Yes it’s a repeat but Rocking Horse is just so pretty!
Good morning EN! Rather than beat around the bush I’m just going to get right to it. The big news today comes from the dressage world: three time USEF Equestrian of the Year Steffen Peters broke a competition record at the World Dressage Maters in Palm Beach on Friday, scoring an 81.383% in the Grand Prix with Ravel. To put that in perspective second place scored a 78 and third was down to a 73 (but really guys 73 isn’t too shabby). A video of the winning performance can be found at the end of this post and when you see the half-pass produced at 0:55 you will see it’s not all just hype. Friday’s test was also a personal best for the pair in a CDI Grand Prix. Very exciting all round in an Olympic year for sure, and I think this is probably a good omen foretelling a spot on the plane to London. Fingers crossed for Peters and Ravel! [Horsetalk]
Back to things centered around galloping and jumps: Rocking Horse kicked off its competition season yesterday. The Intermediate, Preliminary, and Training levels completed all three phases on Saturday and judging by the scores it seems like the day went smoothly for most. This is a huge show with multiple divisions at every level. Buck, Michele Mueller, and Nora Battig led the way today in the three intermediate divisions, all taking home the blue. Congrats to all those who competed yesterday and good luck to those who will set out today! [Live scores] [Website]
A new study about inbreeding in horses has determined that thoroughbreds and standardbreds. Hanoverians, quarter horses, and Mongolian horses (go figure) have the least amount of inbreeding. The level of inbreeding is quantified by a coefficient that represents the percent chance that two alleles to be identical by descent. [Horsetalk]
Caroline Powell, New Zealand’s highest placed rider at Beijing, has been left off the country’s high performance squad in the run-up to London. Powell rides 19-year-old crowd favorite Lenamore but also has three other horses capable of competing at the Olympics. According to the NZ Herald she is “baffled” by the decision. [NZ Herald]
New mama Rachel Alexandra and foal were admitted to the hospital for “pain management” after the foaling but is reportedly doing well and will return home in a few days. [The Horse]
Best of Blogs: Jessica Pye had a great weekend at Rocking Horse
As promised, the ride of the month from Steffan Peters:
That’s all for now EN, enjoy your Sunday!
