Outdoor Jumping, Updates & Pictures

One day world... one day I will get back to near daily post! Catching up hoping that maybe this will be the week... 

Lauren had to unexpectedly retire her eventer last week. Echo is going to be taking over her normal Wednesday lessons that she was taking on her horse. Most likely she won't have another horse until August to focus on so Echo is about to get bumped up in priority standings. 

Last week I took Dakota out with Echo and Lauren and we set out to ride around the outdoor jump field. She jumped the barrel cross rail jump in the picture below. 

 

Called it a day, cooled her out and then Lauren and I switched horses. The switching was a struggle for both of us. Lauren... is tall and Dakota is short. Dakota is a jerk and only likes me... Myself... switching meant sitting in Lauren's Voltaire. Which means intense blocks and knee rolls. I didn't know what to do with myself. On positive / funny note... I decided I'd ride her at a trot to remind myself what her trot felt like. I was laughing because I couldn't remember how to post and kept saying 'what's wrong with her trot'? Apparently I've forgotten what a real trot feels like after these years of only riding Dakota...

 

In a last minute decision yesterday, I switched farriers for Echo only (for now). I may switch with Dakota too after the next reset. I used Lauren's farrier and FINALLY Echo's hooves look like well... hooves. No more boxes. Also her hind hoof has fully grown out!! The heart bar shoe is GONE!

Finally yesterday was Dakota's birthday! Happy 14th birthday to the worst best gelding of all time. Hopefully here's to another 14. 

The Belmont Blunder

Took me longer than I hoped to put this up but here it goes... 

I'm far from disappointed that we didn't get a Triple Crown winner. It wasn't meant to be. To be honest, I had been extremely optimistic about California Chrome's chances until I wrote my Pre-Belmont blog. Writing out all those trends he'd be breaking put a pit in my stomach. They have been trends for a reason and somehow writing them down made them seem even more impossible to break. 

Things I didn't include in the Pre-Belmont blog were things like... he'd be the only Triple Crown winner to win on lasix. Since that's a current battle, part of me didn't want him to win on it for the fear it'd make the pro-lasix case stronger. 

I won't get into the owner's post-race comments because I have lots of mixed emotions and thoughts and it's unnecessary controversy in my opinion. 

In other news, I had a good ride on Dakota last night and we beat the rain with doing a couple of laps on the trails!

The Tongue

I've shown the videos before of Echo and her tongue obsession. She just wants people to grab it and when she gets bored it's her go-to vice. It never carried over into riding when I first started her but now it's become a problem.

I know her teeth are good, and this is the bit she's been in since day 1.  It's a French-Link D-Ring.

Ideas to help stop her? 

We very briefly tried a different bit to a rubber snaffle but she was such a nightmare L dismounted and switched bridles after 5 minutes. I also finally found my flash attachment, very loose on what hole it's on right now because she got pretty angry over it. However the amount of time the tongue was out was reduced by maybe 20%. 

The Belmont

It feels different. I've been in this spot eight times since I've started watching horse racing, but somehow, someway, this feels different. Maybe it's the first two I didn't understand the history that was on the line. Maybe it's because the last two times a Triple Crown was on the line I didn't want it to happen. Whatever it is, the hype, the excitement, the nerves - it's different this time around. 

The owners get it, the trainer gets it, the jockey gets it. They know the importance of the Triple Crown. It's not about the money. They've turned down millions thrown at them to buy California Chrome for the experience. They get it, they deserve it - not something that can be said for all of the past eight attempts I've witnessed. 

The horse is right. People say his pedigree is obscure but I see the opposite. He's simply one generation removed from what people would consider a 'blue blood pedigree'. His sire, Lucky Pulpit is by a Claiborne stallion. His dam is by one of the best active broodmare sires in country and one of the best Maryland has ever stood. He's California bred, not Wisconsin bred people - lets stop acting like a horse from California is some strange concept. 

Feeding California Chrome's grandsire, Pulpit, peppermints at Claiborne farm. 

The track announcer. Tom Durkin is possibly one of the most recognized voices of the sport and he is retiring. This will be the last Belmont he'll get a chance to call. While he's been the voice of many amazing races from the 1995 Breeders Cup Classic to the 2007 Belmont Stakes - he's a track announcer that'd be sure to give us chills, goosebumps and tears with his Triple Crown winning call. 

The gods aren't angry. It's something unspoken in the sport, the racing gods. They're cruel and they're kind. They aren't easily Google'd I tried. You know when they're angry, you know when a great horse passes that they're now in the care of the racing gods, etc. California Chrome's connections haven't ticked off the gods yet. They're old school, outspoken against wrong doings in the sport, etc. The last thing you want to be against you on race day are the racing gods. Maybe the gods spoke this morning when they gave him the post position #2. Secretariat was the #2 horse as well when he took the Triple Crown after a 25 year drought. 

The superstitions he'd be breaking:

• The color trend. Sir Barton in 1919 was a chestnut colt. Ever since his Triple Crown sweep, the winners colors have alternated between chestnut and bay/brown. Affirmed in 1978 = chestnut. So in theory the next one should be bay. This... I have justified in my mind after talking to my Mom. She simply said 'maybe this means there was a bay that was suppose to win that didn't get the chance'. To me immediately, it means Barbaro. Barbaro was the closest I felt to this year's hype and he obviously never got the chance. 
• The Belmont trend. All 11 winners have previously raced at Belmont Park before they won the Belmont Stakes. Big Sandy is a Big Beast and is possibly the most difficult track in the US. 
• No Triple Crown winner has ever faced more than six opponents in the Belmont Stakes. California Chrome might be taking on 10.
• From the time Sir Barton won in 1919, there was never a period of time a Triple Crown winner wasn't alive until the passing of Seattle Slew in 2002. Some people, me included especially if 'Chrome looses, believe this indicates there will never be another Triple Crown winner. Only the racing gods really know. 

Cross Rails, Lessons and Showing

Echo... is a beast. I've said it before I know but I just have to reinstate her beastlyness. It's good and bad. When she's being a naughty mare... she's a beast, when she's in heat it's the most embarrassing thing possible. However, the rest of the time, she continues her beast ways. Healing fast, taking stall rest like a pro, and now under saddle, she remembers her previous day's lessons and is making huge strides so fast in her under saddle training. I keep assuming I'm just partial to the MareFace, mostly to keep myself from getting too high on a kite of her potential.

Last Friday, I set up the tiniest cross rail possible for L and Echo to tackle. Echo was... almost insulted by the tiny challenge. After trotting over it a few times, L asked us to raise it two holes. Echo still barely flinched at the difference but at least made an effort to pick her hooves up and jump it. Of course in typical Allison fashion, I didn't get my iPhone out until the very end and missed all the jumping. 

Busy with dinner, but MareFace has filled out finally. 

In 2 weeks, she is going to an off farm lesson at Team CEO Eventing, which is who L trains with. Her horse is going to a jumper show that evening so Echo is taking his lesson spot. 

She has lead changes down to switching within two strides and is picking up both leads 98% of the time correctly both directions. On occasion she jumps into a turbo canter or just trots really fast but once L brings her back to Earth and ask again she gets it right. 

After cooling out post ride. She also got her mane pulled. No more mustang mane.  

L is already talking shows, which just is blowing my mind because I'm still in the 'her hoof was gone 3 months ago' phase. The first of the Kentucky Horse Park shows options would be Kentucky Classique on August 29th. From there, Jump Start September 26th, Hagyard Midsouth October 16 and Oktoberfest Horse Trials October 25th. In addition there will hopefully be a Thoroughbred show again this fall and maybe some schooling shows out at Masterson Station. 

Shiny copper penny pony.