Saturday Links from Tipperary

Even though I trusted this pony implicitly, I can tell by my hands that I must have snuck in a VNP over this fence.

I normally don’t get too flustered when celebrities die but the news of Leonard Nimoy’s passing hit in just the right way and has had me quite sad. You see, even though Nimoy never rode a horse in any of the episodes I ever saw, Spock was a horseman in my mind. When I was about 8 or 9 years old I had just been “moved up” to one of the lesson horses from a very trustworthy and much beloved lesson pony. The size and power difference intimidated me quite a bit. My instructor noticed and told me that if I started getting nervous while I was in two-point, I could slide my thumb over the mare’s crest and give a little squeeze. She explained that it was a very powerful Vulcan technique and most importantly, in order to use this power, I had to be calm and centered like Spock. That summer, I did what seemed like endless laps of the ring in two-point with my thumb hooked over that mare’s neck – and it worked. To this day, in moments of anxiousness over fences, that thumb creeps over and I find a little bit of calm comes with it.

U.S. Weekend Action:

Rocking Horse Winter III H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]

Sporting Days Farm II H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]

Sol Events at Circle T H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]

Twin Rivers Winter H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Saturday Links:

Horse Heaven Available — for $22.9m

Wyoming Wild Horse Round Up Case Continues Monday

Oregon Horse Herd Seized

Neurologic EHV-1 Confirmed in Canadian Horse

How Cold? Equestrian panniculitis cold!

Equestrian Success Rides On Flexibility