Description: Dan is a 15h bay Mustang gelding. He served his country until he was injured in battle and retired at age 21, but he is up for doing reenactments. He is a very brave and reliable mount, but he would still be suitable for beginners because he doesn't move around much. He is a very easy keeper, but he overheats easily and has known to have claustrophobic episodes so he should always have a fan in his stall. Not at all spooky.
Description: Tater is two months old and has a ton of spunk! He's a pretty nice mover and he's always doing crazy sideways steps in the pasture so he'd probably be pretty good at dressage. He likes people, but sometimes he gets a pretty big head. His pedigree is mostly unknown. He just dropped outta his momma one day. We didn't even know she was pregnant. We think it might have been a rogue stallion that knocked her up when no one was looking.
Adjectives: Growing, curious, conniving
Story: Tater can be very mischievous. He likes looking over my daughter's shoulder while she watches YouTube on her iThing. This one is his favorite.
Location: Idaho
Price: 1.75 million
Contact: jokesonus@teamedvard.com 923-923-9230
A-List
- Andreas Dibowski /FRH Butts Leon and FRH Fantasia
- Michael Jung / La Biosthetique Sam
- Simone Deitermann / Free Easy NRW
- Frank Ostholt / Mr. Medicott
- Ingrid Klimke / FRH Butts Abraxxas
- Kai Rüder / Leprince des Bois
- Dirk Schrade /King Artus and Gadget de la Cere sowie
- Hinrich Romeike / Marius Voigt-Logistik
B-List
- Kai-Steffen Meier / Karascada M
- Andreas Ostholt / Franco Jeas
- Anna Warnecke / Twinkle Bee
Dirk and King Artus at Luhmuhlen--all I can do about the music is apologize
Thanks to The Carrot and PegasusPro for sending info on the German short list.
We all started eventing somewhere. For me, it was back when I lived in Michigan, trotting around local dressage and hunter shows, and then moving up to unrecognized horse trials. Those first few ribbons I won are still hanging in my room to remind me of where I came from. Today we have a guest article on the topic of starter horse trials from Charlene Eurick, who is well connected to top eventers in California. Thanks for writing this Charlene, and thank you for reading.
---- Photo: Lexie Thacker (4th Place/Intro Division B) getting some sage advice from her coach, Jennifer Wooten-Dafoe. This was Lexie's first event, and she finished on her dressage score of 39.0 Have you ever seen an "Intro Level" division at a horse trial? I hadn't until this past weekend at Shepherd Ranch Horse Trials in Santa Ynez, California and I'll tell ya, there should be more of 'em! Watching those cute pony kids (with a few adults thrown in) riding cross-country on their Saints disguised as horses was such a treat! The jumps are so little that even the small ponies can get around and it's a nice step before Beginner Novice. Cross-country was 1,300 meters with 12-14 jumping efforts set at 20-24 inches high, with a water option. At 300 mpm, you could probably make the time trotting. As I watched the warm-up, I guessed that most of these riders don't get out of the arena very often. There were some really little kids on some really little ponies and the adults looked like they probably hadn't gone Advanced. They left the start box with either an ear-to-ear grin or the "What am I doing and where do I go?" look but they finished looking happy and confident while the relieved parents and coaches jumped up and down and cheered. Ok, so there was a bit of drama when "Itty Bitty Cocoa Puff" was eliminated on cross-country, but all-in-all it was a good day. Without many opportunities these days for riding in the open, it was great to see so many have the chance to go cross-country without the pressure of a jump higher than 24 inches. Of the 27 entries, 18 finished, and both the A&B divisions ended on a score of 30.5 (not too shabby). I hope this division will be offered by more organizers and I think it would be a great addition to the USEA recognized divisions. I've seen enough scary riding at the Beginner Novice level to know that many of those people would do well with some experience at an even lower level. What a great way to draw people from other disciplines and get kids started really young. It's terrific to see happy new Eventers and seriously, what's more fun than watching a kid on a pony? 
It is eventing camp season across Eventing Nation, when, for one week out of the year, top programs are turned from organized chaos into unorganized chaos. Patricia from Ecogold spent some time at the O'Connor Event Team camp earlier this week, and told me that she expected to see the camp start with a dressage lesson, but instead it started with mechanical bull riding and natural horsemanship sessions. If you haven't already recognized the picture, the OCET camp is being held at the Virginia Horse Center.
I want to share a story that makes me glow with pride for Eventing Nation. If you recall, in my semi-delirious Sunday morning reader from last weekend I linked to eventer4life's blog. As an aside, I thought it might quite possibly be my last link ever considering I was about to go out on XC with a young horse who can jump a mile but often does so in three different directions at once, but I survived and here we are now. I linked to the blog because it was a young eventer writing about her first horse trials with her new horse and I thought it made for good reading, and Tuesday night eventer4life responded on Sunday morning post with the following comment:
Wow!
Thank you for putting my blog on here!
I actually had 502 views the day this was posted, up from....4...the day before.
So WOW and thanks again!
You're more than welcome eventer4life; Eventing Nation had a couple of days with 4 readers way back when we started. And well done Eventing Nation--we each are powerless as one person behind a computer, but united together as Eventing Nation we have a great deal of power to influence, and, in this case, make a young eventer's day. Go eventing.
If you recall, last week we published a preview article by Katie Wherley about the Full Moon Farm 1/4 star three-day for novice to elementary level competitors. Margaret Rizzo was kind enough to write a recap of the event, which sounds like it was a lot of fun and very educational. Thanks for writing this Margaret and thank you for reading.
I finally had a chance to catch up with Karen Fulton of Full Moon Farm following their 2nd Annual 1/4 Star Three-Day Event. Immediately following the three-day the Fultons headed off to Surefire Farm for the weekend's horse trials. Needless to say, I think the Fulton family deserves a day off!
Buck Davidson and My Boy Bobby - CIC3*
Phillip Dutton and TruLuck - CC3*
Karen O'Connor and Mandiba - Adv
Amy Tryon and Leyland - Adv
(CAN) Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin & Juice - CIC3*
Rebecca Farm has always been one of the best facilities in the US, and this year it is going to have some big names give the course a try at critical moments in their careers. Go eventing.
I know a couple of people who have been trying to sell their horses for over a year. We all know the economy is bad right now, and the event horse market is interesting in that it is predominantly upper-middle-class and should therefore be insulated slightly from the downturn, but, on the other hand, horses are one of the first costs that many families look to cut when things get tight.
