Today, I'm participating in the ultimate in elitist luxuries: I'm paying two big strong men to spend all day taming the forest of weeds that is otherwise known as my yard. I've been a haphazard gardener in the past, but for the past two years, I've let my springs and summers get busy with other crap, and just haven't taken the time to do anything ( Read more... )

I've discovered that Monaco's best gait is actually reverse. Yes, that's right... he is extremely talented at backing up. A number of dressage tests include a movement called a "rein back." From a halt, the horse takes 3 or 4 steps backwards, followed by a forwards walk or trot. Many horses really don't like going backwards. They toss their heads ( Read more... )

Although NBC pretty much ignored Dressage during the Olympics, showing only the dressage part of the 3 Day Eventing (which doesn't count... I'm showing at a higher level of dressage than the Olympic event people!), they have provided a complete recording of the Dressage Freestyle Finals online from start to finish, including breaks and the medal ( Read more... )

Last weekend was a 3-day show at Lake Oswego Hunt Club. The Hunt Club is an interesting place because it's a beautiful old facility that used to be a polo club years ago and is now a designated historic site. It has no money, and it's sadly neglected, but it's in a beautiful location in the middle of Lake Oswego (which is where all the rich and ( Read more... )

Dressage Freestyles can be amazing, especially when performed at the highest level as I posted yesterday, but even low level freestyles can be fun to watch for non-dressage people. Unfortunately, they are a pain in the arse to put together.
Coming up with suitable music is really, really hard. It can't have any lyrics, and it has to be vanilla ( Read more... )