Happy Snoot Day! Photo by Kate Samuels
Happy Turkey Day! I hope that everybody gets to spend today with some pony nose kisses, maybe a little stall mucking for cardio, and then an absolutely unreasonable amount of food. Turkey is great and all, but honestly I live for mashed potatoes and stuffing, I mean I could survive on that for at least a month and be totally happy. I might not fit into my riding pants afterwards, but you know, there are trades to be made.
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Pine Top Thanksgiving H.T. (Thomson, GA): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
News From Around the Globe:
Our Holiday Gift Guide has landed! We’ve picked out a few of our favorite gift ideas for all types of riders and partnered with some awesome brands to bring you special deals and promotions. [Start shopping]
Did you know that the jump on course that gives you nightmares is named after a drainage ditch in Prussia? Yeah, me neither, but apparently the Trakehner comes from the Trakehnen area of East Prussia in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the jump design comes from teaching war horses to leap over fenced drainage ditches on the battle field. You too can learn fascinating and ridiculous stories about eventing fences to bore your family with today at dinner. [Jump Names Demystified]
Horses very rarely misbehave simply to be bad, and more equine professionals are coming to realize that. Oftentimes what people perceive as “naughty” behavior is the horse trying to tell his owners and riders that he’s hurting. Many owners and trainers underestimate how much pain a horse is actually feeling – even when they aren’t performing up to their usual standard. When called out to assess a horse that is “grumpy,” “lazy,” or even “misbehaving,”. [Decoding Poor Performance: Lameness, Behavioral, or Something Else?]
As somebody with a firmly NOT retired 21-year-old in my barn, I am coming to love these super senior horses who just love their work. Eye Candy (Escudo II x Goldstern by Grenadier), a 1999 Hanoverian began his classical dressage training in Vechta, Germany, with Catherine Haddad Staller in early 2003. Eye Candy was purchased by Robin Mattson in October of that year. Eye Candy remained in Germany in training with Staller until the fall of 2005, when Robin imported him to the United States. Over the next 17 years, Robin and Eye Candy progressed through the levels to Intermediare I, earning their USDF Bronze and Silver Medals. Although in perfect health, Robin felt Eye Candy had earned his retirement at 21, but after visiting him in his field, she found that he was far from ready to hang up his bridle. [Ageless Eye Candy]
Movie recommendation of the week: EO. Kinda like Eyore but EO. The donkey’s name is EO, and as the action begins, he is part of a small circus act with a loving young woman trainer. But when the circus goes broke, EO is sold off to farmers. They don’t treat EO badly but the donkey remembers a happier, earlier life and soon escapes, beginning a journey across modern Europe that carries EO from forests and towns, to villas and scrap heaps the size of small Alps. [Donkey Movie For the Holidays]
