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Quinn Himself at Surefire HT

By on Jun 27, 2011 11:39 am -

Three weeks ago today we wrote about the emotional story of Boyd and Quinn Himeself.  As the story goes, Bonnie Stedt, who lost the beautiful Cagney Herself in the True Prospect fire, had heard that Boyd had liked a young horse at Phyllis Dawson’s Windchase Farm.  After the fire, Bonnie secretly contacted Phyllis and bought the horse for Boyd.  Phyllis presented the horse to Boyd at Waredaca HT and said the now famous words “this is a present from Bonnie.”

That horse is named Quinn Himself and he just completed the beginner novice this weekend at Surefire with Boyd.  Quinn put together a 36.2 on the flat and in true Boyd style finished on that to move up into third, just two points behind the winners Victoria Jessop and Marqo.

[Surefire Results]

Boyd said Quinn was great this weekend and he’s a quality mover and super jumper, but that competing him was very emotional.  We’ll be keeping a close eye on young Quinn’s career and keep everyone updated as he develops and moves up through the ranks.

As Coren mentioned in our morning post, the fundraiser for Boyd at Ms. Mars’ lovely Meredyth Farm on Saturday night was a big success.  Annie mentioned that she would give Boyd a 4 for dancing and Coleman got a 1.5, so I can only imagine that I would have been well into the negatives.  That is if I hadn’t been at a Miley Cyrus concert, apparently.

Lastly, I want to wish a very speedy recovery to Boyd’s dad Ross, who was in a cycling accident this weekend back in Australia.  Ross is a former Olympian and also a big EN fan, so here’s a big shout out and many well wishes from the EN family.

Go Quinn Himself.   

Go eventing at the Maryland Horse Trials

By on Jun 27, 2011 10:45 am -

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The Maryland Horse Trials is one of my favorite events.  It is one of the nicest events within ‘trailer-in’ distance of home and there’s just something about riding on those crisp Maryland mornings.  But now I absolutely have to go there to jump this Eventing Nation jump, which I believe is the first ever Eventing Nation jump on the planet.  Imagine the EN Karma everyone will get from jumping it. 

The jump was built by course builder Tyson Rementer, who builds some incredibly beautiful fences.  May the Eventing Nation jump ride as well as it looks.  Your first chance to ride it will be at the July 9th and 10th Maryland Horse Trials and then July 16th ans 17th. 

Happy Monday Eventing Nation, I hope everyone had a great weekend of eventing.  I’ll be back throughout the day with a traditional dose of news and ridiculousness.  Go eventing.

Buzzterbrown Beginner Novice Video

By on Jun 24, 2011 3:01 pm -

Youtube eventing legend Buzzterbrown has been providing us with amazing professional quality eventing videos for a few years.  In addition to being a fantastic videographer, Buzzterbrown also events and a few weeks ago he completed his first USEA beginner novice event.  Let’s take a moment to watch Buzzterbrown on the other side of the camera.  If you’re sitting in an office today waiting for the weekend, sit back, relax, and enjoy the dulcet tones of Brian O’Connor and the sights and sounds of XC at Rubicon Horse Trials:

Go eventing. 

The Story of the Pinque Coat

By on Jun 24, 2011 2:45 pm -

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Beth Perkins and Sal Dali

One nice story from the Bromont CCI3* that was lost during the competition is the story of Beth Perkins’ pinque coat.  If you don’t know, Beth earned her pinque coat riding for the US in the 1974 World Games.  She was just 18 years old placed 6th individually as the youngest member ever selected for the US Equestrian Team.  She also rode on the gold medal team in the 1975 Pan American Games, placing 5th individually.  One of Beth’s students and friends sent us the story of how the generosity of others led Beth to receive a new pinque coat.

As the story goes, one week before Bromont, Beth received a surprise new pinque coat laying on her bed, as the one from so many years ago had become old and no longer fit.  Beth’s friends, family, students, and supporters in the Tryon, NC area pooled their resources to buy Beth a new pinque coat that she wore proudly at Bromont. 

One of Beth’s owners, Annie Eldridge left a note in the coat which said the following: “This gift comes to you with the enthusiastic support of the USEF, and with love and thanks from all of us who have been so lucky as to have worked with you, and have built cherished friendships with you.“

Congrats Beth on a good weekend at Bromont rocking the brand new pinque coat.  Go eventing.

A Chat with Jonathan Elliot of Aspen Farms

By on Jun 24, 2011 10:52 am -

Chelan Kozak was kind enough to interview Jonathan Elliot, who, along with his wife Suzy, owns and operates Aspen Farms in Washington.  Aspen Farms hosts several USEA events each year and next year they will be hosting what I believe is the first ever advanced horse trials in Washington–a big deal for Area VII.  Jonathan and Suzy are both former 4* riders and they are all around two of the coolest people in eventing.  Thanks for the interview Jonathan and Chelan and thank you for reading.
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Marking the big date

1) HOW LONG HAVE YOU OWNED THE PROPERTY?

We bought the property in 2005. 240 acres with timber, no power, or improvements.

2) WHAT YEAR WAS YOUR FIRST YEAR OF COMPETITION?

We ran our first competition in October 2007. The 3rd week in October, it rained for 6 straight days, I never thought we would see the end of the rain, but Sunday for xc the sun finally came out! By Tuesday after the show, I was fishing for trout in shorts and a tee shirt with Matt Langliers one of our course builders.

3) WHAT DREW YOU BACK TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST?

Both Suzy and I decided we did not want to live in Florida for ever. Both of our Families are here in the northwest. Suzy’s in BC Kelowna and Vancouver and mine in Gig Harbor and Seattle. It made sense to come back. Washington is a beautiful area, great for eventing horses and after 1.5 years of looking we found a property that we fell in love with. Aside from our good friends in Florida, the Carters and Hollings, we have not looked back.

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Refreshments anyone?

4) WHO’S IDEA WAS THE JUMP WITH THE ICE COLD BEVERAGES?

Greg Schlappi Designed all of the courses the first year. BN-P. He had the idea for the cooler fence. Always a popular one with the competitors.

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Aspen Farms’ namesake

5) WHAT LEVEL DID YOU RIDE ASPEN, THE FARM’S NAMESAKE? HOW OLD IS ASPEN NOW?

Aspen is 25 years young. I first rode Aspen in 1994 for the fall events on the west coast, he finished up the year with a Win at the Fritz Cup CCI*. In the spring of 1995 We bought Aspen for $1. Subsequently sold my own Latour for a $1 who went on to do Advanced with Maren Foster. In total I rode Aspen fpr 6 years, with 1 CCI*, 3 CCI**, and 3 CCI***. Highlights include 4th Rolex Kentucky CCI***, 1st Essex CCI** 2nd NAJYRC CCI**, and 1st Fritz Cup CCI*. Suzy rode aspen in 2001 at the Foxhall CCI***, following that he had a little break and in 2004 Scottie Reeves rode Aspen (age 18) for the year doing her first CCI* and OI HT. after the move to Washington, we thought the old man would like to compete on his own farm, so in 2008 (age 22) with Anne Rowland (Aspen Farms working student) Aspen competed junior Novice, at the Aspen Farms HT. Then did his final competition at Caber Farm with Charlamagne Paasche placing 3rd in the Novice. All told he competed for 14 years and 9 FEI competitions.

6) HAS TREMAINE COOPER BEEN THE DESIGNER FROM THE START? WHAT IS IT ABOUT HIS DESIGN STYLE THAT LED YOU TO CHOOSE HIM?

Greg Schlappi designed the original courses. Tremaine Cooper came in 2008 when we wanted to add the Intermediate course. I thought back to my favorite Advance tracks back east and Morven Park always came to the top of the list. It rode as a bold course, with good use of the terrain and I always felt when the horses were prepared properly they came off the course always for the better. Something I wanted here at Aspen.

7) WHEN IS THE ADVANCED PLANNED FOR AND WHY ARE YOU BUILDING IT?

The Advanced Course is planned for the fall of 2012. Sometimes I wonder why I plan to build it! But I think it will be a great addition to eventing in the NW. As with all of our shows I try to pick out the best from all the events we have competed at over the years, making it as competitor friendly as possible. Looking to raise the bar and help our upper level competitors prepare their horses for the Galway CCI*** and heading back east to gain more experience at the upper levels.

8) ANY PLANS FOR FEI COMPETITIONS?

Not at the moment, with Woodside running the CIC events 1 month after us, there is not a need, and with Rebecca and Galway on either side of us it does not make sense for a CCI at the moment.

9) WHAT OTHER PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR THE PROPERTY/EVENT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

This fall we plan on a 2nd full water jump, located near the big rock and the mushroom fence. Combined with the Advanced track for 2012 that should keep us busy!

10) ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE EN READERS?

They should come check us out! I think things like the “Kerrits Leader Jersey” identifying the first place horse on XC, our Team competition: one rider from every level and having to compete at the Saturday night party for team games, our competitor party and dancing, the atmosphere of people camping and socializing at the end of the day, our Zeit Challenge offering prize money for the lower levels BN-T, and this fall Natural Migrations offering $3,000 in the Open Intermediate class this September 2-4th. Also Travers Schick, head builder, Joe Stylos, and Josh Sylce put in hard work to create and prep the fabulous course that everyone is able to run over. Our tremendous sponsors: Gallops Saddlery, Toklat, Kerrits, Olson’s Tack Shop, APF, Ice Horse, and Cavalor to name a few allow us to give away over $15,000 each show in product as prizes. And our numerous volunteers deserve a big Thank You for all of their hard work.

Sharon White — From Bromont to Burghley

By on Jun 23, 2011 5:25 pm -

In a startling twist of fate, the USEF released what I think is a very reasonable Summer Training List earlier today.  My next post will be about a pig I saw flying around and I can assure you that I will be playing the lottery tonight.  One of only a few things about the lists that raised my eyebrows was that Sharon White was named to the Developing Rider List rather than the High Performance B List.  Sharon was 5th in the CCI3* at Bromont on Rafferty’s Rules and she finished just behind Clark, Phillip, and Buck.  Sharon, however, is far too gracious to ever say anything against being listed or not being listed.  Instead, in this latest EN blog, Sharon writes about Bromont, Reggie, and an email that Sharon thinks I wrote to her but was actually written by the Chinchillas, who in fact handle all Eventing Nation official emails.  If you are wondering how that is possible, they work in teams, one on each half of the keyboard.

Before we get to Sharon’s blog, I want to quickly mention that Sharon’s Last Frontier Farm is hosting the third annual JUMP! derby on July 2nd.  The course is a mixture of stadium and cross-country jumps with levels elementary through preliminary.  Proceeds go to help fund Sharon’s trip to Burghley, and Sharon’s sponsors have all generously donated cool prizes for a raffle AND Nigel Casserly will be announcing. [More info]
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Photo of Sharon at Bromont by Samantha Clark

From Sharon:

Poor John…I’m sure trying to get EN’s guest bloggers to get their writing to him in some sort of timely fashion is like trying to herd cats. He asked me do to a Bromont recap the week after Bromont and now we’re in the second week after and I just received an email from him saying “Hey Sharon, since we are so far past Bromont, could you please target your next blog more as a looking forward kind of thing. Maybe your summer plans and looking ahead to Burghley.” Well geez John, I don’t think we’re THAT far past Bromont, and I have been working on my Bromont recap all week. It’s just that it’s ten minutes every evening before I fall asleep on my laptop and then I’ve lost the whole thing because I don’t know how to save anything, or I read what I wrote and think I can’t send that because people will think I’m thick as a brick. So hence here we are in the second week after Bromont and apparently the eventing world has moved on without me.

But I had a great Bromont and that is why I can look ahead to something as exciting as Burghley. My horse Rafferty’s Rules (aka Reggie) is just a fabulous horse, and I do hope to take him to Burghley in September. It will be his first four star, and my third. I had been aiming him for Rolex this spring as he has finished in the top ten at two three stars in the States, and did Blenheim last fall.   But an unfortunate rotational fall last October at Fair Hill (with another horse) left me with a broken hip and pelvis- embarrassingly enough, my second- and my body was just not going to be strong enough to start competing in enough time to be ready for Rolex.  So Bromont bound we became.

Reg skipped around Bromont like a four star horse would have, with a personal best in the dressage which left us fifth, a clean and fast cross country round which moved us up to third, and one unlucky show jump rail in an otherwise fabulous jumping round to finish up fifth. He came through the event like he hadn’t done anything, I felt great as well, so now Burghley bound we are. I have been to Burghley twice to watch, and it would be a dream come true to ride there. It is a huge course, and just the challenge Reg needs. And he does need a challenge; otherwise he is too much of a pain in the rear!

Reggie is the closest thing to a terrier in horse form that I have ever met; feisty and determined, with a healthy disregard of authority. He lives in his own world, by his own rules. Cross country to him is like a pull toy to a terrier, he locks on and doesn’t let go. I am just along for the ride.

Rafferty’s Rules is actually a popular Australian saying that means “No Rules at all,” so his name fits him to a ‘T’.  Like a terrier, he has a healthy disregard of authority. According to Adrienne Classen, Reg’s owner and good friend of mine, these are Reg’s rules:

1) You serve me.

2) Everything is edible, especially your sandwich.

3) Work is for those without talent.

4) Don’t pick a fight you can’t win, unless your friend can.

5) You won’t know if you can get away with it unless you try.

6) When in doubt, be naughty

Adrienne explained Reg best by writing:

“I bought Reggie from a video tape and imported him from Australia. Yes, I am insane, but I have never regretted it for a minute. He is a naughty, cheeky, talented prima donna who has caught people’s eye from the moment he arrived. He drove my husband crazy by refusing to be caught in the pasture, jumped over his stall guard at a show, then went under it then went through it. I once fell off when he over jumped into the water at a competition, and he spent 20 minutes trotting back and forth in front of the spectators while one of the officials drove me around in a truck trying to catch him. He would let someone get close then would shake his head and trot off again while everyone looked on. He LOVES attention, but not to be petted. I mean, really, you would not pet royalty after all, would you? Although I had never considered being an owner, Jim Wofford recommended Sharon White as a rider when I had my hands full with other stuff, and I can never thank him enough.”

Boston cream doughnuts are Reg’s favorite thing. He will put the whole thing in his mouth, suck all the cream out, and then eat the rest. After Bromont, Kay rewarded him with two boston creams. I think at Burghley, I’ll try four, as I’m so not opposed to bribery. Safe riding everyone, aren’t we lucky to be eventing!

Thoughts on the new training lists

By on Jun 23, 2011 2:15 pm -


Phillip has several Olympic prospect horses, but this isn’t one of them

US high performance lists fascinate me.  Not only because I love Team USA and want to see us dominate, but also because I like thinking about the mechanics of how to build a team and watching our riders grow and develop within those machinations–some more than others.  Some people think the USEF gets it right, other people think they get it wrong, but there is always something to talk about when it comes to high performance lists.

The Spring 2011 USEF Training Lists were published on December 8th, 2010, on the same day everyone was flying to the USEA convention in Scottsdale, AZ.  [Spring HP Lists]  Today’s Summer lists differs from the Spring lists in a few interesting ways.  There are two new riders on the High Performance A list; Will Faudree moved up from the HP B list and Sinead from the Developing A list.  They replace Amy and Kim, who were dropped from the lists entirely.  On the HP B list, 5 of the riders maintained their spots from the Spring lists, two riders bumped up from the Developing A list, and two are entirely new to the training lists.   One key point to remember in looking at these lists is that they aren’t about one horse or one pair anymore–riders are named to the lists, not horse and rider pairs.  Some riders made the lists because they are just that good with one of their horses, others because they have excellent programs that will consistently give them good horses as the Olympics approach.  

Summer High Performance A List:
 

Phillip Dutton—Spring 2011 HP A List.  Phillip has been focusing on bringing along his next group of 4* horses this year.  After a mixed spring, those horses did well at Bromont and Phillip should have a typically full arsenal with which to target the Olympics next year.  Phillip hasn’t applied for the Pan American Games becuase he will have so many horses who need to do a 3* in the Autumn.  I can’t imagine Phillip ever not being on the HP A list because of his consistent XC riding and the fact that he always has multiple 4* horses when he needs them, so no surprises here.

Will Faudree—Spring HP B List.  Will gets bumped up to the ‘A-Team’ because he has two of the best advanced horses for the US right now.  Other than Phillip and Boyd, I put Will as the third most likely US rider to go to the Olympics because he has two very very legit horses.

Sinead Halpin—Spring Developing A List.  A 3rd place finish at Rolex and the highest placed US finish by 5 places is a one way ticket to the A list.  For as much grief as we have given the USEF for not being more open to putting up and coming riders on the High Performance lists, this is an indicator that maybe times are changing.  The formula is simple–go to Rolex and finish in the top 3, no problem, right?

Boyd Martin—Spring HP A List.  Right now, as far as I am concerned, there are only two open spots on the HP A List–Boyd and Phillip have the other two locked up for as long as they want them.  Neville hopefully will be back in time for Burghley, and Boyd has multiple talented horses coming up through the ranks. 

High Performance B List:
 

Jennie Brannigan—Spring HP B List.  Jennie had a tough result at Luhmuhlen, but the selectors understand she is going to be a perennial high performance rider and she has several very talented horses coming up through the ranks so she stays on the B list.

Hannah Sue Burnett—Spring HP B List.  As far as I am concerned, Hannah was the last rider left off the HP A list because of her 8th place finish at Kentucky.

Will Coleman—Spring HP B List.  Will has several top horses coming up, one of which just won the Bromont 1*.

Buck Davidson—Spring HP B List.  Buck is always going to have several upper level horses.  Like last year, when one of the horses steps up and starts winning at advanced, he becomes an A List rider.

Clark Montgomery—Spring Developing A list.  Clark withdrew his application from the Pan American Games with bigger targets in sight for next year after his win at the Bromont CCI3*.  Clark was likely the second to last rider left off the A list.

Karen O’Connor—Spring HP B list.  Quintus 54 had a very solid top 15 finish for Karen at Rolex and he has all the look of a potential Olympic horse, which right now is good for a spot on the B list. 

Doug Payne—Spring Developing A list.  Doug has shown the USEF over the past year that he can consistently find good horses and build a large enough program to survive the inevitable attrition from injuries.

Michael Pollard–Michael jumped from off the high performance lists entirely in December to the HP B list because he showed this spring that he has several quality advanced horses and that he is building a program that will continue to supply him with top horses in the future.  Add to that a 5th place finish at the Bromont 2* on a horse with a great shot at going to and potentially winning the Pan Ams.

Julian Stiller–Julian is the second rider who was completely left off the Spring lists and now finds herself on the HP B list.  Julian is based in the UK and she has *four advanced horses–Chapel Amble, Salsa, Axel Rose, and Enjoy Me.  Most recently, Julian completed Luhmuhlen on Chapel Amble and the USEF group must have liked what they saw from her in Germany.

Developing Rider List: The developing rider list has been merged from two lists in December to just one for the Summer.  The big difference between the riders on the developing list rather than the HP list isn’t the quality of rider or quality of horse but depth of program.  That said, I don’t think I have seen a more talented developing rider list since the program started.  Every single one of these riders is one good weekend away from the HP B List or even A List.
 

Emily Beshear: New to the lists from December
Anna Collier: New to the lists
Tiana Coudray: On the Spring HP B list
Jon Holling: New to the lists
Max McManamy: On the Spring Developing B list
Heather Morris: On the Spring Developing A list
Alexandra Slusher: On the Spring Developing A list
Tami Smith: New to the lists
Lynn Symansky: On the Spring Developing B list
Sharon White: New to the lists from December

Today’s lists show that US high performance eventing is undergoing a transition.  All spring we have seen our developing riders step up and beat the riders we are used to seeing win everything.  There are only 5 riders with Pinque coats on the Summer HP A and B Lists.  I don’t know if 2012 will be the year that the USA sends a team with 3 first time international team competitors, but from the results this spring that strikes me as a very realistic and positive possibility. 

Go eventing.

New Summer US High Performance Lists

By on Jun 23, 2011 10:12 am -

The USEF has just released its new summer High Performance and Developing Rider training lists.  As usual, the riders will get to work with Mark Phillips at training sessions at competitions throughout the summer.  They will be preparing for the Pan Ams later this year and 2012 Olympics.

High Performance A List:

Phillip Dutton
Will Faudree
Sinead Halpin
Boyd Martin

High Performance B List:

Jennie Brannigan
Hannah Sue Burnett
Will Coleman
Buck Davidson
Clark Montgomery
Karen O’Connor
Doug Payne
Michael Pollard
Julian Stiller

Developing Rider List:

Emily Beshear
Anna Collier
Tiana Coudray
Jon Holling
Max McManamy
Heather Morris
Alexandra Slusher
Tami Smith
Lynn Symansky
Sharon White

We’ll have much more shortly.  Go eventing.

Sponsor Spotlight: Omega Alpha

By on Jun 22, 2011 5:17 pm -

Here’s a quick look back to Bromont, where we had a chance to chat with the CCI2* winner Rebecca Howard about Omega Alpha, who sponsors her as well as Eventing Nation.  Omega Alpha’s business is growing quickly because their products work and the riders like using them.  As always, we are deeply appreciative of Omega Alpha and their support of Eventing Nation.  Without Omega Alpha and our other sponsors, this crazy experiment known as Eventing Nation would have ended a long time ago.

Go eventing.

Luhmuhlen Video Relapse

By on Jun 22, 2011 1:33 pm -

Luhmuhlen has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a quick look back at Germany’s 4* on a lazy Wednesday afternoon around Eventing Nation.  In addition to the videos below, Nat and Jennie have both posted their blog from Luhmuhlen today. 

Jennie took responsibility for their tough round and wrote:

“As for what happened on cross-country (we were eliminated for three stops at different fences), I just never felt like I got him in front of the leg, and he was jumping the first few jumps a bit over-impressed. Our greeness showed at run-outs at technical elements on the course…I just didn’t get it done…”

Jennie said that Ping will do another three-star before trying a four-star again.  As she said. Ping is too nice of a horse to push back to that level too fast.  [Jennie’s blog]

Nat has posted her blog as well and give a recap of the entire Luhmuhlen weekend [Nat’s blog]

Now for your viewing pleasure, two of Germany’s finest…

Now I’m off to go ride, imagine that.  The chinchillas will likely post something later when they are done playing croquet.  Go Luhmuhlen.

An update on the recovering horses

By on Jun 22, 2011 9:59 am -


From Boyd: The Best View in the World–Between Neville’s Ears

Boyd has posted an update about the horses recovering from the True Prospect Fire on his blog.  As he puts it, there is good news and bad, but all things considered I think things have progressed miraculously.  Here are a few highlights and click the link for the full blog post. [Boyd’s blog]

Neville: Boyd rode Neville for the first time Tuesday–a 20 minute walk.  Neville has been using a *hyperbaric oxygen chamber for an hour each day at the Fair Hill Therapy rehabilitation center.  Dr. Kevin Keane scoped Neville on Tuesday and was pleased with the healing that he saw in Nev’s respiratory tract.

Catch A Star: “Hoku” has also been using the hyperbaric chamber.  Caitlin has been taking Hoku and Neville up to Fair Hill Therapy each day and she told me she was incredibly impressed by Bruce Jackson and the rest of the team up there at Fair Hill Therapy.  Hoku seems to have moved passed those early signs of colic that were a big concern in New Bolton and her burns are healing well.

Otis Barbotiere: Boyd gives two thumbs up for Otis.  He has been under tack a few times and looks to be in good shape moving forward.

Ambassador’s Rose: Ambassador’s Rose was least affected by the fire.  Courtney Cooper competed her at Plantation Field June 11th and she was sold last weekend.

Minotaure du Passoir: Min has been struggling a bit.  He underwent major colic surgery last week.  Fortunately he arrived home on Tuesday and the vets are optimistic. 

As a final note, Boyd mentions that he estimates they lost about $100,000 worth of equipment in the blaze and all of the fund raising will help go towards that and some of the huge medical bills for the horses.  The fund raising effort is still very much going on and so please consider a donation if you haven’t made one already.  Go eventing.

Kyle, Jessie, Rebecca, and Hawley are headed to Burghley

By on Jun 21, 2011 6:12 pm -

Team Canada is enjoy the benefits of catching the attention of Canadian high performance funding after their team silver at the World Equestrian Games last year.   Canada is giving 4 riders “generous” (more than half the cost) grants to travel and compete at Burghley this september.  The pairs are:

Kyle Carter — Madison Park
Jessie Phoenix — Exponential
Hawley Bennett — Gin ‘N Guice
Rebecca Howard — Riddle Master

I spoke with Canadian Chef d’equipe Graeme Thom aka ‘The George Clooney of Eventing‘ and he said that the horses would be staying at Jacky Green’s Maizey Manor Farm, which should sound familiar from yesterday.  The horses will likely be flying over around the 25th of August, but there is a possibility of them going over early to compete at Hartpury in mid-August. 

Kyle Carter told me that his road to Burghley would hopefully be Rebecca Farms, Millbrook, Hartpury, and then the big one.  He also mentioned that this trip was about redemption from his last trip to Burghley in 2009.  Can you believe that Burghley is just 10 weeks away?

As a shout-out to Ecogold, all four of the riders compete in Ecogold gear along with a ton of other North American high performance riders of course, and you can read more about that and their trip on the Ecogold blog.

Go eventing.

Teach me how to dougie

By on Jun 20, 2011 6:33 pm -

When Eventing Nation first started I told myself that my life wouldn’t be complete until we posted video of Nat VC dancing.  That dream comes true tonight.  Nat and the US crew at Luhmuhlen broke it down in Will’s tack room Thursday night.  Avert your eyes boys and girls, this is to awesome to behold.

I’m going to guess that Cavalor has never been more proud of their logo.  Major ups to the rest of the crew for their award winning commentary.  That. Just. Happened.

Jacky Green — Longleat CIC2* Recap

By on Jun 20, 2011 4:25 pm -

Jacky Green was recommended to me as a potential EN guest writer because she is very well connected, based in the UK, a hilarious personality, and tends to write whatever comes to her mind.  Jacky works for Team New Zealand and also runs her Maizey Manor Farm in the UK, which many US competitors stay at on their route to Badminton and Burghley, including Will Faudree, whose horses arrived at Maizey Manor this morning. 

Before I posted this, I emailed Jacky asking her to send me a quick bio and what she sent me was at once hilarious, self deprecating, and completely unpublishable.  The bio started with: “Jacky Green evented to the advanced level on some unbelievable horses given the fact that she could not see a distance but she was incredibly good at having fabulous pictures due to the fact that she never made time…”  It went on from there and frankly I was amazed at the number of people Jacky could incriminate along with herself in a 4 sentence self bio.  So without further ado, and with apologies to “wiflets” everywhere, thanks for writing this Jacky and thank you for reading.
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Longleat in a good year

From Jacky:

In a wet and soggy UK, the big class of the weekend was at the home of the Marquess of Bath, a slightly (to say the least) eccentric character who has some 60 or 70 “wifelets” (monogamy clearly not being his strong point) and a whole safari park surrounding one of the most beautiful estates in England.  It is the only event where sea lions frolic in the river at the edge of the dressage arenas, wolves can be heard howling in the early morning and the lions are not far away. Quite obviously this makes for some interesting dressage tests and more dogs on leads that normally seen.

This year Longleat was celebrating its 25th anniversary and were rewarded by incessant rain which decimated the ground into a quagmire and after abandoning the novice day on Saturday the remaining intermediate classes were canceled with just the 75 starter CIC remaining on the Sunday.  On the Sunday just 21 of the original 75 in the CIC completed the event with only 13 achieving a qualifying score.

With 5 eliminations, 12 retirements and 27 withdrawals I think the conditions are well reflected in the stats! England in June, you just never know what you are going to get and after months of rock hard ground it was a shock to horses and riders alike. Kitty King showed she was no fair weather rider with a one, two with Zidante and General Opposition and no doubt this morning Lord Bath is surveying his estate with a sense of disbelief that our drought has ended with such a dramatic flourish of strength by the elements.

[Longleat Scores]

Hollywood at Lost Hounds HT

By on Jun 20, 2011 1:32 pm -

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Kelly Sult dominated at Lost Hounds Horse Trials in Edinboro, PA this weekend.  She won the open intermediate with Hollywood “Reggie” on 40.0 and finished second with her new horse, Montgomery.  She also won the preliminary with Queen of Hearts on 33.2.  Better yet, all of those horses are off the track TBs!  Kelly has a special place in EN lore as the first ever guest on our live blogs.  The photo of Reggie is courtesy of EN’s good friend Stephanie Diaz. 

[Lost Hounds HT Scores]

Go eventing.

Will Faudree — Luhmuhlen Recap

By on Jun 20, 2011 11:42 am -

I have been thinking about it all morning and I think that Will has the best two-horse combination in US eventing right now.  Even though Pawlow didn’t have the best weekend at Luhmuhlen, his record suggests that it was the exception rather than the rule.  And I’m not sure there are many better horses out there than Missie even though we haven’t seen her at a four-star yet.  Will was kind enough to write for EN about how Pawlow and Missie felt at Luhmuhlen.
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Will and Pawlow, photo courtesy of Kate Erickson

From Will:

I was very pleased with both of my horses.  Missie had a great weekend with a good result–my goal was to break 50 in the dressage and finish on it so I feel very happy with her and I am looking forward to the summer. 

Pawlow was excellent as well.  He had his best dressage score to date and I can still get more points with him.  He was super on the cross-country and felt better than he did at Rolex last year.  My glance off was totally my fault.  When I jumped into the line in the arena he was starting to feel a little tired and ended up very deep to the B element and ballooned up over it.  I stupidly tried to continue on the line and got there wrong.  I circled around and he finished super. 

Both horses looked fantastic Saturday night and felt great Sunday morning.  Missie jumped super and I had the strangest stop on Pawlow.  It was at the last element of the triple and I felt I got him in on a good stride.  He jumped very big over A and B, and we couldn’t make C happen.  I am not sure what I did wrong but I will be watching the video over and over so I do not let that happen again.  He then jumped through the combination and had a very good rest of the round. 

On the whole I was very happy to finish both horses and have them sound and happy at the end of the weekend.  Luhmuhlen was a great event and I look forward to going back in the future.  I have to say Mark designed excellent courses that were challenging but rewarding in the same respect. 

Monday Video Break: US Riders at Luhmuhlen

By on Jun 20, 2011 9:39 am -

I need to give a huge shout out to Heather Reimer from GermanEventing.de, a German eventing magazine.  Heather and the folks at German eventing were kind enough to go out of their way on a busy Luhmuhlen Saturday to film the US riders and put together a video on Youtube specifically for Eventing Nation.  Although the video has a few tense moments, Will, Tiana, and Jennie all show some really tenacious riding and I felt really proud watching them compete for the red, white, and blue:

Go eventing.

Rory McIlroy’s Monday News and Notes from Ecogold

By on Jun 20, 2011 12:01 am -

Has the PGA Tour found its new hero?  For over a year, US professional golf has been searching for something exciting to talk about that didn’t involve waitresses at Perkins.  Unfortunately for the PGA, a bunch of rich guys walking around and swinging sticks isn’t that interesting unless one of them is either doing it really well or doing it at Perkins.  On Sunday, golf might have found a new hero in Rory McIlroy.  The brazen 22 year old from Northern Ireland broke the US Open scoring record (previously set by Tiger) by shooting 16 under and winning by 8 shots.  That’s the golfing equivalent of, well…getting 1st and 2nd at Rolex.  Maybe, just maybe I’ll start paying attention to golf again, but I doubt it.

Now for some eventing news and notes with some major international flavor…

–It was German Eventing’s weekend to shine, and shine they did.  After the WEG Saturday meltdown, Germany’s best riders regrouped, set their sights on Luhmuhlen, and delivered in a big way.  If you’re going to host a 4*, you might as well dominate it.  New Zealand, Great Britain, and Germany have the three 4* wins this year and I feel like those nations are a cut above the rest in terms of the status of their international teams.  Scroll down for a busy weekend of Luhmuhlen coverage on EN.  [Show Jumping Photos]

–Some people have emailed EN saying that the fact the US didn’t have a great time at Luhmuhlen means that the trip was a waste of money.  My first reaction on that account is that I think we all might be standing in one giant glass house.  We’ll have a report from Will shortly where he talks about what he learned from XC with Pawlow and their stop in the show jumping, and Tiana wrote about what she learned in her great blog yesterday.  The fact is that you have to make mistakes to learn something.  There are going to be lots of other trips overseas this year for US horses, including Boekelo, as many as 10 horses going to Burghley, and the Pan American Games, and I am sure US High Performance will be better for it.  Will and Tiana are staying in England and they will both improve a ton this summer.

–There were 7 USEA events this past weekend, which actually feels like a slow weekend.   [Lost Hounds Scores], [BCHP Results]. 

—Jan Byyny won the Open Intermediate A at Seneca on Inmidair with a 28.4.  Sally Cousins won the OI B on Troy.  The Jan comeback story is over folks–she’s back.  [Seneca Results]

—Seattle Slew learned dressage when he was young, which is one more thing my first pony had in common with Seattle Slew.  [The Pilot]

–The PRO auction rolls on over at eBay to raise money for the TPF fire relief.  There are still tons of great items up for auction and some new ones have been added since we last linked to it.  A west coast fantasy weekend?  Autographed Jimmy Wofford books?  An Ecogold Pad?  Christmas is December 25th folks.  [PRO Auction]

–In your daily German high performance update, the German long list for the European Championships has been released.  I’m not sure of a better way to present it than a…long list, so here goes:

Sandra Auffarth on Opgun Louvo, Andreas Dibowski on Euroridings Butts Leon and FRH Fantasia, Michael Jung on La Biosthetique Sam and Leopin, Ingrid Klimke on FRH Butts Abraxxas, Marina Köhncke on Calma Schelly, Julia Krajewski on After the Battle, Julia Mestern on FRH Schorsch, Andreas Ostholt on Franco Jeas, Frank Ostholt on Little Paint, Kai Rüder on Leprince des Bois and Saaten Unions Charlie Weld, Dirk Schrade on Hop and Skip and King Artus, Peter Thomsen on Horseware’s Barny and Horseware’s Parko. Reserves: Simone Deitermann on Free Easy NRW, Beeke Kaack on Judy, Kai-Steffen Meier on Karascada TSF and Benjamin Winter on Wild Thing Z.

A lot of those names will look familiar from Luhmuhlen.  The European Championships are the same weekend as Richland and they are being held at Luhmuhlen this year.  As Mark is the course designer for the Europeans (as well as Luhmuhlen), he will be at the Europeans that weekend.  I have been pretty critical of Mark’s courses before, but everything I have heard from Luhmuhlen is that the courses were challenging but sensible and safe.

–Luhmuhlen wasn’t the only big international event this weekend.  The Lochore family played host to the world famous Burgie two-star in Scotland.  Truth be told, the first time I heard about Burgie I thought it was a Scottish accent’s version of “Burghley”.   Button Clover and Mr. Wills Oakden, as the British Eventing site likes to say, won the 2* finishing on their dressage score.   [Results, Website, Irish Recap]

–If you are signed up for a Pony Club rally in Virginia next weekend, Coren will be there instructing.  She really likes to be woken up at 2am by lots of Pony Clubbers singing Bad Romance outside her trailer.  I’m just saying.

—Best of the Blogs: Rebecca Howard gives a check mark to Bromont and it’s onto the next

—Doug’s quick Bucks Country Horse Park HT recap

—Today’s TOTD item is a bridle for half price, only available until noon

–Today’s bonus photo is one approach to frangible fences, courtesy of Monty White.  Don’t worry, apparently no one was injured, but that must have been one heck of a long or one heck of a short distance.
  
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–Video of the Houghton three-day in May from Uptowneventing:

That’s all for now.  Someone emailed EN last night offering to be our proofreader because there are so many tipos in my posts. So, I’ll be around throughout the day with your typo laden eventing news, information, and ridiculousness.  At any rate, as always, wherever you might be, thanks for making EN a part of your day.  Go eventing.

EN Banner_Saddle Pads Jessie April2011.JPG

 

Papa Kieffs

By on Jun 19, 2011 5:08 pm -

Papa Kieffs is a legend in Area VIII and most of the areas on the east coast.  Since my first days in young riders with Lauren Kieffer, her Dad has been there every step of the way as a prime example of the important role fathers play on our sport.  Lauren, thanks for writing this about Papa Kieffs and thank you for reading.
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Lauren Kieffer, Papa Kieffs, and David O’Connor in cowboy form

From Lauren:

A lot of you know my wonderful Dad–he goes by Papa Kieffs.  And if you do know him, it’s most likely because he has fixed your bike/truck/flat tire/generator/camper/trailer or because he removed that stud that NO ONE can get out (heck, you probably can’t get it out because he put it in).  Or maybe it is because you have been lucky enough to be around the campground when he has fried or grilled some form of deliciousness.

Papa Kieffs has been to countless events and worn at least as many hats. He has always been the official stud put-er-iner and the MacGyver of competitions, finding a way to fix anything.

Fortunately, as I eased out of the teen years he was able to drop the role of mediator between me and my mother (and by mediator I mean that when my smart mouth would out run my behind he would pull me aside and kick my behind).  He has been in every D Box from my first one star to Rolex and he can shlep water like a pro.

I’m fortunate enough to have one of the best Dads in eventing and I think we can all agree that the shows just wouldn’t be as fun without all the Papas in the barns.

Luhmuhlen Show Jumping Video Replay

By on Jun 19, 2011 4:45 pm -

As night falls on Germany, it’s time to put a bow on 2011’s third four-star event.  Germany of course had a great day with wins in the CCI4* and CIC3*, and hopefully the rest of the competitors go home having taken yet another step forward with their horses.  The show jumping replay picks up half way through the CCI4* division.

[Luhmuhlen SJ Replay]

[Tim and Nina Gardner’s SJ Recap]

Go eventing.

Tiana Coudray — The Final Day at Luhmuhlen

By on Jun 19, 2011 1:36 pm -

Having read Tiana’s blog posts over the past two years, I continue to be more and more impressed with her maturity and grace.  When things go well, such as the CCI3* win at Jersey and the 6th place finish at the Boekelo CIC3* last year, or the advanced win at Twin Rivers this spring, Tiana is humble and quiet–sometimes she doesn’t even write about it.  But when things go wrong, she owns it, takes full responsibility, respects and protects her horse, learns from it, and moves on.  This approach of taking responsibility for setbacks might be the most important quality for a developing rider because if one thing in eventing is certain it’s that things will go wrong. For more information on Tiana and her program, please visit her website.  Thanks for writing this Tiana and thank you for reading.
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From Tiana:

For anyone who’s been watching results, you already know that Saturday didn’t go as planned for Jennie or myself. Will started off the day with a fantastic go on Missie that showed once again just what a super pair the two of them are. In the four star, Jennie had an unfortunate couple of run outs that would seem to be just greenness, and nothing that won’t be easy to fix for next time around. Will said he had a great ride on Pawlow and just had a frustrating run by at a corner.

I’m not sure right now if the scoreboard showed me having a Technical Elimination or having retired but the end result is the same. We all underestimated the effect that our tumble at Rolex had on Finian’s confidence and we left the box Saturday like an ally cat instead of a lion. Even more poorly planned, the course here isn’t the kind of course that would rebuild his confidence because nearly every fence is a wide table, just the type of fence we fell at in Kentucky. While I got nearly all the way around the course, it was not the way I wanted it to be, and when we finally did have a stop, 5 fences from home, I knew it was time to pack it in. I can only hope that Saturday’s go didn’t set us back further in the process of putting the roar back in the lion.

Now we have to go back and do what obviously needed to be done after Rolex which is to start back at square one and see that all our ducks are in a row. I’m fairly devastated that I didn’t foresee this situation better, as a part of me knew coming here we really weren’t ready. I feel a huge responsibility to make the right choices for how to bring Finian along, and I failed him in this instance. It’s one more reminder of needing to believe in my own decisions, a lesson I’ve been struggling to grasp all year.

The irony of it is that after Saturday and now that we’re here in Europe, we’re on our own to do whatever we please. I guess the good of that is that there is no pressure to do anything whatsoever, but at the moment, I can only feel the loneliness of finding the way on my own, and the hole in my gut that we’ve lost the belief that people had in us. The most important thing is that all four horses we brought here seem to be in really good shape tonight and will be ready to have another crack at it soon. Today Jennie will head back home while Will and I will pack up and head off to the UK. Myself to Mike and Emma Winters farm in Cirencester and Will to Jackie Green’s in Marlborough.

Happy Father’s Day

By on Jun 19, 2011 11:04 am -

It’s Father’s Day on Eventing Nation!  As part of our tradition of showing lots of love to Eventing parents, we have a couple of posts today celebrating the contribution of Dads to our great sport.  Eventing Dads participate in many different ways, from the super involved Dads to the ‘I’d rather be golfing’ Dads, but they all undergo an incredible amount of stress and play an integral role in their families’ eventing experience.  An eventing Mom, Linda Kriegel was kind enough to write a tribute to eventing Dads.  Linda, along with husband Mike and daughter Ashley make a great eventing family.  Thanks for writing this Linda and thank you for reading.
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From Linda:

Happy Father’s Day, Eventing Nation!

On this Father’s Day, I’d like to dedicate this to all the eventing Dads out there!

When their child first say they want to ride horses, these Dads don’t have a clue what they are getting themselves into.  First, it’s just taking their child to a few lessons.  Then comes leasing that first horse.  Next it’s helping to hook up the little horse trailer and taking the time to help load the horse along with all the equipment while the Mom is frantically running around worrying that they don’t forget anything important.  Then comes their son or daughter’s first competition. 

While at the competition, the eventing Dad stands by and does whatever needs to be done–calming his daughter down when it looks like she will burst into tears at any moment from nervousness, fetching last minute forgotten items from the tack store trailer, and everything else that needs doing.

The eventing Dad is the one with the big grin on his face when his daughter finishes.  While she maybe didn’t place, she completed the course which is the important thing. He keeps things in perspective.

Through the years, the eventing Dad comes to as many shows as possible.  Sometimes he misses the dressage because someone has to work for the family.  But he shows up later and always gives 100% percent support to his child, win or lose!  He’s there to give a leg up when needed with a quick pat and “off you go,” and a comforting hug when things don’t go so well.

The Dad who’s there for the first blue ribbon as well as the agonizing emergency vet trips! The Dad who says “we’ll figure out how to pay for this show, just promise me you will do your best!” The Dad who schedules his vacation days based on the time and distance of farther and farther away upper level competitions! The Dad who works extra, just so his girl can reach her dreams!

So, on this Father’s Day, I’d like to thank all those true Eventing Dads out there. We love you and we need you. 

Thank you for making this sport a truly family affair.  Without eventing Dads, it wouldn’t be as much fun and maybe not even possible. Happy Father’s Day!

Germany Dominates Luhmuhlen

By on Jun 19, 2011 10:33 am -

Happy Fathers Day Eventing Nation!  We’ll have much more on that in a few minutes, but first we have the business of Luhmuhlen at hand.  Like competitions of beer and bad food, it was German a domination at Luhmuhlen.  Overnight leader CCI4* Piggy French and Flying Machine dropped two rails late on the course to give up he lead and drop to 4th.  Andreas Dibowski and Euroridings Butts Leon jumped clear to move up from third to take the Luhmuhlen victory.  Fellow Germans Sandra Auffarth and Frank Ostholt finished second and third with a rail each. 

As for the US pairs, Will and Pawlow had 8 jumping penalties along with two time penalties to finish Luhmuhlen in 22nd place.  That result is a long way away from where I’m sure Will wanted to be, but to put things in perspective, 42 of Europe’s best riders started the competition.  Julian Stiller and Chapel Amble finished in 24th place.

The British trio of Oliver, William, and Mary moved up from 20th, 14th, and 15th respectively after the dressage to finish in 7th, 8th, and 9th–they added just 20 points total to their dressage score for the weekend.

CCI4* Results:

1. Andreas Dibowski (GER) and Euroridings Butts Leon +0 39.8
2. Sandra Auffarth (GER) and Opgun Louvo +4  43.0
3. Frank Ostholt (GER) and Little Paint +4  46.1
4. Piggy French (GBR) and Flying Machine +8  46.4
5. Clayton Fredericks (AUS) and Dunges Laurent Rose +0  47.2
…
22. Will Faudree and Pawlow +10  88.2
24. Julian Stiller and Chapel Amble +14  98.4

[Full CCI4* Results]

German Domination was the same story in the CIC3*.  Kai Ruder gave the win up to his countryman Andreas Ostholt by pulling two rails.  All told, Germany finished 7 riders in the top 10 of the CIC3*. 

Will Faudree had the lone great result for the USA of the weekend, finishing the CIC3* in 11th place.  They moved up from 18th to 14th on the cross-country with a double-clear and then up to 11th in the show jumping with a double-clear.  Will told me after the dressage that they had room for improvement, but aside from those marks, Missie showed that she has a ton of potential this weekend.

CIC3* results:

1. Andreas Ostholt (GER) and Franco Jeas +0  39.3
2. Kai Ruder (GER) and Leprince des Bois +8  39.5
3. Sara Algotsson Ostholt (SWE) and Wega +0 39.8
…
11. Will Faudree (USA) and Andromaque +0  47.1

[Full CIC3* Results]

I suppose the Germans are expected to do really well at their home event and they did save many of their best horses for Luhmuhlen.  But, after watching this weekend, it’s hard not to put Germany in the top 3 international teams right now along with Great Britan and then perhaps New Zealand.

Bonus video: Clayton’s dressage test with Dunges Laurent Rose via Ecogold
 

[Nina Gardner’s XC Recap]

Go eventing.