-like course. Inside bending line, then outside line in a forward five, then short approach to another bending line, riding off the eye instead of a set number of strides, then trot jump through the middle, and then diagonal triple, a four to a one, and the out was a 3'6" oxer which actually looked like it was going to be fun. When I jump something bigger, I like to do it out of a one stride or a two stride, since then I don't have to do much to get us there except stay out of his way, so that was perfect.

So, the first fence is a vertical end jump, landing and turning inside the oxer on the outside, to a vertical wall on the diagonal. Cantering toward the first jump, Tucker's eye is completely fixed on the horse that has just appeared to hand graze by the ring with her owner, wearing a navy scrim. I close my leg to encourage Tucker to pay attention to the fence that is now two strides in front of us, he takes his eye off her just long enough to jump. He does a beautiful inside turn, and I notice that his right ear is cocked to the outside as we approach the diagonal wall. He is still transfixed by grazing horse. I know that Tucker happens to think she is beautiful, and at one point was stabled across the aisle from her, so I assume that he is simply lovestruck and continue toward the fence.

Apparently, however, while this is what we all saw:

This is what Tucker saw:*

Don't ask me why sweet little Juliet grazing by the side of the ring and her mother sitting on a bench spelled "doom," but apparently, they did. Tucker jumped that diagonal wall so hard that I was cringing before his feet even hit the ground. And then we proceeded to bronc and twist and leap all the way around the end of the ring. VERY un-Tuckerlike behavior. I managed to get my butt back down in the saddle pretty quickly though, and knew I wasn't falling off. So we halted, and backed a couple of slow steps, and then trotted around the ring a few times before we tried to jump anything else. (Tucker exhibited some really impressive Drama Llama poses as we passed ~~the Angel of Death~~ Juliet, and even insisted that he could not keep trotting past her but instead had to crab walk in case she decided to put a spell on him when his back was turned.)

It actually ended up being a good learning experience for me. He rattled me a little when he did that (naturally), but I forced myself to remain calm and not have a death grip on him and we jumped a bunch of jumps, piecing together the course until he finally was landing without feeling like he was balled up and ready to explode at any moment. I was actually able to force myself to be soft and relaxed, and as a result, actually managed to settle him, instead of escalating. The last line we jumped was a bending line that I had to ride off my eye, and I saw a longer distance out and just softened my hand and gently closed my leg, and he took the bigger gap without gunning at it or jumping it like it was eight feet tall. Getting a nice soft jump after our little explosion was a big accomplishment for rider and horse, so we quit on that note. Didn't make it to the big oxer, but that's ok with me.

Could I do without the little bucking fit? Yes, absolutely. But do I feel a little more secure that if that ever happens at a horse show, I'll be able to calm myself down and deal with it? I'm getting there.

__________________________________________
*Tucker insisted that I NOT turn this into one of those stories where I commend his bravery but secretly am making fun of him. You'll notice I didn't do that here. Just a little visual aid....

Great Horse Show, and Thumbs Up for SmartGut Paste

2011-06-30T15:17:00.002-04:00

Wow... I haven't posted anything in ten days. Now that I use statcounter, when I don't post anything and see that about 100 people checked the site anyway, I picture all of you, desperate for something to amuse you while you stand in line, iphone in hand, or maybe bored on a slow conference call, or just not ready to get out of bed yet, or fed up with the summer reruns of your favorite tv shows... logging into TTW in the hopes of finding something clever and exciting, and instead, it's the same boring post that was at the top of the page yesterday. Statcounter gives me anxiety. Then again, it also makes me laugh, because I get to see that almost every day, some hopeful adopter googles "fluffy gray cat," and finds this. Classic.

First things first: if you have a horse that gets an upset tummy for horse shows, trailering, or other events... get yourself some tubes of SmartGut Paste! The stuff is amazing. I gave Tucker one tube about an hour before I put him on the trailer before our horse show last Saturday, and it made a dramatic difference. When I arrive at a horse show and take the ramp down, I am usually greeted with a rather unpleasant site... that generally requires a sponge and bucket to remedy, if you catch my drift. But there was no mess this time -- I was so shocked I had to pick up his tail and check! And, perhaps even more importantly, he actually ate his hay! So well, in fact, that I had to borrow some more hay for the ride home from a friend. That is a huge change in behavior for him. He usually barely picks on his haynet when he's on the trailer, so I've never thought to bring extra. Guess I need to rethink that now! If you have a horse that exhibits signs of a belly ache during stressful events, I highly, highly recommend SmartGut Paste. Truthfully, I was not expecting such a dramatic change. I have tried ProBios paste, and Pro CMC, and even Pepto Bismol, and none of those worked as well as this stuff does. (SmartGut is also legal to show on under USEF rules - see this post for details.)

And as for the actual performance, Tucker and I had a fabulous horse show! Our first one since November and he was a complete rock star, all day long. He was cool as a cucumber from the moment I pulled him off the trailer (maybe the SmartGut helped with that too?), wanted to graze while trotting on the lunge (I promptly decided we did not need to go for a spin), and warmed up calm and relaxed. The warm-up ring was absolute soup, so after flatting for a few minutes, Alicia jumped three jumps and we headed up to the ring. Tucker was great for Alicia's two trips, nice and steady and quiet, and then it was my turn.

Since he was already looking a little tired, I didn't want to run out of horse, so I trotted and cantered once around in the warmup ring, jumped one vertical and one oxer, and said we were ready. We headed up to the ring and a miracle happened... although I didn't realize it until later in the day when I was talking to my favorite horse show mom, while her daughter got ready to show. I didn't get nervous at all. I didn't have to psych myself up, or calm myself down, or convince myself relunctantly to go in the ring. I didn't walk in and quake at the height of the fences, or worry I would forget where I'm going, or pray that Tucker wouldn't try to unload me (seriously, where do I get this stuff from?). I just had a plan, went into the ring, and for the most part, executed it. Without hyperventilating or considering becoming a trail rider. Miracle!

The biggest success of the day, however, was my pace. I established exactly the rhythm I wanted in my opening circle, and then maintained it. I didn't crawl backwards to the first fence, which was a diagonal vertical going away from home, off the left lead. Instead I kept my leg coming out of the corner, then just sat up and waited for the jump to come to me, and Tucker picked a lovely distance right out of stride. Next was a bending line on the outside, going toward home off the right lead, which was either 10 or 11 strides, give or take. We got a nice distance coming in so I just waited til I was about 4 strides out, saw that I needed to balance a little, and then -- are you ready for this -- I actually remembered to close my hand and leg, and collected the horse properly, back to front. Next was a triple away from home, across the other diagonal. I kept the canter coming forward past the in gate, then waited for my line, rode straight out of the turn, and got a good distance in. I felt him wanting to drift ever so slightly to the right, so I opened my left rein a little in the first three. Then the two-stride got a little easy, I remembered to say "woah" in the air over the second jump, and he realized he needed to balance for the two without much extra help from me.

I must have been so pleased with myself that I got a little over-confident, cause then I goofed. I came around to the last line, which was another bending line going toward home, off the left lead. I saw a distance, thought to myself, "it's right there," closed my leg, and about two strides out, I felt Tucker reconsidering my decision. "Um, hello? Haven't we had this conversation like a thousand times before? If I leave from there... You. Will. Fall. Off. I am adding. You are insane." He was right, of course, there was another stride there and if I had left him alone, it would have worked out just fine. Instead, it was one of those moments where as you feel your horse twisting himself upside down to work it out, all you can do is say "sorry buddy" and hope he makes it. Can't you just hear him? "THIS, by the way, is what LOVE feels like, in case you were wondering! I SHOULD stop at these things, but I DON'T, because I LOVE you, even though you are CRAZY!" We landed in a heap, but I didn't panic (in fact I thought "awww man, it was going so well"), closed my leg and we cantered forward to the last fence and found a perfect distance.

Sigh. So close. All in all though, I am really happy with our first trip back. Alicia said it was the first time she saw me select, and maintain, the right pace all the way around the course. Success! As for Tucker, he is the Wunderkind. He did everything I asked him to do, and then some. I am so proud of how amateur-proof he has become. I was never sure, when he was a baby, if he would eventually just start accepting it as a fact of life that mom makes mistakes and he has to cover them up. But he has, and he does. Worth his weight in gold, I tell you.

More Fine Tuning

2011-06-20T14:16:00.000-04:00

I feel like I have been slowly fine tuning what is going on with my hands... and I think in Saturday's lesson we finally stumbled upon the answer.

In preparation for my lesson on Saturday, when I rode Tucker on Friday night I turned my hands upside down to a driving rein. Have you ever done this? Instead of holding your reins normally, where the rein enters between your ring and pinky finger and exits through the top of your fist, beneath your thumb, you turn your hand so that the rein is entering your hand between your thumb and forefinger and exiting through your palm (picture the way someone holds the reins while they are driving a carriage). It is a great way to prevent yourself from bracing in the wrist/elbow, and generally helps me a lot when I am trying to break a habit somehow related to my hands. As an added bonus, it also keeps you from tipping over your hands with your upper body, because it changes your posture.

What I found, in doing this, was that I was holding a much steadier contact on both reins, and my horse was much happier to accept the contact on both sides as a result. Okay... so now we know I need steadier contact with both sides of his mouth, and we've already learned that I need to "open the door" on the right side so that I don't brace my right hand down and stick my right elbow out. With me so far?

Before my lesson I asked Alicia to watch my dressage test and tell me what the heck I am doing with my left hand. (Side note: This is the sign of a truly dedicated trainer. "Hey, can you go online in your spare time and read my blog and then watch the video of me competing in another discipline and then help me fix whatever I am doing?" And she did. That's a good trainer.) Before we got started with my lesson, Alicia and I discussed my hands in general. We agreed that I'm not "playing with the bit" since usually when someone does that, they are wiggling their fingers and generally sliding the bit back and forth in the horse's mouth to get the horse to break at the poll, which I'm not doing. And we agreed that I've stopped the habit of breaking at the wrist (which I used to do), and now have a straight line hand-to-elbow, for the most part. Alicia then said she thinks my left hand and right elbow are directly related. (Which left me with a giant question mark floating just above my Charles Owen.)

So Alicia watched me flat for a minute and asked "what does it feel like you are doing?" and I said "it feels like I am just following with my left hand and feeling the right." So we started tinkering with this. Basically, I am holding the right side of his mouth (with my elbow braced) and then trying to compensate by being soft on the left, because I want the contact to be following, so I end up giving too much on the left and not enough on the right. (Ohhhh, so that's what she meant by they're related. Question mark fading.)

So... to fix this Alicia tried a variety of images, "be more still in your left elbow," and "hold the left more," and then finally told me to "make sure both arms are doing the same thing, and bring your hands closer together." Ah-ha! That worked. And almost immediately, Tucker started trotting more forward and reaching down into the bridle. (You could practically hear him sighing in relief. Or rolling his eyes. One of the two.)

So when turning right, I need think about "opening the door" on the right side, but my elbows need to be doing the same thing, so that the contact is the same on both sides. Then I just have to lift my right shoulder open and back, and keep my right leg on, so Tucker keeps bending through his mid-section. When turning left, I just have to make sure not to twist too much in my torso. I've actually noticed I ride with my left foot slightly ahead of my right foot, which I think all stems from the upper body twisting. When I bend my left knee more, my upper body straightens out too. (Basically, my horse is being piloted by a pretzel, or possibly a bendy straw. It is amazing he ever manages to go anywhere in a straight line.)

When I put all these pieces together, it seems to be all falling into place (!), possibly for the first time in my riding career. Alicia jumped Tucker around a little 3' course after I flatted and jumped some smaller jumps on Saturday (and he was fabulous, didn't miss a beat, you'd never know he hasn't jumped 3' since February), so I didn't want to do too much yesterday. I just went out in the big outdoor ring at my farm for a short hack, and practiced "both elbows the same - hands together - open the door on the right - right shoulder up and back - don't twist left." Tucker flatted beautifully, and seemed very appreciative of my newly discovered position. We even got two perfectly clean, back to front, relaxed, uphill lead changes, which left me basically floored. All I did was concentrate on what my hands were doing and he had no trouble getting them. Talk about a breakthrough. Now let's hope we can do that in the show ring on Saturday.

Fingers crossed (wait, no -- I mean -- hands together, elbows the same)....

Happy Birthday Julie!

2011-06-16T09:31:00.025-04:00

The little spotted girl turned three yesterday!* Hard to believe it's been three years since I was on the phone with the stallion owner, watching her arrival, and saying "two white socks... two white stockings... two white legs... oh, she's a pinto!"

If anyone knows of someone looking for a prospect, she is going to be a really, really nice mare. Brave, sweet, athletic, and very charismatic. (Sorry for the shameless plug, but you never know who might be reading!)

Happy birthday pretty girl!

Yesterday also marks two years since I started writing TTW. Thank you very much, to those of you who have been following along since the beginning and to those of you who have recently found us, for all of your support, laughter, encouragement, advice, and applause. I have learned a lot from all of you, I adore your horses as though they shared a barn aisle with mine, and I am so happy to call many of you friends. The horse blogger community really is a great bunch of people, and I am glad to be a part of it. Here's hoping you will all keep reading, and I'll keep writing, for a few more years!

________________________________
*(Sorry I didn't manage to get this posted yesterday little girl, but I had video of your big brother to share. Nope, mommy doesn't play favorites.)

Tucker's First Dressage Test

2011-06-15T08:30:00.006-04:00

So our dressage test went pretty well, I think (?). I definitely didn't embarrass anyone, which was my ultimate goal. I thought Tucker listened pretty well, and I thought the comments were right on point. I have no idea what the scores mean, but we got all 6's and 7's... for what that is worth. Our overall score was a 62.8%, which OTB from A Horse and a Half tells me is good? I have no idea, but I had fun, and I think we put in a good effort.

The overall comments reflect that Tucker needs to come more forward from the rider's leg, which I think you'll agree with after you view the video. I also needed more of a stretchy trot -- I wasn't sure how much stretch we should have, so I did our hack class trot, and it looks like I could have gone more long and low. And as for my riding, well, you'll see all the things I need to work on (right elbow/chicken wing, fidgety left hand, twisted torso, sitting up, etc., etc.).

All in all though, I think it went quite well, and other than Tucker losing is footing a little in the corner at one point, and anticipating a couple of transitions, I thought he behaved himself wonderfully. The final halt makes me laugh -- you'll be able to tell that the next horse was on its way to the ring, and Tucker was very excited to have a friend!

So, after all your helpful advice (which I really did my best to follow)... how did we do? I am nit-picking myself to death, so don't hold back! Let's hear your constructive criticism. I for one am going to put jingle bells on my left wrist so that I stop moving my left hand so much!

By the way, at the end of the test, there was a rainbow in the sky! Although the suggestion was made by a certain videographer, I am not taking this as a sign that Tucker should be a dressage pony. He is very happy in the hunter ring, and thinks this was the weirdest flat class he's ever been in!

I think we're ready....

2011-06-13T23:01:00.072-04:00

Tonight I tacked Tucker up (we switched bits to a plain Dr. Bristol, but at least I get to use my flash to show for once) and took him out to the dressage arena on the farm, just after the sun had set, and the moon was just starting to glow but the sky was a really pretty steel blue. Once I got done sighing over how beautiful an evening it was, and how lucky I was to be out on this lovely horse enjoying it (and how glad I was that I dragged my butt out there after work tonight), we got down to business. It was actually pretty dark by the time we were done, but Tucker is used to late night rides and crack of dawn warmups, so he didn't mind a bit.

I haven't practiced the whole test more than twice before tonight, because I know Tucker, and I know that he memorizes things very, very quickly. He almost always lands his leads at the horse show once he's jumped the course once, because he knows which way we're going next, and will always pick up his canter before you ask on the opening circle. He also anticipates lead changes when you canter across the diagonal (sometimes rather dramatically), starts leg yielding back to the rail the second you finish your leg yield to the quarterline, and comes back to a halt whenever my phone rings. He's a smart cookie.

Tonight I thought I'd be good doing the test once at the walk, once at the trot, and then twice more all the way through with all the transitions etc. By the last time through, he totally had it memorized. Whoops. The biggest problem I think I'm going to have tomorrow is making sure to keep him in the gate we are in until we get to the spot where we are supposed to transition, since he clearly thinks he knows everything there is to know about dressage already. Such an over-achiever.

In all seriousness, there are a few things we needed to work on. For starters, the cavaletti marking the ends of the ring are not to be jumped. There is a cavaletti placed, for example, at C, marking the end of the ring. Trotting up the center line, we are headed right for it, and someone had trouble understanding why he was being turned away from it at the last second. We seem to have conquered this issue after the first few moments of confusion, however. An easy mistake, I suppose.

We've been practicing 20-meter circles at the trot and canter, and I think I have the size and shape down. We have to work on our usual issues: to the right, he overbends and brings his haunches too far in, and to the left, he pops his right shoulder and grabs the inside rein (this also goes back to me sitting straight, keeping my right arm under control, and following with my left shoulder). Also, I noticed that when we turn the corner from short side to long side, he had a tendency to swing his hips to the outside, so I have to remember to ride him off my outside aids in the corners.

The squiggly thingies went well, as far as I could tell, and the change of direction across the diagonal with the canter-trot transition, we nailed just about every time (at least, I think we did). So it'll be interesting to see how we score on those parts. The free walk and stretchy trot felt good to me, but I'm curious to know if we are doing it right. The hardest part of the free walk is getting him to keep walking (and not start trotting) when I shorten my reins back up, and the trickiest part of the stretchy trot is getting him to keep trotting when I shorten my reins back up, since he thinks that stretching down at the trot at the end of the ride means that he's done. I'm glad we practiced this tonight... things I wouldn't have thought of.

The hardest part of the test for us, from what I can tell, is the last turn, down the longside, and then up the center line. We overshot it about three times in a row before we got it right. I have a feeling my left shoulder is the culprit there, so I need to remember to turn with the horse. The left turn at the start of the test, from the center line to the rail, was much easier, but that's an easier turn for me in terms of my own straightness. Also, the last turn at the end of the test, he's a little more tired than the first turn at the start of the test.

Once we were done I got all our tack clean, tidied Tucker up a little, and got everything set so I can show up right after work and get going. I'm excited for tomorrow, looking forward to another set of eyes and a different perspective on my horse. Hopefully he will behave himself and not do anything too embarrassing! If he does, don't worry... it will just be fodder for another post tagged "humor."

Wish us luck!

Calling my dressage ladies, help a hunter princess out....

2011-06-09T12:00:00.002-04:00

So, as at least one of my readers knows, I am doing a dressage test next Tuesday night. It's just a schooling show, at our barn, very low key. I've been asked to do Training Level Test 3. And I've been promised that beer will follow (sold!).

Being the Type-A personality and good student that I am, I promptly found the test online and started memorizing last Sunday morning. Of course, I also had to google dressage letters layout because I promptly realized that "HXK" means absolutely nothing to me.

So here is how I have memorized my test (I had to translate it into terms I could remember):

Enter at trot, halt in the middle, salute thingy, trot forward and turn left at the end.
Squiggly thingy down the longside at the trot.
Trot around short side, canter in the corner.
Canter circle in the middle of the longside (width of arena)
Keep cantering around short side, across diagonal, trot in the middle.
Walk in the middle of the short side (collected walk).
Squiggly thingy up the longside at the walk (long rein).
Trot in the middle of the short side.
Squiggly thingy down the longside at the trot.
Trot around short side, canter in the corner.
Canter circle in the middle of the longside (width of the arena).
Trot in the middle of the short side.
Hunter trot circle in the middle of the long side (shorten reins again before rail).
Trot around corner, up the center line, halt, salute thingy, walk forward on long rein and say thank you to the judge.

Now I realize that's oversimplifying it a bit, and of course I'm going to try to show our best flat work, our most balanced walk, trot, and canter, make my circles as round as I can, and get as close to a good transition everywhere as we can. Please don't take the above to mean that I'm not taking this seriously. I am. Any chance to get some constructive criticism and feedback on my horse and our flat work is not one I am going to throw away. I just had to throw the letters out the window. My little hunter princess brain just wouldn't work that way....

So dressage ladies (or gents, I suppose, in case I have a male reader or two)... help a sister out. Here are the questions I have so far:

Do I make the turns in the squiggly thingies (I believe you call them "one loop serpentines") rounded, like an "S" curve, or should they be more like a straight line from H to X, and then a straight line from X to K?
Is there a particular place between A and F that is preferred for the canter transition? Closer to A? Closer to F? Right in between? Do they want to see you prepare for the transition, or not? Example: I'm doing this at the posting trot (obviously) but I would normally sit for three beats and set up the transition with a slight shoulder-fore before I ask for it. Would that be a positive or a negative?
For the "free walk" and the stretchy trot, I assume I let the reins out gradually as I ask for this? This should be the best part of our test, so I don't want to screw it up!
Does anyone have any advice for me on getting a square halt? Tucker finds this whole concept just totally and completely stupid ("You said stop and I stopped. What the heck is your problem?"). If I make an effort to get his hind end square, he starts running though his back of tricks trying to guess what I want. Back up? Turn on the forehand? Turn on the haunches? Side pass? Canter? No???? I have a feeling it won't happen, but if anyone has a suggestion, it's worth a shot.

What else do I need to know about doing a dressage test? What giant faux pas are you imagining me committing? What will make me stand out as a complete and total outsider (that is, other than the hunter tack, the field boots, and the green-biege breeches)? There's got to be some things I'm not thinking of....

Wordless Wednesday: Siblings

2011-06-08T13:33:00.010-04:00

In Case You Were Wondering...

2011-06-07T08:00:00.001-04:00

... where Tucker gets his fabulous jump from, he gets it from his daddy:

Keizer in the Hunter Derby at HITS Saugerties, June 2011

Beautifully photographed by G. Dunleavy

Is that a beautiful horse or what? Every time I see a picture of this guy, I audibly gasp, and my heart just melts. He is just so incredibly gorgeous, he takes my breath away! Probably also because I know what a kind, lovely, sweet horse he is, it just makes him all the more attractive to me. The rider in the photo above is Keizer's current owner, who as you can tell takes absolutely great care of him, given that he is still doing a Hunter Derby and he is in his late teens! I love this picture... he looks so happy to be doing his job (Tucker gets that from his daddy too!). I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that this very special horse, for whom I have such deep affection, has such a wonderful home in his later years.

Compare the photo above with this one. If you look closely, you'll see that Keizer and Tucker are doing the same thing with their lips! Amazing how many little quirks like that Tucker has that were genetically passed down from Keizer, even though they never even met. I think their jumping styles are pretty similar too, don't you? Now I just have to get brave enough to start jumping bigger jumps so Tucker can get his knees up to where Keizer's are (see banner photo, above)!

Can't wait to get these two beautiful boys together this summer for a father-son photo opp!

Breakthrough? Maybe? Hopefully?

2011-06-06T12:15:00.009-04:00

What a wonderful horse-filled weekend! I am straight up exhausted but at the same time I feel totally recharged. Elizabeth at She Rides I Pay posted a great statement on facebook this morning: "Horse shows suck the life out of you, and then stuff it all back in, in a more relaxed and exhausted form." So true, right?

Saturday I got to play horse show groom again for my friend Kathleen, who once again did a fantastic job and went home with handfuls of ribbons. Then I headed over to see the Wunderkind and had a really good ride, including a trail ride around the property with a boarder friend, and a surprise visit from OntheBit, who was driving by and saw the most gorgeous bay horse she had ever seen and knew it was me. Okay, okay, she saw my truck with the busted tail light and knew I was there. But it could have been the gorgeous bay too...

(thanks OTB for the photo!)

Then on Sunday I trailered Tucker over to Alicia's farm and had a great lesson. Since Tucker is basically doing exactly what he should be doing (of course), we worked almost exclusively on me. We worked first on getting me straight in the saddle. My left shoulder and left hip are back in both directions, which makes him a little crooked and resistant to changing the bend. It's so deeply ingrained that when I sit straight, I feel crooked. Once we got that accomplished at the walk and trot, we moved to the canter, where my primary problem is my right arm.

My right arm has a mind of its own. It does ugly, unproductive things that I do not intend it to do. It does things that Tucker does not like. Things that make both of our lives more difficult. What I want is to have elastic, even contact with both reins, hands elevated and on either side of the neck, and a following, flexible elbow that rests at my side. What my right arm does is point its knuckles at my horse's whither, brace in the wrist, and stick its elbow out, chicken-dance fashion.

Alicia has been telling me "right elbow at your side" for the past three years. Figure about ten times per lesson, about 50 lessons a year, times three years... that's at least 1500 times the poor woman has uttered this phrase, and that's not even counting horse shows and probably a gross underestimate regardless. One would think that if one heard the same thing 1500 times, it would sink in. One would think.

We seem to have stumbled upon something new, however. Alicia told me to open my right hand like a door. So, the elbow is the hinge, resting at my side, and my forearm swings open like a door. For some reason, this image seems to be working. And Tucker responds to the change immediately when I get it right. (No wonder he loves to go visit Alicia.) First we practiced this over some cavaletti and little cross rails, and then we gave Tucker some actual little jumps!

Let me pause here to say that my horse is just adorable. The first time I pointed him at the little box (which was all of 18 inches) I thought his ears were about to fall off the front of his face. He suddenly found a reserve of energy where moments before he was barely plugging along. So cute -- he missed his job! I don't blame him, either. The flatwork has been great, and he truly feels better than ever, but MAN was I starting to get bored. I am surprised I still have any readers!

So although Tucker needed several breaks, we put together a short little course and I concentrated pretty much exclusively on what my right arm was doing. Amazing that every time I jump something landing right, my instinct is to plant my right hand in his whither upon landing. I didn't even know I did that! (Yes, Tucker is a saint. No, he never complains.) My restrictive right hand explains why Tucker drifts left, lands left, and why we have trouble maintaining pace as we approach fences off the right. But with this fixed, he was happily collecting back-to-front, staying straight, landing right, keeping his momentum around the right turns, and softly moving up without diving left.

I might possibly have had a breakthrough. When I think "open the door" my right hand actually does what it's supposed to do. I'm not actually opening the right rein, I'm just for once straight through my right forearm and lifting my hand instead of burying it in his neck and giving him something to brace against. I am cautiously optimistic at this point... my right arm has been so blatantly defiant whenever I've tried to give it directions in the past, and thus far communications inevitably break down and my right arm gets its way and I look like a one-winged chicken on a horse failing his field sobriety test.

But one can hope. Maybe this year will be the year that I learn to ride straight?

Friday Funny: Cats

2011-06-03T14:16:00.002-04:00

Haven't done one of these in a while but we definitely all need something to give us a laugh, right? Been too much sadness and worry going on in our equine community lately.

So in the hopes of lifting everyone's spirts, I bring you INVISIBLE CATS. Click the link. You'll laugh. I promise.

Now, to be sure that I have a camera ready when my two little ~~idiots~~ felines strike ~~bizarre~~ adorable poses... Anyone got a caption for this one? Invisible chaise lounge, perhaps?

(That brown smudge in the grass between her front and back paws would be a mouse.

Caught immediately after I made fun of her for being too chubby to hunt down anything.

Do you see the disdain in her eyes? I stand corrected.)

Finally... A lesson

2011-06-02T09:32:00.000-04:00

Been a while huh? How did I let a week slip by completely unnoticed? Don't really know how that happened. Anyway....

Memorial Day weekend was great for me. Friday I had a great ride on Tucker, managed to sneak out of work a little early and ride outside before the sun went down, and he felt great. Saturday I got to relive my glory days as a show groom and groomed for my friend Kathleen, who was champion on both Tuck and Reggie. The horses were fabulous and she rode them really, really well -- I was very proud of her. And of course, they were spotlessly clean and beautiful. There is something just so satisfying about sending a perfectly groomed horse into the show ring, and taking good care of them after a successful day's work. Old habits die hard.

Then on Sunday, I trailered Tucker over to Alicia's farm for a lesson, just a half-hour on the flat. I was curious about how he would be and what Alicia would think of how his flat work has been coming along, and she seemed pleased, which made me happy. No exaggeration, we haven't had a lesson since February, so I was a little worried that I had been left to my own devices for too long. There didn't seem to be anything too drastic to fix, which was a relief.

We worked on getting Tucker to reach down and out a little more at the trot, instead of down and a little behind the verticle. Alicia also had me half halt the outside and then softly follow when I needed to make a correction, instead of steadily hold the outside, since Tucker was bracing against my outside rein a little and sort of holding himself in place rather than really carrying himself and coming through from behind (especially the right rein, tracking left). We got some really, really lovely trot work this way and his downward transitions, which I have been working really hard on, were great. We did some cavaletti work too, and he was excellent - reaching down, balancing himself, and staying round.

At the canter, I had been feeling like he was swinging his haunches left, but Alicia pointed out that it was really more that he was popping his right shoulder, so we worked on fixing that with little half-halts in the outside rein and my outside leg firmly on his side, and some counterbending, and really got him straight again. His downward transitions from the canter were also fabulous. Tracking to the right, I need to be careful that I am sitting just as deep in the tack for the upward transition as I do tracking left. His right lead is so much easier that I think I tend to slack a little, but it results in a lower quality transition. We worked on that for a bit, but I definitely have more homework to do. Once we gave Tucker another break, we did some cavaletti work at the canter, and I was really impressed with how well he carried himself. He felt really balanced and light and kept a nice shape throughout the exercise. Such a good boy.

After the lesson I took him for a nice long trail ride around the property with our friend Brooke and her horse Olly, which was lovely. The farm where Alicia is training is just so beautiful -- there are big fields, and a pond, and a lovely path around the perimeter that is shaded by the trees. Tucker very much enjoyed himself, wandering along, taking in the sights, enjoying the breeze. Once again, I was just amazed at how laid back and rock solid he can be -- Olly spooked at one point and came scooting up behind him and even bumped right into Tucker's butt, and Tucker barely flicked an ear at him. Such a perfect gentleman. After a bath, Tucker hung out in Reggie's stall for a while and I took Reggie for a long trail ride too. Just the perfect way to spend a hot summer afternoon.

Looking forward to another lesson this weekend!

Apologies....

2011-05-26T09:01:00.000-04:00

It appears that my blog was hacked into yesterday. I sincerely apologize if this has alarmed anyone. Apparently "tucker" isn't the best idea for a password. That is one seriously verbose horse. Who knew he had so much to say? And where does he learn such big words? His writing style is oddly similar to the narration of Black Beauty, I think. I wonder if that is where he found his inspiration.

Also, by way of more sincere apology, blogger is giving me a hard time and I can't seem to post comments on your blogs, but rest assured I am following along... and continuing to coo at your foal pictures, laugh at your jokes, commiserate with your troubles, and smile at your sweet stories.... I'm just keeping it to myself for the moment. Has anyone else had this problem? I try to post a comment, it redirects me to the blogger sign in screen, then tries to make me post anonymously, and then redirects me to the blogger sign in screen again, in an endless circle that concludes with me giving up. Anyway, hopefully the problem will sort itself out and I'll be back to leaving the charming one-liners that I am quite sure my fellow bloggers all live for. (What? You hadn't even noticed I haven't been commenting? Surely, you must be joking.)

Also, a bit of housekeeping. I have been trying to come up with a "Tucker the Wunderkind Mobile Site" and thus far all efforts have failed. The best solution I can come up with is to have a dummy wordpress blog as the "mobile site," since the one advantage I've found to wordpress is that it automatically detects a mobile device. At the moment, I find the blog takes a million years to load on my blackberry and sometimes won't load at all. Are people reading the blog from a mobile device? Having any trouble with it loading? Would it be helpful to have a mobile site or am I just being insane and neurotic?

To: My Readers; From: Tucker; Re: Plea for Return to Normalcy

2011-05-25T10:00:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone,

Yes, it's me. She finally gave me some face time with you. Well, actually, she doesn't really know that I've hacked into the blog. Hudson told me I could tap into the wireless signal of a nearby house, and since my field happens to be next to the farmhouse, voila, here I am, connected to the world. Then he gave me a tip about making friends with a cat (which I'm really good at, obviously, see here and here -- didn't even need to mention "tuna"). Once I was connected, it was just a matter of hacking, and I adore hacking! I win hacks all the time. Nothing to it, really.

You may be wondering why I've waited until now to address you directly. This blog, after all, has been going on for almost two years now, and I haven't felt a need to make an appearance yet, even though I absolutely could have, should the need have arisen. Up until now I believe my mother has been representing my interests well... though at times, I feel she paints me in a rather comical light, even in more serious moments, like when our general welfare and safety is at stake....

I have no idea why you all find my bravery in these circumstances so funny, but humans are a strange and illogical breed. Which is why I do, at times, "play the fool" for your general amusement. I have learned, over time, that humans are easily amused, and prone to dispense treats with a frequency directly proportional to the amount of ridiculous tricks, endearing faces, and kind gestures that a horse displays. Of course, treats are also dispensed based on level of performance, but truly, I perform well for my own satisfaction. It's a matter of pride, really, to do a job so well.

Which brings me to my point. My job. I am a hunter, and while it took me a few years to catch on to the point of this sport, I have now mastered it and believe that I execute my role with tact, finesse, and style. The tact, of course, comes into play when I overlook the occasional pilot error and recalculate the amount of strength and impulsion that will be required in order to clear the obstacle before us in a safe and efficient manner, and stifle my urge to express my displeasure with this situation upon landing. The finesse allows me to make the above-described "recalculations" appear natural and effortless, a feat I have mastered over the course of several years of experience (believe me, she gives me lots of practice covering up these things). And then there's style, which really can't be learned. It's something a horse is either born with or without, and I don't mean to sound boastful, but like I said, I'm good at my job.

In recent months, however, I have been prevented from doing my job. First there was the awful month of March. An entire month where I was denied my usual recreation and workout, and instead kept confined to my stall for days on end, for no reason that I could surmise at all. The weather appeared fine and from what I could gather, the other horses with whom I am stabled continued to go about their usual routines. I continued to receive daily food and care from the lovely individuals who appear to be responsible for me when my mother is not available, so perhaps it was simply an oversight. For the life of me, I will never know what happened during that month nor why I was confined in such an unreasonable manner. There was, of course, some talk of the minor abrasion to my right hock, but I can assure you, it was nothing. I do appreciate my mother's concern and her care for it, but honestly, I could have continued on with my job and would have been happy to do so.

Then there was a very brief interlude where I was again released to my field for recreation, though once again, for reasons unknown to me, I was returned to my stall for almost the duration of April. April, as you may or may not know, is the month where Spring grass really begins to grow in earnest. It is, quite possibly, one of the best months of a horse's year (well before the "annoying season" as Hudson so aptly put it). It is also the month when horse shows begin outdoors again, which I find to be far more enjoyable than those dreadful winter shows, where one shivers on a trailer only to be led into a bleak, dark indoor where one must collect one's stride between fences as well as through corners in order to manage a tidy picture in the confines of such a small enclosure. An outside course, in my opinion, is really the only way to show off one's true talents.

This April, however, did not bring such joys to my life. Instead, I was yet again trapped in a 12x12 space for almost the entire span of the month. During this time, my mother visited frequently, but seemed fixated solely upon my coat. We did not exercise at all, but instead she spent day after day, night after night, currying, brushing, polishing, combing, spraying, and fussing over me like a champion show poodle (there were even several baths, a disgusting practice of which I highly disapprove, and I hear that there have been talks of a contest my mother is trying to win, which will surely bring on even more baths). I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I enjoy grooming and find it relaxes and soothes my muscles after or prior to a hard physical workout. The extra benefit that it keeps me looking so well is an added bonus, and I do understand that there is a certain element of physical attractiveness required for my job. My problem is simply that the workout itself was entirely lacking from our routine.

Now that we are "back to work," I'm sorry to report that our routine has been severely truncated. My mother seems to have determined that the walk is the gait upon which we should concentrate, and we spend almost all of our time practicing it. I've always felt that I have a lovely, natural, ground covering walk and need very little practice to master it. I also enjoy being able to take in my surroundings and get a bit of sight-seeing done while walking and do not appreciate the level of concentration upon which she has been insisting while we walk. In recent weeks, we do appear to be trotting with increasing frequency and intensity, which I must say is a good sign, and we are now occasionally cantering one circle at a time. There remains, however, not a jump in sight (cavaletti and tiny cross rails do not -- I repeat do not -- count, particularly at the trot). I've begun spooking at inanimate objects, in the hopes that she will "punish" this behavior by making me work harder, but to no avail. She only pats my neck and reassures me, as though she believes I am genuinely frightened.

I write, therefore, to implore you to urge my mother toward a return to normalcy. Tell her that she can ignore my panting and labored breathing, it's nothing really. Tell her that I am fit as a fiddle. I am well rested and ready for work. Summer is around the corner, and we have horse shows to attend! Hitch up the trailer, fill the haynets, polish the tall boots! What on earth is she waiting for?

Very truly yours,
Tucker M. River

Pretty Pictures

2011-05-23T10:11:00.002-04:00

Had a lovely day with Tucker yesterday (we cantered for the first time in two months!), not much time to blog this morning but wanted to share some pretty pictures with you:

All this rain has made the grass shoot up... it's like horse heaven out there

Munch munch munch

Hi?

Mom?

MOM!

The girls trotted over to say hi when I pulled in and I thought they looked adorable

(that's Tucker's girlfriend in the middle, and the lovely mare that tolerated my dressage lesson on the right)

Tucker Explains the Wizard of Oz

2011-05-16T21:04:00.002-04:00

So, I get to the barn on Saturday afternoon, very much looking forward to a nice ride outside. I hadn't seen Tucker in a couple of days, and the rain was holding off. Perfect recipe for a great Saturday. Couldn't wait for some quality time with the best horse in the world.

Just one problem. As we exited the barn after tacking up, Tucker morphed into full-on, high alert, neon-sign-flashing-DANGER, drama-llama mode. Okay, no problem, I'll lead him down to the outdoor ring and get on there. There was some construction happening and apparently all the loud noises were blowing his mind.

Little did I know what was in store for me.

We get down to the outdoor ring and I found myself having to hand walk my now-possessed beast in circles, which, at the time, was a lot more like flying a kite than leading a horse. In his defense, there was a little more going on than your basic construction. They were delivering big, pre-fab sheds on the end of a flat bed truck, and they were unloading directly in Tucker's line of vision.

Finally, sick of staring into the whites of Tucker's eyes and listening to him snort above my head, I decide to climb aboard. After a few minutes of dancing and prancing, he settled down into a somewhat normal walk, though he continued to arch his neck, twitch his lips around and stare wild-eyed into the distance.

I decide to try and communicate. Get his mind off his, um, troubles. I head to the point of the ring farthest away from the sheds that are clearly going to kill us, and we do some spiraling in and out circles, some leg yields, and he eventually starts to relax and even stretches down a little. He takes a big deep breath and I finally feel him starting to bend around my inside leg and start tracking up. His back was relaxing. Phew. He's finally back to normal.

So, I ease him up into a trot. OH MY. He responds by stomping his front feet, shaking his head from side to side, and squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeling. Uh... not exactly what I was expecting. Okay, okay, okay. Walk. Just walk. Calm down. Please.

He walks and almost immediately settles back down. I figure it's a fluke. We do a little more working walk and when I feel him getting bored to tears again, I cautiously ease him back into a trot. Feet stomping! Head shaking! Squeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeee! Oh dear lord. Walk. Please. Walk. Just... walk.

Me: Um, Tucker?

Tucker: Yeah?

M: Mind explaining what the HECK is wrong with you?

T: What's wrong with ME? What's wrong with YOU? It's not safe out here you know. We are in a very, very dangerous position.

M: Didn't realize that. What exactly is unsafe about the outdoor ring?

T: (He scoffs) No, no, not the outdoor ring.

M: Okay.... I'll humor you. Where is the danger, exactly?

T: It's the houses. They are dropping houses.

M: Oh, well, I really don't think we need to worry about that. They're not going to drop any houses on you.

T: You don't know that!

M: Actually I kind of do. There's really no chance that one of those houses is going to fall on us.

T: Not on my watch, that's for sure! But I can only do so many things at once. And I can't watch for falling houses while we are trotting. I mean what am I, a magician?

M: I see. So that's why we can't trot.

T: Now you're catching on.

M: Since when do houses fall on horses or people?

T: Haven't you seen the Wizard of Oz?

M: Tucker, there are no horses in the Wizard of Oz.

T: MY POINT EXACTLY! Horses are very intelligent creatures. We don't stick around when there are falling houses. Dogs, lions, flying monkeys, that movie had everything except a horse. And that's because horses are way too smart to get distracted and wait around to have a house fall on their heads, so some filly can come along and steal our shoes.

M: I see. Let's try trotting one more time okay?

T: Squeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeee-eeee!

M: *Sigh.* Nevermind.

I don't really think anyone would have believed me, except that when I got back up to the barn, I was explaining how the ride went to someone: "Ugh, he was a NUTCASE today. Every time I tried to trot, he'd shake his head and stomp his feet, and sq--"

"eeeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeee!" He was then kind enough to demonstrate for us.

Once again, my horse has valiantly saved me from the brink of danger. Thank heavens I have him to protect me at times like these. Quite sure I would be lying under a house somewhere otherwise. And some strange girl would have stolen my shoes.

Afternoon Delight

2011-05-13T17:00:00.002-04:00

I was just commenting recently on someone's blog (and I can't for the life of me remember whose it was -- so if you remember, please help out a brain that is clearly aging before its time) that some of my favorite pictures of Tucker have been sent to me while I am at work. There is something so wonderful about seeing your horse enjoying his day while you are stuck behind a desk earning the big bucks to keep him in the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed.

Here is one such photo, which I just received, of my horse enjoying a little afternoon snooze under the trees with his new turnout buddy:

It's just too cute for words. He is so adorable. I heart him.

I can't wait to dote on him this weekend... it's been a long week and I need a little Tucker time!

_____________________________
p.s. - Hey blogger, if you don't want to find my last couple of posts, we can just keep them between us and forget I was ever being so childish and whiney. Now that I think of it, maybe I am responsible for the Great Blogger Meltdown of 2011? Was I really being so bratty that I crashed blogger? It's totally possible. I can be really obnoxious when I want to be. Just ask any of my ex-boyfriends. They'll be happy to tell you all about it.

Better Today

2011-05-12T09:02:00.000-04:00

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming....

I am feeling a bit better today, even though I am still sad about missing yet another horse show. Things that gave me a bit more perspective:

1. I went out to the barn last night and Tucker started blowing in my ears and nuzzling my shoulder while I was texting outside his stall. It melts me every time when he does that.

2. Tucker is definitely putting weight on now that the stress of stall rest is over, he's getting plenty of good spring grass to eat, and he's back to work. I snapped this last night and he definitely looks a little better than he did two weeks ago, don't you think? His neck, shoulders, and back are filling out and muscling up nicely, and you can't see ribs anymore. His butt is still a little, um, jiggly (he begged me not to say that, but it's the truth), but we'll get there. Lots of hill work, backing up, and transitions in our future.

3. We had a great ride, even though it was only at the trot. I had a complete deja vu moment in the middle of the ride, one of those creepy, I've been here/seen this/felt this before moments, and I realized driving home what it was -- he felt just like his dad. I had a crystal clear vision of looking down at that gorgeous stallion neck with its gleaming shiny-penny chestnut coat, and Tucker is starting to feel just like he did. That same big swinging gorgeous trot.

Sigh. Love this horse.

If we're being honest...

2011-05-11T14:17:00.000-04:00

I have little to report of interest on the Tucker front (we are up to 15 minutes of trotting with a couple of walk breaks in between!). But I'm pretty sure I can't bore you guys (or myself) any more than I already have with stories about Tucker trotting. Would you like to hear about how we've started adding serpentines into the mix? Yeah, I thought not. I don't feel like writing about it either.

Although I'm sure that after following me for years you've all come to the conclusion that I'm just an absolutely perfect person, devoid of any flaws whatsoever, and never have a bad day or think anything but bright, cheery, sunny thoughts... can I be honest for a second? (I sincerely hope, by the way, that my many flaws are coming through on the blog. I find them somewhat endearing, even if no one else quite sees it that way.) Well assuming you all nodded at your computers just now and said "Yes, Marissa, please... be honest with us. What's up?"

I'm actually very busy right now moping and pouting and sinking myself into a miserable little heap. I'm mentally stomping my foot. I'm metaphorically crossing my arms and frowning. I would very much like to trade places with my two-year-old niece today so that I could deliver one of those "nnnnnnnnnnnnNO!" pronouncements that she does so well.

Why, you ask, am I an overgrown toddler today? Because, that's why. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) It's the Wednesday before St. Christopher's, one of my favorite away shows, and I should be packing the trailer and cleaning my tack and bathing my horse tonight, so that we're ready for the drive tomorrow, but instead I'm planning on doing 15 minutes of trotting tonight. I should be leaving work early tomorrow, but I'm not. I will be doing laundry this weekend, when I should be sitting ringside watching the Mini Prix. So I'm frowning. There's a picture of us from last year at St. Chris on my desk, and I swear, it's mocking me. So I'm frowning some more.

I know what you're thinking. I should be happy my horse is recovered right? I should be looking forward to next month, when hopefully we'll get to show again? I should be happy that I even have a horse (wait a second, that I have two horses)? Yeah, well, I'm not. I'm pouting instead. I'm being a brat.

I had an absolutely wonderful ride on Reggie, Alicia's horse, this past weekend, cantering along in a big field... taking in deep breaths and smelling all the spring smells -- grass, mud, flowers, fly spray, horse sweat, clean laundry.... It was heavenly. It put me in a really good mood. Until I realized that cantering my horse is still two weeks away. Then I got mopey.

But I guess this answers the question of why I do all the ridiculous things I do... why I spend all this time and money on a sport that requires me to get up before the sun and stand on a ladder for 2 hours... drive my truck and trailer all over the State of New Jersey every weekend... stand around in the hot sun all afternoon waiting for a class that was supposed to start at 10 a.m.... and come into work exhausted every Monday morning all summer long...

Because without it, I am a pouty, whiney, annoying, sniveling little brat. Nobody would read that blog.

Julie Videos!

2011-05-08T21:54:00.001-04:00

Look at this trot!!

(sorry about the photo quality, it's a still from the video)

Enjoy the videos - I certainly enjoyed spending mother's day with my little one!

My Horse's Conditioning Program for Returning to Work

2011-05-05T08:30:00.140-04:00

Tucker got his chiropractic adjustment and acupuncture on Tuesday morning and his pelvis and lumbar area needed several adjustments, particularly on the right side, so that explains why he was relunctant to stretch his back and why I was having such a hard time keeping him straight (he was traveling with his haunches to the right). Man am I glad that Dr. L came to see him! She is a miracle worker. He felt so great last night, forward, but not tense, so much straigher, and he wanted to stretch down at the trot, which was a great feeling. He is still weak behind and has trouble staying engaged for any length of time. He really pushes for a few strides, then he overdoes it and wants to get this big huge trot, and then a few strides later falls behind my leg because it's too hard, so we still have a lot to work on.

Apparently, after Dr. L treated him on Tuesday, he took himself for a little gallop in the field (feeling a little too good, birthday boy?), so evidently he doesn't realize that there is an actual rehab plan in place. I thought maybe it would be a good idea, then, to set one down. Tucker is an avid blog reader (he even comments sometimes). Hopefully he'll read this and understand that I'd rather him not gallop around like his tail's on fire for at least a few more weeks.

Grey Horse Matters offered me a link to a very helpful post that she did, where she outlines her program for bringing her horses back into work in the Spring after being in inconsistent work all winter -- go read it! She uses the British Horse Society as her guide, but modifies it to suit her needs, and I think I'm going to do the same. Below is my modified plan. The BHS standard is in in black, and my modified plan is in in green.

1st WEEK
Walking exercise on the level. Half an hour on the first day, increasing to one hour by the end of the first week.

My plan:
30- 45 minutes total walking undersaddle in the ring, alternating between working walk and loose rein, increasing to 45 minutes by the end of the week.

2nd WEEK
Increase walking up to 1 hour by the end of the week.

My plan:
30-40 minutes total walking, alternating between working walk and loose rein, with 2-3 brief intervals of trotting, begin walking over poles, start doing easy lateral work at the walk, and by the end of the week add in walking over cavaletti and small cross rails and cooling out outside walking up and down hills.

3rd WEEK
Slow trotting, starting on the level, together with walking up and down hills.

My plan:
30 minutes - 1 hour of riding total, increase the number and duration of trot sets (as Tucker allows), with as much long-and-low trotting as possible, continue easy lateral work, cavaletti, and small cross rails at the walk, and by the end of the week start trotting over poles on the ground. Cool out outside up and down hills, as weather permits. If horse's brain allows, begin riding outside on weekend. :)

4th WEEK
As third week.

My plan:
Same as above, maintaining whatever number and duration of trot sets achieved by the end of the week, and start asking for brief periods of working trot in between long-and-low trot during a couple of rides.

5th WEEK
1 ½ hours exercise a day, to include some trotting up hills and short, slow cantering on good, level ground.

My plan:
40 minutes - 1 hour of work, begin trotting raised cavaletti and cross rails, start asking for a little longer periods of working trot between long-and-low trot, start asking for easy lateral work at the trot, add in some brief intervals of cantering in each direction.

6th-8th WEEKS
1 ½ hours exercise a day, to include trotting up hills and longer cantering periods. School work may include jumping and canter circles.

My plan:
6th week: 40 minutes - 1 hour of work, increasing duration of canter intervals. Add in a couple of days with slightly more demanding working trot sessions, including a little more lateral work and some collection and baby extended trot. On the other days, long-and-low trot and canter only. Continue cavaletti and cross rail work at the walk and trot.

7th week: Same as above. By the end of the week, canter cavaletti and cross rails.

8th week: Same as above, continue cantering cavaletti and cross rails during the week, and take a jumping lesson at the end of the week.

It feels good to have a plan, doesn't it? Now Tucker, let's get with the program please. Galloping is more like Week 6 or 7.
_______________________________
Please note: In case you've found this post through a search engine, Tucker is not coming back from a soft tissue injury, but rather a wound that was stitched and required 2 months of stall rest. I think it is best to consult with your vet if you're bringing your horse back from any kind of soft tissue injury, to prevent any further damage. (Just trying to be a responsible blogger!)

Happy Birthday Tucker!

2011-05-04T10:00:00.001-04:00

Happy birthday big brown horse!

You are my best friend, the love of my life, and better than even the most wonderful horse I've ever dreamed about. I love you more and more as each year goes by, and I am looking forward to many more years with you. I am so, so thankful to have you in my life.

I remember very well the first day I met you, nine years ago. You were 2 months old, and you ran up and bit me in the stomach while I was petting your mom, the beautiful Savoire Faire. I spent more and more time with you that year, and eventually when I was starting law school, I just couldn't leave without you. Everyone thought I was crazy, because you looked like a giraffe crossed with a goat, but something in my gut just wouldn't let go. I will never regret the decision, no matter how many times I am running short on time, money, and energy to make it work with you. You and I are meant for each other.

Happy 9th Birthday Boo-Boo! I love you so much!

On Our Way Back

2011-05-03T10:30:00.003-04:00

Tucker and I are slowly but surely working on getting him back to show ring fitness, with the hopes that we will be showing again by mid-June, if all goes well. He got a bath on Saturday because the weather was so nice, and I pulled his mane and clipped his legs and his jawline/muzzle, so he is looking a little more like a show horse instead of a backyard pet. Now we just need to work on helping him regain a topline, get some strength and stamina back, and put on some weight. Here's how he looks right now: nice and clean, but otherwise definitely not at his best!

We've upped his grain slightly to assist with his weight gain and muscle building. He is now getting 4 quarts per day of Omeline 500 (split over two meals -- he was previously getting 3 quarts), plus plenty of forage: 5 quarts of beet pulp (with his grain), 4 quarts of alfalfa, soaked (at night check), and I'd guess about 8-10 flakes of hay throughout the course of the day. He's also out on grass, weather permitting, for about 5 hours per day. As for supplements, you can read all about what's in his SmartPak here. He's also getting SmartCalm right now, just until he's back to full work.

As for exercise, based on what I've read and conversations with fellow horsewomen, the general rule of thumb is that if your horse has had extended time off, then it should take the same amount of time he's been resting to re-condition him. So, since Tucker has had two months off, I'm estimating it will take two months to get him fit. I haven't found any particular exercise program that I thought sounded really good (though if you have suggestions, please post them in the comments). I've just been trying to let Tucker tell me how much he can handle -- maybe that's best anyway.

The first week, we just walked undersaddle for 30-40 minutes. This past week, I started trotting again. At first, I could only do 2 sets of about 2 minutes of trotting before he'd be winded and breaking a sweat. By this weekend, I was able to do 3 sets of about 4-5 minutes of trotting. In between, we walk over lots of cavaletti and little cross rails, do some bending exercises, and work on straightness with lateral work. At the trot, I just want him to loosen up and stretch his back out, which he has been a little relunctant to do. He is also flipping his nose up and walking with his head in the air after several minutes of work at the walk, which is either a sign that he thinks the working walk is stupid (possible) or that his back is sore, or even just allergies/post-nasal stuff.

To see how his back is feeling and help him loosen up, Dr. L is coming out to adjust him and do some acupuncture this morning, and then he'll get turned out for the afternoon. We texted back and forth when the stall rest was ending, and she said she'd rather work on him after I had done some trotting work so that he had a chance to stretch a little on his own before she worked on him. Makes perfect sense. I have to say, I feel so lucky to have such wonderful professionals helping me with Tucker's recovery. Everyone -- from my barn managers, to my vet, to my chiropractor, to my trainer -- has been completely accessible, communicative, and helpful. Tucker and I have a great support team!

It's hard to tell if it's freshness or tightness that is making him feel a little tense, my guess is a combination. If he still feels like he doesn't want to stretch on Wednesday night, even after his acupuncture, I may try giving him a tiny bit of Ace on Thursday, in case the stiffness is just because he's fresh. Even though he's been an angel and hasn't done anything more than a head shake, I want to give him the opportunity to work in a relaxed way without making himself sore. I have a feeling that containing his energy and excitement because he's trying to behave could be making his job harder than it needs to be at the moment.

Again, if anyone has suggestions for good ways to recondition your horse, we are all ears (literally, Tucker is pretty much all ears):

Happy Horses

2011-04-27T10:00:00.005-04:00

Sorry about the lack of posts last week by the way, busy week at work. So now for the updates:

Tucker has been turned out for a week now, and is definitely starting to feel like himself again. He's been a much more pleasant horse to be around. The first few times he went out, we gave him some Ace just to make sure he wouldn't go bananas and hurt himself, but after that he was content to graze and visit with the other horses across the fence line.

I've ridden him four times now, and that is going well too. I can't tell you how good it feels to be back on my horse again. It was like my whole body breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I swung my leg over and looked down to see my favorite view:

I can't explain it really, but this horse just feels like home to me.

The first three rides were at the walk, and I did my best to make it interesting for him. The first two times, I gave him a 1/2 cc of Ace just to take the edge off, and realized the second time that I didn't really need it, but I just wanted to be sure -- again to avoid injury (either to him or to me). During our walking rides I alternated between working walk and moseying along on a long rein, extended walk, collected walk, leg yields, serpentines, spiraling in and out circles, etc., just to try to keep his mind busy and get his parts moving. He pretty much thought this was a complete snooze-fest, but complied nonetheless. I thought I would be bored too, but surprisingly 30-40 minutes went by in a blink. Amazing how much I missed riding my horse -- it's been two months since he's done much more than walk, and almost three weeks since I've sat on his back.

Last night we trotted for the first time. We did about ten minutes at a working walk, then trotted two or three times around, with a couple of circles thrown in, then back to the walk for ten minutes, then trotted the other way, and then cooled out. Believe it or not, he was huffing and puffing after just this little bit of work, but it was really warm last night so I'm sure that had something to do with it.

He feels great. Nice and relaxed, forward, not too stiff (though he was pretty stiff the first couple of rides at the walk), and very, very happy to have a job again. I had a crazy moment right before I started trotting where I got worried about whether or not he was sound... but of course he is, and I was just being paranoid.

I have never met a horse that looks more pleased with himself after he works. I hope I captured it well enough in these photos, but my horse was downright cheerful after our ride last night. He absolutely loves having a job.

(Does this expression remind you of another photo?)

He's getting nice and shiny too, which I love. Guess that's what happens when all you can do is groom for two months! He looks so darn skinny though, I hate that. He definitely lost muscle in his neck and his topline, and probably dropped a little weight just from the stress of stall rest. He is a hard keeper and drops weight really fast. All this nice spring grass will hopefully help take care of that though.

His leg is looking really good, it's healing a little more every day and doesn't seem to bother him at all. Here's the progress:

Much better than the way it was before, huh?

And Miss Julie is doing well too. We wanted to quarantine her since she came from so far away, just to make sure she wasn't sick and wouldn't be bringing any foreign bugs to the other horses. So, she's been a little cranky about being stuck in a stall, but she's starting to go out now, so that should settle her right down. She's been very well behaved about hand-walking and grazing so my guess is she just doesn't like the idea of being stall bound (can't say I blame her). I helped Allison groom her last night and she seemed to enjoy it, although she needed some gentle encouragement that the show sheen bottle was not going to hurt her. She got over it quickly with some patting though, and appears to be very smart. She is very affectionate and likes to groom you back when you scratch an itch for her, which is very sweet. Here she is greeting me when I pulled into the barn last night:

Sorry about the bad photo quality and the glowing eyes, but I thought her expression was too cute not to share. I have some better ones on my camera from the night we shipped her in, so I'll post those soon.

All in all, two very happy horses... I must be doing something right!

Fluffy Gray Cat: Free to a Good Home

2011-04-25T08:54:00.005-04:00

No, not really. But when I got up at 6:30 this morning to discover what Sterling had done during the night, he would have been free to the first taker.

It's never a good sign when the first words out of your mouth in the morning are: "What the #$%^* is THAT?" It's the kind of morning that only a pet owner can truly appreciate.

At one point during the night I half woke up to the sound of a loud crash, but figured he was just tearing around the apartment like a crazed lunatic for no reason at all, as per usual, and had knocked over a picture frame. Given that my usual one-hour drive home from my grandparents' house took a solid 3 1/2 hours with traffic (including an entire hour spent creeping across a bridge), I was tired, so I did not get up to investigate. Big mistake.

This morning I discovered that the loud crashing noise was Sterling knocking the screen out of the window, through which he spent the night carrying earth worms into my apartment. Yes, I woke up this morning to find several HUGE slimy, filthy, stinking worms creeping and crawling around on my floor. One of which he had previously ingested. I'd have to say, on the list of "Worst Possible Ways to Spend the First Five Minutes of Your Day," peeling earth worms off your carpet is right up there at the top.

The cats of course spent these minutes trying to trip me and howling because the arrival of their breakfast was delayed during this process. Which caused me to look up at them in complete and utter frustration, as I scrubbed worm guts out of my carpet, and ask of their desparately starving (overly plump) faces emploring me for food like the children who are actually starving on those info-mecials, "WHY do I even HAVE YOU?" An hour later on the train, I thought to myself "Did I really spend the morning cleaning up worms? How can this possibly be my life?"

I try to provide a nice environment for my pets. Plenty of cushy pillows, cat beds, and comfy perches. A ridiculously large collection of cat toys. Things upon which one can sharpen one's claws (of course, they still prefer my couch when I'm not looking). Plenty of food (though they will tell you otherwise). A nice clean litter box. Regular grooming. And THIS is the thanks that I get. It really makes me question why on earth anyone would want a cat. When I see their sweet little faces greeting me after work tonight, I'll probably change my mind. Until, of course, one of them does something else completely unnecessary and disgusting.

Anyone have any ideas for how to keep a cat away from a window screen?

An HP in DQ Land: My Dressage Lesson

2011-04-18T09:27:00.003-04:00

Since Tucker is still out of commission (though the vet is coming to check him today -- cross your fingers), I have been looking for other rides on the weekend. I've been curious about dressage for a while now, and figured now would be the perfect time, especially since I'm boarding Tucker at a barn run by a dressage instructor (Cindy), who graciously offered to give this hunter princess a dressage lesson.

I have to admit to a bit of naivety here. I've probably spent a collective 20 minutes in a dressage saddle in my lifetime, occasionally hopping on in someone else's tack to help a rider get her horse past a spooky corner or something of the sort. So going into the lesson, I figured how different can it be? My stirrups will just be longer. I can adjust.

Haha. Haha. Ha. About the time I picked up my posting trot, the mare I was on was probably quite confused, and thinking to herself, "You seemed to know your way around tacking up... but... clearly you have never been on a horse before? Are you okay up there? Are you having some kind of seizure? If not, can you please get your feet out of my elbows?" Cindy had to walk over and put my leg back where it was supposed to be a couple of times. It didn't stay there. In fact, I pretty much lost all communication with the lower half my right leg and couldn't tell you what it did for the duration of the lesson.

Now, to state the obvious: Dressage is completely different. The seat is different, the leg is different, the hands are different, the posture is almost the opposite of how I normally ride. My hip angle usually stays closed. My weight is down in my heel. My hands follow, all the time. My shoulders are angled a little forward. I close my leg with the back of my calf. I send the horse forward by sending my hips forward. All this: out the window.

I had the hardest time finding my balance. And quickly learned that the aids I normally use were close to useless. It sort of felt like I was speaking Spanish, and the horse was speaking French, and occasionally we'd hear a word that sounded similar and be able to communicate for a brief second. Then we'd lose each other completely again. But, thankfully, this mare was very tolerant of my complete incompetence and for the most part tried to understand what I was attempting to tell her, in my bumbling, yet earnest, kind of way. I did have moments at the trot where I "got it," and they felt lovely. Brief, but lovely.

Highlights of the lesson: Upon my first canter depart, I did what I normally do, which is slide my hips forward. This resulted in ramming a rather sensitive area into the pommel of the dressage saddle, which, er... took my breath away, so to speak. I then spent the next ten strides or so trying to figure out where the tack had gone and why I was sort of floating and swinging along like a piece of driftwood. I wondered whether it looked as bad as it felt. Glance to my left... instructor laughing hysterically. Excellent. It looked worse than it felt. I then tried desperately to find someplace to sit. Whenever I found it, the mare would break. I could not for the life of me correct this problem (Cindy explained it was because I was sitting with no strength coming from my chest/core. Makes sense now).

Then there was the downward transition. Where I got run away with at the trot. This is the point at which I realized my position would have been excellent... had there been skis strapped to my feet and a boat in front of me. Sadly, that was not the sport in which I was participating, and was rather ineffective for the task I was trying to accomplish. Eventually, the mare got sick of speed-trotting in circles and decided to walk of her own volition, for which I was quite thankful. Cindy had been trying to get me to move the horse right to left and regain her balance and focus. I finally accomplished a few steps of this once we had come back down to the walk. After looking down to verify that my right leg was, in fact, still attached to my body. Since my brain had apparently completely lost contact with it.

What I learned: I learned a few things that I can definitely apply toward my hunt seat riding. First, I tend to twist my torso, so that my right shoulder is always forward. Cindy advised me to look at the wall whenever this happened (tracking left), and voila - fixed. Something I am going to continue to do to keep myself sitting straighter. Second, opening up my chest. By stretching taller instead of hunching my shoulders, I gain more strength in my core, which gives me more stability and leverage. I used this on the equitation horse I rode on Sunday and it definitely helped. This is not a new critique -- instructors have been telling me this for years -- but I did get the feeling a bit better sitting in that dressage saddle, since I basically lost all control when I hunched forward. Third, the half halt starts from the shoulder (my shoulder). I love this. I haven't really thought of it this way, but it makes sense, and I think will provide a more subtle way for me to increase a little pressure on the rein for my very sensitive horse, and I'm always trying to find a way to be more subtle with him. It also keeps me from breaking at the wrist, which is a terrible habit of mine. Fourth, my hands need to be more still, steady contact, instead of fidgeting with the bit. Hard habit to break, but something I definitely need to work on, in any discipline.

Things that are really sore right now: The tops of my feet (!), my shoulders, the sides of my torso, and especially, the outside of my hips/thighs. I really don't use these muscle groups when I ride. I suppose, arguably, I do use my shoulders. But not quite in the way that I used them on Saturday. And I definitely don't use the outside of my thighs. Holy cow. The first word out of my mouth on Sunday morning was "OW!" Followed closely by "I'm coming, I'm coming," as I hobbled slowly toward the cat food.

All in all, definitely learned something, and definitely had fun (despite the pain). How many of you have taken a lesson outside your discipline, and what did you learn?

_____________________________________________
p.s. -- I'm not holding out on you... Julie's travel plans shifted a little, so she won't be home until Tuesday night. I'll take lots of pictures, promise!

Julie's Coming Home!

2011-04-14T22:20:00.000-04:00

This post will be short but sweet, because I don't have too much information yet... but just wanted to let everyone know that I just found out Julie is coming home this weekend! In just a couple of days, I will finally get to lay eyes on my pretty little girl for the first time in almost two years! I sort of can't believe it.... We've got some planning and arranging to do between now and then, but for now I am just excited and looking forward to seeing her.

Travel safe, pretty girl! My, how you've grown....

And now... The Reveal

2011-04-13T14:04:00.002-04:00

Will the real Tucker the Wunderkind please come forward?

Tucker

Tuck

So, side by side, they are not completely twins... but you have to admit, the resemblance is pretty strong. When Tucker becomes famous, we certainly know who will be his stunt double. Wait a minute, what am I saying? Of course Tucker will do his own stunts.

Without further ado... the answers to last week's blog contest are as follows:

Eye#1: Tuck

Eye #2: Tucker

(2 people guessed right)

Ear #1: Tuck

Ear #2: Tucker

(6 people guessed right... my horse does have rather... distinct ears)

Nose #1: Tucker

Nose #2: Tuck

(5 people guessed right)

Mouth #1: Tuck

Mouth #2: Tucker

(4 people guessed right)

Chest #1: Tucker

Chest #2: Tuck

(7 people guessed right)

Tail #1: Tucker

Tail #2: Tuck

(4 people guessed right)

And the winner is.... Kathleen! Now, I know what you're all thinking. Isn't that cheating? Is it fair that Tuck's owner should win this contest? Shouldn't she be disqualified or something? Aren't there rules?

But see, here's the thing: You can't argue with Kathleen. Trust me on this. I try all the time, and I lose (usually, followed by a fit of laughter... and snorting). It's not easy for a lawyer to admit that someone else is right, but sometimes, even I have to concede. She (correctly) pointed out that there were no limitations on the contest, and it was open to everyone... so technically she didn't cheat. She said she won fair and square, and she wants her prize. As per usual, I couldn't argue with her.

When I realized she had won, I figured I'd have to come up with some kind of second prize, or let Tucker choose another winner, or something. Just to be fair. But then, I watched Kathleen and Tuck show on Sunday... and ladies, if you were there to see it for yourselves, you'd want to give them a prize too. These two are perfect for each other. They were totally in sync, a true partnership, like they have known each other forever and absolutely belong together. I was so proud.

So, I am very happy to be sending Kathleen and Tuck some of Tucker's favorite treats -- Paddock Cake Peppermint Paddies -- which you can purchase here. Tucker has always loved two kinds of treats: peppermints, and chewy molasses cookies. These treats combine the two, which Tucker says is the best thing ever to happen to the world of equine goodies.

Please join me in congratulating Kathleen on winning this contest, and on the purchase of such a fabulous new horse. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year....

2011-04-11T21:27:00.001-04:00

No! Not Christmas! Foaling time!

Long time readers remember this from last year... here it is again.... live feed from the foaling stall at Norsire Farm! Krystal is looking ready to have her baby tonight, fingers crossed for a healthy happy bouncing adorable bundle of fun by morning!

I came really close to seeing this baby foal last year, but fell asleep. Hoping this year I won't miss it! I just love these live foaling cams. What a great idea.

_____________________________

Update: It's a colt! And he is absolutely beautiful. Go check him out. Guaranteed to brighten up your day. He is still in the "how the heck do these legs work" and "now where was the food again" stages -- the best part! I dare you not to squeal and/or giggle and/or coo at him.

Blog Contest: So You Think You Know Tucker?

2011-04-08T14:02:00.000-04:00

Let's see how loyal and devoted Tucker's fans truly are (just kidding guys... the fact that you are still reading this shows how loyal and devoted you are, but this will be fun anyway). Can you guess who-is-who in the photos below? As I mentioned before, a friend of mine has a new horse named Tuck, and the resemblance does not stop with their names. They look alike, they act a like, they even ride alike... it's quite uncanny. We are convinced that our boys must be related somehow... there are certain features that are virtually identical!

I've randomly named the files below with letters, in no particular order, so right-clicking will do you no good -- all you Nancy Drews out there! I think this is going to be a tough one. These guys look so much alike that I actually had to write down which images belonged to which horse.... I can't even pick out my own child in this line up!

I've been wanting to do something to thank you for all the support and comeraderie you've shown Tucker and me over the past couple of years... so what better way than with a blog contest? The winner (either whoever guesses them all right, or whoever comes closest... and in the event of a tie, I will let Tucker choose...), will get a prize! Tucker would like very much to share some of his favorite treats with the other horses out in blog land. And believe me, he has a long list of favorite treats.

I'll announce the answers next week, to give you a few days to ponder:

Eye #1:

Eye # 2:

Ear #1:

Ear #2:

Nose #1:

Nose #2:

Mouth #1:

Mouth #2:

Chest #1:

Chest #2:

Tail #1:

Tail #2:

Okay... post your answers in the comments, and tell me which photos are Tucker (or which ones are Tuck, if you like). Good luck!

Product Review: Smartpak Deluxe Turnout Blanket - Lite

2011-04-06T22:05:00.003-04:00

Tonight I discovered a new activity you can do with your stall rested horse -- model!

As a thank you for my review of SmartGut (as well as all my other blog posts about Smartpak), Smartpak offered me a couple of their blankets at a very generous discount. When I got the news, I was beaming with glee, and didn't waste any time placing my order. I ordered the Smartpak Deluxe Turnout Blanket - Lite, and the Smartpak Deluxe High Neck Turnout Blanket - Heavy. Both Tucker's turnout sheet and his heavy turnout had seen better days... in fact, the heavy turnout was sporting some emergency duct tape repairs (charming). So we were sorely in need of replacements and I have to say I am very happy with our new purchases! Overall, they are quality blankets, with features that tell you they were designed by horse people.

This first review will be a design and style review, and I'll have to report back on the durability/practicality later, once Tucker is released into the wilds of his field. As I explained to the Smartpak rep, if these blankets make it through a winter of Tucker's ridiculous antics, they are virtually indestructable.

As for style, this is a very attractive blanket. The color is a rich navy with white piping and hunter green trim(the pics below of the surcingle and the fleece wither are the most true-to-life, camera phone can only do so much). The material is sturdy and strong, and the stitching looks perfect everywhere. The buckles feel heavy and durable, not like they are going to snap off during the first roll. The shoulders have a nice nylon lining to prevent rubs, and there is a mesh lining along the back, for breathability. There are D-Rings around the neckline to attach the Smartpak Deluxe Neck Rug.

And without further ado, our lovely model:

Easily adjustable, sturdy front buckles, placed so there's no gap in the front of the blanket once closed

Good neck countour, no gaps, no tight spots

Generous amount of fleece at the wither,

and high enough cut that the blanket rests just in front of the wither, preventing rubs

Excellent shoulder-gusset placement

I'm pretty confident these will prevent rubs, because they extend so high up the shoulder

Nice drape overall, no seams at the top (for waterproofness),

and doesn't come down too low, so your horse won't appear to be wearing a dress

Adjustable belly straps, and surcingles have rubber stops, so they won't come undone in turnout

(which is one of my biggest complaints about Tucker's current turnout sheet)

Optional customization, so there's no confusion about which blankets are yours

Good tail flap coverage -- no one likes a draft!

Elastic leg straps, placed high to avoid getting legs caught when rolling

Many thanks to our beautiful model:

All dressed up, and no place to go....

The Things We Do for Love

2011-04-06T08:30:00.000-04:00

There is nothing like treating a horse's injuries to remind us of how much we love them. So much, in fact, that we are willing to completely and utterly humiliate ourselves in CVS.

I plan to get some elasticon on Thursday, when the tack shop is open later, which I'll use to make an extra large "band aid" over top of my regular gauze (not all the way around the hock, so as not to constrict the joint). So, I just needed some supplies until then.

So I found these at CVS (hoofpick included to give you a sense of scale):

These actually fit pretty well over the injured area. I don't think they are sticky enough to stay on without a standing wrap over top, but hopefully they'll stay in place beneath the wrap better than just a plain piece of gauze (which didn't stay).

Speaking of which, it was looking a bit better today, although I'm not so sure that I want his hock to permanently have its mouth open like this. While he is not a conformation hunter, I would rather this look a little prettier. Still, it's better than yesterday. No bleeding today.

Where was I? Oh yes, CVS. So, I get up to the counter with my three huge pieces of self-adhesive non-stick gauze, and hand them over. The guy behind the counter looks at them, looks at me, and asks "Are you okay?"

"Oh, they're not for me," I explain, "they're for my horse." He eyes me quizzically. "Well they do say 'All-Purpose,'" I say, smiling. He doesn't get the joke.

"What's wrong with it?" he asks. He still hasn't started ringing me up. Apparently, he is concerned that he may have to call the Humane Society or something. I can see his wheels turning.

"He cut himself," I tell him, hoping that the inquisition is going to end and I'm going to get to leave soon, and actually make use of the self-adhesive non-stick gauze I am trying to purchase.

"So, shouldn't you like, call a vet or something?" Suddenly, he is an expert in equine veterinary care.

"She's seen him," I sigh, slightly exasperated by having to defend myself to the CVS cashier. "He had stitches, and then after we took them out, the wound split open again, so we're just keeping it bandaged while it heals." Why am I now feeling the need to explain the entire situation to him? Do I really think this kid is going to call the Humane Society?

At this point, he literally raised his eyebrows at me and sort of shook his head, and proceeded to ring up my order. By the time I was back in my truck, I was already laughing and thinking about how I couldn't wait to tell this story on the blog. Judgy McJudgerson at the CVS probably isn't a follower, but just in case: lighten up dude.

I tried to get some cute pictures of Tucker tonight, but they were mostly fails:

The infamous headless horse

But this is my really cute face...

doesn't this deserve another mint?

I hear the train a comin'

It's rollin' 'round the bend,

And I ain't seen the sunshine,

Since, I don't know when...

Day One

2011-04-05T08:00:00.003-04:00

This is going to be my own little blogging challenge of sorts... how to keep you all entertained when my week consists of grooming my horse, in his stall. Then again, I am the proud mother of one of the goofiest horses in the world. We can probably still keep you amused.

Tucker was actually in very good spirits when I got to the barn today. He was very happy to see me and really enjoyed his extra long grooming session. A guy can still look good, even if he's on stall rest, right? He has finally decided to shed as of last week, so I got to work currying away his clipped winter coat, and I can already feel a soft, smooth spring coat working its way out. Can't wait until our mousey brown/gray color is gone until next winter!

So first, the cute pics.

Let's see... Pretty sure there are mints in here somewhere....

Ha! Mom's jacket! Definitely mints in here!

(My jacket was flung through the air moments after this photo was taken)

"Somewhere out there...."

[cue Disney music]

mmmmm... salty....

The first casualty of the week.

There were no holes in these bell boots 24 hours ago.

(These have since been removed. I think rubber is likely harmful if swallowed.)

And now, the gross pic:

Not supposed to look like this!

And all bundled up for the night.

The End.

Sorry Tucker...

2011-04-04T10:30:00.004-04:00

Ick. I got a call from Allison on Sunday that Tucker's cut wasn't looking very good. She sent me a picture and it was definitely split back open, and bleeding a little. Not good. I had cleaned it out on Saturday and was already concerned that the flap wasn't adhering, which was allowing tiny debris to get trapped in the cut, a recipe for infection. But I cleaned it out and slathered with triple antibiotic, as instructed, and hoped for the best. Apparently at some point on Saturday afternoon/night he must have rolled in just the right way and torn the cut back open again. Ugh.

I was with my family celebrating my grandfather's birthday, so this news was met with a lot of "why is that horse of yours always getting hurt?" and "does this mean you are leaving now? We haven't even sat down to dinner yet." and "what's this going to cost you?" Very difficult to hold your tongue in these situations, isn't it? You want to snap back something about how your horse actually in the grand scheme of things does not hurt himself too frequently, and we should all just be happy this injury is so minor, and I don't really care what it costs me as long as he is okay, and yes I very much would like to go take care of him but I know it would only further alienate you all from my horse so I'll just stay here and stare at my phone all day, okay? ...But then you realize your grandmother is 88, and she's really very sweet, and she just wants to spend the day with you. So you hold your tongue, and play nice, and pretend your mind isn't elsewhere all day.

I texted my vet (who is awesome, and very accessible for these kinds of things), and sent her the picture above, and asked if there was anything we could do, and whether she needed to see him. She said there wasn't really anything to be done (we can't restitch it at this point, since there's not enough skin to debride), so no need for an emergency Sunday vet call. But, she wants him in his stall for the week, no turnout, no handwalks, no riding... a little hand grazing if he can stay quiet. Basically, she wants him to walk as little as possible, because every time he moves his leg, he prevents the cut from closing. She also wants us to keep it wrapped so it stays clean, but advised that the hock area is very sensitive to tight bandaging, so be sure the bandage is lightly applied.

So I texted Cindy (my other barn manager), explained our vet's instructions, and apologized. My horse is once again going to be the most obnoxious kid in the barn this week, so I promised wine. Lots of wine. Then Allison and I talked again, she agreed to take care of the wrapping, and I told her where all the supplies are located in my trunk (triple antibiotic, nonstick gauze, standing wraps). Despite the frustration of not being able to be there myself, I really was grateful to have someone there who I trusted to take good care of him. Here is her excellent wrapping job:

Now how is that for service? Not only takes care of him, but sends you photographic evidence too? Such peace of mind for a neurotic mother like me.

Sigh. I'm really sorry Tucker. This week is going to suck. But it's only a week (hopefully), and although you don't know it, you could have it much, much worse. There are horses who have hurt themselves and then ended up stuck in their stalls for months at a time. Just imagine that (I know you can't). And please, please try not to destroy the barn or drive anyone nuts. I know it won't be easy... but could you try to remember your manners, for me?

Now, off I go to check out Brooke's facebook post about 101 Things to Do with Your Stall Bound Horse.

USHJA Hunter Derby - Live Feed - Updated

2011-04-01T12:01:00.005-04:00

***Update below***

As you all know, I am a huge fan of the hunter derbies... and just want to make sure that you all know that you can catch the live feed of this year's $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby in Wellington. The broadcast starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Who needs to go out on a Saturday night when you've got entertainment like that? (I'll be at a wedding though, so I'll have to watch the video some other time.)

The link for the live feed is here.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is a video of the winning round from last year, and the victory gallop:

Louise Serio and Castle Rock:

The top 25 riders and horses from last year's derby are below. Many on this list are on my list of favorites (Summer Place, Brunello, Jersey Boy, World Time, Early Applause), and I'm sure we'll see some repeat performers.

1. Castlerock, Louise Serio, Bryan Baldwin: 205
2. Taken, Kelley Farmer, Nancy Amling: 204
3. Summer Place, Scott Stewart, Fashion Farm: 203.5
4. Namesake, Maggie Jayne, Pony Lane Farm: 193.5
5. Topsider, Caroline Weeden, Margaret Shank Benjamin: 192.25
6. Travino, Patricia Griffith, Heritage Farm: 191.5
6. Due West, Shane Sweetnam, Popish Farm LLC: 191.5
8. Brunello, Elizabeth Towell Boyd, Caroline Clark Morrison: 190.5
9. Listen, Kelly Farmer, Jane Gaston: 189
9. Allejandro, Katherine Dinan, Katie Dinana LLC: 189
11. Sander, Kelsey Thatcher, Pony Lane Farm: 188
12. Jaded Palace, Schaefer Raposa, Pine Hollow Stables: 186
13. Declaration, Scott Stewart, Fashion Farm: 185
14. Borealus, Katherine Dinan, Katie Dinan LLC: 183
15. Peridot, Tamara Provost, Stephen Martines: 182.5
16. Rex the Wonder Horse, Kris Killam, Moral Masuoka: 182
16. Jersey Boy, Jennifer Alfano, SBS Farms Inc: 182
16. World Time, Victoria Colvin, Scott Stewart: 182
19. Avalon, Lyman Whitehead, Visse Wedell: 180
20. Maui, Tiffany Cornacchio-Morrisey, Gate Goodman: 179.5.
21. Early Applause, Kelsey Thatcher, Pony Lane Farm: 178
22. Valedictorian, Lillie Keenan, Chansonette Farm LLC: 176
23. Sublime, Kelsey Thatcher, Pony Lane Farm: 174
24. Felicci, Alexandra Vespico, Alexandra Vespico: 173
25. Croquet, Caroline Weeden, Karen Lackinger: 170
25. Bella Blue, Maggie Jayne, Pony Lane Farm: 170

I just love the names of some of these horses! So creative, so catchy, so appealing. I wonder if "Rex the Wonder Horse" and "Tucker the Wunderkind" would be friends....

_________________________________________________________________

Since this post is getting so many hits, I figured I'd update this post with a link to the video of Jennifer Alfano's winning round on Jersey Boy. Here you go!

What a beautiful trip. I watched it again, and again, and again....

So far, the only results listed are Jersey Boy's Champion and Empire's Reserve Champion, ridden by Scott Stewart. I'll update again once all the results are in!