This weekend introduced the return to Plantation Field and the Pennsylvania welcomed the winter migrants home as only Pennsylvania can. The picture pretty much says it all. There was rain, then there was mud, and then the cross-country was canceled on Sunday. Phillip Dutton won the open intermediate with Ben, Sally Cousins finished four horses in the top 8, and a fantastic young writer and rider named Abbie won the JYOP.
–Congratulations to Leslie Law and Rehy Lux for their CCI2* victory at the Ocala Three-Day. Becky Holder and Can’t Fire Me finished second. Both of those horses needed the CCI2* qualification and I expect we’ll see them putting the qualification to good use soon.
–Robin Walker and Florenz won the CCI1* in Ocala. Robin hails from the Michigan eventing scene and you probably recognize his name because he typically rides a bunch of horses at the shows. Buck Davidson was second in the CCI1* and I’d like to wish Buck a good trip to England.
–At St. Johns horse trials in Arizona, Ella Algermissen and Buckwheat won the Junior Training, Frederic Bouland and Scotty won the Open Training, and Paige Dinnie won the Senior Training with Just Jack.
–RIver Glen day 2 report [Wylie eventing]
—Eventing etiquette for dummies from River Glen
–Even if you were busy frolicking in the mud all weekend, you surely still heard that David was recommended for the US coaching job by the Eligible Anthletes and High Performance Committee. I’m not sure that this decision surprised anyone, but I do feel the situation was a lot closer than a lot of people might think and I give a ton of credit to all of the candidates.
—Watch a slideshow of top hunter rider nearly fall off, hang on to nice braids
–The Rolex entry list is 6 horses smaller than it was 10 days ago. William Fox-Pitt withdrew two of his rides, as expected. Hawley withdrew Ginny because they are in England for Badminton. Polly Stockton withdrews Westwood Mariner, Frankie Thieriot scratched Fric Frac Berence, and Mark Todd substituted Grass Valley for Majro Milestone [Rolex Entries]
–The word is that William Fox Pitt has decided to take Navigator to Badminton, rather than Rolex, so we can probably take Navigator’s name off the entry list as well. William has Cool Mountain, Navigator, and Seacookie still entered at Badminton and once again he will be one of the favorites to win both 4*’s this spring, even with only one horse at Rolex. [via Ecogold]
–I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to count down the hours until the start of Badminton on Thursday. We haven’t received any word on whether the snapping turtle in the water complex has found another home, but I am optimistic. Samantha leaves tomorrow for England and we will have a combination of daily competition reports as well as all of Samantha’s coverage.
–Samantha has been busy on her blog from beautiful Lexington, Kentucky over the weekend before her trip. [Springtime in Kentucky, Sunday at Masterson Station]
—Steph and Ollie have arrived happily and safely at Maizey Manor Farm
–Andrew Nicholson chats on the Badminton blog:
–In your daily dose of “idiots on horseback,” two Russian prisoners fled from jail on horseback. Apparently they got away but then were caught after they switched to a car and then crashed into a ditch. [Horsetalk]
That’s all for now. Stay tuned throughout the day for all of your eventing news, results, and ridiculous commentary. As always, wherever you might be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day.
