Thursday News & Notes from Kentucky Equine Research

Hurricane Joaquin: levels of craziness. For real, you guys.

Hurricane Joaquin: levels of craziness. For real, you guys.

Sadly, I will not be joining all of you looking to drown at Morven Park this weekend. While it is usually one of my staple events, two of my best friends from high school are getting married to each other this weekend, and I will be sporting a fancy dress and some (no shame) straight up golden glittery Cinderella status heels. Joaquin is not on the guest list, and we have made preparations to keep him from the festivities. Saturday night, when I am twirling and glittering, I’ll have a glass of champagne for the riders slogging through the flood in their Dubarry boots 😉

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Kent School Fall H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times]

Morven Park Fall CIC & H.T.  [Website] [Entry Status]

WindRidge Farm Fall H.T.  [Website]

ESDCTA New Jersey H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times]

Woodside International CIC & H.T.  [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times]

Spokane Sport Horse Farm Fall H.T.  [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times]

News From Around the Globe:

Popular four-star eventer Ben Hobday is done with his first round of chemo, and back home on the farm. The 27-year-old revealed in July that he has cancer, and was completely overwhelmed with support from the equestrian community. He completed Burghley last year and Badminton this year on the incredible Clydesdale x TB gelding Mulry’s Error, and has a ridiculously uplifting and amazing social media presence. #yehboi! [Ben Hobday Back Home from Chemo]

Up and coming British equestrians were treated to a behind-the-scenes look at performance horse research at the Royal Veterinary College this week. About 25 individuals from the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme were able to see first hand the work that farriers and veterinarians are putting in to the support of performance horses, and how they are working towards more knowledge of how the mechanics of a sport horse work. Researchers at the lab gave demonstrations into some of their current research projects, focusing on maintaining soundness and performance in performance horses. I want to go! [Riders Get Inside View of Sport Horse Science]

The competition for America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred is right around the corner! With the Breeder’s Cup coming to Kentucky for the first time in history, the opening act for the Breeders’ Cup Festival is the much-anticipated TCA Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, a three-day long event running October 23-25 at the Kentucky Horse Park featuring seminars, demonstrations and the weekend’s premier event, the Thoroughbred Makeover, in which nearly 200 horse and rider combinations will compete for their share of $100,000 in cash and prizes and the title of “America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred.” [OTTB Showcase Coming to Kentucky]

Get that application in for your Worth The Trust Scholarship! Today is the last day! The $3,000 Amateur Young Adult Scholarship is available for riders between the ages of 16 and 25, while the $2,000 Adult Amateur Scholarship is available for Eventers 26 and up. Learning to officiate or working with a course designer, Technical Delegate, judge, veterinarian, etc. are also appropriate uses of the scholarship, with the approval of the scholarship panel. [Worth The Trust Scholarships from USEA]

Educational Video of the Day: Michael Eilberg Introduced Collection in the Canter

Daily Dose of Adorable: Cuicui, the Tinies Horse in Poland

KER CLockit Session of the Week:

If you think KER ClockIt is only for upper-level riders or fast works, think again—the data’s useful for riders of any level, riding at any speed. This week’s featured session is a comparison of two horses on a hunter pace team. They spent most of the session trotting, but you can see a big difference in their response to the task!

 Horse A is a 5-year-old Irish Sport Horse. He’s in full training (think two-a-days) and competes Novice. Horse B is a 6-year-old pony who’s ridden occasionally (think two-a-week) and goes Starter. Other than a few different fence options in the middle, they were going the same pace around. Horse A’s average heart rate for the overall session was 74.9, while Horse B was 99.

What does this mean? Horse A’s in great shape for the work required here. Horse B needs to do some more sets!

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Galway fever!