It turns out that me tossing in that little stadium statistic in my Corona recap a couple weeks ago (only 15% clear rounds in our division) was just the beginning of something bigger. My barnmates and I got to talking over the weekend about which venues seem to produce more rails in stadium, which ones tend to have “easier” XC, etc etc. Then I starting thinking – surely I can come up with some numbers to substantiate our hypotheses. Lord help us all when I start trying to math.

It took me a really really ridiculously long time but come to find out I CAN actually count, and luckily the internet has a percentage calculator so I didn’t really have to do much of anything except plug numbers in. Praise Google.

So here’s what I did: first I had to figure out what numbers we actually wanted. I decided to only do venues in Area 5, and only calculate statistics for Novice and Training level – the ones I care about. I decided to look at the percentage of clear rounds (jump penalties only – I threw out time penalties for this) for both stadium and XC at N and T at every venue in Area 5. For XC, jump penalites consisted of refusals, retirement, or elimination. I threw out every TE because those are more rider error and therefore not really valid for what I was after, and also threw out W’s because there’s just no telling why people withdrew. For stadium if there was one or more rails, it wasn’t a clear, obviously, but I didn’t factor in time faults for that either.

Then I started adding them up and calculating percentages for each show at each venue over the past two years. I could have kept going back a couple more years for more data, but a) my eyes were already starting to cross with just two years worth of data b) I noticed that the numbers at each particular venue tended to be about the same at every event c) since each venue has at least 2 shows a year I already had a minimum of 4 data sets per venue. Of course, that data can have a lot of factors behind it. Bad weather could lead to a high percentage of problems, or something else weird going on could skew things. For the most part though the numbers were consistent across the board. When I had a percentage for every show at every venue I then went venue by venue and averaged out the percentages to come to one final number. Here’s what they look like

Novice:

There was nothing too surprising to me here. I figured Corona and Greenwood would have the toughest stadium and they did. Good to know Holly Hill is right in there too. Does Feather Creek super glue their rails to the cups?

On the XC side of things nothing was particularly surprising either except that Texas Rose had a much higher “Clear Rate” than I expected. But having ridden around it, I can understand why. It’s not small and has some technical questions, but it’s pretty open and gallopy and inviting. It’s also worth noting that there’s only a 10% spread between the highest and lowest percentage of clears – not a very big margin.

Training:

Training was interesting to see too, just because I’ve never really paid much attention to the Training level courses at most of these venues and obviously I haven’t ridden any of them (except MeadowCreek a million years ago). If you throw out the top and bottom numbers in stadium they’re all pretty darn close. Also no surprise that the general Clear Rates for Training stadium are less than Novice.

The XC I thought was interesting. Holly Hill was far and away the “winner” there, I’m guessing because it’s another open, gallopy course similar to Texas Rose’s Novice. Mental note to also walk the Training course when we’re at Holly Hill for Novice Championships next month… I want to see for myself!

In general these numbers really aren’t that scientific and probably don’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. But it was interesting to put together, if nothing else, and will certainly make me pay a little bit more attention going forward.

And with that, I have far exceeded my quota of math for the year.

I hope points are awarded for effort, because I TRIED to get helmet cam footage of our XC schooling this weekend but failed. Again. My camera was actually on the entire time, just not recording. Technology, it has defeated me once more. BUT, I did get pictures of Bobby posing with the Training fence we jumped, and stole general internet pictures of the Prelim half coffin we jumped too, so that’s something…

Cantering up to the T fence, it didn’t look that big. Then we took off and I was like “Oh, that’s wide AF!” but by then we were already over it. Yay for not looking at fences before you jump them! Then you don’t know how big they really are.

In general the schooling was a really good day. Henry started out a little bit spooky (I have no idea why he’s spooky at this venue, he’s normal everywhere else) and I was trying to showjump canter everything, but once I let him go forward it was amazing how things actually worked out. Duh. The word of the day was “allow”. Half halt with the body but allow the horse to keep coming forward to the fence. We need to school XC more so I get better about remembering this.

We strung together a few BN and N fences to start, then went to the water and jumped the BN, N, and T routes through there. No problem with that stuff. Then up to the big mound taking the N route and circling around to the big Training hay feeder thingy. He peeked at that off the ground a little and I gave him a tap on the shoulder, then galloped around and he jumped it well the second time. In retrospect, that’s the biggest XC fence he’s jumped to date and it’s kinda spooky, so I can see why he gave it a little peek the first time!

Then we went over to an open ditch that was probably the deepest Henry has ever seen, AND it had water in it from recent rains. He’s jumped a few open ditches and several Trakehners but nothing quite this deep and dark. All the horses were a little spooky at it but with some encouragement and repetition it smoothed out. Henry was definitely looking down into it but he went. Once Trainer said “just ride it like a canter stride” something clicked in my brain and ta-da: it rode perfectly. Just like a canter stride. It’s amazing how sometimes all it takes is the right words… that’s how she fixed my down bank issue too. I think she’s a wizard or a voodoo queen or a unicorn priestess or something.

After the ditch itself was smoothed out, we jumped the ditch with two strides to the prelim log stack. It wasn’t very big, probably only 3′, but it’s the first ditch combination Henry has ever done. The whole thing took a few more shoulder taps but once he figured it out he was super game, locked on, and went right through.

All the shoulder taps he’d received up to this point (oh, what… 4 or 5? Henry says it was a million) had gotten him a little upset so we took a minute and relaxed and I made a big fuss over how good he was while he velcroed his brain back in place. Poor boy, those hamsters in his brain were working on overdrive the whole day. We ended the schooling with a trip up and down the banks, both of which he did perfectly on the first attempt so we let him be done with that. Mentally he was at full capacity for learnin’.

On the way back up the the barn Trainer and I discussed my plans for the future. I had intended on cornering her after AEC and giving her my 2 year plan (nope I’m not That Weirdo at all, I dunno what you’re talking about) but she beat me to the punch. I was happy to hear that her timeline for a move-up was actually even a bit ahead of my own plan, and that she approved 100% of the Novice 3 Day at Coconino. Will we run a Training before then? She thinks it’s possible. We’ll see how things work out. A lot will probably depend on how wet and miserable this winter is… if we can’t ride, ain’t nothin’ gettin’ done. Until then, I’m super pleased with the progress we’ve already made in Henry’s first year as an event horse. On to the fall season… starting with AEC NEXT WEEK.

Forever ago, when I worked at a barn, I had my own truck and trailer. Then I joined the world of normal 9-5’ers, sold the trailer, and moved to h/j barns where you pretty much went wherever the trainer went and you didn’t really need your own rig.

Now that I’m at a small barn with no resident trainer and back into the eventing world, not having a truck and trailer is a big hindrance. I’m lucky enough to have barnmates and friends that either drag me along with them or let me borrow their rigs if the logistics happen to work out. But a lot of times things don’t work out, or I don’t want to be THAT GUY abusing someone’s kindness by borrowing their nice things all the time. Being dependent on other people sucks.

In case anyone hasn’t read this blog basically EVER, I like to set goals. I want to qualify for things (like Championships) and participate in hard stuff (like 3DE’s in Arizona) and within the next couple years I’d like to move up to Training. I want to do everything I possibly can while I have the opportunity… we all know how fleeting that can be in the world of horses.

But to make those dreams happen and be successful, we need to do more. Ideally I’d like to haul out to some trainers a couple hours away that I really like for jumping lessons, and to the dressage trainer down the road as often as possible. Not to mention XC schooling (we need to do that as much as possible), jumper shows, and dressage shows. We need to be able to do all the things that will help make us better, without depending on someone else. The elephant in the room can no longer be ignored – a truck and trailer have become a necessity if I want to make any of these things happen. A rig represents freedom. A rig represents progess. Everyone needs freedom and progress.

That said, I am not of the financial situation to just go out and buy a truck and/or trailer. In fact, I’m in the really tricky position where if I were to go buy a rig, I really wouldn’t have the money left over to do all the things I’d be buying the rig FOR. Kind of a catch 22. So I really have no idea HOW I’m going to make this happen, but it’s got to. And I want it to happen within the next year, without sacrificing the events that my horse and I need to keep doing to make us better. Where there’s a will there’s a way… right? Step 1 is make a goal, Step 2 is a make a plan. I’m always a lot better at Step 1 than Step 2. Let’s not even talk about Step 3.

I always keep my eye out for trailers (there was THE PERFECT one for sale on a fb group for a couple months for only $4500, it’s like it existed there only to taunt me) and trucks that could work. I don’t need fancy, I just need safe. Eventually something will work out in the right place at the right time if I keep my eyes and ears open and keep working my butt off to make it happen. I have hope, even if that’s ALL I have. Maybe I’ve seen one too many Disney movies.

And so there it is, a want that has become a need that has become a goal, with no actual plan for how to make it come to fruition. Typical. How much is a kidney worth on the black market these days?

I finally got a chance to put together the pictures from Sadie and Merlin’s RPSI inspection. I was unable to attend due to other commitments, but the report back was that they were both super well behaved. Sadie was really TOO well-behaved, since they couldn’t really get her fired up enough to show her best gaits. She was approved despite that, as was Merlin. Being only 4 weeks old he was at a major disadvantage to all of the other more mature, filled out foals, but he still scored really well and won a lot of fans with his precocious temperament. Seeing how well Merlin turned out makes me even more excited for my Mighty Magic foal.

Photo Credit to Terri Hatcher for most of these!

I’m sure that anyone who is even remotely connected to USEA has seen the new rule change proposals on the docket. Anyone who has read this blog is probably not surprised that one in particular jumps out at me:

• Helmet and Body Protector Standards: Currently the USEF Rules for Eventing does not state a standard required for helmets, however it does recommend one for body protectors. With the new ASTM/SEI Standard released for helmets, the USEA BOG has recommended parallel wording for both pieces of protective equipment. While the wording is still being finalized, the rule would require all riders to wear a helmet and body protector meeting, at a minimum, the previous ASTM/SEI standard and strongly recommend the equipment meet the newest standard. In addition, body protectors meeting the BETA standards (the European equivalent) will be accepted.

I touched on the vest issue a while back, which was met with varying reactions, because I personally feel that the “standard” Tipperary vest that so many people wear is not adequate. That model vest is not ASTM/SEI or BETA approved, and to allow an un-approved vest to be worn on cross country seems more than a little silly to me when you consider that one of the biggest challenges in this sport is safety. We are lagging behind the rest of the world in that department. Once I did my research and upgraded to a BETA 3 vest, the difference was stark, obvious, and substantial. Comparing the two vests is like apples and oranges.

It should be no surprise to anyone that I whole-heartedly agree with and support this particular rule change proposal. I’m sure plenty of people would grumble about having to buy a new vest, but the priority of the sport has to be safety. I can’t imagine that anyone would be upset about the helmet standard… or at least I would hope not.

Although on the topic of helmets, Burghley was once again a disappointment, with only 26% of competitors choosing to don a helmet for dressage. And despite participation in Mind Your Melon promotions and sponsorship by a helmet company, Laine Ashker once again chose to wear a top hat – the only American to do so. Why in the world we still allow anyone to NOT wear an approved helmet for any phase of eventing is beyond me… hasn’t the safety of this sport been publicly scrutinized enough? It’s disappointing that people still continue to chose fashion over safety, and even more disappointing that you apparently have to make rules to force people to wear helmets.

Alas, rant over. Thoughts on the rule change proposal for vests?