Badminton will hold a retirement ceremony for Tamarillo on the final day of competition as a tribute to William Fox-Pitt’s fabulous horse. The Anglo-Arab “Tam” got his start as a show horse (go figure). Fortunately for us all, the insanely athletic Tam found his way to Wiliiam Fox-Pitt. Tam’s career included a 2nd at Badminton twice, a victory at Badminton in 2004, a victory at Burghley in 2008, and 2nd at the European Championships in 2005. Tamarillo had several untimely injuries that prevented him from fulfilling William’s Olympic goals, including having to withdraw from Athens after a stifle injury. Tam was always one of my favorite horses because of his incredible athleticism. Tamarillo has not competed since ’09. [Badminton blog]
–Morning Update: The COTH’s Sara Lieser on Eurodressage
–There is bad news from the show jumping world as McLain Ward’s beautiful mare Sapphire is injured for the year with a strained check ligament in her right front. I had a horse do a check once and in my experience it was not a big deal relative to other ligament injuries. Checks do better when the horse stays lightly active and I believe the ligament is even sometimes cut cleanly without complications in a minor surgical procedure if it keeps acting up. Sapphire is 16 and should have one more good shot at that international gold in London. [COTH]
—Photos from Gatcombe last weekend
–In some sad news from the Thoroughbred world, Zenyatta is no longer in foal. A diary post on the Lane’s End website announced that they checked Zenyatta for pregnancy on Tuesday and found that she is no longer in foal. Zenyatta is expected to be bred to Bernardini again next week. [Paulick Report]
Remember this photo?
–The USEF’s Eligible Athletes Committee met Tuesday night. As we wrote last week, the committee members have all signed confidentiality agreements. So, chances are that we will hear about what came of the meeting next from the USEF. Hopefully that will be later today. One big question from the meeting is whether the Eligible Athletes wish to consider more candidates than the Search Committee put on the short list.
–The always classy Caroline Powell has donated a trophy for New Zealand’s national Junior Championships [Horsetalk]
—Kristin Schmolze’s latest Badminton blog
—Meet Gwendolen Fer on her road to Badminton (hint: say ‘Bonjour’)
–Mary King will be competing in the 100-mile endurance horse race in Exmoor on May 16th. The race is known as the toughest endurance race in Europe. A 15 year old girl, Abby Chisholm, from Lydford will guide Mary through the first part of the journey. Chisholm said, in perhaps an understatement: “I am over the moon that I will be able to ride with her.” [BBC]
—A saddle fitter’s perspective
—Best of the Blogs: The frustration of looking for good lower level cross-country courses
–Today’s TOTD bonus item is an eventing calendar, only available until noon [TOTD]
–The SmartPak VIP Rolex trip with PDutty is closing soon. Remember to vote early and vote often. [SmartPak]
So this is how you dougie:
[via Allie Conrad]
That’s all for now. Stay tuned throughout the day for the latest eventing news and commentary, and something makes me feel like we might have something later about the coaching search so stay close. Wherever you may be, thanks for making EN part of your day. Stay classy Eventing Nation.
