Thursday News & Notes from Nupafeed

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An oldie but a goodie. Photo via Laine Ashker.

Look, we always joke around here about the Virginia weather, but this is just out of hand. When it’s 65 one day, and literally 20 the next….I just don’t even know how to respond to that. I feel really sorry for the daffodils, it’s terribly unfair to them. I feel sorry for myself, because I thought I was done wearing 5,348 layers while riding. I feel sorry for my horses, who thought it was naked rolling in the mud season. I should have known this would happen when I was enjoying a snow-free February. We jinxed it.

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Pine Top Spring H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Exmoor H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]

Stable View H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

MeadowCreek Park H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Copper Meadows H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/RideTimes/Live Scores]

News From Around the Globe:

A bake sale to fund your competition expenses for Rolex CCI4*? Rolex rookie Madeline Backus hails from Colorado, and is heading towards her first four-star this spring with her mare, PS Arianna. To help with her expenses with the whole venture, Madeline is going old school, and having a bake sale at the Exmoor Horse Trials this weekend. She will be selling homemade dog and horse treats, as well as homemade bread (you know you want to carb load for the event!). Make sure you find her if you’re at Exmoor this weekend, and buy some tasty baked goods!

I can’t tell you how many times I talk about leg placement with my students. As any developing rider knows, sometimes your legs go wandering astray from “home base” right behind the girth, and can cause some real problems with your riding. The perfect lower leg is strong enough and effective enough from right behind the girth to provide just the right amount of pressure at the right time. Equitation riders are all over this, and share a few tips and exercises to practice the three leg positions. [Master The Three Leg Positions]

Do you prefer mares? You’re not alone as San Diego based dressage trainer Rebecca Rigdon-Blake is switching it up with a strong preference for the ladies in a sport that historically favors stallions. Rebecca loves mares for herself, but also admits that they aren’t always the most amateur friendly due to their keen memories and sensitive natures. However, she believes (as I do) that we should work harder to be sympathetic to the difficulties associated with working with mares, as they’re not so different to working with women. [Geldings No Longer Preferred]

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