$180 a year

This is an Antares custom helmet. Suede-y cover, leather stripe, rich colors -- all can be yours for the merest $900. But if it gets the style-conscious non-helmet-wearer to buy one, more power to'em. If helmets last about five years -- the recommended lifespan of a helmet -- the Antares is $180 a year to keep your noggin safe and your body fully mobile. Sounds like a good deal to me!

The low-down on the upper body II

In my last post I summarized the Dressage Connection article on the upper body and the concept of knitting the ribs.

Extending the metaphor
Another way of thinking about the upper body that helps me is to form a mental image of a cat toy -- a tunnel that is made of a nylon covered coil/spring that you extend for the cats to play in, and compress for storage. I picture my "core" -- seat to shoulders -- as a cat tunnel toy, sitting on a moving horse. When the tunnel is fully extended it's  flopping all over. I need to use my upper body muscles to keep the coil compressed -- solid, yet flexible over the top of the horse, but my butt has to stay soft while my upper body keeps the lid on.

Another image I've used is from observing people at a local gym. There is a guy I've see who is not muscle-bound but is super solid through his trunk -- "built like a fireplug" as they say. I think about that solid muscle and try to make my trunk solid like that.

Sometimes those thoughts help me -- maybe they'll work for you?

Thinking of Patti and Padre

Parenting must be tough, and worrying must be 80% of parenting. Moms and dads everywhere live with the fear that at some time when their children are off at school, or at the mall, or playing a sport, they will come in harm's way. You can't watch them every minute, and you can't protect them from everything. It's something that I suppose parents learn to live with. The thing they have going for them is that it's a cultural norm to value and protect children. People look out for kids.

"It's just a horse"
We horse owners, though, have some of the same fears, but even friends and family don't always understand. Many people don't feel one way or another about animals -- they just don't see them as meriting concern.  It's a weird kind of society, isn't it?  Animals get hurt, maybe they get neglected, maybe they get killed.  "It's just a dog," "it's just a cat," "it's just a horse." And as if that's not disheartening enough, horse owners have an added burden -- when something awful happens, horse owners are stuck with the vet bills and care of are very big, very expensive animal.

 There are many awful stories of horses harmed by ignorance or malice...

• On COTH, one poster described how her family came home from a concert to find her young filly dead in a paddock. Her next door neighbor's teenager had thought it would be fun to use his paintball gun on the horses confined in a paddock.  She was so terrified she ran into the side of the barn at full tilt.
• I posted once about horses shot by hunters tresspassing on their property. The legal picture? Legally the responsible owners get fined or hands slapped. Not much to be done.
• And now Padre. Thank heavens it looks like he is out of the woods, but his prospects as a riding horse are uncertain. Patti has shown grace and restraint in describing what happened and her feelings toward the people who trespassed her property and changed her horse's life.

I hope Patti is able to recover some of the costs of her ordeal, and I have to believe Padre will recover fully.

Not everyone understands
For any given tragedy there are people that like to assign blame without knowing the facts, and people that like to critique the actions of the victims. Those of you who are not so sympathetic -- what happened to Patti and Padre could happen to any of us. The difference is, Patti has a horse that she loves, but he is more than someone's horse -- he is an American icon, a mustang, that represents an ideal of his breeding/ancestry. In my mind she has a national treasure, and she is show responsible stewardship. I think we should support her.

Devon Moment, Tuesday Sept. 25

Knabstrupper in action

To my delight, there were Knabstruppers at the Devon breed show this year.  I videotaped a weanling then dashed off a text message to my friend who was at work that day.

"There are knabstruppers at devon this year" -- I spoke this into my Droid and quickly sent the message.

My friend responded with: ???????WHAT????

I checked my message. The message that I sent was, "There are nasty strippers at Devon this year."

 I've been pleasantly surprised at how good my voice recognition software is -- it recognizes farrier and dressage. But this time I must have bumped against the limits of its vocabulary...

The low-down on the upper body I

There's more to it than "sitting up straight," apparently

I've written a lot about improving my seat, and my dream is to sit inside the body of a top dressage rider and feel where they are using their muscles, where they are relaxed, and how they respond to their horse -- those imperceptible motions that make a good rider. Not all advice for improving your seat really gets at the problem. "Stretch up" is good advice, but sometimes when I try to stretch up, my horse thinks "half halt" -- or, in Riley's case, downward transition. I get advice to put my shoulders back, but that makes my arms stiff and hollows my back. And frankly, when someone says "engage your core" I have only an inkling of what they mean.

Enter Pilates: To the rescue!
I recently got my copy of the USDF Connection September issue -- I generally find this pub very useful, and this month they've outdone themselves!  Check out the helpful article  Organize Your Upper Body: Two super-effective (and easy!) Pilates-based exercises for better riding by Janice Dulak and Sarah Martin. It covers two Pilates techniques/concepts that
  I found particularly useful:

• knitting the ribs which involves musculature that pulls the ribs together while strengthening and coordinating the lower and upper body.
• riding off your underarms, which is a little murkier to me, but it has to do with holding your shoulder blades down (as opposed to pinching them together).

It really helps you identify the back muscles we should be engaging.

Harvey's high anxiety

Harv's 25th Bday

Harvey is a geezer, but he is a spry geezer and he has not slowed down.  Harv has mellowed a smidgen but lest ye think he has lowered his standards...

Let me OUT!!!!
Harv has been getting Very, Very Upset when he does not get his turnout time. He has always loved his turnout, but over time he seems to begun having anxiety issues. The behaviors are spinning, bellowing, fretting, and generally  himself into a sweat.When the weather was hotter, I was actually finding him in his stall drenched in sweat, and sometimes a bit of lather.

No other horses had been turned out -- it was just getting close to turnout time. The worst of it happens when he has missed one turnout due to weather.

I am trying to figure this out. Some possible reasons:

•  He is getting rigid in his old age
• The switch from a diet based on hay to a Senior feed (he can't eat hay these day) is giving him too much excess energy. 
• He can't lie down in his stall any more, or at least not comfortably.

Ideas?

Boot up!

Lunged him in this...

Third shoe gone AWOL in four weeks.  This time the farrier is out of town and b/c it's a front foot, I decided to use my new Cavallo^TM sneaker boots. I lunged him yesterday and he went really well in it. I turned him loose in the ring and let him rip around just a little, and it stayed on. When I pulled off, I feared the "bloody stump" but aside from a little roughed up hair around the heel bulb he was fine.

  Today

Rode him in this...

Today, Sunday I put on an old pair of the stretchy hose-like socks (they had runs in them from being accidentally washed with velcro gloves. Put'em on and I rode. I mean, I rode, as if it were a lesson. I pulled off the boot afterwards and felt for any signs of rubs. Nothing really obvious, maybe one spot that happened to be under a run in the hose. Tomorrow I'll try with some sheepskin and see how it goes. But so far, so good!

Burghley 2013: Here we come?

When Sinead Halpin was competing at Burghley, Bob and I watched it live. From many miles away, across a Big Pond, we felt that same adrenalin rush that we get at Rolex, except with the added intrigue of a foreign country.

I had an idea.

"Bob. Do you want to go next year?"

He said yes, with a few strings attached.

So I posted to the COTH eventing forum and got some advice. The nearest village, Stamford, is probably booked, I was told. I made perhaps a dozen inquiries and managed to find a place, The Stamford Lodge, at a rate we can manage. And, we have a year to save for the trip.

The current sticking point is that I don't know when I'll get to the UK again, and I was to have an extended stay. Bob, whose vacation is more limited, wants to just go for the trials -- in and out.

I guess these are the sort of problems I like to have...

What's a medicine hat pinto?

I'd heard the term, but never knew what it was. Then, at the ESDCTA Schooling Show Championships, I saw just such markings on a horse. I was helping with scoring, and during a lull I peered out from the announcer's booth at the rings and riders -- there was this lovely looking mostly white gelding. Lovely horse, lovely rider, lovely test, lovely color.

And immaculate.

The announcer told me that this was medicine hat coloring. Anyone care to leave a comment detailing what makes a horse a medicine hat type?


As much as I love to show, it is also fun to volunteer and observe others showing. I saw a few people I know ride beautifully, I saw some poor girl get dumped (in a highly charged warmup ring), I saw a way-too-thin horse (and hope the judge put something in her comments), and I saw Marilyn Payne ride Dario, a big-big beautiful chestnut moving up the levels.

I did some scoring too, which is now done via computer. Sad to say I still made mistakes. I do question an interface that has you enter errors at the end of the scoring inteface rather than where they occur. I guess any method will have its drawbacks. I think competitors must like having the printout.

Padre update: An ordeal begins

Hi, I would like to share this June 2, 2012 email that I received from Patti Gruber, the owner of Padre (the dressage mustang). It is a heartbreaker, but I think we should all read it.  Since this day on May 29 she has been through quite an ordeal. It could have happened to any of us, but it happened to her. And to Padre.

Patti writes...

Padre at the hospital

On May 30th at 2 PM, Padre was turned out in his pasture located outside of the back of my house. I was sitting in my living room and looked up to see Padre' running frantically.  I immediately got up, put my shoes on and went outside to see what was going on only to find a man in a tree within 5 feet of Padre's back pasture which is about 50 feet wide and 200 feet long.  The man was wielding a chainsaw and had just started cutting down a tree.  The man must have seen me and stopped as I was yelling to him.  I asked if he could not see the horse running around below him as Padre' was in a panic to say the least. 

As a horse person my whole life, I have never before seen a horse in such a panic showing the whites of his eyes, snorting and frantically running  trying to get away and having no where to go being contained in a 6 foot fence.  I asked the name of the company he worked for and he would not respond.  I asked again and received a less than pleased response as I put Padre's halter and lead on. I then asked the man to give me a couple minutes to bring Padre' and four horses in an adjoining paddock into the barn before he resumes his work.   As I walked Padre' about twenty feet from the paddock, the man in the tree turned the chainsaw back on and also the tree shredder started.  Padre' reared up and spun in circles again in a complete panic for about 100 yards.  As he pranced and spooked the rest of the way back to his stall, I had hoped he would be ok.  Due to my concern for the horses, it had not even occurred to me that the man in the tree was actually trespassing onto the farms property. 

 

Within an hour, Padre' began to swell in his back legs from his fetlocks and through his hocks and the muscles in his rump and lower back were extremely sensitive.  I called my vet for an emergency visit and he was given an IV Anti-Inflammatory and IV Muscle Relaxants as well as an Adequan.  I rotated cold hosing and hand walking Padre' for 6 hours and spent the night in the barn outside his stall to keep an eye on him overnight.  At 5 am I started the process of cold hosing and hand walking again until the vet arrived at 9:30.  He did a quick exam, gave him a Legend injection and told me to drive Padre' to the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Hospital to be seen by their team. 

 

At the hospital they did a variety of tests including flexions, x-rays, ultrasound and bloodwork.  Padre's lameness is mainly in his left hock with significant effusion on the outside of his hock with blood spurting into the effusion. He also has effusion on the right hock and overall muscle soreness as well as a raised stress level shown in his blood work.  Padre' would be on complete stall rest for ten days and will be wrapped as shown in the photo followed by hand walking and a return to the hospital in two weeks for a follow up ultrasound and x rays and then again in July. 

 

Through all of the tests, Padre' charmed the Doctors and teaching students as well as other horse owners at the hospital gaining even more fans with his incredible temperament and good looks.  He was such a good boy they did not need to sedate him for x-rays or the ultrasound. The prognosis for a return to work is August 1 at the earliest. Outside of his trips to the hospital for the Ultrasound he is also not to be trailered anywhere due to the stress it puts on the joint.  Padre' and I are so fortunate that this injury could have been so much worse than what it is. 

 

With a large variety of events and shows planned over the months of June and July, we unfortunately have to put everything on hold that Padre' was to attend until the Hospital Veterinarian clears him for travel for starters possibly in July and riding hopefully in August.  As you can imagine this is devastating for Padre' and I.  I will update everyone as to Padre's progress after we return from the hospital in two weeks.  I have to send a huge thank you to Dr. Koehler for responding to my first emergency call as well as Dr. Brounts and Dr. Weimer at the UW Madison Hospital as well as their students.  Thank you all for your support of Padre' and I as we face this challenge.

I will write more in another post...

Jochen Schleese: Lecture on Saddle Fit

The lecture included a giveaway! Here is the 
winner of a gorgeous Schleese bridle with Jochen.

I had the good fortune to sit in on a lecture on saddle fit by Jochen Schleese this weekend. It was free, it was at our farm, how could I not attend? If you don't know Schleese Saddles or Jochen's background, here is his bio -- he definitely has the street cred as far as riding experience, impact on the industry, and reputation among other saddle fit professionals.

I know good teaching when I see it
One thing is certain -- Jochen is a gifted speaker and educator. As someone who dabbles in instructional design and education, I could see how thoughtfully his lecture had been planned to get his message(s) across. There are formulas for effective teaching -- and whether by instinct or through study, the guy knows how to communicate. Hats off to the Schleese team for a job well done.

Not a sales pitch
We've all experienced the bait and switch where we think we're going to a lecture that turns into the sales pitch. This lecture covered topics that probably inform the design of Schleese saddles, but it was a product-neutral lecture -- the focus was on advances in saddle fitting and new knowledge from many sources, such as universities and other saddle fitters.

What did I learn?
I can't  cover everything he covered in the three hour lecture; fortunately Schleese has developed educational materials and videos that reinforce what he talked about -- check out their web site for a lot of good saddle fitting info. And in three hours, we covered a lot! Gait mechanics, horse conformation, the problem of assymetry, the essential aspects of saddle fit, and gender differences in saddle fit were among the topics covered. Jochen brought many visual aids, from video to skeletal pelvis models to tools of the saddle fitting trade.

Instead of trying to reword what is covered elsewhere, let me offer a few tidbits that were new to me, and easy to impart quickly.

•  Gullet width. The inverted V shape of the saddle fit (front of the tree) may not accommodate the horse in motion. What is needed is an inverted U shape to accommodate the movement of the muscle and bone (see this article).
• Twist. How often have you heard someone refer to the saddle twist without an explanation of what it is? Schleese describes it as the space between the upper inner thighs. Read more...
• Nether regions. Schleese posits that boys don't go into dressage as much as girls because it is too painful in the groin area. He talked (very delicately) about how men and women compensate/avoid pain when riding. Men, it seems, put their "parts" to the left or to the right when they ride. Women, of course, can't do this. One of the Schleese design elements is a cutout in the center of the saddle to provide women greater comfort.
• Gender and seat design. Men tend to prefer a saddle wider in front (room for their "parts") and narrower in back -- the opposite of what women tend to prefer. 
• Gender and balance. The real difference in the design of the saddle, though, is in the way it accommodates differences in the pelvic structure. Men have a longer tailbone, for example, that allows them to ride in a flatter saddle. Their seat bones are pointier. Women have a birth canal that significantly changes their pelvic structure and also the pelvis balances in the saddle differently. Schleese's saddle design takes these differences into account to help women riders maintain balance in the saddle. Again, the Schleese web site has more detail.
• Hips. It is easier for a man to rest the inner surface of his thigh flat against the saddle since male hip sockets face more to the front than women's hip sockets. The female hip sockets  "splay out" more so that thigh bones are further from the saddle and tend to slant inward due to the shape of the pelvis -- this is not as optimal for riding.
• Girth. The role of the girth was discussed -- where it needs to be placed, how it interacts with the billets and saddle, etc. 

I can't resist including the "red shoes" video. It'll give you an idea of how creatively the saddle fitting message is packaged and presented in both this video, and in the lecture I attended.


I don't own a Schleese, and while I think they are lovely saddles I don't own one.  The saddles are not point point in writing this -- the point is, if you ever get a chance to hear Jochen speak, don't miss it. Every bit of new info, every assertion, is well supported. What more is there to say? Thumbs up.

Self Help II: All things be ready

"All things be ready if our minds be so..."
Well, we've talked about the power of the mind, and what it can do. Sometimes that knowledge is quite enough, but sometimes we need a little "one for the Gipper" talk -- preferably something Shakespearean.

I'm not a Rocky Sylvester Stallone type -- never saw the movie, can't say the clips I've seen left much of an impression. Give me a good Henry V "we happy few" speech, throw in a little Kenneth Branaugh circa 1989 for eye candy, and yes, I'll tackle a few French guys. In battle, I mean.

 Remember the video "Inches"?
I've already blogged it--the speech from the movie Any Given Sunday applied to eventing--but here it is again...


Now, back in the dressage ring
So... I've got a few mind tricks up my sleeve that I think as I go into the ring. With Harvey, I used to think to myself: "I've already won. I know I have the best horse here."

For this season I thought about conjuring up the image of Bill Murray from my first post, but it didn't work for me -- too much humor, not enough motivation.

Here's my 2012 mental motivator. It works for me, because while at one level I try to BELIEVE it, at another level it makes me smile.  I go into the ring, and I silently say to the judge, "Lady, this is the ride you've been waiting for all day!"

If it doesn't happen? Well, that's where the Bill Murray picture comes in! (see part I of the self help series)!

Training 2, 72% at our Sept. 9 show

Riley was nervous -- for whatever reason -- and he actually was grinding his teeth through this test, something he has never done in a test. He stopped right after the test, which is interesting, and he didn't grind that I can recall in test 3...

Magic of Believing: Self help I

Bill believes in you!

If you can Think Yourself Thin, if you can Think and Grow Rich, I guess you can think your way to better riding, at least for the four minutes you're in the show ring.

Thanks Jane!
Jane Savoie helped me get over show ring jitters. I attended a lecture she gave at a Horse Expo years back. She talked about reframing negative thoughts to positive ones. A negative thought like my "oh my god, everyone is watching" she changed to: "Gee I wish there were more people here so I could REALLY PERFORM." That was her example. She nailed the thing that always made me nervous (people watching) and gave me the tools--positive thoughts, and a sense of humor and fun--to get me past it.

Outside the dressage ring
Phyllis Diller -- what a cool lady -- was a housewife until at age 37 she read The Magic of Believing, a book that she credits as giving her the drive and courage to follow her dream of being a comedian.  She promoted this book throughout her career, but also said there are a lot of good self-help books out there and you have to find the one that speaks to you. I have the Magic of Believing and I'm skimming it now.  It's not a new concept -- the power of the mind  -- but it is well written. Yes, think we all know intellectually that our thoughts are powerful, but maybe we don't think to apply it in our lives. Phyllis got no encouragement from friends and family, she had to believe in her own talent. She said she read and re-read that book, and she carved out a niche in one of the toughest areas of entertainment -- stand up comic! See this interview to hear her talk about the book in her own words.
 

Stay tuned for part II.

Photo #6 of 7: Enter at A, where A is for Annoyed

I look -- well -- determined. Riley looks annoyed. I'm probably jabbing him a bit, I'm sure. I've always been told to enter the ring like you own it. We're trying!

Photo 7 of 7: Down centerline and almost done!

Surpass: Diagnostic tool?

Back when Harvey had his swollen sheath, my vet gave me a tube of Surpass to bring the swelling down quickly. This was my first experience with Surpass, but it proved to be quite effective!

Reading more about it, I learned that is is kind of like bute except it targets a specific area and spares the tummy in the process. Only about 3% ends up migrating through the horse's system. And for those of you who live outside the U.S., it is available over the counter for much, much less money.

Atlanta Equine makes these observations about Surpass:

"In our experience, Surpass generally works better under the following circumstances:

• In higher-motion joints.  For example, we would expect a better response when treating a fetlock joint (which is very high-motion in nature) than we would when treating the lower hock joints (which are very low-motion in nature).
• In joints that are closer to the skin surface.  If there is less tissue through which the product is required to diffuse then more will be delivered to the affected area. Consequently, we would anticipate a better clinical response if more product is reaching the joint. For example, we would expect a better response when treating a fetlock joint (which is just under the skin surface) than we would a stifle joint (which is much further/ deeper from the skin surface).
• In joints with a high topical surface area:size ratio.  We typically observe a higher concentration of therapeutic medication in synovial (joint) tissue (and therefore a better clinical response) when the joint is smaller and very well exposed under the skin surface. For example, we would expect a better response when treating a fetlock joint (small and just under the skin surface) than we would a stifle joint (large and deep under the skin surface).
• When used prophylactically (as a preventative) rather than subsequent to the onset of joint inflammation.  In other words, we would expect a better response if we applied the product prior to exercising the horse than we would if we applied the product after we finished riding."
   

Pretty interesting!

#5 of 7 Photo: Across the diagonal

Ri looks pretty good here, he looks lifted through the withers. Me? I've "folded like a cheap tent" as Bob would say. Knees up, heels up, hips collapsed, wrists limp. I'm won't be sending this shot to Dressage Today...

Nothing sadder than an old horse for sale

Eclipse in 2006 winning 4th place in 3rd level  region 9 championships

We've all seen ads -- HORSE FOR SALE, $500. 22 year old gelding, many ribbons, show mileage, now sound for trail riding or as pasture buddy, blah, blah, blah.

To the owners: Who's going to buy that horse? Who's going to love and care for that horse more than you, the people he served all of his life? Strangers? 

We learned this as kids
I think it's fitting that many of us horse lovers as children read Black Beauty. The novel has a lesson that we need to remember as adult horse owners.

• The world is not a kind place for animals, and every time a horse changes hands, its circumstances are likely to worsen. 
• We owe our horses a good retirement -- however we can make it happen.

Why the tirade?
Probably a number of you have seen the thread on the Chronicle of the Horse, about Eclipse. If you have not read it, grab a kleenex box and have a seat. Eclipse was a successful third level dressage horse in region 9, and his owner sold him, at age 12,  in good faith to what she thought would be a forever home. Fast forward a few years -- the horse changed hands a few times, and about a month ago someone found a posting on Craigslist. SCHOOLMASTER: 17 year old Oldenburg gelding. Solid 3rd level horse, Region Champion. Has been shown 4th level as well. As with many older horses, some minimal maintenance required. $6,000 OBO. It included a link to this video.

Long story short, the seller was a trader who was a "last stop" before the killers/meat truck. This horse was saved through a concerted effort of folks on this list. The former owner was contacted. She and another COTHer jointly purchased "Clipper."

Please note that the original owner is not guilty of dumping an older horse -- she sold the horse at a young age to a reputable place that promised a forever home. And she stepped up to the plate when she found out about his circumstances.

Eclipse's story tells us that we can't ever be certain what will happen to horses we sell, and if we care about them, we need to follow up with them, and take measures to ensure their continued well being. Write in the contract that you want the right of first refusal. If nothing else this will alert you that your horse's circumstances are changing.

The old gray mare...
And selling an old horse? That goes double. The instant they become unuseful, or unaffordable, they're at risk of changing hands again, and it doesn't take long to hit bottom when you're an old horse. We are the stewards of the animals we keep, and our love doesn't mean much if we don't follow through in our actions.

#4 of 7: Pushing from behind

Possibly my favorite photo...

Goal achieved for Training 3

This year, one of my "quiet goals" was to achieve over 70% in training 3. At this weekend's schooling show we did it. Yeah! We held the canter, the transitions (most of them) were better, our halts improved -- but our stretchy trot was pretty mediocre. I hate losing points to something that Ri can do well at home, but that's the breaks. The footing at this show was absolutely marvelous, and I could really feel the difference in Ri's gaits. He definitely likes the softer/moderately deeper footing.

Also I got the chance to see a friend's new young prospect -- a bright bay mare with chrome and super bloodlines -- started by someone that boards at my barn. She is totally awesome, and I can't wait to see them go next year.

Photo #3 of 7: Straightlegged cantering

Someone tell my horse that the inside hock can articulate...

Courageous Comet: Wishing you a happy retirement

Courageous Comet is retiring after the American Eventing Championships this week. Comet is a versatile, athletic thoroughbred that has been at the top of the sport for years.  He was a reasonably successful racehorse and in three seasons he won more than 70K.  He has competed with his rider Becky Holder at Rolex at least 2-3 times, placing in the top ten but never winning. Always, always, something kept Becky and Comet from that crowning achievement. To me, it doesn't matter -- it feels like a privilege to watch this amazing horse in the three phases. His dressage is spectacular, his cross country showcases his tremendous agility and careful style -- and in show jumping, he seems to leave from any spot to create a lovely jump that is fluid and heavy on the knee action. From a spectator point of view he is a joy to watch.

But I'm so glad he is retiring. He's not any spring chicken, and I think he required some maintenance and management due to wear and tear.  He may win the championships, and I hope he does, but mostly I want him to enjoy a wonderful retirement. I'm sharing this footage of his dressage at WEG 2010. I think it shows him at or near his best:

7 photos in 7 days: #2, The canter

I find myself on my last prepared-in-advance post -- and I got no material! Fortunately, I have a bunch of photos from our last show, and I'll do a photo a day (unless something better comes up). Monday I posted #1, and here is #2 of 7....

My Joules polo: More matchy matchy

As a followup to my post on the Joules clothing line I thought I would share the human-oriented apparel -- a polo shirt, and my own collared and buttoned version of Riley's turnout sheet. I have worn this in a lesson, but usually I wear it to work. I love the tailoring and the side vents which have a velour details. If I had to pick what makes the Joules polos unique, the single thing that makes me love them is the velour touches on Joules stuff, in the form of piping and accents. Second is the rich, jewel-tone colors.  Their clothes are comfortable, sport-ready, and the quality is exceptional -- over many washings it holds its shape and color. I never iron it. Yes, you can get shirts from Target, and I have some, but they don't hold up over washings and they get all stretched out. They lose their "body" over time and after a season they're basically shirts for barn work.

 

The fall Joules has some real gems

This  new Joules blanket is now
available from Dover!

I'm very fond of the Joules clothing and horse apparel line. Ri's first Joules blanket was the called the "Benjamin Stripe," and some of you may recall this marvelous Weathabeeta sheet. I blogged about it at least three times -- here's my first post, and in a subsequent post I shared these photos of Ri in his rainbow blanket . Yet another post waxes eloquent about how the blanket fits Ri's personality. The photo of Riley rolling is my Droid screensaver.

So this post is a Joules love fest -- I own a polo shirt in the Benjamin Stripe that I'll be blogging shortly.  

The Joules style, horses and humans

Joules is fun and youthful and sporty -- also a little girlie. They do a lot with stripes and florals in their human apparel. Their horse apparel has featured stripes, but I"ve never seen a floral horse blanket -- till now.  See the photo left? This may be my new favorite. Riley or Harvey? Riley or Harvey? Harv the elder statesman might not appreciate the whimsy. Riley would totally go for it.  

 What's new for HUMANS in the fall 2012?
So I usually peruse new season's lines of clothing manufacturers I love, like Pikeur, Cavallo, Eskadron, and Joules. Joules did not disappoint. Here are some jewels from Joules!

I love taupe, and this very tailored

  Alana Down Vest with the pink plaid trim is one of my favorites

The caramel/mustard color is different -- I love it! But this Ginny shirt

also comes in white and blue.

And here is my favorite, the Moredale jacket! I love how the sportiness and 

tradition of the jacket is offset by the floral lining that peeks out.

So if you love fashion, and horses -- check out Joules stuff. 

I can genuinely endorse this line of clothes, and I'm happy to

share their stuff with you.

Lucky, lucky, lucky.

Anyone that owns a horse is lucky, and when I got these pix from our last show I felt a new sense of how lucky I am to have this horse. Photo from Stephen Crowers Photography.

 

Blue patent leather I don't need

So I went to the King of Prussia Mall. And I found these shoes. Blue patent, magical, flats.  Under $60.  Where, and when, will I wear them? I don't know. It hardly matters.

Are they not spectacular?

My new laptop case, courtesy Etsy.com

Ya gotta love a red horse -- not expensive, and practical -- I also love the rabbits and giraffes at   http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeavenlyCreaturesArt

A Must-Post and Must-See: The Will Faudree Smooch

Best moment at Burghley

Bob and I watched some of the Burghley footage -- so beautiful! And Sinead Halpin's second place finish is awesome and inspiring. We are now making plans to go next year. BTW, Burghley puts Rolex to shame in the sophistication and services of their Web site. The Burghley Horse Trials Web TV is wonderful, easy to navigate, and immediately available video footage of each rider in each phase. Rolex Kentucky's 3 Day Event, wonderful as it is, offers little to its Web audience.

But never mind THAT...
But the Must-See-TV moment is the Will Faudree ride. The ride starts out fast and agressive, and the mare is amazing. To my non-expert's eye the ride looks fast, a  few fences look dicey, and before the fall she is breathing heavily, looks a little tired.

 At fence 19, The Land Rover Dairy Farm, they have a scary fall -- but that's  not the must-see part. The mare Andromaque gets up pretty fast and volunteers catch her. Will is down longer than you like to see. He does get up, but he doesn't look good -- he's either hurting, or terribly disappointed, or both. His face is a study of  seriousneess as he walks over to see Andromaque. And at 5 minutes, 19 seconds, he gives her a big smooch on the face.

"Stirrups are just for decoration"

Yeah. Right. A former trainer used to tell me that, but I'm thinking my stirrups serve a distinct function. Here is someone who does seem to be able to ride without'em.

This rider is gutsy, yes? She is Scandinavian, Malin Maryard-Johnsson. I found out about her from the Fourteen Carrots blog who wrote about Horse Junkies United posted their article Stirrups are for Losers. Here is a fun video that Malin did...

Warm fuzzy toys: I collect these

When I was little, I went through a period when I was afraid of a house fire. I was afraid to take a bath, afraid to sleep, afraid to be in a room on the second floor. I slept with my important belongings -- stuffed animals, mostly -- in a grocery bag by my bed. The fixation on stuffed animals and models continues, although I now focus most of my worrying on real horses. I'm not like a beanie baby freak or anything, but I do like to find stuffed animal horses and do absolutely nothing with them. They sit on my dresser. Here is one from Breyer. You can get it at Tractor Supply BTW...