First, let me say thanks to Annie for covering my shift with the morning News & Notes. I assure you that Annie has overstated my condition; I only have a head cold–you know, the kind of head cold that makes you nearly faint when driving down the highway. Oh well, as they say, the brain is a long way from the heart. Now, to the fun stuff:
I have heard from several people who have talked to Bettina this week, and apparently Bettina has been saying that she and Andrew will be applying for the USEF Technical Advisor/Chef position. My guess is that Bettina would be applying to coach the High Performance squad in the dressage and the developing riders, and Andrew would cover the High Performance jumping. Bettina has been in the US for the past few days, teaching in Georgia last weekend and at Full Gallop Farm in Aiken this week. To be clear: the application process is private. So, unless Bettina and Andrew wish to announce their application, this is neither official nor certain, but let’s just say I like the odds.
The Hoys have been a name that I have mentioned before as possible applicants. Bettina is a favorite for US riders to train with when they go to Europe, and pretty much every single US rider who has ridden with Bettina swoons at the prospect of getting her as the dressage coach. Riders in the US have less experience working with Andrew, but the riders I have spoken with really respect him.
Bettina, of course, is a former Olympian for Germany and might be best remembered here in the US for her extraordinary Rolex ride in ’09 aboard Ringwood Cockatoo. Andrew of course won Rolex ’06 on Master Monarch, and is a three-time Olympic team gold medalist riding for Australia. The only real question now is if they get the job will they make the US riders wear those awful silver XC outfits?
Go eventing.
