Yup!! it’s on the streaming side!!
On my to-do list for tomorrow! It will be my reward for vacuuming!
I WAS going to bed. But now? Maybe not since I’m off work tomorrow.
Ahhhh! Yayyyy!
OMG!!! I just turned it on!!! Goodbye afternoon…
Really!?! Great!
LOL, just a few weeks ago someone posted a question about Snowman’s theatrcical release and I said I just hoped it popped over to Netflix.
Awesome! Thank you for letting us know. Will most definitely plan to watch tomorrow night.
Watched it last night–great movie!
Can someone explain the riding that happens? Why does the owner flip his legs so far back on the horse over every jump? Clearly, he doesn’t bite the dirt, but that is very different than what I see in jumping today.
Woohoo, in Canada too!
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Can someone explain the riding that happens? Why does the owner flip his legs so far back on the horse over every jump? Clearly, he doesn’t bite the dirt, but that is very different than what I see in jumping today.
BeckyS,
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HIGHLY suggest the book that does go into this background: The $80 Champion. Basically, he was SUCH a quirky horse he could not feel ANY physical interference else he would not jump reliably. Sometimes not at all. Harry developed this odd “no contact” type of jumping style to give him complete freedom of his head in the air. Whatever… clearly it worked out for him as odd as it looks.
Highly recommend the book as well - very inspirational, fascinating, couldn’t put it down! THRILLED to hear that Snowman is now on Netflix!!! Yippee - finally off to watch it!
"Can someone explain the riding that happens? Why does the owner flip his legs so far back on the horse over every jump? Clearly, he doesn’t bite the dirt, but that is very different than what I see in jumping today."
This leg flipping is far more noticeable when you see the jump in slow motion; makes it look like a rather ‘lengthy’ position, when in actuality it only happens for a second.
Back in the day this position was called (by some) as BALLING UP on a horse. It was considered a movement of freedom: a weightlessness so to speak, that allowed the horse to NOT feel the rider (in theory) while in the air over the jump. You went where the horse naturally ‘threw you’ without interference.
You can also see (in the film) a style of jumping called ‘jumping out of hand’ where the rider’s hands/contact from rein to bit was nonexistent – hands/reins flap somewhere north of the horses neck crest – or conversely way down low and forward – a dropped hand.
The old geezer of a jumper rider who taught me to ride/jump when I was a little kid, rode this way. Us kids used to marvel over the pictures of him hanging in the tack room – jumping a six foot + oxer, ‘all balled up’ hands practically at the horse’s poll, reins in a big, non-contact loop. Pretty wild!
If I remember correctly this freedom style came about from opposition to the way horses were jumped waaay in the past – their heads jerked/help upwards with a tight rein. No neck arch - no natural reach. Really a cruel unnatural style that was thought to ‘balance’ the horse.
Here’s a picture of that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidesaddle#/media/File:STACE-Esther_M.jpg
Watched last night. Very interesting!
Was especially intrigued with the interviews with his daughter, she at first seemed a bit jaded about how she was brought up, but later on seemed softer.
We watched Snowman-The Documentary, last night.
Husband and I talked about Harry’s legs going over fences. Husband said the way Snowman jumped was probably the reason Harry’s legs flew up behind. Horse threw himself at the jumps, using his muscling to get over instead of better use of his body. No bascule of the back most of the time, just raw power launching to get heights needed. It was just how that horse did things, and very successfully too!
Watching Harry ride at the end, winning again on a different horse, his legs were down, quiet, as they did their winning round. That bay horse had a totally different way of jumping, DID use his back and body well over fences. He did not throw Harry forward out of the saddle each jump.
Thanks for the explanations, everyone!
Oh my goodness, thank you so much. I’ve been waiting to see it. Cried like a baby at the end.
I enjoyed the video but it also reminded me how much horsemanship has changed. It has been a long while since i have seen poling. I also cringed at the inherent safety issues of leading 4 horses to pasture at one time as well as what seemed to be the common behavior of the bolt and run as soon as released.
Snowman does have a lovely story. I remember reading the book when i was a horse crazy kid many years ago. I am glad a documentary was made about him.
Harry is a terrific rider if you ever had the honor of seeing him on a horse. Very empathetic and brought the best out in the horse, even horses that didn’t “look the part” of a GP horse.
Horsemanship has not changed that much. Plenty of people still lead several to pasture at once. Have you not seen 4 polo ponies being ponied at once? I boarded next to a big polo barn in the 2000s. Never saw an issue and watched a lot of hot ponies exercised this way.
I didn’t know there was a problem ,always lead my four horses out together to turn out . I’m to lazy to do it any other way ,they know how to behave.
I take my 3 at a time, and all ponies/mini mule, so they’re terrible beings. Lol. And I still manage. Harry’s horses definitely know the gig. THey stayed out of his way.
