Photo of the week for sure. Photo courtesy of Nico Morgan Media.
Please, everyone join me in crossing your fingers and toes for some of the rain that is plaguing England to make it’s merry little way over here to the east coast of the U.S. because sweet baby orangutans, the ground is so hard, and the arenas are so dusty, and no amount of Allegra is making my life feasible. England, we will gladly take your rain, and you can just have our firm ground on loan for as long as you like.
U.S. Weekend Preview
Carriage House Farm Combined Test (Hugo, MN) [Website] [Entries]
Essex H.T. (Medford, NJ) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]
Genesee Valley Riding & Driving Club Spring H.T. (Geneseo, NY) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]
GMHA June H.T. (South Woodstock, VT) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
IEA Horse Trials (Edinburgh, IA) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]
MCTA H.T. at Shawan Downs (Cockeysville, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Ocala Summer H.T. I (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]
Poplar Place June H.T. (Hamilton, GA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
The Spring Event at Archer (Cheyenne, WY) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]
News From Around the Globe:
Describing Boyd Martin as “immensely hyperactive” is perhaps underselling it. A man who doesn’t even like days off, Boyd gets up at the crack of dawn every day for an intense workout in his basement, followed by riding at least ten horses, lessons for students, time for his similarly hyperactive sons, and then late night mowing and moving cross country jumps around. Oh, also, he and his wife are expecting a third child in the fall (scheduled for early in the week of Morven) and Boyd is strongly considering naming him after a certain white-faced Olympic mount. [Ringside Chat with Boyd Martin]
What would life be like if we still used horses for transportation instead of hobby riding and sport? What if they were still our major source of military power? Would we be bringing Quiescence to the battlefield? Horse Nation explored possible situations and conversations in this imaginative reality. Blending modern horse practices with well…the practical…makes for some humorous moments. [If We Still Used Horses…]
Mustangs make for great little eventers, and riders across the U.S. are embracing the breed as a serious sport horse option. Four years ago, Megan Weber was feeling discouraged about her event horse who didn’t seem to want to do the sport. She’d made the decision to find a new horse but found she was struggling to connect to the several she’d tried. She reached out to a friend who had experience with adopting mustangs, and the idea of an untouched, green horse sounded like a fun idea. Fun…crazy…same thing! [An Unlikely Eventer]
Sometimes, it’s just really good to go back to the real basic basics of dressage. I think all my students should read this article, because it breaks down exactly how every dressage test is judged, how and why each movement exists and what skill it tests, and importantly, what score you receive and how that is determined. You can always improve you dressage test a few points by understanding the system upon which the test was built. [Improve Your Dressage]
