Wednesday News & Notes from SmartPak

This can be yours! (For a bid somewhere in the vicinity of $250k.) Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

As a kid, it wasn’t eventing that captured my attention but horse racing. The glamour and the history drew me in and the scrappy jockeys in bright silks held my attention. I wanted nothing more in life to be a jockey, the first female jockey to win the Triple Crown and the Breeder’s Classic, and then the Dubai World Cup. Preferably on a horse I saved from the sales as a foal and then personally conditioned with the help of a crusty Hall-of-Famer trainer. Sound familiar?

National Holiday: Wave at Your Neighbor Day

On-going Events:

Full Gallop H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Pine Top Intermediate H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Ocala Winter I H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Results]

Your Wednesday News & Notes:

For the low expected final bid of $250,000, you can own the Triple Crown trophy presented to Laz Barrera. Barrera trained Affirmed to Triple Crown victory, the last to do so for almost forty years until American Pharaoh came along. The trophy is being auctioned off now online, with bidding open through February 24th. The opening bid is only $62,500…. [Triple Crown Trophy Auction]

In case you missed it, the long-awaited ERQI is available in your USEA Online Portal. CNow before you enter an event, take a moment to check out your horse’s ERQI to make sure you’re entering an appropriate level. Red means you’ve got a high risk for the level, orange is an elevated but acceptable risk, and green is good to go! [ERQI Now Available]

Not everyone makes it south for the winter, but the entries are already opening for events further north. That means an inundation of entries at dressage schooling shows and eventing derbies, a flurry of SOs asking what this charge to Event Entries is on the credit card, and riders riding through all kinds of weather now matter how unpleasant. [Eventing Season is Just Around the Corner]

SmartPak Product of the Day: As snow turns to rain, its time to go from winter overpants to rain overpants. No one wants to be riding through 40 deg storms but as the season starts, sometimes we’re forced to do things we hate. These should make it slightly more bearable. [SmartPak]