New Albany Classic, The Grand Prix

Family fun and Border Collie demos aside, the real reason for attending the New Albany Classic Grand Prix is for the horse jumping. These are international equestrian stars, and Olympic caliber riders came from all over the USA, plus Canada and Ireland, to compete this year.

The grounds are gorgeous. I suspect that nobody walks on this grass for 364 days of the year, except for a few carefully selected groundskeepers who lovingly trim each blade by hand.
Every jump is sponsored by a business or organization, and is beautifully decorated with fabulous floral arrangements. The VIP tent is to the right in the photo below.The house in the background, by the way, is NOT the Wexner's home, as I originally thought. This is their guest house. Who visits here I'm not sure. Maybe the Pope?
A rider walks the course before the competition. The horses never see the jumps until they enter the field, but the riders pace carefully about, measuring the angles and distances between the jumps and calculating the best plan of attack.

New this year was the Official New Albany Classic mascot, Bucky. He got our section of the crowd involved in a rousing round of "O-H!" ; "I-O!" I suspect there is a former Brutus Buckeye inside that costume.
And now, I'll let a few of the horses and riders speak for themselves. I don't know how I'll distill my many pictures into a chosen few. Maybe I'll upload photos until Blogger chokes.

Caution: Border Collie at Work

One of the fun things about the New Albany Classic is that they bring in different animal entertainment each year. This year's special event was Dave Jenkins of Mansfield, Ohio, and his Border Collie, Gidget. They put on a very interesting and humorous herding demonstration.


Dave explained to us that some types of herding dogs are drovers, dogs which herd their charges by driving them from behind. Border Collies work to keep the flock between themselves and the shepherd. The key feature of a good working Border Collie is the "eye," the stare that says to the flock, "Move. Move now. Move where I want you to go."


Dave also explained some of the commands he used, both verbal and whistled signals that tell the dog what he wants it to do. If you watched the movie "Babe," you heard "Come by" and "Away to me", "Lie down" and the famous, "That'll do, Pig." All those phrases (except for "Pig," of course) are part of the actual working vocabulary of the herding team of man and dog.

The first two commands always confused me. I couldn't figure out what these phrases meant, but Dave said that he was describing a clock face, where he was 6 o'clock and he continually shifted his position to keep the flock at 12 o'clock. "Come by" and "Away to me" tell the dog to work clockwise or counter-clockwise, respectively, when bringing the flock to him.


Gidget puts the eye on her flock, in this case, ducks, since the grounds weren't large enough to work sheep.


Dave uses Indian Runner Ducks in his demonstrations. They are an unusual breed imported from the East Indies. Because of their tall, upright bodies, they are sometimes called "Penguin Ducks," and they run rather than waddle. They were very handsome birds, and didn't seem at all distressed by their role as the herd-ees.

In an e-mail, Mr. Jenkins says he likes this breed for several reasons. One, they are "kinda cute," with their little penguin bodies and their running gait. They are very hardy, and can tolerate Ohio summers and winters with little need for housing. In fact, he said they prefer to stay outdoors rather than going into their barn when the weather is bad. He also stressed their tendency to remain as wild ducks, avoiding the shepherd instead of bunching up at his feet, which makes it harder to train the dog. This trait means they are not a good pet duck, though. Finally, he added that while he has worked with Pekin ducks, they tend to get too fat to go through the tunnels he uses.


Gidget picks up the flock of ducks and begins to move them toward Dave at the other end of the field.

"Here are your ducks, Boss.
What do you want me to do with them?"

"Send them through this tunnel, please."

Ever the showman, Dave doffs his cap as the crowd applauds their work.

The next task was to send the ducks through a different tunnel and over a little bridge.

Gidget made it look easy.
(Can you see her behind the left wing of the gate?)

The final demonstration was the most difficult - to get the ducks to climb up a ramp and then go down a slide into the pool below. The first steps were the same: Gather up the ducks and get them moving in the right direction. But, to accomplish this goal, Gidget needed all her powers of concentration.


By alternately telling Gidget "Lie down" and "On your feet," Dave helped her line the ducks up just right, so they had no choice but to move through the gate. The command "Lie down" is obvious, but "On your feet" (or "Walk up") means to get up and move up a little bit. In this most challenging task, we could watch Dave crook his finger and Gidget would literally creep up by inches in order to get the ducks to shift their position.


At the top of the ramp, the ducks hesitated. Gidget, now invisible to us behind the gate, moved just a hair more and sent them over the edge.


At the first attempt, the ducks bailed out over the side of the ramp, which made the crowd laugh, but Gidget was not amused. She gathered those ducks up and sent them around again.

"Durned ducks! Do it right."

The crowd went wild and rewarded Gidget and Dave with well-deserved applause. Gidget looked smug. She knew she did well. And Dave's final comment? "That'll do, Gidget."

The New Albany Classic, A Family Day

Sunday, September 30 found me in Columbus, visiting with my sister as we attended the 10th anniversary of the New Albany Classic, a horse jumping contest of international caliber. This was our fifth consecutive year to attend, and it was just as great as ever. Of course, I go to see the amazing jumping, but this event also benefits the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence, and has raised millions of dollars to support that cause. Abigail Wexner is the founder and driving force behind the Classic, and the show grounds are part of the Wexner's estate. (You probably know at least one of Les Wexner's Limited Brands, including Bath & Body Works, White Barn Candles, and Victoria's Secret.)

The complete name is the "New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix and Family Day." While quite a mouthful, this name describes the total day, which is not just devoted to horse jumping. In fact, this year, I discovered that some people spend all day at this event and don't even watch the jumping.

There are carnival rides, a petting zoo,

teen bands and kiddie entertainment,

and booths with face painting, kid crafts, humane organizations,

carriage rides,

and horses to pet.

Did I say there was something for everyone?

Yum! Men in skirts!

More about this day next time.

Where Do I Begin?

Wow, I've been away from my computer for 8 days, and I have been doing so much while I was gone, I hardly know where to start. The best place to begin must be at the beginning, so set your "Way-Back" machine for Saturday, September 29. Let's stop off at the Cincinnati Nature Center for a brief glimpse of the Great Outdoor Weekend. I'm sure Susan has posted about this, too, so this may be a rerun for some of you.

The Great Outdoor Weekend is an event sponsored by CNC, and many of the local outdoor and nature businesses and organizations participate. There are nature hikes and bird walks all over the Tri-state area, and groups like Sierra Club, Audubon, and the Oxbow group do educational programs, all in the name of encouraging interest in the outdoors.


RAPTOR, Inc. was at CNC with a nice display of birds, and I stopped by after work to say hello. This is Marc, with Scarlet, the Red-tailed Hawk. I understand she can be a bit of a pill, but she behaved herself very nicely until Marc went to put her away for a break, then she bated. She's a big girl - I was impressed with Marc's ability to restrain her and get her under control.


You know this lady - Susan has the Great Horned Owl well in hand. (I forget if this bird has a name.) Another bird I wouldn't want to challenge over who gets the drumstick.

"Whooo, me?"

This little Eastern Screech-Owl was sitting quietly on a perch on the table, and I didn't even noticed it at first. Even when I saw it, I wasn't sure at first if if was alive or stuffed, it sat so still. I know the owners of the West Highland White Terrier didn't see the bird, but the little owl noticed the dog right away. He (she?) peered down at the dog very suspiciously, till Susan took him up and moved him away from the dog. (The Great Horned Owl also studied the terrier closely, but not in fear - more like it was thinking, "Lunch!")


I think this photo is my favorite of the day. It shows how small screech owls really are. (More on screech owls in another post.) Susan has such a big smile on her face, and you can tell she is having a good time. I even got Marc in the background!