23 Events, 13 States, 6 Countries, 3 Continents: A Year in the Life of Chinch

Photo by Leslie Wylie. Photo by Leslie Wylie.

We put EN’s furry correspondent through a lot in 2015.

To recount just a few of his misadventures, he was groped by gold medalists, kidnapped by national champions, stuffed into trophies, carried on victory gallops, dangled upside down by USEA presidents, concealed in Toddy’s top hat, snuggled by team coaches, strapped onto stick horses, strangled by FEI stewards, wet-willied by dogs, force-fed booze, abandoned on the backs of donkeys, left for dead in buckets of beer, given the stink-eye by people who just don’t get it, dressed in ridiculous outfits, eaten alive by cross-country jumps, pitched into trakehners, perched between horses’ ears, carried around in beer cartons, driven out of his job by a hedgehog, propped up at press conferences and mobbed by fans.

And throughout it all, we shamelessly pimped him out on social media, exploiting his complete and total inability to defend himself against our paparazzi tactics. Because, you know, he’s a stuffed animal.

Over the course of 23 events dispersed across six countries and three continents he racked up approximately 10 gazillion SkyMiles, all of which we intend to cash in when we fly him all over God’s green earth all over again in 2016.

As a bit of closure for the year that was, let’s take a moment to look back at Chinch’s 2015 travels. You can zoom in and out of this map to see which events he attended and where, and we rounded up an Instagram post from each event below.

Wellington Eventing Showcase (Wellington, Florida)

Who will take home the blue at the inaugural $50,000 Wellington Eventing Showcase?

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Red Hills International (Tallahassee, Florida)

Chinch gets some love from the leading ladies of #RedHillsIntl A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Carolina International (Raeford, North Carolina)

Zoe’s Bank should ride very nicely for the #carolinaCIC 3*

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

The Fork (Norwood, North Carolina)

3* show jumping is underway at #thefork A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Rolex Three-Day Event (Lexington, Kentucky)

Future EN Party People of America. #goeventing #rk3de

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Jersey Fresh (Allentown, New Jersey)

Chinch is signing autographs in the #jerseyfresh VIP tent if anyone wants to stop by to say hello! A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Bromont CCI (Bromont, Quebec)

Le Chinch… VIP wherever he goes. #bromontcci #goeventing

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Luhmühlen CCI4* (Luhmühlen, Germany)

Great Meadow International (The Plains, Virginia)

We’re under the lights at #LandRoverGMI!

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

NAJYRC (Lexington, Kentucky)

Pan Am Games (Toronto, Ontario)

It’s go time #PanAmGames

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Event at Rebecca Farm (Kalispell, Montana)

Well he’s a little up the neck but he seems confident…ish. #crosscountryChinch #RebeccaFarm A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Millbrook H.T. (Millbrook, New York)

@bdjeventing celebrates the #MillbrookHT win with Chinch!

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Aquece Rio Olympic Test Event (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Straight chinchillin’ down here in Rio. #olympictestevent #rio2016 #1yeartogo A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Nations Cup (Aachen, Germany)

EN is under the lights at #Aachen2015!

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Richland Park H.T. (Richland, Michigan)

“Chinches of the Corn” #richlandpark #chinchstagram #goeventing A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on


Plantation Field International (Unionville, Pennsylvania)

American Eventing Championships (Tyler, Texas)

Everything is bigger in Texas. #AEC15 #chinchstagram A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Military Boekelo CCI3* (Boekelo, The Netherlands)

Sheep #1: Dude, what is that thing? Sheep #2: I dunno, man. I just don’t know. #chinchbomb #chinchstagram #Boekelo

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Fair Hill International (Elkton, Maryland)

Pau CCI4* (Pau, France)

Still life with Le French Chinch. #chinchstagram #pau2015

A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

USEA Annual Meeting and Convention (Washington, DC)

Chinch is in the house at the USEA Convention! Stay tuned all weekend for EN’s coverage #useaconvention A photo posted by Eventing Nation (@goeventing) on

Where will Chinch’s world travels take him in 2016? Keep up by following EN on Instagram at goeventing!

Go Eventing.