Author: Amanda C

I hope y’all are ready for a whole lot of pictures with a sprinkling of proud mom emotion, because this show recap is gonna get out of control really quickly. Spoiler alert:

As some of you may already know, this year was the inaugural Central Future Event Horse Championship show. The East and West Coast Championships are both pretty well established by now, but this year a local breeder/rider/trainer, Jayne Lloyd, stepped up and volunteered to organize a Central location, for those of us who just can’t justify making a long to trip to either coast with a young horse. They use the same judges across all three sites to help give consistency to the scores, which is really nice.

The FEH and YEH programs have been a little bit slower to get off the ground in this area of the country, probably partly due to the fact that Championships are great motivators, but it was just way too impractical for any of us to even try to get to a Championship before now. A lot of people kind of figured “Why even bother?”. Having the Central site seemed to help boost participation a bit this year at the qualifying shows as people tried to get the scores needed for Championships, and I hope that it continues to help the FEH program grow in this area. Jayne did a great job organizing and putting everything together, many thanks to her and all of her volunteers and sponsors. I know this definitely was not a money-making venture, but rather a labor of love, and it took a lot of time and resources. I think everyone had a great time and came away having learned something, which is really the whole point. It seemed like a big success.

Presto and I headed up there on Friday morning. The venue, Texas Rose Horse Park, is about 4 hours from Austin, and we had signed up for the in-hand clinic with Martin Douzant on Friday afternoon. Our time slot wasn’t until late, but I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get there, get him settled, get me settled, and let him take in the sights. Presto is certainly not new to traveling, but that was a pretty long trip and he’s never been to any place quite so grand as Texas Rose. There is A LOT to look at, and when there are a whole bunch of young horses stabled in one barn, there’s also a lot of noise and distraction. If one neighed, they all answered. The fun part was picking out which one was yours amid the cacophony. Presto, of course, is always the loudest.

He hauled like a total champion (except for those few minutes where he was chewing on the padding of the chest bar and I had to lightly brake check him to get him to drop it – ah, the joys of having a camera) and unloaded a bit bug-eyed, but reasonable. I let him chill in his stall and eat hay while I checked in and unpacked and parked my trailer, then we went for a walk. He was pretty sure that every horse he saw was his new bestest friend ever. Presto is ever the optimist. We got there shortly after lunch, so most people still hadn’t arrived yet, and it was nice to get to walk him around all over the grounds before it got super busy.

After his tour I put him back in his stall and went over to the indoor to check out the free jumping clinic. It was interesting to watch Martin and the team of handlers putting different horses through the chute, and seeing how they dealt with things when issues popped up or horses had a hard time understanding. Later in the afternoon Michelle showed up with her 4yo filly Inca, and it was her turn in the chute for the clinic. You could tell that Inca, who is already started over fences, had a pretty good idea of what to do, and easily hopped through the chute. They were able to raise the jump a bit bigger, and Martin had a lot of nice things to say about Inca. I will say this: there is a stark contrast between watching a more dressage-bred horse go through the jump chute versus a very jumping-bred horse. The natural instincts and ability are obvious.

When they finished with the free jumping portion I stuck Presto’s halter on, grabbed my helmet and whip, and headed to the outdoor ring where the triangle was set up. Martin was super nice, talked to me a bit about the horse, asked what things I wanted help with, etc. His big thing was, as a handler, making your own gaits mimic what you’re wanting the horse to do. So if you want a longer, slower walk, make your own steps longer and slower. If you want a more uphill trot, get those knees up and get to stepping.

I asked him his preference as far as showing a yearling in a halter vs a bridle, and he was very firmly Team Halter for yearlings. I get that, and I agree. We practiced standing him up a few times, positioning each leg where we wanted it, and figuring out how to keep his attention. He also stressed the importance of keeping the horse’s head very straight for the first leg and last leg of the triangle – the parts where you’re going straight away from and then straight towards the judges. He said that it’s very easy to make a correct horse look incorrect, or even lame, if you pull the head to one side or the other. Those two parts of the triangle were about straightness. The far side of the triangle, where you’re traveling parallel to the judges, that’s where you go for it and show off a big trot. That all makes total sense and is similar to what I’ve learned before. Of course, everything is easier in theory than it is in execution, especially with a yearling.

Then he took Presto from me and demonstrated what he was wanting to see in the trot work. As soon as Martin took off in his very elegant, long-strided, tall skinny guy, professional handler run, I was like… man, it is WAY more fun to watch Mr Gazelle run with Mr Giraffe than it is for me, Ms I-Really-Like-Ice-Cream-and-My-Thighs-Are-Nicknamed-Thunder-and-Lightning to try to keep up with that safari on hooves. Let’s face it, I am not fast enough or elegant enough for the job. He made Presto look amazing, and I loved actually being able to stand there and enjoy watching my horse do his thing. I very rarely get that opportunity. Before Martin even made it all the way around the triangle, I told him he was hired to handle Presto for me the next day. With that abrupt change of plan, Martin quickly outlined our new strategy. My job would be to assist – to help keep Presto’s attention while he was standing still, and to help motivate him to move forward for the trotting parts. We practiced our plan a couple of times and then called it a day.

Michelle and I gave Presto a bath (which he hated, but he knows better than to do more than glare at me about it), he got his dinner (which he loved), and we headed over to the competitors dinner. Which, despite it’s small size, ended up being one of the rowdiest competitors dinners I have ever been to. You should see what happens when the wine flows very freely to a wild group of older women. They were so rambunctious that eventually us young folk tucked tail and slinked off to bed in defeat. No way we were keeping up with that. I think there was some kind of impromptu karaoke going on when we left.

Presto was slated to be the 3rd horse of the day in the ring the next morning, at 9:20. I still had to get up and braid him and I wanted to walk him for a while since he’d be spending all night in a stall, so I set my alarm for pretty early the next morning and went to bed.

As for the rest of the story… you have to wait for tomorrow for Part 2…

While I’m definitely not a fashionista when it comes to “real life” clothes, I’ve always been really into riding clothes. There’s just something way more satisfying about a great #rootd, ya know? I like things that are a little bit different though, which can be hard to find in the equestrian world where uniformity has been the name of the game for… ever. So when I come across cool new brands that aren’t afraid to stand out from the crowd, I tend to get excited. And when I get excited, things tend to just magically show up in my closet. Such was the case with Sweet Iron Co., a brand out of Australia.

I first came across this brand early this year on Instagram. They describe themselves on their website as “Australia’s newest equestrian apparel brand. Bright, funky and fresh clothing with no snobbery or ridiculous prices. Available in sizes 6 – 20 (Australian).”. I can definitely relate to that, except for maybe the bright part. Don’t worry, only a few things are bright. But they do have cool, subtly funky designs, a huge size range, and affordable prices. And if you’re ready to be put off by the whole overseas thing – shipping to the US was free and took about a week. You can’t beat that.

Originally Sweet Iron caught my eye with a couple of really cute polo shirts that had a skull pattern on them – I’m a big fan of skulls. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to bite the bullet yet though, so I just followed their account and kept an eye on them. Their product line kept growing, expanding to more polo designs, then eventually adding gloves and now long sleeve shirts. At that point, I was done for. Not only did they have gloves with a skull print, they made a houndstooth long sleeve. I can’t resist a good houndstooth, and I love long sleeves. So I bought some black breeches to make an outfit work, because of course I did, and then finally caved to the funky Australians.

It’s always sketchy trying to guess at sizing based off of a size chart, but I’m happy to report that theirs is quite accurate. I’m a medium Kastel, bust of about 36″, and ordered the size 12. It fits perfectly. A little bit of breathing room, but it’s not baggy. The cut is really nice for the female figure, not boxy at all, and it has enough tail to tuck in without being crazy long.

The shirts are made so that the collar can be worn two ways – folded over like a polo, or popped up for a more formal look.

I like that their designs are a bit funky without being too “in your face”. I am not a fan of a crazy bold or bright pattern, so I like that they have shirts with skulls and unicorns and the like, but that you wouldn’t really even know it until you got up close. It enables you to be a little weird without being over the top tacky about it. I can appreciate that a lot.

The gloves are right up my alley too. I don’t know why, but something about putting skulls on the gloves just gives them a fun, badass feel. I have really big hands so I was a little nervous about fit, since they only have the sizes available as medium and large. I typically wear an 8 Roeckl and the Sweet Iron size Large fits, but barely. The back is stretch lycra, so that does give some flexibility in the fit. The material on the palm is actually pretty similar to the Roeckl – a cell phone friendly, grippy synthetic.

The other two great selling points of the brand are the size range – the shirt’s bust sizes range from 31″ to 47″ – and the price. With the short sleeve shirts coming it at $49, the long sleeves at $59, and the gloves at $35 (with free shipping, mind you!), everything is super affordable. You don’t have to feel guilty indulging your slightly funky side, since you’re not spending stupid amounts of money to do it. They’ve also got other accessories like stock ties, pins, hats, and socks, and have more stuff added to the line quite regularly. I know some new breeches and tights are in the works.

If you’re looking for something a little different that won’t break the bank, I would recommend Sweet Iron Co for sure. I mean, who doesn’t want a unicorn stock tie, or skull gloves, or a rad houndstooth shirt? Ok, maybe some people don’t… but I sure do.

When I started blogging, there were a lot of things I never considered. I wasn’t really sure how long I would keep it up, but I was definitely sure that no one would actually read any of it. Four years later, I’m still always surprised to realize just how many people DO eventually find their way here, somehow or another. If there’s one thing I’ve learned for sure, it’s that there is nothing low profile about chronicling your life on the internet for any and all to see. At this point I just assume that everyone reads everything… vet, farrier, trainers, clinicians, friends, family, people I ride with… you name it. And I’m continually surprised at how often I’m right. Word gets around, that’s for sure.

There are pitfalls that come along with that, of course. The biggest struggle, that I think all bloggers can identify with, is deciding just how much to share. On one hand, you want to be brutally honest. Life isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, progress is never linear, and no one wants to read about someone who sugarcoats everything. I sure don’t, anyway. But at the same time, do you really want to put every single little detail out there on the internet? Putting yourself out there like this opens you up to a lot of criticism… I knew that going in, and I’m ok with that. That’s part of it. But at what point to we get to preserve some of our own privacy?

The other side of that coin is – at what point do we have a responsibility to preserve the privacy of others? This is a tough one, and there’s not always a black and white answer. Some people don’t mind being mentioned here. Others see it as a gross violation. And if I have something less-than-nice to say about someone in my life, is it fair to drag them through the mud here? It’s a sticky subject.

I definitely haven’t shied away from criticizing a couple of public figures in the past. If there’s some kind of controversy making the news, and I have an opinion about it, I’ll probably write about it. To me that seems fair enough (although plenty of people disagree with that, too). But if there’s something going on with me privately, either with a barn mate or a professional in my life, I try very hard to keep any details of those situations out of this space. And I certainly won’t write anything that I wouldn’t say to someone’s face, because I HAVE to assume that whatever I write about someone, they will eventually see it. I feel like I have to be able to stand behind whatever I write, unequivocally.

So, if someone at the barn takes my hoofpick, or if someone cuts me off in the ring, or said something rude to me, or if I feel otherwise “wronged” in some way like that, 99% of the time you’re probably not going to read about it here. Not in anything but a most vague and passing sense, anyway, and definitely not with any of their identifying details attached. Mostly because I think it’s rude AF to talk about people like that on a blog, rather than just working it out with them in person. But also because I feel weird about mentioning people on the blog anyway, even if it’s to say nice things. Privacy, and all that. I mean, clearly I’m not private, but some people are, and I feel like it’s important to respect that.

Of course, there are no rules about things like this. Everyone is different, has a different approach to blogging, and there’s not really a right or wrong answer. Some people do things differently, some share more, some share less, and others don’t shy away from criticizing the people close to them. It’s something that I find myself pondering a lot, though. So I’m wondering – if you’re a blogger, how do you feel about this? Are there certain things you try to stay away from? And if you’re not a blogger – where do you think the line is as far as privacy goes?

Another WEG is done and dusted, and setting all the drama aside, I think we can all agree that we at least got to see some of the best horses in the world doing their thing. That part was awesome.

A couple weeks ago I broke down some stats on the bloodlines and pedigrees of all of the eventing horses – now I’m back with some stats on the top 25 horses from eventing, dressage, and showjumping.

For real though, it’s interesting. I promise.

 

To start, let’s look at the top 25 (individual placings) dressage horses.

The average age was 12.8 years.

The average blood percentage was 31.5%. There were a couple of Lusitanos at 0% of course, but the lowest blood % on one of the warmbloods was 9%. That’d be your second place horse, Verdades. The highest blood % belonged to the first place horse, Bella Rose, at 49%. How’s that for contrast?

40% were geldings, 44% were stallions, and 16% were mares. However, of the top FIVE horses, 60% were mares.

De Niro had the most offspring in the top 25, as the sire of 3 horses. Diamond Hit was the sire of 2 horses. Krack C was the damsire of 2 horses.

Two horses had a full blood damsire – Bella Rose with an AngloArab damsire, and Mister X with a TB damsire. One other horse in the field had a full AngloArab as the dam’s damsire.

20% had a showjumper within the first 3 generations. The 4th place horse, Cosmo, is by a 1.60m jumper stallion, Van Gogh.

 

Next – the top 25 individually ranked jumpers.

The average age was 11.6 years.

The average blood percentage was 42%. The lowest clocks in at 29% and the highest is 56%. The top 3 horses were slightly below this average, at 32%, 33%, and 36%.

40% were mares, 24% were stallions, and 36% were geldings. However, yet again, of the top 5 horses, 60% were mares. Also worth noting that the gold medal dressage horse and the gold medal jumper were both chestnut mares.

Lord Pezi was the damsire of two horses, and Diamant de Semilly was the sire of one and damsire of another.

None had a dressage horse within the first 3 generations.

 

And finally, back to the eventers. We already looked at the whole field in depth, but let’s take a look at how the stats shook out with the top 25. 

The average age was 12.5 years.

The average blood percentage was 62%, with the lowest being 37% and the highest being 100%. The top 3 horses were 53%, 69%, and 72%.

16% were mares, 8% were stallions, and 72% were geldings. The top 5 were all geldings.

60% had Selle Francais blood, 26% had Holsteiner blood, and 28% had both. 28% had at least one full Thoroughbred parent.

Jaguar Mail was the sire of 2 horses in the top 25. Three stallions had offspring in the top 25 of both the jumping horses AND the eventers: Diamant de Semilly, Balou du Rouet, and Vigo D’Arsouilles.

Of the DOUBLE CLEAR XC ROUNDS: the average blood percentage of those horses was 66%. And of those double clears, 33% had a full thoroughbred sire. 20% had a full thoroughbred dam. Another 33% were either full French AA or had French AA in fhe first 2 generations.

And my favorite statistic, which has nothing to do with the horses but everything to do with an epic mic drop: ALL 3 INDIVIDUAL GOLD MEDAL WINNERS WERE WOMEN.

 

While Presto was walking through water, wearing a way-too-big surcingle, and learning about ground driving, Henry was having a different weekend experience. Well… slightly, anyway.

You already heard about the Friday afternoon hack with both boys. While Presto was falling on his face, Henry was plodding dutifully along, up and down the hills, with few complaints. That horse really does love to hack out, he’d stay out there all day.

Saturday was his second visit from the new farrier. Even though it will take us a few cycles to really get Henry’s feet where we want them to be, I was already much happier with how he’d felt and looked throughout this first 5 week cycle. The first couple weeks were like a whole new horse, I could immediately feel more shoulder freedom and better/quicker breakover behind. Around week 4 he started forging a little bit on our long trots out in the field, but he never got to where he was looking super long or unbalanced, or felt wonky. That makes me MUCH happier.

The farrier was able to continue taking things in the right direction. shortening the toes up more and encouraging the heels to keep growing. Henry needed to be drilled and tapped this cycle too, with show season starting back up, and I was really happy that the farrier countersunk the stud holes and checked each one with an actual stud before he put the shoes on. That makes things easier for me. There’s nothing worse than getting to a show and finding you’ve got a bum stud hole.

He did charge me quite a bit more this time than last time, which I didn’t really realize until I went back and looked at how much I paid the first visit. This time was like $100 more. I guess that’s what I get for thinking he didn’t charge me enough last time lol. But both boys’ feet look massively improved already, so I can’t complain too much. If anyone in the Austin area is looking for a good farrier, I would definitely recommend him. He was even early for our appointment. What sorcery is this?

After the farrier was done I tried to get on and do a productive dressage ride in the arena but someone was so wild from the cold front that he just kept turning into a dolphin, so I gave up and let him canter for a while. Sometimes there’s just no point in forcing the issue.

On Sunday we were up bright and early (more accurately: dark and early) to head down south for a jumping lesson. We needed one. Badly. Since Chatt, in early July, I have jumped a grand total of twice at home and 3 times in XC lessons. Our first fall horse show is 2 weeks away. We should prooobably get on that. No wonder stadium is our worst phase.

As soon as I started trotting, my Trainer proclaimed that Henry looked the best she’s ever seen him. I told her that he’d just gotten shod again by the new farrier the day before, and agreed that he’s feeling so much better in general. Amazing what having balanced feet will do, eh? Especially having the hind toes shorter and more squared off, he’s feeling much stronger behind.

The lesson went decently enough. Trainer is kind of mean in that she doesn’t give me a smaller course anymore, I get to pop over a little fence a few times for warmup and then we go straight to a bigger course. Which is actually fine, because (no one tell her) I find the bigger fences to be a little easier to ride. You have fewer options when they’re bigger – better sit up and go forward. And I have to give Henry credit, even with so little jumping in the past couple months, he always picks right back up where we left off.

But in my case it means that I’m still having all the same old struggles. Controlling my upper body better. Half-halting sooner. Keeping that inside hind underneath him in the turns, and thus keeping his shoulder and poll up. Not getting weak to a deeper distance. All the things that I know and have heard a million times but still struggle with anyway. Now that the ground has softened up a bit and I fixed my jump course, we’ll be jumping once a week again. I get so freaking annoyed with myself making the same damn mistakes over and over.

 

Henry was great though, I have no complaints with him. We had some rails but they were my fault. I think we’re both starting to figure out the ride in the hackamore, though. It’s a little better. It’s definitely not there yet – my timing is even more important when we’re bitless – but it’s improved.

When we got home Henry proceeded to find the only muddy spot left in his turnout and roll in it. Pretty sure he was looking me in the eye the entire time he was grinding the mud in. That’s okay though… between me and Presto he puts up with a lot, so he definitely deserves a nice roll in the mud every once in a while.