The Top at Hilltop 2012

Wow! The top colt at the 2012 Hilltop Farm inspection -- Hanoverian inspection, I think. Not bad, eh? He was bred at a local breeding operation, Triad Farm LLC in Reigelsville PA. He is by Jazz, a KWPN stallion out of a Sandro Hit/Weltmeyer mare. Jazz is an awesome sire but I think he tends to produce a hotter horse than I'd be able to ride.

Pessoa/USEF Medal Finals: Cheers to Christina Frost

Sometimes it isn't the winner who impresses you the most. Maybe this is the case in the 2012 Pessoa/USEF Medal Finals competitor, Christina Frost.

From the Chronicle of the Horse:

 In one of the cuter episodes of the day, Christina Frost came off over her horse's head at the fifth fence and pulled her horse's bridle off. He made a quick tour of the ring with it dragging behind him until he broke the reins and then was loose. His groom caught him quickly. Frost earned some applause for helping the jump crew to rebuild the fence she'd knocked down when she fell into it. She then kissed her horse on the nose. What a great show of sportsmanship.

Skills and athleticism have not always led to an admirable life (recent example: Lance Armstrong?), but it sure seems to me like this girl has an attitude that will serve her well inside and outside the show ring.
If you want to see the round, here it is...

Turning weather in PA

Being on the East Coast, I'm in the same boat as a lot of people in the path of this weird weather pattern that is amounting to a hurricane of low voltage but sustained rain and winds.  I have blog posts to scheduled to run through Nov 2, at least, so there should be no "BTB Service Interruption." Bob got a generator after the weather debacle last year (a week without power). We did return early from a trip to Indiana so that we could button things up and lock'em down here. The horses are set. Here is a photo I took of Bob, who was reading despite a spectacular sunset through the plane window...

Downtown Memphis pony ride

I was in Memphis last week -- what a great city! Especially liked this pony ride mobile...

Living vicariously: Bidding on a stallion

If you've ever wondered what it's like to bid on a fancy horse at a German auction (assume it is Germany?), here is a video to give you a taste.

Eating and resting: More foal cuteness

This clever baby decided having long legs makes grazing a bit too awkward. Love his solution. One of my favorite pastimes is eating popcorn on the couch.

The new saddle!

The new saddle! It is all I wished for it to be. The inaugural ride was today...

Oh -- it's a Hennig Sofa...

Tired of Training Level: Last show of the season

Note: I'm out of town this week so you may see a little less text and commentary as I'm out and about with mom and dad in Indiana...

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I'm officially sick of training level, and I can only imagine how these videos must bore the crap out of you, the reader. Bob missed the first test, Training Level 2 and I got a 70.5%. He videotaped the second test, Training 3. We got a 66.something% from Heather Mason, my dressage hero. Would have liked to wow her, but it was not in the cards. I do like Ri's forwardness, but the contact is not there.
I don't know if I will be able to swing first level if I don't make serious progress this winter.

  Excuses excuses...
To be fair, I'd been out of town the week before this show, and when I went out to ride the day before the show Ri had been vaccinated a few days before -- he was not quite himself so I didn't ride much (no cantering). I doubt it really mattered, after doing the test sooooo many times this summer...

Be Smart (and Be Rich)

Yikes -- already the original video is marked as private. Here is more eye candy, and interesting in that we get to see a lovely foal at that optimal age and also as a yearling. Even as a geeky yearling, she is lovely isn't she?

Now marked as private -- no longer available. Here's one I wouldn't mind having in my barn... The walk is not so impressive, and the canter is not shown. I'm curious!

Schooling Show Championships, Training 3

Training 3 was a bit less successful, but still 66 dot 9ish percent We got a fourth place with the top three being some variation on 67 dot something.

Sookie: Elastic Elastic!

Coeur Dashian grows up flashy

I bought Riley from a great breeding farm, High Point Hanoverians. They have added to their stallion lineup and recently brought in a jumper stallion, Coeur D'Amour, from Germany. This lovely offspring has a great trot, but the canter is especially impressive. I don't recall seeing such a nice canter in a youngster that age. Great name too!

Four months earlier Five months earlier

Dubai stallion show

Compare this atmosphere to the stallion shows and auctions in Germany -- similear yes (except for the music)? And check out the bay with the part-white tail, you have to wonder if there is some kind of meaning ascribed to that color/marking.

Awesome mare, awesome bling!

I've watched this mare grow up. She was a wonder at 3, faded a bit at 4 (at least in the footage I saw), and now she is back and better than ever. If Quaterback was a mare, he'd be Rising Sun. And note the noseband bling. She totally pulls it off.

Nalanta: I got weepy watching this

That is one seriously cute equine, and his owner does a nice "show of love" video. Love the piaffe work.

Saddle slipup

I would never have attempted to ride a horse perched on half a saddle, but then I'm not young and gutsy (and maybe a little too cavalier for my own good). The horse can't be very comfortable. Glad it worked out for her, and it's a fun video to watch. But I can't help think that things might have gone the other way...

Oct 7 Schooling Show Championships Training 2

If you aren't sick to death of watching schooling show training level 2 tests, here is our most recent, at our GMO schooling show championships. We got a 67% from an R judge, despite an early break from our canter work.

October 7, the day of miracles

Riley and I experienced a miracle -- a weather-related miracle. Our GMO championships were held last weekend, and Ri, loser of shoes, stayed in his (very spacious an dutch-doored) stall for a week during a stretch of heavy rain. The weather on Sunday Oct 7 called for a high of 50 and rain. The thought of showing Ri under those circumstances scared me. Young horse, no turnout, abrupt weather change = DANGER in my book. Well, fortunately the rain held off, and while it was cold there was no wind. Ri was his marvelous sensible self despite the adverse conditions.

The second miracle of the day was this photo. By God, it's a great picture of both of us. I don't remember the last time I looked at a picture of myself and didn't cringe slightly. This one, I like. A lot.

Getsys from Etsy (and one from Ebay)

The latest from Etsy is this horse browband that is woven beads only -- no leather backing, but these delicate-looking band are pretty sturdy, per the seller (she contacted me with additional info after seeing this post). I would especially love this kind of browband on a delicate-headed mare--wouldn't this be lovely? The seller indicates they hold up under use, and you can ride in them every day. She has made them for 20 years. See bottom of this post for details.

From Wovenbeads browbands

On the spendy side is this lovely pendant. There are a number of variations on this basic "dressage ring" -- a pendant with a serpentine, across the diagonal, different metals -- worth a look, if only to sigh and wish.

From FerAChevalRouge

And for the folks without tons of cash lying around...

Available on Ebay for 99 cents

____________________________________________

Description of Browband:

This browband is a little bead tapestry; hand-woven on a loom by me. Each browband takes about ten hours of handwork to construct. This design of diamonds and stars is composed of over 1,400 jewelry quality size 8/0 glass beads in transparent light topaz gold and silver-lined Montana blue. The beadwork is 1-inch wide by 15-inches long and is attached to a white polypro web browband. I used UV-ray resistant thread on the loom's warp and to attach the beadwork to the browband, which is also UV-ray resistant and does not stretch or absorb water. It replaces your bridle’s current browband. There are 1-1/2-inch loops at each end to thread onto the crown piece.




Beaded browbands are sturdy and meant for every day use. The beads are tightly woven on a loom and are attached to nylon or polypro webbing--the stuff that doesn't break. Think about it: you buy little pieces of leather to attach to nylon halters so they "break-away"! I've been using them on all kinds of horses for over twenty years and none of them have even lost a bead!

Mental skills when riding

More on the psychological aspects of equestrian competition -- if you like Jane Savoie you'll recognize some of this advice, but it is freshly presented.

Button Braids: At last a good video!!!

Insight on saddle slipping

The Chronicle of the Horse reported on a new study on saddle slipping: New Study Shows Saddle Slip May Be Early Indicator Of Lameness | The Chronicle of the Horse.

The results of the study are pretty amazing -- here's a quick summary:

The saddle consistently slipped to one side in 54% of horses with hind limb lameness, compared with 4% of horses with fore limb lameness, 0% with back pain and/or sacroiliac joint region pain and 0% of non-lame horses. Diagnostic analgesia was subsequently used to abolish the hind limb lameness and this eliminated the saddle slip in 97% of cases.

Hard to argue with that kind of data, isn't it? Boy, if they can replicate this in future studies it'll give new significance to saddle instability.  We won't be turning to catalogs for a new saddle pad, we'll be dialing the phone to call our vet.

A fashion inVESTment

I've never been a fan of "jackets waived" days, but now there are these great vests on the market. Pikeur has done one now. I would like it to be a smidgen longer for me, but for a more petite rider it would be stunning...

Full brother to Paragon: I can dream, can't I?

I heard a rumor that Heather Blitz bought him -- the best possible owner anyway :-). I wonder how he compares to Paragon.

Isn't that a silly sentence, given the older bro's name?  Paragon def="peerless example."

Facebook contest: 3 words

Some catalog or horse company sponsored a contest -- the contest involved liking the company's facebook page and providing a three word description of why you love horses.

I didn't have to think about it -- three words came instantly to me:

BIG

SWEET

FACE

The picture to the right is one of my favorites of Harv. 

Suzanne Hassler and Baroncelli: Dressage at Devon 2012

Gorgeous gaits, lovely rider, neat freestyle, and generally looking fabulous. Only thing to quibble over was a certain earth-bound quality to the piaffe passage work tonight. But potential for wonderfulness is clear.

Duct tape after daylight hours

Wow! Any idea how this could be put to use for horses? Lost shows, boots, halters?

James Kofford and Rhett: Dressage at Devon 2012

Loved the music, loved the risks taken in this freestyle, love everything I hear about Kofford's style and reputation. Nice to see him ride in person at last.

Here are two performances of the same freestyle. I love the Devon version -- so much more expressive in 2012 than in 2011 -- but there were some mistakes. The artistic scores must have been pretty high, don't you think?

D-Niro wows'em at DAD 2012

The music was amazing in person (leonard Cohen fans will appreciate), but I'm not sure this video captured the sound as accurately as it might have. It was a very special performance, and I hope at least some of it comes through in this video courtesy of Omega Alpha Equine.

Heads up --- BTB news

Hi All, Just a heads up that the service I use to distribute RSS and email, called Feedburner, had been "deprecated" -- meaning they won't support it much longer.  I'm hoping to transition to another service, and it SHOULD go smoothly, but just in case it does not, please re-sign up for BTB if you stop getting alerts/emails.

I'm frankly annoyed at this turn of events. I just heard Sunday that Oct 20 is the date that support will shut down for this Google service, and there was no announcment to users of Feedburner. Truly puzzling.

At any rate, you will hopefully not notice weirdness, but in case you do, just go to the web site to re-sign up. Ugh.

Dressage at Devon: Devon L freestyle

The rides this year were exceptional. I loved Devon L in particular, despite some funniness in the bridle that probably detracted from the overall score -- the first few flips of the head I almost couldn't believe my eyes -- happened so fast, and he went right back to his work. Enjoy the loveliness...