Melanie Eberhart illustrates for us her “divide and conquer” strategy.
About Melanie: I am an artist in Atlanta. When I’m not painting, I’m riding horses. I have 3 retired Arabians and a snotty pony at home. They keep me on my toes. Three years ago I bought a young OTTB straight off the track. My new fella, Bubba, and I are learning dressage. Sadly, I’m the weak link on Team Bubba, but I learn something every time we ride so it’s all good. I started NickerDoodles to document the horsey antics that abound within my world. I’m very fortunate to balance my life with things that I love – painting and riding – and NickerDoodles gives me a forum to share. If we’re not laughing at our horses and ourselves, we’re probably crying. I prefer to laugh! I hope everyone enjoys NickerDoodles.
Check out this amazing video of Tamie Smith and Fleur de Lis from last weekend’s Jersey Fresh 2 star.
Few horses could land a jump on just one leg and recover to walk out of the arena — but that’s exactly what Tamie Smith’s Fleur de Lis or “Milton” did on Sunday, May 1o at the Jersey Fresh International. In the show jumping phase of competition, Milton stumbled badly on the landing of a fence after landing on just one foot, causing Smith to nearly fall. The pair was able to keep their footing and recover, though the pull-up counted as Smith’s second refusal on course and she was therefore eliminated.
Okay — but what caused Milton to land on one foot in the first place? Watch closely:
What’s that there, dangling from Milton’s belly guard girth? Why, it appears to be his left front shoe.
Milton actually hooked his left front shoe on the clip for the belly guard, effectively attaching his leg in the folded jumping position. The horse had to literally rip his shoe off in order to unfold his leg a stride after the landing.
While this isn’t our typical Performance of the Week material, we applaud Milton for his amazing athleticism, first in landing on one leg in the first place and second for the strength to remove his own shoe to recover the use of all four legs. This totally-freak accident could have had a much more tragic ending, but Milton walked out of the arena, left shoe dangling from his girth.
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We’ll bring you the five best conversations from our forums each week. Check out Equestrians Anonymous and let your voice be heard!
If you haven’t been a regular on Horse Nation’s forum board Equestrians Anonymous, then you’re really missing out. Picture the tack room or the barn aisle at the end of the day: You’re hanging out with your barn buddies, speaking that magical language of equestrian that no one at home will ever understand, and it hits you that you are among your people. That’s what Equestrians Anonymous is like, and here are the top five conversations going on right now:
Horse show season is upon us, and that means, unfortunately, more opportunities for serious diseases to spread. Check out this tool linked in the post and see what outbreaks are in your area.
Need help finding a horse’s pedigree? Post what you know here–there’s already been one success story! If you are a breed association member, please stop by and see what you can do to help other readers find their horses.
Forum user KariAM’s new project horse has arrived at the farm and she’ll be keeping us updated as the horse moves through training (and hopefully as her muddy farm dries out so she can ride in the first place.) Keep up here!
Describe your favorite trails, whether they’re public or private. Also post your suggestions by location: some readers are looking for a good place to start and seek advice.
Spring = more riding = less time in the kitchen. What are your fellow equestrians making for dinner that frees up more time for the barn? Get some fresh ideas here and share your own go-to recipes.
So what are you waiting for? Join any of these conversations, or start your own–we’re all crazy horse people here.
Committing to a fitness program can be a leap of faith in that you may not always see the results immediately. Equestrian personal trainer Leah Hinnefeld discusses trusting the process.
The Longines Global Champions Tour has already visited three continents in one month. Where are the best show jumpers in the world heading next? (more…)
One draft horse vs. ten buff dudes. No spoiler needed to guess the winner.
We all know that the horse is going to win in a pulling contest against a human. But what happens when you pit ten strong men (and a couple of women) against a horse?
Sara the Belgian mare makes this tug of war look easy on not one but two trials. I don’t think the human team stood much of a chance!
Monday is the crappiest day of the week so it only makes sense that we make things official. Here’s our latest batch of reader-submitted “Oh Crap” photos and videos. (more…)
Need a little comic relief for your Monday ? You’ll get a kick out of this Kellie Lewis’ latest comic!
KickyBrand.com is an online horse lovers site currently selling clothing, greeting cards and stickers. It also routinely publishes a cartoon strip by Kellie Lewis that has a little bit of kick to it.
