Category Archives: Blaggo Archives

(Click on each title to read the article)

Col-BEARing Dressage Coverage

I hope you aren’t all grumped up about the coverage that dressage has been receiving in the media during the run up to the London Olympics. As politicians and celebrities say, “Any press—even bad press—is better than no press.” I’m just thrilled that in the future when my seatmate on a transcontinental flight politely asks what I “do”, my response won’t elicit as many blank stares as in the past. Read More

Anchor Management

Early on, every Pony Clubber and most foxhunters are taught an emergency braking maneuver called a pulley rein. Even if you have no intention of ever setting hoof on a cross country course, it’s a valuable technique to have in your arsenal. Even a normally well mannered schoolmaster can decide for reasons known only to himself to one day detour at speed down the median of your local interstate. Or more likely, attempt a dash back towards the barn. When that’s happening contrary to your plans, you’d better have recourse! Read More

Rings and Things

I knew a woman with a backyard barn and a horse she was riding in lower level dressage. She had the usual array of equipment and took regular lessons, working around her “real life” job. Her husband—as husbands go—was fairly supportive of her interest, and when it came to her birthday, he wasn’t that surprised when she announced that all she really wanted was a formal arena to ride in. The husband was in the construction business, and he knew architects and engineers and workmen who were handy with heavy equipment. And so Tina was quite thrilled to see her dream arena taking shape, and she was eager to tell both friends and acquaintances of her good fortune. You would be, too, if you’d been trying to train in your bumpy pasture with a few cinderblocks painted as letters. Read More