EN isn’t just your leading source for eventing news, results and commentary; it’s a community where fans of this crazy sport come together to share their war stories. We love hearing from readers and, in turn, sharing your thoughts with the world. All reader submissions are eligible for the Omega Alpha Reader Submission of the Month in which they are published. All winners will receive an Omega Alpha supplement of their choosing. Have something to share with EN? Send it to us at [email protected]!
Julie Howard and her Thoroughbred mare Sweetie. Photo via Joan Davis/Flatlandsfoto.
We would like to send a big EN congratulations to Julie Howard, who got her submission in right under the wire for January. Her story, “Confessions of a ‘Master’ Event Rider”, was one of our favorite reader submissions to date.
Owning a horse is so different when mommy and daddy aren’t there to fall back on. I am responsible for it all. Not to mention I have to drive the dang horse trailer alone. I feel like putting a bumper sticker on the trailer a la the “Partridge Family”: Careful — nervous mother driving.”
Julie will receive a free supply of an Omega Alpha supplement of her choosing. Want to win an Omega Alpha supplement? Send in your story, clinic report, video or other article to [email protected]. If it’s published this month, it will be eligible for February’s giveaway. (Month to be determined by date of publishing, not date of submission.) Many thanks to Julie for writing and to Omega Alpha for supporting Eventing Nation. Go eventing!
Here are a few of our other favorite reader submissions from January:
Best Clinic Report: “Boyd Martin on ‘Riding the Horse Underneath You'” by Katherine Knauz
“When you ride with different trainers, you always gain a little more perspective. Sometimes you find out that they have very similar ideas to what you’ve already had yelled at you for hours on end; other times you pick up entirely new concepts. From this clinic, I know I need to refocus on “riding the horse underneath you,” as Boyd put it. He told me it’s very important to react to what the horse is telling you, since issues early on in a course could spell refusals later on, or worse.”
Best EN History Piece: “The Story Behind the Famous EN Picture” by Holly Covey
“I tried to have a plan, but the crowds being so large, much of my planned photo route had to be changed. I found myself still in the front half of the course about halfway through the day, so started to hike back through the middle of the course to jumps I had missed. I stopped, though, stood back behind the Hollow, looking south, and could barely fit the long string of spectators in the frame of the camera — it was simply amazing to me that so many people could love my sport of eventing.”
Best Text Conversation: “When Eventing and Physics Collide” by Samantha Stewart
Best Year of the Horse Breakdown: “2014, The Year of the Horse” by Rachel Helmbold
“With regards to health, “Horses will be prone to health issues.” What? Noooo! “They are more likely to be involved in accidents, too. To counteract such bad luck, Horses are suggested to donate blood.” Not sure about you, but typically the blood donation comes concomitantly WITH the accident when my horse is involved. Can I GET an Amen?”
