It is happening! The Best Weekend All Year is here and we’re comin’ at ya head on with everything that’s going down at the Horse Park. We have got SO MUCH KENTUCKY for you guys, fellow eventing die-hards, including:
🌟 A Glance at the 5* Combinations
🌟 The Low-down on the Runners and Riders in the 4*-S
🌟 Our Guide to What’s Happening at the Horse Park
And there’s SO MUCH MORE to come.
Yesterday it was all go on the jog strip as the 5* horses and riders trotted up for the First Horse Inspection. It wasn’t without drama (and excitement for me when I spotted my cowboy boots on one snazzily dressed, if I say so myself, rider). After a couple of potentially significant re-presentations – from Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir and Doug Payne and Quantum leap – all 35 presented horses were accepted. If you missed out on Will Faudree channeling Ken – where were you? – you can catch up on all the fashion exploits on show @goeventing and in our write-up. You know you want to!
And so onto the competition proper. First up, I’ll be bringing you every step of the 5* dressage live this afternoon from 1:30pm ET / 7:30pm CEST. The USA’s Sara Kozumplik and 5* debutant Rock Phantom will get us underway. Eyes on EN for our live blog – coming very soon!
The live updates will continue with the second half of the dressage tomorrow – from 1pm ET / 7pm CEST – and then Saturday, the best day, I’ll be with you for all of the action from both the 4* and 5* cross country, as well as the culmination of the 5* competition on Sunday – it’s going to be a nail biter, that’s for sure! Seriously, stick with EN and you won’t miss a thing.
AND THAT’S NOT ALL! We’ll have daily round-ups of every phase, cross country previews and the riders’ reactions to the course – keep it locked onto EN to keep up-to-date with all the Kentucky content you can handle. Here’s your hub for all things Kentucky. We’ve got loads of great IG content happening courtesy of our team on the ground too @goeventing.
One final reminder before we kick on, don’t forget to nominate your Kentucky #Supergroom – winners will receive a sweet grooming backpack, Achieve Equine swag, and a $50 VISA gift card to spend (because who doesn’t love cold hard cash?).
If you’re planning on watching all the awesomeness from home, here’s what you need to know: The Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event will be livestreamed on ClipMyHorse TV / USEF Network. If you don’t have a ClipMyHorse account or a USEF account, you can sign up for a FREE Fan Membership, which will give you access to the live stream at no cost. Click here to sign up. ClipMyHorse members (including those overseas) can click here to access the live stream.
Enjoy the show, and go eventing!
U.S. Weekend Preview
Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Tickets] [Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]
Horse Park of New Jersey Spring H.T. (Allentown, NJ) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Spring H.T. (Leesburg, VA) [Website] [Entries][Ride Times] [Volunteer][Scoring]
The Event at Archer Spring Fling YEH and NEH (Cheyenne, WY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
University of New Hampshire Spring H.T. (Durham, NH)[Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
International Events
Ballindenisk International (Ireland) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Timetable] [Eventing Ireland Facebook Page]
Thursday News and Reading
When it comes to cross country tips, who better to call on than seven-time Olympian (and contender in both the 4* and 5* at Kentucky) Phillip Dutton? Banks can be a daunting prospect out on course no matter what level you’re working at, for both the horse and the rider. Phillip talks through how you prepare for these tricky obstacles, how to approach them, and how to solve potential problems in this handy guide that includes photos of Phillip undertaking each stage of the process.
Behind the vertical is a topic that’s getting a lot of air time right now. Also AI. the two come together in new technology that could be useful in terms of welfare and training. Ridesum’s AI Horse Analytics is designed to objectively measure a horse’s head and neck position and provide feedback to riders via a smartphone app – think of it as a mirror that can talk, if you will. Another new technology is the TeleRein C IT, which measures rein pressure so that riders can be under no doubt over whether they’re being a bit too heavy with their hands. Clearly there’s the potential for these applications to be featured in dressage judging, with the benefits of such use fairly obvious, however the creators point out that the innovations are in no way designed to replace human judges, but could be a useful addition to their toolkit.
We all know it – the jiggy jog – that frustrating fifth gait our horses find when we’d really like them to be walking along nicely. But how do we convince our equine pals to relax when they’re so far on their toes they’d win at ballet? Here’s four trainers’ tips.
London saw terrifying scenes yesterday when Household Cavalry horses threw their riders and took off through the city. The incident happened at around 8:25am yesterday morning, when it appears that the horses became spooked, unseated their riders and then bolted. It was reported that five horses were involved in the incident. At least one rider was injured and one horse was seen to collide with a stationary vehicle. Thankfully, all of the horses were caught reasonably quickly and taken back to their base to receive veterinary attention. Please note: there are images of a horse with a lot of blood on its chest and legs included in this article.
And finally, while we’re understandably caught up with Kentucky, there are other events going on – Ballindenisk International in Ireland, for example. Here’s a bit of fun courtesy of Laura Collett, throwing it back to the time she and Holly Woodhead photobombed the prize giving – and yes, there are donkeys involved. Enjoy.
Sponsor Corner
Have you ever wanted to get insight on the 5* cross country course from another 5* eventer? Thanks to Ecogold, you now have your chance! You can watch the 5* cross country sitting right next to Caroline Pamukcu who can answer any questions you might have about the course, the riders, and their horses. Spots are extremely limited! Reserve yours here.
Video Break
Volunteers truly make the eventing world go round. So, a gentle (or shouty, whichever you prefer) reminder to show your appreciation if you’re lucky enough to be going eventing this week.
Here’s Julia Sykora Bursten – one of the many volunteers helping make Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event the best weekend all year – talking about some of the things she’ll be getting up to out on course.
