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Last week, we shared news that the European contingent of horses had all cleared quarantine en route to the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event – and now, they’re not only in situ at the Horse Park, their riders have all arrived, too! I fly in yesterday from London and was surprised to bump into Germany’s Christoph Wahler at the gate – but because eventers are truly bonkers, he explained to me that he’d ended up coming via Heathrow because he wanted to squeeze in a last-minute show with his young horses in the morning and getting a short flight to London to then travel long-haul to Cincinnati was the only truly viable option. I, on the other hand, considered heading to the yard to squeeze in a short 8.30 a.m. schooling session and ultimately decided that I simply could not be bothered to add another thing to my day, so that’s probably why I’m not a professional rider.
Anyway, insanity aside, so much goes into these long transatlantic journeys, and I think it’s all too easy for us to assume that once people get to that level of sport, it’s all pretty smooth sailing. Christoph was filling me in on his own Kentucky drama as we waited to board: when the horses arrived at Chicago from Germany last week, somehow, his tack trunk didn’t come off the plane. And so groom Lilly and his horse, D’Accord, have been without, well, everything for the past few days as she’s settled him into his new digs. Fortunately, a local tack shop kindly lent her everything she needed to get her charge out hacking around the park, and, Christoph has been told, his trunk should be with him today. We’re crossing our fingers – and I’m on a mission to find out which tack shop saved the day, because this is such a classic example of horse folks just being really quite good eggs.
National Holiday: It’s the Monday of Kentucky week, duh. I won’t even say ‘for those who celebrate’, because… come on now.
U.S. Weekend Action:
Fair Hill International April H.T. & CCI-S (Elkton, MD) [Website] [Results]
Masterson Equestrian Trust YEH/NEH Qualifier (Lexington, KY) [Website] [Results]
Meadowcreek Park – The Spring Social Event (Kosse, TX) [Website] [Results]
Ocala International Festival of Eventing (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Results]
Sporting Days Farm April H.T. III (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Results]
Major International Events:
Adelaide Equestrian Festival: [Website] [Results]
Strzegom Spring Open II (Poland): [Website] [Results]
UK Weekend Results:
Kelsall Hill International (Kelsall, Cheshire): [Website] [Results]
Your Monday Reading List:
As a news site, we maintain some degree of necessary impartiality when it comes to sharing the stories of the folks and horses within our sport. But we’re also only human, so permit us a little leeway to be complete and utter fangirls this week when one of our own, Ema Klugman returns to the five-star level with a very, very cool debutant mare. Ema’s a pretty cool character, if we say so ourselves, and there’s no shortage of reasons to throw your cheering power behind her: not only has she been part of the Nation Media team for a good few years, she also first made the step to the top level as the youngest rider in the Kentucky field aboard the oldest horse when she, at 23, piloted the late, great Standardbred-cross Bendigo around Kentucky. He was nineteen at the time, and it wasn’t to be his only outing at the top level, either. Beyond that? She’s an outspoken advocate for human rights, and alongside producing her string of horses, she’s also busy at law school. Just before shipping to Lexington, she passed the Virginia Bar Exam. This week, we all want to #BeMoreEma. Check out US Eventing’s weekend long-read on her to double down on your own fangirl vibes!
Speaking of very cool women to cheer extra-loud for, may we suggest Susie Berry? It always feels a bit naughty doing this – this is an article I wrote for the Chronicle of the Horse, but I so firmly believe in everything that Susie is doing and building, and I’m also such a big fan of the game and gutsy mare she’s brought to Kentucky this week, that I can’t not share it. Find out how the 28-year-old sort-of-accidentally became a pro, which crowd favourite US five-star horse she had a hand in producing, and plenty more about her Kentucky ride, Clever Trick, in this long read, which I named after a Lindsay Lohan film, because of course I did.
Speaking of serious, top-level competition, apparently the hobby horse movement is on the rise in the UK. For those of you who haven’t been graced with the incredibly odd videos of hobby horse ‘riders’ that make their way around social media fairly regularly (and in which you may well have been tagged by a non-horsey friend saying “haha is this u”), let Horse&Hound take you on a bit of a journey through the madness. I’ve already decided that my magnum opus for 2024 will be a full-length documentary following my non-horsey partner’s journey from a local hobby horse show to the World Championships, but I’m still trying to find the right moment to break that news to him.
Need a pre-Kentucky listen to get your day going? The Heels Down Happy Hour pod is here to serve. Pour yourself an Old Fashioned (it’s five o’clock everywhere, all the time during Kentucky week, which operates under airport rules) and tune in.
Morning Viewing:
Kentucky might be all we can think about this week, but Badminton’s creeping up, too! Catch up with amateur eventers Evie and Donut as they continue their prep for the Voltaire Design Grassroots Championship:
