Wednesday News and Notes from SmartPak

Photo courtesy of Laura Robinson. Photo courtesy of Laura Robinson.

I’m pretty sure that we’re all getting a bit loopy by this point in the season, as demonstrated by Meaghan Marinovich’s group of riders at Heritage Park. The group dressed up as unicorns (with an extra cow and pig for variety’s sake) on their course walk. My biggest question for them is whether those onesies have booties…

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Fair Hill International CCI [Website] [Entry Status] [Order of Go]

The Event at Kelly’s Ford H.T.  [Website] [Entry Status]

Fresno County Horse Park H.T.  [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times]

Jen McFall discusses a common trait in eventers. It’s not that we’re adrenaline junkies, or insane multi-taskers. It’s that all eventers share perseverance, the ability to hit up Plan B, C, or D. To ask each other ‘What’s next?’ because we all assume that we will pick ourselves up out of the dust and try the next thing. Ultimately, that we are all as stubborn as rocks. [A Study in Perseverance]

This week in Horse & Hound’s Numbers: A horse named Eeyore has scored a 10 in a BE 90 dressage test. Overall a ten. As in, went into the jumping phases with a 10. Like, really. Give us poor sods a fighting chance. (But really, congrats on that!) #goals [Eventing in Numbers]

Hunter rider Raleigh Hiler has found success despite disability. Raleigh is almost completely deaf in her left hear and has only partial use of her right, a condition that occurred during a bout with meningitis as an infant. Now she is permitted to use a headset in the arena to hear instructions given by the announcer. She and her instructor have found workarounds to allow Raleigh to succeed in the competitive world.. [Raleigh Hiler Has Turned Disability Into Strength]

Orchid, believed to be one of the world’s oldest horses, has died. Orchid is a former broodmare suspected to be 50 years old. That’s right, half a century old. Unfortunately, due to a bout of colic, she was recently euthanized. However, her last few years have been happy ones. [One of World’s Oldest Horses Dies]

Are you starting to consider weekend activities that have nothing to do with horses? Then that might be a sign the event season is coming to an end. Horse & Hound has compiled a fairly accurate list, most of which have already started occurring to me. Thankfully, no ski injuries (yet). [13 Ways You Know Event Season is Ending]

This week on the Eventing Radio Show: New Ocala CIC3*. This week hosts Joe and Max track down Dan Jocelyn to talk Boekelo, Lauren Billys to explain the FEI points ranking system, and Sara Kozumplik-Murphy for a safety PSA regarding getting clearance from your doctor. Oh, and there’s a new CIC3* in town. [Eventing Radio Show]

SmartPak Product of the Day: If you’ve got a freshly clipped horse and a penchant for putting on blankets before it’s quite cold enough, you might have an issue with shoulder rubs. This shoulder guard will help prevent bald scapulas. [SmartPak]

Hey, let’s check out our 2014 CCI3* champion’s dressage test from last year.