Classic Eventing Nation

Kentucky Three-Day Event Has $14.2 Million Economic Impact

By on Jan 25, 2018 3:00 pm -

Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti at the 2017 Kentucky Three-Day Event. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

It’s called the “Best Weekend All Year” for a reason. A recent study from the University of Kentucky found that last year’s Kentucky Three-Day Event resulted in a $14.2 million impact on Kentucky’s economy.

More than 80,000 spectators from all 50 states attended the Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2017. More than 80% of those who attended the event traveled from states outside Kentucky, and 35% were recurring visitors who had attended the event for more than six years. Just under 70% of visitors stayed for three nights or more during the event and spent $244 per day.

Mary Quinn Ramer, president of Visit Lex, said the event “is a sell-out weekend for Lexington’s hospitality community. It’s always a great pleasure to welcome riders and fans from across the globe to the Kentucky Horse Park every April. Our hotels, restaurants, and shops all appreciate the business generated during the three-day event and have come to know the fans and competitors as friends over the years.”

Lori Saunders, executive director of Georgetown/Scott County Tourism, said the event “has always been one of the busiest weekends in Georgetown. All of our lodging options are booked to capacity, and many of the event guests visit our location attractions. From our downtown shops and galleries to places like Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Center, our community definitely feels the impact of this world-renowned event.”

While the local economy gets a big boost from the Kentucky Three-Day Event each year, charitable organizations also benefit from the mammoth impact of the competition. Equestrian Events Inc., the non-profit that organizes the event, has donated over $900,000 to local charities, such as New Vocations, Equine Land Conservation Resource and Kentucky Equine Humane Center.

The Kentucky Horse Park and Kentucky Horse Park Foundation have received more than $1 million in gifts and contributions from Equestrian Events Inc. over the last 40 years.

“A big part of our mission here at Equestrian Events is to donate to charities both local and national, equine and human,” Stewart Perry, president of the EEI Board of Directors, said. “We’ve been fortunate to have a wonderful, lasting relationship with the community, and it’s very important to us that we, in return, support the community that does so much for others in need. It brings us great joy to be able to give back to the community and support so many wonderful charities.”

The event has also named an “Official Charity of the Year” since 2014 to raise awareness and financial support for a local charity. Past charities have included Central Kentucky Riding for Hope in 2017, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance in 2016, Horses and Hope in 2015, and Partners For Youth in 2014. The 2018 Official Charity of the Year has not yet been named.

Other fundraising efforts during the event also benefit the Official Charity. The fourth annual “Head Up Heels Down 5K” will take place on Friday, April 27 at this year’s event, with a portion of proceeds benefitting the Official Charity. Riders competing at the event also visit the University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital to spend time with patients undergoing treatment.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the 1978 World Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park, which developed into the Kentucky Three-Day Event. The Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event will be held April 26-29, 2018. Will you be there? Let us know in the poll below!

[Equestrian Events Inc. Makes Big Strides for “The Horse Capital of the World”]

Documentary to Chronicle Extraordinary Story of Kim Walnes and The Gray Goose

By on Jan 25, 2018 1:00 pm -

Kim Walnes and The Gray Goose at the 1986 Raynella Horse Trials in Australia. Photo by Peter Gower.

“I am a very ordinary person, who happens to have had a very powerful dream.”

Kim Walnes and The Gray Goose’s journey to the top is the most unlikely story. A young mother who didn’t start eventing until she was 28 years old, Kim competed in her first horse trials with “Gray” when he was an unruly 6-year-old.

Two years later they were competing at the Advanced level, and heads turned when they were the only pair to make the time on the Intermediate course at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in 1979, which had hosted the World Championships the year prior.

That speedy cross country run earned them an invitation to train with the U.S. Eventing Team in Europe. Kim and Gray finished second at Rolex in 1981, and they won the event in 1982 to become the new National Champions and land a spot on the U.S. team for the World Championships at Luhmühlen. Despite breaking two vertebrae in her back in a jump school six weeks prior, Kim and Gray won individual bronze and boosted the U.S. to a team bronze medal.

That is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their story. Kim and Gray also competed at Badminton in 1983, were named alternates for the Olympics in 1984, finished second at Boekelo in 1985, and represented the U.S. at the 1986 World Championships in Australia. They were fitting stunt doubles when Hollywood went looking for a gray Advanced level event horse for the film Sylvester.

While the documentary covers the fascinating aspects of Kim’s life, it also details the tragedies she has faced, including the shocking murder of her daughter. American filmmakers Sybil Miller and Tory Kelly have teamed up to tell Kim’s story, and project organizer Julie Johnson said she hopes Kim’s fans will support the production of the documentary, called The Mother Goose Project.

“Kim’s fans all know why she is called ‘Mother Goose.’ The captain of the eventing team for the USA, Jack Le Goff, nicknamed her this because she had such a special bond with The Gray Goose, her only horse, and because she usually had both her small children, Andrea and Brian, near by no matter where they traveled in the world. That is a rare thing for any world-ranked sport woman, but somehow Kim managed it with her usual positive energy,” Julie said.

“(The documentary) has something for everyone — edge-of-seat excitement with death-defying sport scenes from World Championship and Olympic level events; positive, uplifting and thought-provoking interviews about how we might want to better experience our own lives; a taste of what it’s like to rub elbows with Hollywood filmmakers; inspiration for those who have dealt with the same kind of pain Kim has had, both with her near-fatal car crash and the rehab to build up her broken body; as well as what most of us would see as insurmountable grief and despair from the shocking murder of her only daughter.

“So many of us have gone through less dramatic peaks and valleys and yet handle the experiences badly, but Kim is always looking ahead and remaining centered, true to herself and open and humble when reaching out to help others.”

The filmmakers are hoping to raise $10,000 Canadian, or about $8,100 USD, to fund the first phase of the project. Donations can be made through Kickstarter, and there are only 18 days left to raise the funds needed to move forward with the film. There are a variety of rewards for donating, including a week of training with Kim herself.

“No one is making any money from this film,” Julie said. “We just want to see this beautiful, inspiring story of a very brave woman told.”

Click here to donate on Kickstarter. You can read more about Kim’s life and incredible adventure with Gray on her website. You can also watch footage of Kim and Gray in the video excerpt below from Riding for America.

#TBT: EN’s First Ever ‘News & Notes’ Post

By on Jan 25, 2018 10:30 am -

Eventing Nation readers have been waking up to “News & Notes” posts 365 mornings a year since Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2009. John penned all the early editions himself, and they include plenty of John “flair.” Today we’re hopping in the EN time machine and revisiting the very first N&N post ever! 

Actual first N&N photo unknown, but it was probably something like this. Photo: Wikipedia/CC.

Tuesday News and Notes

Welcome to our first “News and Notes” posting.  Lets jump right in!

Boyd Martin will be Co-Hosting the Eventing Radio Show starting after Fair Hill.  Attention all Eventing Radio Show downloaders: you are in for a real treat. Boyd is one of my favorite Eventers, and a truly fantastic personality who can always make me laugh.  Boyd, a native Aussie, is a top-notch rider who works closely with Phillip Dutton and recently started riding for the US.   I guarantee that he will be both knowledgeable and funny, if sometimes PG-13 funny.  But, the show is on time delay, so, as Boyd would say: “No worries mate!”

In an email sent out to all Long Listed Riders, Sarah Ike from the USEF explained that US Eventing Chef d’Equipe Mark Phillips will be leaving the position in 2013: “As some of you may know, Mark Phillips’ contract expires in 2013.  He is not seeking to extend it.”  Mark leaving is pretty old news, but this the first public acknowledgement from the USEF that I have seen.  The email also mentioned that there will be an open rider forum at Fair Hill this coming Wednesday.  I have several thoughts on Mark leaving and the future coach, but I will save them until after the forum.  Stay tuned.

As we all know, the International Olympic Committee selected Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 2016 Games, in a controversial decision against Chicago.  Rio is certainly less favorable than native soil, but Team USA Eventing’s last trip to Rio ended with a victory in the 2007 Pan American Games.  Also, because Rio is in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are reversed, leading to some pretty decent average highs and lows during August.  Wow, middle school geography, science, and math all wrapped into one sentence.  Kinda makes me feel like riverdancing.  As a final note, several members of the ’07 Pan Am contingent have talked about how they were struck by the poverty and squalor in Brazil.  Hopefully the Olympics will be a good opprtunity to influence Brazil for the better.
Thanks for reading our very first News and Notes post!!!

‘Falling Into Now:’ Claire Smith’s Road to Recovery

By on Jan 25, 2018 8:30 am -

Illness takes away parts of your life, but in doing so it gives you the opportunity to choose the life you will lead, as opposed to living out the one you have simply accumulated over the years.
– Arthur Frank, At the Will of the Body: Reflections on Illness (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002), p. 1.

Canadian Olympic eventer Claire Smith suffered a traumatic brain injury in a rotational fall at the 1997 Open European Three-Day Event Championships. She underwent three years of intense rehabilitation before beginning the Masters program at the University of Ottawa. Through her struggle Claire has found new purpose in life, which, among many diverse activities and interests, included chronicling her journey in a book titled, Falling Into Now: Memories of Sport, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Education.

From the very beginning of Claire’s powerful memoire you will be captivated by both her incredible story and vivid writing. Her raw, honest prose will pull you in for a close-up view of what life is like, both for the injured and for the family, when living with a traumatic brain injury. Follow along through Claire’s recovery and subsequent soul searching as she comes to embrace her new path in life.

While the catalyst of the story is a riding accident, Claire emphasizes that this book is not really about horses.

It’s about so much more. It’s about being driven to pursue a goal. It’s about life-changing loss. It’s about arduous recovery. It’s about a life evolving into something completely unexpected.
– Falling Into Now: Memories of Sport, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Education (Indiana: iUniverse, 2017), p. xi.

Claire told EN, “Healing from a head injury is never really over. To sit down and articulate my feelings and what I thought and what I went through is very important for me. Only in the last few years did I realize that I had to put feelings to rest and resolve within myself to feel good about myself.”

Horses had been Claire’s life’s blood, but a return to a riding life was impossible after her fall. So she went back to school in 2000 and studied survivors of head injury. She eventually earned a Masters (2004) and a PhD in Education (2010) from the University of Ottawa.

Claire Smith. Photo courtesy of Arranel Studios.

“I had a very singular identity. I was a rider. It didn’t occur to me I could be anything else. I latched on to a ‘student’ identity after rehabilitation,” Claire said. “When I finished school I was a bit lost because I didn’t know who I was. A lot of my research was about identities and it didn’t occur to me to look at myself. When I was riding and then a student my focus was so narrow. Now it’s a lot wider.”

Claire’s education, research and experience are now applied to her writing career and her community involvement. She is a board member of the Wings of Phoenix, whose mission is to raise funds for survivors of head injury. She is also on the Board of Directors for Brockville YMCA and is a pending Director of the Ontario Brain Injury Association. As Ontario aims to be fully handicap accessible by 2025, Claire serves on the Leeds and Grenville Accessibility Committee.

Claire has overcome so much since her accident but still suffers lingering effects of her head injury. Nearly ten years after the fall, Claire suffered another enormous loss when she developed a chronic brain illness known as Dystonia, which causes muscle contractions in her leg. She wears a brace and uses a wheelchair most of the time. Though her movement may be limited by Dystonia, she has learned never to allow it to hold her back.

Today, I believe that I evolve daily, always welcoming change and new experiences, continually creating new identities, constantly resculpting me. One of these identities is central: I’m a writer. I can, at long last, painlessly create stories from my memories. Writing has become an inextricable part of me, one with which Dystonia can’t interfere.
– Falling Into Now: Memories of Sport, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Education (Indiana: iUniverse, 2017), p. 239.

Falling Into Now: Memories of Sport, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Education is available online on Amazon.com and chapters.indigo.ca. Learn more about Claire and her work by visiting her website: www.clairesmith-author.ca.

Thursday News & Notes from Nupafeed

By on Jan 25, 2018 12:03 am -

My horse is so fat.

I finally clipped my entire horse (minus the legs) yesterday, and underneath all that hair, he is SO fat. Like, so fat. Morbidity level. He had an unplanned vacation for three months this winter due to something completely ridiculous, so he really packed on the pounds. He is on a hardcore diet and he hates it so much. He gets a handful of grain twice a day so he doesn’t feel left out with the barn, and has a few flakes of day in the hated nibble net and it’s the WORST EVER in his opinion.

National Holiday: National Irish Coffee Day

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Rocking Horse Winter I H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Full Gallop H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Results]

News From Around the Globe:

Max Corcoran gave a presentation at the 2017 USEA Annual Meeting and Convention with her tips, tricks, and advice on how to make good decisions when it comes to taking care of your horse.  While she needs no introduction, her resume includes grooming at the highest level of the sport for some of the world’s top riders for nearly 20 years, working for the O’Connor Event Team for 11 years, numerous Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games, and many CCIs across the United States and Europe. Now a freelancer, Corcoran travels around the world as a groom and also teaches horsemanship clinics for the USEA and USEF Developing Rider Programs. [Video: Making Good Decisions]

How do top riders use their cross country colors to build a worldwide brand? You know the ones who have an extremely recognizable outfit wherever they go, and all their horses kitted out in matching outfits? It’s not just a random choice, a lot of the time, in face these colors have deeper meanings and intentions. [What Do Cross Country Colors Mean?]

Frozen water troughs: the bane of our existence. Seriously though, one of the worst things about winter with  horses is trying to keep water from freezing. It takes up so much of your time during your daily chore rounds, and the second you get all the ice chipped away, it starts freezing again. Luckily, Horse Nation has looked up some super easy, low tech ways for you to keep your water drinkable without investing in super hardcore sub zero automatic waterers and heaters for all your troughs and buckets. [Horse Nation Investigates How to Keep Water Thawed]

Important Quiz Of the Day: If You Were A Horse, What Breed Would You Be?

 

Wednesday Video from Kentucky Performance Products: A New Perspective on Racing

By on Jan 24, 2018 4:00 pm -

 

Finally got the okay to ride a race with my gopro! Here it is! 6th race at Tampa Bay Downs #2 Go Hippo Go finished 3rd at 30-1.

Posted by Ashley Castrenze on Friday, January 19, 2018

We’ve lost count of how many cross country helmet cams we’ve watched, but we’ve never seen a helmet cam like this before! Jockey Ashley Castrenze strapped on a GoPro for a recent race at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, giving us a first person view of what it’s like to look between a horse’s ears on the racetrack.

Ride along with Ashley and Raroma Stables’ Go Hippo Go (Mizzen Mast – At First Speight, by Speightstown) from the paddock to the gate and all the way down the stretch to a third place finish (at 30-1 odds!). According to Ashley’s Twitter account, this won’t be the last race cam we see!

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Marilyn Little Back in Action After Breaking Her Foot

By on Jan 24, 2018 1:19 pm -

Marilyn Little and Clearwater in the prize giving with ringmaster Steve Rector and owner Karen O’Connor. Photo by Sportfot.

Marilyn Little returned to to the show ring with a bang during the second week of the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, winning the $35,000 Hollow Creek Farm 1.45m Classic on Sunday aboard Karen O’Connor’s Clearwater.

She had only been back in the tack for 10 days prior to the win following a lengthy recovery period after breaking her foot at the Ocala Jockey Club International Three-Day Event in November, when RF Scandalous glanced off at the tricky corner combination on Mike Etherington-Smith’s CIC3* cross country course.

After 28 clear rounds in the 75-entry Hollow Creek Farm 1.45m Classic, 12 combinations delivered clear rounds in the jump-off on Oscar Soberon’s course. With time proving to be the deciding factor, Marilyn and Clearwater’s speedy jump-off time of 36.23 seconds gave them the win.

“He’s a very, very fast horse. I know exactly what his stride is, and if it’s possible to get there, he’s the one who will in terms of the distances,” Marilyn said. “I knew exactly what the plan was. He just needed to put in his personal best and it would be very hard to catch. I wouldn’t want to run against him.”

Marilyn Little and Clearwater on their way to taking the win. Photo by Sportfot.

Clearwater, an 11-year-old Holsteiner (Clearway X Come On), last competed at the Washington International Horse Show in October, and Marilyn’s super groom and barn manager Katie Madruga kept him fit and in work after she broke her foot.

“I’m so grateful for the many professionals who have stepped up and helped me keep my horses fit and in form. It’s really a tribute to my staff and my riders and other professionals who have helped me, because the horses have come out fit and fresh and really ready to go,” she said. “In the end, it probably won’t matter that I got a late start. I’ve had to be a bit patient, but this is certainly a good start. It was really a lot of fun to get back out there and for it to go the way it did.”

Clearwater will jump tomorrow in the $35,000 WEF Challenge Cup to qualify for Saturday night’s $132,000 Adequan Grand Prix CSI3*. “He feels very fresh and ready to go,” Marilyn said. “His favorite thing to do is jump under the lights.”

Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous at the 2017 Ocala Jockey Club CIC3*. Photo by Jenni Autry.

What’s Next for RF Scandalous

Marilyn is currently competing 16 show jumpers at the Winter Equestrian Festival and is also looking ahead to starting her eventing season with RF Scandalous. The only event horse in Marilyn’s string currently, RF Scandalous jumped in three 1.30m classes at WEF last week and is also showing at the Global Dressage Festival.

“She had a very uncharacteristic and odd fall season. We only ran two events because there were a lot of things from a training standpoint we wanted to accomplish. We did accomplish some of those things, especially from a rideability standpoint. I thought she was very rideable on cross country at the Ocala Jockey Club, but unfortunately we had the mistake at the corners,” Marilyn said.

“Sometimes the score isn’t indicative of the performance, but she was so disciplined and I was proud of the way she went around at Ocala Jockey Club. We had been working on that so hard since our fall at the American Eventing Championships when she was just so strong.”

Because Scandalous had a light fall season, only running at the American Eventing Championships and Ocala Jockey Club, Marilyn has kept her in work throughout the winter and galloping at the Wellington Environmental Preserve. She will start her eventing season at Ocala Winter I Horse Trials in two weeks with a run at the Preliminary level.

Marilyn had intended to compete Scandalous at the inaugural CIC3* at Live Oak, but following the cancellation of that event she is waiting to see how the mare comes out at Ocala before finalizing her competition schedule. The end goal for her spring season is competing at the Kentucky CCI4*. Scandalous is already qualified for the 2018 World Equestrian Games, having finished fourth in her CCI4* debut at Luhmühlen last year.

“I’m really looking forward to taking her to Kentucky,” Marilyn said. “I’ve had her for a long time now, and every year when I go and walk the course I think what a dream it will be to get to gallop her around.”

Scandalous has won nine of her 16 career international runs with Marilyn and has already successfully represented the U.S. at championship level, having won individual gold at the 2015 Pan American Games. She is listed on the 2018 USEF Developing Tier 1 Training List.

“This spring for Scandalous will be quite different. Kentucky is the first event that I will really take a shot at,” Marilyn said. “I only have one horse. I have to protect her. I have to make sure she is as fresh as she can be. She’s not going to be out there going for the win every time out. She’s proven she can go out and win. Now we have to make it count.”

Ah-ha! Moment of the Week from Attwood: ‘First Time, Every Time’

By on Jan 24, 2018 11:30 am -

You know those moments when it feels like a lightbulb gets switched on in your brain? In a new weekly series presented by Attwood Equestrian Surfaces, eventers share their ah-ha! moments. Today, we introduce the first in a three-part series by adult amateur eventer Judy Rossi about what she calls “epiphany lessons” she has experienced while training. 

Photos by Flatlands Photography, Hoofpix and Brant Gamma Photography.

Not unlike those of you reading this, I’m an adult amateur event rider. I’ve been riding for a long time. Like you, I love this sport and I love my horse. I take my riding very seriously (requiring regular self-reminders that I really do this for fun). Like most, I spend a lot of time, effort and resources (OK, every free moment and every last dime) on trying to get it “right.”

I am lucky enough to live on the east coast of the U.S., which gives me incredible access to some of the best trainers and coaches in all three phases of eventing, and I am grateful to all of them. I’ve been reflecting on some of my training moments, and wanted to share what I call my “Epiphany Lessons.” These are the lessons that were great, not necessarily because of the ride at that moment, but because that lesson awakened something in me that brought me closer to becoming a “thinking rider.”

Judy and Sateen. Photo by J. Stanley Edwards.

Epiphany Lesson #1: First Time, Every Time

My second horse was a talented, but challenging, unpredictable mare that pushed every one of my frustration buttons. At one of my regular lessons with Erin Renfroe, Erin wanted to get on my mare to warm her up. She suggested that I warm up on her Advanced level school master, Andy (De Cordova).

While she rode my mare, Erin had me walk, trot, canter and jump some easy warm up fences. I felt honored to ride this phenomenal horse, and was extremely focused on what I was doing, how Andy felt, and NOT getting in his way. Erin asked me how I liked my ride and what I thought. I told her I loved riding Andy, but was nervous riding him in front of her. I also told her that I thought Andy and I got along well and was surprised at how similar he felt to my mare.

Thankfully, Erin said I did a good job and agreed that Andy was not much different from my mare. She then asked, “Why do you think that ride felt so good?”

Uh, oh! I don’t know about you, but I hate these kinds of questions. I know there’s a right answer, but I felt lost in complete ignorance.

I think I mumbled something about how focused I needed to be because I’d never sat on Andy, that I didn’t know what to expect, and I was nervous because I knew the owner was watching, and so I just rode what I felt.

That was the moment.

“Exactly!” Erin said. “Because you don’t know this horse, you had no expectation. You had to just feel him out. You give him an aid, wait for his response and adjust your riding based on his response. With our own horses, we know them too well, and we tend to ride them with an expectation, both the good and the bad.”

She handed my mare back and said, “Get on, and pretend this is the first time you’ve ever sat on her. Ride what you feel and visualize the owner watching. Try to do that every time you ride.”

First Time, Every Time – I’m working on it! Thanks Erin!

Judy is an adult amateur event rider living in Harvard, Massachusetts. She started riding as a young girl, and began eventing as an adult over 20 years ago. Judy has owned and brought along three horses — Bosco who learned the sport along with her and will always be “the horse of a lifetime;” Sateen, who told her that dressage and trail riding were a better career; and now Dice, who is doing his level best to be the best horse ever. When not riding, Judy is a marketing and communications professional and the founder of Open Fields Communications.

Following the Dots: On Paths, Planning and Progress

By on Jan 24, 2018 9:00 am -

Winter is a great time to meditate on plans, paths and the “Long Road.” Photo by Holly Covey.

New year, new approach to training? Maybe.

Sometimes, when you look at a season from the beginning to the end, and make all sorts of plans for yourself and your horse, it all looks clear. The dots are there. The lines are straight, from dot to dot. You’re going to this, and that. The horse will go here, and then there. We will qualify at dot, dot, and dot. Then we will compete at dot, and dot, to prepare. Then there is big dot, perhaps at the end of the season, with a red circle around it.

Yet, when you look at a season, it’s not always a straight line in between those dots. More like curves and spirals and some loops backwards. We actually HOPE we can get to big dot in the season.

So how do we get this stuff going our way? We take out the freebie feed store calendar, and start checking with local stables on the upcoming schooling shows, look at booking vacation around competitions, and put a finger on general pieces of the calendar where you have to get a cross country school in or work toward a clinic weekend. And that’s all just for one horse. Maybe you have two or three and each is going in a different direction. It’s like calendar tetris!

I have to continually remind myself about the “why” of doing this. We are not supposed just go to a show to go to a show. We are supposed to get to a show to test what we are working on. The competitions are meant to educate — show us the holes, teach us the failings and the things that need practice in both our riding and in our horses’ education. We’re not supposed to just go because they’re there.

I think this goes to the heart of the “move-up” question. The cool thing about eventing is that we aren’t locked down, like low level hunter schooling shows, to a pretty rigid sort of course design (outside-diagonal, or some variation thereof). Our divisions are different from event to event — what’s easy at one event is hard at another, some events are great for everyone trying it for the first time, some events are very difficult for the level and meant to prepare a rider for the next higher division.

It is this very diversity that makes eventing competition so fun and educational. I think that is the reason we have this “move-up” mentality, because we overcome different courses all the time. We count on the education at one event making us ready for the next. In contrast, our friends in the hunter world work on perfection. Their move-up slows; they spend a lot more time doing those outside-diagonal-outside-diagonal courses than we do, looking for excellence in detail. Or perhaps they feel more comfortable with the challenge of getting it consistently excellent.

Both ideals go someplace and require strength of purpose, attention to detail, a drive to succeed and courage to keep trying when you don’t get it right. Where I get concerned is the lack of trying to get better, and letting the competition just “be there.” That does nothing for me as a rider except make me dangerously comfortable right where I am. What’s the danger in that? The danger is I may lose that drive to educate myself. Should we do shows just to do shows? My feeling is we shouldn’t.

Of course, there are many reasons for folks to stay at the same level for years and years. Heck, yeah, I get that. There are some Novice courses that pretty much masquerade at the level, and you cross the finish line on cross country and go, “Where’s Training level, it can’t get much harder than THAT was!”

A friend of mine coined the phrase, “Be a student of the Long Road,” and I think of this saying often. I watch the local shows, I learn by watching, I go home, I ride and train. I think of the Long Road. Where I want to be at the end of the season. Where I want to be at the end of three seasons ahead. My challenge is to take each show, each course, and put it squarely in the middle of that Long Road, and see how it gets me down that line, from dot to dot.

Wednesday News & Notes from SmartPak

By on Jan 24, 2018 12:01 am -

Lainey Ashker giving a clinic in exotic Costa Rica. Photo via Laine Ashker’s FB page.

Does anyone else unable to see their horse on a daily basis obsess over photos and videos your barn friends send you? One of the girls at my barn sent me half a photo of my horse’s nose yesterday and I can’t stop staring at it. It’s my lifeline until I see that face again.

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Rocking Horse Winter I H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Full Gallop H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Results]

National Holiday: National Peanut Butter Day

Your Wednesday News & Notes:

One of the coolest things I ever got to do was go away for pony camp in Vermont one summer. Now GMHA is offering an eventing camp for kids of all ages above 9! You can bring a pony, have lessons twice a day, and hang out in Area I in the summer to get out of the heat! [GMHA Junior Horsemanship Clinic]

Time to remember which divisions you and your horse are eligible. With the season underway, don’t forget to check the eligibility rules when picking out your divisions. If you’ve completed an Intermediate, maybe don’t enter the Rider division at Training, or you might find yourself delegated to competing as HC. [Rule Refresher]

Laura Graves hosted a masterclass as part of the Adequan West Coast Dressage Festival. One of her mantras is that training isn’t pretty. You have to allow the horse to make mistakes in training in order to learn, she says. [Keeping Horses and Riders Honest]

SmartPak Product of the Day: I talk about these blankets all the time because they are durable, fit well, warm, and have a great warranty behind them. And bonus, they are on sale regularly, including right now! [SmartPak]