Brian O’Connor has truly outdone himself in today’s Insanity in the Middle video. Brian takes a look back at a great past month of eventing, including such topics as: Bughley, Marlborough, the earthquake, the hurricane, Wits End horse trials, the AECs, Jennie’s naked bareback ride at Plantation, and finally the rain at Morven. Many thanks for Brian for the tremendous video and next year we’ll try to bring you a Jack Russell’s view of Burghley. Go eventing.
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Your Wednesday morning Boekelo report
All of the US horses passed the first horse inspection at the Boekelo CCI3* this morning. The US team also named Remington as the horse that Boyd Martin will ride on the team. Boyd is riding both Remington and Otis Barbotiere at Boekelo, but he can only ride one as part of the US team.
I love the pick for Remington to be on the team, and in fact, I think Reminton has a good chance to win this weekend. Boekelo is known as one of the most competitive events in the world. Everyone in Europe shows up with their top 3* horses so it’s hard to think anyone has a fantastic chance to win. But, the only thing that has cost Remington a chance at winning four-stars is that the time is always about 16 to 20 seconds too tough for him. Boekelo is known as a slightly softer cross-country course and I think Remington will have a great chance to make the time.
The US team:
Tamra Smith and Mar De Amor
Michael Pollard and DV8
Boyd Martin and Remington
Individuals:
Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere
[via USEF]
Update: Uptown Eventing is reporting that all of the horses from all countries have passed the first inspection at Boekelo.
Go eventing.
The Blogger Contest Final Round: Money in Eventing
Friends, it’s time for the much anticipated conclusion to our blogger contest. By much anticipated I mean slightly more anticipated than the release of the next iPhone, and we won’t break your heart like Apple. We’ll publish all of the final submissions and then release the winner at the end. In this round, we asked the finalists to write about money in eventing. Let’s get things started off with Karen McCollom, and you can read Karen’s previous submissions for the contest here. Leave your votes about the post below to help pick the winner and of course the next Eventing Nation writer.
Entry: Show Me The Money
Money in eventing; the very phrase is an oxymoron. There is no money in eventing. Well, actually, there IS money in eventing, but it’s all being spent.
I was recently speaking with Laurie Hudson who runs 6 events a year out of her Hitching Post Farm in Vermont. We were having a serious, analytical discussion about how she manages the finances of these horse trials. We were both getting a little bored with the conversation. I finally asked her why she ran the events in the first place. After a long-ish pause, she replied with glee, “Because I LIKE it!.”
This is the real bottom line. You can analyze and ponder spread sheets and compare one activity against another in terms of income, but the reason that anyone is involved in eventing, professionals, amateurs, beginners and experts, event organizers, sponsors and owners is because they LIKE it. There is very little financial sense to any of this participation. In fact, it makes no sense at all.
To be sure all these financially aberrant participants are forced to come up with some sort of income flow, or, at the very least, to prevent income from other sources from flowing too rapidly down the equine spending river. (Please notice I refrained from saying “down the drain”).
If you are an organizer, like Laurie Hudson, you can avoid spending actual money by bartering for goods and services : cross country schooling privileges in return for course design, horse training for a judge’s fee. The big events hunt down corporate sponsors by cleverly convincing them in some way that there actually IS money in eventing.
If you are a rider you can grow up and get a job in the real world to pay for your horse habit. If your real job is being a rollerskating waitress at A and W and only pays gas money, you can, like Laurie’s students, barter as well. You can trade mucking or mowing, gardening or cooking or website management, knitting or dog grooming for lessons and board.
The other option for a rider is to embark on the somewhat sketchy proposition of having your riding habit become your real job. You can become a professional rider. Here is where the income trickle relative to the flood out becomes even more turbulent. Those guys who show up at events in huge travelling circusmobiles with 47 horses and 28 hot and cold running students have owners who have real jobs or at least real income from the real world to support their riding habits and even riding dreams. Thus the big pros depend on other peoples’ real income for their own income. I’m not sure if this counts as money in eventing.
Commercial sponsors play some part in stemming the outflow for these guys, mostly in the form of cool stuff. Often, at least in the U.S., although it looks cool, this stuff only takes the form of flashy decals or sweat-free shirts and free saddle pads. A drop in the bucket. In Europe, on the other hand, sometimes the circusmobiles themselves come from corporate sponsors and sometimes even the horses inside. Much more than a drop in the bucket; pretty much the bucket itself!
The more mortal professionals, the ones whose Olympic visions are more dreams than actual goals, scrabble along however they can to stem the tide of that outward flowing river of money. Some become judges or TD’s, they sell horses and teach tons of clinics. These clinics are paid for by those of us who have real jobs to pay for our riding habit, even if our real job is as a rollerskating waitress.
Apparently, eventing depends not so much on money, but on us eventing junkies,and this includes everyone who has ever sent a horse down the center line in any form, judged a horse as it comes down the center line, or had anything at all to do with a horse on that endless center line. The nonsense that defines eventing finances is fueled only by our willingness to borrow and trade, to give and take, and to work our butts off for a return not rationally measurable with dollar signs.
University of New Hampshire Horse Trials
Liz from the University from New Hampshire equine program was kind enough to send us a couple of photos from the UNH horse trials this past weekend. From the sound of things, they had just as rainy of a weekend as Morven. The above photo is of UNH student Hilary Adler, in the Open Training D division on her horse Zap Em All.
The second is UNH’s show jumping crew with guest designer Richard Jeffery who was brought to UNH on Friday for a SJ course design clinic by Area 1. The University of New Hampshire horse trials is in Durham, NH.
Go eventing.
Your late night video break, Morven style
I promise I was 15 seconds away from posting part of our final round of the blogger contest, which I neglected last week(end). But then I saw Buzzterbrown’s intermediate video from Morven uploaded in all of its high def greatness. Thanks Buzzterbrown as always for the fantastic videos and go eventing.
Checking in with Tamra Smith at Boekelo
Mar De Amor loving his stall all decked out in red
Tamra Smith was kind enough to send us a few photos from the stables at the Boekelo CCI3* in Holland. I kid you not, here is what Tamra wrote to accompany the below photo: “This was our welcome to Boekelo sign from Franz the stable manager!!!!” Shou-outs all around to Franz, Tamra for sending the photo, and all of the US horses and riders. We’re all cheering for you from back here at home.
For some reason I live the green sign–submit your ideas for what it means in the comment section:
Go eventing.
Your Morven Intermediate XC Recap
Jon, Buck, and Shannon
The cross-country for the Pan American squad riders and probably all of the riders here at Morven today was more about getting a solid round for their horses rather than making the time or finishing in a top placing. Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni led wire to wire in the Pan American squad intermediate division at Morven, ultimately finishing just 0.8 points ahead of team mates Shannon Lilley and Ballinowan Pizazz. Honestly, I couldn’t have picked Shannon and “Mango” out from a lineup of chestnut horses before the selection trials at Richland, but this pair from California is the real deal. Absolute Liberty moved up with the fastest round in that division, still picking up 11.2 time penalties. Libby gave the US squad a sweep of the proverbial podium at Morven. Phillip Dutton and Gran Banks took 4th. Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison looked good with 23.2 time penalties. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot finished the weekend in 7th.
The US team’s strategy of running the course ended up working out really well and the team can head to the final training camp in Ocala later this week with a lot of confidence. The going certainly wasn’t the best but everyone got through and now all we can do is keep everyone sound. Buck really wanted to get out there today and as the most experienced rider on the US squad, he rode exactly like a leader should after a tough fall earlier in the morning. This US squad is filled with a great group of tough riders, good team mates, and, as I said after the team was picked, riders who take their job seriously but not themselves too seriously.
The Canadians took a different but equally effective approach today. The experienced pair of Rebecca Howard and Roquefort withdrew before the cross-country as did Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwod High. Jessica Phoenix had the green light from Canadian coach David O’Connor to make the decision to pull up or continue after the first water. Jessie took a very calm round through the water with Pavarotti, pulled up after jump #11, and walked home happy with a great last prep run for the Pan Ams. My guess is that once David is the US coach we will see a more tailored approach to each horse in these situations, such as the one adopted by Canada today.
Caroline Martin and Petite Flower won the intermediate A division by 15 points on a 32.4. 8 riders withdrew from the intermediate B division and only 4 riders finished that division, with Buck Davidson and the EN favorite The Apprentice won intermediate B. Andrea Leatherman and her promising mare Mystic My moved up one spot each phase to win the intermediate C by 18 points on a 46 and putting a fantastic finish on the day for BDJ eventing .
The man, the myth, and the legend Buzzterbrown was out with his video camera today so we can expect his epic videos from Morven soon. I also want to give a shout out to Brian O’Connor who was fantastic this weekend, not just as an announcer but also with his skills keeping all of the communication going on the cross-country. Brian promised us another EN video soon, so stay tuned.
That’s all for now from a great day at Morven Park. Go eventing.
Buck Davidson’s Morven Advanced XC Recap
Buck Davidson and Ballnoecastle RM won the advanced B division
15 of the 19 pairs in the advanced A division withdrew before the cross-country and just three riders finished in that division. Those three heroic pairs are: Sara Kozumplik and Manolo Blahnik with the win, Kristi Nunnink and R-Star, and Holly Payne with Madeline.
Buck Davidson took a big tumble at the water when his first ride of the day, Park Trader, took a huge jump into the water. Buck sat way back but nothing would have saved the situation and Park Trader fell on landing. The horse stepped on Buck’s leg coming away from the fall and everyone watching feared the worse considering the importance of the rest of Buck’s day. This was not the kind of weather that rewarded being soaking wet either. But, Buck is as tough as anyone and he limped back to the barns, dried off, and ultimately rode more horses today than anyone, having great rounds on all of the rest. Buck gets Eventing Nation’s Iron Man award for the day.
Only 8 out of 17 riders in the advanced B division withdrew. Buck took the top two spots with Ballynoecastle RM and Titanium, riding both of them after his fall on Park Trader. Kurt Martin and Woodwork made the course look easy and moved all the way up from 11th after the show jumping to take 3rd. Gina Fiore and Feral Errol finished in fourth. High Society skipped around the course for Doug Payne. That pair is headed to Fair Hill looking great.
There were surprisingly few issues on the advanced course. Running Order and Winning Facts both picked up stops at the drop in the Leaf Pit, Dornin North had a couple of stops, and Buck had the fall but the course rode really well otherwise. In some sense, I think many of the riders who had less experienced horses withdrew because of the footing, leading to a more experienced field on average. A lot of credit has to go to course designer Tremaine Cooper for how well the course rode despite the weather.
Tremaine Cooper told me all weekend that this course would drain well. I had my doubts considering that it has rained 5 out of the last 7 days in Leesburg, Virginia, but Tremaine was 100% right. There were certainly some sticky spots on the takeoff and landing and some completely muddy spots where vehicles had been driving all weekend, but in general the horses were able to jump the course without the footing being a big factor. The riders deserve a lot of credit for taking the time where necessary and I didn’t see a single rider being stupid and gunning for the time all day.
Many of the horses who withdrew today will gallop at home and then be headed to Fair Hill in 10 days. I’ll add video from the advanced when it finished uploading. Go eventing.
Tremaine Cooper at the Leaf Pit
As the advanced and intermediate divisions are running cross-country at Morven, check out the signature advanced fence as presented by course designer Tremaine Cooper on a much sunnier and warmer Friday afternoon. Stay tuned for a complete recap of the cross-country action soon.
Go eventing.
A rain (footing) delay at Morven
The rain stopped here at Morven sometime early this morning. The officials made the decision to delay the start of the advanced cross-country by one hour until 9:00am to give the course that much more time to dry out drain. There are so many withdraws from the advanced due to the conditions and footing that the intermediate should still be able to start on time. The US team looked at conditions again this morning and the decision was made that the footing looks better than expected so the Pan American squad is set to run this morning. The riders were instructed to ride at a pace they are comfortable with but forward enough to jump the intermediate course. One thing is certain: the footing is going to be on everyone’s mind today. Good luck to all the riders here at Morven and around Eventing Nation today–stay safe and have fun.
Go eventing.
Morven Saturday Afternoon Show Jumping and Other Notes
5 riders, 4 show jumping penalties–that’s how you produce great results at international team competitions and that’s just what the US squad did today here at Morven Park. Michael Pollard had a fantastic ride with Hanni, Shannon looked great, Harbour Pilot jumped really well, and Absolute Liberty jumped as well as I have ever seen her jump. The only mar on a great afternoon of show jumping for the US squad was Jon Holling’s round with Downtown Harrison. The horse didn’t look like he liked the sloppy footing and Jon missed at number six, causing them to clatter through the jump. After that mistake Jon jumped a great rest of the round and their dressage test scores were so good that they are still the third placed US pair. All of the rest of the US squad should put their rounds in a box and FedEx them to Guadalajara.
Canada had 3 rides and 0 jumping penalties today for their Pan Am squad riders. Rebecca Howard is right behind Michael and Hanni in the intermediate D. Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti are winning the intermediate C on a 25.6 and Selena O’Hanlon is tied for 3rd in the intermediate B with Foxwood High.
As a completely useless but interesting exercise, if you take Canada’s 3 scores, and compare them to the USA’s 3 best scores, the USA has a 3.6 point lead going into the cross-country (78.8 to 82.4).
Speaking of the cross-country, the current plan is for the US squad to run tomorrow despite the rain. If it pours rain overnight the plan is to reevaluate things in the morning. There has been consideration of a shortened course and even withdrawing and making a pseudo cross-country course at the final training sessions in Ocala, but for now it is all systems go for the US squad. The Weather Channel is predicting rain through tomorrow morning although the chance lessens around midnight. [Weather]
In other news, Boyd has withdrawn from the alternate list for the Pan Ams. I think it’s a good decision for Boyd to keep Cold Harbour in the States this autumn and it will let Boyd go to Fair Hill. This leaves Lynn Symansky with Donner and Kristin Schmolze with Ballylaffin Bracken as the top two alternate choices if something goes wrong with one of the squad members, and I think they are two great options. Boyd can now focus on Boekelo and he is set to fly out tomorrow to join his two horses which are already at Boekelo.
My apologies to Shannon for missing the first three jumps of her round, I was distracted talking to David about his space suit cowboy hat combo rain gear. As much trouble as we give him for it, he is always dry and warm while everyone else is freezing.
As for the other intermediate divisions, Buck Davidson and The Apprentice are leading the intermediate B on a 24.4. Caroline Martin and Petite Flower have the intermediate B lead with Susan Beebee and Wolf in second. That’s all for now from a cold and wet Saturday at Morven. Go eventing.
Morven Training Cross-Country
I don’t have anything good to say about the weather today. It rained with hardly any pause and the wind was biting. The prelim and training ran cross-country and by the end of each division the takeoff and landing was thoroughly torn up for each fence. Despite the conditions the quality of riding was high, as you can see in the above training XC video.
Kelli Temple and Calero moved up with a withdraw of the first placed rider to win the open training A division. Jennifer Simmons and Fernhill HHS Boston won the open training B after moving up from 7th to 1st in the show jumping, with Emily Beshear and Moose in second and Courtney Cooper and Nevaeh in third. Linda Dahlgren won the training rider division with AFW Ami Fidele. There were just 6 issues on course in the training level although quite a few riders decided to withdraw after their show jumping and before the cross-country. There are already over 10 advanced horses who have withdrawn from tomorrow’s XC.
In the prelim, Nicholas Hansen and Grand Cru jumped double-clear to maintain their dressage lead and they won by 10 points. Aryn Coon won the open preliminary B after moving up from 6th after the show jumping. Arianna Almeida and Drummer’s Call won the open prelim A division. Go eventing.
And then there were 3
As a sad note for the US Boekelo team, Julian Stiller has withdrawn her horse Charlie Weld from Boekelo. I spoke briefly with Jules who told me that her horse wasn’t quite right after his last gallop today and she wisely didn’t want to risk running him if he wasn’t 100%. Jules bought Charlie Weld from Kai Ruder earlier this year and Charlie Weld is one of the best up and coming event horses in all of Europe. The US is left with a three pair team now–Michael Pollard on DV8, Tamra on Mar De Amor, and Boyd on either Remington or Otis Barbotiere. Boyd is riding both horses at Boekelo, but the decision will be made later this week which one will compete for the team. Go eventing.
Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti Dressage
Dressage from Canadian Pan American Games squad members in the covered arena earlier this afternoon. They scored a 25.6 in the intermediate C division. Intermediate show jumping is underway–stay tuned for much more from Morven. Go eventing.
The story of Twizzel
Twizzel went inexplicably lame literally moments before his test with Will Coleman at Burghley. There wasn’t any time to figure out what was wrong and Will was forced to make a heartbreaking withdraw after a summer of hard work to get there. In the hours following their warm up no one knew what went wrong and to some extent it still hasn’t been figured out. The good news is that Twizzel is sound again and show jumped well for Will today in the advanced at Morven. Will was kind enough to explain their process with Twizzel after Burghley and their tentative plans for the autumn which include Fair Hill. Will and Twizzel have been through some really bad luck but I can’t wait for that luck to change and look out when it does. Go eventing.
Your Saturday afternoon Eventing Nation quiz
The indoor arena at Morven Park features two flags, one Swiss, one for the United States. The quiz question is: why?
a) Swiss Army sponsors the event to promote knife sales
b) It is a symbol of neutrality from Morven Park in the vicious battle between the US and Canadian teams
c) The Swiss-American arena was donated by the family of Jacqueline Stirlin Harris, who was a Swiss-American, as a tribute to her heritage
Rain’s Morven Advanced Show Jumping Recap
Laura Vello and Winning Facts jumping in the rain
Hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife. The partly cloudy beautiful autumn skies of Friday have given way to light but persistent rain, wind, and highs in the 50’s. By now, everyone here is either completely soaked with rain or well on their way to being soaked. Eventing Nation’s inaugural event coverage was at Fair Hill in ’09 so no matter how bad the rain gets at any event I will forever get to say from experience “it could always be worse.”
We have a full day of all three phases in action here at Morven. The advanced horses show jumped this morning. The prelim and training horses are running all three phases today. Intermediate is show jumping and a couple of intermediate divisions are riding dressage this morning as well. Novice runs all day on Sunday and the intermediate and advanced will run cross-country although if the rain continues I will be interested to see if the Pan American horses run a full or abbreviated course or perhaps not at all.
In the advanced A division Boyd Martin and Ying Yang Yo moved up one place with a double clear to take the lead. Boyd flew over to the US with Ying Yang Yo on a cargo plane in 2006 and competed together in Boyd’s first Rolex. That trip led to Boyd working with Phillip, moving to the US, and the rest is history as they say. “Thomas” is owned by Faye Wolf, who lost Call Me Ollie in the True Prospect fire. Thomas has been ridden by Fay’s daughter Eliza for the past few yeas. Faye sent him to Boyd to ride this autumn as a sign of support and because Eliza is busy at school. Boyd and Thomas are shooting for Fair Hill and they are looking like one of the early favorites. Karen O’Connor and Veronica moved from third to second withas *double clear. Sally Cousins was the only rider with two double-clears in that division.
Michael Pollard and Jude’s Law pulled a rail in the advanced B division to drop to second. Buck Davidson took the lead with a double-clear on Carl and Cassandra Segal’s Ballynoecastle RM. Gina Fiore and Feral Errol are sitting in third on their dressage score. Karen O’Connor is 4th with Quintus 54 and Karen is the only rider with two horses in the top 5 in the advanced divisions.
[Full Morven Scores, Morven Weather]
The show jumping caused quite a few rails, but there were just over 15 double-clears out of over 35 starters. The footing looked like it was holding up well but the rain is continuing to come down and we will see how it holds up throughout the day with the intermediate set to show jump this afternoon.
Doug Payne is riding High Society this weekend. “Trevor” is owned by his girlfriend Jessica Hampf. Jessica is busy with school and thus Doug has the ride on the very talented thoroughbred for the autumn.
Stay tuned for much more from Morven. Samantha is at Jump Start in Kentucky so we’ll have a full day of coverage here on Eventing Nation. Samantha is posting updates from Jump Start via Twitter @SamanthaLClark. The US horses headed to Boekelo are just arriving at the show grounds safe and sound from their flight across the Atlantic. Go eventing.
Course Designer Tremaine Cooper
As the prelim cross-country is just getting underway at Morven let’s take a quick look at Morven Park with course designer Tremaine Cooper. The interview is from Friday afternoon as evidenced by the lack of rain and wind. Morven is a unique eventing venue for a variety of reasons including that most of the advanced course is on a completely different part of the property than the other divisions. Tremaine was kind enough to give me a grand tour of Morven Friday afternoon and it was obvious that Tremaine absolutely loves working with this property. Morven has a new director and there are a lot of wonderful plans in the works for the next few years to improve the facilities and raise the bar even higher for eventing at Morven.
The footing is a big question mark for the weekend. It rained all week but, as Tremaine pointed out, the footing here at Morven is generally quite good as long as it has time to drain. Today’s rain is light and I think it will be fine for the advanced and intermediate tomorrow if the rain stops tonight. If the rain continues right through Saturday night and Sunday then things could get slick quickly.
One of the cool things about Tremaine as a designer is that he is also a rider. He is out and about today riding in the prelim as well as fulfilling all of his design responsibilities–quite a day! Thanks for the interview Tremaine, good luck today, and go eventing.
More Morven dressage videos
The rest of the Pan American team member rides from Friday, two rides per video, including Michael Pollard’s winning ride.
Go eventing.
Friday Dressage at Morven Park
Michael Pollard gave Schoensgreen Hanni a pat after a top-placed performance
Friday marked the start of dressage at the Morven Horse Trials which are held at the beautiful 1,100 acre Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia. Think of Morven as a giant equestrian center, historic mansion, recreational park and everything in between that is set in the middle of northern Virginia suburbia. It’s a perfect setting for eventing and there are some big plans to make the facilities even better moving forward. We’ll have much more on that later, but now let’s talk dressage.
The Pan American Games mandatory outing intermediate D division is the top focus of the weekend for obvious reasons. Michael Pollard scored a 23.2 with Schoensgreen Hanni and he is closely trailed by Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison on a 24.8. Both of their tests were nice, but I thought the judge was a bit generous to both of them with scores in the low 20’s. Hanni could have had a bit more energy and, although Jon is kindly providing me with a couch to sleep on this weekend, I would say Downtown Harrison could have been a bit more relaxed. That being said, all of the scores were low on average on Friday. In three weeks I bet they will both be putting together even better tests.
It’s important to note that the actual dressage scores aren’t that important for the Pan Am horses this weekend. The teams have already been announced so the important focus for the riders isn’t to win this weekend but to set themselves up to win in three weekends.
The advanced and intermediate tests today were conducted in the indoor arena which was so quiet you could hear my video camera being turned on from across the arena. The atmosphere will certainly be much more intense in Guadalajara. I’ll be publishing video of all of the Pan American squad members as my wireless card uploads them.
Canada’s Rebecca Howard and Roquefort are in third in the mandatory outing division, although of course Canada is not having a mandatory outing at Morven. Rouquefort’s test was close to brilliant with one big break in the extended trot marring their trot work. A good portion of the US squad showed up to watch the pair that is quite possibly favored to win gold in Guadalajara. The redemption-seeking US team against the Canadians at the top of their game–the Pan Ams are shaping up to be quite a battle. Jessie and Selena ride their Pan Am horses in the intermediate B and C divisions, which are scheduled for dressage on Saturday.
Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz of the USA squad are in 4th with a 26.8. It’s easy to see how they won the selection trials at Richland–their trot work was beautiful again. Phillip Dutton and Young Man are the highest placed non-Pan Am pair in 5th. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot are in 6th. William isn’t the flashiest mover, but Hannah once again rode a very accurate test. It just looked like the judge, Mark Weissbecker, put a slight priority on movement over precision. Alternates Lynn Symansky and Donner are 7th with a 30.8. That pair should be near the top of the alternates if something happens to one of the squad members. The last team members, Buck Davidson and Absolute Liberty are 10th with a 33.6. All the scores in the mandatory outing division were below 40–it was a really quality field.
Friday morning and early afternoon featured dressage for the two advanced divisions at Morven. Michael Pollard is having a great day with the news that he is headed to Boekelo with DV8, taking the lead in the Pan American division with Hanni, and also taking the lead in the advanced division with Jude’s Law. Michael dropped a 22.7 with Jude’s Law–that just happened. They lead the advanced B division by 0.6 in front of Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM.
Emily Beshear and Here’s to You have a 0.3 point lead over Boyd Martin and Ying Yang Yo in advanced A. There are a few notable starters in the A division including Veronica, who withdrew from Boekelo to instead take the steadier course of another horse trials and then hopefully Fair Hill. She is in 3rd with Karen on 30.0. Twizzel is out and about this weekend, competing in the advanced A. It’s great to see him back in action after that surprising and heartbreaking withdrawal from Burghley after going suddenly lame in the warm up.
While the upper level horses were doing circles, the future event horse Dorian Gray was busy hiding his portrait and dominating the FEH east coast championship. He won every prize he could and was crowned overall champion. Leslie Mintz at the USEA has the coverage here.
–Driving into and out of Washington, D.C. on a weekday: 5 hours
–Convincing the Mexican consulate to let you into Mexico for the Pan American Games even though your last name was omitted from their press credential records: 4 hours
–Getting the chance to drive back into D.C. on Monday to pick up your visa: Priceless
Dressage continues Saturday as the show jumping and cross-country starts at Morven. Go eventing.
A late addition to the US Boekelo team
DV8 shipped to Pennsylvania late last night to join Boyd’s horses for the trip to Boekelo
As some great news for US high performance eventing, Michael Pollard and DV8 have been approved to travel to the Boekelo CCI3* as part of the US team. My understanding is that there are a few loose ends to still tie up including the last minute shipping paperwork, but DV8 is on his way to the airport today and everything is a done deal. We reported yesterday that Ali Slusher and Last Call had withdrawn from the Boekelo trip. Until this morning, no one had been chosen to replace them, leaving the US with just 3 horses on the team. The full contingent of horses (Remington, Otis Barbotiere, Mar De Amor, and DV8) are flying out today for Holland and they will meet up with Julian Stiller and her fabulous new horse Charlie Weld to round out the US squad. The team trip is supported by USOC development funding.
Michael started riding DV8 earlier this year and they have clicked quickly. DV8 won the advanced at Richland in August and then the advanced at Plantation Field by 7 points. There’s still a lot of upside from this pair and Boekelo is known as a good move-up track. The US team has a lot of momentum after the great performances at Blenheim, so here’s to hoping we can keep that going in Holland.
After a successful but slow trip to the Mexican consulate in Washington, D.C., I’m off to Morven for a full weekend of eventing. The action is already well underway at Morven and check out Annie’s post this morning for a link to scores. Go eventing.
A shout-out from Greenwood HT
Heather Morris sent in this photo of Marvin Savage aggravating the dressage arenas Thursday evening with a special thanks to Marvin Savage and Christie Tull for the work they do getting Greenwood Horse Trials, in Weatherford, Texas, ready for a great event.
Go eventing.
Your Moven Pan Am Training Session Recap
Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison
Watching training sessions are one of my favorite things. I wrote about it this spring, but it’s worth noting again: for all of the criticism that Uncle Mark gets, he gives excellent lessons and I can tell why so many of the riders enjoy taking lessons with him. He has a great eye from the ground and is really good about tailoring his instruction to the specific horse. Mark’s lesson with Jon today was particularly productive.
With the dressage starting at Morven tomorrow, today’s lessons were about putting the finishing touches on the movements. I enjoy watching these types of lessons the most because there tends to be much more to watch than those hour long 20 meter trot circle collected trot improvement sessions.
Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison started off a little stabbing and quick in the trot and canter work. Downtown Harrison looked wound up, keen, and positive. It wasn’t a negative excited and he looked like he was enjoying himself. Mark worked to relax the gaits by having Jon ride Downtown Harrison more uphill. Counter-intuitively, Mark asked Jon to put his hands down, and lift with his seat and leg, raising the withers and getting him more out front.
When Jon did his first canter to walk transition Mark shouted “No!” He instructed Jon to use less seat and absolutely no rein. Jon was only allowed to use his knees and body on the upswing of Downtown Harrison’s canter to make the transition happen. The next transition was much better and the third was nearly perfect. That instruction probably worked the best of any Mark gave all morning.
After the trot and canter work it was time for the walk. Almost half of Jon’s lesson was spent working on the walk, which I really appreciated. As Jon said in his video interview with us, the walk is an area that can use improvement for Downtown Harrison and I feel like almost all eveners don’t practice the walk nearly enough. The walk is scored just like any other gait and yet I for one always seem to forget to work on it. In the transition from medium to extended walk and back again, Mark insisted that Downtown Harrison was not allowed to stop or change his pace. Consistency was the watchword. For the turn on the haunches, Mark made Jon get Downtown Harrison “through” thoroughly in the preparation, then turn one stride, and then ride forward through the turn. Mark had Jon ride through several full pirouettes, emphasizing no pressure and waiting until Downtown Harrison relaxed. Once he did it was lovely.
Mark asked Jon to finish with one medium trot, which in any lesson with any self respecting trainer is going to mean about 2 to 7 medium trots before you get a perfect one. Downtown Harrison’s first medium was good but the transition back was against Jon’s hand. By the third he was perfect. With a pat the lesson was over.
Kristin and Ballylaffin Bracken–the indoor lighting was less than ideal for photos
Kristin Schmolze and Ballylaffin Bracken worked through a quick but productive lesson. Their lesson was taught at a much higher intensity level and Mark insisted on crisp transitions and big extended gaits. Ballylaffin Bracken has a lot of upside and although they are alternates on the outside looking in for the Pan Ams Kristin and Ballylaffin Bracken certainly look like a pair for future teams. I would imagine that being an alternate is quite hard–you have to prepare for every day like you’re on the team and headed for Mexico but you know that you are probably not. I also want to give a shout-out to Kristin for having her groom video the lesson, that is invaluable for later review and shows how seriously that team is taking the training sessions.
Michael, Hanni, Mark, and Sara Ike
Michael Pollard worked on the connection and contact with the very flashy gray mare Schoensgreen Hanni. Mark stressed that Michael needed to push her through from behind and relax with the arm slightly while keeping her round. Mark was particularly insistent that he didn’t want to see the inside rein loop on the half-pass and he stressed keeping that connection with a firm inside leg. They ended after a short lesson as Michael mentioned Hanni can get a bit dull with too much work.
Buck and The Apprentice
I got a quick glance at several of the riders on their non-Pan Am horses. The Apprentice looked really flashy for Buck. Watching him on the flat combined with how high I know that horse can jump and two recent wins makes me think that this is a great prospect horse for the future for Buck. Michael Pollard schooled Jude’s Law and DV8. Both are horses that Michael started riding earlier this year and both are incredibly nice. DV8 has had some recent top advanced placings, but gun to my head I would say that Jude will turn out to be even nicer in the end. Either way, Michael has one of the best group of horses in the US right now.
A shout-out to Ecogold’s sweet team pads
One thing to keep a close eye on this weekend is the weather. Virginia has gotten a lot of rain this week and the Morven footing is definitely the worse for it. The rain is expected to continue Friday and Saturday and if it does we could see a change or abbreviation for the mandatory outing. The intermediate cross-county at Morven is currently scheduled for Sunday.
My trip to the Mexico consulate for my Pan Am visa was unsuccessful either because 1) I am still not allowed in Mexico after that infamous spring break trip senior year, or 2) they closed at 11:30 in the morning. I’ll have to make the trip back into DC to resolve the situation Friday morning, which means that I won’t be at Morven to start the EN coverage until the afternoon.
Canada’s helicopter spies
Annie will be along later with news and notes. Until then, go eventing.
Stable View
Success Equestrian
FutureTrack
Sport Horse Nation
3 Diamonds Farm
Charitable Angel – Safe, Easy, and Talented Packer!
3 Diamonds Farm
Charitable Angel – Safe, Easy, and Talented Packer!
Courtney Cooper
This one is for the dreamer and believer!
