Good Morning Eventing Nation! This week has been busy week for competitions on the East Coast. The Ocala Winter II Horse Trials starts today [Live Scores, Ride Times], the Pine Top Winter II Horse Trials are running in Georgia this weekend [Ride Times], and Wednesday was the one-day event at Full Gallop Farm in Aiken, South Carolina.
Sadly but truly, I don’t have a one-eyed Olympic mascot to present to you this morning, or news from Turkmenistan, but I do have the Eventing news.
A new Veterinary School is being built in Adelaide, Australia. One of the main goals of the school and its program is to boost the local horse industry in Adelaide, that has sadly, due to geography and the current economy, been steadily declining in recent years. According to the executive director, Julie Fiedler: “Investment in high-quality people, visionary strategic planning and a genuine commitment to raise the skill and knowledge level of everyone from horse owners to equine veterinarians will reap untold benefits for our horses and our industry into the future.”
We found out on Thursday that Sven Holmberg, FEI Bureau Member and Chair of the Jumping Committee, has resigned from both positions, effective immediately. Sven was first elected as Jumping Committee Chair back in 2005 and won re-election tin 2009. As most of us remember, he was one of the candidates that ran, unsuccessfully, against Princess Haya for FEI presidency last fall. The doors over at the FEI are tightly closed, gossip of its inner workings rarely becomes public knowledge, but one has to wonder the reasons for Sven’s sudden resignation. I’d imagine that the worst part of losing an election to your boss is that you still work have to work under them. I just wonder if the Princess was exerting any princess power on Holmberg prior to his resignation.
We learned Tuesday that the 2011 Rolex Kentucky will feature the events of Dressage, Cross-Country, Show Jumping, and Reining. It will be the only “five star level” competition held in the northern hemisphere. It’s a big deal in the reining world, $50,000 is the cash prize offering. From reading the article, it sounds like much is gained for the Horse Park by co-hosting two events at the same time, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it. One of the best things about Rolex is the fans that come to watch it. The masses of people that pour into the Kentucky Horse Park that last weekend in April are all passionate about Eventing. They know the sport, they know the horses and riders, and they know what they’re watching. It can’t be forgotten that bringing in a whole new discipline will mean bringing in a whole new crowd of spectators for some of Rolex. Jack and Jill had an interesting morning
In some sad news, a charity called the Brooke is working furiously to help starving horses in Egypt. According to this article, the horses in the poor city of Cairo are used for tourism. Because their owners rely on business profits to feed them, and due to the poor economic climate, the owners are going out of business and these horses are starving. It goes to show how much we take for granted with our horses. For most of us, pinched finances means having to cut back on events, or take a few less lessons per month, or pick up a few more shifts, with the result never being that our horses starve.
