Pandora’s Horse

We all know the story, hope flew out of the box last. Usually this is taken as a sign that hope was sent to mitigate the evils of the world. It can also be interpreted that hope is the cruelest gift.

Zeus did not wish man, however much he might be tormented by the other evils, to fling away his life, but to go on letting himself be tormented again and again. Therefore he gives Man hope,- in reality it is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of Man.

Friedrich Nietzsche in Human, All Too Human, quoted from Lexido. Also Wiki on the subject, Difficulties of interpretation. Did I just quote Nietzsche at you? I apologize.

Meanwhile, out on the real world, when Mathilda grazes, Rodney slips into her pen to finish the hay leftovers. If we are grazing around twilight, he will come charging back out, running & bucking & crow-hopping. Over the weekend, he had a particularly frolicsome exit. Reporting this to Hubby prompted a conversation wherein I articulated one of the underlying principles of this head-meet-wall madness.

If Rodney ever gets sorted out, he has the potential for a competitive record that would make it all worthwhile. Yes, all of the frustration, the tears, the time not riding could be washed away in a cascade of blue ribbons subsequent to outrageous displays of horse/rider harmony. He’s that nice. Plus – outside of the mind-numbing panic attacks – we are that well suited.

If he were a horse with less promise, by now we would have reach a stable parking orbit and I would have moved on to other things. Yet I keep trying. I keep chasing phantoms of victory gallops. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, only time will tell.

Just now, Rodney is taking a break from his busy schedule. He scored a minor bump on an ankle where he kicked himself. When he gets to flinging himself about, he often forgets to keep track of his feet.

What think you: hope – gift or curse?
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The people have spoken: more gratuitous kitten photos!

Invade my box will you? I zap you with my death ray eyes.

Olympic Legacy

Today the flame goes out. About time, I say. Between the Olympics & the Tour de France, I’ve worn out the springs in my recliner. Less watch, more do.

So what did we learn?
2012 – Those of us who yip about helmets have a new hero, Charlotte Dujardin. For folks who did not spend the previous week glued to NBC’s live stream, this rider won the individual gold medal in dressage wearing a safety helmet rather than a top hat. This has torpedoed any argument that judges do not approve and that riders will be scored down for wearing helmets. Unfortunately, Dujardin got religion the hard way, after a fall (Telegraph article). With luck, her example will encourage others to make the switch before visiting the inside of an ambulance. Every ride. Every time.

1996 – When I was volunteering in Conyers, I had friends who were Lord High Everything Else among volunteers/officials and others who were over in the press tent being important. I could envision either of these routes for my future. Unfortunately, given where I lived, both would have involved major traveling. To fence judge or to cover shows, I would have needed to go away for weekends. leaving behind my own horses and my riding career. I decided that I would rather fail as a rider than succeed as a volunteer or as a journalist. In the intervening 16 years, I have strikingly failed to dazzle the competitive equine world. But I still do not regret the choice. I would have always wondered. Of course, succeeding as a rider would be the best route.

What did you take away from this or any other Games?

Spinning Wheels

Snapshot of the inside of my head:
I haven’t organized a saddleseat lesson.
I can’t find a horse to go look at, much less buy.
I haven’t followed through on my mysterious initiative with Rodney.
(We won’t even discuss my writing career, exercise plan, housekeeping regimen, or so on.)
I am a horrible person. I wallow in sloth. I don’t deserve the gifts I have been given. I’m too old. I’ve let too much time go by. I should go eat worms. Hello tailspin, how have you been?

Over on the rational half of my brain, I did the math. Mathilda takes 3 hours a day, minimum: two grazing sessions of an hour each, plus water breaks & meals. (Hubby changes the water buckets & cleans the pen.) Rodney’s heat therapy is another hour. That constitutes half a workday before I pick up a brush or do a single exercise.

I don’t bewail my fate to incite a pity party, although I will always take any brow mopping being offered. I say this outloud and online in an effort to remind &/or convince myself that there are legitimate reasons why I am pedaling madly with a slipped gear chain, rowing furiously with my boat tied to the dock, or whatever other dysfunctional transportation metaphor you care to employ.

Olympic Memories
My second clearest Olympic memory from Atlanta is of the horses. I can still see the French Eventing Team coming off the trailer projecting, “Nous sommes ici!” In the barns, the horses were vibrant, alert, curious. They looked as if riding them would be both a handful and a whole lot of fun. Either Olympic-level sport selects for this level of engagement or Olympic-level training brings it out.

My clearest Olympic memory is of two Big Name Riders having a shouting match on the path from the barns to the ring. BNR-A said, “I think, for once, you should do as you’re told.” and stomped off. BNR-B stood on the gravel looking small and stricken. I thought, you can’t yell at him, he has an Olympic medal.

What was your ‘They’re just people’ realization moment?
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Gratuitous kitten shot

Foto Friday: A Tell-Tale?

During the summer, Mathilda’s ears are lined with Swat.


Red Saddlepad for Dressage: Anna Kasprzak riding Donnperignon.

The freestyle maKes me wish I had rhythm. Or rode dressage. Question for musical types. I had it in my head – perhaps from figure skating commentary? – that one should not perform to a song with lyrics since the voice was already interpreting the music. No? Also, what’s with the prevalence of English lyrics?

Horses are not done. Don’t forget Modern Pentathlon’s riding phase over the weekend. My grooming claim to fame is braiding a horse for the Olympics, in Modern Pen.

It seemed like such a simple idea

The Red Saddlepad for Show Jumping goes to … I still can’t tell. The official results on the London 2012 site list everyone, down to Beezie Madden in a three-way tie for 72nd. Given that the top 20 moved on to round B, the last place for today ought to be whoever is listed in 20th, right? Which would be a tie between Daniel Bluman on Sancha & Edwina Tops-Alexander on Itot Du Chateau. But I’m only guessing. None of the sites I found list today’s results alone. They all reference the Olympic site.

How can something as simple as honoring one rider’s effort have turned into such a statistical hairball?

Horse Hunt (non)Progress Report #6

It’s looking like deja vu all over again. After a small flurry of activity, things are starting to go hinky. When we were shopping for Rodney, the weirdest things went wrong.

    We were scheduled to drive two hours south on a Friday only to have the horse turn up with a stone bruise. She swore the horse would be sound by Monday, did we want to come then? Um, thanks but why don’t you get him sound & call us?

    We never got to the Big Name Rider in our state. He went out of town. It snowed. I went out of town, Mathilda had the sniffles and we didn’t want to infect his barn. This went on for months.

    One trainer canceled a meet because the horses had just been vaccinated. Was this one of those sneak-attack vaccinations that come up without warning?

    I arranged to be at X barn on Y day at Z time. This was interpreted to mean I wasn’t interested in the horse.

    We asked a trainer if the horse in question was the sort that one had to pull or that one had to kick. She became irate and explained in a tone used to address imbeciles that all horses are one or the other. Well yes, that was our point.

    Another candidate was a young, green horse we found early on. We passed. As the months went by, we decided to give him a look. Photos and emails were exchanged. We chatted. We exchanged life histories. An appointment was made. The night before, she canceled. Never explained. Ever. Never contacted us again. Dropped off the planet. We posit that the young, green horse was taken for a final outing and acted a little too y&g. But we don’t know.

This time, we are starting to accumulate non-responses, even from folks who were initially happy to talk with us. Is it me? Do I offend without intending? If I’m going to piss you off, at least let me do it consciously so I can get my teeth into it.

Plus, we were all set to go check out a horse for sale at a local show only to have her go lame in the same storm that caused so much fun around here [Blustery]. Yes, **** happens with horses, but after last time, I’m prone to over-reaction.

I bought four horses before Rodney. Those four purchases combined did not give me a fraction of this much trouble.

Your horse buying experiences – similar to my early, easy ones or the later, hard slogs?
List of previous horse shopping posts.

Red Saddlepad
Turns out Dressage has the same up-or-out system as Show Jumping. I just wasn’t paying attention after the Grand Prix.
Low score for the GP Special: Patrick van der Meer riding Uzzo.
Lowest score to move on to GP Freestyle:Valentina Truppa riding Eremo Del Castegno.
I believe the scores reset for Thursday, so no one in last place here either [Tip].

Horsekeeping Tip #1


A quick drizzle of hoof oil prior to hosing protects the hoof wall from the wet/dry rollercoaster.
What is your favorite horsekeeping tip?

Red Saddlepad
The show jumping competition is messing with my head. Determining the Red Saddlepad is even more confusing today. As before, there was a cut-off. Highest penalties for Round 3: Jose Robert Reynoso Fernandez Filho riding Maestro St Lois. Highest penalties & moving onto Round 4: two of the three 16-faulters. The other fellow can’t move on because he is the fourth from his country to qualify. Plus, tomorrow the scores reset. No one is in “last”.