Nugget says, "What did I do to deserve this?" Photo by Ingvill Ramberg.
Ah, summer. As a child, summer meant swimming, bike rides, and horse camp with friends. As an adult, summer means juggling work with riding time and thanking my lucky stars that my commute from my office to my horse’s stall is literally a five second walk. Summer horse camp and riding lessons carry on as usual, and our farm’s lesson horses and ponies carry on with their daily duties like the gentle saints they are.
While the larger horses are used in our weekly riding camps for kids ages 8 and up, our ponies are the stars of our fun camp for tiny tots. Thanks to our ponies, small children can learn the basics of riding and horse care, with the added bonus of having a living canvas to practice their art skills on. It’s not uncommon for me to come to work to greet a herd of bays, palominos, and chestnuts, and to leave at the end of the day with a herd of rainbow-painted ponies contentedly munching their hay after a long day of entertaining kids.
Events Opening Today: GMHA Festival of Eventing August Horse Trials (VT, A-1), Fair Hill International H.T. (MD, A-2), Otter Creek Summer H.T. (WI, A-4), The Summer Event at Woodside (CA, A-6), Area VII Young Rider Benefit H.T. (WA, A-7), Windy Wyoming H.T. (WY, A-9)
Events Closing Today: Cosequin Stuart H T. (NY, A-1), Huntington Farm H.T. (VT, A-1), Riga Meadow H.T. (CT, A-1), The Maryland H.T. at Loch Moy Farm (MD, A-2), Roebke’s Run H.T. (MN, A-4), 39th Annual Whidbey Island H.T. (WA, A-7), Champagne Run at the Park H.T. (KY, A-8), Powder Basin H.T. (WY, A-9), Coconino Summer I H.T. (AZ, A-10)
News and Notes:
Meet the 2015 EN Blogger Contest finalists: Did you know that Ash Hayworth will be making her Intermediate debut with her OTTB Oliver? Or what Seija Samoylenko calls her horses on their “better days”? Or that David Taylor is the current undisputed Eventing Nation Chinch Toss world champion? Read more here, and stay tuned for our Blogger Contest finalists’ next round of entries on Bloggers Row!
Racehorse Mr. Z gets his chance in the spotlight: You might know him as the colt who chewed off American Pharoah’s tail, but Mr. Z (named for AP’s owner, Ahmed Zayat) can add stakes race winner to his résumé after winning the $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown. [Horsetalk: Triple Crown tail chewer has first big race win]
Help support New Vocations’ capital campaign: Last month, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program launched a capital campaign to help build a premier OTTB retraining facility in Lexington, Kentucky. Generous donations from supporters including Fasig-Tipton, which donated $100,000 to build New Vocations’ outdoor arena, have helped the program achieve its goals. A groundbreaking ceremony will take place tomorrow at 11am, and members of the public are welcome to attend with an RSVP to [email protected]. [COTH: Fasig-Tipton donates $100,000 in support New Vocations]
New eventing simulator takes technology to a new level: Racewood, the creators of racehorse and polo simulators, has created an eventing simulator with the guidance of California dressage trainer Barbro Ask-Upmark. In addition to simulating movements from the three phases, “Dante Maximus” the eventing simulator also offers feedback on its rider’s balance and use of aids. [Horse Channel: Take a ride on the first eventing horse simulator]
Video of the Day: Check out this video showing how the Racewood Eventing Simulator works and the different features it offers. What do you think?
