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redroanchroniclesI've got a whole list of incredibly in-depth, thinky articles I need to write about all the breakthroughs I've been having in my horsemanship and myself. But you know what? I just can't do it right now. I can't even look at the list, much less write any of those things. Some days it's all you can do to drag yourself out of bed, much less make yourself useful. (Upstairs neighbors, please try sleeping at 4am instead of rearranging furniture. WTF are you doing up there, building a makeshift nuclear reactor?) Some days, there is simply nothing for a blogger to do but post links to some horse-related awesome via youtube. Enjoy.
Ever wondered what it's like to ride cross-country, but don't actually want to risk death and maiming like actual event riders? That's why they invented the helmet-cam, I'm pretty sure. Here's Peter Atkins riding at Ocala CCI* 2010.
Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, with his horse at liberty in the wilderness. I don't know much about Klaus Hempfling, but I've been poking around a bit and I'm kind of fascinated. If I could say nothing else of him, I could say this: unlike basically every other horse trainer out there putting out a video, Hempfling apparently understands the necessity of production values. (Well, okay, Parelli gets that too. But I feel I shouldn't mention them on account of I work there. It's like... favoritism or self-referentialism or... some other word I made up. By which I mean our videos are good and you can buy them.)
Edward Gal aboard Moorlands Totilas put in a jaw-dropping performance at World Dressage Masters 2009. I don't really know much about dressage except that I like to watch it, but you know a pair has finished a nice round when every movement looks both flawless and effortless.
This crazy sport seems like a natural extension of the old British canal-boat horses, except ten times more rad. Yeah, I just used a word straight out of the 1980s. It is RAD, you guys.
A Ride in Middle England: 10 days and 250 miles of horse touring in the UK. I wish I could get Horse and Country TV here in the States. RFD is not nearly as awesome.
This demonstration of garrocha is impressive, and then you notice that he doesn't even touch the reins and your mind is BLOWN.
This working equitation speed test in Portugal is compared in the comments to the extreme cowboy race, only this looks, you know... much more difficult. And the horse is gorgeous, unlike American "cowboy races" where everybody's riding Quarter Horses. I'm sorry, okay? But I just don't like Quarter Horses. I'm prejudiced. I'm a breedist and I think Quarter Horses are the most boring horses ever bred.
The Metropolitan Mounted Police at Olympia. The part where they take off their saddles while riding still impresses me, a dozen viewings later. I am never, ever going to get tired of watching this. Ever.
Lorenzo the Flying Frenchman. You know what? I have to support any guy who calls himself "the Flying Frenchman." That's just too awesome. You're all, "Oooh, that's beautiful, a young man and his horses frolicking in the ocean waves! I wonder why they call him the Flying--" And then you see him roman-riding with six in hand, and you realize that though you may one day be known as a war hero for your sacrifices in the war against the jellyfish (it's coming people, prepare yourselves), you will NEVER be as awesome as Lorenzo the Flying Frenchman. You can also watch his performance at Olympia. I'm beginning to sense that this London International Horse Show is something I need to attend.
Western vs. English showdown! Or is it Western ♥ English? It's hard to tell. It's one big inter-disciplinary lovefest, is what it is.
Do you enjoy the Musical Ride? Of course you do. It's Mounties on horses. What's not to love? If you enjoyed that (and I know you did), you might also enjoy the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, which does a Musical Drive, and you know what? Those maneuvers look harder with teams of six and cannons. CAAAAAAAAAANNONS! I'm shouting a lot today, aren't I? It's just because I'm so excited about the cannons.
In other news of awesome videos, some time ago the ex-roommate and I were watching a program of highlights from stadium jumping at Spruce Meadows, and there was a clip of a rider -- I could swear it was Ian Miller, but my google-fu is turning up nothing... maybe it was Rodrigo Pessoa? -- who loses his reins halfway over a very large combination jump, and just goes on to jump without them. It was kind of epic and I wanted to share it, but I cannot for the life of me find any reference to this online. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Got a video link? It was pretty sweet and I want to share it with the world.
And while you're at it: entertain me! (Dance, monkeys, dance!) Share a link to some awesome horse video I might not have seen. I wish to make it my mission in life to watch every single awesome horse video that the web has to offer. It's the sort of job that lasts a lifetime, but as a dedicated student of the horse, I'm okay with that.
Ever wondered what it's like to ride cross-country, but don't actually want to risk death and maiming like actual event riders? That's why they invented the helmet-cam, I'm pretty sure. Here's Peter Atkins riding at Ocala CCI* 2010.
Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, with his horse at liberty in the wilderness. I don't know much about Klaus Hempfling, but I've been poking around a bit and I'm kind of fascinated. If I could say nothing else of him, I could say this: unlike basically every other horse trainer out there putting out a video, Hempfling apparently understands the necessity of production values. (Well, okay, Parelli gets that too. But I feel I shouldn't mention them on account of I work there. It's like... favoritism or self-referentialism or... some other word I made up. By which I mean our videos are good and you can buy them.)
Edward Gal aboard Moorlands Totilas put in a jaw-dropping performance at World Dressage Masters 2009. I don't really know much about dressage except that I like to watch it, but you know a pair has finished a nice round when every movement looks both flawless and effortless.
This crazy sport seems like a natural extension of the old British canal-boat horses, except ten times more rad. Yeah, I just used a word straight out of the 1980s. It is RAD, you guys.
A Ride in Middle England: 10 days and 250 miles of horse touring in the UK. I wish I could get Horse and Country TV here in the States. RFD is not nearly as awesome.
This demonstration of garrocha is impressive, and then you notice that he doesn't even touch the reins and your mind is BLOWN.
This working equitation speed test in Portugal is compared in the comments to the extreme cowboy race, only this looks, you know... much more difficult. And the horse is gorgeous, unlike American "cowboy races" where everybody's riding Quarter Horses. I'm sorry, okay? But I just don't like Quarter Horses. I'm prejudiced. I'm a breedist and I think Quarter Horses are the most boring horses ever bred.
The Metropolitan Mounted Police at Olympia. The part where they take off their saddles while riding still impresses me, a dozen viewings later. I am never, ever going to get tired of watching this. Ever.
Lorenzo the Flying Frenchman. You know what? I have to support any guy who calls himself "the Flying Frenchman." That's just too awesome. You're all, "Oooh, that's beautiful, a young man and his horses frolicking in the ocean waves! I wonder why they call him the Flying--" And then you see him roman-riding with six in hand, and you realize that though you may one day be known as a war hero for your sacrifices in the war against the jellyfish (it's coming people, prepare yourselves), you will NEVER be as awesome as Lorenzo the Flying Frenchman. You can also watch his performance at Olympia. I'm beginning to sense that this London International Horse Show is something I need to attend.
Western vs. English showdown! Or is it Western ♥ English? It's hard to tell. It's one big inter-disciplinary lovefest, is what it is.
Do you enjoy the Musical Ride? Of course you do. It's Mounties on horses. What's not to love? If you enjoyed that (and I know you did), you might also enjoy the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, which does a Musical Drive, and you know what? Those maneuvers look harder with teams of six and cannons. CAAAAAAAAAANNONS! I'm shouting a lot today, aren't I? It's just because I'm so excited about the cannons.
In other news of awesome videos, some time ago the ex-roommate and I were watching a program of highlights from stadium jumping at Spruce Meadows, and there was a clip of a rider -- I could swear it was Ian Miller, but my google-fu is turning up nothing... maybe it was Rodrigo Pessoa? -- who loses his reins halfway over a very large combination jump, and just goes on to jump without them. It was kind of epic and I wanted to share it, but I cannot for the life of me find any reference to this online. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Got a video link? It was pretty sweet and I want to share it with the world.
And while you're at it: entertain me! (Dance, monkeys, dance!) Share a link to some awesome horse video I might not have seen. I wish to make it my mission in life to watch every single awesome horse video that the web has to offer. It's the sort of job that lasts a lifetime, but as a dedicated student of the horse, I'm okay with that.