So freaking random.  I guess I could talk about circles and how Archie and I seem to have a difference of opinion on the right about of contact for bending, as well as the right amount of bend?  Blargh.

I got an email from Horseware (wut?) inviting me to vote for the inaugural Horseware Grassroots Rider Competition.  I'm not sure why they invited me to vote when I don't remember getting an invitation to compete.  But let's take a moment to think about what my bio would say...

(They all have pretty action shots.  I thought this was more realistic.)

Rebekah Burke and her nearly-17 year old Thoroughbred, Bold Archer (Archie), compete in combined tests at the Amoeba level.  Well, they competed in one combined test.  There's also history of a couple cross rail classes back in 2008, but Rebekah reports that they failed miserably.  Rebekah has been riding since she was nine, she says: "I was antisocial and overweight and too intelligent for my own good.  The one thing that I sort of didn't suck at, other than reading books and being sarcastic, was keeping the horse mostly between myself and the ground.  Mostly."

Rebekah and Archie haven't qualified for anything, ever.  Her primary goal for 2014 is to keep Archie sane and healthy, with a sprinkling of small fences hither and thither.  And circles.  Because former racehorses love to circle tracking right.  She thinks it would be swell to get a few more over-priced pieces of satin, but putting the pony first has always been the priority.  Also, cojones and solid equitation are hard to come by.

We appreciate Rebekah's... um... honesty. 

I think that's about right.

I did take a moment to actually look over the seven competitors, four of which are from Great Britain, one from Ireland, one from Norway and the final competitor from the good ol' USA.  In saying that I took a moment, I really just went through to see the breeds of horses.  Because I am an elitist fuck and I love the American Thoroughbred more than any other breed.  There were a few TB crosses, warmbloods, an Appaloosa in Great Britain (we import theirs, they import ours!), and one full-fledged Thoroughbred.

They don't tell you in the bio that this 15 (17?) year old TB doing Intermediate level eventing is off the track, but he totally is.  The rider's name is Kira Young and her horse's name is Rhodes Point.  I stalked him.  His name will take you to his pedigree, which will show you that he's run 34 times and made just over $25k.

If you're interested in voting and didn't get the weird someone-sold-my-email email, click here.  Not to sway you, but... OTTB!  OTTB!  OTTB!  Also, he's a bay.