Monday News and Notes from Success Equestrian

Did you expect the lead-off picture to be anything else but Courageous Comet? Everyone’s favorite event horse retired this weekend in style; he won the Advanced division at the American Eventing Championships in Georgia. Anyone with a soul has a favorite Comet moment, and I’m no different. This is one horse that never fails to put a smile on my face. Whether it was his extremely un-OTTB dressage tests, his pricked ears on cross-country or his obvious relationship with rider Becky Holder, he always impressed everyone who saw him go.

Weekend results:

American Eventing Championships
Bleinhem Palace International
Aspen Farm Horse Trials
Copper Meadows HT/Area VI Championships
Bucks County HT

Events Opening This Week:

 Holly Hill Fall H.T. (LA, A-5)  Chattahoochee Hills H.T. (GA, A-3) Waredaca H.T. and Classic Training 3 Day Event (MD, A-2)  Heritage Park H.T. (KS, A-4)

Open September 18, 2012

The AEC’s concluded on Sunday and Becky Holder and Courageous Comet were the big winners in the Advanced Division. They added 4 faults to their dressage score of 23.7 to finish above Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch. There were only 3 winning scores over 30 this weekend, which further reinforces the idea that I will never be able to compete at the AEC’s. [AEC results]

William Fox-Pitt won the CCI*** at Bleinhem with Seacookie, further proving that he can win with any horse on any day. William retired Seacookie on the Burghley XC last weekend because the nimble bay wasn’t ‘enjoying it,’ but looked like he was having fun with the Bleinhem course. Mark Todd finished 2nd, and the North American contingent of Rebecca Howard and Emily Beashar placed 11th and 24th respectively. [Bleinhem Results]

Andrew Nicholson topped the CIC*** at Bleinhem with Quimbo, the same horse he won with at Barbury. WFP was 2nd with Bay My Hero. Bettina Hoy continued her run of top 10 finishes with a 4th place run with Designer 10. [Bleinhem Results]

Eric Lamaze is stepping out of the limelight for awhile; the former Olympic gold medalist is looking forward to more time golfing, and less time in the competition arena. Lamaze tells CTV that ‘The London Olympics were supposed to be Hickstead’s Games, and I never imagined that I would go without him.’ We wish Eric the most relaxing of vacations, and hope to see him back soon. [The Canadian Press]

I’ve always wanted to win 500,000 by jumping 3’3″ and Patricia Griffith did just that when she won the $500,000 Hunter Prix aboard Sienna. [HITS]

McLain Ward won the coveted $1 million Pfizer Grand Prix in Saugerties with Olympic partner Antares. Jill Henselwood and George were second. Six riders hit the deck during the difficult course, and did not receivev any of the $1.75 million that was up for grabs on Sunday.
[Chronicle of the Horse ]

Great Britain won the FEI Junior European Eventing Championships held in Poland this weekend. Team Ireland claimed the silver, and France the bronze. Two GBR riders also took gold and silver in the Individual competition; gold went to 17-year-old Sophie How and Pebbly Aga Khan, and silver to 16-year-old Emily King and Minimee. Irish rider Harold Megahey and Chuckelberry took home the individual bronze. [British Eventing]

War Horse is set to close in January, which means that my subtle hints to my boyfriend like, “Have you heard about War Horse?” “War Horse is supposed to be so good,” are going to turn into  “I bought War Horse tickets with your credit card.” [New York Times]

The Independent takes a look at the Olympic Eventing Legacy, and draws comparisons to “the moment football became the middle class sport of choice.” As a footie fan myself, I don’t see much comparison between Paul Gascoigne and WFP, but hey, to each their own. [The Independent]

Top tweet: “If horse riding were easy they’d call it football.” @JenniRudall

Allie Conrad blogs about Burghley, saying that the UK spectators were “truly rooting for Sinead to win.” Her favorite overheard phrase? “It’s big. It’s Burghley.” [Chronicle of the Horse]

Awesome/extremely unsettling video from the 1978 World Eventing Championships in Lexington, KY. Most of these horses aren’t even wearing galloping boots.

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