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Nike Ippeas

mylifeintheknifetrade — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:54:13 +0000

As a few of you may have noticed, some of the riders in Beijing were sporting some very futuristic boots. These boots were none other than Nike's new Ippeas, a sort of Blade Runneresque version of the leather knee highs that have been worn (by us riders) since time immemorial. I was, to say the least, a bit skeptical of the swooshes move into the equestrian realm, however I am a bit intrigued by some of the design elements that are incorporated into the Ippeas. Here is a brief description of the boot: "Nike insists its offering, dubbed the Ippeas (Greek for "rider"), allows for better performance than hand-cobbled leather boots. It used its Air Zoom cushioning—a staple in its sneakers—in the sole to make the boot more comfortable. The century-old spur system was replaced with a titanium screw-in model that was easier to install and adjust. Instead of a vertical zipper on the back of the boot, Nike designed one that wraps around the calf. There's also grippy rubber on the part of the boot that touches the saddle to improve handling, as well as red piping and a shiny heel for flourish." I have handled this boot in person, and I must say that it is indeed a departure from the ones that I used in my formative years. However I do appreciate the removable spur, a feature I believe might give a slightly tighter control of heel, when such motivation is needed. I also like the inner calf material, which could potential provide more grip to the sides of the saddle, an aspect of control and security that had not been previously addressed in the more traditional boots. I should also mention that I have not actually used the Nike Ippeas, neither have I ridden in a number of years, so any opinions that I express should certainly be taken with the greatest discretion. Having been at one time a student to the equestrian discipline, I will continue to offer my thoughts from time to time on methods and tack, if only to amuse myself and continue to keep some connection with this great sport. Thanks to both Business Week and Nike, for Images and Quotation(s).

Funny Farm Update

carrotplease — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:02:03 +0000

Because yesterday was the rainiest day in recent memory, I sort of uncharacteristically took the day off. Didn't even SEE a horse yesterday, just slept in, ate a huge pancake breakfast, and didn't do ANYTHING. Which leaves me feeling sort of like I have to make that up the next day, so today I may have OD'ed on horses, if that's at all possible.

First I went out to the layup farm to visit the horses there. I bought them some new brushes, flyspray, wound care goo, and a box of treats. I also had a mission- with so many horses on the farm, it's time to get them photographed and listed on the website, so I had a list of horses to take pictures of. This turned out to be harder than I anticipated, partly because I'm not sure who's who out there, and partly... well, anyone who has tried to take a "nice" picture of a horse without help surely understands.

There was lots of "no! whoa! stand!" moments, and lots of photos where a suddenly turned head created a horse that looked like a moose, or a stomped foot ruined a perfectly good picture. And on the grooming front, I learned who would stand for flyspray and who would try to drag me across a thirty foot field. I had big dreams of hopping on Wek for a little spin, to see how she'd do, but apparently her quiet demeanor the last time I saw her was largely because she had company. On her own, outside the field, she got a little snorty and spooky, so I decided to wait until there is at least someone there with me. But all in all, it was quite productive, I got flyspray on most of the horses, and SWAT on wounds and flybites. And really, they're quite fun to spend time with.

That's "Whisper"- a gorgeous boy whose track career ended when he fractured a hind leg. He was nursed back to health and cared for by a track worker who was very attached to him, but he unfortunately had to send him back recently. Whisper is the kind of horse who just loves some quiet attention, and is also fond of popcorn.

[caption id="attachment_122" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The boys hit the swimming hole"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_122" align="aligncenter" width="243" caption="No, I will not put my ears up for you"][/caption]

Silly horses. After leaving I went and rode Rosey, who is getting better and better each time I get on her. She's getting much more consistent, able to hold herself for longer periods of time. She's turning into one of the nicest horses I've ever ridden. And, Um, yes, I need to pick up my hands a little. I worked on that today, promise!

[caption id="attachment_124" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fancy Lady"][/caption]

Cowboy Up...

Gary Woodard — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:18:57 +0000

Cowboy is his name. Cowboy is a Palomino Quarter Horse. I'm amazed to how gentle he really is. When I first went to see him, the owner (he and his wife are very nice people) said to me. Take this bailing string and put it around his neck and lead him. So, I did. Guess what? He did exactly as he was suppose to do. I hope this week I'll get an opportunity to ride him. Right now we're waiting for the other horses to calm down and accept him.

None Shall Pazz!

epicponyz — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:34:05 +0000

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Arte Y Pico Award

onthebit — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:57:07 +0000

[caption id="attachment_778" align="aligncenter" width="180" caption="Arte Y Pico Award"][/caption]

So Beth over at the dog and pony show honored me with the Arte Y Pico Award...like 7 years ago! I didn't forget about it Beth! I just got sidetracked with life and here we are, months later and I finally must say Thank you! Now I am not so sure I deserve this award, because it is all about furthering art, but I will take it! Besides the pictures I take of my pony are works of art because they feature the most handsome horse in the world! So in accordance with the rules here is a link to the Arte Y Pico blog. I must say that this award actually is very cool and I must thank Beth again for bestowing it on me! You all should check out Beth's blog because the poor thing got an off the track Thoroughbred with a tendon injury! Not many people would be willing to sign up for that! Her horse is VERY handsome though and I bet he will make a full recovery and they two of them will be out kicking butt at the shows in no time at all!

Now for the fun part...to pass the award on!

1) Jackie over at Ace on Regarding Horses. If you have not heard yet JACKIE GOT A HORSE! Now we all know her original regarding horse blog was a great place to get equine news, but now you can read all about her journey with her very sweet Thoroughbred Ace!

2) Now That's A Trots blog has to get this award also. Her pictures of Willies abscess were nasty, but very well done. I love the picture she has of her pony on the side bar...it is just adorable!

3) And of course I cannot forget L from Me, Mira and the Racehorse dude. She has some excellent pictures of all sorts of things including her fields and her farming projects.

4) And I am shocked to write that Mrs Mom over at "Oh Horse Feathers and Other Related Tails" has not yet gotten this award. If her pictures of Sonny's toes aren't art I don't know what is!

5) And for the last blog I am choosing Solitare Mares blog A Good Horse. For those of you who don't normally read it I highly recommend checking it out!

Don't Forget to Pass on the Rules with the Award:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the ward itself.

4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.

102 - Leader du Cochet

Jean-Baptiste — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:56:14 +0000

Leader du Cochet lors d'un succès au Lion d'Angers en 2006 (photo west-images.com)

Véritable attraction des champs de courses de province, ce représentant de la casaque de madame Francis Montauban s'illustre aussi bien en haies qu'en steeple. Aujourd'hui, l'élève de Guillaume Macaire ne devrait pas laisser passer l'occasion de s'imposer sur le steeple de Craon, qu'il découvre (il a vaincu en haies sur l'hippodrome de la Touche en 2003). Possédant de loin la meilleure valeur handicap du lot, il s'annonce difficile à battre, à moins qu'il ne chute...

Juried In

Tracy — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:31:07 +0000

Word is that my painting of the Platte River (you saw it here first!) in a post on August 18th, has been juried into the exhibit. That means, paintings done for the show were submitted and the juror selected those to be shown in the exhibit. Mine included.

Here's info about the show if you're interested:

Art on the River
September 19 - October 29, 2008
Art Students' League of Denver
200 Grant Street
Denver, CO 80203

Opening Reception : Friday, September 19th, 5:30 - 8:00 pm
For more information: call the ASLD: 303-778-6990

At the Exhibit, you'll see around 50 creations all with a specific section of the Platte River as inspiration. Mine included. If you're not able to attend the reception, the show will be up for the next 10 weeks.

In the meantime, just another little horse.

Horse Study #21
8"x10"
oil on panel

Pune ‘08 - Race Day 9

Punter King — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:01:29 +0000

Hi Punters,

I'm back and bloggin after a long gap. Hope ya'll find my selections useful. Here you go.....

Star Crusader (1)

Athena (4) , Danger - Nimble Feet (4)

Got to Go (6)

Golden Symbol (7) It should be a cake walk for this horse.

Chevron (8) Good Place. Might win too ;)

- Punter King

LeBron χάνει από θνητό

Genera| — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:21:35 +0000

Το παιχνίδι HORSE είναι ένα κλασικό street game όπως η δική μας τριανταμία ή το ρολόι. Ένας απλός θνητός εργάτης προκάλεσε το LeBron σε μονομαχία και τον πάτησε μπροστά σε κόσμο! Αξίζει μία ματιά το βίντεο...

Update: Μόλις με ειδοποίησαν από το κοντρόλ, ότι το HORSE στην Ελλάδα λέγεται "κερασάκια" :P

Iz Canz Flyz?

epicponyz — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:19:50 +0000

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Weddings, Horses, Endurance Swimming, Oh My

forgingahead — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:42:51 +0000

Weddings

My good friend Erin is marrying a great guy, David, today! So we're off to Muir Beach to participate in what will be a beautiful ceremony on the sands surrounded by friends and family who love them to pieces.

Horses

Yesterday I had the chance to ride with Anke the super dressage trainer. She's back from her Olympic duties in Hong Kong and is helping me and Now Voyager get back on track.

We did A LOT of trotting over poles on the ground. These basically trick Now Voyager into picking up his hooves and carrying himself more. So then I can feel when his hooves are coming off the ground and start to understand when to push him forward with my leg.

And a big thank you to my friend Paula who is also riding Now Voyager a few days a week. He's a different horse (much improved) each time she rides him so I gotta get the inside scoop on what magic she's working.

Endurance Swimming

My world of triathlete bloggers is all coalescing into one big happy family. I love that! Turns out Sarah's Triathlon Adventure knows my amazing open water swim coach Morgan Filler - they used to swim together in Berkeley. And then Sarah pointed me to Looking for A Better Hobby, also known as Tawny, the amazing woman who just swam 21 miles from Catalina to San Pedro...with Morgan in a kayak by her side! Isn't that the coolest circle ever? Go Tawny!!!

Oh My

Carb Confession wise - let’s see. Yesterday I was good until dinner when I chowed down on a few snacks made of some kind of dough. I think they’re called empanadas. Whatever, they were YUMMY! But I did stay away from crackers, chips and bread in its raw form. Which is good!

Ok, I gotta go buy a slip for this little number I'm wearing tonight at the wedding. Gee, I didn't use to be so last minute. Guess I just have too many fun things to do these days to ever willingly walk into a mall!

happy Saturday,
Kathleen

Opium 1er

Jean-Baptiste — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:27:32 +0000

Bien parti, Opium a avancé dans la descente pour relayer Opaline d'Atout. Un instant dépassé par Orlando Karsk, le partenaire de Pierre Levesque a repris l'avantage au début de la montée, où le rythme a sensiblement baissé. Accélérant à la sortie du tournant final, le fils de Défi d'Aunou s'est détaché et il n'a cessé d'augmenter son avance dans les cent derniers mètres, surclassant l'opposition. Trotteur doué à la santé fragile, Opium devrait gravir les échelons dans les prochains mois. Cote finale : 1,7/1. Rapport placé : 1,2/1.

A demain

Watar 3ème

Jean-Baptiste — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:19:18 +0000

Bien parti, Watar a mené jusqu'à mi-montée, où il a été relayé par Américain. Bloqué derrière ce dernier au début de la ligne droite finale alors qu'il ne demandait qu'à avancer, le partenaire de Davy Bonilla s'est bien allongé pour finir, à la corde, mais il n'a pu refaire du terrain sur Américain et Shemima. Même s'il n'a pas eu toutes ses aises au début de l'emballage final, sa tentative est quelque peu décevante.

609 - Opium

Jean-Baptiste — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:16:52 +0000

Opium lors de sa victoire au mois de juin dans une épreuve du G.N.T. à Reims (photo Scoop Dyga)

Cheval de grande qualité, ce fils de Défi d'AUnou a été ménagé par Pierre Levesque depuis ses débuts. Pas des plus heureux lors de sa dernière sortie à Enghien, le représentant de la casaque Gozlan - en grande forme - trouve une opposition dans ses cordes aujourd'hui pour son retour à Vincennes. Déferré des quatre pieds, ce six ans en retard de gains devrait disputer activement l'arrivée d'autant qu'il apprécie la grande piste.

Lebron James Loses a game of H.O.R.S.E. at Venice Beach

Jo$h — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:30:04 +0000

I wasn't doin shit that day and I was 10 mins from Venice Beach. I can't believe I missed this shit!!!

Sneak Peak

ranchette — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:06:16 +0000

This handsome devil will be joining Ranchette shortly. He was for sale for a song due to his owner's barn having been leveled by a tornado this summer. Logistics of getting him the 90 miles from there to here still to get sorted out.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="© ranchette.wordpress.com"][/caption]

Cirriculum Vitae

10 year old Grade Quarter Horse Gelding, 14.3

Past Occupations:

Husband Horse in Training

Temporary Cow Sorting Intern

4-H Fun Show Horse

Skills:

Solid ground manners

Stands solo for mounting and dismounting

Learning to neck rein

Lunges, know basics at liberty and under saddle. Needs work at the canter

Steady Eddie

Likes:

Going to the right more than the left

Rolled oats

Getting Fancy

carrotplease — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:40:07 +0000

And we have videographic evidence! But first (read: youtube is taking forever), I thought I would introduce Cecil:

[caption id="attachment_117" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="Cecil Loves You"][/caption]

Cecil is a nine year old TB, whose last race occurred a day or two before he arrived. He had re-injured an old bow to the left front and needed several months of stall rest. Because our resources are limited, our horses generally live on field board until they are in training. But this guy happened to be one of those lucky horses owned by good people, who also provided the funding for the two months of stall rest that Cecil would need. Right now his injured leg is kept bandaged, and his movement is being limited. Everyone who meets him seems shocked that he's so... mellow about the whole thing. This is a horse who was in training, racing actively, suddenly put on stall rest and moved to a strange environment with a different routine. Given those circumstances, it does seem surprising that he has not blown a gasket. But he's probably one of the most content horses in the barn (helped, no doubt, by the spoiling he's getting from other boarders, who sneak him fresh picked grass through his window.

OK, well... all that typing and youtube is still busy. So we will have to do with a still photo instead.

[caption id="attachment_118" align="aligncenter" width="322" caption="whee!"][/caption]

Probably not the best photo, but we can't have everything. Somehow, I'm way in front of my saddle even though it felt like I wasn't. I mean, I felt like I waited and my leg didn't move, but the photo doesn't bear that out at all. I hate watching myself ride sometimes. My college riding coach would be beating me right now, if she were within arm's reach. In any case, we did the crossrail a few times in each direction. Her first time over was a little awkward, but she figured it out the next few times.

Oh Goody! Videos are done.

I call this one "The Hunchback of Notre Dame Goes Riding"

Hopping X-Rail to the left:

Magical Mare:

'Til next time!

Polo in North Yorkshire in the news

rakan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:12:40 +0000

BBC News was carrying this video today about the guys in North Yorkshire blogged about a couple of days ago after they appeared in a newspaper article. I have to say I do like the look of grass polo's rough and ready approach, lack of concern for foot-downs and the general anarchy which seems to happen on such a big pitch! The video piece focusses on bike polo as an olympic sport, as its 100 years on since bicycle polo was demonstrated as a sport in the 1908 Olympics.

Someone call PETA!

jaded4good — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:48:27 +0000

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this picture on Go Fug Yourself:

I didn't know I would see something more scary in pink than Stella Spelling's (or what's her last name again) nursery! I mean, look in the poor creature's eyes, the horse is clearly thinking "get me the phuq outta here now" and there's no one to help it?!

I just wanna see that slut try to mount a horse in that outfit. Even a rocking horse will do for me. Pretty please?

Race horse

dju316 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:08:38 +0000

My horse finished in
fifteenth place. It took fourteen
horses to beat him.

Rosey Untangles Her Legs

carrotplease — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:57:56 +0000

Last night we had a fabulous ride.

Liza has been doing some great things for this horse, I think. I found, last night, that Rosey has gone beyond the "stretching to the bit" phase and arrived at the "learning to go round" phase. When I was good with my contact, she actually lengthened stride and arched her neck into the bit. I remember when Klondike got to that phase, and how fancy he looked, so I can only imagine Rose looks SUPER-fancy in comparison to her first few rides.

Her canter transitions are getting better and better. Of course, especially travelling to the right, I have got to remember that the outside rein is more important. Otherwise on a circle she starts to drift out and pop her shoulder.

Probably the biggest success of the night was related to jumping. She's jumped before, as I've talked about here, but she seemed to have some confusion about jumps of a certain height, or trotting jumps. Trotting to a jump, her way of dealing with it was to stop, then step over, then resume trotting on the other side. It just seemed like a lot for her to coordinate, and she didn't quite "get" the idea.

A session of free jumping, and a couple Liza-rides later, and the lightbulb has turned on. We trotted up to a crossrail last night, and the first time was a little shaky. She gave sort of a half-hop over it, landing cantering in front and trotting behind. Remembering what Liza had told me about horses like her- to always, always GO away from the jump- I kicked her up into a real canter and cantered the turn. On landing, it was like she was asking a question... "is.... this what you want?" and I hope I answered with an enthusiastic and positive, "yes, but more!"

I think I did OK, because on the next approach, she focused on the jump, increased her energy on the way to it (but not her speed- yay! I love that feeling!), and actually jumped it, landing in the canter with all four legs. We repeated that a few times, and then she got loads of pats and hugs and kisses for being so excellent.

The word from observers is that she jumps very cute- knees up, straight, adorable. Hopefully we will have some new photos soon!