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I remember the occasion well. It was the Fourburrow Pony Club camp in Cornwall, in the south west of England. I was 12 and a typical thin gangly kid. As you can see in the photograph above I was six foot tall on stick legs and all curled up on a 14.2 pony....my brilliant mare Charlie's Aunt. So what did my coach do? She took away my irons and made me ride and jump all morning with no stirrup irons, just like so many coaches have done before and since. She was especially confident about doing this because she had also taught my elder brother Charlie, who was able to ride the most slippery horses bareback with great ease.
(Left: Photo courtesy of William Micklem & BarnMice.com)
BAREBACK DAYS
My father also spent his first lessons bareback. He was taught to ride as a boy by the founder of the Pony Club movement Major Harry Faudel-Phillips. No one was allowed to use a saddle until they first became established riding bareback, sitting on a sack secured by a surcingle. The question is how many of you are nodding your heads in agreement as you read it, and bemoaning the modern restrictions of health and safety? However there is more to this story.
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The horses in trainer Joe Davis’ barn at Horseshoe Indianapolis don’t just get standard hay in their nets each day. Throughout the afternoon, Davis or one of his employees opens the HayGain machine that sits at the end of his shed row and pulls out a warm, beautiful-smelling bale of freshly-steamed hay to fill their nets.
Are you following along with the action from home this weekend? Or maybe you're competing at an event and need information fast. Either way, we’ve got you covered! Check out the USEA’s Weekend Quick Links for links to information including the prize list, ride times, live scores, and more for all the events running this weekend.
Last month, readers met VIP Volunteer Rebecca Proetto, who volunteered at the MARS Maryland 5 Star horse inspection. This month, the focus turns to husband and wife Ed and Leanne Barnett who introduced Proetto to the art of running an efficient horse inspection at Maryland. Ed and Leanne undertake a 12-hour drive from their home in Indiana to Maryland just to volunteer at the event.
The USEA is saddened to share the passing of Sara Kozumplik’s five-star partner As You Like It at the age of 34. The gelding died in his sleep at his retirement home at Kozumplik's parents' residence.