Death Knell for Modern Eventing

Every time I open my mouth about eventing, I get bombarded with angry emotional tirades by people I don't even know (who frequently don't actually event, but are strangely emotionally attached to it) and every time, I swear I'll never do it again. But proving yet again that I might not be the smartest person on the internet, here I go.

the pinnacle of my "eventing"

I assume you all heard about the tragic passing of both an event rider and a horse in unrelated incidents at a US-based 3* last weekend. I'm not here to sit in judgement on specific incidents--by all accounts, the world is now short one amazing woman and a completely irreplaceable animal. There are a lot of articles circulating the internet about them right now--I think the best is this one, by a young woman who was deeply impacted by Phillipa.

No one with any sense is saying that either the rider or the horse was at fault and a lot of people with a lot of sense are fighting about how to fix the obvious and glaring problems. I don't have the answers and I'm definitely not here to chair a wholly-unqualified mob commission from my seat on the internet. Suffice to say, if you think you have the answers to fix a problem we can't quantify at this point, I also think you are an idiot.

That aside.

Eventing is digging it's own grave at an incredible rate right now. I've never evented above beginner novice and at this point in my life, it's unlikely to ever progress beyond that point. I cannot speak to what happens on course and that's not what this is about. I'm talking about the business model the USEA and PRO and modern American eventers have worked so hard to create. From a business perspective, this model is completely unsustainable.

Let's face it--eventing is the grass roots, common-man, Olympic-dreams sport in the way a pay-to-play discipline like show jumping or dressage can never be. International show jumping is populated with celebrities and billionaires. Want to go to the Olympics? Just drop 15mil on the literal nicest horse in the world, hire the best coach in the world, build the best facility in the world, and the competition will come to you. It's somewhat the same in dressage--all y'all rocking those $90 kastel sunshirts--do you know who Charlotte Jorst is? Facsinating story there.

good thing they're nice shirts

Eventing is the only FEI discipline in which a starry-eyed girl can buy a horse off the track for a few hundred dollars and make it to the elite upper levels. That is a beautiful thing, in a lot of ways.

But you know what it's not? A business model. That's why at the USEA convention, there are whole seminars on convincing rich people to be "owners" of upper level horses and allowing the real athletes to ride them. Of course, here's the thing--while a few people certainly own horses because they love horses and they love the sport and their version of collecting Breyer models is owning 7 horses at Rolex, that pool of people is very, VERY small.

For everyone else, they need to get something out of it. Obviously, eventing is a lot more dangerous than show jumping or dressage and requires a pretty specific personality type and a skill set that cannot be bought. That rules out most rich people who can afford to self-finance an international competition schedule. They themselves cannot compete at the top levels.

Ok, well what about event horses as an investment? I mean, Doug Payne sold Running Order and another horse (sob not over it) to not-figuratively buy the farm. I don't know or care how much money changed hands, but you'll notice even WFP hasn't taken that horse to a 4* since then. Of course he did almost metaphorically buy the farm last year, so who knows how that figures in.

What I'm getting at is this: according to this study commissioned by the FEI, one of the biggest indicators for a rotational fall (which is how people and horses die) is the age of the horse--meaning the Marilyn Little school of "ram em and jam em up the levels for a quick resale" is literally punching your ticket for a scary ass fall and if William Fox Pitt can't take a made 4* horse to a 4* event, well, then there really isn't a resale market for a 4* horse. Period. Eventing takes trust and a relationship between horse and rider and you can't buy that. Michael Jung makes his own--wonder why?

So essentially, an upper level event horse is rapidly becoming a dud as an investment. No matter how many times Visa tells you something is priceless, what that means in real terms is that it has no value. Can't sell it.

And if you can't sell it, you can't insure it. Insurance is a business and it runs on actuaries putting real values on things and then betting that the thing won't just fucking die at an event. Which they are doing. Right now.

Well that leaves an interesting conundrum, doesn't it? What's the incentive to own an un-saleable, un-insurable so-called "investment" in a high-risk sport?

There isn't one.

That leaves two options:

1) The moneybags would-be owners walk away from the sport--it drops out of the Olympics and off the public radar. Professionals struggle harder than ever to make it, course design naturally degenerates to the scary-ass stuff they jumped in olden times because there's no money to pay designers and build fancy fences and so on.

2) The sport makes serious changes in terms of safety and accessibility so that the Olympic buy-a-medal program remains a viable option. The risk is greatly reduced, the prices of horses jump up another few notches, the ability of the girl-on-her-ottb to make it to the top becomes less than zero. The purpose-bred $$$$$$$ horse dominates, the sport professionalizes to the point of being unrecognizable, and the Wellington eventing showcase is your new feature 4*. The sport you think you love no longer exists.

There are some appealing things about option 1--it's something Denny Emerson and Jimmy Wofford seem to advocate for, and obviously they've been around a while. There are some horse friendly outcomes in this and there is certainly an emotional appeal--you return the decision making to the horse people instead of handing it to the entertainers and accountants. There are also some really glaring drawbacks.

The first thing that comes to mind is simply the visibility--it's amazing how sports have to clean up when everyone starts looking. I think visibility is a huge part of horse and rider safety. If eventing were to drop off the map of the international scene, a lot of things could happen that otherwise wouldn't if there was more oversight. In addition, I really really don't understand all the people claiming that somehow going back to early-era eventing is a good idea. You think Vicarage Vee was terrifying? LOOK WHAT THEY USED TO DO. That's a nope. There is no question in my mind that with all it's drawbacks, the modern form of eventing is safer for horses and riders than whatever that horrifying bloodbath was.

So let's think about option 2. Money talks. Let's face it--dressage and showjumping, our equivalent international-level FEI-regulated events are essentially tests of which horse is the fanciest and most expensive, which means 99.999% of humanity cannot afford to compete. Obviously, horsemanship still plays in, but no one gets anywhere (on the international scene) with their OTTB. On the other hand, it's glamorous, fun to watch, and safe.

Moreover, there are also some horse friendly features to this model. Namely--horses stop dying in preventable ways. Public scrutiny is at a maximum and there is nowhere to hide a (metaphorical or real) body. The very real drawback is of course that when you can literally buy an Olympic medal, then you expect to and the welfare of the horse can be overlooked. Does this balance the increased scrutiny? Maybe?

Eventing is theoretically different because instead of being a fancy horse competition, it offered us the ability to test the sheer grit and heart of the horses and riders involved. The problem with that kind of test is failing it can mean death for horse and rider. We live in a safe, protected modern society that isn't comfortable with death and thinks that sacrificing good people and good horses on the altar of sport is disgusting bloodlust.

And frankly, I agree.

Modern eventing is going away. It cannot and should not survive.

What rises from it's ashes will be an interesting beast indeed.

A DQ Fixes Sportsball

It was brought to my attention the other day that not only (get this!) are there places on the internet that have things other than pony pictures, but also that there are sports (!!) without subjective judging, sparkles, or even ponies at all.

THE HORROR.

It's time to fix that. I zoomed right over to the top sports photos of 2015 on Sports Illustrated and gleaned some material. All shots are taken by Julian Edelman someone with a camera who is not Julian Edelman, who appears to be not only competent, but a remarkable talent in the various sporting fields.

We're going to talk about the fellow in blue on the top because the other chap appears to be doing airplane impressions. The blue fellow is making a mighty sporting effort at whatever the hell he's doing. We always talk about the balance of the human athlete--if we take the horse out from under them, where will they be? Clearly, we are about to find out. I would suggest he put his chin up, shoulders back, and get his feet beneath his seat because he's currently in a driving position and liable to get dumped on his ass, should he relocate his equid.

These ladies appear to be prepping before a big class. There is a distinct lack of horsemanship being exhibited--while everyone needs a good wipe down, it is preferable to do it with a soft cloth (one for faces, one for docks) once on the horse and ready to show. In addition, sleeveless, collarless shirts are sending a message of "we are athletes who take ourselves seriously", which might cause youth of today to think they are participating in some sort of grungy takes-all-comers activity instead of a pay-to-play DISCIPLINE. We just can't have that. Stretchy pants and collared shirts WITH SLEEVES if you please ladies. You must please the old men leering at you. 

I rarely advocate for gadgets and quick fixes, but it's so important to base one's choices of equipment on the situation at hand and not just theory. Eventually, this fellow will be just fine in a loose cavesson and simple snaffle, but at present, he would really benefit from a flash noseband. 

Where to begin? Not only did this ambitious young buck misplace his horse entirely, he seems to have "leaped past" all the critical basics of jumping. His heels are not metaphorically almost over his head. His toes are points. He's thrown his upper body forward. I can't abide his wanton disregard for the traditions and respect for the sport as shown in his garrishly colored outfit. I make it a rule to always say something nice, so I will say his automatic release is ON POINT even if his base of support leaves a lot to be desired. 

I'm sure these sports will start to clean themselves up once my remarks are taken to heart.

HO BOY SHOW PLANS

Well. This is it. The year I've been planning for.

And yes, now that I've said that, I fully 100% realize that my life is from here out jinxed.

Last year, Courage and I hit the event derby series and garnered a GIANT year end award, which was a serious bucket list item for me. I'd love to repeat that at crossrails this year, BUT the whole goal of the last year was to get Courage going as a dressage horse and get him exposed to shows

SO THAT

we could show at first level this year.

Gulp.

And get our bronze medal scores.

Double gulp.

so much dressage

SO. Here's what my tentative schedule looks like for now (the local calendar is not yet complete, so some dates are invented.):

April 

(hopefully a schooling show in April--failing that, we will haul somewhere to do a lesson and get him out)

THEN

May 7-8 Spring dressage show at OUAH. First 1 and probably first 3. This is a non-recognized outing that will hopefully give us that first level feel. And also hopefully not completely freak us out. I want to do both days and really work on my test riding/show warm up to learn what I need to do for the best results possible.

We will then skip the AMAZING AND EXCITING sounding cool new derby the next weekend because A) I only have so much money and B) I need to not wear Courage out completely because then... KIDDING WE WILL DO IT CUZ I CANT DECIDE

May 21-22 Idaho Dressage Festival! Probably first 1 and 3 as well. This is our big hurrah--USDF recognized and all. Need all the $$$ memberships and I really don't want to know how much this will cost me. I plan to stable on the grounds and hopefully not completely lose my marbles.

Ok once that's over with...

June 11-12 League Dressage show at AEB. Again, probably first 1 and 3 unless we're failing a lot or I feel a burning urge to do 2. This is also run concurrently with an event derby that we could cross enter into. Crossrails? Maybe.

June 17-19 Boise River Dressage at OUAH. I need to do some research here. I'm tempted to do the opportunity classes because they count towards league show year end points, but I'll also have all my memberships and could show recognized. I really need to find out if I don't get my Bronze scores in May if I could try to get them here. I don't know and that would change how I approach this show.

this post needs satin

Looks like we'll decompress in July (which is good because the summer doldrums are real), then head on into August:

August 6-7 League dressage show in Filer. Again, this depends. It's a 2+ hour drive and if I haven't done the other league shows, it's probably not worth it. On the other hand, any chance at year-end swag sounds good to me. We'll see where I'm at and how broke I am.

September: There's a cheaper-but-crazy jumper show on the 10th or a spendier-but-nice jumper show on the 24th. If Courage is jumping well and I'm feeling up to it, we might hit one of these. I really like the timing here--we'll have had all summer to get going and see if jumping is something we can do well this year or not.

October 1-2 Fall league dressage show at AEB. First level tests. This is being run concurrently with the derby series we did last year, which makes me think about cross entering. We will see, but it's unlikely my budget will support chasing two different year end awards in two different sports. Maybe. Maybe. I do love swag.

and friends with satin

Haha the more I write, the more I want to try and do the derbies too. I really can't justify the one in May--it's right before our big big show and I don't want Courage to be tired headed in to that.

Or do I? I DON'T KNOW. Obviously, this whole thing is flexible. A lot of my scheduling is going to depend on getting more answers as to how the league shows work and how the bronze scores go and if I think I have a shot at a local year end award at first level recognized (lol a girl can dream) or if the league is really where it's at for us this year.

So. I will figure out memberships and awards and STUFF and try to get this firmed up. GAH NOW SO NERVOUS.

And just because I need to put this out there: Courage and I had incredible success at intro and training level last year. I realize that doesn't/isn't/won't translate straight across to kicking all the ass at first level this year, especially as we try to move up in terms of both level and quality of competition. All my talk about year end awards is just because winning one was SO MUCH FUN and I'd never done it before and it would be mind-blowingly-amazing to pull off a repeat.

Doesn't mean I think we're in contention. Not even close.

but it sure is inspiring

CHAMPIONS (like, for real)

best banquet EVAR

Brace yourselves for a picture overload! Saturday was our local dressage/eventing GMO banquet. They released all the dressage/eventing award winner names in advance, but the derby competitors (me) were kept secret.

Naturally, I've spend the past month obsessing about whether my scores would get reported correctly and if my membership was in good standing and basically anything I could think of that could go wrong. It was pretty nerve-wracking.

ribbon at rest

But then, they called my name at the banquet and I was probably the most excited person there when I ran (literally) up to get my giant ribbon. And maybe squealed.

You guys.

This thing is HUGE. It is literally the biggest ribbon I have ever seen, and it's MINE. :-D

It was a really fun night for a lot of reasons (guess who also won TWO LESSONS in the raffle?! I never win stuff!!). It was really awesome to have my horsie besties and the trainers who have made a huge impact in my life be there for it.

YARDS OF SATIN

Our GMO is really a fun group of people and I'm excited about their plans for next year. League shows? More ribbons? Sign me up!

Honestly? The sheer glory of my enormous champion ribbon (of ground poles) is making me seriously consider a run at crossrails next year. I'd have to be really good at budgets for that to work though. Don't hold your breath.

Anyways.

Because I am a proper grown up, I scooted out to the barn on Sunday, ribbon in tow, to show my barn buddies and take some pictures.

I'm shameless. What can I say?

i love this

Here's the thing: it has always been a bucket-list level item for me to win a year and award. This year was a unique opportunity in terms of shows available, horse ready to go, and money available to show. I've never been able to be consistently "good" at something before, and since our goals for next year very likely involve a lot less satin and a lot more competing against fancy horses and solid riders, well, I'm going with it.

I know it's only ground poles and intro b. But you know what? I'm a working adult ammy with one horse. I am coming back from an XC wreck that completely ruined my confidence. I'm riding an older horse off the track that I made myself.

champion. yes.

Yeah, I may not be a Rolex contender or a national competitor and hell, I don't even have plans to do any real eventing, but you know what?

This was my Olympics. My thing. My competition and goals for the year.

AND MY RIBBON IS SO HUGE.

I am a total satin ho. Love it. Can't get enough.

the biggest ribbon

This ribbon is legitimately big enough that I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I mean, every ribbon Courage has ever won is hanging over my kitchen window AND THIS RIBBON PRACTICALLY HANGS INTO THE SINK.

It's glorious.

You doubt? Not to worry. It may have been fricking cold and gusting 30mph+ on Sunday, but I hustled Courage into the indoor and took SO MANY PICTURES.

What goes with a sparkle saddle? EVERYTHING

Why yes you do need perfect wraps to take ribbon pictures

ribbon clear down to his knees

ok this might be excessive, but his neck looks good

we are equally thrilled

Pardon my excitement--this is my first time with a tri-color ribbon ever. It's everything I ever wanted it to be--a tangible reminder of all the blood, sweat, tears, and luck that go into making a successful partnership.

A reason that all those hard days, crappy rides, long hours, personal struggles, and tedious times are worth working through.

I don't ride for the ribbons, because so much of horsemanship is developing character through rotten luck, crappy circumstances, and things going wrong. If I set my self worth on satin earned, I would have had to quit a long time ago.

But when I do get a satin forget-me-not, it makes the journey that much sweeter.

Challenge ACCEPTED

we are the best at toodling

Courage and I are taking some intentional down time from dressage and have been toodling and doing nothing.

The internet is a dangerous place for toodling, as you might be aware. I was reading through Eventing Nation's #EventerProblems list and I thought it was funny right up until I saw the last image on this list.

And because I am toodling (and have loony friends), I thought "we can do that" and then immediately "I bet I can make a competition out of this". So I emailed it to the obvious choice for the challenge (and not the one that would kick both our asses without even trying) and obviously, she was in.

It's all been a very hush hush project, because you don't go advertising to your competition just how you train your horse to WIN, but here's what I did on day one:

1) Get water trough.

I'll teach those DQs to leave things laying out....

2) Show it to horse in the arena.

so interesting now

3) Lunge horse over similar skinnies to remind him that he does things other than dressage.

so easy now

4) Lunge horse over it with standard(s).

OH YEAH

4) Show it to horse under saddle and establish that he still has to go forward/straight.

forgot to take a pic of this part, so you get yesterday's shot again

5) Jump over other, similar skinnies that horse is familiar with to get him thinking about jumping. And skinnies. And straightness. Oh, and to re-tune my jumping position/aids.

Wore the same outfit, but looked better in my head

TO BE CONTINUED (DUN DUN DUN)!!!!

No More Moral Victories

not impressed by your atmosphere

Like anyone who picks up a stupid hard sport as a child and then spends the rest of their life busting their butt at it, I want to be a good rider. I also want to be good at horse shows.

But as anyone who shows can tell you, showing is a whole different skill set from riding at home. And just like any other skill, it must be practiced.

I can't even tell you have many times I've kicked around the idea of giving up showing entirely, because with the exception of one brilliant year with Cuna, I have always, universally, sucked at showing.

so much practice

I'm the queen of moral victories. You know, "oh well it was pretty ok for a green horse" or "maybe she has ulcers" or "it was good for where we're at, which is nowhere anyone wants to be".

But you know what?

I'm sick of moral victories.

I actually want to be good at something.

The Cuna+Courage collection

It's not even that I'm a particularly competitive person--I'm not. I'm just tired of always failing for reasons, so I'm taking those reasons away the best I can.

That's why Courage and I are hitting every local inexpensive show I can get a ride to. We're doing this and we're doing it right. He's got a lot of potential. I'm an ok rider.

I want to go to a show and know that if I ride well, he and I have a chance. I want to be calm and collected. I don't just want to lose--I want to make other people beat me. (Or you know, win.) 

Me and people who won things

I'm following Tracy's tutorial and making a ribbon jar to put up Cuna's ribbons. I don't need to dwell in the past. Courage is my man now. We're going to celebrate his achievements together and be confident that we can keep building his satin collection. 

I know there are going to be plenty of disappointments and moral victories along the way, but I want actual, quantifiable success.

With no excuses.

PS I'm under no illusions that I'll win things just for showing up or that I'll beat the pros in my dressage show this weekend. That's not what this is about. 

Ammy Hour: Meet Elena!!

Here's the latest installment of Ammy Hour. I love to run this series because I get to learn about so many cool and interesting people and the way they manage real life with horses. I know it's a slow news two weeks because of the holidays, but I have a great interview with yet another cool adult amateur!

Elena blogs over at Out of the Box, where she keeps up with two OTTBs and has possibly the coolest wedding photos of all time. (Why hasn't a horse blog run a 'cool wedding photos' post? I should do that. I love pictures!)

Anyways. Elena is another adult amateur making a go of it and here is how she answers the questions that life throws at her:




1) You’re at dinner with work colleagues. How do you introduce yourself?  Hi, I'm Elena. This is my husband George. Yes, I know, we got married young. Yes, I also know I look just like Jennifer Lawrence.

2) But what you really meant to say was this: Hi, nice to meet you. Would you like to see some pictures of my pets? No, oh ok. I guess I don't really have anything to talk to you about then...I'll be heading to the barn now!








3) Tell us about your horse(s): The Great Gatsby, "Gatsby", is a 17 y/o OTTB who I bought back in 2006. He is kind of crazy but also ridiculously amazing. He LOVES cross-country and pretty much any jumping in general. Not so crazy about dressage but is pretty darn good at it when he pays attention! He loves peppermints and licking my hands. We have a very strong bond but he also has a strong independent streak and may have been tagged by some as arrogant.

Chi-Town, "Kanye", is a 2 y/o TB with no race training. He is still growing and we are still getting to know each other but so far he pretty much seems like a puppy in horse form. Nothing bothers him and he would just like to be next to me at all times.  












4) How did you meet him/her? I met Gatsby when I was 16. I had finally come to terms that my lovely 14.3hh QH mare wasn't going to be my superstar eventer so we decided to put her on the market and start looking for something else. I went through thousands (or so it seemed) videos and ads but Gatsby was actually the first horse I sat on. It was pretty much love at first site when I saw him in the cross-ties. He was 100% nutso and absolutely the wrong horse for me but the more I heard that the more I loved him and, as you can see, it's turned out pretty well!

Also met the dog

I stumbled across Kanye when I was window shopping the SoCal CANTER listings. I was totally not in the market for a new horse but absolutely adored his photos and pretty much had to have him. So far so good on that one!

5) What have you done together? Gatsby and I have competed up through Training level eventing together and schooled Prelim. Kanye and I have gone on many walks together and attempted to lunge.







6) Where are you going together? Right now Gatsby is rehabbing a minor tendon injury. I would really love to be able to compete him at least one more time to be able to enjoy cross-country with him again. In my heart of hearts I also have a, fairly unlikely, dream of taking him to an FEI event one day.
Kanye is still growing up. I plan on starting him sometime next year and seeing how he does but my hope is that he will be a fantastic eventer also.



7) How do you finance the addiction? I have been lucky enough to have a father who was willing and able to finance the addiction from the start. He supported my riding completely until about 2 years ago when we discussed it and thought at that point it made more sense for me to be responsible for it. Generous as ever though, he gifted me a portion of his ownership in a company he jointly owns to assist me in getting by. This still puts me on a pretty tight budget for my boys but I am forever grateful to my dad for making it possible for me to keep them as an adult.

8) How often do you ride? I try to ride about 4-5 days a week but unfortunately my work schedule often gets in the way and I'll be lucky to get 3 rides in.

9) What’s the single biggest thing that helps you achieve your goals? The support of my dad and my husband are hugely helpful but I also like to think that I am a pretty stubborn and motivated person.



10) If there was one thing you could say to people getting ready to join the ranks of riding (or re-riding) adults, what would it be? Prepare to sleep A LOT less. I don't know about everyone else but often the only time I have to ride is before work which means getting up before 6am and then returning home after 7pm.





11) What are your horse keeping arrangements? Gatsby lives at a fantastic facility in Santa Barbara. It's got all the facilities we need plus really amazing care and some great people to ride with. They've got stalls and paddocks but I was lucky enough to snag a situation where he lives out 24/7 with the owners retired mare. Kanye lives at my house in our paddock with our retired QH mare. We have the option to open the paddocks up to the trails and let the horses wander and graze which I'd like to try in the summer but it depends on how our other horses are with him.

12) What is/are your long term equine goals? I think I have pretty much the same ultimate dream as every other eventer stateside, to compete at Rolex Kentucky. More realistically, I would be beyond stoked to compete at an FEI event and do decently.












13) Bottom Line: Riding is my passion. There have been times when I've though about how much easier things would be if I gave it up but when it comes down to it, it's definitely one of the most important things in my life. I wouldn't be happy without my horses and I definitely wouldn't be me without riding.