Oof, summer hit us like a ton of bricks, not gonna lie. Everything was going so well and so smooth right up until Charlie's tangle(s) with high tensile wire fencing, womp.
"where have you been???" -- Mikey
It worked out tho bc damn, while overall the year has been remarkably mild... August was decidedly less so. And true to the norms in this part of the world, rain has been increasingly scarce while big biting flies descended with a vengeance.
Let's just say --- it's been a tough month for horse feet.
my beautiful silly horse, and a water tank
Charlie lost his first shoe in 2 years, which you already knew. But then promptly lost a second shoe (same friggin foot too, ugh) a week later. Right when we were finally getting back into doing things...
It was actually during a ride, wherein I finally took Charlie into an actual proper arena and let him basically drag my ass around all the little cross rails and teeny jompies set up for camp kids. It was GLORIOUS, right up until I dismounted and saw that bare foot. UGH.
obvi around these parts there will always be wound pics. looks pretty good at ~4wks tho, no?
Given that it was the same foot that had already lost that shoe, was a fairly recent trim, and he was barefoot for about 3ish days.... Eh, I figured I didn't really need to know the answer to "Will he be sore?" and just let him chill.**
(**Or, uh, NOT chill -- as you can clearly tell from those water tank gifs above that homeboy has juussssst a little too much energy at the moment!)
ooooooooh more EXCITING pics tho omg! i showed up to the weekend vacay early for FEI dressage steward duty, doing my favorite thing: bossin' around the olympians at Great Meadow International!
It worked out anyway since I was out of town for the weekend for Great Meadow International! I haven't seen my longtime horse friend (who left Maryland a few years back) since before covid, so we decided to do a weekend getaway meetup at a cute Airbnb in Warrenton, VA and catch the 4* at GMI while we were at it. So Charlie could get a few extra days off haha.
plus obvi sample the local flavors. 1,000% recommend this winery bc omg LAKE
I've gone to GMI almost religiously for the last couple years, but it's a helluva day drive so this whole Airbnb situation was actually straight up amazing. Plus we got to enjoy the cute little town and local sights and scenes -- including a very pleasing bottle of Pinot Gris at the Winery at Sunshine Ridge, complete with shady + breezy lakeside picnic tables. Yes. Please.
let's find a way to get a lakeside winery right up in here too, yes?
Normally for a lot of our local big International FEI shows, I go alone so I can hustle all over creation taking footage for the video compilations I like making. That's..... kinda a tough thing to do with company unless said company is a very specific blend of my kind of crazy LOL.
So I didn't do all that this time... and... It was honestly pretty nice haha, just sitting back and enjoying the show!
silly sippy cup souvenirs!! sure they're from walgreens LOL but the memories are #4eva
The weather was a bit atrocious too, not gonna lie, and GMI, for all it's beauty, kinda just caters to the VIPs. There's literally no seating and no shade unless you cough up the $$ for a tailgating tent. It's cool, tho. We were prepared and made our own accommodations and had a swell ol' party out of it all.
brought souvenirs home for charlie too omg
Finally, tho, it was time to return to reality. Which, gratefully in my world, includes getting back to our friend Charles!
"what the fuck is wrong with you tho?" -- charlie, for sure
His leg is looking really good, finally. And despite all my paranoia, I'm actually thinking it might not scar that badly after all. Still to be seen tho...
More importantly -- omg we're really riding again! It's been honestly about a solid month off for the big guy, despite last week's false start before the second thrown shoe... But he feels really good. Like, REALLY. There's a little more 'bounce per ounce' in his trot than I'm used to, and he's a tad sassy -- but happy.
okie dokie, back to your regularly scheduled programming --- RIDING OMG!!
We cantered out and around the xc fields the other day just to stretch him out, and I couldn't resist aiming him at a little coop -- which naturally he loved <3 More recently we went into the dressage court for a "real(ish)" ride, just to sorta see where he's at. And, believe it or not, it turns out, yerp, the horse is still trained lol.
So I'm excited. Maybe the little summer recess was perfect -- a guilt-free excuse to sit out the heat and hard ground and biting flies?? Fall is my favorite anyway haha. And it's so nice to have a horse feeling fresh and rested and eager for adventure!!
Fingers crossed we get that opportunity soon :) Anybody else losing shoes? Or enjoying a late-summer breather? Or maybe you have something exciting on the calendar?
It should come as no surprise to anybody following along for the last couple years, but I LOVE going to big horse shows as a spectator. Love it, haha. Really, anything at the upper levels is pretty exciting -- and the internationals are especially fun.
We're super lucky here in Area II to be surrounded by so many world class venues. I particularly love trying to film as much of the action as humanly possible -- and can often be found scrambling alllll over the grounds, only staying at any one jump or feature for just 2-3 horses at a time (obvi changing angles between each horse!).
Emily Beshear & Olney Uncle Sam Fair Hill CCI 3* 2020
Actually, one of my consolation buys during the interminable days of lockdown last spring was a new camcorder expressly for this purpose (a Canon Vixia for anybody curious -- it's responsible for every video, gif, and still shot in this post).
Previously, all of my big FEI XC Compilation videos were made with iphone footage and.... You could definitely tell haha. It only barely counted as "HD" and the zoom was especially bad. This new Canon, on the other hand, takes a much crisper picture and has 57x zoom. Yesssss!!
Tim Bourke & Quality Obsession Fair Hill CCI 3* 2020
Obvi the global pandemic changed everything, but 2020 was supposed to be a HUGE year for spectatorship.
We were supposed to go to BOTH of North America's CCI5* events: Kentucky and the inaugural Fair Hill 5*. Plus naturally we'd hit up all the other usual 3* and 4* haunts too -- Loch Moy, Great Meadow, Jersey Fresh, Plantation Field, Morven Park, etc.
Instead, virtually the all spring / early summer events were wiped off the calendar entirely. And even once major competitions resumed, spectators weren't allowed due to covid restrictions.
Luckily, tho, there are a couple allowable exceptions to the "no spectators" rule at most competitions. Most relevant to my interests? Volunteering.
I wasn't sure how the process worked (for instance, if I volunteered on a different day than cross country, would I still be allowed in?) so for the first event of the season -- Fair Hill's 3* test event on the brand new international track -- I signed up for multiple days and roles to maximize the likelihood I'd be allowed to spectate XC.
Fair Hill is close(ish) to home so this was doable. I familiarized myself with the new track in advance while flagging and decorating all the fences. Then got to film ALL of cross country day (video above!!), and then saw all of show jumping while volunteering at the in-gate. Yess!
Jennie Brannigan & Bliss III Great Meadow CCI 4* 2020
That was my first time really using the new Canon camera, and I paired it with a monopod to help stabilize the extreme zoom capability. It was a cool track for getting a feel, too, since it was basically two long side-by-side lanes where you could stand in the middle and see nearly everything haha.
Overall, while I was thrilled with the improved quality of the footage (and you should 100% watch that video if you haven't), it actually felt like the monopod made it shakier, not more stable.
So a couple weeks later at Great Meadow, I stuck with handheld videoing. And guys, Great Meadow is gorgeous. From every angle, in every direction, there's always something beautiful in the background (even if it's just the rolling green Virginia countryside).
Great Meadow is substantially farther from home for me, tho -- basically on the other side of DC. Which.... for those uninitiated with local traffic, is a massively unpleasant drive haha.
I emailed the volunteer coordinator in advance and ultimately ended up signing up for cross country clean up. Which meant I could spend the whole day watching all the action before reporting for duty at the volunteer tent. Perfect!!
This was such an incredible event too. The track is dotted with iconic features all the way around and the class was enormous. Benefited in no small part by being one of the very few 4* classes offered this year in our area.
ALL the big hitters were there, and I spent the day circulating the track again and again, catching every feature from multiple angles with multiple horses. Definitely one of my favorite videos!
Boyd Martin & On Cue Plantation Field CCI 3* 2020
One tricky aspect of the new Canon is it's a little fussy about focusing at its most extreme zoom range. Which.... is unfortunate, obviously. It eventually figures it out -- it's just a little slow to do so (or I'm a little ham-handed at managing the settings).
I ended up slowing down the zoom speed, which definitely helped smooth things out. Plus I'm getting better at setting up my shot sooner so the camera has time to sort itself out.
Most of these big events have anywhere from 30-60 horses running, usually at intervals of at least 2min between horses (but often closer to 3min), so that makes it reasonably easy to plan ahead for each shot and move from feature to feature in between horses.
Boyd Martin & Long Island T Plantation Field CCI 3* 2020
So by the time Plantation rolled around, I felt confident in operating the camera to create a pretty excellent video.
This turned out to be important bc..... Well. You all probably know. There has been extensive community dialog this year regarding this legendary venue's name*. Some dialog has, in my opinion, been very constructive and very important. Some of it, tho, was.... less so. And multiple parties on both sides I think, if given the chance, would probably in retrospect wish they played their hands differently.
Long story short, the courses were set and competition horses were already onsite doing their in-barns and jogs when news broke this would be the final running of this iconic event.
(*Pro tip: if you're having trouble understanding why people care about the name, consider Maya Black has won major classes at this event multiple times in recent years -- and in fact won the 3* again this year -- leading to undeniably cringeworthy headlines like, "Black Wins Plantation!")
Boyd Martin & Long Island T Plantation Field CCI3* 2020
It was actually sorta surreal -- this was another event where I signed up for advance volunteer roles -- helping to set up and finalize the xc courses prior to their ground jury inspection. I spent all morning with one of the course designers trimming brush and fixing flags and placing ropes and all that.... Only to be absolutely blindsided when the news dropped like a bomb later that same afternoon.
So.... I figured, if this really would be the last running of this event (and honestly I maintain hope some mediation or solution will be found!), then dammit --- I'd make the best freakin video I could possibly make.
Plantation is similar to Great Meadow (and to the old Fair Hill track, which I admit to strongly preferring to the new track.....) in that it's kinda an irregular shaped track that winds through various different terrain features including very natural looking water, ditch and bank complexes.
The most notable features at Plantation are it's setting on a massive hillside, and the absolutely stunning stone ruins incorporated into various jump combinations. So I definitely tried to capture as much of all that as possible in the footage.
One tricky thing in my filming style is tending to hold fairly tight frames on the horse and rider. I like this bc, imo, it creates a more engaging and intimate view of the action. But... one big downside is it's easier to chop off a horse or rider head or leg or something bc (obviously) the horse is constantly moving in and out of frame lol.
So I need to find a balance where I can keep the frame tight enough to maintain that personal high-impact feeling, but without risking losing the big picture.
That's what practice is all about, tho, right?? And here's hoping the competition landscape next year will be easier for all that. At this point it's still not looking particularly likely we'll get to go to Kentucky. But fingers crossed more of our local options will be a go!
I also need to keep working on pushing these videos out to wider audiences haha, bc let's be real.... my own network and readership is.... limited lol. But I strongly believe these videos would appeal to a wider audience if I could just get in front of them. Lol... That's another downside of being terrible at social media I guess! That said --- for any of you who enjoyed these videos I'd love to hear about it! And would especially be grateful if you'd share with your own networks!
So anybody who's been reading for a while knows that I've gotten heavily into volunteering at events over the last couple of years. It started early with myentréeinto the eventing scene, as a way to familiarize myself with this new-to-me sport. But kicked into overdrive in 2018 with Sara's Volunteer Challenge.
volunteering takes on a new meaning when it's your only ticket in to spectating at the big FEI events! picture from when i helped clean up at Great Meadow
And ever since then, I've utilized the USEA Volunteer Dashboard (no membership or prior experience required!) to seek out new fun exciting and intriguing volunteer opportunities.
Because, it turns out, there are literally countless ways to get involved with the sport, should you be so inclined. (hint: you should!!!! it's fun!! and a great stepping stone to improving access!!!)
pro tip: setting up dressage courts well is 100% harder than you might expect
This year 2020, tho.... Well. Everything kinda got turned upside down this year, right? Especially when it comes to interfacing with group activities like horse shows.
Turns out, the coronavirus pandemic had a pretty big impact on my volunteer habit too -- in two very distinct ways. The result has been that I've played very different volunteer roles this year compared to literally any other year.
this wire-based kit was ingenious. it was a very long set of continuous wires with various tags and rings secured at fixed distances, and a very dense little packet of instructions for how to use it to set up perfectly square small and large courts. see the little tag indicating where the letter should be?
Like, sure. I've still spent some time stewarding warm up rings --- bc let's be real, that's one of my all time favorite volunteer positions. But I've also shown up to events only to be shuffled around to the areas of greatest need (like bit check --- one of my least favorite positions**).
Because.... It turns out, in the Time of Corona, volunteers are in extremely short supply, and event organizers are pretty desperate for whatever they can get.
(**mostly bc this is an area where amateurs and pros are treated differently and I straight up refuse to hassle an ammy about something pros are routinely let off the hook for -- like skipping bit check. no thank you very much, I'm not into that)
learned a lot about the realities of square on this day lol, and i say that as a friggin mathematician
And events are hard up for volunteers at basically every stage of the game. For me, this year, this has meant getting more involved in the earlier stages -- particularly the behind the scenes and administrative type roles.
The biggest example is in event preparations. This is frequently a task you can find on the USEA Volunteer Dashboard, tho it's typically very very vague and scheduled during weekdays.
I've given it a few shots this year, tho, and have thus gotten to learn more about the finer points of setting up dressage courts (hint: it's actually pretty fucking infuriatingly precise work, best done with a large group) and decorating xc courses.
did you know: fence decorations take up a shit ton of space??
I'm getting ahead of myself tho -- bc, like I said before, there have been *two* distinct ways in which my volunteer roles have changed. And those can be pretty well divided by whether the events were recognized, or smaller local schooling fandangos.
So let's talk about the small schooling stuff first. It's worth saying straight up at the outset that I don't ever necessarily see myself as an event organizer. For various reasons. But.... I *am* interested in learning how to use every part of the buffalo. Or, in other words, I want to understand the entire show administration operation.
virtual cookies to whoever can guess the number of straw bales dedicated to this single fence
This year's limited volunteer coverage has proved useful for testing deeper waters. As such, I signed up to be "Secretary" for the first time, at a very small local schooling dressage show.
We had ~30 total entries for a single day show. Due to coronavirus concerns, we kept the ring sized to a large court all day -- which allowed running any test at any time (vs scheduling lower and higher level tests according to ring size) so we could keep people moving in and out.
however long you think it takes to flag a course, double it lol
That made for easier ride time calculations (hint: excel is your friend), tho feedback from the judge was that Intro riders needed longer time intervals since it took literally forever for them to get around that enormous ring haha.
Other roles and responsibilities included keeping tabs of entries, payments, signatures, forms, and on the day of, scoring tests and awarding ribbons. For some reason, I kinda love scoring dressage tests -- there's something super satisfying about punching all those numbers into the calculator haha.
So.... on that note, dressage scoring is another volunteer role you could pursue too -- if overall secretary sounds like a bit much at first blush.
the orderliness of this picture pleases me intensely. see that clever flag cart??? wish i got more pictures of it, it was so nicely designed
Other roles I've played for the first time this year at small local shows are cross country starter, and course designer.
The event where I was xc starter was..... kiiiinda a hot mess, and way too big of a job for one person. It basically amounted to xc volunteer coordinator too, in that I had to give volunteers the orientation spiel, assign them to their fences for each level, and organize score collection.... Plus, ya know, actually start riders out on course (and jump judge the first two fences).
Ugh. What a cluster fuck that day was haha... A perfect example of how this extreme shortage in volunteers can have a direct impact on overall event success and safety.
tho ya know, if your flags are just straight up sticks, maybe you can get away with less lol
On the flip side of all that, is the other way in which my volunteerism has been impacted by covid. Superficially, it might not look all that different since it still revolves around the activities before and after the event itself. But.... It turns out, operations tend to run quite a bit smoother at the larger more adequately funded recognized and FEI events. Who woulda thunk??
This part of my volunteerism in 2020 is less about organizers in urgent dire need of help, and more about.... Well.... I love spectating at the big events. And spectating just isn't allowed during the pandemic. So.... If you want in, ya gotta earn* it!
i'm sure i took this picture for a reason. probably something to do with fence repair on the fly. this type of screw is called a timber lock
So, as a means of granting myself access to some of the biggest local FEI events -- including Fair Hill, Great Meadow, and Plantation Field -- I've signed up for volunteer roles such as course decorating and clean up.
And.... Wow it turns out, I actually really like these jobs! So far I've had the privilege of being paired up with people who know, intimately, inside and out, the job at hand and/or the venue itself. And most of them have been pretty open to questioning about the whats and the whys of setting things up a certain way.
staking fences is kinda an enormous subject, it turns out. these are spirafix ground anchors, i think. most fences are fine with just cement form stakes tho. the 2' length allows 18" below ground, with 6"exposed to screw in to the fence itself
I already wrote a bit about the 'art and science' of course decoration from Fair Hill, but there's so much more than just that. Often times the people working on these days are the same folks who designed the course (or even built the actual fences), and they're actually pretty open to discuss details and explain their methods.
Like why a fence is shaped the way it is, or what goes into building a frangible table, how different styles of fence require different types of ground stakes, and even the rules governing what types of flags must be used in different circumstances.
oooh i learned how to stuff brush fences!!
Which, ya know, is fascinating stuff, it turns out. One of the highlights from this particular experience was being allowed to tag along for the ground jury course walks at Plantation Field on the 3* and 2* courses.
Like... can you imagine? Here was this group of 5-6 massively experienced and accomplished horse professionals, walking along the course and commenting on it as they went, giving feedback to the course designer with every step. And, along the way, happily explaining their thoughts when I asked.
this jump literally looks like a gallows when naked, but hang some cedar and *boom* gorgeous crescent wedge!!
Obvi those level courses are well beyond my ken, so a lot of their feedback was not particularly applicable to anything I'm personally likely to experience or work on, lol, but.... It was a pretty cool experience.
Which... Is just sort of another reason why these "preparation" type volunteer roles can end up being so different from your standard fare "day-of" jobs. On the event day itself, everyone operates within their narrowly defined roles against a relentless clock, to facilitate the smooth operation of the overall event.
But on the prep days? It's a smaller group of people and an entirely different type of schedule that somehow seems to lend itself better to those sort of "in between" moments and glimpses into how the sausage is actually made. Does that make sense?
more words for the wise: takes a shit ton of cedar to make something like this
So. Overall, it didn't end up being a banner year in terms of hours logged against the USEA Volunteers of the Year leaderboard. But... Honestly, I'm pretty excited and energized by some of the experiences I've gotten. And even more so by the connections made and people met.
For my own personal long term goals --- it's not particularly realistic that I'll ever ride at the top of the sport or anything like that. But I do love horse shows, particularly the small local stuff that can attract and be accessible to larger swaths of the horsey population. Right now, all this volunteerism kinda feels a little bit like doing my homework for some sort of future plan.
I guess we'll see tho, haha. If 2020 showed us anything, it's that plans are.... ehhhhhhh, best written in pencil lol. All the same tho, it's also shown us the importance of being involved and active in the activities we love the most. Have you volunteered at all this year?
Great Meadow's CCI4* was held this past weekend -- one of the very very few 4*s around this year. Meaning it was an absolutely packed division chock-full of world-class riders and horses. The event promised to be very exciting with a lot of action in what has otherwise been a fairly bleak FEI competition landscape.
And obviously I was excited to get down there to see it all unfold -- dutifully signing up for a volunteer role for the privilege.
so excited to watch horses jump through the blue numbers again!!
In essence:
- Everyone wear a mask, no exceptions
- No spectators
- Only participants directly involved in the care of the horse / competitor, or sponsors providing direct services to the competition organization are allowed
So..... I was surprised to see tailgates (and LOTS of them, wow) set up all over the GMI grounds. Standard tailgates -- just like I've done in years past at Fair Hill and Kentucky -- long lines of tents right next to each other, each filled with party groups.
And people out there with the whole kit 'n kaboodle: champagne and picnics and sunhats (must protect from the sun!! tho, notably, very few masks haha. very very few).... Ya know. The usual. It's a great way to spend a summer day outside, enjoying the company of your friends, and spectating as incredible horses and riders conquer unimaginable obstacles....
one area of tailgates -- you'll see they're fairly prevalent throughout the video across all main features and combinations on course
Except, wait a second -- isn't spectate the actionable word there? Isn't that.... exactly what the USEF prohibited above?
Turns out, nope. I guess those tailgate fees (ranging from $125 to $5K+ at this particular event...) are all that's needed to be considered the "sponsors providing direct services."
GMI's website explains in more detail below:
colorful emphasis mine. orange = GMI rationalizing why tailgates packed in like sardines are ok, while green = GMI very sadly saying that the poor humble general public can't be allowed.
And ya know... I guess this makes sense on paper. I totally 100% understand that every single aspect of the horse sports community is under extreme pressure and duress because of Covid.
These are massively expensive events to pull off, and general admission and/or parking fees don't come even close to footing the bill. A $5K VIP sponsorship tent tho? Yea, that helps. So... Ya know... Financially, I get it.
But it bugs me. It doesn't feel in keeping with the whole global pandemic environment. Because again, and I can't stress this enough, the tents were all lined up in a row, each filled with unmasked party-goers. But maybe the sponsorship fee also inoculates against the virus?
I was kinda further bugged at how, presumably in further efforts to subsidize the event, access to all the content and live stream coming out of it (for all you rubes who couldn't cough up the tailgate fee) were likewise kept behind a paywall.
gosh but i love watching them go, live and in socially-distant-person! this particular combination is always crazy to watch -- esp bc the horses always seem to handle it so well
Sure, the $9.99 for a one-month subscription to Horse&Country probably isn't much in the grand scheme of things... Esp for hardcore eventing fans starved for action.
But idk. It kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth, combined with the high cost of entry to the event itself. Which, in case you weren't aware, also offered national divisions -- not just FEI classes.
My impression is that.... It feels like the little guys in equestrian sport are getting the squeeze, while the big fish get to carry on as usual.
Small local horse trials must operate under the same USEF rules, tho they don't have the draw of ritzy tailgaters to help subsidize costs. And, obvi, nor do they get the live stream coverage for the various family, friends and supporting cast members who weren't allowed in under the 'no spectators' policy.
i match the jump!!
And, to be perfectly honest, it's been my experience at HTs since competitions started running that compliance with the USEF rules is much much more strictly enforced at HTs than it was at this major FEI event.
Idk, I'm not trying to make any grand statements on the rules themselves here. Because basically I'm just a rules follower -- I'll do what the folks around me are doing, ya know? I comply with the rules that are necessary to keep these events running, because I love horse shows -- going to them, riding in them, volunteering at them...
What bugs me tho is that the rules are unevenly applied. Especially when the implication is that the rules bend completely with the application of a little cold hard cash. Because.... I really don't think pandemics work that way haha.
So idk. I'm glad I went to Great Meadow bc the show itself was amazing -- the grounds are so beautiful and there were so many incredible horses and riders to watch. And, perhaps more importantly, I'm pleased to be able to offer you a highlight video that won't cost $9.99 to watch with purchase of a H&C subscription haha.
So ya know, enjoy that lol. And maybe share it with your friends too. Bc fuck it, we should all be able to enjoy this sport we buy into with our own memberships and entry fees, right?
And in the meantime, I'm honestly a little skeptical about implications this might have for future access to upper level events and related coverage in the future. Once venues get a taste for raising the cost of access, will they really want to let that go? Or maybe you think I'm overreacting to organizations doing what they gotta do to exist in these "unprecedented times"?
I dunno about all y'all, but I'm hoping for a weekend of abundant horsing haha. Which, actually got a head start already when I had my first lesson with a new Grand Prix dressage trainer a couple days ago. I don't want to spoil things but it mayyy have been a game changer lol. Details to come later.
In the meantime, it's business as usual. Except hot hot. Considering Charlie-specific media has been a bit lacking lately, I thought I'd trawl the archives for something that might be at least entertaining over the weekend.
Who remembers when Austen and I drove down to Great Meadow in The Plains, VA to meet up with Megan K almost exactly 3 years ago to the day? We had a wonderful day of enjoying the special magic of making friends over the internet, all while spectating upper level cross country at an event that was also highlighted as a Nation's Cup team competition.
Notably -- this particular event was required for all US Olympic team and reserve riders. Not unlike last weekend's MDHT that required all the Pan American Games team and reserve riders (if you recall, the US has yet to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 games, so the Pan Ams are kinda our last shot....) (also notable, this event required no youths to ride young horses over very large fences at speed, before said youths really understand the idea of mortality or consent to risk...).
ANYWAY. Great Meadow is something special -- the original post can be found here if you're into that sort of thing. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the video chock full of all the international heavy hitters and usual suspects ;)
But WAY too many pictures. Dear god, I don't even know how I'm going to get through it all. Wow. Happy Monday y'all - as a celebration (or, more likely, a nostalgic nod towards the weekend when work always seems to come too fast....) here are representative photographs of all the many goings on lately.
For starters - Charlie and I officially debuted our berry dressage outfit haha. And... proceeded to earn our worst yet dressage score to date. For what was actually our best yet dressage test to date. Go figure. Tho at least it didn't land us in last place so that's cool, I guess haha.
Also this was of course a weekend of much racing and galloping and jumping. Naturally I was glued to the live stream all Saturday morning and actually got to see just about every cross country ride at Badminton. And I gotta admit - this might not be a popular opinion bc we can basically all agree that Michael Jung is incredible.
But.... I was THRILLED to see Ingrid Klimke snag the lead after xc. And honestly I was also pretty happy to see Andrew Nicholson pull out the win in the end, especially knowing all that he's gone through to return to competition at this level.
Anyway tho, that was only a small part of a Saturday full of racing horses. I also made my way down to the Old Dominion, Virginia, to catch the Gold Cup at Great Meadow with Courtney, D'Arcy and Shelby. MUCH fun was had by all, even if it was cold with fairly constant rain. The bubbles helped for sure haha.
Pictured: bubbles lol.
These ladies were an absolute blast to hang out with and the event was definitely an experience unto itself. VERY different from most of the horse events that I typically attend - in that it was a decidedly non-horsey crowd. Actually the horses were almost only there to represent the trappings of wealth as a backdrop. Twas... interesting haha.
We had so much fun tho and I took a gazillion pictures so I'll probably have a more complete post on this day with the ladies later!
Race day wasn't over with that tho - as I scurried on over to Morven afterwards to watch the Kentucky Derby with Austen and Jan at their show grounds, and say hi to Liz too who was in town for spectating and moral support. Actually I'm pretty sure there are photos somewhere in existence of this lovely little get together, but alas I don't have them immediatley on hand.
All told tho, 'twas a very blogger weekend!
Things kept on rolling through Sunday tho when we got our own chance to get out for some galloping glory. And actually I got to see Michele again at Fair Hill, tho failed to snap a pic of us together (tho I'm pretty sure she got some shots of Charlie as she found the horse before she found me haha! #internetfamoushorse).
It was really nice to see her and always so wonderful just in general to get to know so many likeminded equestrians around the area!
Of course you're probably curious about how Fair Hill went from a riding perspective haha, beyond the whole "terrible dressage score for what was otherwise maybe a pretty OK test" part lol. Short story? It was pretty darn good.
Fair Hill is a pretty cool venue with a somewhat unique atmosphere - especially with that looonnnng hack up to the jumping tests. Charlie handled it well tho. We were there ALL DAY for friends and he basically was able to hang out on the grounds like a solid citizen, and then rise up to occasion when duty called. He's still super green tho, and ultimately I did not regret my choice to ride in the 18" division.
It was a fun day tho and we spent a long time just hangin out at the trailers - esp bc one of our riding buddies brought their LQ trailer complete with awning, tables, and a dedicated ground covering outdoor rug lol. It was a major upgrade in our tail gating style lol.
Plus my parents came to watch my jumping phases!! It was their first time seeing Charlie since our first dressage show last November, so that was pretty cool :)
And ultimately it was a pretty successful day for everyone involved. As an early season outing, it definitely showed where we all have opportunities for growth and further refinement - but it also showed that everyone is already in a really good place and on the right track. This was made especially obvious by all the lovely primary-colored ribbons taken home by the group. Go team!!
And hopefully it won't take me 18 years to edit all the resulting media - videos of all three phases (including helmet cam!) and video of some fun horse races and just omg so many pictures haha. Soon enough!
Hope you all had a great weekend too - full of fun horsey stuff and hopefully not as much rain as ours!
A couple weeks ago, Austen mentioned in passing that she was considering dropping in on the Nations Cup CIC*** at Great Meadow to spectate cross country over the weekend. Definitely sounded tempting, but alas I had a paper chase planned for that Saturday (which, obvi, more details on that soon!).
But then Megan K chimed in with the same idea, pointing out that they were actually running xc on Sunday, not Saturday. Well now. The opportunity to watch Olympic horses go round only an hour from home on a gorgeous July morning is not the kind of opportunity you pass up twice.
So off I went - swinging by the grocery store for snacks of both salty and sweet variety (so much salty tho), and obvi nabbing Austen on the way too. Alas, forgot to grab beer. Ah well. Next time!!
Megan had a slightly longer haul down, and had opted to arrive for stadium the day prior. She'll undoubtedly have a post of her own (complete with FAR nicer photos than mine) sooner or later right here.
We got there in enough time to familiarize ourselves with the grounds (which Megan had obvi seen the day prior) and watch the hounds and huntsman kick the show off - which you'll see clips of in the video below. And we stopped by the shopping booths later too.. Honestly not much to write home about, tho perhaps more organized than Fair Hill? Mostly just saddles. But c'mon, is this Purina set up adorable or what?!?
Mostly, tho, we were there to see some horses jump some jumps. And boy, we were NOT disappointed!
And naturally we had to ogle the impressively sized jumps too. Complete with theoretically pulling them apart and identifying just which exact fraction we'd be comfortable jumping ourselves lol. Like, for instance, take the roll top off this table and leave the bales and front rail and maybe, mayyyybe I'd jump it. haha
But yea tho. Really we just wanted to see some horses go!
And boy did they! This venue was really lovely too. Surprisingly close quarters - not nearly the same amount of ground covered by Rolex. And very easy for spectators to just stick to one area or another.
For instance, this water complex was really popular. Probably bc there were just so many excellent places to watch from, plus some shade.
The water made for good photo ops too obvi haha.
And we found ourselves returning multiple times throughout the day.
Really tho, if you ever want to watch some upper level horses run cross country, I definitely recommend Great Meadow as a spectator-friendly venue. Literally my only goal for the day was to see every jump ridden and watch every horse go. We totally nailed it on the jumps (tho I guess we never really got up close and personal with the first two fences on course... but those are kinda boring anyway lol).
But unfortunately were not quite successful on seeing every horse go. Mostly bc there were a few who had falls or retired before they got to wherever we happened to be on course. Esp since we were kinda all over the place all the time lol. Like this coffin complex was a great one to watch - when done correctly it basically rode like a gymnastic exercise.
This giant hanging log tho... Holy crap. It was undoubtedly among the biggest on course.
With bonus massive drop on landing... And yet it rode super well every time we saw it!
Same story for the trakehner, bounded as it was by heavy woods and brush on either side, with a steep downhill approach in what looked like a very doable, straight forward 8 strides. Jump was imposing for sure, but seemed to ride quite well.
These houses were funny too (DO YOU SEE THE TINY ADORABLE MAIL BOX?!?) bc they basically looked like they were side by side, not set as a line at all. And yet they rode in a perfect one (and obvi Phillip Dutton makes everything look easy). Kinda wish we had stuck around long enough to walk some of these lines!
This horse was hilariously raring to go towards the curved open oxer on the far end of the course. This jump was sneaky tho - the approach was technically on rising ground, but horses had been going downhill for a long ways before getting there and tended to be slightly strung out. More than a couple activated the frangible pin on the back rail. Not this horse tho - he cleared it easily!
The combo immediately preceding the oxer was maybe one of my favorites. They hit a big ramp-like galloping fence before turning downhill, jumping a large cabin, then a forward one stride to this massive drop.
Interestingly enough, I saw varying striding taken to the final element - the arrow above. Riders who made it through the one stride to the drop very forward got to the arrow in 4. Others, like Doug Payne and Vandyver above, who still got the one but were perhaps a touch conservative down the drop, fit in a more balanced 5. Either way seemed to work tho!
And of course, no 3* track seems complete without a hammock these days. This one demonstrated easily by Sinead Halpin and Tate.
Probably the most problematic combination on course were these GIANT double corners in the arena. Riders could choose the left or right side (left rode in 3, right maybe in 4?). But neither side was free from grief. Most regrettably, perhaps, Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery picked up TWO refusals here. The second of which... is unsettling going into the Olympics.
Mostly, tho, outside of the combinations, it was just a lot of big old galloping fences. Like this great wine cart demonstrated by Marilyn Little and RF Demeter.
Plus it's always fun to take notice of various rider fashions and tack choices at the big shows. Most riders had to tone down their typical outfits bc of the Nations Cup team requirements... Like Lauren Keiffer very nearly escaped our notice bc she wasn't in her trademark orange. But some riders still found ways to express themselves - like the above loooovely brown boots!
But of course, where riders' outfits were maybe plainer than the norm (so much navy and white!), the jumps were anything but. This beaver was maybe my favorite on course!
Actually this whole water combination was pretty cool to watch, early as it was on course. Tho it was interesting - most horse came out of the turn from the first couple fence looking KEEN and raring to go - but then would suddenly spook and back off the in jump to the water. You can see it pretty clearly in the video below. We weren't around when Elisa Wallace came through but I'm pretty sure this is where she and Johnny parted ways - probably he spooked at the water too?
The one we just kept going back to tho was this giant oxer downhill to the trakehner, shown here by Boyd and Blackfoot Mystery. The views as a spectator were just breathtaking. It's like he's coming right for us!
Plus, of course, we got to see the eventual winner Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen cruise through on their way to victory - on the loosest rein I've ever seen at this level competition, to boot! As Austen said, it's like he just sat back, put his leg on, and told the horse 'you know your job - do it!' So cool to see trust like that!
I am just so grateful that we even have the opportunity to impulsively hit up 3* competitions and watch Olympic riders and horses gallop around like nbd. Honestly I never really knew anything about Great Meadow - and certainly had no clue that it was so close by and fun!
But it's essentially comparable in distance to Fair Hill's 3* - and absolutely just as fun. One of these days I'll make it to Jersey Fresh and Plantation's big show too. For now, tho, next on the list is Fair Hill in October. Hopefully with Allison again like last year, and obviously Austen and Megan too bc we seriously had the BEST TIME this weekend!!!
What about you - have you ever gone to any international competitions? Do you have any nearby or is it like a journey to eventing (or whatever discipline) mecca?
