I really enjoyed hearing TJ talk about the nuts and bolts, like bringing backup horses. But my sense of time and space is warped. I kept thinking “he can’t possibly be ‘old enough’ to be here with students of his own!”
And yeah, the pressures surrounding a recent winner to analyze their peers is really something to think about.
I had that same reaction! Lol.
Similar to seeing Spencer Smith and Brian Moggre on the Nations Cup teams.
I remember when Spencer came to the movies in Wellington with his parents – in his car seat! 
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We always hear about how the Equitation sets up riders for professional careers - it’s neat to see it really come to fruition with riders like TJ.
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Standby after 100 rides:
Catalina Peralta
Sofia Cady
Zayna Rizvi
Zoe Brown
Alexa Leong
Audrey Schulze
Luke Jensen
Kenner Scalamandre
Dominic Gibbs
Alida Treuting
Isabel Rudaz
Alissa Brandt
Celia Cram
Portya Muenke
Emma Blumenkrantz
Brooke Brombach
Eric Krawitt
Blythe Gougen
Brooke Morin
Alexa Lignelli
I missed that but it sounds really interesting - what did TJ say about bringing backup horses?
I’m surprised Luke Jensen isn’t higher up the list. I really liked his ride.
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Now we have a change in the commentary. Oliver Kennedy has been joined by his wife Rachel Kennedy and Archie Cox.
I believe Rachel judged either this class or the Maclay final within the last few years.
It’s common to lease a horse for finals only. That’s why there are so many of the same horses year after year. Many of them don’t get campaigned during the year. Many of the qualifiers don’t have horses who can get around the finals. I leased a (not top of the price bracket) horse for the Maclay that my trainer set up for me and had exactly one lesson on the farm before finals. Not a lot of time to get a new custom fitted saddle, and with the importance of rider position in the class, the rider is likely to want to stick to one of their (their only?) usual saddle(s).
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Wow, that was a great round by Grace Debney! Smooth as silk.
I remember trying a pony for a client at Stacey Weiss’ with Sam Schaefer in her baby seat in the aisle!
I would not care to count how many finals winners I remember in their baby seats. Lol.
Totally get it, but I think that we can do better for the horses. The rider I was commenting on really did appear to have three pads underneath the saddle. I don’t know her circumstances, for all I know her horse pulled up lame this morning and she never sat on this other animal. However, I don’t think that it really serves anyone to have that much in between the horse and the rider. It adjust the rider’s position in the saddle and interferes with her ability to communicate with the horse using her seat. If the saddle was such a wide fit it accommodated three pads, wow! Otherwise, if three pads were used to add enough shims, then I would think all three of them probably compromised the fit for the shoulder and the gullet, and that interferes with the horse’s ability to perform. I just don’t think anyone is being served, and speaking as a rider who borrowed both a horse and a saddle for a local final last week, I think if you are going to make the compromise or the plan of leasing a horse for finals, you should also be prepared to compromise or change the plan on the equipment a little bit so that you are able to communicate effectively with the animal and the animal is able to give you their best performance.
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Maybe her saddle broke and this is a last minute borrow?
Just tuned in, but wow, I’m loving this course. Allows the cream of the crop to show off, but doesn’t eat the less experienced kids alive.
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How do judges feel about uneven hands on the horses neck during the two-point?
Beautiful trip by Hannah Hoch.
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And Natalie Jayne, although I’d put her below Hannah on my standby.
Whew, I thought Natalie was just about perfect.
Not sure I see the point of having a martingale on the horse if you’re going to leave it so long that the horse can giraffe its way around the course and still have a loop in the martingale. Might as well not even have it.
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To quote one of the panelists at one of the very first judges’ clinics I ever attended: “If you notice it, it’s probably wrong.”
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