5 Reasons to Love the Wellington Eventing Showcase Livestream

Live feed from each phase of the Wellington #EventingShowcase? Check. Color commentary from good friends of EN Dom and Jimmie Schramm? Check. There’s plenty to love about this weekend’s live stream, but let’s break it down.

1. The Distraction.

Let’s face it: it’s Friday … not a whole lot of work was going to get done anyway, am I right? And what better way to provide yourself a little bit of distraction than virtually transporting yourself down to Wellington with some of the best eventers in the world? The sight of palm trees and beautifully turned out horses is a great way to beat the winter blues no matter where you are or what you’re up to: stuck at work, stuck in class, or holding down the fort at the barn.

2. The Commentary.

We all know and love Dom and Jimmie Schramm from the hit YouTube series Evention TV. It may not be the most technical commentary out there — Dom himself admitted, “If you want to know facts, don’t ask us to commentate” — but I absolutely give it a perfect 10 for entertainment value! This eventing power couple obviously has great chemistry and had me laughing at my desk as they quipped back and forth.

#eventingshowcase !!

A photo posted by Schrammo (@domschramm) on Feb 5, 2016 at 5:02am PST

As event riders themselves they also personally have the inside scoop on many of the riders that were competing; just ask Dom about Boyd Martin’s lucky rooster shirt or ask Jimmie about Jennie Brannigan’s motorbike. Plus, you never know who else they might rope into sitting behind the microphone! Listeners were also treated to some guest commentary by USEF Eventing Selection Committee Chair Bobby Costello.

One of my absolute favs Bobby Costello commentating in my place for a little bit! Love this guy! #Wellingtonshowcase #roc

A photo posted by Jimmie Schramm (@jimmiehschramm) on Feb 5, 2016 at 10:02am PST

3. The Interaction.

Throughout the stream, Dom kept up with Twitter and encouraged all the listeners and watchers to interact via social media. Listeners were tweeting in using #EventingShowcase and sharing fun facts and giving the grooms some love.

 

Dom also asked folks to tweet where they were watching the livestream from and discovered that people were tuning in from all around the globe.

 

4. The Soundtrack.

Someone needs to high-five whoever selected the songs for the playlist that was on in the background of the livestream because it stole the show at times with its 90’s flashbacks. My personal favorites included hearing “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen as well as “Taking Care of Business” as Marilyn Little and RF Demeter were in the court — somehow “Taking Care of Business” feels like an appropriate sound track to our beloved first phase …

 

We also discovered that N’Sync appears to be a favorite of EN readers everywhere:

 

5. The Exposure.

The Wellington Eventing Showcase is just that: exposure for the sport of eventing. Exposure and accessibility are some of the things that our sport needs in order to help it stay relevant, and live streams help to further that. Whether you’re a hunter/jumper rider competing at WEF and you’ve stopped by to see what the fuss is or you’ve just been busted by a coworker wondering what you’re watching at your desk — it’s getting new eyes on the sport.

I think Dom said it very well, actually, so allow me to paraphrase him: “They’re not trying to make it the bees-knees, end all be all, best three-star in the country … They’re just trying to breathe some new life into the sport and bring in some new blood and increased interest and excitement to it.”

So thanks Dom and Jimmie for brightening up my Friday; thanks Mark Bellissimo and all the organizers for bringing eventing to the masses; and thanks Chronicle of the Horse for the live stream so that we can join in the fun!

Go Eventing.