Your very official Thursday schedule

I arrived at the PHC meeting slightly late after a long drive from Virginia to Nashville.  A quick sprint down a few hallways, a hurried registration, and a run down few more hallways later, I slid into the back of a room filled with many of the movers and shakers of US eventing including leading coaches, course designers, riders, and organizers.   The PHC is one of my favorite organizations within the USEA partly because of the great leadership of Jon Holling and Peter Grey and partly because it is one of the best opportunities in our sport to bring together key groups of professionals such as riders and organizers who often find themselves with different pressures, views, and goals throughout the competition season.

Here are a few notes about various discussion topics during the second half of the meeting:

Footing — We all have an interest in improving the footing at events and Phillip proposed making compaction and moisture meters available to events to evaluate their footing before and during an event.  As with anything, change begins with measurable feedback.

A yellow/red card system for ineffective trainers and coaches — Danny Warrington started the discussion by describing the possibility of a carding system for coaches and pointing out that one big issue is that TD’s can’t be everywhere.  One possibility to resolve that is a system to alert TDs to watch certain trainers whose students are consistently falling off or riding dangerously.  A big problem with a card system is that the USEF and USEA can’t prevent people from coming back onto an event’s property.  To make matters more challenging, many of the coaches are not members of the USEA or USEF which makes enforcement even harder.  A possible “penalty” for being carded might be to make offending trainers go through ICP certification and then welcome them back to events, but that doesn’t solve the enforceability problem.   The conclusion was that it will be hard to implement but the beginning step might be to make up a system of telling certain coaches that they are being watched.  PHC cochairman Jon Holling resolved that the PHC would continue discussion of the issue.

Trying to improve cross-country course discussions in the USEA show information — This discussion was suitable for horsemen with some experience at this level.  Bobby Costello mentioned the possibility of having the rider rep, TD, and president of the ground jury give a difficulty score of each level following a competition.  That score would be averaged and then we would have that be the score for the next year.  The problem here is that the course can change from year to year.  Another option is to have the course designer score the course a week before the opening date of the event.  One of the problems that was discussed is that, with the use of more portable jumps, courses tend to change from weekend to weekend more often these days.  Another problem is that course designers might have different grading scales.  A top rider raised the issue of people possibly screening events by making sure they attend easier scoring events.  He suggested keeping it simple and said “preliminary is preliminary–know the level.”  Will Faudree proposed leaving the task of talking to riders and combining difficulty scores up to a certain website known for eventing news and ridiculousness.  A representative of said website will reportedly contact Will explaining that they already have no friends because they spend their life in front of a computer even without compiling rating systems for every event in the US.  The discussion ended with the idea that perhaps the easiest solution is asking the organizer to provide a more comprehensive description rather than just “suitable for horses with some experience at the level.”  Incidentally, a similar phrase was my top choice for the EN tagline way back when Visionaire held a poll to select our tagline.  

Rider Representative feedback forms are not getting filled out by the rider reps — Peter Grey started the discussion by saying that the form is three pages long and one step might be to condense the form slightly.  This is an important issue because the PHC has worked really hard to get a more active say about what is going on at events.  Jon scolded the room forcefully for not taking advantage of an opportunity to have a voice in our sport.  Bobby chimed in by saying that if you know you are going to be a rider rep who won’t fill out a form then don’t be a rider rep.  Some key points were made about making the form easier to fill out online and publicizing rider reps who do not fill out the form.  Hopefully more forms will get filled out in 2012.

Clarifying the area rider rep rule — According to Peter Grey, the USEA has questioned if we want to have rider reps on the area committee.  Jon said that he will be contacting various riders about being on their area’s board as the rider representative.  This role will involve being on more email lists and attending the area annual meeting.

Rider watch lists — Currently there is an online system–I believe through the USEF–for reporting dangerous riding and then the rider will be contacted to discuss their riding and to notify them that they have been placed on a watch list.  Jon mentioned that only one rider had been reported over the past year and that they had been contacted with a favorable result.  We all know that there have been more than one dangerous ride this year, so again the issue comes back to getting more people to use a system that is already in place.

Bigger intermediate and advanced divisions — There is a proposal for stopping the rule that now requires organizers to break up divisions with more than 40 riders at the intermediate and advanced level.  This would allow for larger upper level horse trials divisions and more prize money.  Apparently this initiative is moving forward and has a good chance of becoming a rule change.

One overall issue that came up several times throughout the meeting is the problem of defining the role of an organizer.  Multiple organizers expressed frustration that more and more roles are being put on the organizers, for example, making sure rider reps fill out their feedback forms.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at this year’s USEA convention is the repeal of the one fall and out rule for training level and below.  The word is that the rule wording is moving through committees and is currently in the exact same form for training and below as the pre-one fall and out rule wording.  The rule will supposedly change wording throughout the next few days before being discussed and voted on by the USEF Eventing Technical Committee on Saturday.  

Strap in Eventing Nation, it’s going to be a productive and exciting USEA convention.  Go eventing.

Sports Illustrated has published a great article written by Stephanie Apstein about Boyd Martin and his program’s recovery from the True Prospect Fire.  The article tells the story about the fire, the grieving, and the recovery to a fantastic finish at Burghley this year. 

[Sports Illustrated]

The most touching part of the article for me is the amazing story of saving Neville that was untold in the days immediately following the fire:

“[Boyd] and his coach, Phillip Dutton, who is the owner of the barn as well as one of Martin’s teammates on the U.S. national equestrian team in eventing, ignored orders and raced inside. The first stall door they reached belonged to Neville Bardos, a then 10-year old gelding whose life Martin had already saved once when he bought him rather than allow his previous owner to send him to the glue factory. By the time they got him out, there was no hope for the others. The barn burned to the ground.“

The article contains a few lines that are indicative of an outlet unfamiliar with our sport including: “[Neville] is one of four horses the USOC has determined that Martin will be eligible to ride if he makes the Olympic team. The others are Mighty Nice, Manior de Carneville and Otis Barbotiere.”  That being said, it is a great story and a great chance for the rest of the sports world to experience eventing in its worst and best moments.  I give a ton of credit and thanks to Sports Illustrated to finding the story and giving it attention.  Hopefully, as is usually the case, the other mainstream media outlets will see the story on Sports Illustrated and cover it themselves.  Go eventing.

Marilyn competing at a Grand Prix this year, photo via Jackson Schrickel

Earlier today I spoke with Marilyn Little-Meredith about her purchase of Raf Kooreman’s talented three-star mare and Olympic prospect Cavalor Demeter.  This was my third conversation with Marilyn after meeting her for the first time in Ocala this spring and, like every previous conversation, she struck me as very intelligent, very confident (perhaps a bit cocky), and unquestionably determined–a natural evener.

The difference between today and the previous conversations we have had is that with the purchase of Cavalor Demeter Marilyn is now very much more than a novelty that we all expect to have one good fall and go back to Grand Prix show jumping.  Marilyn has moved up four levels this year, placed in the top 10 of a CCI3*, made the USEF High Performance B list, and now she has purchased one of the best young advanced horses sold in 2011.  She’s on a journey that would make any of us say “don’t try this at home kids,” and yet the possibility of representing the US at the Olympics next year is getting closer with every passing day.  When I spoke to Marilyn about her new horse, it was clear that the purchase wasn’t about her critics, it wasn’t about the Olympics, and it certainly wasn’t about whether someone has to buy their way to the top of US eventing.

Marilyn explained that buying Demeter is about buying a really nice young horse that she has a lot of affection for and whom she believes will get her to where she wants to be as a rider.  I started by asking Marilyn what she liked about Demeter.  Although I expected Marilyn to tell me all about Demeter’s jump, speed, and movement, Marilyn spent the most time telling me about her personality.  She said “I loved her eye, she’s a panther, she’s an old soul with toughness and athleticism.”  When I pressed Marilyn about Demeter’s athleticism, she said that the dressage will be really fun and that Demeter is fast and powerful on the cross-country.  Marilyn said that she was looking not just for a nice horse but a nice horse that matched her as a rider so it was no surprise when she explained that show jumping is where Demeter needs the most improvement.  Marilyn explained that she has had a good experience reforming her Fair Hill CCI3* horse, RF Rovano Rex, who really struggled in the show jumping before she bought him this summer.

For Marilyn, buying a mare as her top eventer is no coincidence–95% of her Grand Prix show jumpers have been mares.  Marilyn could probably hear the surprise/pity/disbelief in my reply and she explained that “I seek out mares, I love them.  Sure you have personality problems sometimes, but when you’ve got a good mare, you’ve got a great partner.”

There are eventers out there who view the purchase of an expensive top horse (particularly by someone with only a year of experience) as abhorrent, whether out of jealously, frustration, or a legitimate concern about what this says about the United States’ appalling breeding program and our disappointing record of horse development.  Marilyn was understanding but unapologetic when I asked her about the critics.  She said “I know how hard it is to make it as an eventer with only one top horse.  For me, this was a worthwhile investment in my program and also myself.”

Marilyn now has two horses–RF Ravano Rex and Demeter–with a shot at competing in the Olympics.  Marilyn was realistic about her chances and said “It’s always an advantage to have two possible contenders.”  She explained “I’m so new to this sport.  For me, this has been a step by step process and the next big goal is Rolex.  If that goes well then I would look to a fall four-star like Pau or Burghley and if something amazing happens in between then so be it.”

Marilyn also said that Demeter will be syndicated and that breeding via embryo transfer is definitely an option if the syndicate is interested in that in the future.  With the purchase of Demeter, Marilyn now has 7 eventers and 16 show jumpers in her stable.  

I understand, and I think Marilyn does too, that buying a nice horse is the easiest way to get disliked in your barn.  I have been in that situation on a much smaller scale and I can appreciate the pressure and scrutiny of riding a horse that you haven’t ‘earned’ in some peoples’ minds.  But Marilyn has done nothing to make people upset other than surround herself with quality horses and get the job done at events.  If we could say the same for all eventers I think our sport would be a lot better.  Marilyn summed it up best by saying: “You have to shoot for the stars and make the best of the situation you have, every day. As for today, I am blessed to be in an amazing situation. As for the future? I want the best for this sport, because I believe it is a great one; one that I have come to love, and one that I hope to continue to learn about and evolve in.”

Go eventing.

Happy Thanksgiving…Australia…!   The rest of us have to wait a few more hours until the celebration of gluttony, Pilgrims, and shopping stampedes can begin.  Fun fact–I bet you didn’t know that when the Pilgrims packed for their trip across the Atlantic they loaded the Mayflower with more beer than water.  Sounds like my kind of trip. 

In other news, on Sunday the USEF released their 2012 training list and last night they released the 2012 developing rider list.  Out of habit, I refer to the “high performance lists” as “training lists” and the “developing rider list” as just that.  47 lucky horses and 38 lucky riders made those lists compared to just 23 being named to the 2011 summer training and developing lists.  The age old adage “the more the better” doesn’t seem to apply and the 2012 lists have faced a lot of public criticism largely due to the omission of Colleen Rutledge as well as a few other popular riders. 

–First things first.  I wrote about it last night, but it’s worth saying again.  There’s no reason that I can see to leave Colleen and Shiraz off of the training list.  I would say the same thing to Colleen that I would have said before Burghley–go out to Badminton and make it impossible for the selectors to leave you off the team.  Frankly I would say the same thing to any rider upset on not being put on the lists–the lists that matter come out next year.

–One notable difference from the 2011 and 2012 lists is that the 2012 lists name specific pairs.  This is likely due to selection and training of specific top pairs being more of a factor in an Olympic year.

–The focus of this group of training lists appears to be to invest in younger talent.  Depending on how you look at it, US high performance is either very youthful or very thin at this point in the process.  There are only *9 horses who have competed at four-stars on the USEF training lists–Twizzel, Manoir de Carnville “Tate”, Neville, Ballynoe Castle, Pawlow, Fernhill Gloster Rebel, Ying Yang Yo, Chapel Amble and Mr. Medicott.  Two of those have been acquired in the last month, and one was essentially retired at the beginning of the year.  The Olympics are technically not a four-star, but I entirely expect that you are going to want a confirmed four-star horse to compete on Sue Benson’s Olympic track.  The spring four-stars are going to be incredibly important in picking the US team.

–Generally speaking, we don’t have as much information about individual horses as the selectors.  I have seen a few comments questioning why certain horses weren’t added and the simple answer for some of the horses is that they aren’t sound right now.    

–The list selections were made by the USEF selectors and the high performance committee.  Developing rider nominations were made via application as well as the USEF’s talent spotters. 

–It is a sad testament to our program and the challenges of eventing that only two horses who competed for the USA at the WEGs just a year ago are still on the high performance lists.

–Make no mistake: this isn’t a list of the only pairs who will be considered for the Olympics.  My feeling is that there are several pairs who will be in top contention come next summer who are not currently on the training lists.  Think of an Icarus or a Courageous Comet, depending on how his recovery progresses.  A great finish at Rolex or Badminton next year from a veteran pair would instantly jump them into top contention. 

—4 of the 6 horses who competed for the USA at Belnheim this summer made the USEF training list (Ringwood Magister, Loughan Glen, Pawlow, Mighty Nice) and 5 of the riders (Tiana, Clark, Phillip, Will, and Julian) made the training list.  In contrast, only *one of the US horses who competed at Boekelo made any of the lists (Otis).
        
—Only 3 of the 5 pairs who won team gold for the USA at the Pan American Games made the training list (Hannah with Harbour Pilot, Shannon Lilley with Mango, and Buck with Absolute Liberty).  The other two pairs were named to the developing rider list (Michael with Hanni, and Lynn and Donner).  Pan Am alternates Jolie Wentworth and Good Knight had the strange circumstance of having to essentially withdraw from Pan Am consideration due to a self imposed quarantine from a potential illness in their barn, but they have rebounded by making the High Performance B list.

—Sadly, just one rider from the summer developing rider list in 2011 made the step up to the the training list (Tiana).  Three riders from the summer training list are now on the developing rider list–Doug, Jennie, and Michael.  Shannon, Marilyn, Jolie, Becky, and Jan have jumped onto the training lists after being left completely off of the 2011 summer training and developing lists.   

–My top 4 picks for riders who got left off the list are Colleen, Alexandra Slusher, Emily Beshear, and 2* young riders champion Devon Brown.  Moving forward, I’d like to see the Young Riders  2* champion get an automatic berth in the developing rider program for the following year.    

–Gun to my head right now…I just can’t pick an early Olympic team.  Boyd and Sinead are the only two picks who seem obvious.  The issue with Sinead is that she only has one, albeit really nice, horse.  I really want to put Shannon Lilley and Mango on my very early team picks because I couldn’t have been more impressed with them throughout the entire Pan Am process.  I’m concerned that Phillip’s string is still a bit young, but knowing Phillip they will come out next year ready for whatever Sue Benson can throw at them.  As a general rule of thumb, my team picks always include Phillip with [insert horse and/or donkey].  Buck and Will are both riders I would want on my team, but there are small question marks with every single one of their horses.  Inmidair and Twizzel are two horses I will be really cheering for to come out strong in the spring.  And I haven’t even mentioned the two greys–Can’t Fire Me and Ringwood Magister, who might be the two most talented horses of the bunch. 

That’s all for now.  Pace yourselves Eventing Nation.  The London high performance insanity is just officially getting started.  Go eventing.

There is one major problem that stands out about the USEF training list that was released on Sunday and the developing rider list that was released Tuesday evening.  Colleen Rutledge didn’t make either list.  This year Colleen and Shiraz were 12th at Rolex and 37th at Burghley as the third highest placed American pair.  Only one pair placed higher than them at both events and that pair is currently on the USEF A List (Sinead and Tate).  Colleen and Shiraz completed clear rounds at two four-stars this year–an achievement that, off the top of my head, only one pair on the lists accomplished (again, Sinead and Tate).  You can tell me that Shiraz doesn’t have the dressage score or the speed to compete in London, but we’re not talking about picking a team right now.  We are talking about a training list and a developing rider list and I think it sends a pretty bad message to ignore such an accomplished and classy pair.  But, enough of what I think.  Colleen herself has written a post on her blog about being left off of the lists. 

From Colleen:

“After having crawled out from underneath the rock that I’ve been hiding under for the last few weeks (months), I have just a few things to say about the lists. They don’t change what I’m doing or what I am planning on doing. I finished up this year having met almost every one of my goals for my horses, I am riding better than I ever have and I have a awesome plan to go forward. What else do I really need? The people that believe in me, still believe in me and my family is doing great. The only thing that inclusion on a list really would represent to me is an outside acknowledgement of my achievements. It’s just a list made by people who don’t know me, and I just haven’t shown them what they’re currently looking for. But I truly have received my acknowledgement from my horses. They are happy, sound and working better than I could have hoped at this time of year. I have an amazing set of horses who are teaching me so much, but the only reason I do this sport is for me, not for outside accolades. This is fun for me and my horses. This is the game we play…This year has been priceless. What is meant to be, will be. Everyone who has supported me, stood up for me, even just thought good thoughts about me, I thank you. You make this game so much more fun. Now on to next year.” 

Read the entire post at [Colleen’s blog]

That’s an incredibly classy way to respond to what must be a crushing disappointment for Colleen.  From getting to know her in a small way this year I wouldn’t expect anything less.  Let’s just say I wouldn’t stop at writing that the selectors didn’t know me.  There’s no way to pick 47 pairs for training and developing rider lists without creating disappointment for somebody, but it seems clear that there should have been at least 48 pairs on the lists if only from the way that Colleen has responded to being left off.

Go Colleen.

The USEF has just named their much awaited 2012 developing rider list.  The winter training lists definitely raised some eyebrows, but it’s hard not to like this list of developing riders aside from a couple omissions.  There are some very deserving names including some great young riders, some fantastic horses, and the rest of the Pan American pairs who didn’t make it onto the training lists.  Stay tuned to EN over the next few days for much more on the training lists and developing rider list.  50 pairs applied from 19 states for the developing rider list and 24 were accepted.

Your 2012 Developing Rider List:

Susan Beebee and Wolf
 
Maya Black and Konyagi
 
Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair
 
Jennie Brannigan and No Objection
 
Maris Burns and Young Gun

Sydney Elliott and Poncho Villa  
 
Alexandra Green and Fernhill Cubalawn
 
Angela Grzywinski and Novelle
 
Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison
 
Shannon Lilley and Forgotten Emblem
 
Kylie Lyman and Trading Aces
 
Kylie Lyman and Garrison Flash
 
Maxance McManamy and Beacon Hill
 
Maxance McManamy and Project Runway
 
Heather Morris and First Mark
 
Megan O’ Donoghue and Pirate
 
Doug Payne and Running Order
 
Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni
 
Logan Rawlings and Watch It
 
Kristin Schmolze and Ballylaffin Bracken
 
MacKenna Shea and Landioso
 
Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek
 
Lynn Symansky and Donner
 
Kendyl Tracy and Ever So Lucky

[Official USEF Release]

If you have been unsuccessfully trying to visit EN this evening, I apologize–we have been having some server issues.  And nothing helps server problems like a big news announcement, so I think the issues may continue well into the night.  The good news is that Coren might have to write the news and notes post twice when she forgets to save it until the very end and then the server is down when she finally does click save.  Thank you for your continued support of Eventing Nation.