Saddlebred Hunter Classic Championship

"And now for something completely different!"

(Where do I remember that phrase from? Monty Python? Saturday Night Live? Can't quite recall...)

Raise your hand if you know what these are:

If you said hunters, you are mostly incorrect. Let's just say they're supposed to be. Yes, they are horses wearing hunter tack, but there's something... just... a... little... bit... off. A closer look:

 The tails should be a big clue.

Even closer:

Hmm... that aristocratic head. Those loooong ears. That very upright neck. And yes, the tails. Why, I do believe they are American Saddlebreds competing in the Saddle & Bridle Magazine Hunter Classic Championship!

The second week of the St. Louis National Charity Horse Show is Saddlebred Week. I always make an effort to attend, since it's the only chance I get to see these steeds up close (although there happens to be a Saddlebred barn not one mile from where I'm sitting. But I've never visited, and the horses do not ever seem to appear in the - very, very small - pastures). I think they are beautiful when they perform and in fact, riding an ASB some day is on my bucket list. No, I'm not a fan of some of their training or barn husbandry practices (i.e. no turnout for show horses, period), but they are unique and special and frankly, a lot of fun to watch. The good ones truly do seem to enjoy themselves in the show ring and I'm glad to say, are the ones I see getting the best ribbons.

Back to the Hunter Classic: the first and last time I saw this class was around six years ago. I had stopped by the show after a riding lesson of my own, and a couple of friends from the barn accompanied me. I'm afraid we nearly fell out of the bleachers splitting our sides laughing at the participants. You never saw such sorry excuses for "hunters" in all your life, believe me, and this includes the AQHA version of hunters (which is saying a lot - but that's a whole other blog post). A lot of the tack and rider's clothing alone looked like it was ca. 1952 and dug up out of someone's attic. The horses all had cockeyed tails from being set in the past and running-braided long manes. Most exhibited a great deal of typical ASB knee action.

In addition to the above, the horses were wide-eyed and snorty at the very thought of jumping the one teeny, tiny crossrail they were supposed to negotiate from a trot as part of the class. I think they all refused at least once. When they did jump, it was virtually from a standstill (this was the funniest part of the whole thing. Seriously, we snobby H/J peeps were dying, in as polite a fashion as we could manage.). Clearly this class had been the brainchild of someone who thought, hey, we can eke out another division and more $$ here if we slap random English huntseat tack on 'em and see what happens!

Fortunately, I am happy to report that this division must have really caught on with the Saddlebred folks, because things have drastically improved for the better since then. This includes tack and clothing. As you can see, the horses in this championship (for which they'd had to qualify) were universally appropriately dressed. The riders looked nice, too, although, typically for a breed show, there was more color variation in jackets than you'd see at a USEF show and all but a couple helmets were plain black velvet, some with no harness.

The horse were asked to W/T/C both ways and also to hand gallop (why is this so typical in breed hunter classes, anyway? Who cares if the horses can race around the ring, many barely in control?). Quite a few horses had never worn a tail set and had normally-braided manes. They moved with a lot less knee action this year, and there was even one horse, who dare I say it, might possibly stand a chance in a non-breed hunter class on the flat. He had very nice movement and a lower neck-set than a typical ASB.

Here's a view of my favorite horse (surprise, surprise), waiting for his turn to jump:

The jumping portion of the class has evolved to taking single 2' bar from the canter. The ring crew built the little fence up nicely, with brush and flowers on the sides and under the bar. Clearly this did not please a large number of our ASB hunters because there were still a lot of refusals, and a couple never did make it over the fence. (Including one horse who wound up placing higher than some horses that did jump. Didn't quite get that!)

In general, this class was a lot less humorous and more reminiscent of actual hunt horses. It was fun to watch and I think it's great that this breed is offering a class for those horses (I would assume) who don't have the action to place well in saddleseat classes, or for  riders who simply enjoy exhibiting in hunters. One of the entrants even had a full-page ad in Saddle & Bridle magazine showing him jumping about 3' "in real life," so yes, it can be done with this elegant breed! (Not sure how that horse placed in the class since I was stupid and left the mag at home, but I would think he did well.)

The Derby (Not in KY!)

NOTE: I've been very frustrated, because I suddenly have about a dozen topics I'm itching to cover here, and the rest of my life temporarily took over. I have many volunteer commitments and unfortunately two of the biggest ones hit critical point in the last week and a half. But the 40-pg. directory/yearbook I had to create is at the printer's, and all the new Girl Scouts are placed in a troop, so I can finally get back to this post and the other two I also started! :-)

*  *  *

I have to say, without a doubt, that the USHJA Hunter Derby was one of my most favorite things I've ever gotten to see in the horse world. I wish they had them here every weekend. Even though it was threatening to rain, and they had to move the event indoors, watching those top-notch horses go was just a BLAST. Despite years and years of watching hunters show, I finally feel like I really know what makes a good hunter horse now.

I know I mentioned some of the rules and such about the Hunter Derby in a past blog, but I would like to refer you to this post by a fellow blogger, which explains things ever so much better. In fact, I really wish I'd read her post before watching the class! Jennifer also took some great photos, which she has graciously allowed me to borrow as needed. Needless to say, I didn't get any myself...

Anyway, I was simply amazed at what happened before the class even started. The show allowed schooling in the ring after all the jumps were set up; no jumping, but walking, trotting and cantering around. I couldn't believe my eyes when the horses and riders started streaming in. I have never, ever ever seen this allowed before any class before. The riders frequently cantered the horses right up to the jumps, literally until their noses were touching them, and then stopped. There were also grooms leading some of the horses around and they, too, were led right up to the jumps until their noses touched. All the horses were encouraged to sniff and look at the fences.

Obviously the horses were being shown the jumps; I knew what was happening. What I didn't get was why this was allowed. Not being one to stifle questions, I asked two fellow bystanders, one of whom was a rider wearing a shadbelly and thus planning to ride in the class, why on earth this was going on. "They want this to be a good class without refusals so the horses are allowed to see the jumps and get familiar with the course," was the answer. Well, okay, but considering I *think* that it's against the rules to do too much "showing of the jumps" to jumpers before they start, or to ride your warm-up circle three laps around a hunter ring, I found this pretty darn interesting. I also had to wonder if "showing" horses jumps actually works - what do you guys think?

Here are the course maps for both rounds of the Hunter Derby:

And here's two photos I took of a simply enormous oxer that was the last jump on course (upper left corner of both maps). At least, the "high" side was enormous; the other half was regular height:

They had to squeeze the far end standards together a bit to narrow the width for the lower side. This jump was sufficiently intimidating that very few of the riders actually attempted the high side, despite the increase in points. Those that did try looked from the rear (my view) like they were jumping the moon and it was clearly a great effort.

The horses in this class, needless to say, were gaw-jus. Here's one entrant prior to going in the ring (had to get one of the greys, of course):

I wish I could have gotten a little better conformation shot, because one of the most fascinating aspects of this class for me was checking out the way the horses were made and the way they went. I have a confession: I've ridden H/J practically my whole life. Since about 1975 I've been a manic reader of "Practical Horseman," especially "Conformation Clinic" (remember when Champ Hough used to write it?). I have really gotten a lot out of the past year's worth of Clinics, with the new judge. I usually do well with my placings and have a decent grasp of what makes good conformation. I know that a jumping horse is supposed to round its back in a bascule over fences. I've been in and watched literally hundreds and hundreds of hunter classes. But it really wasn't until watching this class that I started putting all the pieces together and figuring out what, exactly, is the proper construction and way of going for a truly good hunter. Something finally just clicked!

The way I saw it, the best horses "poured themselves" over the fences. The whole jump looked effortless, one smooth motion of beautiful, elastic horse. Like I said, I don't know what it was about this class but I swear I really, truly saw it for the very first time. It was great!

Whew, talk about round! I'd like to feel that just once - over a lower fence. (Photo by Jennifer Buxton)

Some other things I noticed about these horses were:
- Great extension of their front legs at all gaits (the Conf. Clinic lady is always going on about length and angle of humerus - I GET it now!)
- A walk with a very swinging back and a lot of overstep
- A croup that tended to be a bit more level
- A naturally low neck and head set, completing a level topline

This lovely horse illustrates ALL of the above points (Photo by Jennifer Buxton)

If any of you are thinking, well, DUH, RiderWriter, I'm sorry for my ignorance! I'm just excited that at the ripe old age of 48 I'm really connecting the dots. The more you learn, the less you find out you know...

Regarding way of going, I discovered the judges did not care for the horse that was big-striding, knee-lifting and went very fast. They also didn't like a small horse that went with its nose poked out and was also very fast. Oddly, the other horse I noticed that carried his head far in front of the vertical really split the judge's opinion: one scored him 83, the other 60! Normally the scores were five points apart at the most. I myself wasn't wild about that horse. But get this: he was 5th in the nation in the standings heading into the Derby finals this year, and finished 9th there! So that was a bit confusing.

In general, though, I agreed with the scoring. My very favorite horse, who I thought was just the epitome of class and beauty, finished third (he'd gotten 6th at the Derby finals), so I was good with that. His owner rode him, and another entrant that also belonged to her. What, two horses in this class? How lucky is she? Well, this is how lucky - there were three more ridden by a pro. Yes, this girl - a teenager - owned five horses in this class. FIVE! Horses of this caliber don't exactly come cheap, so we're talking, what, a half million dollars worth of horseflesh, all belonging to one kid??? Sheesh. Yes, she was a very decent rider, she'd actually been in the Maclay finals (riding one of her Derby horses) but finished well out of the ribbons. I was floored...
The second round of the Derby featured this trot in-and-out combo:

The second trot jump is the low double-log thing in the very middle of photo, on the left.

You can also see the rustic rail fences forming the "wings" of this complex (look on course map again). I believe there were a couple of stops here, but not because of any fright factor; it was pilot error. Nonetheless, it would certainly give me pause riding up to these. I'm pretty sure I jumped similar back in the day on the outside 4-H courses, but now a stiff post-and-rail would make my knees knock. And definitely not on one of these back-cracking beauties - no question of where I'd wind up! :-)

So that's my little roundup of the Hunter Derby. I personally found it super-exciting to watch - I actually had cold chills. If you have the opportunity to view one of these classes, I highly recommend it.

Horsemanship, Indeed - Part II

"Uh, I don't know." - Maclay Region 5 Finals competitor, when asked the breed of horse he was riding

To say I was disappointed in this young man's response is an understatement, and I have no doubt that Alfred B. Maclay would agree with me. Excuse me? This is supposed to be a Horsemanship class? Knowing the breed of horse you're sitting on, that you're supposed to have a partnership with, just might be something you ought to know? Now, I know a lot of these Big Eq horses are leased or borrowed. I suppose I could give the kid the benefit of the doubt and assume that maybe he'd just met the beast the day before. Maybe I'm being far too picky. However, I can tell you that I would want to know every single thing about a horse that was supposed to carry me to fame in short order, including what breed it is, but that's me...

I must have had a look on my face, because after that the boy did turn turn, mutter something to the groom who was busy cleaning his boots, and then reply to me, "Warmblood." Gee whiz, I never would have guessed! >.< (And for the record, yes Honey, I do know that Warmbloods come in specific breeds.) The reason I asked in the first place is that I was playing "spot the TB" during this class (and also during the Hunter Derby).

I'm afraid I came up blank... I could be wrong, but I doubt it. You already know Thoroughbreds are my favorite breed; back in the day, everyone in the H/J world rode them, including in the Big Eq. Here's some clips I found from the 1982 and 1984 Maclay Finals which illustrate this nicely:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zjlZie0UDM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbX16dX8880

In contrast, here's last year's Maclay winning rider, Hayley Barnhill, on a Warmblood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um4DJZ5jEI0

Whoo-ee, look at those olden-days riders go (especially Peter Wylde - he was flying)! I was cracking up at some of the Comments posted on these videos by today's youth, particularly the ones that noted, "Those horses look really hot" (I'm sure the kid who wrote that had absolutely no idea they were TBs) and "It looks really jumpery." Yes, that's how we used to do it, there was none of this slow n' genteel Warmblood loping around the course business (what's ironic, though, is today's courses are so twisty and technical they practically are jumper courses). You'd be left in the dust far behind the hounds if you tried that look in the real world, and hello, HUNTERS are supposed to be able to actually hunt! I've read stuff that says "we need Warmbloods to get down the lines," but maybe the course designers started building them longer when everyone began showing up on Warmbloods? Seems to me it's the classic chicken/egg conundrum.

Anyway, I saw no Thoroughbreds, which saddened me, but I did see some very nice horses. Some of those parents shell out serious money for a special Big Eq horse and for the most part I'd say they got their money's worth. I've heard that some are BTDT babysitters and others are real firecrackers, guaranteed to give anyone you have to swap with fits - I think I saw the latter in person during that first Big Eq class I watched the week before!

Let me hasten to add that in general I also was impressed with the sportmanship and conduct of the young people in this Maclay class. Their poise, class and nerves of steel were very evident. When you have worked your tail off to qualify for an event like this, it would be extremely upsetting when Horsie suddenly decides to be a jerk and buck and kick out when you ask him for a lead change, something I would imagine he's done perfectly thousands of times in the past. Or slam on the brakes in front of a reasonably-sized, non-scary oxer to which you've found a great distance. Maybe they went back to the schooling ring afterwards and had a meltdown, but I didn't see it happen in the ring. I saw smiles. I saw focus. One rider fascinated me for her absolutely neutral expression; I don't think I've ever seen someone with such immobile features, especially someone less than 18 years old. She kind of scared me!

I had a nice conversation with the young lady who wound up finishing third, while she was watching earlier go's. She was sweet, friendly, and didn't mind answering my questions. No stuck-up attitude there. I went back into the barn area to congratulate afterwards, and tell her I'd be looking for her in Lexington, but it was like she'd vanished into thin air: I could not find her or the horse. Oh, well, I remember her name, so that gives me at least one person I've met to root for. What's that? YES, I am going to the National Horse Show! I'm terribly excited and of course I'll be writing all about it. First time in 30 years or so that I'll see the Maclay finals... no Victor H-V announcing, no MSG, but that's okay, I'm still delighted the big event is finally going to be within driving distance.

As far as the results of the class, I mostly agreed with the placements. I kept careful notes. Here are my score sheets:

Out of 35, I really only saw one or two riders that I thought were clearly outclassed by the competition. Most fell somewhere into the middle, earning a Very Good from me. A couple were absolutely, obviously superlative, none more so than the eventual winner. Literally from the second she stepped into the ring, I just knew that she was top-notch. Why? Beautiful position. Invisible aids. Horse balanced perfectly between hand and seat. Legs nailed to horse's sides. If you look on the first page of my notes, you'll see her about 3/4 of the way down, with her number (204) and the word EXC. circled, along with a *. She also rocked the flat phase, which included a request for trot lengthening that went on... and on.... and on. My legs would have been Jello!  I told my daughter, who was watching with me (she's a "horse-liker," not "horse-lover," to borrow a phrase from a fellow blogger), "If that girl doesn't win I'm hanging up my helmet. She. Is. AWESOME."

On the other hand, I sure was perplexed at the choice of a couple who finished in the top 10. For example, #206 earned a No Good from me for her jumping round. Yet she was called back in the top group and finished 8th. Huh? (Contrast that to poor #10, who'd gotten an EXC., and fell out of the top group after the flat. Didn't see her do anything awful but she was out, replaced by #39 who'd been brought back in the second group). The one that bugged me the most, though, was one of the boys. He got an OK after jumping, but I thought his position was horrible. Very hunched over with a swinging leg. He finished FIFTH, and the only other boy got 4th (he'd earned a Very Good for his jumping and truly hadn't impressed me all that much). This annoyance was only reinforced when #5 boy appeared the next day in the Hunter Derby, more hunched than ever. I don't just mean over fences, either, though he did roach his back there in a way that would have GM in fits. No, he rode like my old trainer who was 50ish and had back trouble. But apparently his dad is some big cheese trainer??? Makes you wonder... Do you think maybe they like to send the boys off to the Finals, no matter what they look like, since there are so few of them?

A note, regarding tack and apparel: I think that maybe, just maybe, I saw a bit more variety in show coat color this year. Generally these riders are indistinguishable from one another, all sporting the ubiquitous greige Tailored Sportsman breeches, navy show coat, Ariat Monaco or custom boots and Charles Owen GR8 helmets. In addition to the slight variations in coats, I also spotted some of the "bug head" looking GPA Speed Air helmets with lots of vents, which I was a bit surprised to see in any hunter ring, much less this one. I thought those were favored by jumper riders. Nothing different in saddles, bridles, martingales or fleece pads, but that's no surprise. (What's fun to look at is those perfectly flat zero knee-roll saddles the riders are using in the old Maclay clips. I used to ride in one myself, and boy, do I appreciate the return of the padded flap!)

I will wrap up this discussion of the Maclay Regional with this moment, my favorite of the whole competition. As I said, I headed back to the barn area after the class was over. The first thing I saw was the rider who had finished 11th, still mounted on her horse. She had tears streaming down her face and was hugging and petting the horse over and over. Her mother was crying and petting the horse. The trainer was crying and hugging the mom, hugging the rider and hugging the horse. I heard the mother say, "I'm just so proud of you and you worked so hard for this!" It was all very emotional, and I was so glad to see it! Just writing about this is making me sniffle again. It was wonderful to witness true appreciation of achievement, and of course appreciation of the horse; after all, they're the ones who "do all the work." Wink, wink! :-)

Horsemanship, Indeed - Part I

To everyone in the Hunter/Jumper world, it's simply "the Maclay." The sight of that trophy alone is enough to almost move me to tears. When I think of the hopes and dreams, the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the win of every single rider's name engraved on it, I get the chills. Some of them are legends: Bill Steinkraus, Frank Chapot, George Morris. Some of them I've never heard of: Lane Schultz, Keri Kampsen. Every one of them, no matter how wealthy their parents, no matter how expensive the horse, still had to get on and ride. The Maclay may be the culmination of a nearly life-long dream for some of these young people, and there is nothing quite like watching them in the ring.

I grew up in New Jersey and was fortunate to have a mother for whom New York City was Mecca (I knew kids who never went into the City, despite our location only an hour away by car). For a number of years one of the highlights of my existence was our annual trip to the National Horse Show. Oh, the sheer magic of that show! I can just hear Victor Hugo-Vidal's voice booming over the loudspeaker. I would be beside myself with excitement over everything, but the Maclay in particular. Two years stand out in my mind: watching Leslie Burr win in 1972, and watching a young lady who boarded at Tricorne Farm, where I was a humble lesson student, compete. I can't remember if the latter made the cut or not, but just knowing someone in the ring was awesome. Mom and I have delighted in following Leslie's amazing career ever since. She hasn't done half-bad for someone who won the Maclay at age 15. :-)

The actual full name of the premier huntseat equitation competition for Junior riders in the US is the "National Horse Show ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Championship." However, if you look closely at that beautiful silver plate, you will see the words "Horsemanship Trophy." I found myself mulling that over a lot during the class here...

A little bit about the background of the competition: Mr. Maclay was one of the founding fathers of the American Horse Show Association, now the United States Equestrian Federation. He came up with the idea for the class while president of the National Horse Show. Here's a quote I found on the ASPCA website:

"The ASPCA Maclay, a championship class at the National Horse Show, was initiated in 1933 by Alfred B. Maclay, an ASPCA board member, accomplished horseman and president of the National Horse Show. Maclay conceived of a trophy that would inspire young riders to develop the best horsemanship skills and instill in them respect and compassion for their equine partners."

Here's a little more, found on this year's National Horse Show website:
"The first endeavor put forth by the organization called for amateur riders, 15 and under, to ride horses not exceeding 16 hands over a course of eight jumps that were no taller than three feet.  The contenders were judged on their seat and control of their mounts.  The “Horsemanship Cup” was donated by the late Alfred B. Maclay, an officer of the ASPCA and President of the National Horse Show from 1922-1924. Since that time, the Maclay Championship has been a significant presence in the Equestrian World, and cherished by those who have had the honor of competing."

Pretty funny that there were only eight jumps and a height restriction on the mounts! That's a far cry from today's Big Eq rings full of ginormous Warmbloods. So, on with the show I saw - 35 kids qualified for the Region 5 Maclay Final. Here's the course map:


A glance at this pretty much told me where the trouble spots were going to be. A look into the ring only added to that; Fence 8 was three options built out of these faux brick and stone elements, as seen in a prior equitation class (in the Maclay they were all 3'6"):

As always, sorry for the lousy photography - this ain't a photography blog! :-)

Definitely scary to some of the horses, I would say! I went in the ring and felt those blocks afterwards. They were heavy, and I'm sure gave any horse that touched them quite a whack. Anyway, besides 8, the other fence I predicted would be bad was the very last one. An oxer off a long, bending line, at the end when horse and rider would be tired and ready to be done, towards the in-gate... yep, watch out.

I was not proved wrong; a number of riders botched the last jump, some after an otherwise really good round. Lots and lots of chips occurred. I'm pretty sure the judges were looking for the brave riders to pick up a head of steam towards that jump and really show 'em what they could do, but most kids at least attempted to keep a steady pace. The horses occasionally had other ideas, unfortunately. Don't tell me they don't know when it's about over!

Fence 8 also was a real issue. To set yourself up for a good Fence 9, the smart thing to do was jump the most inside element of 8, and that's just what almost everyone tried to do. But the tight bend from Fence 7 proved to be a killer. Horse after horse arrived at 8 with a crappy distance, took a hard look, and then finally popped over from a near stand-still. It wasn't pretty.

What surprised me, however, was Fences 1 and 2. On paper you would think, no big deal, a related distance and an easy opening for the course, but NO: apparently it measured out as a looooooooong five strides. If you did not smoothly pick up the pace a couple strides before Fence 1 and jump in big, you were not going to make that distance (I think one rider on a smaller horse successfully stuffed in six strides). And then they had to immediately take back to make the tight turn to Fence 3! The kids that did this well made it look easy and graceful; those that didn't, well, it really separated the wheat from the chaff right away.

Every single element of this cleverly-built course tested these riders. 9A and B? Saw problems, including a refusal (rider's fault, lousy distance and horse said unh-uh). 6 to 7? More funny striding, I believe, plus the worry of the turn to 8, caused trouble. I think this course truly was an excellent test of these riders, and I remain impressed.

I think three out of the 35 made a tight inside turn from 4B to 5, without going around 2. I wish I could remember if the winner did - I believe so - but that was definitely an opportunity to show off if you were so inclined. This wasn't supposed to be a jumper round, of course, so making all the turns without your horse looking like a motorcycle on its side took skills I certainly don't possess.

Next up: Notes about riders, tack/apparel and horses

Grand Prix Notes, or Why I'm Furious With Myself Right Now

Boy, did I ever have a fun time last weekend. I got to see a whole lot of really fantastic horse showing. The only thing better, of course, would have been showing myself, but in the meantime I had a blast just watching!

First up was the $25,000 Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon. I missed the start as I had to work, but still got to see plenty of horses go. It had been raining, so the footing was a little puddle-y; I didn't see that affect any of the horses, but a nearby spectator said one had slipped earlier. I thought it was a tough but fair course. I forget what percentage course designers shoot for, for riders to go clear and make it to the jumpoff, but at this Prix we had five out of 20 make it. Maybe that's a little low? At any rate, in my humble opinion the horse that won was easily the best. He was a gorgeous jumper and went around so smoothly, you would have thought he was negotiating a Short Stirrup Adult Hunter course and not fences nearly as tall as I am. No fighting the bit, or the aids, just glide, jump, glide. VERY impressive! His rider, a young lady, was grinning from ear-to-ear during the victory gallop, which pleased me no end. I get pretty disgusted with equestrians who can't be bothered to show any emotion when they win. Would it kill you to smile, already?

HOLY CR*P! I am sitting here with my mouth on my keyboard. I was just about to write that I had not recognized any of the riders in this GP, and decided to double-check my list. There was one name that suddenly rang a bell so I Googled it... are you ready for this? It was HIM! Michael Morrissey, who whipped the hell out of a horse and made himself famous overnight on the Internet and was sanctioned by the FEI and USEF! I saw him and I didn't even realize it! *FAIL* Well, all I can say is I didn't see any rider beating on his horses - he rode two, one of which was the whipped horse, Crelido - so he must not have, but believe me, if I'd known who I was dealing with I would have had my eagle eyes on and also paid a visit back stage to his barn area. OOH, I am so mad at myself!!! I simply can't stand it!

Seriously, I am so disenheartened and angry I don't even want to finish this post now, but I will. I guess I can't fault myself too badly over not immediately recognizing his name, but I pride myself on things like that so grrr, just grrrrrrr... :-( I'm not surprised Michael was in this GP since it was a smaller one, and I would assume his career has not exactly been stellar since the whipping incident. I think it's safe to say he's definitely in the lower ranks now.

Anyway, I did take photos during the Grand Prix and I have a few to share. All I had was my cell phone camera, so I'm afraid these (and all the rest that I took at the show) are not going to be top-quality. The only decent "horses in mid-air" photos I got are from the GP, I assume because the light is a lot better outdoors. And guess what I just found? Some of Mr. Morrissey riding his second horse of the day, which is not owned by him (Crelido is):

 

Hmm, what's that I spy in his right hand.... Yes, I know the jumper riders usually do carry a bat, but if I were him I'd be mighty cautious about that! I wish I could recall how this pair finished but I don't know. I tried to Google the results and zilch is coming up (can you tell this has been a frustrating day). All I can say is I know he didn't win with either horse! Here's a few others from the GP:

And finally, one last one from the professionals who were on hand (yay, finally a decent photo! :-) ):

I noticed something interesting when I scanned the list of riders after the class: three of them were young ladies who I also saw competing in the Big Eq classes. I knew this was a trend, Jr. riders running around in Grand Prixes, but hadn't actually seen this before myself. These girls did a good job and one even made it to the jump-off. Unfortunately, her horse decided to throw in a dirty, dirty stop at the liverpool jump, promptly flinging her into one of the jump standards. She didn't hop up immediately which scared us all, but she finally did rise and was able to ride the horse in the victory gallop, so I imagine she was just well-bruised. If I were her I'd be pretty mad at the horse since the fool thing had already jumped the water just fine in the first round, but that's horses for ya!

Next up will be a discussion of the Maclay Region 5 Finals.

The BIG SHOW is here!

First of all, a housekeeping note: I am pretty aggravated with myself for not blogging more often, and I need to change that. I started this blog with plans to cover a lot of anecdotal ground and wheel out all my best horse-related stories and memories from the past. And I still have plenty of those, never fear! :-) Then I decided to cover more current events as well. But I'm still feeling frustrated with that approach, and want to write more often, so I think I'll be throwing in some more horse-related "train of thought" type posts, just whatever crosses my mind or intrigues me or interests me (and hopefully you) in the horse world. If this isn't making any sense I apologize... I just really want to write more and keeping finding myself thinking, "No, wait, that doesn't really go with what I said the blog was going to be about," and feeling discouraged. I want to knock that off and get some more stuff up here! So look out for more frequent posts (hopefully) on a variety of topics.

Having said that, stay tuned for reports on current events in my horsey life. Namely, I'll be watching and blogging about the following awesome events this weekend at the St. Louis National Charity Horse Show:

- A $25,000 Grand Prix
- The ASPCA Maclay Zone 7 Regional Finals
- A $15,000 USHJA Hunter Derby!

I am just soooo darn excited about the Derby! We always have the Maclay Regionals and a Grand Prix, but now they've added that and I absolutely can't wait to see it. I think it's wonderful that these competitions were started (not too long ago) in response to a growing segment of horse people who said, "You know, how about if we return to the roots of what hunters are supposed to do, and have classes with fences like you might actually find in a hunt field?" A pretty front end and great way of going are still required, but in Derbies the horses are asked to jump natural fences such as post and rail, hedges, coops, and water, along with some tight turns, roll backs and optional fences. It's like an amped-up Handy Hunter class (which are also becoming more popular, I've noted), kind of Hunters Plus Jumpers. Way cool! If you'd like to see some truly excellent hunter showing, the final rounds of last month's International Hunter Derby Finals are available for free here. I spent a very happy hour or so watching that yesterday. If you have not seen/heard about this, you will be simply astounded at the age of the winning rider... *

Back in my 4-H days we competed on outdoor hunter courses. These were in a huge grass field containing jumps like post and rail, coops and brush boxes. These classes scared me pretty badly because the mare and gelding I rode would get excited, I would be nervous and accordingly, we did not have the best brakes (alas, steering also barely functioned). We would rip around at Mach 3, slamming to almost a halt in time to jump. Not the prettiest rounds, obviously, but we'd place because others were even worse. Oh, well! (My most favorite story ever though is the time I was showing over this course and managed a blue ribbon, purely because I was the only one who had remembered to put the chin strap down on her hard hat. According to 4-H rules, that made me the winner - LOL!)

I saw another Big Eq class last week, a Zone Final for the USHJA competition. That was fun to see as well. I felt pretty sorry for the kids, because one of the fences was this:

Hoo, boy, did that sucker cause a lot of trouble! I saw one horse spook halfway across the ring just passing it on his opening circle. Not only did they have to get over this, it was located on a bending line from a prior fence, and to get to that fence required a nasty tight turn. The smart kids jumped the prior fence at a major angle, to give themselves a bit more room to the wave jump. Even then, at least one third of the horses slammed on the brakes and wanted nothing to do with it. Most took it the second time but one poor girl had three refusals and was excused. Incidentally, the spooking-on-the-circle horse did jump it. They got well-deserved applause! Also, the horses that jumped the fence the first time often took off the top rail. I felt badly for the jump crew because they were running out there after practically every round.

Another problem area (and I apologize, if I had better computer drawing skills I'd try to recreate the course here for you) was an in-and-out set across the middle of the ring, instead of lengthwise. These jumps were built out of single rails with a small wooden cutout underneath; so airy, and apparently, rather spooky as well. A lot of horses gave these fences a good hard look and I saw several refusals. One girl (they were all girls this time) swam through and absolutely demolished both jumps. I know that horse had some majorly stinging shins.

The top two in this Eq class had to swap horses. The first to ride the test again on a borrowed horse did a lousy, lousy job. I bet the judges wound up being a bit sorry they had to place her second. She barely could get the horse to canter, much less counter-canter to a jump, as they were required to do. The girl who rode her horse, on the other hand, absolutely nailed the test. Very clearly the winner! I was glad to even see a test run because in the last two Maclay Regionals, they didn't even do one, much less make them swap. I thought that was not doing the kids any favors because they certainly will be asked to test and probably swap at the Finals. We shall see what happens this year. (I promise to take more photos and also will get some of the course diagrams - duh)


* If you don't have time to watch I'll go ahead and tell you: she is FOURTEEN. Egads. And, this is the part that really blows my mind - she beat her own trainer, not to mention a ton of top pros. That is some performance! She is a very, very gifted rider with beautiful form and quiet hands. And talk about poise! Now, call me catty, but I also do not think it hurts that the critter she was riding probably cost more than my house, and is just one of a string of spectacular show horses that "she" (actually her dad's company) owns. I read an interview with the young lady and she mentioned that he was originally purchased as an Eq horse but "we decided to make him a hunter." I found this quite interesting because as they were jumping I immediately noticed the horse was far more of a splinter-belly, flat, Eq-style jumper than most of the other competitors who demonstrated lovely hunter bascules. So why exactly he was placed so high I don't quite get... aside from the facts that he looked like an absolutely saint, had a metronomic canter and did the entire course including hairpin turns with his ears pricked and an air of enjoyment. THAT I heartily approve of! :-)