Need to Know Wednesday

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , ,
The WEG organizers have raised their economic impact projection figures.  By the numbers: over 460,000 individual tickets are being sold, attendeed are buying an average of 5 days worth of tickets, the average room rate is $273 per attendee, and 87 percent of spectators will be from out of state.  Read more.
Ian Stark has been inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.  During his career, Ian amassed 18 international medals as one of the all time fan favorite eventers.  If you've ever ridden with Ian, I'm sure you'll never forget the F-word: "FORWARD."  Congrats Ian!
China is spending $4 billion on a new thoroughbred racing facility.  TC's take
Low flying fighters in the UK spooked a horse to death. Courtesy of COTH.
A 19hh rescue horse has joined the cavalry.
Best of the Blogs: Sarah Stretton injured

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Today is a travel day for me, and my next post will be from NC later this evening.  Visionaire will have our Bracket Battle Finals around lunchtime, and, until then, I leave EN in the capable hands of our readers.
Lastly, Anon in Australia has asked for more info on Rolex entrant Peter Atkins, so please chime in if you know Peter.
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Friday Notes and News

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , , , ,
Red Hills: Live Scores

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An explanation of the new drug rules from the great Kent Allen
For the latest on Rebecca Howard, check out Sinead's blog, which explains that Thursday was a struggle but that Rebecca got two carts of flowers.  Rebecca's blog is starting to post updates as well.
Alex Hua Tian is counting down to the start of the season in his latest blog entry.
Buck Davidson is now blogging.  Buck really had his coming-out party last year and he has a lot of great things to say about our sport, so I hope this is a way for him to assume more of a leadership role in eventing.  

--As a quick note from Buck's entry, I'm intrigued by the fact that, according to Buck, PRO advises show organizers on what dressage and show jumping judges to hire: "Another important part of PRO is helping event organizers decide on which officials to hire..."  An organization of select riders influencing which judges are hired by competitions seems like it might potentially create a slight conflict of interest. 

Courtney King-Dye is still in a coma and doctors do not know when she will wake up.  The Jurga report has more information on fundraising efforts.  Dressage Daily writes about possible prayers for Courtney.
Our friend Jackie at Regarding Horses explains the WEG show jumping selection procedures.  I love the idea of results determining the short list because it seems much more fair and bias free.  But, this system would be nearly impossible for eventers due to the massive influence that team vets have on selection, and the fact that eventers have fewer competition rounds each spring.  Also, it would encourage people to run their horses too fast early in the spring, etc.  
A chink might have been exposed in the van Grunsven armor as Anky misses World Cup finals.
WM: Overcoming maggots in the mind
There are 85,500 farms in Kentucky.
Jockeys in England are waxing their legs to reduce air resistance raise money.
Win a video contest and you might get to work for Purina during the WEGs
4 Comments

Monday News and Notes

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Competition Coverage, Eventing Nation and , ,
Please scroll down for your Pine Top recap.  Pine Top scores.  The Cliff Notes (TM) version is that there were several falls, but all the A-list horses looked good.

Twin Rivers (CA): Scores, *USEA recap, Saturday rain from Grey Brook, USEA, full recap from Eventing with a Twist.

Coverage of West Coast training sessions from COTH
A reminder to be registered with the FEI before going to CCIs or CICs.  Apparently both Mark Todd and Zarah Phillips needed this reminder.
Florida is trying to pass a bill making horse slaughter illegal.
New Zealand gets into the extreme cowboy business.
WM knows that fears can be conquered.
In the category of weird riding stuff for sale, check out the 'Prestige Oh-$hit-Strap,' from Farmhouse Tack, available in either tobacco or black, and $3,500 britches on EBay.  Thanks to Amber H. for sending me the former, and Beth for sending the later.
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Friday News and Notes: Now Brought to You in Sentence Form

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , , ,
Dressage tests: there's an app for that.
In New Zealand, if your horse escapes onto a highway and a car hits it, you are liable.

$30,000US is up for grabs at the Ocala CCI**, which is what Kobe makes in about 6 minutes.

A new European Equestrian Federation was just formed, no word yet on whether Turkey is allowed in or whether England will covert its currency.

Will Faudree won a blue ribbon at a dog show, which is the same number of blue ribbons he has won in eventing the last 10 months.

Some moron has started a petition to end equestrian sports. Thanks to The Carrot for finding this one.

On Thursday, a circus Zebra escaped and ran onto an Atlanta freeway, leading police on a 40 minute chase: "all of a sudden a freaking Zebra comes running down the street like a car."

6 Comments

The Morning After News and Notes

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , , , ,


Lowballing on Valentines Day with Boyd: Not having the all-important Australian accent, I decided to stick to flowers.



Train with Anky Online: How do you say "rounder" in Dutch?


TJR: Sire of Totilas Dies: Let's hope he was insured.

Colic Discussion: "Almost all horses with colic can be saved if the problem is recognized quickly..."
1 Comment

Friday News and Notes

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , ,


Thanks to Eventing Nation voters, the Budweiser clydesdales are back in the Super Bowl
Price of USEA paper omnibus reduced by 30% to $24: Number of people upset at having to pay for paper omnibus reduced by 10%.

Signs of equine fatigue


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Need to Know Wednesday

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , , , ,
*Eventing USA 2.0 Magazine: In this issue: USEA President Kevin Baumgardner writes this issue's editorial; reflections and review from the 2009 Annual Meeting and Convention; the Training Three-Day: The Perfect Step-Up; lessons learned from a first-time breeding experience; selecting the perfect stallion for your perfect mare; and learning to communicate in and out of the saddle. 
Mark Todd in Sports Illustrated: The real news here is mostly that SI is writing about an eventer, but it is a little strange that the article says he has been named to an 11-person NZL squad to prepare for the Olympics.  I seem to recall there being some other pretty important competition happening before the Olympics, if I could only remember what it's called.... 
Groundhog predicts more riding in the snow: The most accurate indicator ever that people are absurdly superstitious and enjoy making a big deal out of total rubbish.  What do all the other groundhogs think?


Top US eventers coaching South American national teams: I feel pretty strongly that one of those riders will be coaching the US team someday, but don't ask me which one.
Totilas to stand at stud before WEGs: Stud fee around 5,000 Euros, which is higher than any other current dressage stallion.  I remember concerns about breeding affecting Windfall's performance, so we shall see what the effects are on Totilas.


Finally, Prince Harry falls off horse, has temper tantrum

Thanks to The Centaurian blog for posting this, and having EN in their blogroll.
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Monday News and Notes

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , , ,
Noon update:
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This week the Canadian and US training sessions (coaching for the short, long, and developing listed riders) start here in Ocala.  Both, interestingly enough, are held at the beautiful Meredyth South Farm, OCET's southern headquarters, with the Canadian sessions starting today, and the US happening later this week.  Here are the top eventing and equestrian stories, eh?



TJR~Wild horse roundup update:  Shockingly, chasing horses around the Nevada desert with helicopters is harmful and dangerous for the animals.


Polo hits the big screen...with an unwieldy, oversized, bamboo hammer.

2 Comments

Need to Know Wednesday

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , , , , ,
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Science Daily: Why are there no unicorns?-Wait, unicorns don't exist?  Hint: the answer doesn't have anything to do with Lord Voldemort eating them all.  Website debating if unicorns are real

Lesley Law: Leslie Law's laudable Rolex run-thanks to EventingUSA for finding this one.
The Godfather's Rolex blog-If you keep wondering why you have seen pictures of Boyd wearing red and yellow, its because he has the honor of competing Rock on Rose for Bruce and the colors come with the horse.
Creepy Cool new website: Compete from the comfort of your own stables.  Warning: a loud and obtrusive video plays upon loading the homepage; turn the volume down so your boss doesn't notice.  Quick take: sounds like it might be entertaining to try, especially if they tried to encourage international participation, but they can never re-create the true competition experience online.
Chattahoochee Hills Prepares for the AECs-Seriously, if you have not seen this place, it is obscenely nice.
COTH Thread of the Day: Why are water jumps so blue?
TJR Dressage Blue Hors Matine Dies -Who is Blue Hors Matine?

1 Comment

Monday News and Notes

By John on , Filed Under Eventing Nation, Eventing News and Notes and , ,

Noon Update: 

New Denny Emerson Article in The Pilot: "...Widely regarded as a kind of "Yoda" to the eventing community, Emerson -- who splits his time between farms in Stafford, Vt., and here in Southern Pines -- is respected not only for his accomplishments but for his well-reasoned and authoritative arguments on issues affecting three-day eventing."  No really, I swear it says that, click on the link.  The rest of the article has some great insights from Denny. 
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