William Fox-Pitt & Seacookie winning Pau CCI4* 2013. Photo by Kate Samuels.
This time last year, I was enjoying the warm weather in the south of France, soaking up the awesomeness of my first international CCI4*, Pau! Jenni and I had a great time there, and basically ate fresh bread and local cheese non stop from start to finish. We have quite a few American pairs there competing this weekend, and after the first day of dressage, we are in quite good standing. The cross country course there is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and while it might seem small at first, it takes plenty of prisoners on Saturday, and I wish everyone the best of luck as they tackle the rest of the competition!
North American Weekend Preview:
Waredaca Classic Three-Day and H.T. [Website] [Three Day Scores] [Horse Trials Scores]
Chattahoochee Hills H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]
Holly Hill Fall H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]
Heritage Park H.T. [Entry Status] [Times]
FEI Global Weekend Preview:
Pau (FRA) CCI4*, CIC2* Website, Entries, Dressage Times, Live Scores, Free Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, USEF Eventing High Performance Facebook, @LesEtoilesdePau
Aldon (GBR) CCI/CIC1* [Entry Status]
News From Around The Globe:
In a somewhat odd turn, popular British and American event commentator has been caught in hot water with the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in the UK. Dr Ed Holloway, who recently commentated at Plantation Field, has had his medical license revoked after it became clear that he was repeatedly calling in “sick” for work, conveniently on weekends where he was traveling to commentate at events. Rather than treating his patients at Scunthorpe General Hospital, he was talking about cross country. After a co-worker recognized his voice on a video from Plantation, he was forced to reveal the truth. Hmm. [Commentator Struck Off Medical Register]
Big news for American Trakehner breeders, as the first American-born stallion was just approved at the 2014 Trakehner Verband Inspection in Neumünster, Germany. The American bred and foaled Trakehner stallion Davidas jumped his way into the history books last weekend when he was approved as a premium stallion by the German Trakehner Verband at their annual stallion inspection and auction held in Northern Germany. He was also named “Best Jumper”, and later was sold in the stallion auction on Sunday for 93,000 Euros ($117,180 U.S.) to a German-based group. [Davidas Jumps Into History Books]
In the most recent Fasig-Tipton thoroughbred sales, a white colt by Thunder Gulch sold for $29,000. While that price tag might not have you interested, his color certainly should. Painted Patchen is technically registered as white, but he has funny roan patches all over, and is one of only about a dozen registered white thoroughbreds in the past 15 years. You’ve got to see these pictures of him. [White Thoroughbred Colt at Fasig-Tipton]
As winter approaches, some of us might be considering throwing up some new sheds for winter turnout. If that’s the case for you, be sure to check out this article on the scientific necessity of man made shelters for horses in the winter months. More important than sheds is variation in landscape to allow your horse to properly navigate the weather. [Do Horses Need Sheds?]
We love our volunteers! Let’s face it, without the volunteers at each and every event, our sport would be nothing. So we want to hear your stories! Are you a long-time volunteer at your favorite event? Did you recently have a great experience with a volunteer? Do you just want to say thank you? Send us a quick story and we’ll post it in our new Volunteer Appreciation series! Email [email protected] with your tips.
Check out Clark’s interview with FEI TV:
