Monday Morning Reader from Pennfield

Good Morning Eventing Nation! John usually handles the Monday morning post but this week he has bestowed the honor to me. I wasn’t at Pine Top over the weekend, but from what I’ve heard it was a good event. Although a few mishaps were showcased, such as Doug’s water dismount, I think all the riders were relieved to have gotten the first proper event under their belts. Kim Severson won the OI-1 division aboard Wiley Post, a horse she told Samantha in an interview last week is aiming for the Pan-Ams. Canadian Jessica Phoenix topped the OI-2 division aboard her veteran Exponential. And it can’t go without mentioning that our favorite Udonna jumped to a brilliant double clear round after all that EN Karma on Friday and Saturday.   [Pine Top Results]
To catch up on the rest of the goings-on in the horse world, here’s the news:
Catherine Haddad, a dressage rider currently abroad on the World Cup Tour, has written her latest blog entry about how the little nuisances of living and competing abroad can really add up quickly and start to affect performance. To produce a world class performance on the home turf is one thing, to produce that performance at a single international competition is another, but to produce that performance on unfamiliar territory time and time again as the World Cup Tour requires is infinitely more difficult. But as Catherine is realizing, it is all just part of the challenge. [COTH]
The University of Kentucky has reported an increase in the number of cases of bacterial placentitis they’ve seen in late gestation mares. Evidently this strain of placentitis is unique but serious, as it can cause aborted or still-birth pregnancies. [Horsetalk]
According to our good friend ESJ, the FEI has released a Risk Management Policy and Action Plan. You can view the actual PDF file here (PDF), but as it is wordy and slightly dull, ESJ’s commentary is easier for all of us non-royals to understand . It sounds like he’s disappointed with the plan as he says, “To me this is a policy statement, the words Action Plan have simply been tacked onto the end of the title.” If there’s one thing I do know about the FEI however, it’s that they never show all their cards. One would hope a more substantive version of the action plan is ‘in the works’ from the FEI’s corner, but I guess only time will tell. 
But in some positive news about the FEI, they’ve recently appointed International O Dressage Judge Ghislain Fouarge as Dressage Judge General, a decision made to “ensure greater consistency and accuracy of judging at all levels of Dressage competition.” The role of a Dressage Judge General is a new one, but according to Trond Asmyr, the FEI director of the discipline, felt it was a vital step to creating greater equality in judging. [Horsetalk]

Progress has been made in the Bureau of Land Management’s protocol of Wild Horse treatment. According to ‘Saving America’s Mustangs’, the organization that’s been most prominent in the wild horse struggle, the BLM’s Thursday press release contains a message of hope for the future and offers concrete changes within their wild horse program. Read the full story here. 
The future of the Hackney breed could be at risk. To refresh your memory from your Pony Club days, Hackneys are those fine, typey looking show ponies that are often seen in Driving competitions or breed shows. According to Horse and Hound, The hackney is now hovering near the “critical” list of breeds. Evidently in the past three years, the number of breeding mares has fallen from 500 to 300.  Claire Barber, head of the Rare Breed Survival Trust, thinks that part of the reason for the decline is simply the misperception that Hackneys are only suitable as driving ponies, and “half-crazed” ones at that, adding: “If they are well handled, they are no different from any other horse.” It would be interesting to look at some of the statistics for Driving as a whole, to see if there were any correlations between the decline of this breed and possible rise of another. 
About the Derby Cross [PRO blog]
A Barn Mice Case Study of a rider named Alice’s journey to attain her BHS Level 4 Certification this spring
Irish husband and wife duo of Patricia and Michael Ryan dominated at the Vale Sabroso Horse Trial in Portugal over the weekend with a victory and placings in both the 1-and 2 star divisions.  Clayton Fredericks won the CIC2* and a Harley Davidson grand prize. The England and Ireland based riders like to venture down to Portugal for eventing in the spring because it is still not great weather in the northern climates.  Consider Portugal England’s Ocala (or Aiken)  [Horse Sport Ireland]

Fran Jurga has a great report on equine anesthesia [TJR]

A rider from the Jumping Branch prelim unrecognized on Saturday was taken to the hospital after a fall at the bank complex.  Fortunately both the horse is fine and so is the rider with just a few stitches.

On the Line has written a really great article recapping some of the big show jumping competitions over the past few weeks, specifically at both the Winter Equestrian Festival in the East, and HITS Thermal in the West.

Best of the Blogs: Indoor Polo at the Kentucky Horse Park

That’s all for this morning, Eventing Nation. Don’t forget to click the banner below to enter to win a free iPad from our friends at Pennfield.  See you soon.

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