Team Dressage Observations

I just watched the end of the team dressage competition. Has anyone else given thought to the fact that this is a sport where women were not allowed to compete for years, I guess because it came out of military moves, and now they dominate the sport? The German gold team had no men on it and the silver and bronze teams had one man each. Women had the very top scores--even one of the U.S.A.'s women is 7th overall. Stephan Peters (originally German, now ours) is #10 overall, which may make him the top scoring man in the competition, but I'd have to go back to NBC to be sure; one of the guys on a medal team may be higher, but the other is not.

I've got a theory about this: women do better with the partnership concept that is so important to dressage.

So why do I have to be up at 4 a.m. to watch this stuff live? You folks on the east coast have it easier than we do. I'm not complaining too much: I love the fact that we can watch all of the horse competition for the first time ever. And I did get to watch the final four riders and the award ceremony this morning at a reasonable hour. Good thing I went into work early. The high speed internet at home has had a few hiccups when I've tried to watch there.

Last night, I noted with annoyance that the Oxygen recap only showed portions of the first day of dressage, with the exception of the U.S. rider. Since she's in 7th place going into finals, that was not such a bad decision.

I'm planning on watching the many hours of replay of team dressage because I want to watch some of the other rounds, like that of the 67 year old Japanese rider. He had the team's top score, but he didn't make the finals. That's o.k. It gives all of us hope--and an argument when family members (like my mother) think I'm too old to be messing around with horses.

I think they should put medals around the necks of the horses. They did all the work. I'm just saying....

Olympic Riding

For those of you who are like me and want to know when the Equestrian events of the 2008 Olympics will be broadcast, I found this list:

Date: Program–Time (EST) on Channel

Aug. 9: 3-Day: Dressage–2:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on USA
Aug. 11: 3-Day: Cross- Country–6:00pm-8:00pm OXYGEN
Aug. 12: 3-Day: Stadium Team Gold Medal Final–6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 13: Dressage–6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 14: Dressage Team Gold Medal Final–6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 15: Show Jumping–6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 16: Dressage Individual–5:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. MSNBC
Aug. 17: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final 1st Round–10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m on NBC
Aug. 18: Show Jumping Team Gold Medal Final Round–6:00pm-8:00 p.m. OXYGEN
Aug. 19: Dressage Individual Gold Medal Final–6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on OXYGEN
Aug. 21: Show Jumping Individual Gold Medal Final–10:00am-1:00 pm on NBC

For many of these times, it looks like things scheduled for MSNBC will run three hours earlier out here on the left coast (according to the schedule I found in The Equestrian News.) There's live streaming broadband of most of the events at http://www.NBCOlympics.com, including next weeks' dressage competitions. The OXYGEN times look like they will run at PDT at the indicated times. You can sign up for an e-mail alert for the NBC streaming video here, on an event by event basis.

The Spooking Chronicles, Part What?

The stinker took advantage of me when I probably should not have been taking a lesson on Monday and did another big spook. Again, I did stay on, but because I wasn't feeling well, it took me a bit more to get it under control. I also came out of contact with the seat because I got pulled forward and, apparently, I hit him with the whip.

I've been repeating the word Whoa! a lot. Gayle said I totally forgot it and I finally yelled it at him. He did stop when he heard it from me.

Clearly, this is the new evasion to avoid real work. It was a successful strategy in the past (Rod Bergen is so wrong about horses being unable to strategize), but I'm not going to be put off by it again. Eventually, he'll have to try something else. I'm much less bothered when he decides that a collected back up will work.

Gayle did say that I had a great collected canter underneath me when he took off. All I can say is, he feels like a whole lot bigger horse when his back is up under me. There's a lot of power when that engine is engaged.

Gayle asked me if Ashley could ride Ace in a dressage clinic at the end of the month (actually, it's June 1, I think) and, of course, I said yes. I'll go and watch. They'll be sharing the spot with the warmblood and rider they often take lessons with. The mare is about a hand and a half taller than Ace and proportionally bigger. So it is quite entertaining to watch them keep up or or slow down to stay with each other.

Visiting Vento

My friend Melinda Snodgrass, who bred the Arabian Prince I've owned for six years, just bought herself a wonderful Christmas present: a beautiful Lusitano stallion. He was imported from Brazil in the spring and has been living at Brookside Equestrian Center outside of Los Angeles. He's five years old.

People have some peculiar ideas about stallions being unmanageable or a danger to have around. I suppose this could be true, but I've recently had experience with two different stallions who are amazingly well mannered and give an absolute lie to this preconception. Both of them are far better mannered than some of the mares and geldings I've seen people own. Of course, the stallions' owners are both outstanding "lead mares."

Vento will be Melinda's new dressage horse. She lost her beloved Hanovarian, Steppi, about 18 months ago to colic. Vento's a bit smaller than Steppi was and Melinda really looks perfectly matched on him. I think it would be great to see him with a big red ribbon underneath her Christmas tree.


I figured I ought to go out and meet him while I had the opportunity. I even let "Talky Tina" direct me to go through downtown Los Angeles (early Sunday morning) to get there, which took about 45 minutes. If I tried that on a weekday, I'd still be in traffic.

When I got there, I was introduced as "Vento's visitor." "Vento gets visitors!" the trainer announced. He's supposed to be on a transport to his new home this week and I am so happy for Melinda. Vento looks like Shadowfax. He's got a ways to go before he is totally white (most white horses start off dark and shed out over time, but their skin remains dark underneath and technically they are called "grays" not "whites.") Vento's knees look like he was playing in coal, and there's still plenty of dark in his mane and tail, but he is expected to completely gray out.

The Brookside Equestrian Center was the location for the shoot of the 1940s version of National Velvet with Elizabeth Taylor. When I saw the film recently, I wondered where it had been done and I saw something on line which suggested at least part of it had been shot in Pebble Beach.

Brookside is gorgeous, but Melinda told me that when it was purchased by the current owner in the 1980s, it was a mess. I was very impressed with the way hoof cookies were cleaned up immediately and piddle spots were quickly washed down. The stalls were large and well-bedded, the tack pristine, and the people really nice. And there's a huge covered arena. When I got back to my barn, I told my friend that it's too bad the commute would be impossible, because we'd both enjoy having our horses at Brookside. There's nothing like it nearby, unfortunately.

Riding Lesson

Last night, I took a lesson in my Cadillac of a dressage saddle for the second time. I feel like I am bouncing on the back of the horse and that the saddle makes a terrible squeaking sound. I suppose that will get better as the saddle breaks in, but until then, it is a bit disconcerting.

The horse seems mostly happy with the saddle unless it slips into his shoulder blade. Then he does what my friend Melinda calls "the flamingo." He lifts his left leg and stands on three feet. Because I don't see it very often when I ride the western saddle, and I used to see it when I rode in my other dressage saddle, it suddenly struck me that he's been trying to tell me something. In fact, when the saddle is placed correctly, he's fine. It was only after I had ridden for a while that he did it and we discovered the saddle had slipped. I may have to spring for that more expensive, newer model girth to keep things where they belong.

I had a lot of trouble keeping my toes turned in while moving my hips forward last night. Practice, practice, practice.