I remember the first week on Eventing Nation, and trust me the first week on Sport Horse Nation went a lot better.  We posted 2 classifieds each of our first 6 days, and we already have a short wait-list forming.  We have some great horses posted up there now, and, even though I'm not in the market for a horse right now I have enjoyed watching the videos and keeping my eye on what is for sale in the market right now.  With two posts a day there is always something fresh to look at on Sport Horse Nation, and SHN will occasionally have ridiculous classifieds or articles related to horse sales.  Posting a classifieds costs only $15 and takes just 10 minutes.  Just email the following to classifieds@eventingnation.com:  

-Title (less than 50 characters):
-Description:
-3 adjectives that describe the horse:
-Picture (in .jpg format):
-Location of the horse:
-Price (either a specific number, or a price range in alignment with the price categories in the Sport Horse Nation sidebar: 0-5,000, 5,000-15,000, 15,000-30,000, 30,000-50,000, 50,000+.  These categories are meant to be broad enough to respect the privacy of the seller but also specific enough to help the buyer find the right horse.)

-Contact informaiton:
-Youtube video (optional)

Payment can be processed using either check or credit card per the instructions on Sport Horse Nation.  I added a "quantity" feature to the PayPal system last night for people who wish to post multiple horses.  I also removed the word number restriction on the "description" section for people who submit classifieds.  When you submit a classified, please be creative and fun--tell a story about the horse. 

www.SportHorseNation.com

For the first few weeks, we will post a recap of recent ads here on Eventing Nation.  Be sure to visit SHN regularly to peruse the ads whether you are looking to buy or looking for fun.  Thanks for your support on the development of SHN, and thanks for reading!

Talented Three Star Competitor

Felix: Great prospect, priced for a quick sale!!

Magic Man - Experienced 2* Horse, ready to show someone the ropes!!

4 yr, 16.1, Tb gelding, great affordable prospect

Zumanity - Great YR or Amateur Eventer!

Ballinlaugh Ice-2004 Irish TB Mare

Event, Hunt, Pony Club 12yo 16.0 gelding

Amazing Pony Jumper "SwingaLittle"

-Title (less than 50 characters):
-Description (less than 200 words, age, height, experience, color, eating habits, etc):
-Story about the horse (Optional, no word limit, have some fun and tell us about the horse's personality):
-3 adjectives that describe the horse:
-Picture (in .jpg format):
-Location of the horse:
-Price (either a specific number, or a price range in alignment with a, b, c, d, or e price categories in the Sport Horse Nation sidebar: 0-5,000, 5,000-15,000, 15,000-30,000, 30,000-50,000, 50,000+.  These categories are meant to be broad enough to respect the privacy of the seller but also specific enough to help the buyer find the right horse.)

-Contact informaiton:
-Youtube video (optional)

2) The classified will be posted in the same format that articles are posed on Eventing Nation once the $15 credit card or check payment is processed.

Classifieds will also receive publicity on our Sport Horse Nation Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sporthorsenation) which, by the way, already has 200+ followers, and from time to time on Eventing Nation itself.  I spoke with a few top riders yesterday to promote the site, and they all said the same thing: this is a great idea because our sport needs one place online where everyone can meet to buy and sell event horses.  Thanks everyone for your support! Go eventing.

Posting an classified for a horse is extremely simple:

1. Email the following to classifieds@eventingnation.com:

-A title of less than 50 characters
-A description of less than 200 words
-A short story about the horse (optiona)
-3 adjectives that describe the horse
-A picture of the horse in .jpg format
-The location of the horse
-The price of the horse or a price range in alignment with a, b, c, d, or e price categories in the SHN sidebar
-Suitable contact informaiton
-A link to a Youtube video (optional)

2. Mail a check for $15.00 payable to "Thier Media LLC" to 1605 Greenleaf Ln, Charlottesville, VA 22903

****OR just use the handy-dandy secure credit card payment system we have established through PayPal.

I want to share a story that makes me glow with pride for Eventing Nation.  If you recall, in my semi-delirious Sunday morning reader from last weekend I linked to eventer4life's blog.  As an aside, I thought it might quite possibly be my last link ever considering I was about to go out on XC with a young horse who can jump a mile but often does so in three different directions at once, but I survived and here we are now.  I linked to the blog because it was a young eventer writing about her first horse trials with her new horse and I thought it made for good reading, and Tuesday night eventer4life responded on Sunday morning post with the following comment:

Wow!
Thank you for putting my blog on here!
I actually had 502 views the day this was posted, up from....4...the day before.
So WOW and thanks again!

You're more than welcome eventer4life; Eventing Nation had a couple of days with 4 readers way back when we started. And well done Eventing Nation--we each are powerless as one person behind a computer, but united together as Eventing Nation we have a great deal of power to influence, and, in this case, make a young eventer's day.  Go eventing.

It is with a great sense of pride that I welcome Tack of the Day and Nunn Finer to the Eventing Nation team.  John Nunn has been a supporter of Eventing Nation from the very beginning and he sponsored our Rolex $100 Bit of Britain Challenge earlier this year.  I am also very thankful to Mr. Nunn for providing me with valuable advice and guidance throughout the development of Eventing Nation.

I'd like to extend a special welcome to Point-Two as Eventing Nation's latest sponsor.  Point-Two was one of the first companies to contact us about advertising on Eventing Nation and they have consistently expressed a desire to give back to our readers and positively influence our sport.  That's what we are all about here on EN, and we are proud to be partnering with Point-Two.  We will have Point-Two vests as prizes for contests on EN over the coming months, and we will release the details of the first contest soon.  For more information on the Point-Two vest click the hand-dandy banner.  Go eventing.

Friends, as you know, I am always thinking about how to improve this ridiculous experiment known as Eventing Nation.  In the beginning, I was the only writer *shudder* and I struggled to produce even one post a day--which was usually just a montage of news, video, and failed attempts at jokes.  We have come a long way since those days, and the time has come to discuss taking Eventing Nation to the next level.

Contests and giveaways: we will be able to increase the number and ridiculousness of our contests.  If Eventing Nation is fun now, wait till we start giving stuff away.

EN swag: I get more emails about EN hats, bumper stickers, and shirts than anything else.  With a bit of revenue, we will be able to invest in producing EN gear.  We have already been contacted by graphic designers who have some really cool ideas.

Securing our future: right now, Eventing Nation is still an experiment--nothing more than the dedication of me and our writers keeps the site going.  Theoretically, Eventing Nation could stop anytime.  Adding advertisers secures Eventing Nation's future, ensuring that Eventing Nation will be a regular part of your day for years to come.

(1) Facebook fan: click *here, and then click 'like' at the top of our fanpage--we created a new fanpage a couple of weeks ago, which is different from the EN Facebook 'friend' page that already has 1050 friends.

(2) Facebook friend: click *here and then click 'add as friend'--if you haven't already, it will never be easier than right now.  You can be extra cool by suggesting your friends become our fans or our friends.

(3) Twitter: go to *www.twitter.com/eventingnation and then click 'follow'--Eventing Nation is new to Twitter, but like anything we do, we are learning fast and you don't want to miss the ride.

If every one of our readers today takes one minute total to click those buttons, Eventing Nation's social network will double today.  Let's Go Eventing Nation!!

Courtesy of HC

First off, I want to say a huge "YOU'RE WELCOME!!" to all the thank-you's we have received after the Rolex/Derby/Badminton bonanza.  Your kind words really keep us going, and it's nice to know our hard-working (and sometimes futile) efforts are appreciated. 

That said, I want to encourage everyone to keep communicating with us!  Let us know what you like (Rolex videos) and don't like (headline scrolling Twitter feed) and we'll do our best to adjust the site's content as we can.  We do this crazy site for YOU, as much as us, so speak up if you have an idea!  We'd love to hear it!  Send an email to John (eventingnation@gmail.com), Leslie (Leslie.ENation@gmail.com) or me (visionaireEN@gmail.com), or leave a note in the comment section.  We read every comment posted here, and try to respond when we can.

Speaking of the comment section-- y'all commenters have been on fire lately!  And we love it!  Believe it or not, John does grow tired of hearing himself talk (lord knows I get tired of it) and it's wonderful to read insights and thoughts from the rest of Eventing Nation (that being YOU).  Please continue to share breaking news, story updates, or just your general thoughts on life and horses.  We want this site to be about YOU, and not just our drivel we dribble on the screen.  Get to know each other, share advice, sympathy, or congratulations, debate and discuss hot topics (air vests?!) and have fun with it.  I *know* you support each other-- read any of the comments from a Rider Profile!  We'd really like to keep building more community-type environment here, if that's ok with you.

One thing, though.  Some of the comment conversation gets a little muddy when readers don't bother to label themselves...it's hard to identify which "Anonymous" poster you're responding to.  I ask that you please make up a name-- use your initials, your home state, your dog's name, get creative with something clever-- I don't care what you call yourself (make me laugh!) but it would be nice un-anonymize the comment section a little bit.  We do NOT require you to register, or even provide an email...but a name would be nice!


Other site features:  I'm sure most of you have been here long enough (and wasted enough company time) to play around with the site format.  We try to make articles easy to find, with a comprehensive category listing, and quick-reference tabs on the upper menu bar.  There's always the search tool, too!  If you're having trouble locating something, let us know-- we'll find it for you, and try to improve the site's searchability. 

For those of you who created a user account, you may also make use of the "favorite" icon next to the comment bubble of each post.  Ever wondered what that little star was?  If you've logged in to your account, you can click on the star and it registers that you "liked" that post.  Pretty much NO ONE does this, but it is there if you would like to use it.  Enough "likes" would tell the author to write more of it!  A little note in the comment section works just as well.  (John's investigated an easier "like/dislike" function, but no luck yet.)



We have a lot of really awesome stuff coming up in the next few weeks (including the "Fruit Salad" referred to in the post-Rolex Live Blog).  May has officially become "Reader Appreciation Month" and we want YOU to make the site your own! 

• I would LOVE to hear your success stories (or failures) of attempting the grooming tips you have learned on this site.  Before and after pictures would be lovely, if you have any to share!  Hopefully these first-hand accounts will be featured in an upcoming Jog-Up column.  I know many of you have been practicing your braiding-- let's see what you've got!

• Do you have any good Rolex photos?  Send us your best ones, especially of fans and the crowd... who knows, it may become our new headline photo!  (Contest details coming soon.)      

Once again, thank you for reading, and for all your support.  We have the BEST fans in the world, you prove that to us every day.  (But we aren't surprised...eventers are truly the most awesome people on earth!)  You make us proud to be a part of this sport, and we'll continue to do our best to serve the Nation. 

Go Eventing!

Waving thanks to all our Eventing Nation readers!

It's been about 7 months since little itty-bitty EN began, back at Fair Hill 2009.  My, how things have changed since the nation's last major three-day event!  Back then, John was live-blogging by himself, read only by a few friends (well, the paid ones) and random people who stumbled upon the site through a Google mis-direction.  Fast-forward to Rolex, where EN is big enough to stand alongside the Chronicle of the Horse to provide competition coverage to 5,600 visitors on Sunday.  It's been quite a journey, and we would like to thank each and every reader who has helped us on this ride.


So, as we take a (quick) breath between Rolex and Badminton (oh yeah, and that thing called DERBY), let's examine the Eventing Nation Progress Report.

 



NAME OF EMPLOYEE:  Eventing Nation                        JOB TITLE:  Online Eventing Site        
UNIT:  Equestrian Insanity Division  

REVIEW PERIOD --  FROM:  Oct 2009    TO:  May 2010       NEXT REVIEW DATE:  WEG 2010


PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES      
1 (Not satisfactory)  2 (Needs improvement)   3 (Average)  4  (Above average)   5 (Mastery)


COMMUNICATION/INTERACTION WITH OTHERS:

Communicates clearly and positively with co-workers, supervisors, and others.
4.  There is pretty good communication here at EN...especially at 1am, I'm convinced John never sleeps.

Listens carefully to instructions.
3.  Um, there were instructions?  I thought we kinda made this up as we went along...I KNEW John should have stopped and asked for directions at that gas station!

Employee is receptive to feedback from supervisor.
5.  I think we do a pretty good job listening to readers' comments, what do you think?

QUALITY/QUANTITY OF WORK HABITS:

Works at a consistent pace regardless of presence of supervision.
5.  There's a supervisor??  Who knew...!  We try to stay consistent, around 3 posts a day.  Unless Oli Townend changes his facebook status every 2 hrs, that may require more posts.

Completes work assignments in a reasonable period of time.
5.  I think we get our info up pretty quickly, most of the time.  At the expense of sleep, or our day jobs, usually.

The quality of completed work is satisfactory.
3.  Eh.  Depends on the definition of "satisfactory" I suppose...

Employee readily begins new assignments.
4.  There's ALWAYS a new assignment, that's for sure.  Badminton coming up! 

Uses work time efficiently.
3.  Nope, not really.  Unless it's 3am, then things tend to get very efficient. 

JOB KNOWLEDGE:

Employee can adapt to changes in priorities and/or schedules.
5.  Priorities and schedules, haha.  As if those EVER stay the same!  We do our best to manage the site, maintain paying day-jobs, ride our own horses, oh and compete a little on the side.  Life?  What's that?

Has demonstrated that he/she has the skills and abilities to do the work.
3. We've demonstrated a lot of things, I'm not sure you'd call them "skills," per se.  But I've become very proficient at surfing Craigslist.  Does that count?

Performs work in accordance with FM policies and procedures.
5.  I have no clue what FM policies are.  But I assure you we are in accordance with them.  Or that's what John told me to say.  We are mostly in accordance to FEI policies, at least, until they changed 30 minutes ago.  No, make that 30 seconds ago... to bute or not to bute?  It's still an unanswerable question.

Practices knowledge of safety procedures.
5.  Air vests, frangible pins, and styrofoam logs: check.  And we never write without our ASTM helmets, either.  You never know when a Fatal Error message may occur. 

DEPENDABILITY/ATTENDANCE

Prepared to begin work at beginning of shift.
4.   I wouldn't call it "prepared;" more like, thrown together to sound intelligent.  Yeah. That.  As long as it sounds good, right?

Independently follows through on assignments.
5.  You have no idea how much work it is to follow through some things...like the Bracket Battle...but we do it anyway.  That's the exhausting part of this gig.  It's easy to start something, it's the finishing it that keeps you up til 3am for days on end!

Provides adequate notice to supervisor for using vacation/sick leave.
3.  You mean we get sick days and vacation???  Where was this in the contract?  Sweet!

Submits accurate sick leave and vacation reports in a timely manner.
3.  I'm still excited about the prospect of vacation days.  When do the benefits start?

SUPERVISORY FEEDBACK (attach additional comments if necessary)

1. Describe examples of outstanding work performance or areas of work performance that will require additional attention. Please use specific examples of work performance and/or expectations.

I may be biased, but I think this site has filled a unique niche in the eventing news category.  John started this site with a vision to bring all members of the eventing community together: one place to share news, insights, and information with the humor and fun that makes our sport special.  We want to keep you in the loop, bring you with us to the Fork or Rolex, and still make you laugh along the way (whether it's Craigslist or Santa).  Hopefully you'll visit a few minutes a day, to get your daily dose of news and absurdity, and keep coming back for more. 

We fully admit we're learning this as we go.  None of us are journalists or tech geeks; we're riders, horselovers first and foremost.  This is just our way of giving back to the sport, helping it grow and succeed, sharing it with all of you.  The site doesn't generate ANY income, we are not paid in any way (John's forced to keep his "Night Job" to pay the bills) other than your heartfelt appreciation. 

Thank you so much for reading.  To our new visitors: welcome!  Kick back your heels and stay a while.  To our old standbys: I hope you've enjoyed watching the site grow over the past 7 months, and who knows how far we still have to go.  We appreciate everyone who clicks, and the depth of audience is really amazing: from the 12-year-old Pony Clubber, to the Olympic Gold Medalist, sometimes it is a bit overwhelming.  When you find links to something you wrote on horse sites all over the world; when you hear strangers at events quoting your grooming tips; when a Big Name Coach comes up to you and asks "wtf is up with Chattahoochee's Five Star??" after an April Fool's joke.  It is humbling and inspiring.
                      
We aren't anything special here.  But we are part of a very special sport, and a very special Nation.  For that, we are most thankful.

Keep reading, and GO EVENTING!

I've already received several responses for the lower-level event rider profiles.  To save me some repetitive emails, I would like to ask readers to kindly fill out the questionnaire below.  If you would like to be featured, please copy/paste it into an email and send it to VisionaireEN@gmail.com.



Your Name: (first is sufficient)

Email: (will not be published, just a way I can contact you)

Age:

Location:

Primary horse's name:

Age, breed, pertinent info:


Level currently competing:

Short term goals this spring/summer:

Year-end goals:

Overall goals?


What's the best thing you've learned recently?  Any big epiphany or light-bulb moment?  What are your strengths/weaknesses?

Favorite eventing moment/story?  (can be anything, something you did, felt, witnessed, realized...?)

Link to blog or website, if applicable:

Photo(s) or videos:  Links or attachments are acceptable.  Please no Facebook links that require sign-in to view. 




Thanks for your participation.
 

UPDATE  3/3/10  12:45pm

The emails I have received so far are excellent!  Good stories, admirable goals, and great learning moments.  Keep them coming!