Congratulatulatory Wednesday News and Notes

Happy day-before-Thanksgiving Eventing Nation!  I want to start off today by giving a big congratulations to Holly and Chuck Hudspeth.  Holly finally gave me the go-ahead to tell Eventing Nation that she is eating for two these days.  The baby is expected next May, and I couldn’t be happier for Holly and Chuck.  Holly, of course, is a four-star rider, a member of the 2010 US training list, a good friend of Eventing Nation, and has been a mentor to me for many years.  Holly told me that the plan is for Boyd to take her beloved Last Monarch aka “Stewie” (!) to Rolex in 2011.  Our astute readers will remember that Boyd took Stewie to Pine Top in February when Holly was recovering from a wrist injury.  One of the things I have always admired most about Holly is her ability to balance riding and life, and I’m so excited that a young Hudspeth will be joining Eventing Nation soon.  Now for some quick notes:

–JER sent us this interesting article about the realities of eventing at the top level for one Kiwi rider.  New Zealander Annabel Wigley moved to Englad 4 years ago along with her horse Black Drum with the goal of riding for New Zealand internationally.  The pair barenly missed the 2008 Olympics and then the WEGs this year, and with Black Drum at 16 years old, Annabel decided to sell him while he still had time left to compete.  She has moved back to New Zealand with two young horses and the never-ending cycle rolls on…

–Alex Hua Tian did not compete at the Asian Games because he was “too good”–at least according to Horsetalk.  The event was not open to horses who had competed 4*’s in 2009 or 2010.  There were various rumors before the Games about why Alex was not going to compete, but I for one was surprised that they didn’t find a way to get China’s only major eventing superstar into the competition.  Alex has competed three upper level non-4* horses this year.

–Hamish and Dave’s Adelaide day 3 video has been posted.  I almost saved it for a ‘video break’ post, but, since it was just uploaded to Youtube, here it is fresh off the press.  [VIDEO–Show Jumping Showdown]

–In some sad news, a Pentathlon horse was euthanized at the Asian Games when it fell in the show jumping on Tuesday.  The rider, who is from Kazakhstan, was taken to the hospital and is listed in stable condition.  We wish the rider and their family the best in their recovery.  China won both the individual and team Pentathlon gold medals.  [Taiwan News]

The Eventing Radio Show interviewed Jimmy Wofford this week. 

Many of you will be traveling home for Thanksgiving today so be safe on the roads and try not to check Eventing Nation on your phone too often while driving.  It looks like Coren is on the road to SC today and Annie is already home in Minnesota, which I think is one of only a few states where the internet is illegal.   So, the moral of the story is that I have EN all day. See you soon…

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