10 Questions Blog Hop

1. What is your earliest, clearest horse memory?

To my horse crazy four or five year old eyes - he was the most beautiful, shining white steed I'd ever seen. In reality, Comet was a lame, sway-backed, elf-shoe-hoofed, randy old pony stallion, who my grandmother was deathly afraid would "jump on me" if she let me near him. Nonetheless, first chance I got, I climbed through that rusty barbed wire fence. Sweet success! Obviously the ass whoopin' that followed did nothing to curb my enthusiasm.

Sadly no pics of Comet exist - borrowed this one from the interwebs

2. Describe the perfect summer day.

Probably one that happens somewhere else. 85 degrees with 90% humidity is what we have to look forward to until mid to late September. Autumn and winter are the preferable seasons here. 

It's not all bad...

3. Are you reading anything right now?  Tell me about it!

Just finished Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness quickly followed by her earlier work The God of Small Things, which won the Booker prize. Roy's writing simply sparkles and the plot lines carry you away.

4.  Do you follow a celebrity (horsey or not) that fascinates you?

I'm in awe of Charlotte DuJardin. Witnessing her gold medal winning rides in the London and Rio Olympics inspired me beyond words.

Apparently Charlotte and Valegro do jump once in a while

5. What is your single largest horse dream or goal?

I'd really like to nail one tempis. That is basically a pipe dream until I can get off this godforsaken island for regular instruction ever again. In the meantime, I'm focusing on being the best horsewoman I can be. This has more to do with caring for my horse these days, than riding him, which makes me very sad, but is the wisest course until my house building project is completed, as I'm the only income earner. I take that back - the chickens are paying for themselves. Basically Val needs a job.

Besides being a hair model...

or king of all naps

6.  If you were at Starbucks right now, what would you order?

Nothing. I've recently learned how to cold brew coffee and I'm never going back.

7. What is your biggest equine pet peeve?

People who treat horses like machines... like they are disposable. Like you can just trade them in on a newer model. They're living, breathing individuals, not a means to an end. It is a privilege to ride them.

8.  With everything going on politically and in the media, do you follow it religiously?  Tune it out? Something in between?

For mental health reasons, I've had to decrease my news intake drastically since last November. When I do catch up, it's through NPR and BBC.

and occasionally Twitter

9. If you had to show your horse to a song, what would you choose?

Should I ever get so lucky as to choreograph a freestyle, I'd probably chose jazz. Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell... either that or reggae.

10. What are you most looking forward to this summer?

I'm waiting for the day I sign a construction loan and get in line with my builder. Hopefully that will happen in the next few months. Rapidly realizing that building a house on my own in an area with sky high real estate values is a pie in the sky endeavor. Wish me luck!

This is the house plan I've chosen - minus fancy deck rails and porch screens

Super cool x a million!

Just when you thought he couldn't get any awesomer...

'We can't wait': Valegro aimed at new career - Horse & Hound  

 Photo from Horse and Hound 

😉

Olympic Dressage Freestyle - this is why I love dressage!

Yesterday the team dressage competition in London was decided with the Grand Prix Special. I am so happy to say that it seemed tactful, sensitive riding revealing happy partnerships prevailed, and was rewarded by the judges.

Congratulations to Laura Brechtosheimer, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin!

Photo credit FEI / Kit Houghton

Here is a link to an excellent article from eurodressage critiquing a number of rides from the day, as well as detailing some welcome changes in the judging protocol established in London. Really good reading plus photos and a slide show of the special.

On to the freestyle... 

I really really wanted to watch the freestyle rides live.

How much? Enough to blow who knows how much bandwidth. Enough to squint through suddenly pixilated screens while cursing random advertisements that popped up in the middle of rides I've waited the whole Olympic games to watch (NBC - you weren't hitting on much my friends) while sitting on my tractor in the hot sun. That's how much.

I caught the (new to me) Portuguese horse and rider combo Rubi and Goncalo Carvalho. A lovely ride - hope to see more of them in the future. Also my favorite Spanish pair from the 2010 WEG, Fuego XII and Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz. Sadly, I thought they lacked the fire that they had at the WEGs... and it seemed like the same or a very similar freestyle as the one two years ago.

I hope all is well with them - when they are on, you can't take your eyes off of them. (I think I am in love with the baroque type horses - yes, I'm sure I am. I want one.)

Fuego and Munoz Diaz    Photo by FEI/Kit Houghton

Steffen Peters and Ravel rode their last freestyle together, as it was announced afterwords that Ravel would be retired. It wasn't their best ride - Ravel looked distracted and made some uncharacteristic errors, much as he did in the Grand Prix Special. Peters stated how much Ravel deserved his retirement, that they owed it to him, but he was disappointed to have gone out with a performance that wasn't Ravel's best...

 
The British riders, much as they have been in all three equestrian disciplines, were the riders to watch. Laura Brechtosheimer and Mistral Hojris were relaxed yet powerful, Carl Hester and Uthopia had the best music and were the most in tune with it - they were dancing and so unified - a sparkling performance. They saved the best for last however, with Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro.

I will edit to post video as soon as it is available. If you were able to watch streaming video, you overheard Dujardin after leaving the arena, overcome and in tears. As she was hugged by her crew, she said how Valegro was so tired, so knackered was how she put it. She said he gave his best, he gave her everything out there, he left it all there in the arena, and that she didn't have the heart to use her spurs on him. That's what it is all about for me... horses, riding, dressage.

How privileged we are to watch, and experience, such sublime partnerships.

Edited to add - This is a quote from eurodressage's article about today's dressage freestyle:

"When asked why the Brit was first and the Dutch second, Stephen Clarke, president of the ground jury and kur judge at C, hit the nail on the head and showed that the judges look for what dressage is truly about. "The first two horses certainly were very close," Clarke said. "The impression we had was that Adelinde had huge power and expression and for us there could have been more lightness and self-carriage. The horse crosses its jaw, which took down the harmony mark a touch. Charlotte had more self-carriage, not quite as much power and expression in piaffe and passage. One had more power, the other more harmony and self-carriage. Our decision was for the harmony."

Hallelujah! 

Still waiting for the inside the arena video to become available, but in the meantime...



 

Valegro and Dujardin    Ken Braddock / Dressagenews.com

Dujardin   Reuters image

Reuters image

Photo by Jorge Silva / Reuters

Photo by FEI / Kit Houghton