Friday News & Notes from Kentucky Equine Research

Nyls is literally such a model.

You know, I’m not really that much into bling. I know, controversial statement, but I grew up in a time when brass clinchers were about as flashy as it came. But now, you can get bling anywhere and everywhere. Your hat, your spurs, your boots, your saddle, your bridles…. And then last week I tried this Dy’on Swarovski Crystal browband. And I died a little inside (in a good way). I mean, it was just SO sparkly, and so so so cute, I almost couldn’t resist. Also, can we talk about what a good model my horse is? (There was a piece of spooky white paper on the ground, obvi).

National Holiday: National Turkey Neck Soup Day

Burnham Market International [Live Results]

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Morven Park H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Rocking Horse Spring H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Full Gallop H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Texas Rose Horse Park H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Galway Downs CIC & H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Southern Arizona H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times/Live Scores]

News From Around the Globe:

2018 marks the 20th anniversary for the Galway Downs Horse Trials in Temecula, California. The event has been offering a CIC3* every spring since 2003 — making 16 years of the division. The CIC3* serves as the first West Coast leg of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup in 2018. With 290 competitors set to go this weekend, 26 in the CIC*, 17 in the CIC2*, but only seven in the CIC3*, its going to be a cracker of an event. [Gold Cup Fast Facts: Galway Downs]

It’s real: there is a movie about girls riding hobby horses. Hobbyhorse Revolution is a movie about the Finnish phenomenon that has thousands of young girls competing in the equestrian events of dressage and jumping upon the backs of stick horses. The film follows three avid competitors — Alisa, Aisku and Elsa — as they trot, canter and jump their way through life. We watch the girls, all of whom face very real struggles in the real world, take refuge in the world of hobby horses. [HN Movie Review]

Founded in 1926, GMHA is the nation’s oldest continuously operating horse organization. Now considered a staple in the Area I competitive calendar, GMHA offers three events every year, with levels from BN-P. They focus on offering educational, competitive and recreational activities for horse enthusiasts of all ages. In 1957, they held the first horse trials to take place in the U.S. since Cavalry team competition. [USEA Events A-Z: GMHA]

Can you volunteer at The Fork, AKA the 2018 WEG Test Event? Volunteers are needed for numerous positions from April 1-9, in both equestrian and operations capacities. Whether you want to serve as a jump judge with a front-row seat for cross country competition or work behind the scenes, there’s a spot on the team for you! [Sign Up to Volunteer]

Schramm Sesh of the Week

Jimmie and Dom Schramm have teamed up with Kentucky Equine Research to provide an inside look into their conditioning program using KER ClockIt Sport. Each week we’ll share an example ride and some notes of what the Schramms look for as their horses progress.

This week’s session illustrates Jimmie preparing Royston, a Warmblood cross, to move up to Preliminary level.  The session took place at a track where she routinely works horses. She canters on a track before doing a single gallop up a steep hill.

“[Roy] had been doing interval training on the flat all winter and spring, so this is toward the beginning of his hill work,” Jimmie said.

“You can obviously see the incline in the graph in his heart rate and speed while using the gallop,” Jimmie points out. “This is why we use the incline, because we can get the heart rate high without galloping too fast or for too long.”

She adds, “Funny side note: there is a place on the track where Roy always spooks the first time around and you can see around the seventh minute that his heart rate increases and speed decreases right in the spot where he normally spooks.”

Check back next week for another Schramm Sesh! Want to gain insight into your horse’s fitness? Try KER ClockIt Sport. The free app helps take the guesswork out of equine fitness by monitoring heart rate, speed, distance and altitude during rides. EN’s guides to the app explain all the details: 7 Reasons to Download KER ClockIt Sport and How To Get the Most Out of KER ClockIt Sport.