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WEF Is Over
Sunday, April 08 2012
WEF 2012 is in the books and the spring shows are just beginning, it’s a strange time here in Wellington, because everyone is glad circuit is over, but everyone is sad just the same. This will mark my first entry into my new blog for Sidelines and I plan on covering a whole host of topics pertaining to the hunter/jumper world. Today I want to talk about how glad I am that circuit is complete, but also that I’m also a little sad, because like America, these shows have their faults, but it’s still the best the horse show world has to offer. Circuit is a marathon for trainers such as myself, we pretty much work non stop for twelve solid weeks, not to mention all the pre-circuit festivities, and now the Spring shows. It’s a difficult time, but also the most rewarding time of the year. Where else can a young rider compete in the short stirrup class in the morning and then catch a top notch Grand Prix that evening
- Published in General, In the Irons, Z-Blogs
Masters of the (Dressage) Universe!
Sunday, January 29 2012
It was not quite a foregone conclusion, but our man Steffen upheld his title as World Dressage Masters Palm Beach champion tonight in Florida, to the delight of a full house and online viewers around the world. Freestyle night of the 2012 World Dressage Masters series season opener was sure to be packed –with people and with excitement, but even though the top two results were the same as yesterday’s Grand Prix, the night wasn’t without a few twists and turns. It’s difficult to pick just a few adjectives to describe Steffen and Ravel, because all that come to mind apply. They simply mastered their freestyle, which Steffen said was the best he’d ever felt with Ravel. “I’ve never done a better freestyle,” he said. “He just felt simply amazing.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Big Money = Big Sport: An Exciting Day at the Pfizer Million
Monday, September 12 2011
The scene by the ingate was tense. The crowd lining the hill grew with riders and their connections as the class went on and rider after rider came away with one rail, two rails, six rails. When Duncan McFarlane, 21st to go, finally notched the first clear round, the crowd was overjoyed. As Duncan is based in Northern California, On the Line was especially overjoyed to see a hometown rider shine on the other side of the country in this incredibly difficult class
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Ducking a Downpour
Friday, July 29 2011
Ducking a torrential downpour, I decided to stay in the covered arena to watch a couple more classes. I had stopped in to the Morgan show this morning, to make sure the horse that I treated last night for a little stall accident went ok. You’ll be happy to know that the horse went great. I saved another one! Or something like that. I go to horse shows all the time, but this was the first time I had been to a gaited horse show since I went on a date to the Shelby County Fair nearly 15 years ago.
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Rolex Part II: Flatwork Takes Many Forms.
Saturday, April 30 2011
It was all about the flatwork Friday at the Kentucky Horse Park. Flatwork, in the form of the Rolex KY 3-Day Event’s dressage phase, and flatwork in the form of sleek and shiny reiners inside the Alltech Arena. On the Line has a great appreciation for reining , enough so that even after staying awake (kidding, kidding, it was all excellent) through the eventing dressage, I was motivated to watch today’s reining competition via USEFnetwork’s excellent live online coverage. For those of us who can’t be onsite in KY this weekend, USEF’s online stream has provided a great window into Rolex and now the Kentucky Reining Cup, so three cheers for them. I plan on parking myself in front of the computer tomorrow morning at 10:00amEST for the broadcast of cross country day, to watch 45 riders much braver than I navigate the soggy footing that’s been the topic of so much conversation this week.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs