I could list several excuses, but the truth is that I simply lacked the motivation to post much of anything on this site. That is something that came to a head – or saturation point – after the WEG experience last year. Other happenings within the horse industry as well as with some of the magazines in which I am published did nothing to improve the situation.

But any lack of motivation is on me. It is up to me to get over it or move in other directions. I have done some of the latter as of late.
Watching the ParaPan Am Games on TV reminded me that mindset plays a huge roll in what one can accomplish and what one can overcome with a willingness to adapt.
Recently, I have been watching the IAAF championships in track and field with an eye towards the bone structures most suited for the various sports. There are correlations between the mechanics of certain human sports and the mechanics of various equine sports. Therefore, I consider the time spent as research and not purely enjoyment.
Usain Bolt is a prime example. No doubt he is an ideal sprinter given his record, but, at one time, he was considered too tall to be a sprinter and was steered towards middle distance running. Aside from his height, he is, to my eye, built exactly like a sprinter when it comes to bone structure and proportions.
This serves as a lesson regarding how we determine in which direction to send a horse. I seem to recall that Gifted at nearly 18 hands was considered to be too tall for dressage and that Touch of Class at just over 15 hands was considered too small for jumping. Hickstead had several knocks against him, including his height, but he won Olympic gold anyway.
So…guarding against making inaccurate assumptions should be important, right? I hope that is the case with the recent Young Horse competitions, but I find the lack of objective measures to still be a hurdle to accurately predicting future excellence and, more importantly, long term soundness. I think using more objective measures would benefit the horses, the breeders and the buyers. In addition, the Young Horse programs would benefit through an increase in more precise predictions.
It is important to remember that maintaining the status quo is usually a human decision. Nothing stays stagnant in nature. Some people have positions to protect, some have egos to guard and so on, but if you think using objective measures is a better idea, it is up to you (singly and cooperatively) to affect the required changes.

It took a while and taxed my brain, but I am pleased to announce that I built a new website. The goal was to get it online before going to the World Cup Finals and tweak it as time permits.

Thanks for the suggestion, Elise!

Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.equineconformation.com/

Life happens and plans change. In the horse world one has to be flexible.

Contrary to the original intention of covering the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas and then the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event and the Kentucky Cup, I will be covering the Las Vegas competitions only.

The Kentucky portion of the spring trip has now been cancelled.

Due to family health issues, Cathy will not be accompanying me; therefore, I will pass on the Kentucky events since I was there last year and can write my pedigree articles without attending the competitions.

Hopefully I will be in Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup races and the Keeneland Mixed Sale in the fall.

With due diligence, I went to the main arena this morning, handed out the Canadian pins to the volunteers and headed down to the tunnel to help Pedro tape in his earpieces. Not allowed down the stairs today, according to security. Are your eyes rolling?

Fortunately a lady explained to the security person what I was doing (travail important) and that she would accompany me. (I did not get her name, but she had enough accreditation to impress the security person.) Thank you again, my dear!

By the way, the so-called approved photo area, where I seemed to have caused so much trouble with my camera, was blocked off this morning. Interesting, but immaterial to me. As you know, I had decided two days ago that I was done with jumping for these Games.

After fixing his ears (Pedro’s term), I headed over to driving. I still say that I would not be able to negotiate those obstacles on a bicycle.

See what I mean? 

         Copyright:jwequine.com

Some drivers made it look smooth and others had difficulty.

I was surprised to see that Chester Weber had switched out Splash for a different right leader, one that did not look happy. Chester’s team did not look smooth through #1 or #4, the two I watched. Boyd Exell’s team. also with a different right leader than in dressage, were very smooth through those same obstacles.

I was speaking to two Canadians who are involved in driving and came as spectators. It was nice to get an insider’s view of the sport and explanations of the options. They came as part of a tour, but were not exactly thrilled with some of their experiences at these Games.

No surprise, their main complaints were about the lack of common sense regarding security. They too are of the opinion that it was simply the wrong kind of security. The daughter remarked that on their first day they were not checked at all when entering the main stadium, but their bags were checked on the second day. Guess one had to pack the Oozy in the first day, if that was the inclination.

She further said that they were told they (35 tour members) could not wait for their tour bus in the location that they were told to wait for the tour bus. Fortunately, resourceful Canadians that they are, they found a place that satisfied security and still allowed them to be on the lookout for their bus.

I walked back to my hotel and caught the final few riders in jumping on TV.

Here’s my prediction: based on what I saw, Cortes C (Beezie Madden’s mount) will suffer a similar injury to Authentic (her former mount).

My eye says he could bow a tendon or tear a suspensory in a foreleg pretty soon. But, hey, I’m not a vet. However, I did predict Authentic’s injury before it happened. And Star Power’s too.

I’m definitely not going to watch the Final Four in person. More on that tomorrow.