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The Olympics won’t be rained out, after all, and other Thursday links

By on Jul 19, 2012 7:00 pm -


The greatest photo ever.

After a busy day at the EN compound, your afternoon links have become evening links.  Let’s jump right in!

Young Rider dressage scores are live here.  Coal Creek and Lizzie Snow lead the CCI**, delivering the Area VI, VII & IX team into first place by 14 points.  Enchanted and Savanna Hilles lead the CCI* on a 47.3.  The Ontario Team is tied with Area V for the one-star team lead.  Area V’s contains two former 4* horses including Jessica Phoenix’s former ride Exploring and Leslie Law’s former ride Fleeceworks Mystere du Val.  The eventers have tomorrow off, followed by cross-country on Saturday.  [YR schedule PDF]

Today’s Eventing Radio Show focuses on all things North America, check it out!

US riders including Marilyn Little-Meredith, Jules Stiller, and Will Faudree are competing at the Aston-Le-Walls one-day in England tomorrow.  Check out scores here.

Greenwich Park footing passes final review

Keep an eye on the USEF Network for all things Young Riders this weekend.  Show jumpers and reiners got all of the attention today and you can watch replays through the link.  I don’t know if eventing will get some love on Saturday but I certainly hope so.

Dressage-News.com got into a war with Deadspin this week

Check out photos of the Team New Zealand camp, via @Monty_White

Democrats apologize for making a mocking video of Rafalca

NBC’s Olympic schedule

This is what Olympic tickets look like

Will Connell gets his blog on

Olympic CTV viewing guide

I’ll leave you with a video that has nothing to do with eventing, as is tradition:

Go eventing.

Area I expected to ride horses at Young Riders

By on Jul 19, 2012 12:43 pm -

Young Riders is on one hand a super-serious event, and on the other hand an awesomely fun gathering great riders from all over North America.  It’s important for the riders to find a good balance to take advantage of the full Young Riders experience.  Area I is striking a good balance this weekend as Marion Quigley, Area 1’s chef and coordinator, is kind enough to show us in her latest Area I Young Riders report for Eventing Nation.  As always, thanks for writing this Marion, good luck to Area I this weekend, and thank you for reading.
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From Marion Quigley:
Well we are here at NAJYRC in Kentucky, and the jog is happily a fond memory!  It was quite a blast as you can see from the above video. The videos were made by a 6 year old girl, who was bribed by her parents to come cheer on the Area 1 team, by telling her she could play with the movie app on his phone!  We thought it was hysterical, so we are sharing it with Eventing Nation.


Dancing at Spy Coast Farm’s excellent party! Thank you Spy Coast Farm for a great time!!!

Our team is doing well, the girls are pumped!  All passed the jog, while looking sharp in their matching jog outfits.  Dressage starts today, and we will send updates. The team is walking the cross-country course with their coach Mikki Kuchta, on this nice cool Thursday morning. A big storm last night brought lots of much needed rain and a bit cooler temperatures.
Janelle Phaneuf, Coleen Shaughnessy, Jenny Lyford, Emily Mainolfi, Hannah Forte, and Shannon Quigley

Go Area One, Go Eventing Nation!!!!

Michelle Parker: So far so good for Area X and IX

By on Jul 19, 2012 12:23 pm -

Young Riders is officially underway with dressage today at the Kentucky Horse Park.  Area X Young Rider coordinator and now EN guest blogger, Michelle Parker, was kind enough to send us this report following the Wednesday first horse inspection.  Thanks for writing this Michelle and thank you for reading.
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From Michelle Parker:

Well Eventing Fans, we are thru the first JOG at NAJYRC!!!  I would have liked to report that every horse passed but, sadly one horse was spun from the Area II CCI* entries.  My heart breaks for the rider who had every hope of beginning the competition but, now will not.  I am sure that is a tough place to be as a rider, a groom, a coach and a parent.  But, we must all remember that the welfare of the horse should and must remain all of our priorities as we begin each competition.  So, good job ground jury!  I am sure it was tough for you to make that decision too.

When I first began to learn about NAJYRC several years ago I was surprised back then to learn that every equine discipline participates in the “games” at NAJYRC.  It is quite exciting to see the Reiners walking around in their cowboy hats and big belt buckles amongst the dressage, jumper, endurance, and vaulting riders.  And then of course, there are those crazy Eventers who just do it all!!!  But, I have one question….why don’t Eventing competitions give out those huge silver belt buckles??? I think this is something that should be rectified immediately as Eventers certainly deserve the biggest buckles!

The opening ceremonies were not to be missed.  All the disciplines get to march in with their banners and competitors.  This year the USA and Canada are of course represented in every NAJYRC equine discipline. There are entrants from Mexico in Endurance and Jumping, Venezuela is represented in Dressage and Guatemala is represented in Endurance.  How incredibly cool is that?!

I can tell you that the Eventers had a blast at the first party.  There was even a “unicorn” kidnapping at the party.  I kid you not!  There was a unicorn in attendance and some Eventers kidnapped her (well, there was at least a young girl dressed as a unicorn at the party and some Eventers, who shall remain nameless, kidnapped her to the horror of her parents!).  It was all in good fun and the unicorn was released unharmed but, perhaps scared for life by the experience. Oops!

A tradition at the NAJYRC is the decorated golf cart parade (the creativity put into this event within the event is amazing!) immediately following the opening ceremonies over to the party at Spy Coast farm.  Wow!  What a lovely place to throw a party and invite everyone….I mean everyone (riders, grooms, coaches, parents, guests, officials…everyone!).  They had a photo booth, a bouncy tent, and a mechanical bull!!  The food and beverages were fabulous (there were even snow cones and cotton candy!).  The only downside was the incredible heat of the evening.  But, I am from New Mexico where there is 0% humidity and cool, cool, evenings so; I just may be a pansy in this regard.  But, it is hot here in Kentucky and the drought and high temperatures have taken there toll on all of us!  I am praying for buckets of rain for the XC course and we did get a nice shower late this afternoon.  Yay!

That’s all for now and I am happy to report that the combined Area IX and X CCI* team all passed the jog!  They looked very spiffy! Whew!  On to Dressage!!!

Photos: Team USA’s Olympic uniforms and Will Coleman getting dressed

By on Jul 19, 2012 12:03 pm -

The hardest part of the Olympics–team processing at the Olympic Village–is now completed for the eventers of Team USA.  While there, the riders picked up their official team uniforms.  I know a lot of eventing fans aren’t the biggest fan of the ultra-preppy Ralph Lauren threads, and you can consider me in that group, but the riders obviously don’t have any input in the uniforms.  Frankly, if I had a chance to compete for the USA at the Olympic and my was a paper bag, by God I’d wear that paper bag with pride and a smile.  I do think the team jackets in the above photo look awesome.  The photos are courtesy of Boyd, explaining why we don’t have pics from the ladies’ dressing room.

 

 

 

Go eventing.

Video: Jessica Phoenix and Exponential Jump School

By on Jul 18, 2012 8:21 pm -


[via Jessica’s Youtube page]

Check out this video of Team Canada’s Jessica Phoenix and Exponential in a jump school with Canadian coach David O’Connor.  After coming back from a broken collar bone at Bromont, Jessica looks to be on absolutely top form and so does Exponential “Tucker”.  Can you hear that?  It’s the sound of the Olympic Games getting closer.  Go Jessie.

Wednesday Afternoon Olympic Links

By on Jul 18, 2012 2:06 pm -


Wednesday morning at the Kentucky Horse Park, photo by Jon Holling
The Olympics are getting closer and closer with every passing moment.  Our goal at EN is to provide great inside coverage of the Games as well as link to all of the other cool Olympic content out there on the vast interweb.  Check EN on weekday afternoons through the Olympics for links brought to you in the most ridiculous manner possible.   Of course, we’ll throw in some completely random links as well.  And now without further ado:

Will Connell’s blog from on-scene at the Olympics

Hamish Cargill previews the Aussie Olympic team

Keep up with Team Canada via Phoenix Equestrian

Discuss time savers at the barn with Horse Nation

Road to Young Riders with Teresa Harcourt

Global Dressage Analytics predicts an Olympic dressage victory for Team GBR [via Pippa Cuckson]

A British farmer builds a giant maze as a tribute to equestrianism at London 2012

A great story about the Totally Thoroughbred Show

We have known it all along, but here is proof that Chinchillas are the brains behind the operation

As always, send your cool links that we should feature here on EN to [email protected]

Go eventing.

Shannon Lilley: Opening Ceremonies at NAJYRC

By on Jul 18, 2012 11:45 am -

Shannon Lilley has generously offered to keep us posted on all things Area VI.  As always, thanks for writing this Shannon and thank you for reading.
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From Shannon:

Opening Ceremonies took place last night at the North American Junior Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) and, although they did not take place in the Main Stadium Arena this year, all the riders were just as eager for things to get underway.  The best riders from six different types of equestrian sports come to Kentucky each year to represent their Area, Zone, Region, Country, etc.  The sports are–Eventing, Jumpers, Dressage, Reigning, Endurance, Vaulting–making it a very busy but also unique experience for these athletes.

Area VI sent five riders this year – two in the 2 star and three in the 1 star – who have been put on scratch teams with riders from Area VII.  The two star team is Teresa Harcourt with Bonza Twist of Fate, Sarah Braun with Perfect Intentions and Lizzie Snow with Coal Creek.  The one star team is Gigi Herron with Beacon Hill, Erin Murphy with Myster E, Jordyn Horwitz with Nicodemus, and Maria Schatz with Joe. Leading these fearless riders for Area VI is coach Dayna Lynd-Pugh(Queen Dayna) and Chef d’Equip, Laura Powell.

After the Opening Ceremonies, Spy Coast, an amazing neighboring farm to the Horse Park, kindly hosted a dinner for all the riders, coaches, grooms and chefs.  Preceding this was a golf cart decorating contest. Area VI was definitely going for the gold in this contest! Yes, that’s a monkey who is larger than life! Area VI came to ride well, but first things first, ‘It’s time to party!’


Queen Dayna

Stay tuned for more to come throughout the week.  This afternoon is the jog with dressage taking place Thursday and Friday, cross country Saturday and show jumping on Sunday in standard fashion.

Go Young Riders! Go Area VI!

Rebecca Howard: Dressage Show Day at Camp Canada

By on Jul 17, 2012 5:57 pm -

The Canadian Olympic team competed in a schooling show today and Rebecca Howard was kind enough to send us a report from the show and training camp. For much more from Rebecca check out her website.  As always, thanks for writing this Rebecca and thank you for reading.
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From Rebecca:

Camp Canada is going strong.  We “Olympic-cans,” which has become our title thanks to the local clown Toby, have very much settled in to life at Maizey Manor.  We seem to be on an every second day rotation of good weather.  Yesterday was rainy and cold…today sunny and nice.

I think we are going to need more than one day at a time to dry things out.  My running shoes are evidence of the mud around these parts.  Bar the weather, yesterday was quite a good day.  It was Jump day.  All our horses were exceptionally good. The afternoon activity as organized by our host Catherine was shooting sporting clays.   Canadian Olimpicans with guns…. Watch out!

Last night, us riders cooked a dinner and had the entire team and Maisey Mannor crowd over to our cottage.  Again this year’s team is filled with amazing people; we usually travel in a pack and there is a lot of laughter – always.  Well almost always.  Today was Dressage schooling show day…where there was not as much laughter I have to say.  Rupert was quite good in warm up but did get behind me in the arena, and the quality of work was not as good.  I am so glad we went, I have watched the video many times… and can’t wait until next dressage day.  But tomorrow we Gallop.


Muddy shoes

Boyd Martin listed as 11th sexiest Olympic athlete

By on Jul 17, 2012 12:06 pm -

It’s that time in the Olympic cycle when the US mainstream media is desperately trying to make their upcoming London coverage seem relevant to a nation of NFL fans.  There’s no better way to accomplish this than arbitrary lists, particularly arbitrary lists related to sexiness.  Fox Sports released their list of the top 99 sexiest Olympic athletes this morning and Team USA’s Boyd Martin ranks 11th.  The only other equestrian to make the list is Zara Phillips in 99th.  And yes, that means that I clicked through the entire list–just for you, Eventing Nation.  Only four US athletes placed higher than Boyd.  Canadian Kayaker Adam van Koeverden finished atop the list.

[99 Sexiest Olympic Athletes, h/t tobias2]

Go Boyd.

Area II: Coaching Profile

By on Jul 17, 2012 11:00 am -

Area II co-coordinators Gwen Dean was kind enough to send us a profile of  Area II’s coaches as a follow-up to last week’s profile of their riders.  Gwen will be keeping Eventing Nation posted on everything Area II throughout Young Riders.  For much more from Area II please visit their website.  Thanks for writing this Gwen and Audrey and thank you for reading.
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From Gwen:

Introducing the Area II NAJYRC Coaches–

While this week you will hear mainly about our athletes at the NAJYRC, I wanted to take some time to recognize the two people who have worked tirelessly with each and every one of them.  David and Lauren O’Brien have been the coaches of the Area II YR program for the past six years and will be stepping down after this year.    It truly has been a pleasure watching them work together year after year and passing on their vast knowledge to the next generation of great riders.   Let’s learn a bit more about each of them, shall we?

I have known David for quite some time now.  I was a working student for Denny Emerson in the 80’s when David was the farm manager.  David was also an instructor there and he frequently got stuck with me for dressage lessons.  I probably really tested his patience back then but little did he know I was secretly training him for what was to come 20 years later.   David has worked with some of the greatest names in Eventing and Dressage such as Mike Plumb, Wash Bishop, Captain Mark Phillips and Sandy Phillips.   He was able to expand his dressage training with Walter Christensen in Germany.   In 1988, he was chosen to work with Jack LeGoff in the USET developing rider program.  He has successfully competed up through the advanced level and is a level IV ICP certified instructor.  David has also served on the USEA Board of Governors as well as the Adult Rider Committee,  the USEA ICP Committee ,  vice president of competitions, and chairman for the competitions committee.

Lauren began her Eventing career working  for the likes of Torrance Watkins, Mike Plumb and Karen Stives.   She traveled to the 1986 World Championships in Australia where she was the groom for Torrance and Finvarra.  In 1990, she accompanied Mike and Chagal to the Worlds in Sweden, expanding her international resume.  Being a working student and groom at the early stages of her career has given Lauren an unbelievable work ethic.   In the Late 80’s, Lauren purchased Wexford.  In 1991, she won the Radnor Three Day on him and followed that up with a win at the Essex Three Day in the spring of 1992.  Lauren and Wexford represented the USET at the European Championships in Italy in 1995.  Together they had two top 5 finishes at Kentucky CCI*** and Fair Hill CCI*** and a top 15 finish at Kentucky CCI****.  Their partnership culminated in an individual 5th place and team gold performance at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Canada.  After retiring Wexford, she began competing Dunrath Alto and had successful finishes at Fair Hill CCI***, Punchestown CCI*** in Ireland twice and strong finishes at Rolex CCI*** several times.  She is a graduate “A” pony clubber and is a level  III ICP certified instructor.

As you can see, they are some pretty talented individuals and watching them work their magic together for six years has been pretty cool.  Aside from being great coaches, instructors and friends,  they are raising two beautiful daughters,  Ailish and Mara (who are pretty darn talented in their own right).  They also own the lovely Kincora Farm in Vass, NC which they have graciously donated for our final training camp every year.   Audrey and I want to say a huge ‘Thank You’ for their continued support of us and all the kids who have come through this program in the last 6 years.  We absolutely couldn’t have survived these last six years without them!

Go Area II Young Riders and Go Eventing!

Jon Holling: Approaching Young Riders

By on Jul 17, 2012 9:00 am -

Young Riders week is upon us!  Joanie Morris sent me an email the other day reminding me that our list of Olympic competitors is filled with successful Young Rider competitors.  To name a few, Tiana (and Ringwood Magister!), Karen O’Connor, Will Coleman, Reed Kessler, and McLain Ward all won YR medals.  The competition this weekend is a chance for North America’s best competitors to get the experience of a lifetime that will hopefully be full of many great eventing experiences.  Jon Holling is coaching Area IV this week and was kind enough to send us a few of his thoughts for the competitors.  Thanks for writing this Jon and thank you for reading.
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From Jon Holling:

One of the greatest things about the sport of Eventing is the passion that eventers bring to the table each and every day. This week the North American world of Eventing is descending on Lexington, Kentucky for the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships. Over the years I have been able to be a part of this great competition as a rider and a coach. I think one of the biggest struggles I go through every year, is how to communicate my feelings about this event without sounding like some old guy who is trying too hard to “teach the kids life lessons.” I am however hoping that at least of few of them will read what I have to say and think about what this week really means. I said last year that each and every competitor who arrives at the venue is already a winner. All one has to do is look at the qualifying criteria, and then ask one of the kids what they had to do to get to the championships. Because the competition happens in July, most of these competitors had to plan for this a full year ahead of time or more. Add to that the short season that several of the areas have, and the amount of dedication it takes is staggering. So when you competitors are sitting in one of the boring meetings and you hear one of the officials congratulate you on being at the Championships, be proud. It took a lot to even get here.

More than any event you will have been to, there are some fantastic distractions here at NAJYRC. Tear it up! Have fun, and enjoy every moment with your team. Some of you will go on to be lifelong friends whether you continue riding as a hobby or a profession. My teammate from years ago was some guy named Buck Davidson. I occasionally run into him at the events! The point is you will build friendships this week with people who have the same addiction to this sport as you, and that makes sustaining those relationships so much easier. So go ahead and enjoy the week, but don’t lose sight of the goal.

This is not a big love fest of mutual appreciation…it is a competition. Because it is a competition, each of you should already have a plan for how to best help your team win. Not only should you want the team gold but also the individual honor. From the moment you step foot in your irons to the moment you leave the arena or course, each and every one of you should be cold and calculating. Each and every step you take on your horse this week should be planned. You should know, down to the second, how long you need in the warm up to produce you personal best test. By Saturday morning you should know every blade of grass you will be running over. On Sunday, it will take complete control of your emotions to be good enough to best the others around what will be a very imposing show jumping course. It takes total focus and dedication to win this competition, and the best team will win. It is the team that can, as a group, best control their emotions that will walk away winners.

While in the moment things will feel very stressful and heavy, you will discover throughout the years many things that the week to come have taught you. The reality is that only one team is going to win. That is the way it should be. The cream rises and the rest will go home wondering what may have been. It is the way you deal with both of these situations that will define you, not your placing. To me that is the real lesson. How do you deal with winning? Are you able to celebrate and enjoy your moment without flaunting it in front of the other teams? Will you really appreciate what it took to win, or will you fall into the trap of thinking it was just supposed to happen? How do you deal with your disappointment? Are you able to show your respect for the winners while that burning disappointment in the pit of your stomach eats away at you? Will you take that disappointment home and let it continue to feast on your dream of riding and winning, or will you use it as motivation to return even better next time? That it is up to you.

Cable and Satellite Subscribers: Sign up to watch “every Olympic event”

By on Jul 16, 2012 2:50 pm -

Abby explained last week that NBC has promised to show “All 32 Sports, All 302 Events” live online for cable and satellite customers.   You can now sign up for that service.  According to NBCOlympics.com, “with a cable, satellite or telco TV subscription that includes MSNBC and CNBC, you will have access to live streams of EVERY Olympic event.”  In a video posted on the NBC website, NBC talking head Carson Daily promises “you’ll be ale to watch every Olympic event streamed live online.”  There you have it.  Consider me skeptical because it seems like equestrian sports always get the short end of the reins when it comes to TV and online coverage.  However, I’m signing up today and so can you through this link:

[Click HERE to sign up at NBCOlympics.com]

Carson, you promised us eventing online live–we’re going to hold you to it.  [Link via Pennfield Equine FB Page]

Go eventing.

Videos: Show Jumping at Rebecca Farm

By on Jul 16, 2012 1:26 pm -

Can you believe that The Event at Rebecca Farm is already over?  I know we’ll all miss the USEA’s incredible daily recap videos, but fortunately we can enjoy one last one from the Sunday show jumping.  This video is courtesy of the USEA and Frankie Thieriot.

[RF Results]

Other videos courtesy of Rebecca Farm:


Go Rebecca Farm.

Kelly Pugh: Rebecca Farm Wrap-Up

By on Jul 16, 2012 12:33 pm -

So often in eventing we find ourselves looking back at a weekend that did not go as planned.  Kelly Pugh is kind enough to write to us today about her reaction and plan of attack following a weekend of mixed results aboard her CIC3* mare Copycat Chloe and her training horse Tito.  Thanks for keeping us updated from Rebecca Farm all weekend Kelly and thank you for reading.
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The ditch and wall Chloe tried to bounce.

From Kelly:

I am currently writing to you all from the passenger seat of my truck as our barn embarks on the long journey home from Rebecca Farms.  This weekend was full of ups and downs for many of us, myself included.  My young horse Tito was absolutely fantastic this weekend.  He handled the atmosphere, the trip and most of all the competition with such confidence.  He put on his big boy pants and I can’t tell you how excited I am to be sitting on him.  That being said, Chloe and I did not have quite the same outcome to the weekend.  she was her normal machine self over the first part of the cross country course, tackling all the questions boldly and honestly and jumping in her normal exuberant style.  The course was a perfect fit for her and I was really excited to tackle it.  We came up to the huge ditch and wall (I had mentioned it in my previous post) and I gave it a good positive ride, got her to the base of the ground line and next thing I knew she was jumping in the ditch and trying to bounce out of it.  Whether it was the way I rode it or just the way she read it, she thought she was supposed to bounce it.  She tried so hard too . I came around to it once more and again she tried to bounce it.  I felt terrible for her.  She felt like she was doing her job and she really tried hard.  I decided to call it a day.  I did not want to risk something dangerous happening and I after two tries, I knew it was not going to happen on that day.  It was a long walk back to the barn and my fit horse had barely broken a sweat.  She was angry as other horses galloped by and I can’t lie, I was too.  I later learned that she was not the only one who had tried to do that at this particular fence and although it might just be coincidental, it made me feel a bit better.  I still feel bad when I think about it.  She did what she thought was being asked of her and at the end of the day I just don’t want her to walk away feeling the least bit defeated.  She is such a phenomenal cross country horse and I wish I could tell her that.

It was rough coming this far and walking away with this result but the support is unreal.  The amount of people that have reassured me of her ability in the last day or so and have been by our side supporting us is pretty spectacular and I thank you all for that.  I truly believe that is what makes this sport so special.  I want so badly to be the best at what I do and be at the top of my game and I just have to remind myself, you don’t get to the top without struggle and sometimes the most important lessons are learned through the struggle.  Chloe is still young and I am still young.  We will be back and we will have learned from this struggle and hopefully be better off from it.  There is not much else to do except kick on.
I find myself face to face with the same problem many upper level riders or up and coming riders are facing.  Only having one horse at the level.  I know I am incredibly lucky to have this horse and to be riding at this level but to have your hopes and dreams riding on one horse is a lot of pressure for not only myself but the horse as well.  It makes the victories a little too sweet and the heartbreaks a little too depressing.  Denny Emerson once described it to me as needing to find someone who wants to go on the magic carpet ride with you.  I’m working hard to make that happen and hopefully soon I can add to Chloe.  Until then, Tito will get ready for the Training Three Day at Galway and Chloe will do the CCI three star there.  Lots of dressage shows and ditch and walls are in our future but not until after they get a well deserved mini vacation!
Flying Tail Farms as a whole came away with more lessons being learned then ribbons but sometimes that is the way it goes.  All the horses are walking away healthy and that means there will be another day and really whats more important then that?
 I want to thank all my wonderful supporters and sponsors.  My parents are really fantastic and even though my mom wears many different hats during the show (trainer, mom, friend etc) She does them all fabulously.  My father is groom extrodinaire and also helping me drive home!   All the parents this weekend helped cook wonderful meals for all of us and It’s no easy task cooking for a huge group of hungry people!  My supporters at home, and even Allison Springer all the way in England, hearing form you guys makes all the difference!  My fantastic sponsors all deserve a shout out.  Smartpak, knowing Chloe is on all the right supplements makes all the difference in the world!  Also, Smartpaks are so easy to pack!!  Buckeye grain, Chloe did not lose any weight on this trip and never stopped eating!  Revitavet, not only did Chloe and everyone else in our barn use it, I did too!  Voltaire Saddles, If you don’t have one, you should get one!  And APF, I would never even think about competing let alone traveling without my horses being on it. Last but not least I would like to thank Rebecca Farms for putting on such a world class show.   I truly believe any eventer, horse enthusiast or supporter should come here at least once.  It is a truly special place and I am privileged to have been able to compete their let alone go there on a grant provided by them.  I can’t say thank you enough!
Congratulations to everyone who had a fantastic show and to those who weren’t as fortunate there is always another day!  Thanks Eventing Nation for reading!

Why Area I’s eventing young rider team was at a hunter/jumper show

By on Jul 16, 2012 8:50 am -

Marion Quigley is the Chef d’Equipe & Co-Coordinator for the Area 1 Young Riders program.  Marion was kind enough to send us a report from Area I’s training camp at the hunter/jumper show at HITS, Saugherties.  Many thanks to Marion for writing this and thank you for reading.
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Area 1 Young Riders NAJYRC  Team Members spotted at HITS, Saugherties!

From Marion Quigley:

HELLO EVENTING NATION!!

No, its not what you think! These eventers have not converted to Hunter/Jumpers! In fact they were at the HITS showgrounds for their training camp in preparation for NAJYRC in Kentucky.  Due to the creative inspiration of Co-Coordinator, Nancy Marks,  the Young Rider Camp conveniently was designed to coincided and intertwined with Lendon Gray’s Weekend Dressage Festival, thus allowing them access to the fabulous dressage judges, jump rings with great footing, and a chance to bond and work as team members.

Each of the girls got a chance to ride with Beth Barrett for a fix-a-test session on the first day of camp. The second day found them in jumping lessons with team coach, Mikki Kuchta in the morning, and an excellent grooming clinic with Bridgette Kuchta at lunch time, and Jog outfit shopping in the afternoon, after their volunteer session in the main tent for the D4K little ones.  The third day was Cross country day, and the gang packed up and headed over to CS&W Farm in Germantown, NY.

Much thanks to CS&W for allowing us to use this fabulous venue, and a huge amount of gratitude to Lendon Gray for her generosity and helpfulness!  We will defininately be back next year.  The feedback from the riders was that the camp could have been longer!  We are hoping to go back next year and also compete in the Dressage Festival as well.  What a wonderful opportunity for the riders! And also a huge thank you to Mikki for being such a great and committed coach!  We are lucky to have you!

The  Area 1 Young Rider Program  has grown stronger with more depth in the last year.  We have 6 girls qualified and competing this year at NAJYRC in the one-star.  We are so proud of each of them, they have worked very hard to get this far, several have overcome huge hurdles!  Good Luck to Hanah Forte and Brisco Bay, Jennifer Lyford and Grey Expectations, Emily Mainolfi and Tacaro, Janelle Phaneuf and Irish Ike, Shannon Quigley and Don’t Be Alarmed, and Coleen Shaugnessy and Wynthrop.

Now, its time to pack for Kentucky!

Videos: Saturday Cross-Country around Eventing Nation

By on Jul 15, 2012 3:07 pm -

Good afternoon Eventing Nation, I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday afternoon.  Check out this great cross-country video from Saturday at Rebecca Farm, courtesy of the USEA, Josh Walker, and Frankie Thieriot.  [Rebecca Farm Live Scores]

Turning our attention to the Stuart Horse Trials in New York, here are a few videos courtesy of thehorsepesterer:


Doug Payne and Running Order in the CIC2* via @dpequestrian


Holly Payne and Madeline in the CIC2*


Eliza Farren & Bantry Bay’s Dublin in the CIC2*


Kami Wolk & Hurricane Bay in the CIC*

[Stuart Live Scores]

Go eventing.

Good news for NAJYRC from our friends at Tipperary!

By on Jul 15, 2012 8:31 am -

Our friends and sponsors at Tipperary have a very special announcement regarding Young Riders.  In a press release issued on Friday, Tipperary announced that they have become the official helmet and body protector sponsor of the FEI Adequan North American Junior Young Riders Championships.  Tipperary has a new office in Lexington, Kentucky and they are uniquely committed as a North American manufacturer to support Young Riders and North American eventing.

Leslie Newton, Sales & Marketing Manager of Tipperary Equestrian said in the press release, “We are dedicated to providing athlete centric protective equipment designed for all levels and disciplines in the equestrian world. We look forward to providing education and awareness of head and body protection to a new generation of superstars at the North American Junior and Young rider Championships.”

[Tipperary Website]

Tipperary is a fantastic partner to Eventing Nation and we couldn’t be happier that they are supporting a wonderful event like Young Riders.  Go Tipperary.

Video: Dressage and Cross-Country at Rebecca Farm

By on Jul 14, 2012 10:25 pm -

 

I’m sure the USEA will post their awesome Saturday recap shortly.  But, until then, here’s a video posted by Rebecca Farm with a few sights and sounds from dressage and cross-country.  After Saturday’s cross-country action in the CIC3*, Kristi Nunnink and the beautiful mare R-Star hold a 0.2 point lead over Katherine Groesbeck and Oz The Tin Man.  Just two of six starters completed the advanced cross-country.  Geriann Henderson and Kingslee  hold a considerable lead on a 54.0.

[Full Rebecca Farm Scores]

Go Rebecca Farm.

Go Canada from Rebecca Farm

By on Jul 14, 2012 2:15 pm -

Canada has enjoyed an amazing streak of international success over the past few years and they will look to continue that with a medal later this month in London.  Should we attribute Canada’s success to their great coach, to their awesome horses and riders, to their incredible support staff, to their owners?  All of these factors clearly contribute to Canada’s strength, but I’m a big believer that the positivity and camaraderie that permeates the Canadian team flows from those qualities being a natural part of the closely knit Canadian eventing community.

Case in point: while the Canadian squad is busy making their final Olympic preparations in England, a band of Canadians gathered on Friday night to show their support for Team Canada thousands of miles away in Kalispel, Montana.  The Canadians hosted their traditional Rebecca Farm Red and White Party.  Our good friend Chelan Kozak was kind enough to send us a quick recap of the party with photos and videos and the Canucks rallied around their Olympians.  Chelan wrote: “The event entries at the upper levels are light this year due to the Olympics, but overall entries are huge!  We had a banner for the Canadian Team and want to wish them all the very best of luck!!“

GO CANADA!

 


Do you speak Canuck?


More go Canada!


This is the cancer fundraiser that has been set up this year at Rebecca Farm in memory of Rebecca Broussard.  A $50 minimum donation gets you a stencil and pink glitter.  Chelan said there have been many pink ribbons on the horses the last couple of days. Parking donations will also aid the fundraising effort.

Go Canada.

FEI Unveils Official Olympic Entries

By on Jul 14, 2012 1:51 pm -

The FEI has released the official entries for the London 2012 equestrian events on their website.  A total of 200 riders from 40 countries and 6 continents will compete in the Games.  Jumping leads the way with 26 nations represented.  For the first time dressage has passed eventing for second place with 24 nations participating.  Eventing includes 23 nations.  According to the FEI, seven nations have teams in all three disciplines — Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and USA.

Eventing breakdown by country–

13 teams: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, USA.

10 nations with individuals only: Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Ecuador, Italy, Jamaica, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Thailand.

Read much more from the FEI: [Breakdown of discipline and teams, Full Olympic entry list PDF]

Go eventing.

Michelle Parker: Breaking Down the Young Rider Entries

By on Jul 14, 2012 12:03 pm -

Young Riders is approaching quickly!  Area X Young Rider coordinator and now EN guest blogger, Michelle Parker, was kind enough to introduce herself and break down the 2012 NAJYRC eventing entries.  Thanks to Michelle for this brilliant look at how superbly all of the areas will be represented this year and thank you for reading.
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From Michelle:

Hello EN!  I am excited that I will be blogging next week from the NAJYRC.  I am the Young Rider Coordinator from Area X and my daughter Claire and her horse Hope Cove are the only pair from Area X at NAJYRC this year.  She will be scramble teamed with our neighbors to the north, Area IX in the CCI* competition (Area IX has 4 total riders going with 3 in the CCI* and 1 in the CCI**).  GO TEAM IX AND X!!!  OK…I will try to remain completely neutral in my reporting except for this one outburst!

The definitive entries from each area were due to the USEF (our national federation for the competition) last Monday.  All of the Young Rider Coordinators were informed on Tuesday by the awesome Shealagh Costello, USEF Director of Eventing National Programs what areas and who from the areas would be going at both levels.  I am happy to report that EVERY USEA Area has at least one entry this year in the CCI* and 7 out of the ten areas have at least one entry in the CCI** this year. Area V is the only area to submit a full team for the CCI** this year. All the other teams in the CCI** will be made up of scramble teams from all the areas submitting entries.  But, Areas I, II, III and V all have full CCI* teams this year.

I am a numbers person so I thought I would share some of the numbers I have gathered thus far from this year’s entries.  These are my calculations and not official in any way!

There were 63 applications submitted for the CCI* earlier this year.  Of those 63, 48 were qualified by the deadline to compete at the NAJYRC.  Of the 48 qualified, 34 were submitted as definitive entries by their respective areas.  So, if you look at it in percentages:   76% of the original applicants got qualified by the deadline (I think this is outstanding!), 71% of those quailed were either selected by their area from the field of respective applicants or were otherwise able to go, and 54% of the original applicants are expected to be presenting at the first jog at NAJYRC.  It is the last percentage that should make every Junior rider on that list of definitive entries now in the hands of the organizer VERY PROUD!  These are indeed the cream of the crop of our Eventing Junior riders!

As one might expect, the numbers at the CCI** are much smaller.  There were 17 applications for the CCI** earlier this year.  Of those 17, 16 qualified by the deadline to compete at the NAJYRC.  Of the 16 qualified, 13 were submitted as definitive entries by their respective areas.  And the percentages are:   94% of the original applicants got qualified by the deadline (truly outstanding!), 81% of those qualified were either selected by their area from the field of respective applicants or were otherwise able to go, and 76% of the original applicants are expected to present at the first jog at NAJYRC.  Again, these are the cream of the crop of our Eventing Young Riders!  You guys ROCK!

There are expected to be 7 US teams at the CCI* level and 3 US teams at the CCI** level.  Hopefully, we will hear about the Canadian entries soon.

As a coordinator for a program that I feel is core to our future USA Eventing teams, I say job well done to all who tried to qualify, congratulations to all who qualified and GOOD LUCK to all preparing this week or who are on your way to Kentucky!  It is going to be a very exciting NAJYRC!  Safe travels and keep your ponies in bubble wrap!

I will try to think of something more exciting than percentages to write about next time……….

Kelly Pugh: Friday at Rebecca Farm

By on Jul 13, 2012 11:08 pm -

Kelly Pugh was kind enough to update on Friday at Rebecca Farm.  Be sure to check out Kelly’s great blog for updates on her season. [Kelly’s blog, RF Scores]  Thanks for writing this Kelly and thank you for reading.
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From Kelly Pugh:

Hi again!

Dressage day has come and gone and now onto the fun stuff!! I was actually able to enjoy my Friday a little more by doing a training cross-country ride this morning on my young guy Tito. When I first walked the training course I thought for sure they had misnumbered it and I was actually walking the preliminary. No such luck. Tito put his big boy pants on and tackled the course showing me more and more of what he is capable of doing. We conquered the training Olympics and and are going into show jumping in second.

A lot of the FEI divisions were struggling with their fit horses and a dressage ring that was positioned right next to the cross-country course. Galloping horses and cheering crowds did not do many of the horses any favors and unfortunately mine was included in that group. It is frustrating but part of the game and dwelling on it does no one any good. All I can do is kick on the rest of the weekend and go home and continue my never ending homework.

I was privileged enough to go on a course walk with Ian Stark today and get his take of the three star track. Defiantly a forward track and now that I think about it there are no options out there. All the more reason to get it done the first time. Ian made it pretty clear on the walk that he wants to see us attacking, riding forward and positive but also smart. The big ditch and wall is what everyone is talking about and my favorite part of the course walk is when we got about five strides out from this jump he said “It looks like no big deal from here so lets just not get any closer to it until you’re jumping it.” Deal. There are a lot of turns to jumps and he made the point that if we were to cut the turn we would have to take away from our canter and ultimately lose seconds on the clock, so stay wide and stay forward and jump everything out of stride. Easy right? In case I have not said it yet, forward is the name of the game.

Flying Tail Farms overall had a great day and the majority of us walked away with smiles or walked away with valuable lessons being learned but either way non of us can complain. When I found myself getting discouraged by my ride I had to give myself a little pep talk. I am truly blessed to be sitting on such wonderful horses at such a beautiful venue surrounded by an amazing group of people. A bad dressage ride? So what, I’m living the dream and its going to take a little more then a tense ride to ruin my outlook on that.

Bring on the cross country!!

Good luck to everyone competing this weekend!!

And as always, GO EVENTING!