The Leggy & Legless

In my youth I was sponsored to compete in equestrian events and had a particular interest in dressage. I was fortunate enough to be trained with an instructor from the Cadre Noir de Saumur and extremely fortunate to have had a few lessons from Alois Podhajsky before he died in 1973. Podhajsky was the director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna during World War II and continued there until he retired in 1965. Although the Spanish Riding School did not ban women riders it has taken until now for the first female riders to pass the entrance test. Riders are required to have short torsos and long legs so having short legs there is no way I would have qualified but it's great to see women having equal opportunities at last. See this Reuters' report.

On the topic of horses there is a delightful story "A four-legless friend rescued" in today's Scotsman about a pony eating fermenting apples and falling drunk into a swimming pool during the wee hours of the morning.