Famous event horse breeder and founder of Welton Stud, Sam Bar passed away over the weekend. Mr. Barr was 90 years old and lived an incredible life of service to eventing. Mr. Barr bred numerous incredible event horses, including Wilton Envoy who won Rolex with Blyth Tait in 2000 on Mr. Barr’s 80th birthday. Perhaps more incredible than his breeding accomplishments is that Sam Barr started eventing when he was 50 years old. And get this–he made his debut at Burghley in 1984 when he was 64 years young. Mr. Barr’s funeral will be held at 2pm on May 10th at Hartpury Church and then back at the family’s farm. For anyone who wishes to make a donation in Sam’s memory please donate to Riding for the Disabled, click here for more information. [USEA, BE a hero today]
And now for your eventing news and notes, as some would call them…
–Can you believe that it’s almost time for Jersey Fresh? The horses will head to Jersey Tuesday for the competition next weekend. Jersey is a great event and of course we’ll be on scene to bring you all of the action. [Jersey Entries]
–But first, there is a busy weekend of events here in the US and around the world. The USEA events this weekend include Poplar, the Weatherford and Greenwood Farm CIC2*/CIC*, the NWEC Mothers Day Classic, Spring HT at the Ark, MCTA, Difficult Run, and King Oak.
–Frank Ostholt’s impressive horse Mr. Medicott has suffered a setback in his quest for London. Mr. Medicott injured his knee in a recent fall with Frank and they will miss 12 weeks. Frank said on his blog that they hope to pick up the qualification for London at Pau, and otherwise they will gear up for Badminton next year. [Frank’s blog via BP]
–As an aside, Eventing Nation broke its traffic records Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday during Rolex. We nearly hit 20,000 visits on Saturday, which nearly crashed the site. It’s amazing and humbling how quickly Eventing Nation has grown and I for one feel a lot of pressure to find fun new ways to serve our readers.
—Sports figures with horses [via SF]
–Remember our April Fools joke with the Snapping Turtle in the Badminton Lake? In an eerily similar story that I swear isn’t made up, Burghley recently had a crayfish problem in their lake. I quote from the official Burghley newsletter, forward to me by Beth Collier:
“As part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations, a brand new water complex will feature on the cross-country course this year. After several environmental surveys it transpired that the Lake is home to many white-clawed crayfish – a protected species – and re-locating an army of these little crustaceans was no mean feat. Clerk of the Course, Philip Herbert, can now add ‘crayfish catching’ to his CV! The crayfish have now been safely re-located, allowing a causeway to and from the island in the middle of the lake to be constructed and work has now begun in earnest to build the fence on the island.”
Oh, and Burghley is coming out with an iPhone app.
–Diana Burnett explains in this video from Ecogold that she decided to withdraw Manny before the cross-country because he had slight filling in his leg. She said it looked fine on ultrasounds, but Canadian Team vet Dr. Ober suggested not to run on less than ideal footing. I give Diana credit for putting the horse first and we look forward to seeing them out again soon.
—Badminton Relapse: Horse and Country’s Badminton rider interviews
—Best of the Blogs: Chelan’s update on Cal
—The World’s leading riders will compete at Chatsworth [BE]
–I have gotten 3 emails in the last few days about bunny jumping, so here’s a video to cure Eventing Nation apparently insatiable appetite for cuddly bunnies jumping [Photos via JS]:
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for all of your Thursday eventing news, commentary, and ridiculousness. As always, wherever you might be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day.
