The Cottesmore Leap, photo courtesy of Nico Morgan
Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to Wednesday. It’s that time of the week (at least for all of those that competed over the past weekend) that you’ve finally finished reorganizing your equipment from the past weekend, done the last load of laundry, caught up on the last of your missed phone calls, and then sigh when you realize you only have two days to get ready for the next event to do it all over again, a routine which has become the name of the game in the spring season in the South it seems. Even if you aren’t competing back to back weekends, I’m sure many of you can relate to the similar feeling of the perpetual To Do List. Whether it’s people to call, errands to run, cleaning to do, my to do list just never seems to get any shorter. Oh well, I guess it’s better to be busy than bored, you know the old saying, “An idle mind is the Devil’s workshop.”
Anyway, enough of my random aside, let’s get back to the news at hand.
Phillip and Evie Dutton have just announced that they will be hosting their fourth annual Olympic Gala on Friday March 16th, to benefit the US High Performance squad with a portion of the proceeds going to the USET Foundation. The Gala will be held at the Bridle Creek Training Facility in Aiken. Tickets are 55 dollars, and can be purchased here. [COTH]
For your daily fix of royal news, Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall and wife of Prince Charles, has opened two facilities at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences in Langford, England. Word has it that Camilla, who partnered with several friends to form the ‘Langford Trust’, dropped over five million dollars on the buildings and the start-up equipment, but she could be pooling in even more cash in the next few months to outfit the two hospitals with the latest and greatest in diagnostic equipment. Nice philanthropy, huh! [Horsetalk]
Last week it was announced that Robert Ridland will be stepping in as the US Show Jumping Team’s Chef d’ Equipe after the prolific George Morris retires at the end of this year. The Chronicle caught up with Robert for an interview, and although I honestly knew next to nothing about Ridland before reading the interview, I’ll have a great deal of respect for him if he leads his team by the principles he preached in the article. Ridland seems like the quiet, intellectual type, who’s focus is not just on the next two years, or four years, but rather on sustainability of the show jumping program on a long term scale. Sustainability is something the great coaches always strive for because it’s really the final test of a program. No matter how successful a program has been in the short term, it’s much less meaningful if it can’t sustain the same result without a select few riders and horses, and a coach serving as the puppeteer behind it all. We’ll have to wait and see once George finally takes his spurs off, but Ridland seems to have all the qualities to be the next great leader. [COTH]
The FEI Bureau may be suspending the International Dressage Riders Club from association with the FEI after a disagreement has lead them to stating that the Club has an “apparent lack of respect for the fundamental principles of good governance”. I guess the issue stems from the leaders of the IDRC removing two members from their elected positions within the IDRC after the club passed a new Statute at last year’s General Assembly, “which allowed the IDRC General Assembly to remove IDRC members without an opportunity to be heard. The new Statutes had not been provided to members in advance of the General Assembly, nor had they been finalised at the time of the General Assembly,” the FEI said. After several polite attempts from the FEI to the Club, asking them nicely to reinstate the exiled members, to which they received no response, the FEI has decided to take stronger action and suspend the organization in it’s entirety. Those Dressage Queens can sure get a bit hot headed from time to time, let’s hope the conflicts between the two get resolved at some point soon in the future. [Horsetalk]
Horse and Hound published a great article discussing Insurance and liability claims involving horses. According to the article, Riding schools are coming under liability lawsuits more now than ever before, which is a testament to the fact that more people are riding than ever before. Insurance companies have even started to seek out riders with advertisements stating things like, “Injured on your horse? Was the hack poorly supervised? You may be entitled to compensation; click now to find out for free in 30sec. No win, no fee.” Insurance companies are capitalizing on the fact that horses are unpredictable by nature, so if you are a riding instructor, barn owner, of someone otherwise involved in the horse business, 2012 may be the perfect time to look into your legal protection. You never know when someone may take you to court over an accident, and that release you scribbled out on the back of an old napkin before your student had her lesson probably isn’t going to cut it. [Horse and Hound]
Laine Ashker wrote a great blog discussing everything from her pole dancing fitness class, to riding in the Make a Wish Charity Event for the third year in a row, to the cows at Pine Top that caused her top horse ‘Al’ or Anthony Patch, to have heart palpitations during his Dressage test. Oh and she’s also got a new dog(s), a stray mother with puppies on the side of Highway 19. Laine’s blog
Now for a public service announcement from our good friend Lesley Law: Law Eventing is seeking a working student to start mid-April in Ocala, Florida. Interested persons need to be over the age of 18, have a vehicle, be a fairly confident rider (strong training level or up) with a few years of experience with show horses and be able to commit to a term of at least six months. Students are expected to work six days a week and the hours can be very long during the peak show season months. Please email Lesley if interested: [email protected]
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Wednesday, I’ll catch you later!
From our friends at Horse Quencher: You carefully manage every part of your athlete’s preparation, why leave one of the most critical components to chance? Every cell in the body needs proper hydration to perform to their highest ability, and as we all know, horses can be awfully finicky about drinking, especially when they’re keyed up, ready to compete. Train your horses to drink when you want them to with Horse Quencher.As Chester Weber, 9-time consecutive four-in-hand USA national champion, says “This is the product I never knew I needed, until I tried it. Now, we don’t leave the driveway without it.”
Good Morning Eventing Nation! Well the EN Server face lift didn’t quite get finished last night, so we’ll just have to live with one more day of Movable Type. MT and I haven’t been the very best of friends over the past eighteen months. You see the relationship started out fine, but once the honeymoon period was over, his annoying habit of losing entire posts, (or ones I was almost finished with) and general glitchiness got old pretty quickly. Consider this farewell, Movable Type. Someone may miss you when you’ve gone, it just won’t be me.
Moving away from the Movable Type saga, let’s get back to the task at hand: the morning news.
Did you know 2012 marks the 100 year anniversary of Eventing as an Olympic sport? I didn’t realize that until the British Eventing website kindly pointed it out yesterday. We’ve come along way since that first Olympics in Stockholm, because if we could take a time capsule back to that Stockholm Games, we’d find a sport that only bears a very slight resemblance to the one we compete in today. The Eventing competition at the Stockholm Games was contested over five days with the first being a cross country test, the last being the dressage competition, and the three days in between filled with a rest day, steeplechase, and a show jumping test. So the London Olympics, besides everything else they stand for and represent, will be a pretty special part of history for our sport. [British Eventing]
Tina Cook and Miner’s Frolic were successful in their quest for Olympic Qualification at Ballindenisk in Ireland this past weekend. When I wrote about Miner’s Frolic and his series of complicated injuries and illnesses last year, I honestly thought it was the last I’d be writing of him. He came very close to death last summer after suffering an adverse reaction to an antibiotic, in the process losing every inch of muscle tone and condition he’d had as a top level event horse, becoming so weak that he could barely walk. It really is a miracle that he’s made such a complete recovery in a relatively short period of time since the antibiotic reaction. He’s an amazing horse paired with a top class rider, I wish them the best of luck in their Olympic pursuit this Spring. [Horse and Hound]
I want to extend a belated congrats to EN friend Andy Bowles for being appointed event organizer for Colorado horse park. Thanks to Franke Thieriot for the tip and congratulations Andy!
Have you been following the Retired Racehorse Training Challenge? It concluded over the weekend at the PA Horse Expo, where Eric Dierks and Brazilian Wedding emerged victorious. According to the reports, Tiffany Catledge and Kerry Blackmer did a nice job with their horses as well, but as with everything, there can only be one winner. Congratulations to everyone involved in the Racehorse Challenge, especially Stuart Pittman for organizing the series, riders, horses, and everyone else involved in the challenge. [COTH]
As the Olympics draw nearer by the day, everyone is scrambling to get their qualifiers in. The cutoff date in March 1st. According to an article from Horsetalk, “Ireland is almost certain to have two show jumping riders and two eventing riders qualified {For the Olympics}” While not a whole team, sending individuals is better than sending no one, and it looks like Ireland will be doing just that. [Horsetalk]
One more Olympic note before moving on to more real world news: Bill Steinkraus has been nominated to the United States Olympic Committee Hall of Fame! We need to rally together and vote him into the Hall of Fame, as this man has had more of an influence on show jumping and anyone in the last 75 years. He is an Idol to many, including myself, and deserves to be in that Hall of Fame. So please vote, spread the word to vote, get your mom to vote, and do whatever we can to elect Mr. Steinkraus into the USOC Hall of Fame. [HN]
Nina Ligon is enjoying a short, well earned vacation in Bangkok before returning home to continue her Olympic pursuit. [Nina Ligon]
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope you’re having a great weekend. There isn’t a whole lot going on today, other than the events taking place of course. On that note, we’d once again like to extend our deepest condolences to Megan Moore, who lost her long time partner yesterday during the Advanced cross country at Pine Top. Preliminary investigations have revealed that it was most likely an aneurysm that caused the Grasshopper’s death. What a terrible thing to have happen, especially to a horse Megan was so close to.
There are two international events running this weekend, the scores can be visited below:
Good Morning Eventing Nation! The only USEA event this weekend is a big one–Pine Top in Thompson, GA. Pine Top has the perfect combination of good footing, good courses anda good weekend date to attract a full house of top horses as they prepare for their big spring three day. Pine Top has certainly not been blessed with the greatest weather so far this weekend; riders yesterday had to cope with severe rain, thunderstorms, and lightning for their dressage tests but thankfully, the forecast for today is looking much sunnier.
Here are the Live Scores, which are summarized below:
Adv-1 1. Michael Pollard (Schoensgreen Hanni) 29.4 2T. Michael Pollard (Icarus III) 30.3 2T. Becky Holder (Courageous Comet) 30.3
Adv-2 1. Michael Pollard (Jude’s Law) 24.4 2T. Michael Pollard (DV8) 29.7 2T. Heather Morris (Slate River) 29.7
Adv-3 1. Michele Mueller (Amistad) 33.1 2. Danielle Dichting (The Graduate) 35.3 3. Devon Brown (Dynamic Image) 37.2
Well Eventing Nation, it’s that time of the month again, so put your thinking caps on, ready your keyboard, and get ready to rank the best horses and riders in North America. In case you haven’t been keeping fully up to date with all the High Performance happenings, I’ll fill you in on the latest. We already have the votes in from the EN panelists and all that remains is to gather our votes. The panelists have a chance to make nominations for additions to the list and you can make your suggestions in the comment section.
We’d like to make a very special welcome to our EN Power Ranking’s new official sponsor, SmartPak. We want this ranking to be a fun look at North America’s top and rising eventing stars and we are very proud to partner with SmartPak in this endeavor.
This month we are introducing the Canadian short-listers to the Power Ranking after receiving a few emails from Canadian fans asking to be included in the fun. It seemed only fair as the Canadians are just as much a part of the website and Eventing community as the Americans are.
Many of the High Performance squad horses had their first run of the season last weekend at either the Ocala HT in Florida or Pine Top in Georgia. Check out the results below:
At Pine Top, Becky Holder had a great weekend on not one, but two, great grey horses. Phillip was knocking at the door to win the Intermediate 1 division, but Becky held on to the lead and Phillip managed a second, third, fourth, and seventh in that division aboard Ben, William Penn, Mighty Nice, and Fernhill Eagle. Phillip was also second in another intermediate division on his new ride Mystery Whisper. The big names not in attendance at Pine Top last weekend were Boyd’s top horses, Neville, Ying Yang Yo, and Otis. Those horses have been busy though, between training sessions with Bettina Hoy, Mark, and I’m sure the occasional tune-up from Silva.
At Ocala, Mr. Medicott was second in the OI-A division. Hannah Burnett had Harbour Pilot in that division as well, although she withdrew before the jumping phases after scoring a 35.9 in the dressage that left them in ninth place– slightly higher that what we’d expect from William and Hannah after their consistently low scores all last year.
Clark won the OI-B division, while Selena O’Hanlon was second on the veteran Colombo. Buck left Ballynoecastle at home last weekend but he did bring out the Apprentice to do a combined test- scoring a 30 on the flat and jumping a clear show jumping round. Canadian Kendal Lehari was also in that division with Daily Edition, she had a somewhat average dressage test (42.8) but as always went on to jump two very clear rounds.
Rocking Horse II was contested over the weekend of Feb 18-19 and saw some high performance pairs in action. Karen O’Connor and Mr. Medicott finished 2nd in the Advanced-A Division behind MLM and RF Demeter. A few horses just did the dressage, or a combined test– such as Sinead and Tate, Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master, and MLM and Rovano Rex. [results]
So with all that said, let’s start naming our picks! Remember, you can vote for five of the combinations you feel are the most excellent, and have the highest chance for success in 2012. As always, feel free to comment on your selections!
This week’s ears photo was taken by a couple of my friends back in Minnesota. They’ve had a record winter this year, with exceedingly mild temperatures and a lack of the six foot tall snow drifts that anyone who lives in Minnesota comes to expect at this time of year. Thanks for submitting guys, and as always, thank you for reading! If you’d like to submit your ears photo, please send it along with a caption describing it to: [email protected].
Hey Annie!
This has been the best winter ever in Minnesota! Today we went for a trail ride in the field behind Rolling Hills today and Maura said I should take a picture for you! We’re having a blast pretending we’re in a warmer climate even if we couldn’t make the trip south this year! We all have our fingers crossed that the snows stays away 🙂
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope your weekend has been pleasant thus far! It’s a busy morning for Eventing, with four events taking place across the country. My apologies for forgetting to link to the live scores yesterday morning; I’m not sure how I forgot to add the most relevant part of the weekend links to the post, but I managed to do so nevertheless. So here are your live scores for all of the events taking place this weekend!
It has been a bad few days for collar bones. EN wants to give a big ‘get well soon’ to Jessica Hampf, who fell off and broke her collar bone show jump schooling at the barn in Aiken on Saturday. Like Buck, she is scheduled to have surgery in Nashville, TN on Monday, although with a different surgeon.
If you are at Paradist HT this weekend in Aiken be sure to stop by and see Eric at the Devoucoux tent. They have a great selection of used Chiberta’s this weekend as well as new tack.
Last, but not least, John asked me to make a special note of his update to the Saturday Notes post–that apparently Maggie Deatrick and Diviine Comedy did not break the sound barrier at Rocking Horse. Maggie has told EN that she finished at 5:52 and the timer must have been wrong.
Whether you are eventing today in Florida, South Carolina, New Mexico, or California, good luck and have fun. If you are dedicating the weekend to President’s Day sale shopping, again good luck and have fun! I’ll catch you later, Eventing Nation!
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I’ve missed you this week! I hope you have something fun planned for the weekend, which hopefully involves taking advantage of some of the President’s Day Sales. A couple months ago I somehow discovered the wide world of online shopping, as I’d always ordered horse equipment from a catalog in the past but never clothes for myself. Well, I’m sure glad I discovered it because now I have become the perfect example of the chronic online shopper– if you know your size, are savvy about comparing products and reading reviews, along with knowing which websites offer free shipping and returns- shopping online is a nice alternative to driving any amount of time to battle it out with the crowds. This is the weekend of all the department stores big bi-yearly sales, so all those things you’ve been wanting for a while may just be affordable this weekend! Whatever your weekend plans are, be sure to enjoy the nice weather (for today at least) and your horses.
This week’s view definitely was taken at a warmer time during the year, but is a cool view nevertheless. I can only imagine that riding in Central Park is quite the experience, with the mopeds, motorcycles, cyclists and runners all whizzing by at mach 10. Thanks to Sally for submitting, and as always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to submit an ears photo, please send it along with a caption describing it to: [email protected].
This photo was taken on Central Park West in New York City coming from the Claremont Riding Academy in 2005. Fortunately I knew how to ride because they sent me out on the horse all by myself. As with most rides I knew if I didn’t know the way back to the barn the horse would! A cabby yelled out and asked if I was on my way to Aqueduct. It is unfortunate that Claremont Riding academy is now closed however the website says they operate Potomac Horse Center in MD.
Relationship to Eventing: Representing the Air Force as a competing Novice level rider, moving up to Training this next season.
Favorite Eventing moment/story?: My first event on my mare. While we were out on XC and I realized how much she was absolutely was 110% enjoying herself.
If you had to pick one reason why you love Eventing, what would it be? There can’t just be one. A big reason would definitely be the acceptance and support of all the riders no matter what kind of horse you ride or what level you compete at. The second reason would be the incredible bond between you and your equine teammate. This sport requires team work between rider and equine athlete like no other!
Overall Goals in the sport: To continue to learn and improve my skills. Also to bring more to light the importance of proper equine conditioning.
Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to Sunday. This weekend certainly has been a tragic one, with the astonishing Kesmarc tragedy on Friday morning, and then the death of the lovely Jack’s Irish Z on Saturday afternoon. My heart goes out to everyone at Kesmarc, especially the two girls involved; Erica Marshall who was killed and Sorcha Moneley who was seriously injured. Nobody goes to work at a normal job like theirs on a typical Friday morning expecting it to be the end, and it’s the unexpectedness of it all that makes it so extremely sad. I guess that’s life for you, devastating things constantly happen to good people in the world that completely change or end the course of their life. It doesn’t make any sense to us and it certainly doesn’t seem fair. So hug your horse, hug your friends, and always be reminded never to take life for granted.
On another note, there are two events taking place this weekend, Ocala and Pine Top, as I’m sure you’re already aware. At Pine Top, the Intermediate divisions finished up yesterday, Becky Holder had a great weekend, winning two intermediate divisions on her two stunning greys. Boyd Martin and Cold Harbor won the third Intermediate division. Alexandra Tatham and Astaire To The Future are leading the Preliminary Horse division on a 26.4. Kaitlynn Mosing and King Billy are leading the Training Rider division on a 39.6. And Pippa Moon and Le Corsair are leading the Open Novice division on a 25.2.
At Ocala, Caroline Martin and Quantum Solace emerged victorious in the Intermediate Rider division, Heather Morris and First Mark, Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen, and Kadi Eykamp and Double Rivers Dillon were the big winners in the other three Intermediate sections.
Are you one of the many guilty of cranking your horse’s noseband down before a dressage test (or even all the time)? New research has come in about the damage to a horse’s nose that can be caused by a too tight noseband. Check it out here.
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! If you’re competing today, good luck and stay safe, and for everyone else, be sure to enjoy the last leg of the weekend. Check back soon to the best website in Eventing!
This week’s ears photo has a sad story behind it, especially because it is coming from one of my good friends. If you’ve been in horses long enough, you’ve probably had at least one serious horse injury come your way, whether it was a soft tissue injury, fracture, colic surgery, or something of the like. No one likes to have to put a horse on stall rest for an extended period of time, and watch even the quietest horse grow to be more and more of a monster. The whole process of stall rest and rehabbing pretty much sucks. Our condolences to Sarah about Mr. Brightside, and best wishes on a fast and sane recovery!
Hey Annie,
This is Mr. Brightside allowing me a hack down the road in nothing but a Rambo, a halter and a lead. We were on our way to our last jump school together. He sustained a career ending injury while jumping earlier this week. With collective EN karma, I am looking on the Brightside. I cannot wait for the day I can hack him down the road again in nothing but his Rambo, halter and lead.
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Occasionally when I sit down at the computer to write these posts, after I’ve procrastinated scanned the news, procrastinated checked my email, and scanned the news again, I begin to come to terms with the fact that I have absolutely nothing intriguing or exciting to write about in my intro paragraph for the following day. Since it isn’t the Thursday of Rolex week, or Badminton week, or some other feature event, I can’t write about the excitement and pizazz of the upcoming event. Writing about the weather is about as boring as talking about the weather is, and I don’t like to write about my personal life too much because after all this site isn’t about me, or John, or any of the writers actually, it’s about Eventing. I’m still looking for inspiration, but at least I got this morning’s intro paragraph out of the way!
William Fox-Pitt’s father, Oliver Fox-Pitt, passed away last month at the age of 79. The Telegraph put together a lovely obituary that really tells the story of his life from his stint in America as a child to escape the War, to the company which he started and headed at the ripe old age of 71. Knowing a bit more about Oliver makes it clear why William turned out to be who he is today. We are all deeply sorry to William, his family, and everyone else involved in the life of this truly remarkable man. [The Telegraph]
In the feel good story of the day, which is a little bit reminiscent of Black Beauty, a fifteen year old Suffolk Punch gelding by the name of Saxon, finally found his way back to his birthplace (which coincidentally is an amazing castle)after a few years of living life in somewhat of an abused way. Saxon was sold from the gorgeous Somerleyton estate as a two year old, but was recently surrendered to the RSPCA after the owners of Saxon admitted they really couldn’t take care of him any longer. The RSPCA contacted a different rescue agency about the placement of Saxon and after a few calls and traced bloodwork, Somerleyton was reached about potentially taking Saxon back, and agreed immediately. Saxon will live out his days with his mother, siblings, and an attentive staff to wait on his every need. What a lucky horse! [Horsetalk]
The winter season is a time for, among other things, Training Lists and Training Sessions, even for those New Zealanders, although technically speaking I guess it’s summer down there. Caroline Powell (ranked 15th in the world) was left off the New Zealand Training List much to her dismay, even with her great performances last year. As the story goes, the owners of Lenamore, Caroline’s diminutive partner of over 10 years, privately asked that she be left off the list until after Badminton this spring. The reasoning being to make sure the 19-year old Lenamore is still fit and ready for the job before any talk about the London Games. However, according to the NZ High Performance Director Sarah Harris: “If Lenamore is full of running and looking really good [after Badminton], then his owners will definitely make him available for London and Powell would absolutely then be added to the high performance squad.” So although the pair is a bit in the background now, don’t discard Lenamore as a potential for London. [Stuff NZ]
A blogger for the Chronicle wrote a great article on the ‘how’s’ and ‘why’s of co-owning a horse. According to Janis Chang, the most important thing before going in with someone (or several people) on a horse is to have a clear understanding of what exactly the terms of the co-ownership will be once the horse is purchased. It’s the best, although not completely surefire way of avoiding problems between the other owners before they arise. [COTH]
Jessie Phoenix got a nice write up in a local Canadian newspaper about her Canadian Equestrian of the Year award. Check it out here.
In probably one of the funniest and most potentially useful articles of the year, one blogger discusses modifications to make taking care of horses easier while pregnant. From squatting instead of kneeling to pick out feet, to not using one’s core while sleeping, this blogger has covered all the finer points of pregnancy and horses. [Regarding Horses]
Full Gallop Farm’s one-day horse trial was yesterday, 2/8. Scores here.
I was listening to Public Radio a couple weeks ago, and in between all the coverage of the primaries and subsequent political analysis and debate, came an interview out of the blue that really struck me. The subject of the interview was the total average joe American; a man, probably in his fourties or fifties from a small town in the center of the cornfield country, with a small family and house and an alright job. He was average and typical in every regard except one– His New Years Resolution for this year was to complete every item on an extensive bucket list he’d been compiling for years of things he’d like to do before he, well, kicked the bucket. A few were seemingly pretty typical and easy to fulfill (Learn to ice skate, run a 5K, drive a motorcycle etc.) while a few were a bit more outlandish (Ride in a hot air balloon, ride a Gondola in Venice, visit Ayers Rock in Australia.) He’d been saving for years to afford to do everything on his bucket list and 2012 was going to be the year he set out to complete them all.
What inspired me most about listening to this man’s 90 seconds of fame interview was the interest and desire he held for things, places, and people that were far removed from his immediate world. He had the desire to go beyond his daily life and try things for which he really had no first hand knowledge for but which he obviously felt very passionate about. In fact, his desire was so great that he was ready to leave his family and life for twelve months and spend his life savings in pursuit of all the things he’s always wanted to do.
Well his message sure got me to thinking about my life, and especially about the role Eventing plays in it. In my own humble opinion, Eventing is just about the best sport in the world, but if one thing is certain, there is a big wide world filled with horses and horse sport besides Eventing. I’d be pretty confident betting that most of us at the events today will still probably be there in some form in forty or fifty years time, which is a long time and a lot of three-day events! I know I’ve thought occasionally about the things I would like to try besides just Eventing at some point down the road, but after hearing that interview I sat down and made my equine bucket list. My list turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would, and included equestrian pursuits of varying degrees of insanity. To give you some idea, here are a few of my bucket list items outside of Eventing:
– Watch the Chincoteague Pony Swim in person (which made the list after reading Misty of Chincoteague all those times as a kid)
– Ride in (and win) a barrel race
– Ride in (and win) a Timber Race
– Lasso a cow and experience firsthand the true definition of a ‘cowy horse’.
– Breed, raise, and train a foal
– Drive a team of Budweiser horses
So Eventing Nation, I gave you my list so now it’s your turn. What is your equine bucket list? As my art teacher always used to say in school, “Be creative”!
Bennetts Creek Farm, Maryland — Apparently the weather report said no accumulation
Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to the beginning of yet another week. As Coren is absent from her usual Sunday night writing post (to watch the big game I assume), I unfortunately can’t give you the same vibrant commentary on the plays, halftime show, and rest of the game highlights as only Coren could. When I say I’m not a football person, I mean I actually just googled the Super Bowl to find out who won–the Giants.
The USEF’s eventing training sessions have moved to Bridle Creek in Aiken, SC. The Bridle Creek development is home to Phillip, Boyd, and many more eventers. Sessions will run from today through Thursday, with a slight disruption from Wednesday’s Full Gallop HT.
Today’s schedule:
8:00am — Boyd Martin 8:45 — Jennie Brannigan and No Objection 9:30 — Boyd 10:15 — Meghan O’Donoghue and Pirate 11:00 — Boyd 11:45 — Doug Payne and Running Order 1:00pm — Will Faudree and Pawlow 1:45 — Kendyl Tracy and Ever So Lucky 2:30 — Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek
We want to wish a big congrats to EN’s good friend Jessica Phoenix for winning Canada’s Equestrian of the Year over the weekend. Omega Alpha was named Equine Canada’s sponsor of the year for their supports of Jessie and many more Canadian high performance riders, and of course EN as well!
Congratulations to Nina Ligon as well for winning this year’s first CIC3*. Scroll down for Samantha’s great coverage and stay tuned for much more from Poplar throughout today and tomorrow.
Caroline Moore wrote a great article for Horse and Hound about ways to improve your cross country canter, or gallop rather, within the confines of an arena and winter riding. According to her principles, there are three canters to be used out on cross-country. ‘The first is the coffin canter. A short-stepping, high-powered canter often used for fences where there is a suprise for the horse on landing, such as a ditch or water. The second is the showjump-type canter. More step than the coffin canter. Needed for vertical rails or fences that are related to each other. The third is the gallop. This is the speed that most cross-country fences are jumped out of, including brushtops, rolltops, spreads, tables and so on.’ The best piece of the article was her suggestions for simulating those types of fences, and consequentially those types of canters in an arena setting with standards and rails. [Horse and Hound]
Ireland is using the new year to ramp up drug testings procedures and frequency, and hopefully combat a growing reputation of doping. According to Horse Sport Ireland Chairman Joe Walsh: “These rules will help to ensure a level playing field in national equestrian competitions, will protect the welfare of horses and I believe they will help to enhance the standing of the Irish equestrian sector at home and abroad.” With modern day technology and communication advances, it is becoming much easier to test for drug influence so is increasingly important for the governing national bodies to keep increasing their regulations about doping.[Horsetalk]
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope your Saturday has gotten off to a spendid start, whether you are competing or spending the weekend at your leisure. Samantha’s weekend is going to be far from leisurely as she has graciously volunteered to travel to Poplar Place and cover the event this weekend. So check back in with both Eventing Nation and Samantha’s blog throughout the day for updates!
Speaking of all those events, here are the live scores!
This week’s view, submitted by Meghann Durbrow, is of some bovines and some beautiful Wyoming scenery. I have to say that I’m a little jealous of the miles and miles of wide open land she gets to ride on every day! Many thanks to Meghann for submitting, and as always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to submit an ears photo, please send it along with a caption describing it to: [email protected].
Hi Annie, Here are some photos taken in Wyoming from the Head of the Colorado River in the Northern part of the Wind River Mountains. This of course was taken back in the fall 🙂 The ears belong to my friend Bella, a free old quarter horse. She was my first horse in 12 years and inspired me to get back into Eventing! This day we helped a local rancher move his cows down from the mountains, which was quite the experience!
Becky and Can’t Fire Me at yesterday’s training session. Photo credit: Maggie Deatrick
Well, folks, it’s finally Friday! We’ve got Training sessions in full swing and a calendar full of events to go to this weekend. Sporting Days is running in Aiken, The Poplar Place February event is taking place in Georgia, and Galway Downs is hosting it’s first event of the new year in good old California.
The Training Sessions are taking place at Meredyth South today and the schedule is as follows:
Buck Davidson 8:00
Becky Holder 8:45
Buck on a second horse 9:30
Karen O’Connor 10:15
Hannah Burnett 11:00
Sinead Halpin 11:45
Kylie 12:30
Heather Morris 1:30
Marilyn Meredith-Little 2:15
Now let’s get started on the news and we’ll be off and running on this Friday morning:
Remember that famous movie from the ninties, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, about the story of Sonora Webster, the girl that rode high-diving horses in Atlantic City? If you haven’t seen it you should consider picking it up this weekend, but my real reason for this paragraph is to tell you that the high diving horses are going to make a return to Atlantic City. The Diving horse act was a staple in Atlantic City from 1917-1978, when it closed down due to heavy pressure from animal rights activists. Bringing the diving horses back is only part of a master plan to re-vamp many parts of Atlantic City. And they just may be looking for horses to place in their act, so if you have anything for sale that looks like it could have a knack for jumping off 100 plus foot high dives, you may want to give Atlantic City a call. [Diving Horses]
The World Cup Vaulting Final is taking place in Bordeaux, France this weekend. Switzerland seems to have the title locked down with the leader in the rankings a full six points ahead of Germany’s vaulter. According to Horsetalk, “The title of FEI World Cup champion will be decided over two Freestyle to Music rounds on Saturday and Sunday, when the vaulters will produce highly creative performances with extraordinary gymnastic moves on their horses to impress the judges.” I’ve never had the chance to see vaulting done in person, but I bet it would be cool to be there tomorrow night and see the Freestyle rounds of the best in the business. [Horsetalk]
A big congratulations is in order to our future US Paralympic Team, as they received qualifying scores at the Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge, so are now qualified for next year’s Summer Games. Chef D’Equipe Missy Ransehousen said, ” “I was very pleased with not only the team but with the individuals. They are a good group of people, working hard, and going forward with a good plan in mind.”[COTH]
The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is embarking on a big undertaking to produce the first organization within the industry to take on horses that have fallen short in their racing career and turn them into useful horses for another job. Thank goodness for the CANTER’s, Finger Lakes Finest, and all other Thoroughbred rescue programs in the world because the actual race industry has been quite slow to step forward with at least the beginnings of a solution to the excessive and many times unwanted supply of horses that the sport is producing. The Chronicle has given this new program extensive coverage, so be sure to check it out here.
Speaking of Thoroughbreds, Allie Conrad wrote her recent blog entry on one of her close friend’s experience with a lovely off-the-track mare, Piper. According to Shannon Gipson, Piper changed her life, and continues to amaze her every day. [COTH]
Good Morning Eventing Nation! Welcome to Saturday. Hopefully you’ve planned something fun to do today, as it is going to be one really beautiful day! I can’t believe the mild winter we’ve had so far, the temperatures in Virginia yesterday went above sixty, and I know the same is true of many places on the east coast. It won’t last forever and I’m sure we’ve got some 20 degree days to go before Spring finally arrives, but it sure is nice to have some warm weather.
If you are competing at Rocking Horse today, or just following the results as they happen, here are the scores for you. [Rocking Horse Live Scores]
This week’s ears photo was submitted by Holly Breaux, taken on a hack with her two Appies. The one she’s riding is her competition horse, Fleck, and the other is her baby horse that will hopefully be following in Fleck’s footsteps one day! Holly also gets EN Karma points for wearing her helmet on her ride, which can be seen by the her shadow on the left. Thanks so much to Holly for submitting, and as always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to submit an ears photo, please send it along with a caption describing it to: [email protected].
Hey Eventing Nation,
I took Fleck, my competition horse, along with my upcoming eventer, a 7 month old Appy/ISH, on a trail ride the other day and we had a blast! Thought you might enjoy my view 🙂
It was super cold and windy, but they were both great!
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope this Thursday finds you well. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones down in Aiken right now, and find yourself wanting something fun to do over the next couple days, you should to head over to Bridle Creek Farm. Bettina Hoy is teaching a three day dressage clinic which begins today, and will be a great auditing opportunity. The riders for the sessions include Boyd, Jan Bynny, and Will Coleman, to name but a few. I think one of the best parts of being down south for the winter is having the opportunity to watch the teaching of some really great coaches, that you normally would not have the opportunity to see. The best coaches in the world are coming in to the southern hubs very regularly to teach, and many times the auditing fee is minimal, or even free. The US Training sessions are one of the easiest and most accessible ways to watch some great horses, riders, and instruction.
I remember Mark Phillips making a comment in one of his Eventing USA articles last year stating that he was disappointed to see that hardly any of the riders participating in the Spring Training Sessions came to watch their peers ride before or after their lessons. Mark felt that the lack of attendance showed little in the way of team spirit and camaraderie, but also he felt that the riders were missing out on one of the most valuable parts of the training session: watching and studying others (especially ones practicing the same things as you). If you are lucky enough to be in Aiken or Ocala, or in close proximity to them, I urge you to go check out Bettina’s clinic and some of the other neat clinics and training sessions coming up! [Bettina Clinic]
This week’s Eventing Radio Show features London Olympic Course Designer, Sue Benson, along with William Micklem, who shares some of his insights on horsemanship. The episodes do take a while to listen to, but I’ve found they are perfect for taking on runs when I get bored with all the music on my Itunes playlist! [Eventing Radio Show]
Over 200 lucky riders, ranging in level from Beginner Novice up through Intermediate, got to travel to the Sydney Olympic venue last weekend, to partake in a one-day cross country clinic. They schooled the majority of the fences on the course (for their level) while receiving instruction from some of the best names in Australian Eventing. [Manly Daily]
A new association for Farriers in North America was formed recently, and appears that it will be headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.The association has been christened ‘The American Association of Professional Farriers’ and is a non-profit organization created to represent professional farriers. I’m not that familiar with the different leagues and associations for farriers except that I know some are in existence, but I can’t help but wondering what the effects (if any) that this new organization will have on the other organizations already in play. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. [Horsetalk]
Pippa Cuckson did a great article for the Chronicle taking a deeper look into the reason behind Britain’s complete turnaround in the pure Dressage world in recent years, from being a country of mediocre standing, at best, to one of the elite Dressage Powers in the World. The reason for Britain’s newfound success is multi-fold, from having strength in depth of good riders mounted on good horses, to the changing perception of Dressage in the minds of the British, and maybe even the changing perception of British Dressage in the minds of the FEI judges! [COTH]
Good Morning Eventing Nation, and welcome to Sunday! For those of you at the Poplar Place Horse Trials, I hope the weather has subsided from the torrential downpours and tornado watch yesterday, and that a dry day is in store for everyone over at Poplar today. They say April showers bring May flowers, so at this rate we are bound to have a really beautiful spring! Best of luck to everyone competing today!
We have some excellent links this morning, so peruse at your leisure but they are worth perusing!
A 24 year old woman is facing three counts of felony charges after taking ex-racehorses from owners with the understanding she would find homes for them, and instead selling them on to slaughter for profit. [Horsetalk]
That’s all that’s happening at the moment, Eventing Nation, but stay tuned later in the day for more news from Poplar and elsewhere in the horse world. Have a wonderful Sunday, I’ll catch up with you later this week!
Well, folks, the results of the first Eventing Nation Power Ranking are in, thanks to the almost 7,000 votes we received from the EN community, as well as the votes from our wonderful panelists.
As I said earlier, the ranking is based on a cumulative point system from both the public poll votes and panelist votes that puts equal weight on each. As this month is the test run, we aren’t going to reveal the panelists, but I can assure you that each and every one of them are prominent horseman who know their stuff. For example, Denny Emerson might or might not be a panelist.
This month, the ranking list only includes American combinations, but stay tuned for next month as we are opening up the series to include Canadian pairs as well. As always, feel free to discuss and share your insights in the comment section below!
So without further ado, I present to you the January EN Power Ranking:
1. Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos – 104 points
2. Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville – 92 points
3. Becky Holder and Can’t Fire Me – 54 points
4. Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice – 52 points
5. Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere – 50 points
6. Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen – 46 points
7. Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM – 45 points
8. Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz- 42 points
9. Karen O’Connor and Mr. Medicott – 38 points
10. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot – 36 points
11. Will Coleman and Twizzel – 34 points
12. Phillip Dutton and Ben – 32 points
13. Will Faudree and Pawlow – 30 points
14. Julian Stiller and Chapel Amble – 28 points
15. Jan Bynny and Inmidair – 25 points
16. Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister – 19 points
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