There’s some good and bad for sure. So watch the videos, and let me know what you think. Any you love? Any you hate?

2010 World Equestrian Games Commercials

I’m guessing the 30-second television spots aired in the Kentucky area.

WEG Hay Bale Commercial (love)

This one is my favorite; I laughed out loud for real when I saw it the first time, and I continue to chuckle quietly with each consecutive view.

World Equestrian Games Old Spice Man Commercial (hate)

You know those old spice commercials with the Man “now back to me” and “look at me, I’m on a horse”? Yeah, not necessarily my kinda humor. But apparently the people over at Old Spice ran a campaign where they made spoof videos for bloggers … and apparently the WEG Foundation signed up. Without futher ado, here’s the World Equestrian Games Old Spice spoof video:

Eventer Jumping Sofa Commercial (meh)

This video was just released this week (I think). I think it’s hilarious that the horse jumps over the couch the couple is sitting … and I’m guessing there’s a good chance it was a totally real shot. I don’t know that it’s going to convince anyone to come to WEG (it’s an awfully expensive relief from boredom), but it’s kinda cool none-the-less.

2010 World Equestrian Games Promo Videos

This WEG promo video has been out for a quite a while, but it never ceases to make my heart go pitter-patter. I stop watching about half way through once they start on the Horse Park and logistics. But the first half showing each disciplines with all the pretty horses (accompanied by Man From Snowy River-esque horn riffs) is just about the best thing ever. Major Love!

A more recent version, released last December, has a different intro which I kind of like, and then the same footage for the 8 disciplines.

Kentucky Is Ready WEG Promo Video (love)

And finally, this video is one of my up and coming new favorites. Digging the music, digging the top American riders (especially Reese Koeffler-Standfield, love her!).

2010 Radio Show Episode 107 by SUCCEED – Show Notes and Links:

• Hosts: Samantha Clark and Glenn the Geek
• Guest: Deb Balliet – Chief Executive Officer, Equine Land Conservation Resource
• Guest: Jennifer Burns – Warren County Convention/Visitors Bureau – Ohio’s Largest Playground
• Guest: John Lechner – Eventing Safety – Safety and Risk Management in Eventing
• News: After consistently good performances all year, and especially at the recent Richland CIC 3* and Advanced event, and following a thorough vet exam, six of the shortlisted US eventing team WEG horses have been given a bye from running cross country at the AEC’s in Georgia in a couple of weeks.
• News: Australia has announced it’s team for the dressage competition at the Alltech FEI 2010 World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park in a few weeks time.
• News: A Chilliwack brother-sister team are headed to Kentucky as part of Canada’s vaulting troupe.
• News: The inaugural Pfizer Million will host 3 of the 5 US WEG show jumping team, as well as many other Olympic and top level riders, and that’s only part of the entertainment package….
• News: The Horse.com will host a live question and answer session all about the health, wellbeing and safety of the horses at the 2010 FEI Alltech World Equestrian Games with official discipline vets amongst other experts online on September 8th, that’s next wednesday.
• News: Megan Benjamin, the reigning World Champion vaulter who was also our gracious guest last week, has officially started blogging every other day until the Games.
• Glenn (Places with paper napkins): 1. Best Diner: Ramseys Diners 2. Best Burger: Five Guys Burgers and Fries 3. Best Mexican: Jalapenos Mexican Restaurant 4. Best BBQ: Billy’s BBQ 5. Best Chinese: Asian Royal Buffet
• Samantha (Places with cloth napkins): 1. Portafino 2. Dudley’s 3. Tachibana 4. a la lucie 5. Jonathan’s 6. Farmhouse – Cooking in the Bluegrass

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Lucky for them, that’s what endurance riders do!

Well, sort of. Considering they’re competing and have long strenuous journeys in which the condition of their horse is paramount, it’s probably not as relaxing as all that. About the only thing I know about endurance racing is that Arabians are best at it. But the more I learn, the more I think it has to be one of the most difficult horse sports in which to train and compete.

Here’s the basic rundown you need to know about endurance in preparation for the World Equestrian Games coming later this month.

Overview of Endurance Competition

Endurance competition stems from the days when horseback riding to get places was a necessity, not just a past-time. Fast, fit horses were prized for their ability to travel long distances and stay sound and healthy. As in the days of necessity, today’s competitive endurance horses are required to go a specific route in the fastest time while passing the vet checks along the way.

The courses are cross-country across a variety of terrain and natural obstacles including woods, creeks, hills, and ditches. Most often, national and public parks are utilized for their trails.

As with eventing, endurance has several levels of competition available, allowing competitors to work their way up.

• 1*: 50 miles
• 2*: 75 miles
• 3* (international level): 160 kilometers/100 miles

The American Endurance Ride Conference, the US governing body, also organizes local 25-mile endurance competitions for riders and horses just getting started in the sport.

The condition of the horse is key in endurance competition. To ensure the horses are healthy, they are required to stop at several vet checks on course. There, the horses get a chance to rest, eat, and drink. They must recover fully (heart and breathing rates) and be sound before they are allowed to go back out on course. Once the vets have deemed them recovered and sound, they have a set time that they must rest before proceeding. So, a horse who reaches the vet check 10 minutes faster than another but takes longer to recover, will end up behind. Thus, key in endurance is getting your horse fit and strategizing how fast or slow they need to go to maintain a fast time yet recover quickly. A horse who is fit will therefore save a lot of time at the vet checks and have a distinct advantage.

Horses also must pass a vet check before the race and deemed fit to compete, and must pass another vet check at the end.

Endurance riders have ground crews who assist them at the vet check points. They come armed with cool water to sponge off the horse, food, water to drink, and spare equipment in case anything breaks.

Over 90% of the horses who compete in endurance are Arabians or Half-Arabians. They are built for stamina and have the sturdiness and sure-footedness to handle the varied terrain.

Endurance at the 2010 World Equestrian Games

Endurance at WEG is a championship level 100 mile course. It’s taken some creative planning, as there aren’t any public lands or national parks near the Kentucky Horse Park to utilize for that much course. The course designers for WEG have needed to get permission to use private property to build out the 100-mile trek.

Many courses do have loops built in to meet the required distance, but a well-designed course has lots of variety and is simple logistically. It’s very important that rider’s crews and race support staff can easily access the competitors in case anything goes wrong.

The 100 mile course is all done in one day. The time allowed varies at different competition, but is expected to be  in the neighborhood of 16-18 hours for WEG. The winning times at the recent endurance championships in Malayasia were between 8-9 hours.

There will be vet checks every 40 km. Riders will have 30 minutes at each checkpoint to present their horse to the attending veterinarian. The horses must recover and be acceptable within that time or they’ll be disqualified.

Team and Individual Medals

Team and individual medals will be awarded for endurance competition at WEG. Each nation will send 5 or 6 total riders for each country. The Chef de Equipe chooses which four of the riders will count towards the team competition. The endurance 100-mile ride will happen just once to determine both sets of medals.

There will also be a best condition award which is based on speed and vet score.

WEG Spectators

Endurance is unfortunately not much of a spectator sport as it’s a long race with little access to the course. Spectators usually get to see the beginning and end of the race, and sometimes can camp out at the vet check areas. From what I heard early on, there will be a jumbotron set up on the KY Horse park grounds that tracks the competitors on course via GPS, so you can at least see a little dot showing where your favorite rider is.

WEG Endurance Schedule

All About The Disciplines

• Para Dressage
• Eventing
• Combined Driving
• Jumping
• Dressage
• Reining

I grew up as a hunter and equitation rider. But I’ve since developed an appreciation, and interest in, both dressage and eventing. It’s a chance to re-make myself, try something new. So, I decided I would see what Ace enjoyed and let him decide.

The only problem is, Ace doesn’t know what he wants to be. On Tuesday, he was quite the dressage horse. He was offering a lovely forward with great drive from his hind end and round carriage. We even nailed two whole leg yields!

But yesterday, he had no interest in getting overly energetic, or tucking his nose in, or performing any of the finer movements. He was content to trot around happily with his ears perked, reins loose, carriage level, without a care in the world. It was the perfect imitation of a hunter.

Fortunately, yesterday was the first time in months I intended to take him over some little jumps. And his hunter-y attitude was perfect for a relaxed, confidence building jumping session. Ace hardly paid attention as he nimbly stepped over the little X’s I had set up, walk, trot, and canter. It was by far the most relaxed and happy he’s ever been about jumping. And it also made me realize that a huge reason for his hesitancy about jumping was very likely the old saddle that was too flat and restricting his back. Duh!

Both our successful jumping session and my realization about the saddle have me feeling more confident about Ace’s jumping ability than I’ve felt in a long time. So we’re going to keep building up and see how it goes.

I still don’t know if Ace wants to be a jumper or a dressage horse, or if he’s brave enough to go eventing. Maybe just maybe, he wants to do a little bit of everything!

2010 Radio Show Episode 106 by SUCCEED – Show Notes and Links:

• Hosts: Samantha Clark and Glenn the Geek Returns!
• Guest: Megan Benjamin – Equestrian Vaulter
• Guest: Kip Cornett – Spotlight Lexington
• Guest: Daniel Stewart – Ride Right Now – presenting at the International Equestrian Festival.
• News: 101 athletes have been nominated to represent the United States at the World Equestrian Games next month, from more than 21 states, but no one from Kentucky.
• News: The USEF is hosting two mandatory outings for the Driving Competitors who’ll be representing the US at the World Equestrian Games next month.
• News: Canada will be represented by two drivers at the World Equestrian Games, and they are Daryl Billing and Debbie Laderoute. The Canadian Driving Team will be supported by Chef D’Equipe Bill Macgillivray and Team Vet Dr Tricia Arnold.
• News: The US has named it’s short list of vaulters for the World Equestrian Games, and we’re very excited to be able to share a conversation we had with none other than the reigning individual women’s gold medalist Megan Benjamin a bit later, but we will also put a link to the ranked list in our show notes.
• News: The Swedish dressage team has been revealed following the Swedish national championships last weekend and includes Patrik Kittel riding Watermill Scandic HBC and 3 other members which we will link too. Of course Patrik was the one in the middle of the whole rolkur investigation.
• News: The French Eventing shortlist has been named.
• News: In Show Jumping News New Zealand is putting forward one of its “strongest ever” showjumping teams for next month’s World Equestrian Games
• News: Menus are now available for the James Beard Foundation Cookin’ in the Bluegrass Celebrity Chef Dinner Series to be held at the Farmhouse in the Kentucky Horse Park
• News: A large portion of downtown Lexington will be a festival zone during the Spotlight Festival
• News: Well, Thursday is of course just 30 days away from the Games, another milestone, and I’m suddenly feeling strangely optimistic and energized, long may it last. I think it had something to do with a conversation I had with a Lexington businessman who’s determined that Kentucky make the most of this opportunity and put it’s best foot/face/hoof forward to welcome the world and show them what a special place this is, and tempt them to return as soon as possible and over and over again. I’d like to share with you my short chat with Kip Cornett.

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Case in point: I’ve never had a dressage lesson in my life, or even ridden in a dressage saddle (kinda crazy now that I think about it). But I spent six hours last Saturday successfully calling dressage tests (and only said circle left when I meant right once!).

Granted, it was for an end of year horse show at the therapeutic riding center where I volunteer and they weren’t even real dressage tests. But still! They had letters, movements, salutes, the full works. Look, I can even still recite it for you …

A enter working walk
X halt, salute. Proceed working walk.
C track right
R circle right 10 meters
Between R and B working trot
A working walk
E half circle right and reverse
V straight ahead
P circle left 10 meters
Between P and B working trot
C working walk
E track left
X track left down center line
G halt, salute.

And then the riders would look at me, slightly panicked, wanting to know what the heck they were supposed to do after their salute, and I’d gently guesture towards the exit.

And really, I did just totally type that from memory.

For those of you who, like me, aren’t dressage riders, this all might be confusing. So what does it mean to “call” or “read” a dressage test?

Well, when you compete at any level of dressage you have a specific test or pattern that you and your horse perform. The test is a series of movements in a specific order, and you perform the movements and transitions at specific locations in the ring. Each location is assigned a letter so you know exactly where to make the transition and where you’re headed. And the letters are always the same. Here’s a handy little chart showing you where the letters are:

Many riders memorize their dressage tests. But for those who have trouble with their memories or tend to get a little nervous, you are allowed to have a friend read your test for you. Since I have some decent horse experience and knowledge, I was recruited to be the dressage reader for the day at the therapeutic center show.

There really isn’t a lot to it, at least when the test is as simple as the one I recited for you. As soon as they started one movement, I called out the next one. So, when the rider entered the ring, I immediately called out “X halt, salute!” As soon as the judge saluted back (which gives the rider permission to continue) I called out “C track right.” As soon as the rider made the turn at C, I called out the circle at R. You get the picture.

Reading a dressage test is a pretty simple concept, but I’m sure gets more difficult as the tests get more complicated. But no matter what kind of test you are reading, here are a few tips from experience:

• speak loudly
• speak slowly
• over-enunciate
• don’t get too confident and say left instead of right
• study the test ahead of time, even ride it a few times yourself
• pay attention so you don’t get off
• try not to laugh out loud when you see your rider looking frantically for the next letter

All in all, I had an absolute blast reading the dressage tests for the show. There’s nothing as rewarding as watching the students in our therapy program do a successful dressage test, smiling as they ride past me, and feeling more confident because I could give them good direction.

So, for all of you actual dressage riders out there: do you have any tips you would add? Or funny stories of dressage calling mishaps?

2010 Radio Show Episode 105 by SUCCEED – Show Notes and Links:

• Hosts: Samantha Clark and Glenn the Geek
• Photo Credit: Phelps Photos and Dressage Daily
• Guest: Nicole Shahinian-Simpson
• Guest: Dr Jennifer Feiner from Hagyards Equine Medical Institute
• Guest: Pierre St Jacques and Lucky Tiger – pierrestjacquesdressage.com
• News: There were lots of World Equestrian Games Three Day event hopefuls giving their horses a pipe-opener at the Mitsubishi Hartpury International Horse Trials in England last weekend, and in fact the three star CIC was won by British Team member Piggy French on the Kentucky bound Jakarta. For a detailed analysis of the WEG performances, and for great reading every day, check out Monty White’s blog at www.blog.talkinghorse.net.
• News: The short list of endurance horses and riders for the team to represent the US at the World Equestrian Games team has been announced, and they will now go forward to Shaker Village, KY before final selection.
• News: The USEF has named a ranked World Equestrian Games Show Jumping Short list of ten horse and rider combination, but there is one glaring omission.
• News: British Show Jumping have announced their selection for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
• News: Ireland has named the majority of it’s team of riders headed over to Kentucky next month for the World Equestrian Games.
• News: Sadly, New Zealand will not be represented in the Dressage at the World Equestrian Games this year.
• News: After much deliberation the Swiss Equestrian Federation has announced that 2 individual riders will represent Switzerland in the dressage at the World Equestrian Games.
• News: The YMCA will be welcoming WEG visitors to it’s facilities during the Games.
• News: Alltech, title sponsor of the 2010 World Equestrian Games have come up with a genius idea for promotion.
• News: It was announced just last week that Dr Jennifer Feiner from Hagyards Equine Medical Institute will be the vet in charge of the quarantine for all of the horses arriving from Europe for the World Equestrian Games.
• News: Hagyard’s and Rood and Riddle will be offering tours around their facilities during the Games

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In the meantime, let’s move on to reining! It seems appropriate, because I tend to think of reining as the dressage of the western world anyway. I love to watch reining, so I’m thrilled to do a little research and learn more about the ins and outs of this sport. It’s one of the western disciplines that most interests me. I’d love to try it sometime! So without further ado …

Reining shows off the athletic ability of  ranch horses in the show arena as they “run” one of several approved patterns. Each pattern includes small slow circles, large fast circles, flying lead changes, roll backs, 360 degree spins done in place, back ups and the exciting sliding stops that are the signature move of the reining horse. Here are the details of reining competition and WEG specifically.

What To Look For In A Great Reining Pattern

A great reining horse looks supremely relaxed, with crisp changes between movements, long droopy reins, and a happy attitude. While he makes it look easy, it’s a highly challenging test of both horse and rider. As with most equestrian disciplines, the good ones just don’t show how hard they’re actually working.

The USEF describes the required movements of the reining pattern:

Walk-in: brings the horse from the gate to the centre of the arena to begin its pattern; should appear relaxed and confident.

Stop: the act of slowing the horse from a lope to a stop position by bringing the hind legs under the horse in a locked position sliding on the hind feet.

Spin: a series of 360-degree turns, executed over a stationary (inside) hind leg; location of hind quarters should be fixed at the start and maintained throughout the spin.

Rollback: a 180-degree reversal of forward motion completed by running to a stop, turning the shoulders back to the opposite direction and departing at a canter, as a continuous motion.

Circle: done at the lope, of designated size and speed; demonstrates control, willingness to guide and degree of difficulty in speed and speed changes.

Hesitate: act of demonstrating horse’s ability to stand in a relaxed manner at a designated time in the pattern; horse should be motionless and relaxed.

Lead change: act of changing the leading legs of the front and rear pairs, at a lope, when changing direction.

Run-down and Run-around: demonstrate control and gradual increase of speed to the stop.

Watch RC Fancy Step, the quarter horse at the top of the US reining team demonstrate for you:

Each horse is scored individually. They begin with a score of 70, and then either gain or lose 1 or 1/2 of a point for each maneuver. Credit is given for smoothness, finesse, attitude, quickness and authority. Higher speeds and greater precision up the difficulty and are required to compete at the highest levels.

Crowds are not only welcomed but encouraged to get involved and root for their favorite riders and moves. Whooping and hollering are a huge part of the reining performance.

Reining at the 2010 World Equestrian Games

2010 WEG reining will kick-off with two days of team competition, at the end of which medals will be awarded for the top scoring nations.

The top 15 riders after the team competition will automatically move on to the individual finals. The next 20 top scoring riders will then have a chance to ride off in a “second chance” round for the remaining 5 spots in the final.

The reining event will conclude with a freestyle exhibition.

All About The Disciplines

• Para Dressage
• Eventing
• Combined Driving
• Jumping
• Dressage

I’m super thrilled and not all surprised that Steffen Peters and Ravel have the top spot on the team. My only disappointment is that Anky and Salinero won’t be attending WEG. I like when Steffen has the opportunity to thoroughly trounce her. His horsemanship, quiet manner, and level of care for all horses totally won me over when I saw him as a clinician at Equine Affaire a few years ago. Plus he’s one that I just love to watch ride. He and Ravel have been on the up and up, winning nearly every major title since their fourth place finish at the Olympics two years ago.  And they just scored an 82% in a Grand Prix in California prior to catching a red-eye flight to join the rest of the team in New Jersey.

Honestly, since I have a habit of following a little bit of all horse sports instead of one in-depth, I don’t have a clue who any of the other dressage riders on the team are. I guess that means will have to find out! It’s always fun to know a little bit about each of our team members at a major international event like WEG. I’ll do some research and get back to you with some more info on the other riders and their horses.

Our WEG dressage team gets a very short respite from competition, and then they will start working hard to prepare for their stint in Kentucky. They met with USEF Dressage Technical Advisor Anne Gribbons yesterday and today to go over the plan for the next month. Training begins in earnest on September 4, where they will cover everything from mental and physical preparation, to WEG etiquette and how to handle the media.

In honor of the US dressage team, next on the docket is the profile of World Equestrian Games dressage. Keep your eye out for the run-down in the next day.

And best wishes to our entire dressage team – and especially to my favorites Steffen and Ravel!

Update: Silly me forgot that I already wrote the WEG dressage overview. Check it out!

I’ve been feeling a bit like a college student who takes a bunch of different classes for two years before finally picking a major. For a long time, I’ve been writing about whatever I felt like, without any goals or without any purpose. The nice thing is that I’ve gotten to test the waters and figure out what I like to write and what you like to read. The drawback is that there’s no obvious driving purpose behind the blog that says, “Hey, she’s me! This is the kind of stuff I want to read and discuss regularly.”

Some of the best blogs out there are ones that have a specific, driving purpose. Check out Eventing Nation for example. Less than a year old with a huge readership – and a very clear purpose. Or one of my other current favorites, Un-Retired Racehorse, which is all about life as an exercise rider at a New York City track.

The funny thing is, I know exactly who I am and who I am not in the horse world. And I think it’s high time I start writing that way!

I am not …

… a high-level competitor

… a big money investor in the industry

… any kind of horse professional

… interested in following international competition in-depth

I am …

… your average horse crazy girl.

And I know there’s a whole lot of us out there. It’s for those of us who have jobs outside of horses and spend our evening “free time” in the barn. It’s for those of us who do chores at our barns to help cover the cost of board. It’s for those of who work through all our training issues ourselves because we don’t have the funds or time to put our horse in an expensive training program. It’s for those of us who spends hours Googling every little scrape or swelling we find on our horses. It’s for those of us who want to know everything there is to know about horses – from horse care to showing to different disciplines.

But most of all, it’s for those of us who jump up and down, squeal, point, and yell “Look, horses!” at every scraggly pony we see even when we have our own sleek, fat, well-loved steed at home.

We’re your average horse crazies who’ve been bitten by the horse bug.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to completely tear down and rebuild the barn while you’re away for the weekend. I’m going to get rid of the cobwebs, re-organize the tack room, and clearly label all the “stuff” so it’s more obvious whose it is and what its about.