Not Ridiculous At All.
Tuesday, October 11 2011
Just when walking the dog past multi-million dollar mansions inside a gated country club has started to feel quasi-normal, one is reminded once again how very surreal the winter equestrian capital of the world really is. And it’s not because of the pet zebra that my horse stares at every morning while hacking around Wellington.
- 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
No Raining on This Parade: The First-Ever HITS Hunter Prix Final
Sunday, September 11 2011
Proving Tom Struzzieri’s idiom that the Hunter Prix levels the playing field, a junior rider edged out a pro to win the first-ever half-million dollar hunter prix final this afternoon at HITS on the Hudson. Rounds three and Four were held under dark, and then rainy skies this morning, also proving that hunter riders don’t melt when the going gets tough
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Escape from Florida – Hunter Prix style
Sunday, September 11 2011
Late summer in Florida has been lovely (no, really), but this weekend, On the Line is enjoying an escape north, to a little 75-degree sunshine sans the humidity. Naturally, I’m at a horse show to watch a grand prix. It’s Pfizer Million weekend! The United States’ only $1,000,000 grand prix show jumping class made big waves when it debuted last year.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Dressage Soul Sister: Found.
Tuesday, August 23 2011
From start to finish, reading the new novel The Dressage Chronicles by Karen McGoldrick, felt like sitting around a barn aisle somewhere with close friends and a closer adult beverage, gossiping for hours about horses and the crazy cool people who surround them. By the time I reached the last page of this book, a debut effort by dressage rider and trainer extraordinaire McGoldrick, this show jumper was ready to reach across the discipline divide and give her equestrian soul sister a fist pump.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Grooms Unite!
Thursday, August 11 2011
I’ve shined boots that were not my own. I’ve cleaned the stalls of horses worth more money than I can ever hope to earn. I’ve swept the same aisle multiple times per day, and still suffered a disapproving stare for missing a single shaving along the way. Have you? If so you can relate to grooming. Being one, that is
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
A Teachable Moment.
Wednesday, August 03 2011
Hello, everyone out there across the interwebs? Just simmer down for a moment, won’t you? You know who you are. On the Line knows that there are only two reasons for a vertical spike in traffic to this web address.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Rodrigo Pessoa Teaches First-Ever U.S. Clinic in Sonoma, California
Wednesday, August 03 2011
Rodrigo Pessoa taught his first-ever jumping clinic in the United States this week, at the Sonoma Horse Park in Northern California. It was a highly anticipated event that fell between two weeks of horse shows at the venue, which is just two years old and thriving. (If you’re a regular Sidelines reader you might remember my profile of show manager Ashley Herman , pub March 2011). The facility is impressive, the scenery gorgeous, and riders in Northern California continue to flock to it for its series of excellent shows held May – September. But back to the clinic. On the Line did spend the weekend in Sonoma, but had to jet back to Florida early, regrettably taking a pass on the clinic. I was curious to know if Rodrigo took an active interest in the riders, how he dealt with the different horses, and how the riders responded to him
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Dog Days at the NAYRJC
Friday, July 29 2011
The big news coming out of Kentucky should be all about the rounds, the rails and the leaders after day one of the 2011 Adequan FEI/North American Junior and Young Riders Championships. But these are the dog days of summer, and in Lexington, Kentucky, those days are stifling. At 97 degrees and high humidity, the juniors competing this weekend are battling each other, and the heat. Hunt coats were excused yesterday during Round 1 of the show jumping, but the heat didn’t stop Kaitlin Campbell of Zone 3, who led the day in the YR division, or Sydney Schulman, leader of the Junior division. Thanks to MacMillan Photography for sweating it out onsite at NAYRJC this week. They caught the opening ceremonies, the golf cart parade on Wednesday, and they’ll be there until the bitter (and hopefully cooler) end on Sunday
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Wherin It’s Learnt Once More; The Horse is a Humbling Creature.
Tuesday, July 26 2011
I met Allison Springer over the winter, while she was spending a few weeks in Wellington to get some extra show jumping mileage with Arthur. Allison was down to earth, totally approachable, and serious about her horses and their programs. She’s worked hard to improve Arthur’s show jumping style, and held an impressive ten point lead going into Sunday’s show jumping phase for the CIC3* at Rebecca Farm
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs