Perhaps you have heard there is an event this weekend called Red Hills. The good citizenry of Tallahassee certainly has [Local Media Report #1, Local Media Report #2] In the second report, course designer Hugh Lochore points out that the course is more open: “we’ve opened it up a lot more than it has been in the past, we make more forward galloping.” Red Hills is known as one of the steepest and most windy courses in the country so I will be interested to see how he has opened it up. We will have a full arsenal of the EN Team at Red Hills, with ESJ, Samantha, Coren, myself, and possibly Annie in attendance. Dressage doesn’t start until Friday, but Thursday will be exciting with the open coaching forum and USEF training sessions. There are nearly 30 horses in the CIC3* and nearly 15 in the advanced. [Red Hills Entries]
Now for your news and notes:
Whatever you were doing this weekend, I’m going to guess it wasn’t as exciting as having your horse trailer totaled by a semi like Canadian Diana Burnett. The Ecogold blog tells the story:
“Diana Burnett’s horse trailer was hit by a tractor trailer last Friday. She was driving back from the Rocking Horse Trials in Florida when a truck on the opposite lane stopped suddenly, to avoid a previous accident, and was hit from behind. The truck lost control of his trailer which hit Diana’s truck and trailer from the side. Diana had her dog Ty with her and two horses. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.”
Obviously such an accident is overwhelming and Eventing Nation wishes Diana the best in recovering from the incident. Please show your support for Diana by posting on her Facebook Page or donating through the PayPal donation widget to Diana on the Ecogold blog. There are $2,500 in donations so far, lets see if we can double that. [Ecogold blog]
–Doug Payne’s Crown Talisman has a stress fracture but the long term prognosis is guardedly positive. This is bad news for Doug because he was looking toward taking Crown Talisman to the Pan Ams, but he still has Running Order going, who might either target the Pan Ams or a higher level event this autumn. [Doug’s blog]
–No one is more sick of the coaching mess than I am. I can’t imagine an issue that would divide eventers more than a long coaching search that some perceive to be unfair. I’m looking forward to the days when we can get back to writing about events, people, and horses rather than the USEF. But my guess is that this process is going to get more interesting before it gets sorted out.
–Top Kiwis prepare for Links horse trials [Horsetalk]
–The BLM’s latest solution for Mustangs is to use contraceptive darts [Horsetalk]
–“A donkey-cart race over 13 km was won by a competing team that managed an average speed of 43kmh” [Horsetalk]
–The Canadian training sessions have been running this week leading up to Red Hills in Tallahassee. The USEF and Mark will host training sessions this week at Red Hills leading up to the competition.
–Is it just me or have the personal blogs in eventing been really awesome over the past few months? We love linking to blogs by professionals and amateurs alike and here are a few good ones for today:
–“An Equestrian Bombardment Rocks Tallahassee” [An Eventing Affair blog]
–Riding in the rain is just rehearsing for Badminton [Golightly blog]
–A professional dressage groom’s top 10 items [Barnmice]
—USEA Member Story #10
–Moving up to advanced from a young rider’s perspective [Missy Miller]
–[Lots of Rocking Horse XC videos]
Right now we have two really fantastic contests running with our sponsors. Click here to register to win a Rolex VIP experience with P Dutty–we will also be adding an ad for the SmartPak contest in our sidebar. Click here to register to win a free iPad from Pennfield. A free trip with Phillip and a free iPad; not a bad day on EN. Also be sure to click the banner below to check out Horse Quencher’s new website. It’s amazing how many people I have spoken with since Horse Quencher started advertising with EN who have told me that they tried the product and it worked.
Lastly, here is a helmet cam that has nothing to do with horses [via G]:
That’s all for now. We don’t say it enough, but it’s an absolute pleasure to work hard every day (and night) to bring you the best possible eventing news and coverage we can. We won’t always get it right, but I can assure you that’s not from lack of effort. As always, thank you for your readership and, wherever you may be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day. Go eventing.
