The right way to clip. Photo via Rachel McDonough.
Clipping season is upon us, and I’m all about it. I clip like a machine, and I’ve got 8 horses to clip this week alone alongside my regular work! Some people really can’t stand clipping, and others, like me, just plug in an audiobook and go at it. I actually enjoy the process, because it’s like an adult coloring book. You make the lines and then color inside and don’t miss any spots, easy! And then you go home and aggressively shower because every orifice is filled with hair of all colors. But otherwise its’ great! Different strokes for different folks, they say.
In other news, the final CCI4* of the year is this weekend in Australia! Dressage will steam live tonight on FEI TV at 11 p.m. EST.
Adelaide Links: Website, Entries, FEI TV
U.S. Weekend Preview:
Rocking Horse Fall H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]
Full Gallop Farm H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]
Willow Draw Charity H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times]
Galway Downs CCI & H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times]
News From Around the Globe:
The 2016 USEA Annual Meeting and Convention is right around the corner! This year’s Convention will be held in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. December 7-11 at the Diplomat Resort and Spa. Convention is a celebration of the sport, where eventing enthusiasts from across the country gather to discuss, learn and have a great time with other eventers. This year boasts countless educational seminars and forums such as a discussion of the 2017 4* test with Marilyn Payne, discussions on increasing helmet safety internationally, a seminar on managing equine degenerative joint disease and more. You can see the full schedule HERE.
What becomes of horse girl when she is horseless? COTH staff writer Molly Sorge is exploring this new territory, as she unexpectedly finds herself without a horse after crafting a life around them. When marriage, work, motherhood and horses combine, and a few unfortunate incidences with a hot OTTB with a bone chip, sometimes the horse side of life loses out temporarily. [Amateurs Like Us]
Read it Again: 5 Ways to Participate in No Stirrup November Without Creating Sore Back December
How do humans know if they are creating happiness for their horses? Kirrilly Thompson, a cultural anthropologist with the Appleton Institute for Behavioural Science at Central Queensland University, discussed equine welfare with delegates at the First International Conference on Human Behaviour Change for Animal Welfare held recently in England. She raised the issue of people assigning human-like characteristics to animals, known as anthropomorphism, and how this could affect horse welfare in both positive and negative ways. What sorts of things do we do with our horses to make them happy, and how do we know that it is working? [Being Cruel or Being Kind?]
