Not that embarrassing
Good morning Eventing Nation!
I can hardly believe I’m about to own this, but I have to update my most embarrassing moment that ESJ wrote on all the EN people last year. (Bear with me, there’s a bit of a lead up.) Now, a quick update on my life: I’ve got 20 horses and riders at two different barns in training Monday through Friday. I reserve the weekends to be a normal 24 year old, although truth be told, if someone requests a weekend lesson, I’ll interrupt my memorizing reading 50 Shades of Grey to head out to the barn and teach or ride. Everyone’s surprised by how organized I’ve been especially for a horse person, and truth be told, I’m amazed I haven’t double booked or missed a lesson. Cue the embarrassing moment. And, mind you, I was well raised by my mother, so it’s hard to embarrass me nowadays. Wednesdays, I have a standing lesson at 5 pm with Laura. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it for family obligations, but told me to put a training ride on Ellie instead. No big deal for me, as I love her mare. So I go to Ellie’s stall to tack her up. She’s not there. I vaguely remember Laura telling me that she was hoping to get Ellie more turnout, so I head outside, and there’s only one horse not out with the geldings. A nice brown horse in a flymask and sheet. Perfect, she’s near the gate. I halter her up, and walk back to the barn and down the aisle. Carrie is new to our barn, and it’s a full service facility, and she’s a nice lady who will be going training level at Otter Creek this weekend. I put Ellie into the cross ties, and Carrie looks up from putting her boots on and exclaims, “Why thank you Ali! Are you going to groom and tack him up for me too?” Wait. What? Take a second, harder look at the horse under the flymask. NOT Ellie. Not even a mare. Everyone had a great laugh at my expense, myself included, until we realized Ellie was still missing. Turns out, she switched stalls, and I’ll probably never live this moment down.
I’ll be at Otter Creek this weekend which event will you be attending?
Events This Weekend:
Northwest Equestrian Fall Gala HT [
Website]
Stoneleigh-Burnham School Fall HT [
Website]
Reserve your tailgating spot for Fair Hill CCI2* and CCI3* October 18-21! Tailgating is available for cross country day. They’ve opened a new tailgating area this year by the start and finish overlooking the water complex. It should be a great time. Bring a 10’x10′ tent if you wish and your kids and dogs as long as they’re leashed. The dogs leashed! They’ll have stewards and stewardesses all day. Included is one vehicle and six day passes. If you don’t use the general admission tickets on Saturday, they’re still good on Sunday. [
Go Fair Hill]
And so it begins.
Showjumper Jessica Springsteen has acquired the ride of British Olympic gold medal winning horse, Vindicat W. Vinnie was purchased by the family’s Stone Hill Farm. Peter Charles, who piloted him around to help Britain with the gold in London says regarding the London performance, “I will never forget how that felt and how unbelievably proud he made me and my team feel.” The sale comes so that Peter can invest in young horses for Rio. On Vinnie’s new partnership with Jessica, Peter wishes, “ Jessica the best of luck with him and I am sure he will make her proud, too.” [
Horse and Hound] [
Horsetalk]
Icky has a hard life. Well,
had a hard life. Icky, aka Ichabod Crane, is Lauren Spreiser’s latest barn cat. Icky came to them after Lauren’s best friend Sara found her under her car as a neglected kitten. Icky had a collar on that was so small she literally grew into it. Sara nursed the kitten back to health, and Lauren, having only two barn cats on 125 acres, figured Icky could stay on the farm. Now Icky finds the best
laps seats in the house when clinics are happening, gets rides on the hay cart, and jumps into the rafters when she’s not off killing the vermin on the farm. [
And there’s a video of Icky’s new life]
Don’t Drink and Drive Ride. A man in Kentucky was arrested and taken to jail after riding his horse while intoxicated over twice the legal limit. He was trail riding while drinking beers with several others when he stopped to eat crackers on the side of the road because he is severely diabetic. The police rolled up and asked Danny Reynolds to dismount his horse. When he was staggering to walk, they arrested him. The deputy also found rolling papers and a bag of marijuana in his pocket and a jar of moonshine in his saddle bag. Reynolds wants this to be a lesson for other horsemen to pay attention. According to Kentucky Law, non-motorized vehicles include horses, bicycles, and skateboards. Reynolds will likely lose his license for riding his horse drunk. [
WKYT]
Best of the Blogs: Team Wallace is gearing up for Poplar Place this weekend. Elisa Wallace is riding four horses, one at each level BN-P. Meanwhile, Rick Wallace from Team Wallace South, is entered in the CIC2*. Their students will be there as well. Good luck to all! [
Team Wallace]
Honorable Mention: Heidi Wardle is assistant trainer for Phyllis Dawson at Windchase Farm in Virginia. She updates her blog from earlier in the summer. She’s living the dream. The one where you get to muck out stalls, ride horses, lose power. You know, the horse life. Sounds like everything is back underway after a little break in August. [
Life at Windchase]
What do Channing Tatum, James Franco, and Brad Pitt have to do with eventing? They’re all studs! Hahaha… In their second episode, Evention gives us the stud talk. As much as I like Dom walking us through everything you need to know about studs and traction, I like Jimmie’s “stud” selection better. Check it out. And don’t forget to
like Evention on Facebook.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9isCsRALz0&feature=plcp
Go eventing.
