From Fergus the Horse FB page (click to check it out)
Good morning Eventing Nation!
It’s Friday!!! Are you preparing to head out to an event this weekend? Or a schooling show? or Pony Club event? Or just a fun trail ride or switching horses at the barn? Whatever you do this weekend, hopefully somehow it’s horse related. That’s why you’re here right, no? No? News and Notes? “Events This Weekend” list? Awesome video at the bottom of the post? That’s why you’re here? Well, you came to the right place.
EVENTS THIS WEEKEND:
Seneca Valley HT: [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times]
Feather Creek HT: [Website] [Status/Times/Live Scores]
GMHA September HT: [Website] [Status/Times/Live Scores]
Flying Cross Farm HT: [Website] [Ride Times]
Coconino Fall HT: [Website] [Status/Times/Live Scores]
Meadows of Moorpark HT: [Website]
Dunnabeck HT: [Website] [Status/Times/Live Scores]
Windy Wyoming HT: [Website] [Ride Times]
Twin Rivers HT: [Website] [Status/Times/Live Scores]
Not ready to event this weekend? Well, Flora Lea Horse Trials is accepting post entries for their fall competition on Sept 29-30. Competitors who had entered the September 2011 horse trials (which was cancelled due to heavy rain and bad footing) are still eligible to receive $75 credit towards their entry for any 2012 Flora Lea competition. We are proud to continue to offer new fences at all levels in XC, providing an educational experience for horses and riders with the goal being at all levels to provide a galloping course. [Flora Lea Website]
Lucy Griffiths, Sam Griffiths wife, wrote a piece about her London experience for her old school’s magazine, and Griffiths Eventing posted an excerpt in their blog. Lucy talks about what it’s like being the wife of an Olympian and the call they got at 5 am the day before competition starts telling them they were 99% sure that Sam and Happy were going to be needed in London, but they’d call back and confirm at 7 am. WHO DOES THAT?! What exactly are you supposed to do for those two hours? The Griffiths drank tea. How very English of them. When in Rome.. [Griffiths Eventing]
Sarah from Smartpak has updated part 2 of her Paralympic blog series. It truly amazes me what horses and the human spirit can achieve, and it’s put center stage for the world to see at the Paralympics. Sarah highlights the different Grades to the Paralympics with each grade designating the type of disability with the list including spinal issues to amputations to illness, there is nothing these horseman cannot overcome. For Rebecca Hart, just riding down centerline on the Prime Meridian, in two hemispheres at once, was a huge highlight. Check out the blog for more stories. [Smartpak blog]
Jan Byyny has updated her blog! And wow-o-wow has she been busy! She has had a fantastic summer so far. Her Surefire event was a huge success with “the best courses we’ve had yet for all levels.” She then went on to NAJYRC to coach her one star team, who she is very proud of. Then it was off to England for the Olympics to watch as much as she could while celebrating her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Back home to compete at Richland then back to England at the request of Allison Springer to attend Burghley. Back home now, she’s taking three horses to Plantation CIC3*. [Go Jan!]
The conversation about what to do with racehorses after their track career has ended should never end. After Michael Beychok won $1M in the National Handicapping Championship, he vowed to make sure the horse that made it all possible lived out the rest of her good life. The filly, Glorious Dancer, went on to run three more races coming in first, second, and third. The trainer told Beychok the horse was sore, and Beycock did the right thing by putting her out to pasture to recuperate in his home state of Louisiana. “I think we take for granted what these horses do for us,” Beychok said. He hopes his story will help others to donate to a retirement home for horses or the various organizations that work to rehome OTTBs. [ESPN]
Our wonderful friends over at Kentucky Performance Products are hosting a contest! For those of you using the products, email [email protected] with information about your horse, which products you use, and why your horse loves ’em! Pretty easy way to win a bucket of KPP goodies! The winner will be announced in a few weeks on October 3. 
And a trim! Schramm Equestrian has launched Evention, a weekly how-to tv show covering a multitude of horse related topics. This first episode is about bathing and trimming a horse for show or presentation in general. Join husband and wife duo Dom and Jimmie Schramm. (and don’t forget to like Evention on Facebook!) It’s legit good. Check it out!
Go eventing.
