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Heartbreak for Will Coleman and Twizzel at Burghley

By on Sep 1, 2011 10:31 am -

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Will and Twiz schooling with Bettina early this morning

There are still more questions than answers as to what exactly happened to Twizzel during the warmup for his dressage test with Will Coleman at Burghley this morning.  I spoke with Will, who said that it happened “as fast as a lightning bolt.”  One moment he was working in the left half-pass and the next moment Twizzel was lame.  With no time to figure out what the issue might be, Will had to withdraw Twizzel just a few minutes before their ride.  Will said that he has decided along with Twizzel’s owner Jim Wildasin to bring Twizzel back to the United States for a full investigation with his regular vet Kevin Keane since this will be such an important work-up.  I was relieved to hear Will say that at this point the situation doesn’t look dire and he still feels like Twizzel can hopefully get to a three-day this fall, which would give Twizzel a shot at the Olympics next year. 

If there were two things I was hoping for over these last two big high performance weeks it was that Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison would make the Pan American Games squad and that Twizzel would be able to give Burghley his best shot.  Twizzel has been one of the most talented horses in the US for several years, but bad luck has prevented him from showing his best.  The last instance of bad luck before today struck at Rolex when Twizzel was tied for 5th and having a brilliant cross-country round when he left from a perfect spot at the double-corners and hung a leg just enough to pop Will off his back.  From that moment Will set his sights on Burghley and he has spent all summer traveling between training Twizzel in the UK and keeping his program going back in the US.  Will said that he worked Twizzel with Bettina Hoy, who has been coaching the US riders on the flat at Burghley, this morning and the horse looked great.  The same was true for their warmup, right up until everything went bad. 

You learn a lot about people when you speak to them in the tough moments.  From talking with Will I got the impression that he was most of all disappointed that Twizzel wouldn’t have a chance to show what a great horse he is this weekend.  Despite this morning’s heartbreak, Will expressed a tremendous sense of perspective and consideration.  Will explained:

“Life doesn’t owe anyone anything and you just have to make the most of the opportunities that life gives you.  I feel bad for Jim Wildasin, I feel bad for Land Rover and the US Team, and I feel bad for my owners, sponsors, and everyone back at home who has helped me to make this possible.  I also feel bad for the horse, he just seems to have an unlucky cloud hanging over him.  Sometimes you can do all the right things in eventing and there’s no guarantee that it’s going to come off.”

Will felt like Twizzel had a great preparation for Burghley and was at the top of his game coming into the event.  That pair at the top of their game can win any event in the world, but they are going to have to wait until next time to have that chance. 

The US is down to 5 horses at Burghley.  Boyd and Neville have just finished their test with a 49.7 and moved into 9th with 10 rides still to come today.  William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk are the current leaders.  Go Twiz.

Marilyn Little-Meredith has two new (soon to be) advanced horses

By on Sep 1, 2011 8:52 am -

Earlier this spring Annie wrote about show jumper Marilyn Little-Meredith’s foray into eventing on the fiery mare Udonna and their quest to compete at the Fair Hill CCI3* this year.  After a few months of mixed results in which Udonna’s enthusiasm often got the better of her on the cross-country, Marilyn traveled to Europe to compete in eventing and show jumping as well as buy some horses.  The Chronicle has published an update on Marilyn today and explains that she sold Udonna to a European young rider for show jumping.  Marilyn bought two experienced eventing horses in Europe, RF Easy Going, and RF Rovano Rex and competed them at the Salgen and Blair Castle 2*s.  Marilyn has those two horses entered in the advanced at the Five Points Horse Trials in North Carolina this weekend as well as three other horses from beginner novice to prelim.  Five Points will be Mailyn’s first advanced

Marilyn now has seven eventing horses in total including several young horses that she has converted from show jumping and she plans to compete at show jumping two weekends a month and eventing one.  Marilyn intends to create a business selling eventers as well as show jumpers.  She still rides with Karen and David O’Connor and Karen rode Marilyn’s young eventer RH Blitsfee to a training level victory at Richland last weekend and will compete Blitsfee at Five Points.  [Five Points Entries PDF]

I met Marilyn earlier this spring and she struck me as someone with the determination and natural talent to accomplish whatever she wants to with horses.  This is definitely not a one horse experiment for Marilyn and I’m excited to see her new horses in action here in the US.   

Go eventing.

Will Coleman withdraws Twizzel from the warmup

By on Sep 1, 2011 8:09 am -


Will Coleman and Twizzel schooling on Wednesday

Will Coleman and Twizzel’s Burghley has come to a heartbreaking end before it even started.  Samantha spoke with Will who said that Twizzel went suddenly and inexplicably very lame in the warmup as Will was working on the half-pass just a few minutes before his ride time.  Will who said that Twizzel didn’t strike himself, and that they just didn’t have time to figure out what might be wrong with Twizzel or address it before his ride time.  As Will said, it was just horrible timing.  At this point, no one knows if it is something minor like a muscle pull or something more serious. The best eventing vets in the world are all at Burghley right now and Twizzel will have the very best evaluation and care today.  Will and Twizzel have had a fantastic summer leading up to Burghley and they were poised for a great performance for the USA this weekend.  We’ll update you as we hear more and hopefully this was just a tiny issue with very bad timing.  Go Twiz.

Watch Burghley Online Video for Free

By on Aug 31, 2011 7:22 pm -

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Mike, Boyd, Sinead, Will, and Jules

There are several great ways to follow Burghley this year, so let’s take a look at some of the best.  Many of these links have been added to the top of your sidebar for your clicking convenience.

Burghley.tv is offering free on-demand video of every rider in every phase at Burghley.  By on-demand, I mean that you can select and watch a recording of each ride separately.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that it remains to be seen how long it will take for the videos to go online, but at this point it doesn’t seem like it will be a live video feed.  [Burghley.tv]

Our good friends at the Horse and Hound are going to be doing a live blog from all three phases.  We are going to be sharing the live blog with them again this year so it will also be on Eventing Nation.  You may have to scroll down a bit as it gets later each day because we will put posts over the live blog.  You can pre-register for an email reminder at the [Horse and Hound]

Burghley will be posting audio interviews with riders throughout the weekend.  These are usually updated throughout the day and are often times worth a listen.  [Audio Interviews]

Samantha and ESJ will be tweeting throughout the weekend to all our Twitter tweeps.  Follow Samantha [@SamanthaLClark] and ESJ [@JohnVacy] and EN [@EventingNation].  You don’t have to have a Twitter account to watch their feeds, just click on the links.  We also have the option of putting an aggregate live scrolling Twitter feed on Eventing Nation as we sometimes do during big three-days.  If you love or hate that idea, please let us know in the comment section to this post.

Lastly, Burghley has a free iPhone app this year. [Burghley app]

That’s all for now.  We will of course bring to the best Burghley links including live scores throughout the weekend so keep it locked to Eventing Nation. 

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Go eventing.

Cavalor’s Burghley Challenge

By on Aug 31, 2011 5:32 pm -

Michael Pollard repping the Cavalor sponsored rider jacket at Burghley

If you like winning free stuff from awesome companies then stay tuned to Eventing Nation this week and next for a variety of awesome contests from our sponsors during Burghley and the American Eventing Championships.

Today we have a straight up pick ’em from Cavalor, provider of top quality equine feed and supplements.  The winner of the challenge will receive a $200 gift certificate for Cavalor products of your choice.  We know the final Burghley entry list after today’s jog so let’s get right to it.

Entering involves two steps:
1) You pick from the Burghley Entry List:

(a) The horse that will win Burghley
(b) The winning Burghley score (used for breaking ties)

Type your pick and score into the SUBJECT line of an email and send it to [email protected].  The only way to enter the contest is by sending the entry in an email.  Do not submit your entry in the comment section of this post–a mass comment entry contest on EN this spring nearly crashed the EN server.  Multiple entries are not allowed.  The deadline for submitting entries is the start of dressage at 4:30am ET Thursday. 

2) Like Cavalor on Facebook [click here]

Cavalor products are all about solutions for your horse.  Cavalor’s feed and supplements are definitely expensive, but the stuff works like nothing else on the market.  Gun to my head, if I had to recommend one Cavalor product I would recommend their grain called Pianissimo if you have a hot horse.  Pianissimo is specifically designed to calm and relax a hot horse–especially that red headed ex-racehorse.  It is also a complete feed for the sport horse.  I can’t think of one thing around the barn that I have gotten a better response by recommending that my friends try it.  

Go Cavalor.

Working Student Diaries — Burghley Bound

By on Aug 31, 2011 4:00 pm -

Working student, vet tech, and EN guest blogger Jenny McCoy is on her way to Burghley for a fun weekend of spectating. Jenny was kind enough to send us a quick update from her travels looking ahead to a weekend of watching Burghley.
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Alexis on Nightfall, Andrea on Laissez Faire, Jenny on Expedition, Holly on Stylish Dreamer, and Holly on Journey’s End

From Jenny:

Hello Eventing Nation! Just as I was beginning to settle into my new life working for both Megan and Dr. Newton, I left Lexington and I am on a little vacation for two weeks to visit family in Boston and in England. Fortunately Megan and Chris are very understanding and have let me take time off for some family matters, so I will be working my butt off when I get back to thank them!! My new job with Dr. Newton is absolutely amazing. I have never met a person like Chris. Smart just does not describe him–excluding his driving (in)ability–he is a pure genius! I have learned so much in the first three weeks working with him, and it has been great to be able to meet all of his clients and horses. My responsibilities are numerous and multiply everyday, but it’s never overwhelming because I am doing what I love with people who truly love their horses. So far I have jogged about 68942107 horses (my new running sneakers already look years old!), pulled blood on multiple horses that are worth more than most of our houses, taken hundreds of x-rays (Keeneland Yearling Sales are coming up!), helped shockwave a few horses, and the list goes on and on. I have watched Dr. Newton work his magic to fix a horse’s knee that was the size of a melon, sew up a horse’s eye that was completely destroyed by a screw puncture, and so much more. No day is the same, and if you know Chris, it certainly never gets boring around him!

Meanwhile, back at the farm Molson has been recovering well. I began walk hacking him a couple weeks ago, and did some trots this week. He is still extremely weak–something I wasn’t completely prepared for. When I brought him back from his foot injury in the spring, he bounced back pretty quickly. But, since he lost about 20% of his blood when he tore his spleen, his whole body shut down and so he has been rebuilding up his strength ever since. I have to admit my first ride on him was awful because he felt like a thirty year old pony that didn’t want to go forward and was as stiff as an iron rod. However, a couple days later he attempted to buck me off, which made me elated because it meant he was feeling better! This past weekend we held our second MT of the summer at the farm, and it was twice as big as our last! Since Molson isn’t jumping yet, Megan let me ride my personal favorite of all of her horses, Ex, in the training CT. I keep telling her she has to stop letting me ride him or I might steal him one of these days–he is a superstar!

This morning was quite a stressful one, as an hour before I was going to leave for the airport, Molson decided to act a little colicy–what is it with horses and AWFUL timing!? When I took his temp it was 98, and while it wasn’t as low as when he ruptured his spleen, I was still concerned as last night was the first night he spent the whole night outside and I didn’t know what horrible things could have happened. I called Dr. Newton in a panic, disrupting his busy schedule I’m sure to have him rush over and work his magic on Moo in time for me to still make it to the airport. Fortunately his temp was higher when he arrived, and his spleen was fine. After some TLC from Dr Newton, Molson was looking better just 15 minutes later. Normally I wouldn’t bother a vet about a ‘depressed looking’ horse, but with me leaving for two weeks, and his recent spleen rupture, I can’t help but be extremely careful with my baby!

With the craziest streak of luck, it just so happens that I am going to be in London during Burghley, so of course I begged and pleaded my non-horsey family to let us go for xc! I have been to Burghley before but never while the event was happening, so I am beyond excited to be able to be there this weekend! I will check in afterwards with a report of my view of the xc from the sidelines, and the highly anticipated shopping that is going to occur (I made sure to bring an extra carry on just for all of the black and pink things I am going to buy!)

Until Saturday!

xo, Jenny

Burghley Dressage Ride Times Posted

By on Aug 31, 2011 1:44 pm -

All the horses passed the first horse inspection at Burghley.  Jules Stiller of the US won the best dressed.  Samantha will be along shortly with much more from the jog, but until then here is a look at the official Burghley start list and ride times.  Video for all of the rides will be available free online from Burghley.tv and I will have much more on that later today.

[Burghley Ride Times, Audio Interviews, Wednesday Recap]

Go eventing.

Hamish Cargill — The Road to Burghley

By on Aug 31, 2011 12:31 pm -

Here’s a quick post from Hamish, written on his way to Burghley.  So we can only hope that this was written at least a few hours ago as the Burghley first horse inspection is just concluding!  Stay tuned for much more on that shortly.  Thanks for writing this Hamish and thank you for reading.
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From Hamish:

This quite literally comes to you on the road to Burghley. I’m in the passenger seat of Chris Burton’s truck, politely dodging conversation with the driver so I can better engage with my computer. It’s a race against time now given that we’re only 40 miles or so from the gates of Burghley House. Fortunately, since Burto is behind the wheel of his new rig he’s quietly entertaining himself. And besides, he understands the importance of guest blogging for Eventing Nation – this isn’t the time for crude innuendo about mediaeval jousting festivals, even if it’s hard to ignore the signs we pass every mile along the A1.

I’d like to say we’re a pair of nervous wrecks but surprisingly we’re not. Perhaps we should be, given that we’re about to enter a world where the jumps are taller, wider, skinnier and more ‘retro’ than ever before. In this new world – which is so retro it’s lit by disco balls and sounds like the Bee Gees – the ditches eat cars, people base-jump off the drop fences and the adventurous receive telegrams from the Queen for sailing solo around the water jumps. Such is the hype surrounding this course that if you haven’t practiced by swimming back and forth across the River Thames it’s unlikely you’ll be able to make the distance. Only the fearless will survive, and those who do will go on to conquer Everest, trek alone across the deserts of Africa and run naked around the South Pole in the depths of winter. It’s going to be that tough.

40 miles ago I was playing it cool. I can’t speak for Burto because I’m not speaking to Burto, but I’ll admit that there’s always a pang of nerves when you roll into any big event. Fortunately, this doesn’t last long. It might be Burghley but once you’re inside the camping and stabling area it really does feel like any other event. It’s just a big grassy paddock on a bit of a hill filled with temporary stables, massive ‘lorries’ and a fair percentage of the world’s best horses and riders. It’s so relaxed that the vet doesn’t even break out the microchip scanner to ID the horses – God knows who might have substituted their real horse for a freak that jumps entire buildings, sprints around eleven and a half minute courses without puffing and then hops spritely out of bed the next day keen to do it all again.

With the horses in the stables, the truck parked and a party atmosphere breaking out behind us at Team New Zealand, it’s probably time to put the computer down, climb out of my cone of silence and get into the serious business of eventing.

See you somewhere out there.

Hamish

Ballinakill Glory’s Tuesday Evening Links

By on Aug 30, 2011 6:17 pm -

It was an exciting day around the EN headquarters with the USEA one fall rule change, the US Pan Am Team, and the Boekelo grants all hitting the wires within a few hours of each other.  As the dust settles a bit, one story that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention today is the upper-level retirement of Kelly’ Prather’s horse Ballinakill Glory aka Pippa, owned by James and Andrea Pfeiffer.  Pippa will continue her career at the lower levels with the Pfeiffers’ daughter.  Ballinakill Glory finished 16th at the World Cup Finals in Poland in 2009, won two CIC3*’s and most recently competed at Rolex.  Pippa was always exciting in the dressage, one way or another, and I loved watching her enthusiasm on the cross-country.

Now for a few links…

Your guide to all the ways of watching Burghley

Colleen Rutledge has arrived at Burghley

Boyd Martin has arrived at Burghley

Shannon Lilley’s blog from Richland

Jennie almost had a perfect weekend at Richland

A short history of Burghley

Canadian show jumper Jonathon Miller is being investigated by the FEI

Ecogold pads are the choice of top riders at Burghley

Lauren Shannon’s Burghley blog

British eventers are taking off their clothes for money for spinal research

Your final little nugget of wisdom tonight is that the stables at Burghley have WiFi, which is awesome for everyone.  Ali will be along later with the news and notes post and until then, go eventing.

Thoughts on the US Pan Am Team

By on Aug 30, 2011 3:07 pm -

Five words I didn’t think I would be saying this afternoon: I agree with the selectors.  I don’t just like the US squad, I really like it.  If you are just tuning in, the team is Hannah, Buck, Jon, Michael, and Shannon.  Let’s jump right in:

–The US team is the best of both worlds–it has a lot of experience but at the same time each of the riders will benefit a great deal from going to the Pan American Games.  Every one of these riders has a chance to make those few days at the end of October the most important few days of their careers thus far.

–This team has a lot of chemistry.  One thing that doesn’t get mentioned a whole lot is that the US Team hasn’t exactly been known for having the best possible team chemistry of late.  I blame some of that on coaching and some of that on the riders.  I am not as familiar with Shannon, but Buck, Hannah, Michael, and Jon are all really good people to have around in high pressure situations.  They take their riding very seriously but they don’t take themselves too seriously.  They also all get along well already, and from chatting with them over the weekend I know they are happy with the picks.

—The best rider on the short list got left off the team and I think that is a good decision.  There’s not enough I can say about Boyd as a rider and we’re big Boyd fans here at Eventing Nation, but, as I wrote yesterday, Boyd is already competing 3 horses overseas this year for the US and he is almost a lock to make the Olympics next year as long as he has a horse that can get around.  I felt the team should send one veteran team rider and Buck was the better choice because Absolute Liberty gives him a chance to place well and Buck is certainly worth the investment of one funded trip this year.

–This team will be considerably better in two months than it is right now.  Hanni can shave at least 5 points off of her dressage score, Harbour Pilot will be a bit tighter up front to keep those rails up, and Absolute Liberty should get a better dressage score.  Downtown Harrison will score considerably better if Jon relaxes a bit and lets the competition come to him; I felt like he was forcing things a bit at the test event.

—USA vs Canada, who will win?  Although we haven’t seen the final Canadian selections yet, my individual pick to win right now is either Hanni or Roquefort.  I think Canada’s top 3 match up very well with the US top 3, but the US team has more depth across the 5 riders. 

–The sad reality is that there is at least a decent chance that this won’t be the team in two months.  Injuries to horses are part of eventing and horses are never at more risk than the last month before three-days.  As my mother tells me every Valentine’s Day morning, we should be prepared for heartbreak.

–The only sure thing going into today is that with only 5 spots available not everyone who deserved to would make the team.  The list of alternates is filled with people who deserve to ride on the team and if one of the alternates has to be moved up to the team then it will not be a big setback.

Go eventing.

Boekelo Grants Announced

By on Aug 30, 2011 3:02 pm -


This year’s Boekelo team has a lot to live up to after last year’s silver medal

As yet another US high performance note this afternoon, the USEF has announced their Developing Grants for the team trip to the Boekelo CCI3* in the Netherlands October 6-9.  This is US Olympic Committee funding and I believe the trip is fully funded.

The grant recipients:

Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere
Karen O’Connor and Veronica
Allie Slusher and Last Call
Tamra Smith and Mar De Amor

Boyd Martin and Remington will use their $15,000 Land Rover competition and training grant to compete at Boekelo although Boyd can only ride one horse in the team competition.  Last year’s US team of Sinead, Doug, Tiana, and Will Faudree had a great trip to Boekelo and finished with a silver medal.  Go eventing.

Your 2011 US Eventing Team

By on Aug 30, 2011 1:25 pm -

The USEF has announced their Pan American Games eventing quad of 5 riders and also the 5 alternates.

The US Eventing Team:

Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot
Buck Davidson and Absolute Liberty
Jonathan Holling and Downtown Harrison
Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz
Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni

The alternates (alphabetical order):

Boyd Martin and Cold Harbor
Kristin Schmolze and Ballylaffin Bracken
Tamra Smith and Mar De Amor
Lynn Symansky and Donner
Jolie Wentworth and Good Knight

The plan for leading up to the Pan Ams is that there will be a mandatory outing at Morven Park Horse Trials at the end of September.  Then the USEF will hold a training camp from October 10th to 15th at Ms. Mars’ Meredyth South in Ocala, Florida before flying out to Mexico. 

[via USEF Press Release]

Boom goes the dynamite.

GMHA September HT Canceled Due to Hurricane Irene Damage

By on Aug 30, 2011 12:14 pm -

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The Green Mountain Horse Association (GMHA) in Vermont has announced on their website that due to “extreme flooding and destruction” from Hurricane Irene they have canceled their September horse trials, which were to be held September 17-18.  The rebuilding effort is already under way and donations of any level are being accepted.  Additionally, they are planning several volunteer work days to help with cleaning up the grounds.  This would be a fun way to support eventing with an afternoon of work if you live in the area.

[Details]

Go GMHA.

USEA Board Votes Down One Fall Rule for Training Level and Below

By on Aug 30, 2011 12:00 pm -

The USEA Board of Governors has voted to recommend that the much debated and opposed single rider fall elimination rule be revised to only apply to prelim and above. The pre-2008 rules allowing riders to continue on course with 65 penalties following the first fall of rider would now apply to training level and below.  However, this rule change has not been made official yet.  The rule change proposal will be submitted to the USEF Eventing Technical Committee for consideration, as the rule change is ultimately under the authority of the USEF.  It will be debated at the USEA annual meeting this year and then at the USEF annual meeting in January.  If the rule change is approved, it will become effective December 1, 2012.  Of course the new rule would only apply to US national competitions and not FEI events.  The rule change recommendation is based on a variety of factors including professional and amateur feedback and an analysis of British Eventing fall data.  Today’s USEA Press Release explains:

“A detailed analysis of British Eventing data gathered prior to 2008 led that organization to conclude that “there is no evidence to suggest that preventing riders from continuing on the cross country course after they have had an Unseated Rider Fall would have any noticeable effect in reducing the risk of serious injury to riders.”   Based on on that data and on “further discussion with medical advisors,” British Eventing decided to allow a rider “to continue after a fall at a cross-country fence, if safe to do so,” according to remarks made by Iain Graham, Chairman of British Eventing, to the Horse and Hound.”         

This rule change can definitely be viewed as the USEA Board listening to its constituents.  In June, we ran a poll on Eventing Nation asking if our readers supported the one rider fall rule.  70% of respondents voted “no” and the majority of US eventers are about to get their wish. 

I have never had an incredibly strong feeling one way or the other on the one rider fall rule and I think proponents on both sides of the issue have made good points.  On one hand, you hate to see someone get back on and fall 4 fences later, and on the other hand you hate to see someone fall off a nappy pony at the 4th fence, land on their feet, and then have to walk home.  But, I support the rule change for a few reasons:

1) The USEA looked at statistical data from British Eventing.  This is always more compelling to me than anecdotal stories or hypothetical worst case scenarios.
2) Officials are of course still free to stop anyone at any point for dangerous riding.
3) Any rider is still free to implement a personal one fall rule by simply making it their own policy to stop after one fall if they feel that is the safest policy.
4) Give the people what they want.
5) Go eventing.

Meet Regal and Torino

By on Aug 30, 2011 10:41 am -

Let’s take a break from all of the Burghley and Pan Am squad excitement to check out this nice story of two ex-racehorses who competed in their second careers this weekend at the Genesee Valley Rideing & Driving Club (GVRDC) horse trials. 

[GVRDC Results]

Go eventing.

Selection Tuesday

By on Aug 29, 2011 6:56 pm -


Shannon Lilley deserves a team spot after winning the selection trials, Samantha Clark photo

The US short list vet inspections concluded earlier today and by this time tomorrow we will know the US squad and alternates for the Pan American Games.  Between now and then the USEF will hold various selector and committee meetings to determine the selections.  The results of the vet inspections are private and the committees will use those results and all of the other information at their disposal as well as the official USEF magic 8 ball signed by George Morris to reach a decision. 

Earlier today we asked you our readers to pick who you think should get selected for the team.  That question is sometimes very different than who will get selected and both are interesting to consider, but in this post I will focus largely on my thoughts about the former. 

The results of the EN poll are as follows so far–Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot (16%), Boyd Martin and Cold Harbor (13%), Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni (12%), Buck Davidson and Absolute Liberty (12%), Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz (11%), and Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison (9%) with the rest of the field considerably back from those 6.  I only disagree with one of the top five selections, which I will get to shortly. 

Remember that 5 riders from the US will compete, with the three lowest scores counting for the team score.  Also, the Olympic format means that there will be two show jumping rounds, meaning that selecting good show jumpers is especially critical. 

When I look at selecting a team for the Pan American Games I think there are two important goals.  The first is obvious: to win.  The second, which is equally important, is to utilize this opportunity to invest in our talent for the future both in terms of horses and riders. 

I have said all along that I hope the US sends one veteran team rider to anchor the team and then four other developing riders for the future.  The veteran comes down to either Buck or Boyd and I think the team should send Buck.  Boyd is already getting to go to Burghley and will likely take two horses to Boekelo.  Both of these trips are valuable for giving Boyd team experience and it seems to make more sense to me to invest in a first 2011 horse trip for Buck than a 4th for Boyd.  Boekelo is also before the Pan American and might disrupt Boyd’s preparation.  Buck’s horse Absolute Liberty placed 4th at the Bromont CCI3* and I think she is a sure bet to get around the Pan Ams with a solid score.  Cold Harbor is a very nice horse, but Boyd has only been riding him since this spring and they have yet to blow me out of the water with an impressive performance. 

Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz clearly deserve to make the squad after winning the selection trials.  You can tell me that the selection trials are just one weekend all you want, but that performance was no fluke.  Ballingowan Pizazz jumped really nice all weekend and Shannon put together a good show jumping ride under pressure.  I had never seen this pair before Richalnd but I left the event feeling like they definitely deserve a team spot and they get my second pick. 

I think the next two in should be Michael Pollard with Schoensgreen Hanni and Hannah Burnett with Harbour Pilot.  Michael Pollard placed second with Schoensgreen Hanni at the selection trials.  They still have a lot of upside in the dressage and Hanni knows how to leave the rails up.  Michael is assembling a small fleet of potential Olympic horses and this is just the time to give him his first team experience. 

Hannah raised some question marks with a bad show jumping round, but after watching them jump multiple of clean rounds under pressure the last two years, I’m willing to write that off as just a bad day for Harbour Pilot.  Hannah is another clear rider of the future for the US so sending her to Mexico is a good investment.

The fifth and final member of the team is where things get really hard.  Donner had a good performance at the selection trials and he got around the advanced at Millbrook a few weeks ago.  Mar De Amor is probably the best pure jumper on the short list, but he has had several shaky show jumping rounds this year including on Sunday. 

When I look at the rest of the short list I feel like the best investment for the future is sending Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison.  Jon is 6th in the EN voting and I think for good reason.  Jon has put in the miles I think he has finally found a consistent horse for the US squad in Downtown Harrison.  I wasn’t terribly impressed with any one of Downtown Harrison’s three phases this weekend and he finished in 8th, but he has delivered consistent top 3 performances this year.  You can call me biased since Jon is a guest blogger for EN and an old friend, and perhaps I am, but anyone knows I like other members of the short list and most everyone not on the short list considerably more than Jon. 

Everyone on the short list has had a great year and deserves a chance to represent the United States.  One way or another, we will know who will get that chance on Tuesday.

The Last Dinner at Headley Stud

By on Aug 29, 2011 6:38 pm -

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Michael Pollard, Jules Stiller, Will Coleman, and Boyd

Boyd obviously has his game face on.  Four of the coolest people in eventing sent us a photo of their last supper at Jules’ Headley Stud.  I have to say that if I was 5 days away from riding around the Burghley cross-country course my face would most closely resemble Boyd’s.  ESJ is already at Burghley, Samantha is officially en route, and most of the horses will be arriving at the show grounds on Tuesday. 

Here’s a picture of 3 of the coolest horses in eventing along with three more of the coolest people.  From left to right: Neville, Lindsey, Icarus, Ms. Katie, Twizzle, and Irish Sarah.

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Damn I wish I was in England.  Go eventing.

Meg Kep — Packing Day

By on Aug 29, 2011 6:11 pm -
Megan Kepferle is Sinead Halpin’s groom and she was kind enough to send us her second EN guest blog on the eve of their departure for Burghley.  All I will say is that when I grow up I want to be as funny as Meg.  I don’t have the faintest idea what the last line means so don’t ask.  Thanks for writing this Meg and thank you for reading…
—-

From Meg:

Well we are all packed up and heading to Burghley at 10 am London Time. Sinead and I just infiltrated the Canadian dinner party at Catherine Burrell’s (AUS) and her Fiance Ben’s (ZIMBABWE) with her mother (GBR) and David O’Connor (USA) and Graeme Thom (CAN).

Jess Pheonix and Hawley Bennett made a spaghetti dinner and they even were kind enough to make me my own vegetarian pot. Crushed it. Those Canadians are so friendly. Our contribution was supposed to be desert so we bought…I mean baked…two delicious tea cakes. Turns out they weren’t so delicious, so we made sure everyone knew we actually bought them, and the blame was passed to Pollys Tea Room. Crisis averted. After dinner we headed into the sitting room for an inspirational movie, Blades of Glory. Living the dream people, living the dream.
 
Earlier that afternoon,  the Canadians had a mini training session, so naturally we infiltrated that as well and David helped Sinead over a few last minute jumps as I held up the tally board to keep it under 10 jumps. Tate is jumping great, and enjoyed a little jolly around the ring with all his minions watching. The energy level is different at Maizey Manor today. Everyone is getting excited, and we are all ready to head out….either that or we had a few too many cups of tea. People are laughing at things that aren’t really that funny, the washing machine is on repeat, the tack is all extra shiny, I’m pretty sure I randomly heard a fake German accent (definitely northern Germany) for an hour or so, and I cannot refrain from belting out an overplayed song where all they say is The Sunlight Hurts My Eyes…but in a voice comparable to Andrea Bocelli….you know just a normal day when you have 10 professionals and their grooms operating out of the same facility as they prepare for a four star.
 
Tate spent the better part of the day enjoying some final turn out time before the big week ahead. He got his bath and his mane pulled and braided over, and then was placed safely in his bubble that he will remain in until further notice. We took a final trip into Marlborough for some last minute supplies…Jaffa cakes and Liestershire cheese…to get us through the weekend. Gotta carb up for the course walks. I  washed all of our laundry and packing took no time at all. I even fit in a final gym session. Taterball will be riding with Esib Power and her pony Squire. Sinead and I are so excited and ready  to be there we asked her if we could leave at 6 – Esib counter offered with noon, and finally Sinead and Esib agreed on 10… plenty of time to fit in one last Costa trip.
 
Other than that all is quiet at Maizey Manor. Catherine erected a Canadian flag at the base of the driveway yesterday and told us whichever country wins Burghley gets their flag there…which is awesome! Forget the 50,000 quid, I want Old Glory at the beginning of Maizey!! It also makes it an obvious target for Sinead and I to play capture the flag. Now please excuse me while I get my black sweatpants and black hoodie out…stealth mode!
 
I am unsure about Twizzel and Neville, but judging from Sara McKenna’s equal level of excitement they will be heading out early from Headley. Gin N Juice, Madison Park, and Exponential head out first thing in the morning, and Manoir de Carneville and Kilpatrick River will be a few hours behind. 
 
As soon as Tate is settled, I am going to be heading straight to the lemonade stand. (Which also doubles as an ancient stone trough vendor…the best of both worlds?)  
 
That is all I have at this point. I must finish packing up my room at Parklands hotel (I may have told Sinead I was all done packing, but, I mean….it was either finishing packing which I loathe doing,  or get a ploughmans sandwich, which I LOVE doing…so…)

Lastly a shout out to Sarah Rupert our working student who is manning all the horses and our dogs at home by herself and survived the hurricane! Go reliable working students!

 
Signing off from Ogbourne St. Andrew.

It’s a beautiful day in Vermont…

By on Aug 29, 2011 3:23 pm -

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…Unless you live near a river.

Although Hurricane Irene thankfully turned out to be considerably less severe than many were predicting early last week, Irene left her mark on the east coast eventing community.  The Green Mountain Horse Association (GMHA) in South Woodstock, Vermont, along with other eventing venues experienced hurricane related damage over the weekend. 

Peter Atkins was kind enough to send us a few photos of the GMHA XC course as he was hacking through the property.  Peter reported that the cross-country course and a couple of the rings have experienced a lot of damage from massive amounts of dirt being displaced, presumably from the overflowing river.  Even though some of the stalls flooded in the barns there doesn’t appear to be any structural damage.

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GMHA is scheduled to host their September horse trials in three weeks so hopefully with the typical Vermont attitude and a lot of help from friends the event will be on track.  We have a call into GMHA to get more information on ways to help them out, and we’ll pass that along when we get it.

Fortunately, most of GMHA is still beautiful…
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Beth Collier sent us a photo of Leonardtown, MD:
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Go GMHA.

One last look at the Canadian short list

By on Aug 29, 2011 12:59 pm -


via Icanhascheezburger.com

Canadian eventing has emerged as a true international eventing power after finishing 2nd at last year’s World Equestrian Games.  Although Canada is already qualified for the Olympics next year, the fighting maple leafs rightfully look at the Pan American Games as a great chance to win individual and team gold, with the only big competition coming from the United States.  Eight riders were named to the Canadian short list over the last two months and Canada should release their PAG squad over the next couple days. 

Canada did not use Richland as a mandatory selection trials because Hawley and Jessie are both over in England getting ready to compete at Burghley, but many of the Canadian hopefuls competed at Richland.  Danica Moore and Utah B had a great weekend at Richland, finishing 10th in the advanced.  Unfortunately, Danica is unable to leave the US for the next couple months due to citizenship rules related to her marriage to Bobby Meyerhoff.  Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High finished 3rd in the two-star at Richland, making a great final addition to their resume.  Young Jordan McDonald and Apple Cider finished 5th in the same division.  Micheline Jordan and Irish Diamonds finished 16th in the advanced with 19 time and 10 faults in the show jumping.  Now for my opinion of who should and will make the Canadian squad.  

In my opinion, the three sure bets to make the Canadian squad:

Rebecca Howard and Roquefort
Hawley Bennett-Awad and Five O’Clock Somewhere
Jessie Phoenix and Pavarotti

Roquefort destroyed the competition at two-stars this spring and she might be the current favorite to win gold at the Pan Ams.  Five O’Clock Somewhere has had great results this year and it’s impossible to overstate the benefit of Hawley’s international experience.  Jessie and Pavarotti delivered a great XC ride at Rebecca Farm and we already knew that the dressage and show jumping were top quality.

I think the 4th spot will go to James Atkinson and Gustav.  This pair has a really impressive record this year with a lot of wins and top 3 performances.  Although Gustav is young James has lot of experience competing internationally for Canada.

My feeling is that the 5th spot is a toss-up between Selena, Jordan, and Micheline.  Gun to my head, I think Jordon might have an edge because it would be a great chance to give him international experience, but it is going to be a very close decision.  There is no bad pick between those three and they are all quality people and quality riders.

The top 3 Canadian horses for the Pan American Games can compete with anyone on the world at that level and remember that only 3 of the 5 scores are counted to the team results.  The key will be keeping those horses healthy and sound as the Pan Ams approach as well as filling out the team with two other really quality pairs, which I think is inevitable given the remainin names on the short list. 

The Canadians will likely use a combination of Morven and Millbrook for their last runs before the Pan Ams.  Go Canada.

Pan American EN Mob Rule

By on Aug 29, 2011 11:42 am -

As the US team vets are thoroughly checking over the Pan American Games short list horses this morning, let’s take a look at who you think should get picked for the 5 pair PAG squad.  Remember that the PAG competition is in the Olympic style with the three best scores counting and two show jumping rounds.  Eventing Nation has the smartest readership in eventing and we have a history of picking correctly with polls, so let’s see how we can do with the Pan Ams.  Make your selections for the pairs you would pick to make the US squad.  The answers are in alphabetical order by rider last name.  Pick 5 pairs: 

Of course, this poll comes with the caveat that more popular riders might be more likely to get more votes and that we don’t have as much information as the selectors, such as the results of the vet exams today.  I’ll be along later with thoughts on the Canadian and US selection process.  Go eventing.

Show Jumping from Richland

By on Aug 29, 2011 11:00 am -

Perhaps you have heard that Burghley is this week.  But, before we get to Burghley, much of the east coast is still digging out from hurricane Irene.  Some eventing venues such as GMHA in Vermont received a lot of damage.  The Pan American selections for the US and Canadian teams are also coming soon.  And, of course, we have a great weekend of eventing here in the US coming up and everyone is looking forward to the AECs next weekend.  Here is a quick look back at the show jumping from Richland, courtesy of Josh Walker and the USEA.  Strap in Eventing Nation, it’s going to be a busy day.  Go eventing.