Greetings friends, how are you? I never feel like I have time to write irrelevant ridiculousness anymore–just relevant ridiculousness. Regrettable, I know. With that in mind, we have two quick stories out of Lexington this afternoon regarding the World Equestrian Games, so let’s jump right in:
1) The Lexington Herald Leader is reporting that WEG organizers have sent a cease and desist letter to the International Equestrian Festival that accuses the IEF of ‘ambush marketing.’ The IEF is an equine expo that will be held in downtown lexington (about 15 minutes from the Kentucky Horse Park) during the Games. Joe Terry, a well respected lawyer and member of the WEG Foundation’s board, said that the letter asked the IEF to stop “attempting to market their event using the Games as a marketing feature.” The Games are a big economic opportunity for many businesses, and the question here is about whether the IEF is overusing the WEG brand. There’s no doubt that the IEF wouldn’t happen without the WEGs, so the situation is obviously complicated.
2) LEX18, which is the best bad local news station in Lexington, reports that the WEGs are offering a 30 percent discount on select ticket sales from July 15th to September 6th. Dressage, endurance, eventing, jumping, and reining tickets from early sessions are available at the discount. There will be no refund of previously purchased tickets, but, if you don’t have tickets, this is a great chance to get some. If you already have tickets, get your friends and family on board. Last month, we reported that WEG ticket sales were 55% below expectations. Click here to buy tickets.
3) Continuing the slow but noticeable trend to clone top sport horses, TheHorse.com reported yesterday that the French lab Cryozootech has successfully cloned Top Gun La Sillia, a successful show jumper from the 90’s. The gelding Top Gun died in 2005, and, after years of cloning attempts, his progeny was born on March 16 and is called Top Gun Cryozootech. No word yet on the little guy’s jumping form, but his name is ridiculous enough to make him a great show jumper. Technology inevitably gets more reliable/cheaper with time, and, as that happens with cloning, expect to see much more cloning soon. Next up: Northern Spy Cryozootech
4) Pegasus44 has sent in a link to live feed from the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen that also includes archived video during the night in Germany. The website has footage of many FEI disciplines, but mostly I just like to see the venue and hear the announcers speak in German. Dressage always looks better with a German announcer.
5) British scientists are now convinced that the chicken came before the egg. What’s the big deal? I could have told them that a while ago.
Lastly, be sure to stay tuned to Eventing Nation for a couple of fun contests with great prizes that we are panning over the next couple of days. Tonight, lec will have a report on the interesting WEG team selections by British Eventing. 50% of voters in our weekly poll think Great Britain is the favorite to win the WEGs–really?? Go eventing.
