The Sport of Dressage in a Post-Valegro World

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Britt

Ahead of Valegro’s retirement next month at Olympia, Horse & Hound released this tear-jerking video congratulating Blueberry on an epic career.

Since I can’t be there to watch the ceremony (tickets are already sold out for the December 14th show), instead I find myself looking ahead. What will the sport of dressage look like after Valegro?

For one, I’m going to guess that there’s a lot of riders out there who will be glad to see Valegro back home and not in the dressage court, since it will mean a chance at them finally capturing the blue ribbon, or the gold medal, or what have you. But besides that, I think there is going to be other effects of the Charlotte-Valegro sensation.

One trend I expect to see is a continuing rise of helmets worn at upper level competition. This year’s Olympics saw the entire British team sporting hard hats, and more surprisingly, the introduction of media outlets questioning the decision of other teams (*cough* Germany *cough*) on the absence of the safety gear. Charlotte Dujardin makes for a wonderful role model, and I think the trickle-down effect of helmet popularity will still continue after Blueberry’s retirement.

What I wonder about most is how the training and breeding of dressage horses will change (or not) going forward. Will breeders see Valegro as a one-hit-wonder from a bloodlines point of view? Or will we see start to see less emphasis on flashy front ends (a la Totilas) and more impressive backsides (bottoms like a cook, as Carl Hester put it) coming forward?

And then training- though the world dressage scene largely rails against rolkur methods, we still see unsightly images from warmups and even on the world’s largest stage that indicate it’s still around and in use at the highest levels. With part of Blueberry’s success surely due to his relaxation in the ring, will we see others follow suit? (As I hypothesize that a horse in rolkur could not possibly be relaxed, or appear relaxed)

Or, with the shining king of relaxation and power on the sidelines, can we expect the flashy, prancy movers with an overtight topline to rein once more?

My hope is that the legacy of Valegro will not fade away with his retirement, and that it will inspire a new generation of riders to adopt some of the lessons learned from him and Charlotte. That is, be safe, be smart, be happy. Focus on the well being of the horse and the correctness of his movement, and don’t cut corners in training to get to the top. The next 4 years leading up to Tokyo 2020 will be defining time period for the sport, and I hope that those with influence lead us down the path that Valegro and Charlotte created.

Breyers, Breyers, Everywhere

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Britt

So, fun fact, my parents are selling their house next year.

What does that mean for me? Well, it means all the things that I still have there have finally got to come home.

While my art supplies and old paintings came home some years ago, there was one collection that still lingered in the attic- my Breyer collection. To the uninitiated, these are resin sculptures of [mostly] real horses and stand about 8″ tall.

My parents gave me my first Breyer horses when I was 6 or 7. These included a Shetland pony that resembled my then-pony, Heidi, a Welsh model, and a fancypants black unicorn.

The OGs

While the unicorn was a bit fanciful for my oddly-literal childhood tastes, I couldn’t get enough of the model horses. Case in point? Thanks to the movie Twister, and a resulting terror of tornados, whenever it would storm hard in the summer I would do two things- run out into the rain and bring in my real-life Shetland pony into a stall, and make up a “Tornado bag” with my favorite things (no idea what the logic was here), which always included my Welsh pony Breyer.

I started asking for a Breyer model at every special occasion, and began hunting for them while antiquing with my mother. As I got older I became more interested in limited editions and the like, and soon, my collection of 3 had grown to 70.

A sampling of the Breyers taking over my dining room table

Going through these boxes after packing them up almost a decade ago has been quite the trip down memory road. Most of them I can associate with a place I’ve been to, or a moment in time. There’s the vintage classic sized Black gelding I found at an antique fair in Wyoming. The Art Deco model my mother surprised me with for Christmas back when Fine Art (his brother) lived down the road. The set of Chincoteague ponies we got signed on our trip to watch the real ones swim the channel.

His tail snapped off in the recent move, and I haven’t gotten around to gluing it back on… No judging.

While all were very special to me at one point in time, I can’t possibly keep them all. A few, like my precious, beat-up old Welsh model, I can’t bear to part with for obviously sentimental reasons. Likewise, the Salinero model above that my teammates signed for me the year I captained the dressage team. But the rest are going to new homes where hopefully some other budding equestrian or enthusiast will love them and appreciate them too.

Did any of you have an equestrian-related collection growing up?

Let’s Discuss: How do you express yourself?

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Britt

There are those on the internet that equate equestrians to the sports version of crazy-cat-ladies. Think I’m joking? Here’s a quote from a (admittedly deplorable) website cautioning against the “crazy horse girl”:

And finally there are girls who really, really love horses. Like, a lot. For these girls, horses are a way of life. They frequently wear their riding boots to class, get teary-eyed talking about the stables, and almost universally possess a weird talent for drawing their favorite horses on huge sheets of charcoal paper. Three-fourths of their Instagram are horse headshots with captions like “Riding is life” or “Thunder is the sound of hoofbeats in heaven”. These girls are unequivocally crazy.

A quick look at my Instagram feed and it’s quickly obvious that I fall into this category.

Yup, crazy horse girl alert

But let’s say I’ve met a new person, one who hasn’t yet have accessed my social media account. Your typical stranger in a bar scenario, or the person sitting next to you on a plane. Would they know I was an equestrian just to look at me? How proudly do I let my ~~freak~~ equestrian flag fly?

Typically, I avoid wearing anything obviously horsey out and about, unless at a specifically horsey venue. Tempting as it is to wear that super cute sweater from Nordstrom’s, I just can’t bring myself to wear this to work or elsewhere, lest I become tempted to start cantering down the halls.

Can’t wear this….

Or else…

Not that I am ashamed of being an equestrian, but I prefer to keep my ~~obsession~~ love just below the surface to those that don’t know me. And my avoidance of equine themed sweaters doesn’t mean I exclude all wearables- I personally enjoy wearing subtly equestrian items, such as this Snaffle bit bracelet, or a purse made out of saddle leather.

But of course, that’s just me. Instead, I choose to plaster social media, my personal spaces (house post coming soon), and in general conversations are all sated with equestrian references.

It’s my choice to hide the crazy horse girl within from complete strangers, and allow more personal touches to celebrate all things horsey. What about you guys? Do you proudly wear your equestrianism on your sleeve? What public shows of equestrian do you make in your life? Where do you draw the line as “just too much”?

Photography Friday: A Day at the Zoo

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Britt

Things have been a little quiet on the blog recently, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been busy! The husband and I took advantage of my work conference in San Diego and tacked a vacation on after the knowledge drop was complete. And since no trip to San Diego would seem complete without a trip to the zoo, I’d love to share this little bit of wild with you guys!

A juvenile giraffe was really curious about my camera’s shutter clicks

My spirit animal slash favorite animal of all time, the Okapi

So soft. So elegant. So weird.

Happy Friday!

Interview with an Equine Vet

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Britt

Dr. Nikki Schweizer is a dear friend of mine, and is the founder of Henry River Mobile Vet. Today, she kindly answered a few questions about the journey to DVM and the joys and challenges of her mobile practice.

Where did you attend school?
I went to NCSU undergrad- animal science and German. Then I was thrilled to be accepted to NCSU vet school. I was granted an interview at Florida but promptly let them know I wasn’t coming when I got my acceptance letter. I also did an internship in ruminant (cows, sheep, goats) medicine and surgery at NCSU following vet school.

What are the best/worst parts of attending veterinary school?
Best thing about vet school is the people you meet- classmates professors ect. They really become your support system for the rest of your life. I talk to classmates daily! Not only are they the ones to call if you aren’t quite sure what to do with a case but they also are the ones that understand your days. They understand your victories when you are covered in blood placenta and poop but you delivered a live calf and how bad the days are when you help your clients say bye to their beloved horse of 30+ years. That support system is what gets me through the day!
The worst part is the course load with some semesters upwards of 20 hrs of professional school work you feel like you are living test to test. If I could go back I’d tell myself to really listen to and admire the people in the front of the room- they are wicked smart! Also to learn the info not just for the test- easy to say now because I have real world experiences to link them to.

What is the most bizarre thing would have seen in your practice?
Strangest case- I definitely saw a horse on the roof of the barn at Christmas! Unfortunately it was euthanized due to injuries associated with punching feet through a metal roof. Moral of the story- but up a door/fence/ barrier of some kind to the stairs to your loft! Spooked horses will run up anything but will not come back down!!

What’s the one piece of advice you wish you could give your clients?
I would really like to tell clients that no- you, the Internet, or your trainer does not always know best for your horse. We went to school for specifically your horses well being and we do continuing education every year (20 hours in NC) and we really do know what we are talking about. If you call is and ask our opinion please listen to it!

Let’s Discuss: Bits Bits Bits

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Britt

After hopping from horse to horse over the last several months, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to try out various bits in my arsenal on my rides.

Foster in a full cheek Waterford for XC

Like any other equestrian, I’ve got a fair share of bits in my arsenal, ranging from varying snaffles, to the Wonder bit I ran Foster in, and up to and including Waterfords and a slow twist full cheek snaffle.

Assuming the size is appropriate, the first bit I try on any new ride is my double jointed snaffle. If the horse is young or green, typically I pull out the full cheek version for a bit of stability.

Smitty and Riley both seemed rather mouthy with this bit, so the next move for me tends to be the single jointed snaffle. Normally this does the trick, and it did/has with both of those guys.

Foster was a bit trickier in the mouth, so we played around with several options before I found what worked for him. That ended up being a shaped Herm Sprenger bit that allowed him space for his fat tongue, but kept all the mechanics of your typical loose ring.

I definitely subscribe to the idea that all horses are individuals and not ever one is going to appreciate a simple snaffle. As a rider, it’s our job to learn what our mounts appreciate, and don’t appreciate, and pair smart bitting choices with tactful hands. In my opinion, sometimes a stronger bit is a good idea if it prevents unsafe runaways and allows the rider to use minimal tugging and pulling in order to maintain control.

What about you? What bits do you have in your arsenal? Do you have a go-to bit that you try on all horses? What is the strangest or most unique bitting solution you have used?

PS, if you want to learn about how bits work, this is a fairly good video showing varying bit mechanics:

Snaffles if at all possible, then single link, etc

Good morning from San Diego! (And blogger meet up)

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Britt

Sorry for the radio silence, y’all! I’m off on a work trip, visiting the beautiful city of San Diego and getting a knowledge drop from my fellow creatives.

First impression of this place is that it is just stunning! L of Viva Carlos and Carey of Jump Pretty One Day showed off their local tack store and made it a point to get me out of my pants.

That is to say, I was made to try on a whole bunch of jods and attempt expanding my horizons beyond my beloved Kerrits. Romf Sarafina breeches, you are officially on my wish list.

They then toured me around the gorgeous Del Mar Horse Park (that GP field is to die for) and we exchanged clinician horror stories over a glass of wine. Well, it was my glass of wine and their stories. But still.

What a wonderful first day here, and I’m already hoping I can find an excuse (*wink wink nudge nudge girls) to come back next year!

Let’s Discuss: Hallowhatwouldyoube?

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Britt

Happy Halloween!

Let’s take a trip to Imaginationland this morning… I hope you’ve had your caffeine already!

If you and your horse were to dress as a dynamic duo for Halloween, what would you be?

I’m fairly positive that this is Smitty and I:

Yup, definitely us.

Who would you and your equestrian friend be for Halloween?

Photography Friday: Smitty Sneak Peak

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Britt

I have a little secret to share!

A couple weeks ago, I made the impulsive decision to have some photos made of Smitty and I. Because who needs to do things like pack the day before a show when instead you can get all gussied up? But after seeing the work of Studio in the Stable, I was sold.

PC: Studio in the Stable

To say I am thrilled with this image is an understatement- and I can’t wait to see the rest!

Happy Friday, y’all!

Smitty goes to Bootcamp

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Britt

Smitty’s cold is basically gone, and with a calendar full of work conferences and dare I say, vacation, on the horizon, I decided he could handle a job while I’m away.

Enter bootcamp.

I’ve never had the luxury of being able to have a horse trained by someone else, but after finding a somewhat local rider with a reasonably priced training program, I’m excited to give it a whirl.

While there, Smitty will be ridden 5x a week, these rides being broken down into a hack day, 2 jumping days, and 2 flatwork days. Hopefully seeing a new place and getting over colored sticks more often than what I have been able to accomplish will be good for him, and for me in the long run.

This evening I’ll be packing up his saddle and bridle and taking ponykins to his home away from home for the next two weeks. I’m excited to see what he learns while I’m away!