Friday News & Notes from World Equestrian Brands

Liz Halliday-Sharp’s eye of the tiger. Photo by Allie Conrad Photography.

OK so obviously the only thing all eventers are talking about today is the newly released entry list for Kentucky, because also April is right around the bend, and we’re all getting a little twitchy thinking about it. The days are longer, the green grass is poking out, the trees are starting to get leaves, so naturally it’s time for KENTUCKY!!!!! It doesn’t matter what level you are, where you’re from, or what your role is in eventing, it’s the weekend of all weekends and it’s coming soon!

National Holiday: National Vietnam War Veterans Day

Major Events This Week:

Galway Downs International H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scoring]

Belton International [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Twitter] [EN’s Instagram]

U.S. Events This Week:

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

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

Full Gallop Farm March II H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scoring]

Texas Rose March H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scoring]

News From Around the Globe:

The first CCI4*-S of the west coast kicked off yesterday with the first horse inspection at Galway Downs. With everything from Beginner Novice to Advanced, a CCI2*-S, a CCI3*-S, and a CCI4*-S, its hard to imagine a more popular competition. There are a total of 345 entries this weekend, with seven in the four-star, 25 in the three-star, and 30 in the two-star. [Galway Downs Fast Facts]

Ah, the eventing times they are a’changing. We old folks look back on that “steeplechase” thing fondly, and remember the golden days of our youth, galloping headlong into brush fences. The tradition of steeplechase dates all the way back to 1752, in County Cork, Ireland. Steeplechase racing made it to the U.S. in 1834, and into eventing officially when it was recognized as a sport in 1912. RIP Steeplechase, which began leaving the upper levels of the sport in 2004. [The History Of Steeplechase]

Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue D’Argouges were the highest placed Canadian pair last year in their first year galloping around the course at Kentucky, and this year they’re aiming to knock a few points off their score from 2018. They positively stormed around the WEG course last fall as the first on course, and they’ll be bringing that positive experience to the table in a little less than a month. [Get to Know Colleen Loach & Qorry Blue D’Argouges] 

Heads up, collegiate eventers! Area 8 is about to kick off the season at Spring Bay the first weekend in April, and the University of Louisville will be hosting an Intercollegiate Challenge at Spring Bay. Great prizes from SmartPak and Devoucoux are up for grabs. It is also the first leg of the Intercollegiate Grand Slam! Teams that compete in all three events — Spring Bay, Jump Start and Flying Cross — are eligible to win. [Louisville Eventing Team]

Best of Blogs: Lessons from Horsemanship for Life, Career, and Resilience 

Why hire a groom that might not show up to work when you have a dog? Several top barns in England have now trained their loyal pooches to do the dirty work around the stables, interacting directly with the horses and completing daily tasks like turnout. Dogs make great grooms too, guys. [11 Dogs Proving They’re Great Grooms]