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May 21, 2013

Self Sufficiency

It was not the week I'd planned on having.

The Plan looked like this: make prompt recovery from The Plague, get back to work, go to horse show with awesome clients, win everything, party down.

May 15, 2013

The Aftermath Of Five Feet Of Water

Taylor Flury had to completely evacuate AliBoo Farm with the help of family and staff when rain caused substantial flooding on April 18. The flood only lasted one day, but the clean-up continues.

May 15, 2013

Expect The Unexpected With Horses

The rollercoaster in the life of an event rider is often times an interesting one, and I have to say that the past few weeks of my life have lived up to that ride and then some with Rolex Kentucky and now Jersey Fresh in the rearview mirror.

Rolex was such a big buildup, and I know in the back of my mind I was holding my breath, anticipating the downfall that so often comes when you’re trying to get to a premier event like that.

May 15, 2013

The Day The Waters Rose

I didn’t sleep well on Wednesday night. I’m a natural born worrier, and it was raining so hard I thought we were in the middle of a monsoon. It was one of those rains that usually only lasts a few minutes, but it went on for hours, and I was terrified of what that amount of rain would bring in the morning.

So I was shocked when I went out to feed at 5 a.m., and it wasn’t flooding. I expected the pastures to be full of water, but they weren’t. However, by 7 we knew we were in for it because the rain was coming down hard again, and the water had started to flow south toward us.

May 13, 2013

Put It In Park

Every year or so, usually after a few months of running myself ragged, I go through a two-week period of serious enthusiasm. I mean, I am JONESED. I'm getting stuff done. I'm up late, sans caffeine, and then up early again the next morning with a big smile on my face. I tell myself that I must be doing something right; I must be eating right or doing really well with whatever exercise regime I'm on, or that maybe I've just biologically hit my stride, because, clearly, all this energy is so great.

Then I get the Plague.

May 6, 2013

Trust The Process

Trust the process.

There’s a certain lightness, a space somewhere between leaving the ground and landing when you can feel your young horse begin to understand how to use his parts well and truly jump. His withers arc up underneath you, and out of the corner of your eye you might just see his knees. It’s a feeling that’s difficult to describe in words, so I find myself using sounds, like “pa-pow!”

May 5, 2013

Who Knows What You Can Learn When You Broaden Your Horizons

As every great horseman knows, you can never know all there is to know about horses and riding. There is always more to learn, and we can't be picky about where we learn it. Even though I compete in the jumpers primarily, I've realized over the years that I can and want to learn something from everyone.

Comments

chevy_sweetheart_4
1 week 5 days ago

Horses

I completely agree about the always learning new things! I recently started a blog myself and I'm going to make my blog all about horses too! For right now it's for my class at school but I'm going to change it. I hope to hear back from you!
AClarke
4 days 11 hours ago

Thank you!!!

Thank you so much for posting this!!! A friend and I had dinner the other night and were discussing just this. My background is primarily hunters, but I also LOVE watching eventing. I was telling her about how watching Andrew Nicholson win Rolex this year easily could've been a winning medal trip. At the end of the day, good riding is good riding, whether it's dressage, jumpers, hunters, equitation, cross country, reining, horsemanship, whatever. And I think turning down the opportunity to potentially learn from another discipline just because it isn't "yours" can only hurt you in the long run!
May 5, 2013

Playing The Whack-A-Mole Game

The relationship between horse and rider in eventing is unlike any other sport. While eventing demands the obedience of dressage, the horse must think for itself. While it requires the carefulness of a show jumper, the horse must be equal parts bold. But greater than any trait horses are born with, successful event horses must trust their riders more than they trust their instincts. Cross-country is unique to eventing, and it requires a horse to trust that the lake its rider asks it to leap into is shallow, and that the drop jump into the horizon will have land on the other side.

May 3, 2013

Swedish Lessons

One of the great parts of working for the Chronicle is the occasional opportunity to travel to some amazing locales. The flip side being, of course, that you also visit some less-than-amazing locales. Lucky for me and my co-worker Lisa Slade, this year’s Rolex FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final and Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final were held together in Gothenburg, Sweden.

May 2, 2013

Now I See What All The Fuss Is About

The first time I saw Andrew Nicholson in person, we were sitting in the cafeteria at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. My fellow Chronicle cohorts started giggling, blushing and making suggestive comments as I tried to understand what the big deal was about this gray-haired eventer seated two tables away.

“But he’s old!” I insisted. They laughed, patted me on the head and made a few more remarks about “silver foxes” before we went back to eating our lunch.

Comments

reynardridge
2 weeks 6 days ago

Respectfully, and gently

I have to say that I think the question to Mr. Nicholson and the reporting of it in this space is inappropriate for a magazine of the Chronicle's stature and position. Sport reporting is appropriate, gossip, in my opinion, not so much. Sincerely, Ellen Broadhurst
2ndyrgal
2 weeks 6 days ago

Such a fuss

Sara, While the article was "cute", I would have appreciated a more mature approach to an interview about Andrew Nicholson. Apparently he has a sense of humor as well, which likely stands him in good stead both with young horses and journalists. Imagine being at the pinnacle of your sport and having someone refer to you, in print, as hot, as opposed to talented. I subscribe to COTH, not gossip rags for a reason. Joyce Caudill, KY
hot_to_trot
2 weeks 6 days ago

Well done

I love this because it IS a different approach! Why the need to take everything so seriously?
2ndyrgal
2 weeks 5 days ago

a little bit goes a long way

An entire article on the physical attributes of a professional rider, no matter how many times he winked at her, is more than I cared to read. Did she mention how drool-worthy his HORSE is? How he flew the cross country fences like a black Pegasus? Nope, she just got all "hubba hubba" over the rider. And as we all know, the horse is the most important part of the partnership. There is nothing wrong with a different approach, it started out cute, and then sounded like a yearbook geek writing about the basketball star back in high school. I enjoy humor, love Pam Stone's stuff, the Naked Foxhunter makes fun of herself. But Mr. Nicholson just won Rolex, we all know he's a very attractive man, that's not news, the fact that he is a fabulous rider on a spectacular horse is. If you're going to do a "tall, dark and handsome article, make it about Quimbo. Then tell us his rider isn't hard to look at either.
BAC
2 weeks 19 hours ago

I thought it was in very poor

I thought it was in very poor taste to question a rider about his affair with another rider's wife, and I'm very disappointed in COTH. I can read the tabloids if I want gossip and trash, I expected a much higher standard from COTH. The entire article was awfully juvenile IMO, like it was written by a love sick teenager.
Inner Bay
2 weeks 19 hours ago

I'm as horse crazy as anyone,

I'm as horse crazy as anyone, and I have drooled over many nice horses, in various disciplines...but ladies, I beg to differ--"hot" is definitely what makes the world go round, and COTH need not be 'above it!'
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