My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
There may not have been a Triple Crown winner this year, but Belmont stakes was an exciting race regardless, with Tapwrit closing in on Irish War Cry, who ran a strong race.
Tapwrit is only the second horse to win the Belmont from the #2 post position. He the tenth horse to have won the Belmont after running in the Kentucky Derby (Tapwrit finished 6th) and sitting out the Preakness.
This is a fascinating video that shows how the equine hoof performs under pressure. Hard to believe that the fragile internal structures of the hoof can work so well, especially when you think about the added stress of jumping or galloping.
The day I learned how to do button braids with rubber bands I threw away my braiding kit. This is so much easier — both to braid and to take out! And I love the way they look.
Sadly, the spring hunting season has ended. I only hunted a few times but each one was tremendously good fun and I did get both horses out.
Our last hunt was one of those perfectly sunny spring days that was verdantly green. We’ve had a lot of rain in New England this spring and everything is glowing. Zelda got this hunt, partially because she’s barefoot and the footing here is always excellent.
This was a hunt where she finally settled in. I think the last one (which was about 11 miles) taught her to conserve her energy because we might be out for hours! She was far more adjustable and didn’t even think about bucking.
I’ve been riding at the back of the field with a friend of mine who has a green horse. I think it’s very helpful for a horse to learn to hold back, no matter how much fun it is to whip or ride with the huntsman. Zelda took some convincing, but for this hunt, she was a real lady.
Despite the peaceful look of the photos, we had a few good runs in between them! Next season I’m going to have to try a Go-Pro so that I can capture the action.
I’m temporarily out of the saddle due to a freak accident. The initial tears I cried were not of pain, but fear as the image sank in of Knight spiraling out of control, whinnying and doing donuts then landing on the ground, hooves in the air next to a large wooden mounting block. (If you…
via Avoid This Dangerous Donut in the Saddle — Saddle Seeks Horse
To summarize the article, while she was mounted, Susan’s horse reached around to her foot and got his bit caught in her stirrup iron. Thankfully, both horse and rider were okay (other than some scrapes and bruises), but it could have ended really badly.
It’s surprisingly easy for your horse’s bit to get caught in something — Zelda once rubbed her face on her stall door with her bridle on and managed to snag her bit on a hook, which she pulled out of the wood — but getting caught in a stirrup iron is particularly dangerous as all of a sudden you are on a whirling dervish that has one thought: “Get it off!”
So, one more thing for everyone to be careful about. Keep it safe!
How long does it take you to hitch your trailer? Most of the time I can get it in a few tries, but some days it seems like I’m always a little too far to the left or have
corrected too far to the right. It can be enormously frustrating. And having someone direct you doesn’t always help because my idea of three inches to the right may not be quite how the describe it.
Enter the iBall. You may remember that I mostly use the iBall as a wireless trailer cam. I like to watch how the horses ride while I drive and this is a plug and play system that works quite well.
Despite my success at using it inside the trailer, for some reason it only recently occurred to me to use it for its intended purpose: hitching the trailer. Let me tell you, it rocks. No more guess work. It cuts the frustration time down to practically zero. Now I won’t leave home without it.
Any hopes for a Triple Crown this year were dashed when Amazing Dream faded at
the quarter pole. While Classic Empire looked like he had the race locked up, Cloud Computing rallied in the home stretch and caught Classic Empire, winning by a head. The colt had a picture-perfect ride by jockey Jorge Castellano, who stalked the leaders and waited for the pace to take their toll. Coming off of a six week rest, Cloud Computing charged around Amazing Dream (who faded to eighth).
Although Cloud Computing had qualified for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown and owners Seth Klarman and William Lawrence decided to skip the chaos of the 20-horse Derby.
“Certainly, I’m not going to dispute the fact that I brought in a fresh horse as part of our strategy,” Brown said. “Our horse is very talented too. Classic Empire and Always Dreaming are two outstanding horses, and our strategy was, if we are ever going to beat them, let’s take them on two weeks’ rest when we have six [weeks], and it worked.”
Cloud Computing is lightly raced and prior to the Preakness won two out his four starts, never finishing off the boards.
