Sally Ike, the U.S. Equestrian Federation's director of show jumping, who's here helping out, said, "It's a little like when a jockey loses his bug (apprentice allowance). When they finish their junior years, they're up against the journeymen professionals in the sport and go against the best in the business."
That's hard to do without the proper preparation all the way around, and that's what this week has been about. We had a session today with equine nutritionist Katie Young, a very cool Ph.D. from Kansas whose fascinating lecture was presented by Purina. She started by pulling out a long white rope and having each of the kids hold it, until it stretched around the room. That was her hands-on way of bringing home the point that the horse's intestines are 100 feet long.
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- The young riders help George build a course
- © 2007 by Nancy Jaffer
Katie gave a quick course in body condition scoring, so the riders can judge when their horses need to lose or gain weight, and explained the horse's digestive system in detail. It's important for these riders to understand when and what to feed their horses, and exactly what can go wrong to cause colic.
Before the lecture, George and the riders built the course for tomorrow morning's final lesson, which looked as if it is going to involve some serious jumping.
I asked Nick Haness, one of the young riders, what he thought about it (and working without stirrups.)
Listen: Nick Haness comments on the course and today's work.
And now for a change of subject. Word came down today that a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge had ordered mediation in the stand-off between Wellington Equestrian Partners, which is buying the showgrounds here, and Stadium Jumping Inc., which puts on the shows here.
The partners contended they had a binding agreement with Stadium Jumping to stay at this facility for 30 years, starting in 2009. Stadium Jumping contended it isn't binding and, not liking a proposed lease offered by the partners, would go look for another showgrounds. (The company says this one isn't large enough, because so many bits and pieces have been sold off.)
Anyway, Friends of Stadium Jumping, which is really Wellington Equestrian Partners, sought a temporary injunction that would have barred Stadium Jumping from looking for new property on which to build a showgrounds. The judge denied that, which means Stadium Jumping can pursue that course of action, but he also ordered the parties to go to mediation in the next 30 days. They had stopped negotiating, so this will get them back to the table at least, and maybe the Winter Equestrian Festival and National Horse Show will remain here after 2008, when Stadium Jumping's lease expires. Or maybe not...
I'll wrap up the training session tomorrow, so be sure to check back on EquiSearch Saturday night for more information. Now I'm off to take an aspirin; that soreness in my legs, you know.
