by Sara Green 

Garden State in New Jersey was quite a long show. It rained and was cold and things didn't go so swell! Had some trouble in the equitation and then a lot of my horses were spooky in the hunter ring because we showed late and it was a bit chilly. Some were strong and some helicoptered away from the jumps. THANK GOD I stayed on!

On a funny note I got to show a PONY. I hadn't been on a pony in six years and I got a call before Blue Rock from one of my best friends Evan Colluccio. He asked me to show one of his young large green ponies, Jet Blue, owned by the Mandarinos. It was fun and hilarious! I thought ponies were easy… oh my god was I wrong. I give pony kids a lot of credit, as ponies know every trick in the book! I think we got a third and some other ribbons but I made a little mistake in each class.

On Sunday I decided to show my jumper Cardano Al Campo in the USET. Flat phase went first, which I dreaded because I hadn’t been riding a lot before this horse show (don't tell my trainers)! Miraculously I was called back 5th and in the jumping he was amazing but I had a rail and ended up 5th. I was super proud of him, though… he looked like an authentic equitation horse!! I'm hoping I can do him in some more eq because I think he really likes it (and of course he knows how handsome he is and he loves to show off)!!

Ok, all for now! Next up... Devon!

Posted in Bigeq Guest Bloggers ,

Kokopelli and Paige Johnson were one of the "it" teams in the large junior hunters in the early 2000s, winning up and down the east coast. This video was taken at Devon where the pair won the coveted 15/u championship. Johnson was a prominent junior rider, with a veritable fleet of show horses: eight junior jumpers, three junior hunters and one equitation horse. Wow.

More recently, Johnson scored a more dubious title as one of "The 20 Most Intriguing Billionaire Heiresses" by Forbes Magazine in 2007. Don't worry, she wasn't the lone equestrienne. One of her peers on the list was also a fellow competitor in the junior ranks, Georgina Bloomberg. Both excellent riders. And blessed with some serious means!

Despite this, Johnson's very accomplished mother (first black female billionaire- before even Oprah!) admitted in a 2005 interview with Washington Life Magazine that "I've never known a sport that can drain more money out of your bank account."

Amen.
lol

Enjoy the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zO162NiNHk

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Cool Clips ,

Bigeq.com is pleased to announce a blog partnership with USEF "R" judge Kim Ablon Whitney. As both a successful rider and a top judge, Kim brings her expertise in the hunter/jumper industry to the Bigeq Blog with thoughts on judging as well as insights and opinion on industry trends.

Kim is also an accomplished writer, both within the equestrian world and out. Her novel The Perfect Distance is about a rider striving to win the ASPCA Maclay Finals, and is a popular read for hunter/jumper fans, young and old alike. She has also published two other novels, including her recent release of The Other Half of Life, a historical novel based upon the true story of Jews fleeing Hitler’s Germany on the ship MS St Louis.

For more information about Kim and her novels, please visit:
http://www.kimablongwhitney.com

Stay tuned to the Bigeq Blog for Kim's upcoming blog entries!

~

Pop Quiz: Name the horse and rider pictured on the cover of Kim's novel, The Perfect Distance:

Post your reply below in the comments section! Good luck!

Posted in Bigeq Guest Bloggers ,

Once upon a time, there was a person selling their handsome hunter. Someone from Nigeria offered them $50,000 for the horse, and promised they would handle all the particulars of picking up the horse and send a certified cashier's check for the horse.

Um, you see anything odd about the start of this story? Like the buyer wants to purchase the horse sight unseen, with no prepurchase, and they keep calling the hunter, "the horse" with no specific inquiries about it... and they're from Nigeria. When was the last time you heard of a major hunter circuit happening in Africa? We don't know of any.

The point is, if you receive an email that gives you a weird vibe, in the exact same way that our opening paragraph did, then delete it. Over the years, we've occasionally been notified of scammers sending email inquiries to our sellers. Our response is always the same: Please be careful in your online dealings, and if you receive a message or inquiry that doesn't seem legit, it probably isn't.

So to conclude the story... The seller read the email, rolled their eyes, and with a click of the mouse sent the message straight to the trash. Then sold their horse, on Bigeq.com, of course, to a wonderful show home.

The end.

Posted in Bigeq

by Sara Green

So I didn't fall off in Tampa . It was actually so much fun. The show ended early every day and they had great food in the pavilion (SO important). Emil and I were forced to leave several coursewalks and bee-line to the pavilion for the yummiest omelets ever! He and I are so similar because food comes first on our to-do lists! Anyway (focus, focus), the show was a blast. I won the USET both weeks and was I think 2nd and 3rd in the Washington.

The hunters went great and I was reserve champion one of the weeks. Then in the High Junior Jumper Classic I made it to the jumpoff on Cardano and ended up 5th. I was clear but I always think I’m galloping at supersonic speed but in reality medium ponies could canter past me. I always finish about four seconds slower than everyone else. SO TRUE!

Because the show ended so early each day it allowed time for my friend Amber and I to go have fun! One day we went into Ybor City and spent way too much money at Urban Outfitters. Also, I’ve begun running a lot so the next day while Amber was napping in her camper I decided to go jogging around the horse show. Too many people saw me having a near heart attack running… embarrassing!! That was a bad idea, but whatever!

Then of course, THE INVITATIONAL! Well, let’s just say that was a BLAST and I’ll leave it at that.

Stay tuned for Sara's next blog about Garden State!

Special Thanks to Sean Rogers

Posted in Bigeq Guest Bloggers ,

So you like to surf around on Bigeq.com? Maybe you're looking for a horse to buy, or maybe you're just bored at work or school dreaming of owning this horse or that pony. Well, we thought we'd try a little game: a scavenger hunt of sorts. We'll post the photo from an ad, and you try to find it. The first person to post the horse name is the winner, and receives the momentary thrill of winning something, as well as a healthy boost to their self-esteem. :)

Scavenger Hunt #1

To post the horse name, scroll down and "Leave a comment" by filling out the required information, and then tell us the horse name. Good luck!

Posted in Bigeq

In the YouTube day-in-age that we live in, it's hard to believe that just 5-8 years ago video on the internet was fairly rare. We started adding videos to our website in 2000, but only put a few online because of memory constraints. Those souls who actually watched them from their old dial-up modem connections were brave indeed!

At this point, we've got tons of old videos collecting dust. Now that technology has finally caught up with us, why not share some classic videos from past horse shows? We'll be adding them to our YouTube channel, found at www.youtube.com/bigeq. You can sign up to be a subscriber on YouTube, or just check back here for future video announcements.

Our favorite video subject was Devon Junior Weekend- so many beautiful horses, ponies and riders in one place, at one time. We loved watching the equitation riders in the USEF medal and ASPCA maclay; or the junior hunter riders flowing smoothly around the ring; and of course we loved the pony hunters and the parade of tiny riders with bouncing braids and sweet smiles!

So our first "cool clip" from our collection of "classic" videos is of the great equitation horse: Ivy. We did a little sleuthing and discovered that Mr. Ivy is a Dutch Warmblood. He is just under 16.2h (16.1 5/8), which is surprising, because he sure looks big and impressive when on course. Chalk it up to his exceptional ring presence!

One last fun tidbit? Ivy was apparently born on Valentine's Day in 1994. Aw! During nearly a decade of competing, his riders, no doubt, sent lots of loves his way... he has placed in national equitation finals with five - yes, five! - different riders. What an amazing horse!

So enjoy this classic video of one of the best equitation horses of his generation!

IVY CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
3RD 2008 ASPCA MACLAY - ZAZOU HOFFMAN
10TH 2006 USEF MEDAL FINAL - HAYLIE JAYNE
RES CHAMPION 2006 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - HAYLIE JAYNE
5TH 2005 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - HAYLIE JAYNE
3RD 2002 NORTH AMERICAN - CHARLIE JAYNE
RES CHAMPION 2001 USEF MEDAL FINAL - CHARLIE JAYNE
3RD 2001 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - CHARLIE JAYNE
8TH 2000 ASPCA MACLAY - VANESSA HAAS
7TH 2000 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - VANESSA HAAS
10TH 1999 USEF MEDAL FINAL - KRISTIN MAUKS
7TH 1999 ASPCA MACLAY - KRISTIN MAUKS
7TH 1999 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - KRISTIN MAUKS

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Cool Clips ,

We love a jumper that flies as effortlessly as Play On, and it's surely a credit to rider Beezie Madden that he does so!

Play On & Beezie Madden

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots ,

By Sara Green

So it's always good to get your year off to a great start in Florida, right?? Well, I somehow managed to fall off four times in three weeks... all in the jumper ring!

Perhaps not riding at all for three months between my last show of '08 (Syracuse) and Ocala wasn’t maybe the best idea I’ve ever had (Senioritis??)… but I won’t let that be my excuse for falling off around a turn OR right after the finishing timers OR through a huge oxer OR tossed like a frisbee onto the ground before I even GOT to a jump.

At the very least I think I was amusing the spectators because even from inside the ring I could even hear the clapping and laughter. You know that long humiliating walk to the ingate every time you fall off? Um yea, I became a pro at that!

Thank God I managed to redeem myself in the equitation & hunter rings. In the eq I won the Medal, Washington and USET a couple of times (and was psyched that my best friend Amber did too)!! In the hunter ring I got to ride different horses about every week and they were all good boys.

I showed horses for a couple of people:

One for Don Stewart (how HILARIOUS is he??) that was champion. The horse even beat Lyle (one of my favorite horses) & Abbey O’Mara, which may sound silly but I consider that to be a major accomplishment.

I also showed a young horse for Emil Spadone, who, by the way, is my new trainer if you didn’t hear. HE’S THE MAN! His horse’s name is Like Wize and just arrived from Europe and started showing this year in Ocala. He’s adorable and I wish I owned him!

Then last but definitely not the least, there’s Jenny Millerrrr. I love showing horses for her because she’s so funny. I have so many stories that I’ll get around to at some point on here. Anyway, I showed two horses for her and each week we had fun adventures. I also showed one of her super fancy junior hunters at Devon (more to come on that later!).

Ocala was also a blast outside of the horse show. My friends and I rented a house together and lived as a family for the six weeks. I lived with Claire Wilson, Andrew Coolen-Koussouris, and Michael Desiderio. Andrew and Mike both ride with Emil in the amateurs, and Claire rides with Chrissie Kear/Bobby Braswell, and she’s my age. We definitely had a blast!!

-Sara

Up Next: Tampa!
Special Thanks to Sean Rogers

Posted in Bigeq Guest Bloggers ,

it's back! The Pony Zone was always a huge hit, so we're reincarnating it on our bloggy. Here's our first lovely photo:

Porter Allen and Royal Seven competing in the large pony hunters in 2009.

Posted in Bigeq The Pony Zone ,