Life is Good by Danny Warrington

Ok so my horses are going well! My job is going very well, having just signed to a big facility in Fulshear, Texas. Yee-ha! I have changed my plans a bit for the fall; well maybe.... I think I am going to give Will Smith an easy fall season to gain his confidence and strength back. However if he tells me he is ready we may head for the ** in Georgia. But that is not what I am writing about this time, I am going to tell you about how I spend my free time .

Everyone has their thing. Some garden, some paint, or draw, some read books and others facebook or surf the net. I boat! And all the things water entails, water skiing, wakeboarding, then there is scuba diving and fishing. Now as for fishing some people think; a rod a bucket of worms a bobber in a pond, or……….some people think 500 pound marlin of the coast of Panama others might picture a quiet mountain stream with a fly rod in Montana or Wyoming. I think of a center console between 25-36 feet long with twin outboards burning about 25 gallons an hour out in the ocean chasing breaking fish! Or I think shallow water like the Bahamas or Belize sight casting to bonez! To those who don’t know , the short of it is, bonefish are a saltwater fish that basically you stalk/hunt , sneak up on, you cast only when you see them and they accelerate from 0-40 miles an hour!!! like leaving the start box, for a fish.

Then there is scuba diving! If you have never done this …………………why not! It is by far one of the best sightseeing experiences you can have. Once you have been underwater for 20 minutes to about an hour swimming with the fish, you will only then understand why I love it so much. If you go hiking to see a moose, elk or bear or something cool like that you spend all day and hope. When you dive you are with the fish, turtles, sharks, if your real lucky a whale or dolphin. Pretty cool!

I plan two trips a year; one is to Montauk, NY where we chase breaking fish. This trip we leave for the Sunday after fair hill for a few days. Montauk is the end of Long Island New York. I mean the end... as far as you can go. The marina is called Snug Harbor, if there are any Jaws fans out there this is the original harbor of Orca, that’s the boat in the movie. I want to share this with you……… In the bar/restaurant( where they have great sushi by the way ) is a picture of a man ….now get this……standing on a dead whale (no joke) in one hand he has a giant hook with a piece of the whale as bait (by giant it’s about the size of a saddle flap)big! So he is standing on a dead whale with a hook in his hand (are you ready) throwing it into the mouth of a great white shark!!!!! That’s right standing on a dead whale throwing a hook in to the mouth of a great white shark! If you are ever in Montauk you gotta see it. Just to mention it was in the 70’s so not too much animal rights then, but a cool picture none the less.

The other trip is where we (Keli &I) charter a boat in the Caribbean somewhere. This is what I do in my free time plan this trip! This year we are going to Abaco, Bahamas. I start to plan this trip about six months out to save on airfare, get the boat I want and basically keep my sanity. I find that as soon as I start to plan our trip I feel like the corona adds. I look on-line at destinations, boats, power or sail, then at the ones I can actually afford to charter. Then there is the guest list, who do we invite? Arranging where to meet, who’s bringing what (mostly what fishing gear). This year we have chartered a 47 foot power cat with two other couples as I said in the Bahamas. Bonefish capitol of the world, a scuba diving meca, good friends, the food is always great, and oh yeah the rum!

Now you know what I am thinking about when I am not riding!

Is Luck the Sixth Leg? by Danny Warrington

How hard this game can be... both physically and mentally as well as the emotional roller coaster ride the sport and horses cause. Some people are not as lucky as we that do this for a living. This may also be lucky for them! With only one or two horses your odds of mishap maybe lessened. But by no means do I mean other people don't have the same problems, some just get the good luck if only by the odds.

This is the come back story of my good horse Will Smith which is still in progress. When Will came to me a few years ago, let's just say it took a few months just to be able to get him to the arena on a daily basis. Then the dressage was some what in the 50's and the topper to that was a 2 for my riding......a 2....... come on I stayed on! I thought an 8 even a 9 for the effort! Yet we managed to get better. Then the start box became the issue. At Waradaca a couple years ago he lost it, completely lost it. The quote was from Phillip Dutton who said as I was leaping through the air " I don't think he is coming back. Can I go? ". Back to the drawing board. I decided that it was the one day format the horse didn't like, it was too fast for his brain. You are done all 3 phases sometimes in 2 hours depending on how the divisions are organized. So we started to do only shows over 2 and 3 days and that seemed to work until they held me at the start box area because the judges weren't in place yet. @+(#@- ! So he got me off, got loose, got caught, ran cross country great and had a big leg sunday morning. @+)#@-! An ultrasound, 2 weeks at the fair hill therapy center, another ultrasound, months of hand walking and grazing, months of trotting and only flat work.

355 days from the "suspicious leg" we are doing a little cross country school the other day. I am having the time of my life THE BIG HORSE is back!!!!!! We jump 5 training level fences in a row ( so easy for an intermediate horse) then a prelim corner!!! Take a little breather, talk about how great he's being and off to the water! The training house in, around the corner ( the smile on my face just getting bigger!). A prelim house one stride into the water and in super slow motion he goes all the way down (and down goes Warrington as well). As I get to my feet watching him shake the water from the tack trotting away. I look for a hole (because of course my horse wouldn't just fall)....no hole! What could it be??? The 'in' was perfect, the 'down' was great, what happened!!! I am very self critical..... but I think the horse just fell. Like sometimes you just trip or stumble.

I feel like I have done everything right by the horse, by his owners and now we need LUCK! Mr. Jimmy Wofford talks about the fifth leg...... maybe luck is the sixth. Good luck to everyone!

Photo by Katherine Rizzo

Optimum Time, Horses and Teams by Danny Warrington

Riders:

What a wet Fair Hill it was!!! The advanced looks like a disaster on paper, but I have to say all and all a very safe weekend. For the most part I thought everyone used their heads, but there are always a few that surprise me. The ground on Saturday was very soft. There were times it was raining and still people went for time. I think it is one thing if you make time in bad footing, I believe it’s another to “go for time”.

Some horses actually prefer soft ground and love to gallop across it, as well as a very experienced horse might find it easy to make the time regardless of the footing. Me, I decided to give my prelim horse a quiet ride let him have his second prelim start be easy, just jump the jumps, and come home safe! When looking over the results I saw a lot of riders had the same idea. The funny thing is most of those riders were riders I respect and most are people you know of. The scary part to me is some (and I say some, not all horses that made time were wrong to do so) of the horses that made time, well, let’s say maybe did so because the optimal time was ______ and that is that.

It seems to me that some people still don’t get the optimal time. Ok here goes…………… it’s optimal! That means if everything is going right you should make time; what it does not mean is, throw caution to the wind. You and your horse’s safety and soundness should not be an afterthought. If you want to know why I am on about this it is because someone asked me what the optimum time was that weekend and to be sure that should have been the last thing on their mind.


Horses:

Horses they never cease to amaze me. My poor horses….. bless um’, got on a truck in Texas to ship 27 hours to Maryland, and three days later I put them back on a truck (only for a 15min ship) to go for a hack at Fair Hill DNR. They go on! They get right on. I just watched in true wonder as each of them loaded. They had no idea if they were going 15 mins, or 27 hours and did not seem to care.

I also finally broke down and got a shipping pony. I am glad I did. We have a few horses in our string that, well…… don’t stand too well on the van when left alone. I have tried to ignore it, give them hay, used the Tom Dorrance method of pitchin’ pebbles… everything but hobbles. Spike is my savior. He is a 27 year old blind in one eye pony who loves to eat hay on the truck. I gave in or grew up I am not sure which but I am happier, my van is happier, and most important the horses are much happier.


The sport

I remained quiet over the chef d’ equipe discussions. Not that I didn’t have an opinion or care, to me the whole thing was just out of my hands. I think this about the Dutton / O’Connor race. It is the Democrats and Republicans. You can decide who is who. I think with David as the coach did so well with a young team of Canadians because they have team spirit. No doubt he did an amazing job! I think he will run into a bit of trouble here in the U.S. where we have a three party system; we have team O’Conner, team Dutton, as well as team Buck! I love them all but………… truth be told it is a three party system. I do know this, David will have a much tougher time running this team then he did Team Canada, there is no doubt that this country has the talent to win medals, let’s hope that the U.S can combine the best of all its teams and united we can develop one team that has one goal! To take THE BEST HORSES AND RIDERS TO THE GAMES. Let’s become the United States Eventing Team!! Not the divided states. Good luck David!

Photo by Katherine Rizzo

For the Love of This Sport by Danny Warrington

I am finding it very hard to write this week. As most of the eventing community knows we lost a great friend and supporter of the sport last Friday. Phil Sawin.

I was lucky enough to spend some time with Phil on his family's farm in Bellville, TX over the past few years when I would come down to teach clinics. His wife has scheduled weekly lessons for me since my arrival here in Texas this December. Phil was in the process of building his dream home and the sport of eventing in Texas. I guess the reason I am writing all of this is to express my love for the sport and the grass roots people who also love the game. What I have found mostly here in Texas is a camaraderie of friends who share the excitement of eventing. There are dreams of making teams and winning medals from the youngsters but mostly its people having fun. Phil and his wife Ruth provide a great deal of fun for Texas eventers at their farm, Pine Hill. No training sessions, no push to qualify for Fair Hill or Rolex, no ulterior motives- only a love for horses and the sport.

As the news came to us at Meadow Creek this past Friday my heart went out to Ruth and their daughter, Ellie. I was coaching last minute dressage tips for Saturdays test when I heard.... I swallowed a deep breath and told the mother of the student next to me. It was so hard to keep working but I knew that's what Phil would have wanted, he had worked so hard to bring eventing to Texas, that I had to keep a smile (as well as everyone else).

I feel that way today, only maybe I see the best side of the eventing community. The show must go on (Pine Hill's USEA event on April 9th) everyone will enjoy Phil's hard work. How so many people have stepped up to help Ruth and Ellie. From volunteers at the show, to food for the family, the pony club dc, the parents of students. It really is amazing.

So the next time you suit up to ride cross country, take a deep breath, and remember why we all love this sport, and the love that so many others give to our sport. 5-4-3-2-1.... have a great ride!!

Photo of Phil Swain courtesy of Jim Stoner

Sharing A Bit of Knowledge and My Opinions by Danny Warrington

This is my first blog ever, so I will now join the rest of the world with instant communication. My goal is to give incite as to how I think about horses, riders and the sport. I was asked to write about three paragraphs, my plan is to share my opinion about each one. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments at dannywarrington@comcast.net.

RIDERS

Let’s start with what I have come to realize about the reins. I have paid close attention to how much riders struggle with the bridge, half bridge, changing the two, switching the whip hand, sliding the reins and using the neck strap. In my early years of being an apprentice jockey, I would spend hours on a straw bale with a bridle fixed in front of me, practicing my finish ride (pretending I was Angle Cordero). This was before the equicizer (www.franklovatojr.com). I would ride the bale switching sticks changing crosses till there was straw everywhere. When I finally got to start breezing racehorses, it was much easier to change holds, switch whip hands with out looking down at 30+ miles per hour. Point being, I don’t ever look down to find my reins, make a bridge, grab my chicken strap (which by the way is like American Express to me “I don’t leave home with out it”). So over the past few weeks, I have really started to emphasize exercises to my students to try to get them more comfortable with the “simple” process of a bridge, half bridge, slipping the reins, grabbing the neck strap and changing whip hands without looking down.

HORSES

As I travel around the country more and more, one big thing that stands out to me is the younger and older inexperienced riders mounted on off the track thoroughbreds. No one in this sport loves race horses more then me. I would also challenge that most first time horse owners don’t fully understand the complexity of the young race horse or off the track thoroughbred. I see young teenagers on these types of horses, if this is their first horse the odds are, the rider is over faced. I think somehow we must educate (honestly educate) people who are first time owners what they are buying or adopting. These horses for the most part have one or two speeds….. And stop and reverse are not it! Go and go faster is more likely. The racing game has changed, the two year old dollar is what is most profitable. The fastest yearling at the sale brings the most money, the early races are easier, and if they can win a graded stake as a 2 year old breeding potential is multiplied. The start of most race horses is brief and fast at best. The one thing that I say to parents all the time is….. Would you put you child in a car with out brakes?

THE SPORT OF EVENTING

First let me start by saying that I’m an advocate for education, better riding, and safer thinking. I must say out loud that I am not a fan of the dressage helmet rule. I know that I am out numbered by a lot and also by being on the safety committee I should applaud this new measure to add more safety to our sport. However, I do believe that there is a class element, dressage is to be an elegant picture, and really, on the danger scale, this is a pretty low risk sport. In my personal experiences with some, not so quiet horses, I have worn a helmet with a strap, sometimes I have worn an approved helmet in warm up then switched before going into the ring. Well, I guess that’s just me using personal responsibility again and I bet somewhere someone is in the “think tank” dreaming up an integrated airvest shadbelly!

Photo Courtesy of Katherine Rizzo