I never wrote a post about blogger meetup #2. It was too great for words. You couldn’t possibly have understood, so I didn’t even try.
Anyway, I never get tired of my Kathys. And this time, I met a new Kathy! He has written a couple of guest blogs on Kathy’s blog, DIY Horse Ownership.
Anyway, I had walked over to the depressage ring with Kathy and Kathy, where we found Kathy and Kathy already engaged in the activity. It didn’t take long before I understood where this particular sport got its name. Levels of anxiety were running high, stern faces were about to break out into tears, and that’s just the performers… we spectators had the real reason to be depressed. If you aren’t familiar with depressage already, let me tell you everything there is to know about it. It’s BOOOORRRRRIINNNGGG. One time I watched a gopher dig some holes around a weed-ridden field, and that was far more entertaining just based on the fact that I didn’t know where it would pop up next. But with depressage, there were trainers calling out what move the horses were going to do next; nothing left to the imagination! (I’m just wondering how they knew what the horse was going to do…) Regardless, the rider just sat around on the horse, waiting for it to migrate between letters. I was hoping the horse would at least jump out of the ring… now THAT would have been exciting!
Speaking of jumping… I recently figured out that there are two jumping sports… Hunters and Jumpers. Basically, you make the horse soar over horizontal telephone poles that are suspended between different structures which are reminiscent of the fond memories on the ‘ol ranch I don’t have. If you didn’t realize that horses can fly, please read my post: Information for Pilots Studying the Equestrian Arts.
Now you’re probably wondering to yourself, “Okay, Hunters AND Jumpers. Two different sports. What’s the difference?” There’s a surprising amount of confusion around this topic, and I did a surprising amount of research to figure it all out for you. I’m going to save you butt-loads of time right now. The difference between Hunters and Jumpers is: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. They’re the same damn thing.
Anyway, this post wasn’t supposed to be about your ignorance. Where were we? Ah yes, Kathy(s).
We hung out for a few moments each time we crossed paths. Generally, Kathy did the talking, since they were riding or dealing with riders that day, and since terminologies such as, “keep the leg on,” just go over my head. But lots of interesting things were spoken, and I ended up taking some photographs with two of Kathy’s camera.
Another notable experience for the day was mud. Lots of mud. I’m glad I wore my hiking shoes because there was endless mud to be trod upon. I really think that mud should make an appearance at every horse show. The kids really liked the mud too. Mud is a really nice thing to have around. Whenever I have my own horse, I’m going to make sure I also have mud.
Anyway, we were at JK Presents, at The Horse Park at Woodside. If you were there, maybe you saw Kathy too. Or maybe you saw my sunburn.
