Wednesday News & Notes from SmartPak

Working students in the wild have been known to search out sources of warmth in the winter months. Photo via Destination Farm FB page.

For the first time in my eventing career, I will be competing at the very first horse trials of the year, which happens to be held at Stable View this year. Originally my plan was to ride through New Year’s but the arctic temps and frozen ground thwarted that. Now I’m headed down to Aiken this weekend to take a spin on my squid so we can try not to embarrass ourselves running Novice. Turning is hard when you’re 17.1 hands worth of legs.

National Holiday: Fruitcake Toss Day

U.S. Weekend Preview:

One more week…

Your Wednesday News & Notes:

Margaret Hough made history when she became the first woman to win Badminton. At a time when men still looked down on women for not just competing but daring to be competitive, Margaret Hough and Bambi V dared to take the title in 1954. Margaret passed away peacefully at the age of 86. [First Female Badminton Winner Dies]

We’ve heard from some of the American riders but the Brits have big goals too. Oliver Townend, Laura Collett, and Izzy Taylor all have promising young horses and all have a similar goal: Badminton then WEG. [New Years Resolutions]

Judges wanted! If you’ve ever thought about becoming a dressage judge (or more importantly, need to escape the cold), you can still sign up for the Dressage Session I Training Program in Ocala from January 29 to February 1. The deadline has been extended to January 10. [Deadline Extended]

SmartPak Product of the Day: I ventured out from my normal boot brand this fall after wearing out too many pairs too quickly and was extremely pleased when these Mountain Horse field boots arrived. I’ve gotten quite a few compliments on their looks so far and they had almost no break in time! [SmartPak]