Still in Austin - Can I make it one more day??

OMG, my blog got picked up by WEF PR.  That’s enough of a caveat in itself!

For today’s blog, I thought I might write about some of the pro riders, trends, and play a little game that I have invented called “bansion or mansion?”  Don’t like this plan? Too bad.

During my first week at WEF I spent a lot of time watching both hunters and jumpers being flatted.  But one thing was consistent for both, and that was draw reins.  Cover your eyes COTH readers, that’s right, draw reins are king.  Honestly, I saw nary a pro hacking a horse that didn’t have draw reins on in some form or fashion.  Some with traditional leather hooked to the girth between the legs or at the sides, and others with leather for the reins but rope for the area that runs through the bit and to the horse.  I know that draw reins are much to the disdain of many riders (including Mr. Morris himself), but I will tell you, it did not matter the level of fame of the pro, how good of a horseman or woman I considered them, or if I did not know them from Adam, almost every single horse I saw out hacking was doing so in Draw reins.  

I somewhat already wrote about this, but jumpers mostly had bobbed tails, bobbed manes, and any sort of combination of soft shell coat/helmet configuration you can think of.  I also saw a lot of colored “techno” stirrups, and some varied very interesting high tech gear such as kinesiotape on a horse’s back.  Bits really ran the gambit of almost every set up you can imagine, but 90% were in running martingales at the levels I watched.  

For the hunters, it was honestly a snooze fest.  I was very surprised by the lack of fashion forward looks.  I was ready to see hunter riders with silver buttons (LIKE THE COAT I WANTED), piped collars, and contrasting lapels!  What I saw in reality was navy, more navy, and a few blacks with soft shells accounting for only 20-30% of the riders.  White is the only color of shirt to be seen, with tan pants.  Also interestingly, Tailored Sportsman has really lost their stranglehold on the market.  I’m aware that Pikeur started to make a move a few years ago, but really I saw just as many Animo, Tredstep, and Equine Couture breeches as I did Pikeur or TS.  

For the horses, beautiful movement and jump never goes out of style, but these horses have beautiful movement and jump unlike anything I’ve shown against.  I don’t know where they find these freaks of nature coughcougheuropecoughcough, but they were really incredible to watch.  For those of you in hopes of bringing the TB back, I have bad news, I saw none.  The warmblood is still ruling the field, though many will be happy to know that none that I watched go looked over medicated or particularly dead.  Though the sport seems to get a bad rap for sedated, on the forehand horses, going 0mph and looking like slugs, I just simply didn’t see it. However, don’t forget your fake tail; it’s really a requirement at this point.  I’m not talking ridiculous blunt cut fakes, but it needs to be full or you’ll just look silly.

Hunter tack was also very conservative and traditional.  Whatever fancy saddle you so choose, shaped white fleece pad, plain leather girth (gone were the washable fleece girths of a few years ago), dark brown conservative bridle (trending away from the wide flat nose bands and more towards wide raised nose bands), and standing martingale.

Although D rings were really the only thing I saw horses showing in (except a few full cheeks scattered here and there), in the morning during our early call hack in the ring, loose rings and gags were the most popular bit.  I actually school DC in a gag myself as he tends to get heavy, and I certainly wasn’t the only one.  Most flatters were flatting in something other than what I would imagine them showing in, specifically loose rings being the most popular.  Granted this is only a sample from one day, but that’s my take at least.  

WEF certainly has introduced me to some different aspects of showing, and I’ve accounted for a few of these already, but here is an abbreviated list (yes, this is what abbreviated looks like).

FEI stabling grounds – I’m sure most of my well educated readers are aware, but horses competing in FEI classes are stabled apart from everyone else on the show grounds.  This was new to me, as honestly, I’ve never been to a show with FEI classes before now.  The reason for this is that FEI has much stricter standards for medications than normal USEF rules.  As a result they segregate the horses to prevent any “accidental” mingling of drugs.  That, and they get their own pretty entrance to show how important they are

Orders of go – Every class has a posted order of go, period.  Conflicts are not taken lightly, you get your butt to the ring or you don’t show.

Ring juggling – Divisions switch rings every day, and you rarely show in the same ring twice in one show.  Not only that, but a ring might be a hunter ring one day, a jumper ring the next, and then back to a hunter ring the day after.  The sheer man power it would take just to move the jumps each night is mind boggling.

Schooling – On Tuesday before the show started, there was one hunter ring open for schooling.  You had an order of go, wore a back number, and it was tightly controlled.

Lack of schooling – Other than Tuesday, there is no other schooling available, period.  I’m very used to being able to get into my ring the day before showing to get a feel for how the jumps ride, and letting my horse get used to his surroundings.  Forget it in WEF.

Off show stabling – At least half, if not more, of the horses do not stable on the show grounds.  Off show stabling actually seems to be preferred to the show tents and barns.  You’re likely to get turn out, your own arena, and a quiet place for you and your horse to relax.  On the flip side it takes 3 eons to get to the ring (see point 2).

Shopping – I just blogged about this yesterday, but it’s unreal.  Seriously.  

Friendliness – I’m sure most won’t believe me, but honestly I’ve not come across a group of more friendly people at a show ever.  The support amongst the riders (in my division at least) was genuine, refreshing, and so nice.

Saturday Evening Festivities – I only saw one, but it was bat shit crazy.  Can’t wait for the next!

That’s all for now, I’m quite confident I’ll find more this week.

And now, for this blog's game of bansion or mansion….

Pic 1 - Bansion or Mansion?

 

Pic 2 - Bansion or Mansion?

Back in Austin - Let's talk about shopping!

I mean the show grounds.  Yes of course that's what I meant.

Today's caveat is for everyone who has said such nice things about my blog.  You guys really are the best, and are encouraging me to keep writing!  

I am home, more sadness abounding, though none in relation to lead changes currently.  

Really home isn’t so bad, its got DH, my dogs, and my BBH (Big Black Horse), all of whom I missed terribly, though as DH would say, maybe not in that particular order.  But it’s COLD here.  Along with the rest of the country (except South Florida) we are having one of the worst winters I can ever remember.  No, it’s not snowing, but the high today is 40, and tomorrow morning it will be in the 20s!  Our normal averages are mid 60s for highs with only a few freezes to maybe kill some bugs or something.  I’m sure cold has its advantages; I just don’t particularly see them very clearly as I shiver for the duration of winter.  

Thankfully since I am home, I have my trusty friend Suzanne to run over to Wellington for me, feed DC his necessary allocation of treats, and perform my minion duties.  Essentially he now has two minions plus his grooms, again his master plan is working out very well indeed.

During this down time, I thought I might take some time to write about the show grounds.  Here is the pic of the map I took after spending approximately 2 years trying to find the elusive ring 6.   

As you can see, this is only the main show grounds, and not the accessory show grounds.  I don’t actually know what the other show grounds are actually called, accessory seems appropriate to me.  Honestly, the main grounds are enough to make anyone’s head spin. 

One of the most important things to note is the size of the show grounds in comparison to the number of parking slots.  One would hope that the parking spaces drawn were merely a representation of the real number, but I assure you that no, that is the actual number of spaces available for 7,500 horses and their associated staff, riders, and spectators.  Parking was clearly not a priority; I can only assume the planners were the people who would park in the VIP lot, therefore it was not important to them.

The show grounds are really like a little city all wrapped up in a horse show.  

There’s School

And a school bus

And church

And laundry

And an equine conditioning center

Oh wait, maybe that’s not what you’d find in a normal city…..but you get the idea. 

The grounds themselves are really immaculate.  It’s built to look like Disney Land for horses.

Sculpture!

Fountains!

International Rider's Lounge!

And Carousel Oh My!

Nothing says "tourist" like posing next to the decoration.

Despite the aforementioned lack of restrooms, porta-potties (requiring porta-potty purgers: beep beep WOSH, beep beep WOSH) abound.  And even a porta-potty trailer that looks like this.

Sorry if that’s TMI, I’ve just never seen a porta-potty (even the trailer kind) that is so fanciful.  Of course this was directly behind the Wellington Club.  Anything named the Wellington Club clearly has members that deserve such fancy pee spots. 

Even with all of that, the most amazing thing about the show grounds is the shopping.  I honestly don’t think I could visit all of the shops available in my time there if I tried.  Need Italian linens? No problem.  How about some fancy French handbags that are so expensive I’ve never even heard of the brand? Got those too.  Really it’s the biggest shopping mecca of things I’d want to buy I’ve ever seen.  I’d compare the shopping to Vegas, but really this place is MUCH BETTER.   

Located in vendor village is semi after semi of tack shops, plus about a hundred other different stores.  If you look on the map there are four distinct shopping areas, and a Gallery for art, just in case you were in the market for art for your winter Wellington home.  There is a permanent Ariat store that’s like walking into a Banana Republic, but all Ariat items .  If you've  heard of the tack shop, they have it: Farm Vet, Beval, McGuinn's, Ann Hubbard, Fox Run, Personalized Products, OH I have to make myself STOP.  

Need a place to go for the oft asked CWD question?  They’ve got you covered.

For that matter, need a place to go for the oft asked <insert any fancy saddle name> question? They've got you covered for those too (Antares, Voltaire, Devocoux, Butet, etc etc).

Honestly, during my first week due to the rain and the stress I didn’t visit much of the shopping.  I plan to rectify this serious issue as soon as possible upon arriving back in Florida.   

I need at least one souvenir right?  So what if that souvenir is the still coveted black soft shell show coat, it’s still a souvenir. 

WEF Day 7 – Show Day 2

Today’s caveat is that this entire blog is really just about riding, horses, and more riding.  If you’re not into any of those things, this may not be the day for you.  It’s also really long, and with only one picture.  SO. LAME.

I’d love to start this blog with a bright and shiny view of the world, how wonderful it all went, how I walked out of the ring with two blue ribbons amongst streamers and confetti like I had won the Super Bowl.  That is how I picture winning a blue ribbon would go down.  Alas, this blog will not be about confetti but about how my very average riding combined with a pooped horse resulted in some very pedestrian rounds.  

I woke up on Sunday morning feeling like what can only be described as crap.  The bronchitis was still hanging on, unwilling to bend to the will of the antibiotics.  I was exhausted from all of the excitement of the week, and I wasn’t sleeping all that well due to my nerves.  As you can imagine this was not setting me up for the best show day ever.  On the bright side I was just too down to even feel nervous.  I say bright side, but in reality if I’m really that puny where I can’t even be nervous, it’s not a good sign.

Nonetheless like a good rider, I soldiered on to the horse show (wow, I’m really making this sound like I’m being tortured here.  As a reality check I was still in Wellington, still showing in at the biggest show of the year, and still surrounded by some of the most amazing group of horseflesh I can imagine).

To further my apathy (pity party started again), the show day began with a flat class, followed by my final two over fences.  Problemo numero uno.  This shouldn’t sound like the end of the world, but it kind of does to me.  DC is actually a pretty nice mover.  We’ve won our fair share of flat classes against good company and tend to at least be in the ribbons.  I know this is WEF, and the ‘good company’ has become ‘great company,’ but I still feel like we had a chance to be in the pastels.  A probability that was greatly diminished by having to start first with the flat.  

Our plan for the show day changed from day 1, and DC started with a little lunge followed by me heading to the ring for the 8am class start time.  Since we were starting with the hack, hacking in the ring prior to showing was not as important (bonus).  I arrived at the ring 15 minutes early, and proceeded to hack around in the warm up ring to a lovely, quiet, relaxed horse.  When we were called to the arena for our flat, DC walked into the ring and showed every ounce of his greenness.  He was a bit nervous, a bit up, and a total fussypants with his mouth and head.  My lovely, quiet, relaxed horse had disintegrated into one that was doing some bit chomping, lacked consistency or quality in any gait, and was clearly nervous in the ring.  

This is why I like to start with jumping, he doesn’t really get nervous in our over fences classes, and by the time we hack after having jumped he’s relaxed and tired.  Going the other way around just doesn’t make for a great hacking horse which does not translate into any pretty shiny ribbons.  It just wasn’t meant to be today.

After our hack we were posted order, 12^th in the rotation.  That’s another unique thing about WEF, barring any horrible conflicts (which they’re not super accommodating of); you go in posted order for all classes, period.  It’s a double edged sword, there is no angling for a place in the order, and no horses moving all around, but it also then lacks flexibility of being able to move up or down depending on how your horse is going.

After watching a few trips, we went to warm up.  Problemo numero dos.  It was just one of those days where NOTHING WAS WORKING.  The first five times I tried to get to a jump something happened.  A person, a horse, a horse in front of me, another person, another horse crossing my path and preventing me from getting to the jump.  It was really no one’s fault, but still frustrating and throwing off my timing and rhythm.  On top of that, it meant that my already tired feeling horse did not benefit from an extra 5 laps around the warm up ring as added an exercise in futility of getting to the jump.  Extra energy is not something DC specializes in.  

When we finally made it to a jump (party!), it was just ok.  I mean it wasn’t awful, but all of the cantering had worn on both of us and it was just kind of meh.  That’s honestly how the whole day went.  Meh.  We jumped that direction a few times, and then switched to the other lead.  Once again I tortured poor DC with my inability to get to the jump b/c of various reasons.  The jumps after those additional 3 laps around the rings were actually quite nice (only by the grace of God) and we decided to go on that.  

From here, I’d love to tell you only about our first jump in both rounds, as they were beautiful.  But after the first jumps, we still had 7 to go, and those 7 is where the trickiness belied me.  The first round started (as mentioned) with a beautiful vertical on the left lead.  We then headed to a long approach to an oxer on the right lead.  I got there in what I thought was a beautiful spot, and beautiful it was until DC took a big old look at that oxer creating a gap I wasn’t super prepared to support him over.  So we jumped it, but I’m not going to say it was amazing.  The next line was actually not bad, but then the second line wreaked havoc on me and my horse.  Problemo numero tres.  I pulled on the in, we jumped in short.  Then down the line, I didn’t leg, and then I pulled, and then I legged and then I pulled, and then I legged.  It was 8 strides; there was a lot of room for mistakes.  In the end, the result was an ugly add jumping into the sun.  Oops.  To the last 2 stride, DC had lost all faith in my abilities (wouldn’t you?) and took over.  Probleumo numero quatro. Unfortunately due to my aforementioned puniness, I didn’t do much to pull him back together and just let him lean on me and not balance down to the jump.  The two stride actually worked out fine, honestly just by luck, but he landed on the left lead and needed to do a change.  The changes on DC are automatic, easy, and an afterthought.  However a horse that isn’t balanced, isn’t pushing off his hind end, and has taken control isn’t one that is really set up for a change.  So we missed it.  Sadness abounded.  

I walked out of the ring to Matt saying “well that happened.”  Which was a great summary.

Round 2 actually did improve, so it wasn’t all thunderclouds and sad faces.  I again told jump one who was boss (this time off the right lead).  After jump one, was the 8 stride line that I had added in before.  I jumped in in the same not so great quiet spot, but this time I had a plan of action and that was to apply leg.  I’m a genius.  We jumped out great albeit a little long.  Unfortunately, this only set me up for another horse that was leaning and on his forehand to the two stride.  Problemo numero quatro y media. Again, the same result.  I won’t recount what that result was, as my sadness would further abound, but IT happened.  After that I kicked my ass into gear, had a lovely long approach to the oxer and a beautiful last line.  This last lovelyness happened while a porta potty cleaning system was running at full steam at the end of the ring.  Beep Beep wosh wosh Beep Beep.  Not distracting at all.  So at least I ended well even if I had completely messed up the middle.
 

The result was this picture over the last oxer of the weekend, taken by a barn mate of mine.

So. Worth. It.  

DC is letting you all know that that jump had an Astroturf pole, and it was big and intimidating!  Note the accompanying Astroturf wall, and though you can't see it, Astroturf topper and Astroturf ground line.

In the end, I think our day 2 show experience, although not confetti filled, was a good learning experience, showed me both strengths and weaknesses for both DC and I, and hopefully set us up for success next weekend.  It also gave Matt some pointed material to work on in between weeks.  I also met my goal and was not last in a single class.  I hope I can keep this up in the next two weeks as well!

I headed back to the barn with my sweet sweet horse, fed him a bunch of treats, and told him he was the best.  Again, I wouldn’t be here without him, and his talent.  

Sadly, it was time to go home to Austin from 82 and sunny to 34 and raining.  I really had forgotten what winter was all about in one short week.  Going to the pool seemed like a much better option, but alas work had different ideas.

WEF Day 6 – Show Day 1 (ahhhhhhhh)

Today’s caveat is dedicated to all the h8trs out there.  H8trs gonna h8t (said in my most thuggy ~thuggiest??~ voice possible).

Day 6 blog is late…..but its here!

Today dawned bright and early.  Actually it started prior to dawn for me as I arrived to the barn in the dark to hack DC in the ring before the start of the show day.  This is a particularly painful part of owning a hunter.  Almost every single show morning I join 20 or so of my fellow hunter riders to hack in the ring partially to express some energy and partially to get then accustomed to the arena we will be showing in later that day.  

At WEF, since we are stabled off grounds, this endeavor is even more painful as the walk to the ring is a minimum 20 minutes.  No pain no gain, or some ridiculous saying like that.  As the sun rose during our walk, the show grounds were foggy and the result was a beautiful view of many horses hacking in the various rings in a mist for a memorable experience.  I really wished I had my phone to snap a picture of the moment.  I am happy to report that DC has conquered his fear of the dreaded parking sign and walked passed it with an attitude of ‘you don’t know me fool.’  We’ve come a long way.  

He hacked beautifully in the morning, really soft through the jaw, listening, and seemingly with his game face on.  We walked back to the barn (25 minutes later….) and the braiders were there waiting to make him pretty.  This was the result.

Since I didn’t go until later in the afternoon, I headed back over to the show grounds to do a little shopping, and watch.  I am proud to once again announce that I did not buy anything.  Not even one single item.  This could have to do with the fact that 90% of the shops were still closed, however that is not the point; my restraint knows no bounds.  I hung out at the show for a while watching, and cheering on the other riders from my barn, then headed back to get on DC.

To say I was nervous is liken to saying there are only a few places to shop at WEF.  Butterflies abound in my stomach, and I was essentially terrified.  In the barn where Woodhill is stabled there are two other barns co-located with us.  One of the barns has a lovely working student who is simply as nice as possible.  When she saw me getting ready to get on, she said “just remember, it feels twice as good when you work twice as hard to get there.”  In my case it might be 4 or 5 times as hard, but wiser words were not spoken on that day.  

<boring horse talk, horse people read away, not horse people, ignore>

Originally, the 3’3 younger A/Os were scheduled to go in ring 6 with the adults.  There was an ariat medal that I planned to use as a warm up and to get my jitters out.  It was the perfect set up.  A 3’ class that I didn’t care about to start, then only to move up to the 3’3 later in the day.  This perfect plan was foiled by show management when they moved us into the ‘Grand Hunter’ arena.  Most people, I’m sure, were thrilled with getting to ride in Grand Hunter instead of Ring 6.  I am not most people.  Gone was my nice warm up class, and my simpler jumps.  Instead I had just two hunter rounds, and jumps that were definitely of the non-simple variety.  

If I had to describe the jumps in Grand Hunter, I’d say it looks like someone got all of the Astroturf from the Astrodome and proceeded to coat every surface possible with it.  There were no flowers, just a few boxes with fake leaves in them.  Perhaps they were going for a fall theme.  However, when I say Astroturf was covering everything, I mean it.  We had Astroturf walls, Astroturf boxes, Astroturf ground lines, Astroturf toppers, and even Astroturf poles.  It was a very green ring.  The color, not the ecological viewpoint.  

Despite my jitters, we warmed up quite nicely and he felt really good.  My first course was a regular hunter.  Right away I could tell DC was very impressed with these jumps.  He’s done 3’3 at two previous shows, but other shows are not WEF.  The way these jumps are made, the walls of Astroturf are built at a full 3’ with an (Astroturf) pole one hole higher than the walls themselves to make the 3’3.  Visually this is much more solid and intimidating than a 2’6 wall with a bunch of poles on top to build up to 3’3.  He was jumping HIGH and TIGHT.  Although this would make for some beautiful photos (if a photographer had been there, biggest show of the year and a photographer that doesn’t even cover every ring, not bitter at all), it does not make for the smoothest of rounds.  He was so lofty with his jump that he wasn’t jumping into the lines well leaving us having to move up for the out, and a gap at the end.  It actually wasn’t horrible, or embarrassing, and we scored a 70.  

Our second course was the handy hunter.  It was improved from the first course with some really excellent jumps.  That said, I forgot two of my “handy” turns at the end of the course.  This was just after we did a loop to an oxer with one of those astroturf poles on the back side. “OH MY GOD THE POLE IS FUZZY.”  I swear over that jump he launched up over the standard.  I would give anything to have a picture of it, I’ve never felt any horse jump higher or crack his back harder than that moment on that oxer.  It distracted me and all of my handiness went by the wayside.  We scored a 76.  Most exciting of all, is that 76 was good enough to get us in the ribbons!  

Ok it was only a 6^th, but a 6^th that I was damned proud of on a horse that is likely younger and most definitely greener than the rest of the group, and on my first day!  Suzanne made it just in time to watch me jog.  I’m sure she was amazed and enthralled by the beauty and grace of my jogging abilities; I really can jog like no other.  I was in a lineup of me, and 9 other bays (they jog through 10^th).  DC definitely stood out in that group, if for nothing else being so gray and so not bay.

My goal was to not be last, and I was not last.  Goal achieved. 

</boring horse talk>

Following our jog, we walked back to the barn where I proceeded to feed him as many treats as possible.  He was so brave, and so handy, and really just so much better than I could have ever asked from him.  We were done for the day, but I wanted to hang around Wellington for the Charity relay race and Hunter Hayes concert, I ran a few errands including boring grocery store and much less boring shopping (I cannot claim to have not bought anything on this round).  I also returned the coat I had bought at the consignment store previously.  A raised eyebrow from Matt and a comment of “maybe if you replaced the buttons” was enough to send it packing.  

The following is a summary of how a series of bad decisions lead to more bad decisions and hilarity of stress in my life.  I headed back to the show grounds for the evening activities only to realize that I had accidentally given Suzanne’s ticket to another girl by accident!  So I ran over to their hotel to pick up her ticket.  I then (once again) headed back to the show grounds and went to park at my barn.  I pulled into my barn which has a U driveway with the plan to follow the U to the parking.  Except there was a car parked in the middle of the road, and nowhere for me to turn around. If you can imagine what this looks like in an F250 instead of a golf cart, that’s a good representation of what ensued.  I finally got parked and started to walk to the show grounds.  A golf cart went WHIZZING by me, then slammed on their breaks, hit reverse, and backed up back to me in a somewhat crazy manner.  “You want a ride?” yelled out the cutest Irish accent possible.  UH yes, yes I did.  So I climbed into a golf cart with a young Irish couple and an insane golf cart driver.  10 death defying minutes later I had finally arrived at the international ring, tickets in hand!  

Suzanne had scored some VIP seats with a friend of hers, and we got to watch the second half of the Charity relay races.  

<more boring horse talk>

The way it works is that there are three riders who all entered the ring at the same time.  They then proceed to jump a course of jumps in a relay style, the first jumping 1.10 meters, the second jumping 1.20 meters and the third 1.30 meters.  The first two riders must be Juniors or Ammys, the third is a pro.  I have to tell you, it was the zaniest thing I’ve ever seen on a horse.  Most had costumes, glitter, feathers, and streamers.  I saw horses swimming through jumps, a horse run through a jump backwards, much rearing and bucking, a rider break a rein, and a girl whose horse took off with her and almost jumped into the stands.  It was close.  It was insane and incredibly competitive.  Especially the Irish and Columbians, they really went for broke.  The winning team’s charity got $150,000 in donation.

</boring horse talk>

After it was complete, they cleared the jumps and covered the arena with a tarp similar to what you’d see at a baseball field.  Hunter Hayes came on stage and all the screaming juniors went WILD, except when he slipped and fell and ate it in front of everyone, that was just funny.  

I listened to a few songs and then headed back to my truck and thus home.  The 5am wakeup call followed by my long and stressful day made 10pm seem like it was as late as possible.