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Thoughts on the 5 US short list additions

By John on Jul 12, 2010 7:17 pm -

Here are a few quick thoughts about the 5 additions to the US eventing team’s short list:

1) Phillip Dutton and Connaught—The only surprise here is due to the fact that Phillip already has three horses on the list. Connaught was the only horse that I predicted to make the original May short list who wasn’t on that list. The only question for Phillip is which horse to take to the WEGs? From what I hear, Woodburn is looking super right now, and I think Woodburn is the horse right now. Connaught sat out Rolex after consultation between his rider, owner, and the team and the only possible goal there was to save him for the WEGs.

2) Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch–This horse deserved to be on the original list. No doubt that “Stewie” needs to improve in the dressage, but he is young and has fresh legs and I expect him to be one of the soundest horses come late September. Stewie finished 17th in his first 4* at Rolex this year.

3) Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan—Again, not a huge surprise. There are definitely still questions about the show jumping after the stop at Rolex and 3 rails at Bromont. “Paddy” and Kim are one of the best XC pairs the US has right now, and there is still time for the show jumping to improve.

4) Allison Springer and Arthur–Allison and Arthur have proven that they can put themselves in prime position after the dressage. Have they proven that will run clean and fast around a WEG cross-country course? I’m not sure, but the potential upside was too much for the selectors to pass up.

5) Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua—Wait, who? Yep, that’s right, Brandenburg’s freakin’ Joshua. This name is probably a complete surprise to anyone who didn’t read our Monday morning post–I was certainly surprised when the name came up in a couple of conversations this weekend. This feels like the equivalent of a hail-Mary pass in football by the selectors–and I like it. Joshua has completed one event in the last 15 months, which was an intermediate at Full Gallop earlier this spring. That said, in three Rolex tries (’06, ’08, and ’09), Joshua places 3rd, 4th, and 10th respectively. Joshua never stops (once since ’01), makes time when it counts, and has 8 show jumping penalties since 2003. Almost everyone who knows what they are talking about likes Stephen and this horse on a sound day. Let the vets work their magic, and if he’s good to go in late September then the US selectors have found a diamond in the rough.

5 Pairs Added to the WEG Short List

By John on Jul 12, 2010 5:14 pm -

Here are the 5 additions to the short list that just passed through all the necessary approval committees at the USEF on Monday afternoon:

Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua
Phillip Dutton and Connaught
Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch
Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan
Allison Springer and Arthur

These pairs will be added to the May short list of 11 pairs:

Buck Davidson and BallyNoe Castle RM
Buck Davidson and My Boy Bobby
Phillip Dutton and The Foreman
Phillip Dutton and TruLuck
Phillip Dutton and Woodburn
Will Faudree and Pawlow
Becky Holder and Courageous Comet
Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos
Boyd Martin and Remington XXV
Karen O’Connor and Mandiba
Amy Tryon and Leyland

All of these 16 pairs, and two pairs that will be added later will be included on the Nominated Entry, which is a list of up to 18 possible US eventing competitors that the USEF will submit to the FEI by August 16th. Go eventing.

VIDEO: Pat Parelli and Catwalk controversy at Express Eventing

By John on Jul 12, 2010 4:38 pm -

Of all the things that could have gone wrong at the Express Eventing Festival of the Horse in England last weekend, I didn’t think I would be writing about a Parelli demonstration. The Horse and Country website is reporting that a Parelli exposition didn’t work out very well:

“A demonstration by Pat Parelli caused upset when Robert Whitaker’s showjumping stallion Catwalk was worked on for two hours in front of a confused and upset audience. The stallion, who is renowned for being very difficult to bridle appeared to become upset during the demonstration. Some onlookers left the arena in difiance to Pat Parelli’s methods as the horse tried to run back to the collecting ring.” Link: Full H&C article

The Parelli blog responded to the situation with a post titled “challenging horse lived up to its billing”:

“We ran 45 minutes over and a couple of folks were upset at what they think they saw, saying they may post on YouTube. We all have nothing to worry about except misunderstanding. Pat stopped at an appropriate time in the training process when he saw a breakthrough and preserved Catwalk’s dignity, which is more important than getting the bridle on tonight.” Link: Parelli Blog

The Horse and Hound, which is of course the second best place for UK news behind lec, didn’t mention the incident in their Express Eventing report, but the Horse and Hound’s Forum does have a lengthy discussion that includes this reportedly first-hand account from ‘elsbells’:

“It started well and Pat continued his talk as he led the stallion around the areana on a long rope. He talked of relationships, perceptions and of course the principles of love, language and leadership. Then he pulled it’s head down as his is the Parrelli thing I guess? He then tried to touch Catwalks head and ears unsuccessfuly I might add and so became a little more forceful in his approach and asked to be brought in a saddle pad which he then slid up and down a distrssed Catwalks neck and over his face. This went on for a while and then he asked for music. The room went silent, all viewers went dumb as they watched him use a gum line as a twitch and a 22ft rope wrapped around the fetlock to the knee to haul Catwalks leg off the floor to render him unable to move while he tried to force the bride onto a now very distressed and frightened horses face!!

Catwalk hopped away and went down on his remaining knee and backed into the jump and the fence rails. Linda who’d had her face in hr hands up to this point, then raced around from her chair at the side of the areana and joined him in the fight, pulling at the rope while Pat continued to force on the bridle. The distressed horse managed to break away momentairily and run for the exit and safety. They caught him and started the whole process again where the horse stood.

I have to confess that at this point, we were unable to watch any more and had to walk out.”

The Parellis obviously understand the importance of getting ahead of a story, and posted this heavily edited video on their Youtube account.

Of course, what everyone is waiting for to truly understand the situation is the unedited video, and the best I have found online are these cell phone clips–view all the clips at Themetalfreehorse’s Youtube page, and here is a montage of them:

While I am certainly disturbed by the ‘elsbells’ first-hand account that the video seems to at least partially substantiate, it is important to not pass judgement on an entire program based on one misguided incident, and certainly not an entire school of thought. Whenever things like this happen, a good part of me is disturbed by the fact that people don’t consider that this is 2010 and everyone everywhere is a walking video camera with direct upload to Youtube.

The weekend that was Maryland Horse Trials

By John on Jul 12, 2010 3:49 pm -

Eventer, photographer, and now certified Eventing Nation guest writer (we all have cards and matching capes) Lindsay Berreth has sent this report for the Maryland Horse Trials. Before I forget, please notice that we have added a ‘Captcha’ to our comment form just to add a layer of security. Thanks for writing this Lindsay and thank you for reading.

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This weekend I rode at the Maryland Horse Trials I at Loch Moy Farm, located in Adamstown, Md. A front came through on Saturday, bringing some rain, and then in the afternoon it was a bit windy and humid. Today was hot, but less humid. I’ll take that, considering we’ve had record high temperatures above 100 this past week. I heard some horses were quite fresh on Saturday morning for dressage.

In the past few years, this facility has grown and just gotten better. I think it’s a perfect modern eventing facility. It’s got perfect all-weather footing for the HUGE dressage and show jumping arena (it fits three dressage rings, a huge warm up area, and the show jumping course), and the cross country course flows, even though it’s sometimes a bit twisty and turny. Everything is very close to everything else, so it’s convenient getting around. Over the winter, some new jumps were added, including a nice set of steps that were used on the training level course today. The terrain in the woods was good, and there is gently sloping terrain, which has settled more every year. Despite having a large rainfall deficit, the footing held up well (considering the time of year) with only some rain showers on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Loch Moy spares no expense when putting on their events. There was a water truck, shuttles for spectators, a nice-sized trade fair area and a cooling area for horses after cross country. Everything ran on time and it seemed that communication between officials and volunteers was seamless. The Boy Scouts did a great job with parking, scores were up fast and the courses were great!

I rode training this weekend, and I thought the course was very fair. The new steps rode very nicely down, and I particularly liked that the course designer filled the ditch and wall in for training. I thought it was a good introduction for my boy, who is still green at training level. Just from observation, the other courses looked soft, which is good for this time of year. I didn’t see anything trappy at any level. Perhaps others could comment on the other levels.

Based on the results, the training course didn’t cause many problems. No one in my division had any jumps faults cross country! I also liked how they reversed the course and moved the start and finish from past years. I thought it flowed very well.

I’ll be up at Loch Moy next weekend at MD HT II working for GRC Photo, so Eventing Nation fans, come say ‘hi’ if you see me! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the event.

Lindsay

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Lastly, here is some video of the Barbury CIC3* for your viewing pleasure, it starts with pictures but quickly gets to video. Courtesy of ‘bridled’ via KM.

Tubber Rebel’s short list preview

By John on Jul 12, 2010 10:03 am -

Remember how I mentioned that Dag Albert and Tubber Rebel were in 104th after the Barbury CIC3* dressage with a score of 91.5 (39%)? Well, even though that photo might be the one and only moment in time when Tubber Rebel put his head down trotted with 2 beats, as I predicted, he made up for it in the jumping phases, adding only 5.2 to his score for the dressage and show jumping. Tubber Rebel moved up 64 places and finished in 40th at Barbury. Well done Tubber Rebel! After some research, I learned that the pair competed for Sweden at the 2008 Olympics, so we might well get to see them in Kentucky.

Speaking of Kentucky, we can expect to see the additions to the US short list sooner rather than later. To get an idea of who we might expect to be added, let’s take a trip down memory lane. This spring, US team vets inspected potential horses following major competitions including The Fork, Rolex, Jersey, and Bromont. The Fork evaluation included horses like TruLuck and Bobby who decided not to run Rolex and were included in the original May short list. After Rolex, team vets examined 7 horses (Comet, Pawlow, Mandiba, Woodburn, Neveille, Remington, and The Foreman) and all 7 made the May short list. As part of the May list, the USEF announced that it might add names following Bromont and Luhmuhlen; the short list submitted to the FEI can include up to 18 pairs. After Bromont, vets looked at Tipperary Liadhnan and several other horses, but my understanding is that all the Bromont exams but “Paddy’s” were more of the ‘looking to next year’ variety. Clear as mud?

The May short list:

Buck Davidson and BallyNoe Castle RM (11th Burghley 09, 15th Rolex 09)
Buck Davidson and My Boy Bobby (3rd Rolex 09)
Phillip Dutton and The Foreman (2nd Rolex 05, 2nd Burghley 05, 6th Rolex 10)
Phillip Dutton and TruLuck (4th Burghley 09, 9th Rolex 07)
Phillip Dutton and Woodburn (12th Rolex 09, 9th Rolex 08, 2nd Rolex 10)
Will Faudree and Pawlow (15th Rolex 10)
Becky Holder and Comet (since ’07 – 2nd Rolex 08, 42nd Olympics 08, R Burghley 09, 3rd Rolex 10)
Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos (9th Rolex 08, 4th Rolex 10)
Boyd Martin and Remington XXV (12th Rolex 10)
Karen O’Connor and Mandiba (E Burghley, 44th Olympics, 7th Rolex 10)
Amy Tryon and Leyland (13th Rolex 09, 14th Burghley 09)

In the several weeks after Luhmuhlen, US team vets have looked at about 5 horses to evaluate their candidacy for being added to the original May short list. I’ve heard expected names like Last Monarch kicked around, and also unexpected names like Brandenburg’s Joshua. Rock On Rose’s name has also reentered the mix as the word is that her circumstances may have changed. The more that I hear the more interesting I think the additions to the short list might be.

I am confident that at least a couple of pairs will be added to the short list when the new list is released. In my opinion, with just 7 riders on the May list, I think it makes sense to add a few more–right now we are two injuries (God forbid) to horses or riders away from not fielding a full team. However, one thing to remember is that of the major nations who have released their short list, Germany’s is the longest at just 13 pairs.

Speaking of injuries, a top vet told me that around 30% of horses drop out the last month before a 4*. Two and a half months away from the WEGs, the US team’s prospects will never look better than when we see that final complete short list. I’m confident that Phillip, Buck, and Boyd will be on the team come October, but the other three spots will go to the riders who get on the final short list and keep their horse sound.

I’m sure that when we see the final list some of us will have objections, but it’s important to remember how difficult the job of selecting a team really is. Having spent time watching all of the horses, looking at their records, and talking to people close to the horses, there is just no magic answer as to exactly which 6 horses are going to want to jump around the toughest course of their lives that first Saturday in October.

When the final short list is released, you know where to find it first. Until then, go eventing.

We’ve been writing about the US team a lot over the past few months, here are a few of our highlights:

The US 2010 WEG applicants

Post-Rolex team update

Initial thoughts on the May short list

Lec’s UK Barbury selection trials report

By John on Jul 11, 2010 5:27 pm -

EN guest writer lec has gone above and beyond the call of guest writers by turning in this fantastic report from the CIC3* British selection trials in Barbury this weekend. Thanks very much for writing this lec and thank you for reading.

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If you are ever in the UK in July Barbury is a must visit event. The whole thing is absolutely spectacular to look at and you always get the top combinations competing here. This year 109 took part in the CIC3*, 190 in two CIC2* sections and around another 190 across 5 prelim sections.

The main arena is in the front and pretty much the whole cross country is in the background and can be easily viewed.

This year the CIC3* was particularly exciting with the Irish and British team making their team selections for the WEG tonight. These then should be announced in the next few days. No one in the British team has been shortlisted or given the nod yet so everyone is waiting to see what happens.

The course was tough with one fence causing much trepidation. It was an owl hole on a mound with around 3 strides before some very offset houses.

This is the fence from the reverse angle as it shows you how offset everything is.

The Quarry was another fence that has traditionally caused issues with a downward incline with a skinny triple brush.

A huge jump into the water for this Italian rider unfortunately resulted in….

this

WFP on Seacookie shows a more conventional style!

Ruth Edge was leading after the dressage and show jumping but withdrew before the cross country. I understand it was never her intention to run cross country as I have mentioned in the past he is not the soundest of horses so he is probably being saved for another day. Mary King was also in contention but withdrew on Imperial Cavalier through him having a foot issue (I heard nail prick). One notable absence was Tina Cook. It seems that Tina withdrew all her rides including Miners Frolic. No one seems to know why and it does place his going to WEG in jeopardy as he needed a good run to prove himself. Though he is entered at Aston Le Walls Advanced it is not anywhere near the same calibre as Barbury. Another withdrawal was Headley Brittania who I understand has cut herself. Its nothing serious but just meant she could not run today.

The Cross Country at Barbury is run in reverse order which makes for an exciting competition. The time is tight at Barbury and very few have ever made it inside the time. The Irish put up a very good showing with Jayne Doherty and Sam Watson being placed 12^th and 6^th respectively. Unfortunately Camilla Spiers who had put up a terrific performance at Badminton on the 15.1hh Portersize Just a Jiff picked up 20 penalties.

The course was not straightforward and some of those who paid the price were Andrew Nicholson who was leading going into the cross country, Mark Todd on Regent Lad and William Fox Pitt with Seacookie. All of these picked up an expensive 20 penalties.

Nicola Wilson was the winner on the superb Opposition Buzz. This pair made it look easy. Even more pleasingly for British hopes they have continued to improve their dressage!

Link: Barbury CIC3* results

Nicola at the end of cross country

Emily Llewellyn had two great rides on Pardon Me and Society Spice to take 2^nd and 10^th. Emily really is a superb rider and is still under 21. Andrew Nicholson was 3^rd with Armada after a very speedy cross country which pulled him right up the order and Daisy Berkeley was 4^th with the incredible Spring Along who is now 18. Cool Mountain looks the likely WFP horse to be heading to WEG after finishing 5^th. WFP cross country was incredibly deceptive as he looked very slow but finished with only 10 time faults. Paul Tapner with the Badminton winner Inonothing did not do his Australian team hopes any harm by finishing 7^th.

There were two horses that stood out for me for the future – Redesigned ridden by Pippa Funnell and Brookleigh ridden by Clayton Fredericks. They are not horses for this year but they looked super classy and I really think they will be big stars in the future.

Redesigned

I know many events struggle to get spectators but at Barbury they hold a country fair with agricultural machinery and one of the main ring draws is Inter Hunt Relay. Each local hunt puts forward 4 team members and they have to race another hunt over a set course of identical fences before handing over a whip to the next team member. The fastest team is the team which wins and knocks the other team out. Knocking down a fence adds 5 seconds. Its fun to watch and very exciting as fast paced and you never know what is going to happen.

This one was a close match!

Finally I was very lucky to get a chance to ask cross country legend Lucinda Green some quick questions.

Q) What do you wish you knew in the past that you know now?

A) That you have to learn to ride every horse differently. No two horses can be ridden the same way.

Q) At clinics what advice do you give time and time again?

A) There are two bits of advice that I give firstly that of the riders weight and how much it influences the horse. If the riders weight is in the right place you will stay out of trouble much more. Secondly allow your horse to think for himself.

Q) Any other advice?

A) Many riders underestimate how long it takes to produce horses up the different levels. You cannot cut corners in training a horse especially on cross country. Riders are getting away with not educating horses properly and still moving up the levels. Do your homework and spend time building up the questions so that you are always more than prepared when you go cross country.

Events this weekend

By John on Jul 10, 2010 1:54 pm -

The heat might be getting to me, but I’m feeling pretty scatter-brained this afternoon. The reality of websites is that the finished product that everyone reads is like the tip of the iceberg–I spend a lot more time answering emails, talking with sources, and organizing guest writers than I do actually writing posts. This will be the rest of my Saturday afternoon.

Maryland Horse Trials: Karen and Mandiba competed prelim today at the Maryland Horse Trials just to get stretched out before their scheduled advanced run at Rebecca Farms. Mandiba won the dressage with a 24.6 but had 7.2 XC time penalties and finished in 3rd behind Mara Dean and High Patriot and Phillip Dutton with Why Not. Phillip won another open prelim division on Jan Byyny’s Inmidair. How would you like to ride in an open preliminary division against two Rolex horses? Sounds like fun to me.

Link: Maryland Scores

Other live scores: Whidbey Island Pony Club H.T. (WA), Huntington Farm Horse Trials (VT), Genesee Valley Hunt H.T. (NY), Wayne Dupage Horse Trials (IL), Coconino Summer H.T (AZ)

I also understand that a jumping derby sponsored by Maui Jim is going on this weekend. Katie Lindsay is organizing the competition and rumor has it that she may send us a report.

Barbury International: The final selection trials before Great Britain announces its WEG short list is the CIC3* at Barbury this weekend. Ruth Edge and Two Thyme lead a field of 104 pairs on a score of 35.4. You might remember Ruth Edge and Two Thyme as leading after the first day of dressage at Badminton but they were eliminated on the XC. Mary King and Imperial Cavalier are in second with a 36.9. For the record, Dag Albert and Tubber Rebel of Sweden are sitting in 104th place with a 91.5, but I expect them to move up because the horse must surely be a good jumper–right? I understand that both jumping phases will be held on Sunday, and I believe lec will be attending the event on Sunday with her camera.

Links: Barbury dressage results, Sporting Life report

Andrew Hoy’s CIC2* leading test

SHN: If you check in with Sport Horse Nation this weekend, you’ll notice that the site will only have one classifieds post per day on Saturday and Sunday. This is just due to the fact that internet traffic is about 30% lower on the weekends because many people tend to be outside (at competitions) rather than sitting in front of a computer at work. Although a Canadian team rider did email me after Bromont saying that her grooms were getting all the inside info from Bromont by visiting EN on their IPhones–while at Bromont. Gotta love it.

–Update–Sidebar: I just added Facebook and Twitter to our Eventing Nation sidebar Saturday afternoon. We added the same Facebook plugin to Sport Horse Nation last week, and after one week SHN has more fans than Eventing Nation, so I got jealous and added the plugin to EN. Mostly, I think it’s a fun way to showcase all of our awesome readers. From time to time you’ll see some pretty big name eventers show up in the Facebook box (I just saw Max)–as well as my goofy non-riding friends who just became fans of the site on Facebook because they want to support my endeavors.

Does anyone have any suggestions for next week’s question of the week? I’m drawing a blank, but, never fear, I’m sure something ridiculous will come to mind at 2am this morning.

Lastly, I want to brag in the nerdiest way possible about the tremendous work by our writers and readers here at Eventing Nation. As you might know, Google evaluates keywords, daily traffic, age, links in, and a variety of other characteristics to rank sites in their search results. High search results rankings are a source of bragging rights for websites, and I am very excited that Eventing Nation is now the 3rd ranked result for the Google keyword search for “eventing”, right behind the USEA and Wikipedia’s eventing page. The results fluctuate from day to day, but hopefully we are secured in the top half of the first page. Even Google recognizes that Eventing Nation is the source for everything eventing. Go eventing.

National helmet day

By John on Jul 9, 2010 3:27 pm -

Saturday, July 10th, is the National Don’t Step on a Bee Day, National “Clerihew” Day, National Hop-A-Park Day, and Independence Day in the Bahamas. I only wish I was making those up, but, of course, there is a website (actually several) dedicated to keeping track of all the random national days.

Of course, Saturday is also the first annual National Helmet Day. Many retailers are generously offering helmet discounts on Saturday–click here. Top hats and hunt caps will be twice their normal price.

For those of you who are wondering–and I know you are–a “Clerihew” is a short, biographical,

whimsical poem. The lines are irregular in length, with a rhyming structure AABB.

Did Descartes
Depart
With the thought
“Therefore I’m not”?

Short list update

By John on Jul 8, 2010 4:30 pm -

Good to see you friends. Are you still alive? Have you melted to death yet in this heat wave yet? Oh, I see. No, I have never seen that much sweat. Actually, that doesn’t sound healthy. Your horse wouldn’t go near you? I don’t blame him–I’d go see a doctor for that.

As many of you know, the US team released a partial short list in mid-may following Rolex and Jersey Fresh with the intent of potentially naming additional pairs after Bromont and Luhmuhlen. The short list, of course, is a list of up to 18 pairs that determines the final group of riders from which the WEG team will be selected after the selection trials. Here we are a few weeks after Luhmuhlen, and my understanding is that the final WEG US short list will be released sometime next week.

USET vets have looked at several horses in the past couple of weeks, presumably to evaluate their candidacy to be added to the short list. From this fact, and the fact that it has taken so long after Luhmuhlen to release the final short list, I am guessing that a few names will get added.

The $64,000 question is who might get added to the short list? Off the top of my head, Tipperary Liadhnan, Sweepea Dean, and The Good Witch are the only horses who have applied for the WEGs and completed a three-day after the May short list was released. As for other WEG applicants at Luhmuhlen, Arthur jumped around with 20 time penalties after a great dressage test but he didn’t jog on Sunday due to a hematoma, and Wonderful Will withdrew before XC at Luhmuhlen reportedly because of an abscess.

It’s no doubt a shameless plug for SHN, but Sweepea Dean, one of the WEG qualified and WEG applicant horse is for sale right now on Sport Horse Nation. In fact Sweepea Dean was our first ever real classified post on SHN.

The other possibility is to retroactively add Rolex and Jersey horses. The team vets only looked at 7 horses after Rolex and all of them were added to the original short list. Vets looked at WEG applicant Rafferty’s Rules after Jersey, among other horses.

I have no idea who might be added to the list, so I have enlisted the psychic German octopus who correctly picked Spain’s victory over Germany in the World Cup to give us his predictions. Here are Paul the Octopus’ ranking of top horses that applied for the WEGs but were not included in the May short list:

1) Tipperary Liadhnan: I know, I know, talk about show jumping all you want, tell me that there’s no way “Paddy” has less than 12 penalties in the WEG show jumping. The bottom line is that from what I’m hearing about this WEG track, we are going to need horses that we can send out on XC and be nearly 100% confident they will come home clear. Paddy is one of 7 horses I feel that way about right now (Woodburn, TruLuck, The Foreman, Reggie, Bobby, Paddy, and Neville). I’m not saying put the horse on the team, just put him on the list and see how his show jumping develops over the next couple of months.

2) Last Monarch: “Stewie” placed 17th at Rolex, just two spots below Pawlow, who was included on the May list. Pawlow and Stewie both horses have the same questions about experience surrounding them. Last Monarch scored a 58 in the dressage at Rolex, and that has to come down, but he has jumped well all year, and you have to love his enthusiasm and athleticism.

3) Arthur: You can expect a great dressage performance, and the XC ability is certainly there on the right day. Again, I think this is a solid horse to add and see how he looks at the final selection trials. Hopefully Arthur had enough time to heal after Luhmuhlen for the vets to get a good look at him, but I’m not so sure about that.

4) The Good Witch: This horse was 18th at Luhmuhlen and had the second best show jumping round in Germany, but it is hard to forget that early fall at Rolex. If they add 4 names, this would be my 4th addition.

Honorable mentions: Titanium, Connaught, and Rock On Rose deserve consideration, but their riders probably have enough horses listed already. Rafferty’s Rules had a great run at Jersey, and Nevada Bay did win Bromont, but it’s hard to send horses to their first 4* at the WEGs. I’d guess that Nevada Bay gets some serious discussion though, even though he did not apply for the WEG list.

Paul the Octopus doesn’t know how many names might be added to the list, but the May list had 11 pairs and just 7 riders. The May list is the second largest list of the nations that have released lists so far (behind Germany’s 13 pairs), but the USEF can give up to 18 pairs to the FEI as part of the official final short list.

For reference, here is the May 14th short list:

Buck Davidson and BallyNoe Castle RM
Buck Davidson and My Boy Bobby
Phillip Dutton and The Foreman
Phillip Dutton and TruLuck
Phillip Dutton and Woodburn
Will Faudree and Pawlow
Becky Holder and Courageous Comet
Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos
Boyd Martin and Remington XXV
Karen O’Connor and Mandiba
Amy Tryon and Leyland

Go eventing.

Sport Horse Nation — The first week

By John on Jul 8, 2010 10:15 am -

I remember the first week on Eventing Nation, and trust me the first week on Sport Horse Nation went a lot better. We posted 2 classifieds each of our first 6 days, and we already have a short wait-list forming. We have some great horses posted up there now, and, even though I’m not in the market for a horse right now I have enjoyed watching the videos and keeping my eye on what is for sale in the market right now. With two posts a day there is always something fresh to look at on Sport Horse Nation, and SHN will occasionally have ridiculous classifieds or articles related to horse sales. Posting a classifieds costs only $15 and takes just 10 minutes. Just email the following to [email protected]:

–Title (less than 50 characters):
–Description:
–3 adjectives that describe the horse:
–Picture (in .jpg format):
–Location of the horse:
–Price (either a specific number, or a price range in alignment with the price categories in the Sport Horse Nation sidebar: 0-5,000, 5,000-15,000, 15,000-30,000, 30,000-50,000, 50,000+. These categories are meant to be broad enough to respect the privacy of the seller but also specific enough to help the buyer find the right horse.)

–Contact informaiton:
–Youtube video (optional)

Payment can be processed using either check or credit card per the instructions on Sport Horse Nation. I added a “quantity” feature to the PayPal system last night for people who wish to post multiple horses. I also removed the word number restriction on the “description” section for people who submit classifieds. When you submit a classified, please be creative and fun–tell a story about the horse.

www.SportHorseNation.com

For the first few weeks, we will post a recap of recent ads here on Eventing Nation. Be sure to visit SHN regularly to peruse the ads whether you are looking to buy or looking for fun. Thanks for your support on the development of SHN, and thanks for reading!

Talented Three Star Competitor

Felix: Great prospect, priced for a quick sale!!

**Magic Man – Experienced 2* Horse, ready to show someone the ropes!!**

4 yr, 16.1, Tb gelding, great affordable prospect

Zumanity – Great YR or Amateur Eventer!

Ballinlaugh Ice-2004 Irish TB Mare

Event, Hunt, Pony Club 12yo 16.0 gelding

Amazing Pony Jumper “SwingaLittle”

Leah Lang-Gluscic, chapter 1

By John on Jul 7, 2010 7:30 pm -

To our readers who sit in a concrete jungle all day, working for (as LisaB calls them) pointy-haired bosses–have you ever wondered what it would be like to quit your job and start your own eventing business? We will get a front row seat as one of our readers turned guest writers does just that. Leah Lang-Gluscic is leaving her job at an investment bank and will be writing for us about the process of building an eventing program. I’m very interested to hear about her struggles and triumphs along the way. Thanks for writing this Leah and thank you for reading.

Leah and BamBam

From Leah:

My name is Leah, and I am a 24 year old eventer trapped in the body of an investment banker, for the next two months that is. After getting an undergraduate degree in business from the Wharton School at UPenn, and working as an Analyst at an investment bank for two years, I have decided to throw all those hellacious hours of work to the wind and replace them with the equally long, though I would say more rewarding and fun, hours it takes to be a full-time eventer. I have been riding pretty much my whole life and, before college and work, I evented through Preliminary level and was working my way up. I made the decision to get back to eventing in January, and since then have purchased a farm and three horses. While I finish out my two year analyst program, I have the formidable task of balancing all these obligations.

Of course, now that I have something else going on in my life, things start to really get cranking at work. In the last month, I have been involved in four “live deals”, which is pretty much a 6-9 month process where we sell an entire company to another company. During this process I am expected to draft sales materials and talk directly with the CEOs, CFOs, and Directors of the company we are selling on almost a daily basis. On top of this, as the markets are starting to rebound, there have been so many opportunities for new business, and as an analyst, it is my responsibility to prepare the materials we use to try and convince the prospective clients to hire us. Think 50 page powerpoint decks. My mornings are easily starting at 7:30 and my evenings ending by 7:00 at the earliest, but usually more along the lines of 9:00 to 12:00.

On the days when I live the life of a normal working person and get in around 9:00 and leave around 7:00, I haul ass out to the barn to try and ride my three horses, which are Benjamin James, BamBam, and Paris Hilton. A little bit of background on each. I just purchased Benjamin James from New Zealand with the help of Ryan Wood and Carolyn Jolley, both of whom have an excellent eye for horses. As a side note, I would absolutely recommend both of them to anyone who is on the lookout. BJ is a nine year old New Zealand TB and a two-star horse, and he is pretty much going to serve as my way to jump right back into eventing and get things rolling. Don’t get me wrong, I whole-heartedly believe that a rider is only as good as the best horse they have produced. From here on out, I have every intention of making my own horses, but in the interest of learning and getting back into things, I think investing in a horse like BJ is the right way to start. He arrived in the States on Memorial Day weekend and since then has been enjoying a leisurely life of acclimating. He pretty much stands in front of a fan, eats grass and grain, goes on relaxing hacks, and works on losing his winter coat while I tirelessly curry him. I am planning to start getting him back to work this weekend, which I am really excited about! Right now, he is completely enamored with me. We will see if he still feels the same way when his life consists of a little bit more than food and massages!

My second horse is BamBam. He is a 7 yo foxhunter who was given to me by my good friend, Vanessa Keal Gerrish. She had a few too many horses and thinks this one has a pretty bright future, and I would certainly agree. I have had him for about a month now, and he is coming along nicely. From all the foxhunting, he is a cross country machine, but is still a little perplexed by the need to jump so many jumps so close to each other in stadium. Until last weekend, he had never been to a horse show before or jumped a jump with any color on it. We are shooting for the Maryland Horse Trials I on July 10^th.

My third horse, and possibly my favorite, is Paris Hilton. Please don’t judge her by her name!! There’s a bit of a back story to how I got this one. For the last two years, during any of my free time, I have been exercising foxhunters for Old Dominion Foxhounds. As part of that, I get to take all the up and coming young ones out on their first hunts so the staff can actually focus on getting their jobs done. Paris was one of these young ones. It turns out that her being a red-headed mare hasn’t been too conducive to the excitement of whipping-in or hunting hounds. When I told Clare Palmer and Gerald Keal, her owners and the whipper-in and huntsman of ODH, respectively, of my plans back in January, they both thought she should be my first project. I have gone in as a half owner on this horse, and the three of us are really excited about her future. For all her red-headedness at times, she is super talented.

Right now, my main focus is on BamBam as Paris is the kind of horse that needs to be ridden every day and BJ is still just relaxing after his travels. When I got BamBam he understood how to move in a balanced and forward way, but the idea of cantering around a turn was foreign. He only ever had to go straight to foxhunt! In the last few weeks he has come so far. We just went to his first show, a combined test, where he was a perfect gentleman and placed fourth, pretty good for a first outing. The picture to the right is him getting a big pat after his dressage test that day. We still have quite a bit of work to do until we are ready for Maryland HT. As my work schedule is so up in the air, I never know how many times I may be able to ride during the week. For example, this past Wednesday, most of my work was related to actually meeting with clients, so I may be able to get out of the office and ride BamBam as the sun set. Then Thursday morning I got up at 4:45 to be on by around 5:15 and ride before I began the commute back to DC. The drive is usually only an hour, but in the mornings DC traffic can make it two easily! It’s a tough commute, especially compared to my normal 20 minutes, but after an early morning ride it’s a little more bearable.

To be honest, I am pretty worried about being ready by July 10^th with BamBam. As usual, I am probably being a little over-ambitious, and I may have set our sights a little too high. I know he can easily get around Novice, but I really want his record to get off to a great start. Simultaneously, I am a little daunted at the task of getting BJ back into work. With my schedule I really only have time to ride one of the horses during the week, and with the MD HT coming up, those rides really have to be dedicated to BamBam. I almost feel guilty only getting two rides during the weekend in on BJ. I just keep reminding myself that come August, I will be working all three horses nearly every day and these worries will be long behind me. Easier said than done!

Even still, these worries are nothing compared to those about the location of my new farm, which is in Illinois. I will be relocating there in November. Don’t get me wrong, Illinois is a great state, but not exactly the ideal location for eventing. A huge part of my being able to do this is contingent on my moving back home. Without the financial support and help caring for the horses from my family, this endeavor is pretty much impossible. The good news is that the facility is fantastic. The only downside is that it is a pretty far drive from the epicenter of my sport. While this won’t be such a huge concern immediately, once I begin competing at the Intermediate and Advanced levels, the logistics will become pretty challenging.

Not only that, things have changed so much since I evented last! Seven years ago, we still had the long-format and thoroughbreds reigned supreme (they still do in my book)! It is going to be more challenging than ever to make something of myself in this sport, way more difficult than getting a degree from Wharton or a job at a top investment bank! Regardless, I am really excited about the challenge and hope to share the steps along the way with you!

Weekly Discussion from Omega Alpha: Natural Horsemanship

By John on Jul 7, 2010 1:18 pm -

McKenna’s excellent Camp OCET report from yesterday mentioned natural horsemanship a lot, and unquestionably such techniques are an important component of the O’Connor training philosophy, as well as other eventing programs around the US. On the other hand, there is a big portion of the eventing community that thinks rope halters and carrot sticks are ridiculous and have nothing to do with success as an eventer. So, what say you Eventing Nation?

Does natural horsemanship work?

Video of David’s estranged second removed uncle-in-law, Tex

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Thumbnail image for omegaalpbabannerlogo.jpg

Steph Rhodes-Bosch, chapter 2

By John on Jul 7, 2010 10:21 am -

Steph Rhodes-Bosch has been kind enough to write her second guest blog entry. Today she writes about competing lower level horses while Port Authority enjoyed a well deserved rest after Rolex. Thanks for writing this Steph and thank you for reading.

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Ollie after his first post-Rolex roll, he had been totally clean for the last 2 weeks

From Steph:

Last weekend at Surefire Farm, I competed Beginner Novice for the first time in about ten years. My last “Green” level competition (which is the Horse Trials British Columbia equivalent to BN) was on my Welsh/QH/Arab pony, Tequila Sunrise at the Copper Meadows Farm HT at home in southern British Columbia when I was twelve. Let me tell you, I want to do it more often!! I had such a great time at the horse show with two young guys I ride full time. They were both super cute in all 3 phases, and one of them actually finished 2nd on a 32!! Very exciting for the boys and their owners. Even though it was a really hot day, and the show was running behind, everyone on the Surefire crew seemed to be working really hard to make the day go well for everyone. Thats my first time competing at Surefire, and I’ll definitely go back next year. (Hopefully it actually rains next June for the sake of the footing!!) Both of those horses, Smartie Pants and Kojo, are entered in BN at the 2nd Maryland HT in 2 weeks, so I’m really looking forward to it.

On an “Ollie” note, his vacation is officially over!! He really enjoyed his 2 months out in Rapahannock county, but I moved him up to High Meadows farm in The Plains on the first of July. The barn is great, and a lot of my friends keep their horses there, so the next couple months will be a lot of fun!! I can hack in under ten minutes to both the dressage arena and the jumping arena at Stonehall and High Acre, so it will be quick and convenient to get to my lessons, and I get to ride in beautiful arenas every day!! Spoiled girl… Ollie has jumped twice, is in full dressage boot camp, and will do his first little canter sets around the 7th of July. Wish us luck for the next couple months leading up to training camp!!

Camp OCET: Everything you need to know

By John on Jul 6, 2010 7:07 pm -

Eventing Nation had a strong presence at the O’Connor Eventing Camp last week, and one of our readers was kind enough to share about her camp experience. In this article, McKenna writes about everything from David’s favorite drink to the infamous mechanical bull incident. Thanks for writing this McKenna, and thank you for reading.

Well I figure before I start in on the details of camp you should know a little bit about me….

My name is McKenna Oxenden and I am 13 years old (14 on the 24th) and I ride a 13.2 bay and white paint pony named Dorito Cooler Ranch AKA Dorito. We go BN, and just did our first Novice last weekend. It went really well (more on that later!). I ride and board at Tara Equestrian at Chapelview Farm in Woodbine, Maryland and train with Ashley Beheler. Now the camp report:

A line….commonly used at camp! I’m not hard to spot the smallest one on the paint!

Well camp was pretty amazing, actually spectacular and awesome…or well there is no way to describe it! Everyone is soooo nice and down to earth it’s amazing. Whether I was riding or on the ground or during a discussion or playing a game it was Fantastic!!!!

I figure I’ll give a brief over view of each day just so you get a prospective of what we did and also include what we learned…. I apologize in advance for the lengthy report!

Sunday was an introduction to the staff and campers, we learned each other’s names camp style and then had to go around in a circle and say stuff about us…wow okay, gather your thoughts….hmm think think think oh crap it’s my turn! Uhhhh okay…I say stuff about me and then say I just moved up to Novice last weekend, Karen asks “how did it go?” and I say “Very well” Karen responds “very well??” and I say ” uhhh yeaa…..well I had a few scary jumps…” and that got a laugh…okay wheeww it’s over…oh man did I make a fool of myself? You see the things that run through your mind? After all introductions we headed up to the pavilion for some food and games. The food was amazing BUT it was time to get down and play softball O’Connor style! With my flip flops as bases and rules that who knows if they were technical or not 😉 we soon had almost everyone playing and had our teams split… Karen and Cathy’s team verses David’s team…and David’s team whooped butt!!!!!! Yayy us! Did you know if you put your right foot back you’ll hit the ball to right field?? Yeah, I learned that from David :).

Monday I was up bright and early learning about the 4 main yields-hind end, front end, head down, and back up. I also learned the importance of YOU being the leader to your horse and about applying pressure but making sure you APPLY THE RELEASE! After our discussion of those topics we headed over to the bull, our little red machine that teaches us how to ride a drop and up a bank. After everyone had a turn we then headed to get our natural horsemanship equipment. We learned what the various items were for, how to use them. We had our 12 foot line, rope halter, carrot stick along with a savvy string that was attached to it. We practiced on people on how to handle the rope and then we took what we learned on the ground without horses to with horses! I have been doing Parelli for 4 1/2 years ( at least I think) and I found this to still be quite interesting. I learned I need to get more insistent quicker and I need to watch my posture, Karen was a big help with that. Later that afternoon we put our ground stuff to use and put it together while riding the horse, so we were doing all the yields along with leg yields around the ring. My temporary group worked with Cathy and then when we finished working on our 4 yields along with the leg yield we all headed back to the main arena and got in a huge group that were doing leg yields all around the ring. Though it was fun, it got quite confusing as you had Karen, David, or Cathy yelling at you and you just weren’t quite sure who was talking to you! At one point I had both Karen and David instructing me! So day one was all about the 4 yields and learning to RELEASE the pressure. Oh and by the way…rein back has 2 beats! And that night we had a wonderful talk from Ecogold about the boots and pads and why they are so excellent!

Tuesday, started out again with our bull friend and another talk. This one was about the 4 (5 if you want to get technical) Rider Responsibilities along with the conversation of just not more leg but more leg to do what? You get EN Karma and bragging rights if you can name the rider responsibilities as David would/did explain them! Shortly after our bronco ride and discussion we headed up the (giant) hill to do more natural horsemanship. We worked on the same thing as yesterday except we had a better concept of how to do it along with that we worked on lunging (parelli term- circling game) After and 1 hour or so of that we bridled up and mounted, we then got in our groups and headed off to the arenas. Group 3, my group, had David for flat. This flat session was about 20 meter circles…you set tennis balls up on a 20 meter circle and you have to go through them as straight as possible….you know what you learn…you usually bow out way too much on a circle and are not straight enough, yes I know how can it be possible to not be straight enough on a circle?! Basically what most of us learned is that you need to say go here not YOU BETTER GO HERE or nagging or as David referred to it as “yelling”. That afternoon was jumping with Cathy and we were just doing a simple exercise but we were focusing on the basics and striding…it’s amazing that when you scale back on your jumping like not doing a course that amount of little things you screw up on. That night our lecture was from the wonderful Max!!! She was talking about studding and what the main types are and big no no’s and she also talked about boots they use Ecogold boots for XC and equifit for stadium.

Wednesday brought on XC!!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!! We were having more conversations of XC and what to do and stuff we also had the bull with the saddle on. The big idea of XC…HAVE YOUR KNEE STRAIGHT!!!!!!!! I can have a camper, (known as the camper who shall not be named), attest to that as you’ve all seen the picture!! Woo that gave us a good laugh…ohh the things that happen at camp! We got straight to things and headed up to the arenas to start with jumping! We had Karen and I learned so much!! As I have a pony I learned how to make his stride bigger at the trot…the rounder he is the bigger it is! During those lessons I also learned the importance of being straight to a jump and not angling it and also getting your lead in the air/the stride before the jump. Later that afternoon we had “man from snowy river”!!!!!!! And XC positions!!!!! WOOOHHOOO!! We had David again and I learned how to improve my prepare position before the jumps…they call it raising the sail. After some galloping position we headed up the hill to gather as a group to do man from snowy river….wow that is sooo much fun! The first time your horse tends to back off because your cantering along and then all of a sudden your at the summit of a very large steep hill….but the next time they’re pretty good and then when you go again my big brave pony decides that he doesn’t need to slow down so needless to say halfway down the hill I was going a bit faster and then when I hit the bottom he takes off like a rocket….I then came back around and got a talking to “what are you doing you’re going to break him!! I don’t want to hear his hoof beats or huffing! Come again! Micro manage him to contain his craziness!!” That time went much better! After that we headed to go pop over a log and then we headed back to the barn. Max gave us another stable management talk about show turnout with the wonderful Mandiba (Doodle) I also learned a lot like how to do quarter marks, a better cheaper “green spot remover” spray, and a different way how to braid! We had our other BBQ that night and it was also amazing! We had an interesting game of jeopardy…I must say that with out some of the OCET’s help I wouldn’t have had some of those questions! Trivia Fact: The first American women to compete in eventing in the Olympics was Hannah DuPont! Our team lost miserably but we weren’t allowed to use our secret weapon, the vet….we had a vet who was in our group and we were banned for using him in the Vet Medicine questions!! To make the night even better we got our awesome photo of the camper who shall not be named and Karen personally autographed by the both of them 🙂 mega score!

Thursday was natural horsemanship with horses who had XC issues along with watching Karen riding Quin (Quintus 54) Cathy riding Simba, and Cathy’s groom Amanda riding her Intermediate horse Teddy (Ready Teddy). Wow. Okay why must they be sooo amazing!? Karen is sooo quiet with her upper body all she does is move her hips, must she make it look so easy?! Others headed off to watch natural horsemanship while a few of us stragglers continued to watch…I learned so much also from just watching the 3 of them ride. Amazing! Did I say that enough? 🙂 After that was lunch with a talk from Pennfield a long time sponsor of the O’Connor’s. After that was XC with Cathy!!!! It was awesome also! There were 3 stations- banks, ditches, and water. Our group did a mini course through the water including jumps into and out of the water, with the banks we did a down bank to an up bank one stride to a roll top and with the ditches a 1/2 coffin. Everything was spectacular and jumped awesome!! That night we got invited to a BBQ at someone’s house so we went and it was some of the best food I’ve ever had!

Karen schools Quin over the “H” excersise

Friday was the last day 🙁 we had what I think may have been the best discussion all week. we just talked about the various things about XC like safety, the point two airvest, frangible pins, the rule about falling, TE’s, dangerous riding, abusive riding…..am I missing anything? We then headed up to the ring to help finish setting the course and walk it. We had to walk it by our selves and then we walked it with Karen and got our order of go. You warmed up with wither Karen or Cathy and then headed over. I warmed up with Cathy and got a little of Karen at the end…. I had a pretty good WU and was feeling good as I headed over to ride my course. As I walked into the ring I talked with David and started my course it was pretty good, I got told I needed to keep it the same, not to take back or mess with him, keep a better rhythm, and stay out of the tack!! I went back and re-did the course and it was a lot better but I still needed to just leave him and stay out of the tack so I did 2 lines again and then I was done. I was really happy with the way it .Once we had finished we headed to our luncheon which had the most amazing food!! We were having quite a conversational piece at our table… Blue’s Clue’s….yes Blue’s Clue’s we talked about the thinking chair and then I shared about how I had one….from when I was little… and then I got asked if I sat in it often…gee my new friend’s are nice! David and Leslee sat there wondering where education went wrong and then David said you know if you guys would’ve had this conversation on Sunday it would’ve explained a lot this week…. 🙂 oh the things that happen at camp. The groups did skits which included a song about camp, a fairytale with Queen Karen and King David along with their duchess Cathy, and our skit…a typical riding lesson from that week. Awards for most improved rider, all I’ll say he is a Canadian who needs to wear his new point two airvest to breakfast! And a prize for stable management was given out and that went to one of my new very good friends…it was a free lesson from Karen or David!!!! But have no fear we did not walk away empty handed as we became members of the OCET with our saddle pads! We had also collected goodies through out the week such as mugs, hats, free samples, coupons, and other things!

This past week was amazing. I was having the time of my life. And I also learned soooo much! I learned that I need to be out of the saddle a lot more, in half seat. I learned how to better my XC position and show jumping exercises’ to do at home. I learned how famous people can be the most down to earth people you know. I learned soooooo much!!!! This camp is the bomb and I highly recommend it! It was a huge accomplishment for me to be able to go there because my mom said I could only go if I raised 800 dollars, and I did. It was totally worth it and I’m doing it again next year…. I’m already saving again! It’s an awe inspiring experience that gives you a whole new prospective and learning experience!

So here I give you some tips if you decide to go….

Things to Know
– Go with the flow
-if you drop your crop you have to get off and get it
-make new friends! Talk to people!
– make sure you pay attention. make eye contact!
– eveything the schedule says add about a half hour to it
-David’s obessessd with Diet Coke (apparently also nacho cheese doritos?)
– Karen really likes her rubberbanded crop
Dogs to know- Brew=Karen’s
Cuppa=Cathys’s
Boston=Max’s
-Don’t say biscuit to Brew because he expects one
-Cathy likes Merlot
-David like Bourbon
-Karen likes Chardonnay
-Max likes “home brewed” beers
– remember the favorite alcohol for when you fall off or want to suck up 🙂

Quotes from the Week

-“O’Connor Camp sponsored by Advil!”~DOC when Cathy runs over Amanda while playing softball
-“How did I get dope on a rope”- Karen on your horses thoughts
-“Leave him!” – a common thing heard from David when you’d mess with your horse too much
-“Max fix that” – David or Karen when they need something
-“You gotta get that fixed” – David on an abscess or something bad
-“Lieutenant Dan you aint got no legs!” – David ‘nough said.
-“Are you listening to me!?!” – Karen, David, and Cathy when someone’s ADD kicked in.

Prologs at Glanusk Horse Trials

By John on Jul 5, 2010 8:17 pm -

Lec, an Eventing Nation regular and guest writer from the UK, attended the Glanusk horse trials over the weekend. Lec sent us this report with her thoughts and observations about Prologs, which are styrofoam logs that you might remember reading about in our Rolex coverage. Thanks for writing this lec and thank you for reading.

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From lec:

This weekend saw the very first Glanusk International Horse Trials in the UK. Running levels from Novice, Training, Prelim, Intermediate and CCI 1*.

This was the first event in the UK that was trialling polystyrene logs – Prolog. I was lucky enough to chat to the fence judges, Eric Winter the course designer and Canadian eventer Mike Winter who designed the Prolog and who was watching and videoing the fence to see how it jumped.

The fence had an upright log going into the water and then up a small mound to the second upright log. Both of these fences were made of Prolog. The fence judge told me that in the Intermediate it had been riding horribly and riders seemed to be taking far too many risks into the fence. Three riders had snapped the fence out of about 40 entries in the Intermediate. The fence judge was not convinced by these fences as they had seen some bad riding. Several of these were experienced pros and felt that people did not have the respect they should have had for it.

Links: Glanusk homepage, WFP’s Glanusk recap, Prolog site

Snapped logs.

I asked Mike Winter why this was happening and it appears that one horse completely breasted it when coming in far too fast, another horse had left a leg and another had stopped but went through the fence. Mike Winter was of the opinion that by using the Prolog it has stopped a rotational fall. Mike has video of the fence which I am hoping to get a copy of in order to post on EN.

Look at all the marks on the log.

The same fences had been in the 1* but nobody had snapped them. The main difference between the 1* and the Intermediate was that the course was roped differently. The 1* approached the fence straight while the Intermediate riders came off a turn.

Another factor is that they made a change for the Intermediate in the posts holding the fence up. In the 1* it should have collapsed but did not so they cut away to make it break. On this photo you can see where they have cut away more from the posts.

Interestingly at BE events there are no penalties for breaking the log but the fence judge has the discretion to give penalties if the horse has stopped then broken the log.

Eric Winter is a designer who builds bold courses and one of the influences you could clearly see on his course was the open corners that we saw at Badminton. Eric took over Blenheim 3* two years ago and I expect to see him design 4* courses very soon. All his courses are very horse friendly but scare the rider and need attacking.

Lots of the fences had frangible pins.

This is a brand new course so for me it was interesting to see what direction course designers are taking. All the levels were big and bold. This seems to be the fashion at the moment in the UK where riders have to really kick and be brave. I understand there will be a feedback session from the Prolog so it will be interesting to see what the consensus is.

Monday Hot Links

By John on Jul 5, 2010 11:36 am -

NYT: One of the carriage drivers passed away in the hospital Sunday night after the Iowa parade stampede

Bellvue’s fire chief, about the stampede: “This is just something that happens that we can’t prevent,” he said. “It wouldn’t be any different from an accelerator sticking on a car and running through the crowd.”

The Carrot: The FEI didn’t rule that Sapphire’s disqualification was incorrect

From The Carrot (blame them)

In other news, we have set up a handy-dandy weekly poll question sidebar to have a fun look at what Eventing Nation thinks about a variety of issues. This week’s topic relates to a great discussion we had last week on EN.

That’s all for now. Whether you are at work or on vacation today, go eventing.

Developing: 1 dead, 23 injured in horse stampede at Iowa parade

By John on Jul 4, 2010 7:25 pm -

Monday Update: The NYT is reporting that one of the carriage passengers has passed away

We have some sad news coming from Bellevue, Iowa, where several horses broke loose and ran wild through the crowd for several blocks during a 4th of July parade. The two horses were pulling a buggy, and the police say that the horses ran off after one horse rubbed its head against the other, removing that horse’s bridle. The horses then stampeded in and out of the parade crowd for several blocks. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reported the horses ran for about eight blocks before they hit a large street sign. The impact flipped the buggy, throwing two people from it. The horses then ran another two blocks before slamming into a trailer.

Five people were critically injured, five others severely injured and 14 suffered minor injuries, police and fire officials said in a statement. The victims were as young as 2 years old and suffered injuries ranging from multiple fractures to collapsed lungs and abrasions, officials said. I have not seen any word on the status of the two horses. Eventing Nation’s thoughts and prayers are with the citizens of Bellevue tonight.

Links: The AP, The Desmoines Register

Happy Independence Day

By John on Jul 4, 2010 12:25 pm -

Today we celebrate an incredible moment in the history of mankind, but what exactly are we celebrating? Historians now know that representatives from the American colonies taking part in the second continental congress voted to separate from Great Britain on July 2nd, 1776. They spent two days writing a statement about their decision, which, of course, is the Declaration of Independence, and they approved that declaration July 4th. While conventional wisdom associates the 4th with the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence, historians believe that congress waited until a month later to sign the DOI. Interestingly enough, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail predicting that future Americans would celebrate July 2nd:

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival….” Link: Wikipedia

So, there might be some confusion about the important date, but we are totally sure about everything else right? Well, sadly, historians disagree about lots more, such as the question of whether the second continental congress was filled with freedom loving idealists like my middle school history book said, or if the founding fathers were a band of over-eloquent business men tired of paying taxes like one of my college textbooks said. And now you know the rest of the story.

Whatever the real date was, whatever the ambitions of our forefathers, what we do know for certain, and what we celebrate today, is that the greatest country in the history of the world was born from humble circumstances and against long odds. And now you know the rest of the story.

But seriously, what are you doing sitting in front of a computer on a beautiful day like this? Go outside, eat a hotdog, hug your kids, kiss your horse, and thank a veteran–that’s what today is all about. Go USA.

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Evening update: As usual, our readers tell much better stories than I do. Here’s a great contribution from Retreadeventer, originally posted in the comment section of this post:

To add some HORSE to that history…Caesar Rodney of Delaware, who was suffering from face or throat cancer at the time, got word that his vote was needed in order to push the ratification. He rode from Dover, Delaware, through the night and through serious thunderstorms as he came towards what is now Townsend and Middletown, Delaware. Many of the streams were flooded. Riding in the night, through heavy rain and wind! He had to abandon the horse and take a carriage once he got to Cooches Bridge, which is now near Newark, DE. From there he took the “Philadelphia Road” (history is not quite sure how this road went) to the meeting house in Philadelphia being used by the Continental Congress. He arrived in the morning without sleep for 20 hours.

This treacherous journey, undertaken in ill health, required the greatest of reserve, and a horse was the facilitator of the vote that was cast that declared our independence. Today a statue of the horse and Caesar Rodney aboard stands in the center of the city of Wilmington, and was the model for the Delaware quarter, which I had a small hand in helping the Franklin Mint artist design. He came down to my farm and visited to watch some horses in action, and took photographs and borrowed my book, Horses in Motion. He sent me several proofs back and forth in email to correct — we had to move the the hind legs somewhat to get it more of a gallop than the statue is. The horse he used was named “Force Be With You”, a standardbred — how appropriate, since the root horses of the standardbred breed helped to settle and forge this nation both under saddle and in harness. TRUE story!

UK Short List Dilemmas

By John on Jul 3, 2010 1:58 pm -

We have yet to hear World Equestrian Games short lists from two major powers–the US and the UK. My understanding is that we have at least a few more days until we will hear from the US selectors, and it sounds like the same for their UK counterparts. “Lec,” our friend and guest writer from the UK chimes in on some possibilities for Great Breitain’s WEG team.

—–

Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz

From lec:

So far there has been no shortlist for the UK as the final trials will be held at Barbury CIC3* (which I will write a report from with photos). These are held on the 11^th July and so because of that this article is currently conjecture and guesswork so I thought I would mention a few of the possibilities. There is also a final prep at Aston le Walls advanced but I believe this will be used more as a combined training (dressage and Show jumping) for the horses selected.

One of the reasons I think so little has been mentioned is that is a wide open race at the moment to make the final 6. Some pairs have shown real blips in form and others have been quietly consistent. One of the things that I believe is that the team will be a team of fairly young horses. This is a team for the future and it is very exciting that we have so much choice and depth in the UK. I am very excited about WEG and think that the UK has an outstanding chance *hopes that this comment is not the kiss of death!*

Nicola Wilson – Opposition Buzz.

This combination has to be a definite as they have done nothing wrong. They are a superbly consistent pair and I fully expect to see them being pathfinders for the team again in Kentucky. Opposition Buzz has been lightly campaigned this year after his best result at Badminton. Dressage has previously been a weakness (average is 55) as they are not winners in this phase but his superb jumping and fast cross country normally makes up for this.

Mary King – Imperial Cavalier

Another who I think will be on the plane to WEG as another who has not been campaigned since their 4^th place at Badminton. Good in the dressage and solid cross country. Mary has a wealth of experience at this level and the horse is only 13.

Tina Cook – Miners Frolic

I think Tina will be forgiven for the blip at Badminton. Miners Frolic had a recent run proving there were no issues in an OI and finished 3^rd. A good result at Barbury will be good enough to see them on the plane to WEG as they have such brilliant results in the past with Bronze at the Olympics and Gold at Europeans.

Ollie Townend – Ashdale Cruise Master

I just feel he will get a place to go to WEG. Ollie gained a good result at Luhmuhlen finishing 5^th with dressage that is improving. He also won a very competitive CIC3* at Tattersalls. This horse is only 11 and has a big future ahead of him. My issue with this pair is that when they are good they are on fire but when it goes wrong they seem to have a horse fall. Kentucky was the second horse fall for this pair as he also had one at an OI.

William Fox Pitt – Seacookie/Cool Mountain

WFP is a total genius of a rider and both these horses are ones for the future but who it will do no harm to have the experience of a major championship. Seacookie perhaps is the stronger on paper having been placed 6^th at Kentucky and 7^th round a very strong Burghley last year. He was withdrawn from Badminton with concerns that he was not quite sound but these worries seem to be over has he has run quietly round a couple of OIs with no issues and is entered at Barbury. Cool Mountain, I feel is another year away from being a championship horse. His win at Kentucky I think shocked everyone including his rider! Kentucky is seen over here as a soft 4* so I think he needs to still prove himself. I guess he is a back up to Seacookie and it will be interesting to see who gets the better result at Barbury.

Lucy Wiegersma – Woodfalls Inigo Jones/Grannetvka Prince

Lucy Wiegersma has an enviable string of horses and these two are the best and both have proven themselves. I think Inigo Jones will be the first choice for Lucy as he has been consistent with a 5^th at Kentucky last year and 6^th at Luhmuhlen this year. He has also had European Championship experience and was 2^nd in the World Cup qualifier at Chatsworth. I think his blip will be forgiven at Badminton. This horse is only 11 and I think there is lots more to come as he looks like a real 4* horse. Last year he looked a bit green in places but now he looks the business.

Others

Sharon Hunt – Tankers Town

I would love to see Sharon go to WEG but there are a few ifs and buts with this horse. He is 16 now and though he has just won a 4* and has been ultra consistent throughout his career I feel this elimination at Badminton last year and his occasional napping out of the start box is just too big a risk. I think this pair will be back up if anything goes wrong with the above.

Pippa Funnell – Redesigned

I have mentioned this pair as this horse has a very solid 3* record. Pippa has thought very highly of this horse for a long time and there is not many riders more experienced than Pippa. I think they have an outsiders chance but I have mentioned them as Tina Cook made it to Beijing on a horse with solid 3* results and none yet at 4*.

Ruth Edge – Two Thyme

Previous winners of Luhmuhlen 4* and last year won at Gatcombe. Age is against this horse and he is not the most sound. I have mentioned them for an outside chance as on their day they have amazing dressage and are potential winners when the luck is with them. Ruth has a lot of up and coming young horses and I think is a name you will see regularly on the teams in the future.

Event this weekend from TOTD

By John on Jul 3, 2010 12:20 pm -

We only have one USEA event in the US this holiday weekend, and that honor goes to the South Farm horse trials in Ohio. The weather is beautiful in Ohio this weekend with all sun and highs in the 80’s. South Farms is in Middlefield, Ohio, which is just east of Cleveland, in very northeastern Ohio. We have friends at South Farm and we will keep everyone appraised of how things are going. Good luck to all the competitors, and hopefully everyone will get home in time to watch some fireworks Sunday night.

Links: Ride Times, South Farm Homepage

For everyone at home this weekend, Tack of the Day has two items for sale at over 45% off each. One is a beautiful looking lycra sheet, and the other is a set of plastic jump cups. Both are only available until Monday at noon. Check both items out by clicking the link below.

FEI: McLain Ward’s Sapphire was “incorrectly eliminated”

By John on Jul 2, 2010 6:24 pm -

The FEI has issued a press release stating that the disqualification of McLain Ward and Sapphire at the show jumping World Cup in Geneva was incorrect:

“After a full investigation into the facts surrounding the disqualification of Sapphire (McLain Ward) at the FEI World Cup Final in Geneva, the FEI has determined that the horse was incorrectly eliminated from the second round on 16 April 2010, however, Sapphire’s disqualification from the final round of the World Cup remains in place.

McLain Ward will immediately be awarded all ranking points and prize money related to his second place finish in the second round of the FEI World Cup Final….”

The disqualification was allegedly due to the fact that FEI vets thought Sapphire responded to sensitivity tests, indicating that a chemical had been applied to the front of her pasterns, which would have made the mare more conscious about hitting rails. McLain, George Morris, and the USEF all vehemently opposed the disqualification at the time, and swab tests of Sapphire’s legs came back negative a few weeks ago. McLain and the USEF had sued the FEI over the matter, but today’s press release announces that the suit had been dropped.

Link: Full FEI Press Release

This is the admission of a very big error by the FEI, and I give the FEI credit for owning up to the mistake. However, this press release was sent out at 6PM on a Friday night of a holiday weekend in the US, which is the classic time you would issue news if you don’t want anyone to hear about it, which raises my eyebrow a bit. Go eventing.

Sport Horse Nation enters the 21st century

By John on Jul 2, 2010 12:57 pm -

Reaching our vast audience of eventers with a classifieds on Sport Horse Nation takes less than 15 minutes and costs just $15. The process has gotten even faster since last night I added a secure credit card payment system through PayPal to Sport Horse Nation. As the story goes, Leslie, in all of her wisdom, advocated strongly for credit cards in the first place, but I, in all of my obstinacy, decided to stick with just checks. Thank you to EN readers including Lauren, Amanda, and Marty for setting me straight.

The process for posting a classified is now simpler than ever:

1) Fill out the below form and email it to [email protected]

–Title (less than 50 characters):
–Description (less than 200 words, age, height, experience, color, eating habits, etc):
–Story about the horse (Optional, no word limit, have some fun and tell us about the horse’s personality):
–3 adjectives that describe the horse:
–Picture (in .jpg format):
–Location of the horse:
–Price (either a specific number, or a price range in alignment with a, b, c, d, or e price categories in the Sport Horse Nation sidebar: 0-5,000, 5,000-15,000, 15,000-30,000, 30,000-50,000, 50,000+. These categories are meant to be broad enough to respect the privacy of the seller but also specific enough to help the buyer find the right horse.)

–Contact informaiton:
–Youtube video (optional)

2) The classified will be posted in the same format that articles are posed on Eventing Nation once the $15 credit card or check payment is processed.

Classifieds will also receive publicity on our Sport Horse Nation Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sporthorsenation) which, by the way, already has 200+ followers, and from time to time on Eventing Nation itself. I spoke with a few top riders yesterday to promote the site, and they all said the same thing: this is a great idea because our sport needs one place online where everyone can meet to buy and sell event horses. Thanks everyone for your support!

Our first (real) classified has been posted today, and I am very excited because it is one of the premium event horses for sale in North America right now. Check it out:

www.sporthorsenation.com

Go eventing.

What does our “N” equal when riding?

By John on Jul 2, 2010 11:54 am -

Dr. Kent Allen wrote an interesting article for the Chronicle about what he calls the “N=1 Syndrome,” where, N is the sample size (number of patients) of an experiment, or the number of observed experiences. One of Dr. Allen’s points is that people are prone to trust their few previous experiences with a given lameness (N=1 or 2) to their vet’s many experiences with the condition (N=200 or 300):

“You want to believe your experiences, or those of your close associates.

A famous historian pointed out that we’re simply the sum of our previous experiences, so if it hasn’t happened to us it doesn’t exist in our worldview…

The other complicating factor is that horse sports are filled with rugged individualists who consider riding and caring for horses an art form. Some are loath to apply science to the individual truths that they can only find on the back of a horse.”

When I read this, I immediately thought that similar principles apply to our own riding. As Dr. Allen points out, riding certainly is an art form and the idea that we are more likely to trust our own experiences than those of others seems natural, but Dr. Allen’s message that we should seek to use experience whenever possible resonates with me.

As we all know, having more experiences is a valuable asset. Phillip is probably something like N=40,000 for number of advanced XC jumps he has jumped in competition over his career. Also, finding good coaching is so important because our coaches have many more experiences than us.

Two extensions of the N principle are that more recent experiences have a larger impact than past experiences, and the fewer experiences one has, the larger the impact of any one particular experience. This is also why having a good foundational education and good first experiences on horseback are so important for young riders.

As an interesting aside, Dr. Allen mentions in the article that his office tracks pass/fail rates for pre-purchase exams, and that about 50% of such exams have a positive result.

Read Dr. Allen’s article here, and share your thoughts with Eventing Nation.

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