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The Olympic Sunday Links from Dubarry

Wow, Eventing Nation, I can’t believe we are already at the 2012 Summer Olympics! I unfortunately don’t have a TV right now so to quench my craving for watching the Olympics, I stayed at a friend’s house last night and caught a few rounds from both the swimming and gymnastic competitions. I think the main reason the Olympics is considered the ultimate goal for us riders is that it’s the only competition where we get to participate in something that’s so much bigger than ourselves and our sport. It’s really fun to watch the rest of the Games, be an American super fan, and get to see what all the other competitors are surrounding their life with, whether it be Cycling, Wrestling, or even Water Polo.

But anyway, what we all care about most right now is the Eventing competition, which is on the second day of Dressage competition. You can check the scores out  here: [Team Scores] [Individual Scores], but here’s the low down.

Olympic dressage scores after day 1:
1. Ingrid Klimke and Butts Abraxxas (GER) 39.3
2. Dirk Schrade and King Artus (GER) 39.8
3. Mary King and Imperial Cavalier (GBR) 40.9
4. Andrew Hoy and Rutherglen (AUS) 41.7
5. Ludvig Svennerstal and Shamwari (SWE) 43.7
6. Jonathan Paget and Clifton Promise (NZL) 44.1
7. Sam Griffiths and Happy Times (AUS) 45.4
8. Chris Burton and HP Leilani (AUS) 46.1
9. Karen O’Connor and Mr. Medicott (USA) 48.2
10. Virginie Caulier and Nepal Du Sudre (BEL) 48.3
11. Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin & Juice (CAN) 48.7
12. Aoife Clark and Master Crusoe (IRL) 48.9
13T. Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere (USA) 50.7
13T. Marc Rigouts and Dunkas (BEL) 50.7

As far as teams are concerned, Australia leads in total points with 133.2, Germany is second with 137.6, and USA is third with 150.9. But remember that the team scores are pretty inconclusive until tomorrow after the whole dressage competition is finished, because as John pointed out yesterday, If you looked at the two best scores of each team, Germany (79.1) would have a big lead over Australia (87.1), and Great Britain would be third with 92.6. In case you were otherwise occupied yesterday, check out John’s summary of Day 1 of Dressage.

There are lots of links this morning, so grab your coffee, and your reading glasses, and enjoy some quality Olympic coverage from the best team of reporters around.

Model Olympian: Boyd Martin

SmartPak Blog: U.S. Olympic Eventers Perform Well on First Day of Dressage

Olympic Cross Country Course Map

Mary King’s career-best dressage test on Imperial Cavalier hands Great Britain team a boost

Germans Go One-Two In Olympic Eventing Dressage

USEA Photo Gallery: Olympics Day 1

Horse Dealer must pay £10,000 over horse passport offenses

Olympic blog: spectator tips, empty seats and a good British showing

 

[More Awesome SmartPak Videos from London]

So that’s about all I’ve got for you Eventing Nation!  I’m sure John will be awake and on his computer posting more updates on the Olympics well before any of us get up out of bed! But please keep in tuned in right here to Eventing Nation, and I will catch up with you soon! Have a super Sunday!

Sunday Links from Dubarry

Good Morning Eventing Nation! And welcome to Sunday! Things are hustling and bustling at the headquarters this morning, as there’s lots of Eventing activity going on all across the globe. On  American soil, there are five events taking place this weekend including the Young Rider’s Championship in Kentucky which Visionaire has so kindly agreed to cover for all of us. Kendyl Tracy and Ever So Lucky have had a great weekend so far and are leading the CCI2* going in to the final day. Connor Husain and Lizzie Snow will be breathing down Kendyl’s neck however as they sit only .6 and 1.8 points back from the lead, respectively. The old campaigner, Fleeceworks Mystere Du Val leads the competitive 1* division with rider Victoria New. Danzig and Kylie Figueira sit a close second with just 1.1 penalties to spare.

CH-J* Top 3 teams after XC:

1. Ontario (156.8)

2. Area V (157.9)

3. Area III (169.1)

CH-Y** Team Standings after XC:

1. Area VI, VII & IX (168.2)

2. Area II, III & IV (177.4)

3. Ontario & Quebec (246.2)

4. Area V (246.6)

NAJYRC SCORES

Hunter Oaks H.T. (IL, A-4): [Website] [Live Scores]
Fitch’s Corner H.T. (NY, A-1): [Website] [Live Scores]
Aspen Ridge H.T. (CO, A-9): [USEA Listing]
Olney Farm C.T. (MD, A-2): [Website]
Across the pond, Aston Le Walls Horse Trials is taking place in the quaint little town of Daventry. With something like 800 horses or so running across the four days, it really is a mega horse trial, as most of the events in England are these days! I was actually a working student at Aston Le Walls a couple of summers ago and had the great honor of helping set up the ten dressage arenas they use for the event! If I didn’t know the intricacies of setting up a perfectly geometric Dressage arena before that summer, I certainly do know!
Aston-le-Walls (UK): [Scores]
And now for the links this morning:
Boyd found a new way to get to the barn when his car broke down yesterday. (Hint: It’s got two wheels, makes a lot of noise, and is usually driven by big men in black jackets)
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Sunday and stay posted for the latest on the final day at Young Rider’s! I will see you soon!

Sunday Links from Dubarry


Go Team! Photo via Team Phoenix

Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope everyone’s weekend has gotten off to a good start! It’s been quite a lovely weekend so far, and should be today as well. I’m hoping the thunderstorms hold out, however, as I am taking a day away from horses to go to the beach! Whether you are competing today or just hanging out around home, stay safe and have fun!

There are a lot of competitions going on this weekend, check out the live scores below:

Event at Rebecca Farm (MT, A-7):   [Website] [LIVE SCORING]
Cosequin Stuart CIC**/* and H.T. (NY, A-1):   [Website] [LIVE SCORING]
Coconino Classic Event & H.T. (AZ, A-10):   [Website] [LIVE SCORING]
Champagne Run at the Park H.T. (KY, A-8):   [Website] [LIVE SCORING]
The Maryland H.T. at Loch Moy Farm II (MD, A-2):   [Website] [RESULTS]
Chattahoochee Hills H.T. (GA, A-3):    [Website] [LIVE SCORING]
Roebke’s Run H.T. (MN, A-4):    [Website] [LIVE SCORING]
Riga Meadow H.T. (CT, A-1):    [Website]
And now for the news:
Best of the Blogs: DPE got it again!
Ok so please don’t take offense to the title, but this was too funny/ridiculous not to include… ‘Pimp my Horse’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnF2ROKtdMY
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great rest of your weekend! I’ll catch up with you next week!

Sunday Links from Dubarry

The Eventing Nation Jump at the Maryland HT last year

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Today is hopefully going to be the end of this awful heat wave that we’ve had in many parts of the country for the better part of a week! The high for today in Virginia is 96℉, so a slight improvement from the 99℉ high from yesterday. The good news is that it’s supposed to be in the mid-low eighties starting early next week.

The big exciting news for the day is that the Canadian horses are departing for England today! The riders will be following close behind and I’m sure there will be much more news on all of those happenings to come.

Here are the scores for this weekend’s Events:

Aachen CCI***:  [Live Scores]

Coconino Summer HT (AZ): [Website] [Live Scores]

Whidbey Island Pony Club HT (WA): [Website] [Live Scores]

Maryland HT (MD): [Website]

Genesee Valley HT (NY): [Website] [Live Scores]

Chattahoochee Hills HT (GA): [Website] [Live Scores]

University of New Hampshire HT (NH): [Website] [Live Scores]

ENYDCTA/Old Chatham HT (NY): [Website]

And now for some links:

Bureau to remove up to 50 horses because of drought

Lauren Hough wins a Audi foal at Aachen

Warning over rise in cases of Pigeon Fever in the US

German Olympic Eventing Team Announced

U.S. Show Jumpers Represent At Aachen

Girl, age 10, dies after barrel-racing accident

FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing: Germany Extends Series Lead with Great Olympic Send-off at Aachen

Canada’s Olympic equestrian teams named for London Games

Best of the Blogs: My Secret Public Middleburg Diary

New on Horse Nation: Smartpak Story of the Week- Ask the Vet: Name brand or Generic?

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Sunday, and try to stay cool!

 

Barbury XC’s Sunday Links from Dubarry

Good Morning Eventing Nation! And welcome to the first day of July! Well summer is certainly here to stay now with the 100+ degree weather we’ve had in many parts of the country this past week. I’m just glad my air conditioner is working again after the power was out for 14+ hours after the bad storms that hit Northern Va on Friday night!

Anyway, here’s the news for this morning:

Barbury Horse Trials (UK): [Website] [LIVE SCORES] — Barbury XC starts at 7:30am ET

Three-day eventing performance depends on relationship between horse, rider and groom

Kiwis in pole position at Barbury horse trials

Tackle racing’s drug cheats, urges Jockey Club president

Kitty King crowned with 2* glory at Barbury

Clones of star dressage sire Jazz born

Bo Derek gives horse awards a ’10′

Charities warn that Healthy Horses may have to be put down

As far as events go this weekend, here are the live scores:

South Farm HT (OH): [Website] [Live Scores]

Groton House HT (MA): [Website] [Live Scores]

Horse Park of New Jersey HT (NJ): [Website] [Live Scores]

Last, but not least, happy Canada Day! That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Stay cool, and enjoy your Sunday!

Sunday Links

It’s Summer!!!

Good Morning Eventing Nation! And welcome to Sunday! I hope you’ve been having a good weekend so far, it’s going to be another really beautiful day today. Sunny, temperatures in the eighties with a nice breeze… If I wasn’t eventing today I’d definitely be parking my butt in the sand at some beach for the majority of the day watching my feet tan! It’s a busy weekend for Eventing with events running all over the place, Kentucky, Virginia, and Illinois, to name but a few. Here is the live scores/ website information for each:

Abbe Ranch H.T. XXXVI (CO) [Website] [Live Scoring]

Surefire H.T. (VA) [Website] [Live Scores]

Encore H.T. (MI) [Website]

Fox River Valley Pony Club H.T. (IL) [Website] [Live Scoring]

Midsouth Pony Club H.T. (KY) [Website] [Live Scoring]

Shepherd Ranch SYVPC H.T. I (CA) [Website] [Live Scoring]

Golden Spike H.T. (UT) [Website]

Invale Farm H.T. and Gallops Saddlery Classic 3-Day (OR) [Website[Live Scoring]

Great Vista Horse Trials (NY) [Website] [Live Scores]

And here are your links for this morning!

Salperton Horse Trials: Rayef, The Kings & The Olympics

Twelve horses to graze at Olympic opening ceremony

Steffen Peters rides Legloas to US title

Black Caviar wins at Royal Ascot, extending her unbeaten run to 22

Trevor Breen wins Bunn Leisure Speed Derby at Hickstead

Yorkshire villagers rally behind vocal donkey

Hot on HN- The Guitar playing horse 

[youtube width=”500″ height=”344″]http://youtu.be/gNr-uYjVvL8

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Sunday! Rest up, enjoy the weather, and spend some time with your horse! Til’ next time.

Thursday News from Devoucoux

Coming soon to a TV near you

Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope your week has been going well so far, whatever it may have entailed! Well, with Memorial Day now past us, we can all finally put on our white shorts and get the summer of 2012 started! It feels like this spring has already gone by so quickly, before we know it, it’ll be  time for the Olympics! With all the talk, excitement, and speculation surrounding the Olympics in our sport, we can’t forget about all the other sports coming together at the Summer Games. My favorites to watch have always been Synchronized Swimming and Diving, and then of course all the Gymnastics. What are your favorite Olympic sports to watch? It’s always fun to cheer on your own players in your sport of choice, but it’s also fun and patriotic to catch a glimpse of what the rest of the world is cheering for!

So let’s get started with the news this morning, the most important of which being the ‘Saving UNH’ article on the USEA website written by Suzanne Adams. So if you are even the slightest bit involved in the horsey blogosphere, you’ll know that in the past month or so, there has been a pretty substantial outcry from the horse community regarding the Agricultural part of the University of New Hampshire and a potential plan of the school to sell some of the land designated for equine use. The loss of the land would be  a huge hit to the equestrian community in New Hampshire and greater New England, as the school hosts two yearly horse trials and a variety of other equine events. It’s a complicated situation and I’m not doing a great job of describing it in the best of detail but Suzanne wrote a very good Cliff’s Notes version which I have quoted below:

The Problem – NH State budget cuts reduced funding to the University by $48 million. UNH developed a Campus Master Plan (CMP) which originally planned to lease out lands used by the Agriculture/Equine/Life Sciences programs for commercial development to bridge some of the shortfall. That means RETAIL stores – think Big Box Stores.

The Outcry – Two public meetings were held. Over 600 people attended and the support against this development was astounding. As a result of this outcry, the Master Plan Steering Committee changed the language to “limit” potential development in these areas. “Limit” does not mean no commercial development

More of the Problem – The public meetings were contentious and the Master Plan Steering Committee along with the Consultants were caught unprepared for such a reaction from the community. Now, they meet quietly until the next public release. There are Plans to move the Equine program in order to make way for commercial/business development eliminating the current facilities (parts of the cross-country course, stabling, paddocks, farm buildings, indoor and stadium jumping course).”

So in short, if you have a few minutes in your day and the kindness in your heart to help out the New Hampshire event community, Suzanne has listed the names of several key people to email, asking them kindly to revise their plans of Big Box Store-dom. [SAVING UNH]

The Tattersall Horse Trials in Ireland are set to begin today, with some key names of European eventing to take part. Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson, William Fox-Pitt, and a whole host of British heavy hitters will be making the trip to contest the CIC*** course. The article uses the term ‘Fringe riders’, saying they will be in plentiful supply this weekend and meaning those riders that are at the brink of selection for the Olympics should something go wrong with one of the more veteran pairs, with the idea being that they need to keep impressing the selectors with good results during this crucial time. [Stuff NZ]

Speaking of Olympic Dreams, sadly young British phenomenon Laura Collett is realizing hers probably won’t come true this year. After a dissapointing weekend at Saumur two weekends ago with a stop and fall at the 25th fence with veteran Rayef, Collett conceded on hr blog that the timing for this year’s Games just hasn’t been quite right and she will now look towards the 2016 Games in Rio as the goal. [Wiltshire Times]

British Event rider Ruth Edge, is saying goodbye to her home and stable of eleven years and moving 200 miles south to her own yard. She’s been based with long standing owners Ann and Hugh Lawson, but feels it’s now time to venture off on her own. Congratulations to Ruth on her new purchase, but I certainly don’t envy the amount of heavy labor they will be doing to fix up the yard and add a few additions before being able to truly call it home! [Horse and Hound]

The Chronicle is celebrating it’s 75th Anniversary this year, so each week staffers will take a look back in history to remember some of the key highlights of each decade. This week looked back at the Fifties, where the big subjects of interest and debate were things like the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki– it was to be the first Games where the US sent a Civilian team instead of a Military one, which was a subject that came under much debate and criticism and debate. [COTH]

It’s time to check in with USEA blogger Katie Wherley! She has a great weekend at Jersey Fresh and is looking forward to the rest of what the season may bring. [Katie Blog]

Colleen Rutledge is back in England after a brief hiatus in the States! 

This is the latest blog post from the fabulous team at SmartPak, called ‘Two Sides of the Same Coin’. [Smartpak]

Check out some of the footage from Boyd’s Clinic in New York last weekend:

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Thursday, I’ll see you soon!

Sunday Morning Links from Dubarry

That would be the one and only John at the Virginia Horse Trials back in the day! Hint, hint John. 

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Well it’s sure a beautiful day in the neighborhood this Memorial Day weekend!  Among all the many fun things that I hope your getting to do this weekend, which, for the fashion conscious, would certainly include wearing white pants to the mall to take advantage of all the huge Memorial Day sales. If that’s not quite your cup of tea, then hopefully you can find something else to entertain yourself for today and tomorrow, even if it is just taking a nap on the porch or catching up on some house work.

But not everyone can enjoy a leisurely weekend of doing nothing, as there are six events up and running and ready to be contested today!

At the Virginia Horse Trials, the leaders of the two CCI 1* divisions still remain as so after the cross country. Jan Bynny and Why Not won the open Intermediate division and Elinor MacPhail won the Intermediate Rider division. The Preliminary divisions will finish off today.

Here are the scores:

Virginia Horse Trials [Scores]

The Spring Event at Woodside [Website] [Scores]

Flora Lea Spring HT [Website] [Scores]

Corona del Sol Spring HT [Website] [Scores]

Mystic Valley Hunt Club HT [Website] 

May-Daze at the Park HT [Website] [Scores]

And now, here are a few links for you to peruse this morning!

USEF Team physician Dr. Craig Ferrell  badly injured in a polo accident

Colvin does nothing but win at Devon

Hickstead honored in commemorative poster 

Tent pegging success for woman at Royal Windsor

Allentown, Day 1: Boot Wars

What you didn’t know about… Little Tiger

H&H: Call for tack to be locked up at shows following string of thefts

And for all the Australian Eventing Fans out there:

That’s all for now Eventing Nation! Have a great rest of the holiday weekend, I’ll catch you later!

Friday News and Notes from FLAIR

This about sums up the weather across the pond! More cancellations have been made for Chatsworth and Aston Le Walls Horse Trials, photo courtesy of Samantha

Good Morning Eventing Nation, and welcome to Friday! This weekend is going to be all about Jersey Fresh, but we can’t forget about the other handful of events going on across the country. Here are the live scores/website links in no particular order:

Jersey Fresh CCI and CIC Three Day Event

Plantation Field Horse Trials

Galway Downs Spring Horse Trials

Winona Horse Trials

Mill Creek Pony Club Horse Trials

Speaking of Jersey Fresh, as Abby reported yesterday, Karen is currently leading and sitting in third in the CIC** with Mandiba and RF Amber Eyes. Boyd is leading the CCI** with Crackerjack, and EN’s very own Abbie Golden is having a great event so far to sit eighth in a very competitive division after the dressage. The second day of dressage will pick up today at 8:30 AM, starting with the CCI3* Division.

Abby mentioned Thursday that Phillip is catch riding at Jersey for our good friend Jennie Brannigan.  I’m sad to report that Jennie has told us she injured her knee on Tuesday in a riding accident.  She said that although she hasn’t had an MRI yet it is believed she tore her ACL and MCL.  Jennie will miss riding this weekend more than anyone could, but she has a great jockey filling in for her.  Get well soon Jennie!

Now let’s check out the news:

Unfortunately across the pond, the dismal weather forcing last weekend’s Badminton cancellation is sadly not drawing to any sort of a close. Yet another big event has had to be cancelled due to the alarming amount of rain the country has had over the past few weeks, this time the Chatsworth Horse Trials. Chatsworth is considered to be one of the big destination three star events of the spring over in England, so canceling the Horse Trials has got to be a major disappointment for everyone involved. [Chatsworth]

The Olympic Flame has begun it’s journey to London! The torch was light at it’s ancient birthplace in Greece yesterday; 490 torchbearers are set to carry the flame across 1,800 miles of Greek soil before the flame is handed to London organizers on May 17th in Athens. Once in London, the torch will continue it’s tour of the country, but unlike the last two Olympic Games where the torch was carried across the globe, this year it will remain solely in Britain. [NYT]

British lady rider, Tina Fletcher, is looking to take her second consecutive title at the Hickstead Derby next month. Tina made history last year when she became the first woman to win the Derby in a record 38 years. Her horse is the seventeen year old Promised Land, with whom she came painstakingly close to winning with in 2010 had it not been for Guy Williams and Skip Two Ramiro completing the course 1/10th of a second faster. Hickstead is always the third weekend in June, so be sure to mark it on your calendar to catch the live broadcast! [Horsetalk]

The famous Windsor Horse Show at Windsor Castle in England is an iconic event, partly because it is the oldest running Horse Show is England. However, Windsor has been quite the soggy affair this year after all the rain they’ve been having. To give you an idea, there is some talk about cancelling the last two days of the show if the rain continues any more. From the sounds of it, the rain has caused the car park to close, lorries are having to be towed in and out, and the whole thing is just a real mess. [Horsetalk]

A new website has been launched, called Clean Horse Racing. It’s a website where you can study the drug rules, get news and updates, and any more information from the two governing bodies of horse racing, The Jockey Club and The American Riders Association. It’s actually kind of a neat idea, I’m not sure how many trainers and owners will consult the list before racing their horses, but it is nice to see those programs and people that take the initiative to fix a problem of drug abuse that is still very much a problem today. [Clean Racing]

Zara and Mike Tindall have announced they would like to have kids and a family at some point during these next couple years. According to an interview from the Daily Mail, Mike seemed pretty forward thinking about the idea but Zara wants to hold off for at least the next two years because it’s the Olympics this year and the European Championships the following. Our favorite Royal and her husband must be pretty good sports to put up with the poking, prodding and elbow bumping they do with the press and photographers on a daily basis, and this article was no exception! [The Mirror]

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great day, if you are at Jersey Fresh, good luck, otherwise keep having fun!

 

Neville’s Thursday News From Devoucoux

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to Thursday! I hope your week has been going well and that the weekend ahead looks promising. The big report of the day is obviously Jersey Fresh, where star studded divisions of both CCI and CIC levels will be contested. Abby put together a good post with all the details yesterday, but for the basic info check it out below:

[Jersey Fresh Entry List]

[Live Scores]

[Jersey Fresh Website]

Today is all about the two star with the CIC division starting at 9 am and moving onto the CCI divisions at 1 pm. The weather report is predicting a small chance of rain today in the forecast, but hopefully that will hold off and we’ll have a fine day of dressage at Jersey. If you are competing today, good luck, and if you are spectating today, have fun, and be sure to send a report our way!

And now let’s get started on the news this morning:

Dr. Kent Allen wrote an article about Pulmonary Hemorrhage and sudden death in event horses, the reasons that cause the hemorrhaging to begin and things that can be done to possibly prevent it from happening in the future. These sorts of deaths in our sport have sort of fallen under a big umbrella and I’m sure that many of us (myself included) aren’t going as informed on what the actual condition is and the specifics involved in it. If you have any time on your hands, you should really take a couple minutes to read the article as it’s pretty fascinating. [Horsetalk]

Listen up Olympic Equestrian Fans! It has just been announced that another 900,000 Olympic tickets are going on sale — and 21,000 of those will be for equestrianism. Mark your calendars for May 15th, as that’s the date that an extra 4,000 dressage tickets, 12,000 for cross-country and 5,000 tickets for showjumping will be made available for sale. This is pretty exciting news for me as I had tried, but failed to get tickets to the Games last Summer. It still may be close to impossible finding a hotel close enough and cost-effective enough to merit making the trip, but at least it is now no longer impossible to get into the Games! If you are really interested in the upcoming ticket sale, I’d make sure to keep an eyea on that date and reserve them at the soonest possible moment… I have a feeling that these tickets aren’t going to stay around too long either! [Horse and Hound]

Another Whitaker has joined the top level of show jumping ranks, Horsetalk reports. George Whitaker, age 19, has moved up 123 places in Rolex’s show jumping ranking in the last two months to sit as of May in 213th place. That placing may not seem so very impressive on the outset, but when you consider that the ranking factors in all of the best veteran riders across the entire world, and George is a junior in his first year of riding in the open classes, it suddenly starts to. It isn’t much of a surprise really (the real surprise would be if the young Whitaker kid couldn’t ride) but George is definitely  going to be one to watch in the future! [Horsetalk]

‘It’s probably a fair chance’ says the Captain of Boyd and Neville’s Olympic chances for this summer. See what else the Captain has to say in his interview here. 

Check out this interview and video of Beezie Madden about her Olympic aspirations for this upcoming year. [ESPN]

9th Annual Surefire Horse Trials Open for Entries

Thanks to our good friend Chelan Kozak for the tip on this one, but I really do think we have finally found the Horse Sale Ad of the Century, which basically makes all those Craigslisters look like a bunch of novices. Sadly, even though this ad still may have it’s fair share of grammar mistakes, it’s still probably the most honest sale ad I’ve seen in a long time. I’m mean who else writes, “Selling a few a my horses and this guy has to go. Who ever buys this guy MUST have a good seat because he bucks every ride,at least one little bucking session i dont think he has a probleem he just likes bucking. but he is a real sweet boy and kids can ride him. he is 15.8 hands tall and he weighs 2000 pounds.” For all of that and more, Skiddy can be yours for the small price of $5,000. Oh and the best part is that the seller added photos that  rival a picture of a cowboy and a bronc so everyone can get a better feel of his bucking. Sometimes you just have to wonder with people. [Better than Craigslist]

Check out Rolex Cross Country 2012

[youtube width=”475″ height=”344″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a2cDGqRvgQ&feature=player_embedded

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! John is taking over Horse Nation today, so stop by HN for a full day of insanity. Have a great day, I will talk with you tomorrow!

Tuesday News and Notes from Pennfield

rain, rain go away

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to Tuesday! Well this week’s news sure isn’t going to be much fun to write about now that Badminton is cancelled. Honestly, my first thought when I heard the news (and kudos to the EN team and ESJ for having the story first!) was that at least poor Peter Atkins isn’t missing out on anything now with his broken leg and all. But while Peter’s case might have proven to be not as unlucky as originally thought, there are a lot of people completely devastated by this news. The good news is that it happened in Europe, so there is Luhmuhlen, Bramham, and plenty of other big competitions nearby that the riders can choose to re-route to.

Anyway, let’s take a look at the news this morning:

Horsetalk is talking about Olympic Plans needing some revision now that Badminton is cancelled for 2012. As John stated earlier, the horses that are pretty much shoe ins to be on the team weren’t planning on running around the grueling four star track this weekend, but others such as Zara Phillips and High Kingdom, were planning on using the upcoming weekend to strengthen their hand when it comes down to team selection in a couple of months. Also, reining World and European champion Michael Jung was planning on making his much anticipated Badminton debut, in a show down between William Fox-Pitt and a couple of the other heavy hitters for Britain. [Horsetalk]

Brian Murphy, Sara Kozumplik’s boyfriend, wrote a blog for the Chronicle over Rolex weekend about the journey that ended just one day too soon for Sara and her crew. [COTH]

Boyd blogged about his fantastic week at Rolex, thanking the syndicate owners of Otis, the owners of Remington, his right hand girl Lindsey Taylor, and the rest of the support crew that made his weekend possible. [BOYD]

There is a bit of a scuffle going on across the pond right now regarding a new drug rule that bans the use of Pergolide (a drug used to treat Cushing’s Disease) in any sanctioned competition. The sad part of this new rule is that it really will only affect the amateur ranks, and means that many of the older horses filling the amateur leagues and diagnosed with Cushing’s will now have to retire to un-affiliated competitions. It of course makes sense that the British Eventing Society would want to have uniformity in their drug rules and keep them as close to FEI standard, but you’d think there would be some way to let these horses compete on a drug that is non-performance enhancing and strictly used to treat the hormonal imbalance of Cushings. What are your thoughts, Eventing Nation? Should BE have banned the drug or were they wrong in doing so? [Horse and Hound]

Badminton Horse trials fall foul of floods

Well you can tell that it’s Derby season as the New York Times as just published another front page article about horse racing, but sadly not in any brighter of a light than the last article. Titled “Big Purses, Sore Horses, and Death”, the author sets out to examine the cause of the increase in breakdown rates over the past couple of years at race tracks around the country, a problem which he believes stems from the addition of casinos to many race tracks, raising the purses considerably in many races, and tempting trainers to run unfit or sore horses in pursuit of the big check. They make a few good points, and it really is an article that’s worth a read. [NY Times]

A nineteen year old Texan based Norwegian rider Eirin Bruheim has recently acquired another horse to her string; Tackeray, the British based accomplished Grand Prix competitor previously in the barn of Ben Maher. Eirin told Horsetalk that she just plans to get to know him and compete in some lower classes for the remainder of this year, but that she hopes to compete abroad with him for Norway by next year. Welcome to America Tackeray! [Horsetalk]

That’s all I have for you now, Eventing Nation! Have a great day, I’ll catch up with you later!

SmartPak Power Ranking and Rolex Preview

 

The start of Rolex Kentucky has finally arrived! If you have been following Eventing Nation for any number of months, you have noticed the edition of the SmartPak Power Ranking at the beginning of 2012. The purpose of the series is to follow and rank the top horses and riders in their preparations for Rolex, and ultimately the Olympics. While we usually have been posting the SmartPak Power Ranking during the second or third week of every month, we thought it best to wait on this month’s Ranking because without the results of Rolex to add into the equation, it really wouldn’t be much of a ranking at all!

The series left off last month after Red Hills, where Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos kept a convincing lead over stablemates Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper. Neville Bardos is a proven competitor, especially where the Kentucky Horse Park is concerned after great performances at Rolex and at the World Equestrian Games in 2010, so Boyd has very rightly so given his old campaigner a quiet spring preparation and has come away with good results.

Mystery Whisper started the season off quite well, but showed some room for refinement in the dressage phase.  Phillip really showed everyone the marked improvement at his last couple events at Red Hills and the Fork, where this pair has gone from strength to strength across all three phases. This pair is also sitting out Kentucky and we will likely see them next at Jersey.

Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville sat in third place in the March ranking, but I think if we had done the poll for April already, they would probably be sitting in the exact same position (or a better one) as their spring prep has been nothing short of right on target. Sinead impressed a lot of people at Rolex last year, and continued to do so at Burghley, and with the way she has started 2012, I think she’ll come back to be even better this year.  Sinead and Tate make it 3 for 3 of our top SmartPak power ranking pairs sitting out Kentucky as they don’t have anything to prove.

Clark Montgomery sat in fourth in the March ranking, and it will be interesting to see where he lands after this week. This will be his horse’s four star debut, but after a great year last year with a solid performance at the Blenheim Three-Day Event in England, this pair will ready as any to take on America’s toughest course.

Becky always performs well at Rolex and it will sure be nice to see her back this year (with two mounts nevertheless!) after missing Kentucky last year. Although he’s on a comeback from an injury, Courageous Comet knows Rolex better than any of the other horses entered, and he also knows when it’s time to put on a show. He and Becky had an inspiring cross country  trip at the WEG two years ago, so I wouldn’t count him out to comeback this year better than ever. Comet’s stablemate, Can’t Fire Me, has had a very good preparation over the last year and I’d expect him to put in a very solid performance this weekend as well.

Ballynoecastle RM sat in 7th place in the March ranking, which may shift a little bit now seeing as he will not be making the trip to Kentucky this year. His rider will be, however, with Pan Am Games Silver Medalist Absolute Liberty and Titanium.

Karen O’Connor and Marilyn Little-Meredith will have four mounts between them this weekend. Karen will be riding Mr. Medicott and Veronica and Marilyn has Rovano Rex and Demeter. All four have been going well, so I’d expect them to do the same this weekend. Hopefully come next Monday Marilyn will be able to say she has ridden successfully at the highest level in two disciplines.

For Canada this year, it’s all about the women as Jessica Phoenix, Rebecca Howard, and Hawley Bennett have maintained the first three positions in the Canadian section of the SmartPak Power Ranking for the past two months. They are all exceptional riders with seasoned mounts, but none of them will be at Kentucky this weekend. Coach David O’Connor has obviously planned a less strenuous route for their seasoned horses this Spring, with an eye on saving them for the summer Games.

So with all that previewing out of the way, I have to ask who are your favorites for this weekend? Do you think the April ranking will emerge much like the March one or do you think there will be some upset performances? I guess at the end of the day, you can predict, analyze, and theorize as much as you like, but horses will be horses and things never seem to go quite how we think they will, for the better or the worse. But that,after all, is the fun part. Bring it on Kentucky!

Wednesday Morning News from Horse Quencher

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Well, I’m sure you all know just as well as I do what day it is.. It’s the start of the 2012 Rolex Kentucky 3 Day! Well of course being Wednesday, the only Rolex action planned for today is the First Horse Inspection and then the annual cocktail party/gathering where the first Rolex watch of the weekend will be awarded to one lucky competitor tonight. The whole EN crew is coming out for Rolex this weekend, so we should have some really excellent event coverage over these next four days. I can never tell whether John enjoys or despises covering Rolex every year, I mean I guess if you enjoy running on eighteen hour days, very little sleep, and participating in wild goose chases around the Kentucky Horse Park for any number of reasons, than reporting on this event is for you. But I’m sure between the chaos and exhaustion, they will all find some time to enjoy themselves this weekend!

I’m sure this schedule will be posted many more times over the course of this week, but here is the official schedule for all things Rolex. It’s sure to be a great weekend of competition, but it’s not looking like it will be a very sunny one with a chance of rain and thunderstorms every day for the rest of this week. Oh well, we’re die hard eventers after all and a little rain never killed anyone!

Cross-Country Course Open — Wednesday, April 25, 1:00 p.m. (Course open to the public as of this date must stay off track of course)

First Horse Inspection– Wednesday, April 25, 3:00 p.m.

Competitor Familiarization in Main Arena– Wednesday, April 25, 4:30 p.m.

Dressage: Thursday, April 26, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Friday, April 27, 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Cross-Country: Saturday, April 28, 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Second Horse Inspection– Sunday, April 29, 8:30 a.m.

Jumping Course Walk: Sunday, April 29, 11:00 a.m.

Show Jumping: Sunday, April 29, 12:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

The First Horse Inspection begins today at 3 pm, Samantha and John will both be there, Samantha I’m sure will be taking many stunning pictures and John will be giving his running commentary of the outfit choices, because if you didn’t already know he has a very developed sense of style between his trademark UVA sweatshirt and jeans.

Now let’s check out some of the other news this morning from the world away from Rolex (mostly):

The first item of new this morning surrounds the popular Zara Phillips.  She has been having a great year as far as horses are concerned, but the same can’t be said for her travel agenda away from horses. According to the Daily Mail, she has been in the process of building a villa house in Portugal at a very swank five star  resort in Costa de Prata. However, the funds to complete the building of the resort are currently on hold after one investor backed out and the resort is currently in financial crisis. According to the report, ‘Zara was at the stage where she was discussing pressing forward with architectural plans and interior design, but now this has all been set aside.’ I guess that means that instead of spending her weekend getaway at a lovely villa in Portugal, she’ll just have to stay in stuffy old England for the meantime! Oh well, maybe with Badminton approaching and all it won’t be so bad. Joking aside, it’s always a nice change of pace to see riders in the news for something other than their equestrian pursuits! I guess being a Royal is most of the reason for that, but it’s still nice to see every once and awhile. [Daily Mail]

If you are visiting the Kentucky Horse Park for the first time this year, you sure picked a good year to go because according to HorseTalk, entry numbers for this weekend are at an all time high. Competition director Christina Gray said of the event, “The line-up of riders and horses entered in this year’s event is truly amazing. Adding to the record field of US entries, we also have a record number of entries from overseas including some of our sport’s legendary names.  Anyone who follows eventing will want to be on hand this year for what promises to be the most exciting Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event ever!” The international heavy hitters include 2010’s winner, William Fox-Pitt, former winners Clayton Fredericks (2007) and Andrew Hoy (2006). Also among the entries for this weekend is  Oliver Townend, who I’m sure will be trying to put his hand on the prize after a near miss and bad fall a couple of years ago. It’s sure to be an exciting weekend! [Horsetalk]

NBC wrote an great article about Karen O’Connor and Phillip Dutton, probably the two most experienced competitors in the field for this weekend, about their Olympic dream that is still thriving after all these years. [NBC]

Rosie Thomas and Barry’s Best, the seasoned British duo, have just been accepted into Badminton after the French rider Jean Teulere sadly had to withdraw his horse Matelot Du Grand Val. Rosie and Barry’s Best are popular competitors among the fans, and will be tackling arguably the world’s toughest event for a fifth consecutive time this year. Talk about durability and dedication! According to the report from Horse and Hound, horses will continue to be taken from the waiting list to replace those who are withdrawn until 2pm on Monday, 30 April. So far, horses down to 20th have been offered the opportunity to compete. [Horse and Hound]

Equine enthusiasts and those connected with the University of New Hampshire have been facing off over the past couple of weeks in regards to land use at the University, in light of a 48% cut in Government funding to the University. The board at UNH recently announced that they were considering selling part of the campus land to retail developers, which sparked an outcry among students, faculty, and horseman alike. The problem is that the land they were considering selling is where the equine and agricultural programs are located, and also where the only recognized horse trials currently in New Hampshire are held each year. Thankfully, over 600 people attended a public hearing and opposed the plan, forcing the board to revise their plan for development. Thank goodness for all those people who stood up and resisted what has turned into a huge issue for the New Hampshire horse community, however we’re still not totally in the clear yet. Developers revised their plan to include building student housing on one of the areas of land used to host the events, which would mean cutting out a big loop of the UNH cross country course. Chris Keim, equine program faculty member who is strongly opposing development, said they are sources of income for the program and educational opportunities for students to run a competition. She also said that if this plan for develop were to go through, the University would be unlikely to continue to host events. [COTH]

Kristin Schmolze unfortunately had to withdraw her longtime partner Cavaldi from Badminton. She wrote a blog entry explaining what happened and why she was forced to withdraw:

“We had done our last gallop the day before [we were supposed to fly to England] and he was iced and wrapped in our usual manner, but Sunday morning there was swelling in a front leg. We already had an appointment with Dr. Staller bright and early to do our final check before leaving and to run IV fluids to keep Joey hydrated for his trip. Unfortunately, the swelling is a strain to his suspensory ligament that became painful overnight. In the long run, Joey should recover just fine, but right now, there is nothing anyone could do to quickly turn this around and make him better in such a short time. It is in Joey’s best interest to rest his leg right now and reroute to a different event later this year.”  The full blog can be viewed here.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) have partnered to sponsor a program that will reward participants competing Off the track Thoroughbreds on the Eventing circuit in New York in 2012. The two associations have together pooled over $30,000 to be distributed to at events this season. At each of the ten events held in New York, the highest placed Thoroughbred competitor in each division will receive 300 dollars for their efforts. At the New York Circuit Thoroughbred Championships at Millbrook in August, prize money will be raised to $700 dollars in each division, which could well pay for your entry fee, gas, and hotel for the weekend! I think it’s a really nice effort put on by these racing associations to highlight the thoroughbred breed, and may even draw some new competitors up to New York to compete this year! [COTH]

We received a letter from the Area I Eventing Director informing us that the Area I scholarships have been decided for the 2012 season, she wrote of the finalists:

“The Area 1 Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of the first $250 educational scholarships of 2012. One scholarship has been awarded to Vermont-based professional Andrea Waldo, and another has been designated for Megan Tardiff of Maine, who hopes to attend the Lucinda Green clinic at Ledyard. The committee received almost thirty applications expressing a wide range of hopes and goals and was hard-pressed to choose just two recipients for this round.”

By now, I’m sure we are all well aware of the tragic loss earlier this week when Martha McDowell’s barn burned to the ground and 21 horses perished. Sarah Kelly of Rebecca Farms has kindly set up a fund to receive donations to held Martha recover financially from this loss. We have posted these donation directions before, but they are worth another mention and they have been update since their original posting on the USEA and EN.  Sarah writes:

‘We have set up a fund for Martha and those involved to help cover the expenses they will incur rebuilding after the fire. Although this can never replace the beloved horses that were lost, we feel that this may help start the rebuilding process. We know that Martha and the boarders at High Plains Stables have support from the horse and local communities and are honored to provide a way for those to show their support.’ If you are interested in donating to help Martha and those affected, please send checks to the following address:

Sarah Kelly
PO Box 8385
Kalispell, MT 59904′

Karen O’Connor has written another installment of her ‘Road to the Olympics’ blog for the COTH. She recaps her performances with Mr. Medicott and Veronica at Red Hills and the Fork, explaining both the successes and difficulties she has been having with both of her horses, and her excitement to test it all out at Rolex this weekend. [COTH] 

This is a little weird, sent in from Meg Kep (who else would it be?)

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great day wherever you may be! If you are at Rolex, enjoy yourself and try to stay dry!

From Horse Quencher: Anytime a horse moves to a new barn – whether to live there or just stay a few days to compete – the natural order of things is upset. And that’s enough to slow or stop water intake, especially for the new kid on the block. So get him a welcoming drink, with Horse Quencher.

As Denis O’Brien, Assistant Manager Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Stud, Norfolk, says, “We use Horse Quencher when new horses arrive at the farm, or when horses have undergone surgery and return to us from hospital. At these times the horses can be unsettled for a few days, often going off their food and water. Horse Quencher has been excellent in helping to reduce the risk of impaction colic, a very costly and distressing condition. The hydration of horses when traveling can be overlooked and Horse Quencher will assist those who reduce their fluid intake while being transported nationally and internationally. 
In a nutshell Horse Quencher has helped whenever the horses have a change of routine, or environment, when moving from trainers to the farm, for pre-and-post sales, for traveling and while recovering from injury and confined to the box.”

Sunday Links from Dubarry


Anonymously submitted by a certain eventer of another eventer’s horse and pig at Fair Hill yesterday…

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to Sunday. Can you believe  Rolex is less than a week away? I sure can’t, this spring has gone by so quickly! I hope you have some time to enjoy yourself today and not do too much work, whatever that may entail! For those traveling to Kentucky in the next couple of days to compete or spectate, I hope the preparations and packing are under control and the journey goes smoothly. As John has posted several times over the last several weeks, a great team from EN will be assembling for event coverage and insanity for the entire week, and along with a live feed of the competition and a live blog of it from us, I guarantee that whether you are at Rolex or watching from home, there will be no shortage of coverage!

Let’s take a quick look at the scores and news this morning before starting off on our days:

New Zealand wins convincingly over Australia in Young Rider Championships

Equestrian who saved horses from barn fire competing in Rolex

Day 3: Twin Rivers Horse Trials: Cross Country

Adelinde Cornelissen retains her World Cup dressage title

Training program capitalizes on the talent and enthusiasm of Pony Club members

Lucy Wiegersma’s 2012 Olympic Plans

Best of the Blogs: Molly Rosin- Back in Navy, White, and Silver!

BotB Honorable Mention: Calypso Farm Eventers- Tucker’s Allergy Updates and Miracle Solution!

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Sunday, I’ll catch you next week!

Saturday Morning Links from Tipperary

Ooops!

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Well I have to say that last night was the first time I fell asleep while writing a post! I got home late, turned on the computer, sat down and had just started to write when I evidently nodded off on the computer screen mid-sentence. You can imagine my panic when I awoke early this morning to the horror of finding out I hadn’t gotten any farther into it than ‘Good Morning Eventing Nation!” and a bunch of mumble jumble typing from when my head was finding a comfortable place to rest on the keyboard! So anyway, that is the explanation for the late Saturday links post, hopefully you haven’t had to get up so early on a Saturday that you beat me to the late publishing of the links post, but if you have, I’m very sorry you woke up to finding there wasn’t a links post to sip your morning coffee too. Anyway, without further ado, here’s the news of the morning.

Live Scores for this weekend’s horse trials:

Fair Hill Horse Trials and CIC Scores

Holly Hill Spring Horse Trials

Longleaf Pines Spring Horse Trials

Twin Rivers Spring Three Day Event

Redland Hunt Pony Club Horse Trials

Now onto the links:

Horse racing: New Mexico may tighten reins on doping

Schwizer Takes Over On Day 2 Of Rolex FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final

Adelinde Cornelissen wins World Cup Final grand prix

Celebrities Join Freestyle Field for Ariat Kentucky Reining Cup

SmartPak Equine Extends their Partnership of the USEA for Another Three Years

Equine vet nurses in class of their own

Courtney King Dye To Speak To GallopNYC Therapeutic Riding

Fox-Pitt Eyes Eventing’s Grand Slam prize

PRO Partners With Equestrian Events At Rolex

Help Claire Lomas reach her London Marathon total

Lauren Shannon’s blog: final pre-Badminton Horse Trials run

Lauren Sprieser’s Blog: A Quiet Interlude

Talan makes international debut with new Saudi rider

Digging Deep For Spinal Research: Charlie, Coffee, Charity & Runner Cam


Good luck to all of the competitors today, including Playtime, who leads the Fair Hill CIC2* with rider Valerie Vizcarrando.  Valerie has done a wonderful job developing Playtime, who is owned by Chris Ellis.

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! If you are competing today, good luck (and stay dry if you’re competing on the east coast as there’s a high chance of rain in the forecast) otherwise, enjoy your Saturday!


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Sunday Morning Links from Dubarry

On a beautiful day like this, we should all stop for a minute and smell the roses

Good Morning Eventing Nation! I got assigned to double weekend duty this weekend, but since there is plenty to write about I guess I really can’t complain! This weekend is busy for Eventing, Florida Horse Park is running a CCI and Horse Trial this weekend, which Visionaire has been reporting on  the past couple of days. Robin Walker has a pretty safe lead with just over a rail in hand over Leslie Law who sits in second place in the CCI*. Callie Judy leads the CCI** with Call on Me, while Nicole Parkin and Lexus sit in second and Eliza Farren and Bantry Bays Dublin lie in third. Kylie Lyman is leading the OI division with her own Garrison Flash after overnight leaders Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM picked up a stop and some time penalties around the track. [Live Scores]

Besides FHP, Full Gallop is running it’s very last Horse Trials of the spring season this weekend. [Live Scores]

Ram Tap Horse Trials [Live Scores]

St. John’s Horse Trials [Live Scores]

Plantation Field Horse Trials [Live Scores]

And now onto the links:

Racing body takes issue with NY Times analysis

Neptune Collonges narrowly wins 2012 Grand National

Burnham Market: World class riders star at horse trials

Tapner and Collett finding top form ahead of Badminton

Equestrian Problems: Admit it you have them big time

Boyd and Silva Martin: Michael Barison Clinic on Tuesday April 17th- FREE to Auditors!

Calm, Cool and Collected: Nayel Nassar’s Breakout Winter Circuit

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a wonderful Sunday, I’ll catch you next week!

Saturday Morning Links from Tipperary

We could use a few April showers

Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope that you’ve had a great week and that your weekend has gotten off to a grand start. During this time of year when the grass is growing, the trees budding, and the flowers blooming, it’s hard to find anything that’s not to like about this time of year. My only complaint is that we could really use some of those April showers to soften the ground that’s already started to get quite firm. Oh well, I guess we could all do a rain dance but what will be will be.

Anyway onto the news of the morning:

The Florida Horse Trials and 3-Day Event is taking place this weekend, as Visionaire so kindly wrote a recap of yesterday. It’s a busy weekend at the Horse Park with both a CCI* and ** taking place along with an Advanced combined test and host of other recognized horse trial divisions. [Live Scores]

Besides FHP, Full Gallop is running it’s very last Horse Trials of the spring season this weekend. [Ride Times]

Ram Tap Horse Trials [Live Scores]

St. John’s Horse Trials [Live Scores]

Plantation Field Horse Trials [Live Scores]

 

And now for your links this morning:

London 2012 – Funnell dreams dashed

Touch of the wild at Blenheim this year

Canadians Finish in the Top 10 at The Fork International Horse Trials

Courtney King Dye Acquires New Olympic Prospect

British showjumpers’ success in Florida is promising

Paralysed eventer Claire Lomas to tackle London Marathon

New Mexico firm in bid to open horse slaughter plant

Mary King Tells What it Will Take For Britain to Win in London

A Tribute to Team SmartPak Rider Amy Tryon

 

That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Saturday!

 

Thursday News from Devoucoux

Take two, go

Good Morning Eventing Nation! I’ve been pretty busy lately and it’s been a little while since I’ve been on writing duty, but I have to say that it was a nice change of scenery to be logging onto Word Press for the first time! And after a couple phone calls to John to talk over a couple start up issues, I was off and running with Movable Type happily in the rear view mirror.

So the big news for today is obviously the Fork Horse Trials. A star studded list of entries will attend as always, in preparation for Rolex which is just a few weeks away. A quick run down of the entries:  Sinead Halpin and Tate will have their first big run of the season this weekend in the Advanced. Becky Holder has her two greys in the Advanced. Phillip has multiple Advanced entries and three rides in the 3* including Mystery Whisper and Mighty Nice. Will Faudree hasn’t gotten a whole lot of press so far this spring, but he just might after this weekend with three competitive mounts entered in the 3*. Last Monarch, who is one of my personal favorite horses to watch, will be in the 3* this weekend as well. Boyd has all his usual suspects entered as well, Neville, Otis, Ying Yang Yo, you get the picture. It should be a great weekend for eventing whether you are a competitor, spectator, or just watching it all unfold from afar. One name of note is Mandiba, who will be competing in the CIC 2* with Karen, one of her many rides this weekend.  [The Fork Ride Times]  [LIVE SCORES]

Burnham Market is hosting a horse trial across the pond in which more than 700 horses are entered, including many of the country’s best and brightest. Names on the entry list include Zara Phillips, William Fox-Pitt, Andrew Nicholson, Oli Townend, Pippa Funnell and Piggy French, to name but a few. [Lynn News]

Last weekend in England the Belton Horse Trials took place, which was really the first big run of the season. Aussie Paul Tapner and Inonothing had a great weekend on a comeback rise to take second in the CIC***. Inonothing won Badminton in 2010 but was sidelined all of 2011 with an injury. The young British star Laura Collett was out with her two Advanced rides, Rayef and Noble Bestman, and had two good weekends despite a little bit of rust needing to be knocked off. And-New-Zealand-bred-but-British-based Andrew Nicholson was on form as always, winning one large Advanced section aboard Avebury and coming sixth in another aboard Shady Gray. [Wiltshire Report]

Horsetalk reported yesterday that the late Teddy O’Connor has a new half sibling as of this week. Teddy’s dam, Chelsea’s Melody, at the age of 20, gave birth to a filly by Future Illusion, a promising sire standing in England who is by the famed stallion Fleetwater Opposition. The breeder, P. Wynn Norman, reported that the delivery went smoothly and that the filly is happy, healthy and hopefully going to be the next star. Keep an eye on this one folks, because by the time the filly reaches the height of her career in another ten years or so, Karen probably won’t feel like riding something smaller than the fences they have to jump so this just may be your shot at eternal pony glory if the Chelsea’s Melody/Future Illusion cross is all it’s cracked up to be. [Horsetalk]

In some very sad news, William Fox-Pitt’s retired ride Stunning was humanely euthanized earlier this week at the age of 26. Stunning was a good soldier for William for many years, and although he struggled slightly to make the grade at the four star level, he flourished at the three star level and was even European Champion. After Stunning was retired from competition, William and his owners, the Apter family, gave Stunning to William’s head groom Jackie Potts, who enjoyed hunting him for many seasons. I’m sure the loss will be felt by many of this truly great horse. [Horse and Hound]

Kristin Schmolze could use some help financing her upcoming trip across the pond to Badminton with her veteran partner Cavaldi. A group of her supporters have organized a Silent Auction to benefit Kristin in Oldwick, New Jersey on April 18th. They are trying to pull the event together quickly and are in need of items to be bid on during the Silent Auction. If you have anything you’d like to contribute to the cause, see the link to Kristin’s website for more information. [Kristin Schmolze]

As long as we are on the charitable train of thought, Ecogold recently announced that they will be donating a portion of proceeds from their sales to Henny and Peter Atkins who are on their journey towards Badminton. It’s the perfect time to go buy some fresh saddle pads for the new season and support a great cause. There are few upper level combinations more popular than Peter and Henny, largely because of their story of how they came together from where they were and arrived at where they are now. Go Henny, go Peter, go Ecogold. And don’t forget that you can also still help Peter and Henny by going to their website and purchasing any of the things that they’ll need on the journey, from carrots and apples, to jumping lessons, to chiropractor sessions, to plane tickets. No donation is too small, 0r large either!  [Henny]

Best of the Blogs: Tiana Coudray on the first event of the season, her promising new horse, and the odds and ends of a life in England. [Tiana]

That’s all for now Eventing Nation, stay tuned for a great weekend from the Fork and Go Eventing!

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Catch A Star's Sunday Links from Dubarry



Boyd likes the lady in red ladies in blue at the USET Gala on Friday night. Big thanks to Kim Parisan for the photo!

Good morning Eventing Nation!

Have a little too much green beer yesterday? That’s alright. The chinchillas aren’t judging you. On the bright side, your coach won’t be yelling at you to relax and loosen up in the warm up today. It could be the one time though, you’re slightly unenthusiastic that the show management got the PA up and running in the stable area this year…

Need aspirin? We have links.

Julie Wolfert is kicking bum at Meadow Creek as she’s first in the OP scoring a 25 on the flat and adding time. She’s tied with Amanda Merritt in the OT both scoring a 26.8 in dressage and double clear xc rounds. [Scores]

The Event at Three Day Ranch saw some shifting in the placings in the AI. Bunnie Sexton posted the only double clear round, and moved up to first. [Live Scores]

Catch A Star is making her debut event since the fire at True Prospect last May. She and Caitlin posted a 27.7 on the flat and a double clear sj round leave them lying in second heading in to xc tomorrow at Pine Top. [Live scores]

Who doesn’t love a photo contest?! Don’t forget about EN’s Success saddle pad contest. All you have to
do is submit a photo spelling out “Success” in a creative manner and the
chinchillas that be will choose two lucky winners. The deadline for
entries 4/1 at 12AM EST. [Success Contest]

The Aiken Standard has a terrific interview on 4* rider Kelly Sult. If you don’t know Kelly, you should read the article and get to know her

“The Big Southern Pines” as it’s affectionately known is next weekend. The Pilot has all the details

When Mark Todd isn’t actively being the greatest eventer on Earth, he’s running from elephants

HN: Beer for the horses?

The New Zealand Horse of the Year show: Annabel Wigley leads the CIC3* competition

Lauren Sprieser’s packing/to-do list sounds like ours

Hillary Dobbs won the $6k 1.40m Speed Challenge at WEF

In more Wellington news, Ashley Holzer and Pop Art won the $15k GP CDI3*

British showjumpers aren’t heading to the World Cup apparently

The Cheltenham wrap up for you

Team NZ adds riders

Over $800,000 is being invested into 16 research projects by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

And a little Advanced water from Pine Top a few weeks back for your viewing pleasure to set you up for XC today:

Don’t forget to check out the awesome Dubarry booth at Pine Top this weekend! Go eventing.

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Welcome to Eventing: From Feedlot to Start Box

Check out this week’s cool Welcome to Eventing story, that tells the story of one rider’s journey into Eventing on the back of a most unlikely partner (a small, ultra sensitive, slaughter bound, Thoroughbred mare) that has turned out to be a star at her new career. If you’d like to submit your Welcome to Eventing story, please send the story along with a photo to [email protected]. Enjoy!


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Photo used with permission

From Jamaica’s Mom:

I had evented as a child, so as an adult,when I was ready to get a horse, it was only natural that I began shopping for a horse to event with.  This time, however, I was looking to find a been there done that gelding that would happily pack me around a novice course.

However, fate intervened, and I found myself adopting a slaughter-bound thoroughbred mare from two states away.   My packer gelding ended up being a green mare with no manners and lots of attitude.   Eight months later, I got the surprise of my life when I discovered she was pregnant, and two days after being palpated, and before I could prepare, she had her foal early one morning in a pasture full of mares.  Her adorable foal was a mule (which is a whole other story in itself)!

Fast forward and after weaning the baby, I started to look for an eventing trainer to work with.  One trainer said my horse would “never amount to anything”.  Another said she would not work with her because she thought my mare Jamaica was “clumsy, untalented and nonathletic.”  Fortunately, my dressage trainer believed in us, and thanks to her, I was able to start riding monthly with Brian Sabo and then got her working student to put some jumping miles on Jamaica.   Even though my mare was green and lacked confidence, she was smart and willing and I crafted a plan that would culminate in her running her first recognized event.   And thus, Team Jamaica was formed.

We took her to schooling shows, dressage shows, hunter/jumper shows and hunter paces. Jamaica had no choice but to become an eventer!  Fortunately, she proved to us she does have the talent. 😉  In time, she built muscle, a nice top line and more importantly confidence.  She showed us she loved to jump, and we affectionately nicknamed her “the bobsled” because we truly felt like the Jamaican Bobsled Team.  We did have a great team, consisting of friends, a massage therapist, my farrier, as well as my dressage trainer, Rachel Williamson and of course, Brian Sabo, who believed in us from the beginning when others clearly didn’t.

In August 2011, Jamaica made her eventing debut at Woodside in Novice (mild heart attack for me since I thought she would start at beginner novice).  I could not have been more proud!  Ridden by Julie Mandle, she made it through all three phases quite nicely, and we all laughed, cried, grinned, hugged and celebrated with champagne.  The little mare that was almost meat, showed us all that with a great team, careful planning and most importantly belief, anything can happen!

We are looking forward to many eventing adventures in 2012.  Oh, and her baby?  We’ll be having a blast one day in as many unrecognized events we can find! 🙂

Wednesday News from Horse Quencher

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Spring is almost here

Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to Wednesday. The spring season is really starting to ramp up around here; Red Hills is this weekend, the Rolex entry list starting to grow, and before we know it the days will be longer, the air warmer, and the grass greener. This lovely mild winter has fooled us into thinking spring has been upon us for awhile now, but the official season change isn’t until March 20th. 

The competition roster isn’t the only thing ramping up, the news is too, so let’s get it started this morning:
Princess Haya, on behalf of the FEI, recently signed the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport, a Declaration that is working to promote the interests of women in sport and in the Olympic movement. In all Equestrian Olympic sports, men and women compete on an equal basis, which is not something that can be said of most sports. Princess Haya said of her decision to support the Declaration: “Equestrian sport is one of the few Olympic sports in which women compete on equal terms with men. Signing the Brighton Declaration today shows the ongoing commitment of the FEI to equality in our sport.” [COTH]

According to the USEF Eventing High Performance Facebook page, 67 Olympic Applications have been received so far.

Andrew Nicholson is looking to have his hands full this spring, even without Armada (Oli Townend’s new ride). In a recent article for a local newspaper, he discussed his plans not to compete Nereo (his top Olympic choice) at either Badminton nor Kentucky, opting rather to save him for the Olympics and have a light spring. He also has his sights set on doing some damage at Badminton this spring, he holds the record for number of completions (30) although he has never won it himself. Nicholson said, “I won’t be using the Olympics as an excuse [not to win at Badminton]. The horses I have got entered at Badminton are very, very good horses and I’ll be chasing that win very seriously when I get to Badminton.” Andrew is definitely one of the most competitive, driven, and successful riders in the sport, I could see him doing very well at Badminton and Rolex this spring, and then carrying that success right on into London. He’s about the closest thing there is to a consistency machine in the sport. And when he’s on, not many people can touch him these days. [Stuff NZ]
Dressage rider Anna Davies had to evacuate her horses from her yard at Cholderton Park yesterday morning, after a fire engulfed the 17th century Cholderton Manor  at 7:22 AM. The incident came very close to being disastrous for the rider and her horses, and so as to take every precaution, Anna evacuated her twenty five horses to different stables in the area as they wait to determine the extent of fire damage on the property. Not exactly the best way to start your spring season off, huh?! The good news is that the only damage the fire caused is structural, and no lives, human or horse, were lost in the fire. [Horse and Hound]
Georgina Bloomberg is quite the author these days. After the release of her first book, The A Circuit, last spring, Georgina has written a sequel to the first novel, titled My Favorite Mistake, which will be released in a couple weeks. The launch of her book and an autograph signing will be held Thursday, March 22 from 6-7 p.m. in the Gallery Tent at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington. I have to admit that after writing about the release of her first book at what was about this time last year, I did go out and buy it and read it. I have to say that I was mildly entertained, it wasn’t a book that I’d necessarily buy again as a sequel, but it was definitely entertaining for what it is. [COTH
According to Horsetalk, The Jockey Club in the United States has created a website to allow racetracks to publish their statistics from the Equine Injury Database. It’s a new website, which will be managed by the Jockey Club themselves, but will allow anyone with the interest  to look up the fall statistics from past races, and for those savvy enough, draw conclusions about the main causes of falls and ways to prevent them.  [Horsetalk]
A disabled rider by the name of Robin Brueckmann is on her way to the Olympics, but not without her share of the blood, sweat, tears, and financial obligation that comes with being a good rider with physical challenges.  [COTH]

Also, just a quick note from our good friend John Nunn that Bit of Britain is currently seeking  someone to run its Mobile Store.  Do you like to travel? Familiar with Eventing and all of it’s equipment? This is a full-time, year-around job with a full benefit package. Ability to handle a 40 ft. trailer, a CDL license & strong computer skills are necessary. If interested please visit bitofbritain.com for more info and to print an employment application.

Kristin Schmolze is looking for syndication members to buy in to a young horse of hers by the name of Ricardo Time. He is only a five year old, but according to Kristin looks to be the real deal. Click here if you’d like more information. 
Life has been busy for Boyd Martin lately. In this latest blog he recaps both Sporting Days and Pine Top, where the weather wasn’t pristine for either, but both events proved to give the horses and students a good tune-up before bigger things later this spring. [Boyd’s Blog]
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great day and be sure to enjoy the Spring like weather,  I’ll catch you later! 
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View: From Blue Grass to Blue Sky, presented by World Equestrian Brands

EN Reader Bonnie Fenty just sent us this lovely photo taken of the mountains surrounding her new home in Colorado. Many thanks to Bonnie for submitting, and as always, thank you for reading! If you’d like to submit an ears photo, please send it along with a caption describing it to [email protected].

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I just moved to Colorado recently from Lexington, Kentucky. I love hacking in the bluegrass in Lexington but the mountain views in Colorado are unparalleled! This was taken in Bellvue, Colorado. On a perfect Saturday morning ride.

Thanks,

Bonnie

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Eventing Nation Power Ranking from SmartPak – February Results

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Well Eventing Nation, I know it’s technically March right now, but here are the complete results from February’s Power Ranking, featuring the top Canadian riders along with the Americans. You voted, the panelists voted, I did the math (and double checked as numbers really have never been my strong suit) so I present to you the complete results list. The addition of the Canadians adds a new dimension, but the standings are starting to shift a little bit as the horses come to form and start competing. One thing remains unchanged, however: Neville’s complete and total dominance at the top of the ranking. Everyone else is going to have to work very hard to top those two. 

I was a little surprised that Mystery Whisper (or any of Phillip’s horses really) didn’t get more of the public votes, I thought he would have been right up there with Boyd and Sinead. The panelist votes brought him up some, but he still ranked much lower than expected. 
I also thought it was interesting that Rebecca Howard and Will Coleman didn’t rank higher. If you look at their records over the past two years, Rebecca has been close to flawless, and when Will is having a good day and luck is on his side with Twizzel, he is very hard to beat. I guess their final placement does make some sense however, as both horses were lightly used in 2011 and haven’t run recently until just last weekend.
I’m really curious (if you voted) what factors you considered to judge each pair? Did you put more emphasis on judging the horse or the rider, or was it equal? How much did the early winter competition results matter to you in your decision? It’s interesting to hear the different thought processes involved, and certainly will keep getting more interesting as we get further along into the spring season. 
1. Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos- 172 points
2. Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville- 155 points
3. Becky Holder and Courageous Comet- 102 points
4. Karen O’Connor and Mr. Medicott- 98 points
5. Jessica Phoenix and Exponential- 90 points
5t. Becky Holder and Can’t Fire Me – 88 points
5t. Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper- 88 points
7. Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM- 87 points
8. Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen- 76 points
9. Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice- 71 points
10. Hawley Bennett and Gin and Juice – 70 points
11. Phillip Dutton and Ben- 65 points
12. Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere- 63 points
13. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot- 59 points
14. Will Coleman and Twizzel- 52 points
15.  Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master- 49 points
16. Will Faudree and Pawlow- 46 points
17. Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz- 41 points
18. Jan Bynny and Inmidair- 34 points
19. Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch and Port Authority- 22 points
20. Julian Stiller and Chapel Amble- 15 points
Congrats to all those who made the ranking list.