Thank you to everyone who voted for the best caption for the Dubarry Contest!

For one last time, our winner will be walking home (in style) with these very attractive boat shoes from Dubarry.

Check out the fabulous styles Dubarry has to offer! Dubarry handcrafts a variety of boat shoe styles for both women and men. The styles up for grabs in this contest are the Capri and Crete for women and the Windward and Leeward for men.

And the winner is…

Ellen Broadhurst

Congrats Ellen! Please email your contact info to [email protected] so you can claim your prize courtesy of Dubarry!

Go boating style.

One lucky EN reader will win an awesome pair of Dubarry's boat shoes!

Alright all of you savvy caption-ers … here’s the poll! We dwindled the list down to the top 10 captions. Remember, the caption with the most votes will allot a winner of these super snazzy boat shoes from Dubarry!

Check out the fabulous styles that are up for grabs! Dubarry handcrafts a variety of boat shoe styles for both women and men. The styles up for grabs in this contest are the Capri and Crete for women and the Windward and Leeward for men.

So which caption is your favorite? Click here to view the photo.

Well, darn it. You guys are just too good at these games. We either need to make this harder, or just give up because y’all are way to savvy for me.

Out of 50 guesses, 49 of you guessed correctly that these famous ears belong to no other than:

Ballynoecastle RM (“Reggie”) Photo courtesy of Jenni Autry

We got really random with our choosing of the winners cause technically you all get props for being wicked smart… but there can only be 2 to walk home with these Custom Mattes Ear Bonnets from World Equestrian Brands:

And the winners are:

Congrats to our two winners! Please email [email protected] with your contact information to claim your prize!

Go Ears.

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view shows the lush green we would expect from Ireland. 

EN Sponsor, Dubarry, is giving away a pair of their super stylish boat shoes to the person who can award the photo below the very best of captions.

Check out the fabulous styles that are up for grabs! Dubarry handcrafts a variety of boat shoe styles for both women and men. The styles up for grabs in this contest are the Capri and Crete for women and the Windward and Leeward for men.

Crete

Capri

Windward

Leeward

All you have to do is submit your caption for the following photo in the “comments” section. That’s it! Thanks to Boyd Martin and Dubarry for supplying such a candid moment for our use.

Photo credit to Stockimageservices.com.

All the boat shoes come in a variety of colors, and all feature the same durable leathers you’ve come to know and love from Dubarry. These shoes retail at $159; they’re REALLY nice!

Both EN Sponsor, World Equestrian Brands, and the EN Team have a mutual fascination with horse ears (hence all the View series hello!). So we thought it mildly appropriate to hold a contest where the main focus was none other than: EARS!

Your task is a simple one. Guess the set of famous ears pictured below in the comments section, and be entered to win some of these fabulous Custom Mattes Ear Bonnets from World Equestrian Brands! Two winners will be randomly chosen from those who answered correctly. So get to guessin’!

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view is a prelude to the countryside that will house the Event at Rebecca Farm next week.

From Lida McAllister:

From Bigfork, MT. Looking out over the Flathead river and Flathead Valley. Looking forward to (literally) the Event at Rebecca Farm in a couple of weeks.
– Lida McAllister on Flagmount’s Harmony (aka Hermione)

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view is of a Pacific Coast hack. 

From Kelly Hageman:

Bucket list item: galloping on the beach–check! This is my horse Reba and I on the Washington coast, on a rare sunny day at the Pacific Ocean in June.

This is a special showcase of stallions sponsored by Chatsworth Stud. More images and information can be found at www.chatsworthstud.com. 

Michael and Nathalie Pollard are the owners and operators of Chatsworth Stud, the breeding sector of their eventing business, Pollard Eventing.  Michael’s goal is to help raise the level of breeding in the United States, in part by finding premium stallions to stand stud at Chatsworth.  For this week’s featured stallion, Chatsworth Stud is proud to announce the arrival of Songline II.

Photo Courtesy of Beate Langels

Chatsworth Stud is proud to announce the arrival of the celebrated German Trakehner stallion Songline II. The 9 year old dark bay, by Summertime and out of Schwalbenspiel,  was the champion of the 2006 Trakehner Stallion Licensing in Neumunster, Germany and the 2010 national champion Six Year Old Eventing Horse (Bundeschampion).

Photo Courtesy of Beate Langels

He was bred by Gestuet Haemelschenburg in Emmerthal, Germany. Chatsworth Stud is honored that his owner, Gustav Schickedanz, and his lessee, Tim Holekamp, have chosen this as his home in the United States to stand at stud.   His many achievements include German Trakehner National Champion Showjumper and Eventhorse.  He had wins and high placings up through the three star level in eventing with Andreas Dibowski. Songline is an incredible athlete and brilliant mover.  Chatsworth Stud is excited to help bring his line to the United States.

Photo Courtesy of Beate Langels

Songline has already one approved son, Eiskoenig, who was sold to Belgium, and numerous good daughters, who are now winning in competitions. Songline is the Ideal Stallion for breeding to Thoroughbred, Anglo-Arab, and Half-blood Eventmares for Upper Level 3DE Prospects.

Tim Holekamp of Windfall, LLC says: “There is a pretty good chance that this one stallion, of all that I have come across, might be able to take a modern US TB mare and produce a four-star eventer from her. Anglo-arab and TB mares who are rideable, not too big, not to small, with sporthorse conformation (not too downhill, not too light in the legs) and with pedigrees that suggest run-and-jump or themselves are proven in upper level eventing or producers of same, are what I think we all should be seeking for this stallion.”

Photo Courtesy of Beate Langels

For more information on Halimey or the other stallions standing at Chatsworth Stud visit www.chatsworthstud.com. The Pollards are excited to help produce future North American sport horses.

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view… well it’s just too darn cute.

From Amber Long:

The result of a successful trail/conditioning ride in West Virginia: one tired pup and two sweaty horses!

It looks like a pretty normal hack until you notice the dog in one of our hacker’s lap!

WOW! Our readers really blew it out of the water with this one!

But with 1,750 votes, the winner of the new, actually certified to protect you, Point Two Air Vest is …

MAGGIE LITTLE! Congrats Maggie, you have some vest making skills. Your enthusiasm and pure genius will allow you to take home a new air vest courtesy of Point Two. A Point Two representative will contact you shortly.

Our sponsors really help us make this website what it is, and we have to extend a huge thank you to them! We’d also like to share this email we received:

“I just wanted to say thank you for holding such great contests! It’s great to have sponsors in eventing and you guys are great at bringing companies into our eventing loop. Attached is a picture of us enjoying our Success pad and Point Two vest that we’ve won on your site. Both make me feel so much more safe going cross country on my four year old. Thank you!” — Jeanna Epping

Jeanna Epping

This is a special showcase of stallions sponsored by Chatsworth Stud. More images and information can be found at www.chatsworthstud.com. 

Michael and Nathalie Pollard are the owners and operators of Chatsworth Stud, the breeding sector of their eventing business, Pollard Eventing.  Michael’s goal is to help raise the level of breeding in the United States, in part by finding premium stallions to stand stud at Chatsworth.  This week’s featured stallion is Halimey.

Photo courtesy of WNCPhoto.com

This 8-year-old 16.1h, bay, premium-approved Trakehner half-blood stallion is a great choice for sport horse breeders looking to add athleticism, movement (balance in particular) while still have enough blood to run distances. In addition, Halimey has excellent rideability.

Halimey came to the Pollards, thanks to the Halimey Go, LLC Syndicate, in early 2013 and spent the winter months competing in Florida which included three wins out of four competitions in the 2013 season, never scoring above 26.5 in dressage.

Halimey was bred Germany and in 2007 he was approved in Neumünster as the best Anglo‐Trakehner colt, with a premium title. As a 5yr old, he immediately qualified for the Bundeschampionat of the German Event Horse. He proceeded into the finals, where he placed 10th overall. Again as a 6yr old, he qualified for the same event. In 2009, he was the Champion of his 70 day test in Marbach with top scores for both his dressage and jumping (including cross country) performances. Having recently won the Salgen CIC* in 2011, Halimey Go is a the perfect stud for a potential eventing prospect. An average of 30 percent of his foals have been classified as premium foals.

Halimey’s sire, Askar AA, competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and his mother, Hamamelis Go, is also the dam of the stallion Harlem Go and half-sister of Pb Go Hamlet.

Despina by Halimey. Photo courtesy of Jutta Bauernschmitt

Waldliebe by Halimey. Photo courtesy of Jutta Bauernschmitt

For more information on Halimey or the other stallions standing at Chatsworth Stud visit www.chatsworthstud.com. The Pollards are excited to watch these young foals develop into future talented North American Sport Horses.

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view I think is just plain cool visually.

From Holly Breaux:

Howdy Howdy!

I’m a little obsessed with my horse…. and seem to ride alone a good bit, so I’ve got a TON of “between the ears” photos.

First of all, I think it is appropriate to thank all of our readers who participated in this contest. Contests such as these are a quick reminder of the creativity among our audience, and we pride ourselves in having a pretty solid crowd of people returning to our website. I mean, how you all come up with making an air vest out of snack food? Well, I’m impressed. So here you are dear readers, our top 12 finalists, help us choose who will be number one! Brought to you by Point Two Air Vests.

1. Angela Grzywinski

2. Claire Tyner

3. Jean Detert

4. John Mason

5. Kate Jensen

6. Kelsy Smith

7. Madelaine Hill

8. Maggie Little

9. Melinda Mueller

10. Sarah MacHarg

11. Natalie Johnson

12. Sarah Beal

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view is of another four-legged creature, just one we probably don’t typically encounter on our everyday hacks.

From Jennie Brannigan:

“Michael Matz’s wife DeeDee is on a safari in Africa. How cool is this between the ears?”

This is a special showcase of stallions sponsored by Chatsworth Stud. More images and information can be found at www.chatsworthstud.com. 

Michael and Nathalie Pollard are the owners and operators of Chatsworth Stud, the breeding sector of their eventing business, Pollard Eventing.  Michael’s goal is to help raise the level of breeding in the United States, in part by finding premium stallions to stand stud at Chatsworth.  Our first featured stallion is Querdolan Vitarel.

This 9-year-old, gray, 16.1h Selle Francaise stallion is perfect for either warmblood or thoroughbred mares.  For warmblood mares, Querdolan helps refine the offspring and has the ability to improve the foal’s gallop and stamina. When bred to a thoroughbred mare, Querdolan improves movement and scope without sacrificing the offspring’s gallop or stamina.

He is currently located at the German Equestrian Federation National Training Center (DOKR) and ridden by Bettina Hoy.

At three years old Querdolan Vitarel won the French stallion test and was approved. He started eventing the following year at four and immediately impressed French riders and breeders. His results in young horse classes allowed him to be approved at the Selle-Français stud-book with impressive marks (never receiving anything less than a 7 out of 10, including a 9 out of 10 for movement and 8 out of 10 for jumping technique). Querdolan had a successful 2012 at the one star  level and will be aimed at two star in 2013.

Querdolan’s pedigree is vastly impressive with relatives such as Kelvar G, a brother on Querdolan’s mother’s side, and selected for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The first North American foal was born in Fall 2012, and some of his second crop are already on the ground at Chatsworth Stud.

This little colt is out of Little Star by Querdolan Vitarel

This colt, Quinn, is out of Belair and by Querdolan Vitarel. 

For more information on Querdolan or the other stallions standing at Chatsworth Stud visit www.chatsworthstud.com. The Pollards are excited to watch these young foals develop into future talented North American Sport Horses.

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view is one of those heartwarming moments with wildlife that you sometimes stumble upon on a hack.

From Kim Keppick:

This is a photo my student Kate Aldrich took from the back of her horse Woodrow Wilson when she encountered a wobbly newborn fawn while on a hack. I think it’s really cool.

Emily Beshear rocking a Point Two air vest on River King at Bromont, photo by Samantha Clark

EN sponsor Point Two is at it again and would like to outfit one lucky reader with a brand new Point Two air vest! The question is: how bad do you really want it?

It’s time to pull out the duck tape, baling twine and … bubble wrap? Because Point Two would like you to make your own vest!

We welcome (and suggest) creativity, savviness, and overall skills in this competition. Make your vest and send a photo to [email protected] by midnight Wednesday, June 26 to be entered in the contest. The best vests will then be up for a reader poll where a winner will be ultimately chosen.

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view comes from a beach ride.

From H. Covey:

This is from the back of Tully Cross Hamish (by me, Holly Covey) on a beach ride at Cape Henlopen in Delaware – the Atlantic Ocean. In the foreground is Jim Griffin, MFH-Wicomico Hunt, on CMA Areyoutrue.

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view, in my opinion, comes from a very unlikely place one might choose to hack… but us crazy horse people know: it doesn’t matter where we are, if we want to ride, we will ride!

From Mary Cook:

Greetings from Warminster in Wiltshire County UK where my husband is an American exchange officer with the British army.  We live on the edge of Salisbury plain which is a huge military training ground with tanks, gunfire, and bombs going off all the time.  The horses are quite used to the noise. Its been a great posting for two years but we are moving back to the US soon!

If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place, or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s View comes from a beautiful spring hack. 

From Nicole Robertson:

Hi there!
This is Lincoln out for a hack in our beautiful crop of spring trilliums in Uxbridge, Ontario.

The Rolex Kentucky cross country field was saturated with Point Two’s protection.

We asked you dear readers to tell us how many riders were wearing a Point Two out on cross country with the potential to win a Point Two Air Jacket!

The answer….. 24 riders wore the Point Two Air Vest on cross country day at Rolex Kentucky!

That means our winner is Andrew Epping who guessed the correct number of riders and closest to how many cups we had at our fantastic EN tailgate. Way to go Andrew! Please email your mailing address to [email protected] to receive your prize.

Thanks for playing all and until next time, Go Point Two!