On the Line

It was all about the flatwork Friday at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Flatwork, in the form of the Rolex KY 3-Day Event’s dressage phase, and flatwork in the form of sleek and shiny reiners inside the Alltech Arena. On the Line has a great appreciation for reining, enough so that even after staying awake (kidding, kidding, it was all excellent) through the eventing dressage, I was motivated to watch today’s reining competition via USEFnetwork’s excellent live online coverage. For those of us who can’t be onsite in KY this weekend, USEF’s online stream has provided a great window into Rolex and now the Kentucky Reining Cup, so three cheers for them. I plan on parking myself in front of the computer tomorrow morning at 10:00amEST for the broadcast of cross country day, to watch 45 riders much braver than I navigate the soggy footing that’s been the topic of so much conversation this week.

No, that's not supposed to ride in one stride over the creek.... Photo by Cheval Photos

But I digress. Holding world class eventing and reining at the same facility on the same weekend begs a few comparisons; which sport is more exciting? Reining definitely beats eventing’s dressage phase. But tomorrow eventing will probably eat up all the excitement points with the inevitable accumulation of thrills and spills moments. But reining’s got an ace in the hole, in the form of that discipline’s enthusiastic fans, who whoop, holler and whistle their encouragement through every ride. Other equestrian disciplines could do with more whooping and hollering in general, don’t you think?

For the full report on today’s Rolex dressage phase, jump over to fellow Sidelines blogger LaurenGallops, who has spent the last two days faithfully posted at the ingate to the KY Horse Park Main arena, capturing every competitor in the ring and staying abreast of all the action. Here’s hoping that her Dubarry’s serve her well tomorrow in what’s sure to be a full day out in the field.

And as for enthusiasm…. does it really get any better than the crowd going nuts as Lyle Lovett rides a reiner for all he’s worth? We’ll find out tomorrow. . . .

Someone had fun out there! Photo by Cheval Photos

On the Line has every excuse for dropping off the Internet blogosphere for a week or so. First of all, there is very little that could top John French’s epic save, as featured in the previous post. Second of all, post-WEF recovery takes up a significant amount of one’s time. Pools need laying next to, cocktails need sipping. . . .well, actually, it seems that it doesn’t matter whether or not it’s season, certain equine bloggers are perpetually buried in “real” work.

And most importantly, just what has been happening in the horse world these past two weeks? All of our top show jumpers have scattered to their respective corners of the world, and keeping track of them all can be like herding cats.

Luckily, the biggest tomcats in that herd have made the job easier, at least for the next three days. Twenty top American riders are all gathered in Leipzig, Germany this weekend for the 2011 World Cup Final of show jumping (and dressage, and driving, and vaulting…) Sadly, On the Line’s expense account did not include plane fare to the Final, so all of that action will have to be followed virtually. The only live feed available in the U.S. is via FEItv.com, and it’s not free. But if you’re willing to plunk down 25.99, you can get coverage off all the happenings in Germany, and join me in hoping that certain dramas do not repeat themselves this year. So far, the U.S. is off to a solid start, with four of our riders placing in the top 12 of Round 1. Full synopsis here, and more on that later.

But wait – that’s not all! As if the World Cup Finals of Show Jumping and Dressage weren’t enough action for one weekend, the U.S. eventing calendar’s biggest weekend is happening closer to home, at the Kentucky Horse Park. The Rolex CCI4* Three Day Event began its dressage phase today under sunny skies (the opposite of yesterday’s exciting weather), with 45 horses and riders qualified to compete.

Although this blog’s first love is show jumping, and although On the Line can’t be in Kentucky this weekend, those are not reasons enough to skip over Rolex completely. After all, On the Line’s official eyes (that would be the talents of Cheval Photos, official Rolex photographer) are on the ground at the Horse Park, bringing us moments like these from now until Sunday:

Katie Ruppel and Sir Donavan. Photo by Cheval Photos

Photo by Cheval Photos

As someone who has no desire whatsoever to fling myself and my horse across ditches, logs and the like, I’ve automatically got the utmost respect for any rider who is brave enough to send in their Rolex entry form. So Katie Ruppel’s moment of bad luck today during the dressage phase was one to empathize with – for whatever reason, her horse just didn’t want to play today. We’ve all been there at one point or another. Better luck next time Katie, and in the meantime, thanks for providing material for some photos that are far more exciting than what we’d get from a “regular” dressage show.

Moving on, and speaking of luck. Allison Springer and Arthur have experienced extraordinary luck, and talent, and fashion sense over the past 36 hours. Allison won best dressed female rider during yesterday’s jog, won a random drawing for a Rolex watch during the competitor’s dinner last night, and stands 1st after day 1 of the dressage phase.

Allison, like most eventers, is very down to earth and admitted that she was even a little dissapointed after her test, that she thought it could have been better. And as for luck? “You make your own,” she commented. We’ll see about that. Tomorrow the “big guns” of the eventing world will ride their dressage tests, and Allison’s luck could change. On the Line will be watching the livestream, wishing we could be live in Kentucky, but enjoying it all the same from inside an air conditioned apartment. Where will you be?

Like these pictures? Want to see more from Rolex Kentucky? Visit Cheval Photos throughout Rolex weekend for access to the very best moments from Rolex, as captured by award-winning photographer Selena Frederick. You can also follow Cheval on Facebook and Twitter for instant updates.

Who among us hasn’t had one of those am-I-or-aren’t-I, eyeballing the ground, thrown up the neck, hanging on for dear life close calls? You know what I’m talking about – when you’re very, very close to ending up with your butt in the dirt, but at the last possible second, you pull your shoulders back with a mighty effort, your horse puts his neck back up instead of farther down, and you’re saved -this time- from picking sand out of your shirt collar. It’s the close call fall.

John French experienced a very public close call fall yesterday afternoon during the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby class at the Blenheim Spring Classic III in San Juan Capistrano, CA. With six mounts entered in the class, and being the freakishly consistent competitor that he is, John rarely leaves a high level derby without a ribbon in hand. And yesterday was no different; he placed 4th with Pimm’s Cup, owned by Whitney Miller.

But after fence 1 during the handy round, a big, bright white coop going towards a crowd of spectators, his round on Oscany Inc.’s Clooney took a surprise turn. ”I don’t know what happened,” said John after the class. Clooney jumped a little bigger, and maybe cracked his back a little more over the spooky fence, and both horse and rider fell out of sorts on the landing side.

However, this is John French we’re talking about, and the popular, easygoing rider dug deep and saved himself at the last minute. Ever the consummate professional, he shook the moment off as he circled, grinned a little sheepishly while acknowledging cheers from the crowd, and continued on to fence 2. Clooney and John still placed 10th overall in the Derby. Morgan Geller won the class, and Sidelines April feature subject Nick Haness was third with Havana. Overall, it was a challenging course with a difficult handy round, and plenty of other riders had trouble. Destry Spielberg’s Rumba (the same Rumba that John French rode to the inaugural Hunter Derby Final championship two years ago) had refusals in the handy round, but previous round points helped them place 10th.

A challenging course, big spooky fences, thrills and near-spills. Hmmmm. That sounds like a hunter derby at its best! See HorseShowTime.com for full results.

Use the scroll arrows at the bottom of this photo to see how Cheval Photos captured John French’s close call fall:

The hunter pose finally catches up with JF. . . ?

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Guess what? Horse sports are making mainstream headlines this week! Is it all that On the Line was hoping and dreaming for in the previous, heartwarming post about stellar horseman Buck Brannaman’s big-screen debut? Are previously uninterested riders considering taking up riding themselves, and spreading love for horse sports around the globe?

Sadly, no. This horse news is, in fact, the opposite of what On the Line was hoping for. The shining spotlight of the mainstream news media has been squarely focused on one event that has caught attention in all the wrong ways: The Grand National. Many of us know this annual steeplechase race from one of our favorite childhood horse movies; National Velvet made Elizabeth Taylor famous in 1944, and the book that the movie was based on was one of my favorites. I remember reading the detailed account of Pie and Velvet Brown’s adventures in awe. Enid Bagnold’s words painted a picture of an extraordinary race that tested a horse’s strength and talent. The Grand National was the coolest race in the world.

Fast forward to 2011. The 164^th running of the Grand National was held this past Sunday at Aintree in England. Horses died this year during the race, but unfortunately that’s hardly news. Today’s animal rights organizations hate the Grand National even more than they hate regular horse racing because horses die pretty much every year while trying to complete the Grand National. More often than not they die in very unpretty, gruesome ways: of broken necks, broken backs and broken legs. In the last 11 years, 20 horses have died while attempting to finish this race, run over 4 miles and sixteen fences, 14 of which are jumped twice.

This year, the horses Ornais and Dooneys Gate both died after falling on the downside of a fence and breaking their neck and back, respectively. It was reported that the winner, Ballabrigs, was too exhausted to walk to the winner’s paddock after the race, and his victory was marred when his jockey was penalized for excessive use of the whip.

But again, things like that have happened many times before at the Grand National. What hasn’t happened in the 164-year history of the Grand National is this:

Video still from television coverage of the 2011 Grand National

Poor Ornais and Dooney’s Gate both died instantly during the first circuit of the race, and with no time to move them, 600 million television viewers and thousands watching on site were treated to the sight of both horses’ bodies still laying on the track as the race continued around them. It was the first time ever that two jumps had to be bypassed on course because of “obstacles.”  Which is what commentators called the bodies as the race continued. Which kind of makes you want to stop watching the race because of the sick feeling in your stomach.

While it has to be noted that race officials have made big efforts to make the fences safer and the obstacles smaller, it doesn’t seem to help things as much as it should, and some trainers involved with the race complain that smaller fences actually make the course faster and more dangerous.

Is anyone thinking about cutting out the flat-out running at large obstacles with blind landings part? Just a thought. Steeplechase in general is dangerous, and with its annual body count, it’s pretty clear that The Grand National is just not cool anymore.

There is an amazing video making its way throughout the interwebs. And no, I’m not talking about the %$@^&*# jumping cow from Germany, which has gone viral faster than you can say springreiten.

I’d heard about “Buck”, a new documentary about the life of trainer Buck Brannaman, but until I saw the trailer yesterday, I hadn’t paid much attention to the fuss being made over it. Honestly, not until one magic word was attached to it:

Mainstream.

That’s right, mainstream. I live for the day when horse sports get their own “mainstream” TV channel, a lá Golf TV. I dream of riders making the Star Tracks section of People Magazine, just likes sports stars Derek Jeter, Tom Brady and Apollo Anton Ohno (you know, the speedskating guy) do on a regular basis. Hey, anything’s possible!

Those days may still be so far off in the future it seems like they’ll never happen, or, they may be closer than we think. Which brings us back to the big fuss that a lot of “mainstream” people are making over this documentary that could maybe, possibly, be a mainstream hit. In January Sundance Selects/IFC Films picked up the rights to the film, and after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, it won the 2011 Audience Award. The documentary follows Buck as he teaches clinics, works with horses and recalls how his childhood shaped his horse philosophy. Buck is widely acknowledged as the inspiration for Robert Redford’s character in The Horse Whisperer (no, it wasn’t Monty Roberts. . . ), but he has mostly kept a low profile over the years. That may change now that first-time director Cindy Meehl has captured his story in a way that everyone, riders or not, can relate to. I’m no film critic, but the editing, the clips, the soundtrack (go Pearl Jam!), it all pulls you right into the heart of the story:

And that’s the big, giant, missing link. If you’re reading this blog it’s safe to assume that you’re some kind of rider, and it’s safer to say that you’ve heard all about natural horsemanship training methods to the point of just being tired of all that round pen, rope halter nonsense. But I think that what we horse people tend to forget is that the concepts these guys are quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) promoting will never fail to blow the minds of our non-horse counterparts. Horse whisperer Zen is captivating, and the well-done story of this “cowboy philosopher” could very well go mainstream.

Whether you’re a show jumper, dressage rider, polo player or some other participant in horse sports, Buck’s lessons in horse training apply to you. No matter the discipline, partnership and good communication are the best horse training tools we have, really. We horse people may understand the whys and hows of Buck’s methods, but to our non-equestrian friends, it will all look like magic. So don’t just go to see the movie. Tell your friends who don’t know horses about Buck, and take them with you. The film gives us one more reason to love horse sports, but it may give countless others their very first.

The sun is shining, the champion is here...

Just one more reason that we all wish we were Laura Kraut….. above, Laura walks Cedric out of the ring after being awarded the Oliver O’Toole Perpetual Memorial Trophy during Saturday’s Parade of Champions on the second to last day of the 2011 Winter Equestrian Festival. Laura and Cedric were the top money winners over the 2011 WEF season. Who can guess how much they won? Anyone? Let’s see, they won three big classes this season:

$75,000 Adequan CSI2*

$150,000 FEI World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix

$500,000 FTI Consulting Finale CSI5* Grand Prix

And placed in a slew of other classes. Laura didn’t show Cedric every week, of course, just when it counted. Her plan to target the biggest classes worked out well. $236,800 well, to be exact. Lauren Hough and Quick Study were the 2nd highest money winners of the season with $205,000. Full list of WEF’s top money winners is here.

And with that, the winter season is officially over and done with. Wellington is quiet again, trailers are heading north en masse, and On the Line will have to find something else to write about for the next six months. It’s been an oxygen bar, alligator chap, Le Club-filled season of equestrian ridiculousness, fun and sunshine in paradise. Is anyone else ready for a vacation?!?