The Duchess of Cornwall’s Thursday News and Notes from Devoucoux

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Bringing back the EN love, thanks again to master photographer Lee Lee Jones

Ever since The Royal Wedding (yes caps are necessary) I’ve had an unhealthy obsession with the British monarchy.  Duchess Catherine might actually be the only human specimen to have ever achieved the plane of perfection.  In a sudden twist of events, Camilla has stolen the spotlight by presiding over the opening of the new facilities for the Ebony Riding School on October 26.  The Ebony Riding School is a riding program intended to help the disadvantaged youths of England by giving them access to horses and a solid mentoring program. The stables in Brixton are the first to open in inner London for decades and will serve disadvantaged kids ages 8 to 18, referred by police, social workers, referrals, or word of mouth.  The Duchess of Cornwall became the president of the riding club (which has existed without permanent facilities since 1996) in 2009 and since then the club has raised £1.7 million to build a new farm, including a gift of £200,000 from the British Equestrian Federation. [Horsetalk]

(and here’s an article written last year by the Telegraph that gives more information about the program. Still worth a look!)

James Atkinson won silver at the Pan Ams and talked to the Ramona Sentinel about his Olympic goals for next year. [Ramona Sentinel]

Climate change and human activity are to blame for the extinction of the Siberian Horse.  An unprecedented interdisciplinary study involving experts from more than 40 universities undertook the problem of separating the causes of megafauna extinction over the past 50,000 years.  While the study succeeded in finding the causes of extinction for species of yore, like the woolly rhinoceros, it could not isolate patterns that would determine how today’s mammals will react to continued climate change and human contact. In English that means we should all start recycling to save our horses. Now. [Horsetalk]

Another heart-warming donkey happy ending, I can’t get enough of these [You know you want to click]

A list of 30 recommendations for the improvement of welfare and conditions for runners in the Grand National has been released.  This year two horses died during the race and the British Horseracing Authority released the list to improve safety and animal welfare standards. Next year runners must be at least seven years old and jockeys must have won AT LEAST 15 races, 10 of which must be steeplechases. In addition to these new provisions the terrain has been modified and made less demanding to reduce the chance of falls. [Horse and Hound]

Kiwi Caroline Powell is aiming for the Olympics with the 15.2, eighteen-year-old Lenamore [Stuff NZ]

Greek donkeys matter too [I have more where this came from]

A British survey of horse trailers shows that 64% of trailers on the road are over loaded, 30% of drivers don’t know the legal tread for their tires, and 54% don’t check tire pressure. The number of accidents involving horse trailers increased by 300 between 2008/09 and 2010/11. If you haven’t already, read up on trailer safety! [Horse and Hound]  

Australia and New Zealand have qualified for the Olympics in Dressage. [Horsetalk]

Best of Blogs:

Mary Howard recounts the Pan Ams from a Mom’s Eye View

Hottie Watch: Paints on Parade

This weekend Samantha is reporting on site from Galway Downs- watch for her epic jog reports starting today and her continued coverage throughout the weekend. As always enjoy your Thursday, and Go Eventing.


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