Horses of the outside world. Washington is this week. They were kind enough to put their venue history in one place. Note, the US Air Arena used to be the Capital Centre. Of the three big indoor shows, the National Horse Show has the lead for most peripatetic. Penn National abides at Harrisburg. [Goldy Sparkles, intro]
1958-1974. National Guard Armory, Washington, DC,
1975-1999. US Air Arena, Landover, MD (Capital Centre when I rode there.)
2000-2019. Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
2020-2021. Tryon International Equestrian Center, Mill Spring NC
2022 -> The Show Place Arena, Upper Marlboro MD
WIHS: About
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Goldy
Walking up to the front ring
Rosewood Stables
14 October 2026
General. Hot. It was hot. I was hot. Goldy was hot. This colored everything. He was also wearing a belly band to protect a ding on his side. That meant extra leg in order to be heard through the stretchy fabric. This also effected everything. [New Equipment photo]
Trot. Carrying on from last week, I worked hard – really hard – to keep my weight centered to the right. Lo and behold, Goldy was lovely. Straight, round, all the adjectives. Would have been perfect if he hadn’t been going the speed of a western jog. [Goldy Sparkles]
At the same time, I worked on keeping my heels deep and my shoulders up and square. Coach Deana even complimented me on my rein length. That may be a first. Usually she – and every other instructor – is telling me to shorten my reins.
Get everything else right and the hands take care of themselves? Maybe?
Canter. Still working on keeping a soft, speaking contact without having Goldy interpret it as a request to slow down. It may have been a lost cause on that particular day.
Jump. Workmanlike. No big errors. No brilliant moves. But – and this is good – we were workmanlike over sliiiightly bigger fences. Verticals. Low verticals, even ridiculously low verticals, but not crossrails!
Reminder to self. Goldy is practical. He does not work from vibes. I was digging up his official name and found this from an earlier post. “I was committed, but I had not conveyed that to the horse … Warmbloods do not operate on vibes. Goldy was not interested in my energy. He wanted my eyes up and my leg on. Thoroughbreds speak vibes. As do Saddlebreds. As, not coincidentally, do I.” [The Ride]
I must a) convince him that I am ready and able and serious, & b) do so by riding correctly. Waving my pompons does not help.
In other news.
Goldy is not looking at the rider in the ring, as I first thought. He is staring at the small collection of mugs at the base of one of the fence posts, indicated with black circle.
He just about refused to walk past them.
Onwards!
Katherine
