Category: jumping
My early Christmas present
My most important Christmas present this year was coming home from the hospital in time to spend the holiday with my family instead of the hospital staff . I was delighted to get sent home yesterday after my colic episode, having recovered without the dreaded surgery. Okay, so my holiday dinner will most likely be […]
Read MoreEquestrian “streaker” in jumping class
Okay, for all of those who enjoyed the bareback Puissance class, take a look at this video! I sure hope this fellow doesn’t want to have children. That ride may have made it a moot point. To watch this video you have to be a member of Facebook. Update: someone who speaks French fluently enough […]
Read MoreThrills and Spills Australian style
This video was put together as part of a fund raiser for the Australian Eventing WEG team. It shows that eventing is not for the faint of heart (you wouldn’t get me jumping those fences!).
Read MoreCan your horse jump like this?
One fastest growing sports in Europe is rabbit hopping . . . coaxing bunnies to jump the equivalent of stadium jumps. When I was a kid I did similar courses with my dog, a standard poodle. While I was impressed with his athletic abilities (standard poodles are amazing athletes), these rabbits put him (and Freedom) […]
Read MoreSo what kind of bit is Hickstead wearing?
When Eric Lamaze won the Grand Prix of Aachen the second thing that caught my eye after the size of the fences was Hickstead’s bit. Or should I say, bits. Although early photographs of the team show Hickstead being ridden in a Pelham, at this competition the horse appears to be wearing a mechanical hackamore […]
Read MoreMy first horse: Bogie
Although I rode many horses in my teens and early 20s, I never owned any of them. My first horse was one that I bought from the New Canaan Mounted Troop. His name was “One Too Many” or Bogie. The story was that he had been the one too many horse in his original owner’s barn. […]
Read MoreLessons Remembered: Riding a Rubber Band or a Super Ball
Recently I was listening to a trainer talk about how to prepare a horse for a jump. As she discussed the mechanics of the stride, it reminded me of a talk another trainer had given me several decades ago (let’s not get specific!). He asked me to imagine that my horse was made of rubber. […]
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