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
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
Eventers Flock to Shangri-La in Kalispell, MT
Friday, July 22 2011
Welcome back to this corner of the internet! As the summertime heats up, I know I’m not the only one wishing for a little vacation time and a time when temperatures wait until at least 9:30am before cracking the 90 degree mark. If you’re an eventer, mid July is the perfect time to pack up for a little horse-cation to the heart stoppingly gorgeous state of Montana. Over the past 10 years, Rebecca Farm has become synonymous with the Big Sky state, and each year the event held in Kalispell, Montana takes on ever more importance. Last year, it was a critical pre-WEG stop, this year, an equally (if not more) important qualifier for the upcoming Pan American Games this October, which will lead to London in 2012. The competitor list is a whos-who of 4* eventing, and many upper level riders are they with their going and up and coming horses. Captain Mark Phillips has designed the cross country course for the 10th year in a row, and you know that many riders will be thinking about London throughout the weekend
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
California’s Young Horse Talent on Display During Dressage at Flintridge CDI*/Y/J
Wednesday, June 01 2011
By Yellow Horse Marketing for Cornerstone Event Management BURBANK, CA – Young dressage horses were the stars of the weekend in the historic and pastoral setting of the Flintridge Riding Club for Dressage at Flintridge CDI*/Y/J, May 26 – 29, 2011 in La Cañada-Flintridge, CA. As host of the Markel/USEF Young Horse Western Selection Trial for the FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Championships in Verden (GER) and the final Pan American Games qualifying competition for Southern California, competitors made the most of the opportunity to try to earn scores worthy of securing an invitation to represent their country on an international stage. John and Lisa Seger of Markel Insurance present the Markel/USEF Five-Year-Old Western Selection Trial championship ribbon to Sabine Schut-Kery and "Sanceo". Photo courtesy of Genia Ply. In the Five-Year-Old division of the Markel/USEF Young Horse Western Selection Trial, the standout performer was “Sanceo”, a brown Hanoverian stallion (San Remo x Rivera by Ramiro’s Son II, bred in Germany by Gerhard Dustmann) ridden by Sabine Schut-Kery of Thousand Oaks, CA for owner Alice Womble-Heitman of Hempstead, TX. Winner of last fall’s California Dressage Society (CDS) Young Horse Futurity as a four year old, “Sanceo” impressed the judges to earn 8.12 in the Preliminary Test (40%) and 8.30 in the Final Test (60%)for an overall score of 8.23, the championship ribbon, and a possible ticket to Verden. “This stallion is such an elegant and light type of horse,” noted judge Natalie Lamping (4* USA). “He’s just what we’re looking for in this division.” Reserve Champion was the U.S.-bred bay Dutch Warmblood mare “Bakara” (Sir Sinclair x Thea by Idocus). Ridden by 2007 Verden competitor Willy Arts of DG Bar Ranch, “Bakara” earned scores of 7.38 and 7.60 for an overall 7.51 for owner and breeder Janice Kissel of San Luis Obispo, CA. In the demanding six-year-old tests, Sherry Van’t Riet of Monte Nido, CA rode her own brown Oldenburg gelding “Sir Deauville” (Sir Donnerhall x Estella by De Niro, bred in Germany by Karl-Heinz Drees) to win the championship title with scores of 7.38 and 6.90 (7.09 overall), while in reserve was last year’s CDS Five-Year-Old Futurity champion “Soleil” (bay Oldenburg gelding, Sunny Boy x Ricoletta, bred in Germany by Werner Martens Achternhoff) owned and ridden by Bekki Vrono from San Dimas, CA with an overall score of 6.74
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs