The EHV-1 mania has calmed down a bit in the media over the past few days but the disease continues to cause problems for eventing competitions out west.  Two events are taking two different approaches to deal with the outbreak.  Today the Briar Fox Spring Horse Trials has announced that it will be canceled.  Briar Fox was to be held this coming weekend in Augusta, Kansas.  The event said in a press release:

“We have had extensive conversations with our Show Veterinarian, Local Vets, our region’s State Animal Health officials and our USEA Area Chair concerning the recent cases of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) in our area. The general consensus of professional opinion is that it is advisable that you limit your horse’s exposure to other horses and restrict travel in and out of your barn until the infection is contained. There is no telling how long that will take or how severe this outbreak will be, but officials are hard at work to prevent a nationwide outbreak. At this writing no Kansas cases have yet been reported….“

Like Spring Gulch Horse Trials, in Colorado, which was canceled due to EHV-1 concerns, no refunds can be issued from Briar Fox because they still have to cover costs.  [USEA Press Release]

The Event At Woodside, to be held in California this coming weekend, has also sent out a press release.  Woodside details the precautions being taken for the event to prevent the spread of EHV-1 and explains that as of now the event is set to continue.  Woodside’s organizer, Robert Kellerhouse, said:

“We’ve been following this situation carefully over the last week, watching to see if the virus spreads beyond horses who were exposed at the cutting horse competition in Ogden, Utah, where it appears to have begun, and, as of today, according to the state veterinarian’s office, it has not spread beyond that specific population or horses directly exposed to them. So we’re going ahead with our event…My wife, Erin, will be bringing her horses, and those of her clients, to the show,“

Woodside will continue to evaluate the spread of the disease this week, and if it looks like the strain of EHV-1 is spreading beyond the exposed group, then they will reconsider canceling the event.  The Woodside horses will be required to arrive with a 72 hour health certificate from their vet, and on site vets will check all horses coming into the event, whether overnight stabling or haul-in.  From what I have heard, a significant number of the original entrants have already scratched from the event.  [Woodside Press Release, California EHV-1 Info, Woodside Homepage] 

Although they have taken very different approaches, I give a lot of credit to both events for trusting their vets and being so informative about how they are making their decision.

Samantha gave Animal Kingdom all of the EN Karma she could, but it wasn’t enough and the Kentucky Derby winner finished a half-length back of Shackleford and jockey Jesus Castanon.  Shackelford left the gate as a 12-1 odds and Animal Kingdom was the 2-1 favorite.  Shackleford’s time was 1:56.47, the slowest winning time since 1993.  There hasn’t been a Triple Crown winner in my lifetime, none since Affirmed in 1978 in fact.

[Paulick Report Preakness Recap]

Go eventing.

Pending a defamation suit, Peter has declined to make a public statement on the ruling, but because the court ruling is a public document, we have reprinted the entire 32 page ruling below. Samantha, who has been on top of this story from the very beginning, will write a summary of the ruling shortly because the document is so long, but the entire ruling is presented below word for word. Click on each image for a larger version:

">

(more…)

Today I want to relay a story that I hinted at briefly during Jersey but that now deserves a full explanation.  To protect the identity of the story’s subject, we will call him Boyd Martin.  I can’t relay the story with the same hilarity of Boyd telling it, but it is amazing nonetheless.  I found Boyd with a cast on his left wrist Thursday at Jersey, and I asked him what happened.

In mid-March, Boyd took a hard tumble from Last Monarch at Southern Pines.  At the time, the doctors were so concerned with the possibility of a head and neck injury that they focused on those areas and put Boyd through a CT scan at the hospital.  When the scan came back showing that all was well with Boyd’s head and Boyd could once again tell them that President Obama was the leader of the free world, they sent him on his way.  Boyd show jumped the next day.

Boyd took a weekend off from competing and then subsequently competed for the next 5 weekends, including 4 horses at The Fork, 7 at Plantation Field, 7 at Fair Hill, and then a light weekend with only one horse competing…at Rolex, followed by 8 horses at MCTA the next weekend.  As Boyd told me at Jersey, his wrist had been bothering him during all of this time and he would feel shooting pain through his arm when the would bend the wrist.  But, being a crazy eventer who loves riding, Boyd just persevered and rode on.

A few days after MCTA, Boyd was at the farm with his veterinarian, Kevin Keane.  Boyd told Kevin that his wrist was still hurting so Kevin shot an x-ray with his mobile machine.  If you don’t know, eventers are usually much more likely to get x-rayed by a vet in their barn than a technician at a hospital.  As the story goes, Kevin took one look at the x-ray and sent Boyd to see a doctor.  Boyd went straight to the famous Dr. Chris Lyons, an orthopedist who treats many riders and jockeys.  Boyd had a bone chip and hairline fracture in his left wrist that, thanks to weeks of riding all day long, looked as fresh as they would have the day he got them at Southern Pines.

The good news for Boyd was that he was in excellent hands and Dr. Lyons fitted him with a cast specifically designed for riding to keep Boyd’s writs immobile enough to heal but mobile enough to get the job done on a horse.  Boyd told me that the wrist felt great after the cast was put on because he couldn’t bend it in the ways that made it hurt.

A few days after getting the cast on, Boyd was back in business at Jersey Fresh and ran four horses around, finishing all of them with a grand total of 10 penalties on the XC, and all of the horses finished within the top 10.

In all my years of eventing, I have never ceased to be amazed by the toughness of eventers.  This toughness comes in many forms, whether mental toughness dealing with extreme pressure, emotional toughness responding to hardship, or physical toughness in fighting through injury that sometimes borders on insanity. 

Go eventing.

We have a big weekend of eventing ahead of us, but we still have a couple of posts today about Jersey.  On Sunday morning, we wrote about the meeting Phillip, Buck, Will Faudree, and Boyd had with the Jersey Fresh Ground Jury regarding concerns about judging, footing issues not being addressed, and Jessie’s elimination.  Today the Chronicle has published a good article that interviews the various parties and gives their different perspectives.  Perhaps the most important point is that the meeting was positive and both sides say that they found the meeting constructive.  We wrote about the issues of dressage judging and footing in depth at Jersey and I don’t have anything to add other than I am quite skeptical about Eric Smiley’s point that they covered all of the footing they possibly could with the aggravator.  But, then again there was a layer of snow 4 feet under the ground keeping the footing hydrated.

[Read the article here] 

One important issue from Jersey moving forward is likely Jessica Phoenix’s yellow card and subsequent suspension for getting two yellow cards within a year.  In the article, the President of the Ground Jury, Eric Smiley, describes the process to stop Jessica and Pavarotti on course as one that developed from multiple opinions and I can definitely understand why they pulled Jessica up.  The problem with the yellow card process, among others, is that there is a complete lack of flexibility in giving the yellow card in that situation and in the following suspension.  The important point for Jessica’s suspension is that it stands for now and anything that might change it probably won’t happen in time.  Jessica would therefore miss a chance to qualify for the Pan Ams at the Bromont 2*, but she will have other chances later this summer, including The Event Rebecca Farms, which, as an aside, is shaping up to be a really well attended event again this year.

Go permafrost. 

It’s a quiet afternoon around Eventing Nation, which is a perfect excuse to daydream about the London Olympics.  EN reader and regular scout for eventing links, Beth Collier, is a freelance writer and photographer covering dressage, eventing, driving, and steeplechase racing.  After a trip to London in November 2000, Beth has returned to Great Britain every year and the 2011 Greenwich Equestrian Olympic Test Event will be her 12^th trip across the pond. She has attended Badminton, Burghley, Barbury Castle, and Highclere horse trials in England, and Floors Castle and Blair Castle Horse Trials in Scotland. She uses her photos for her annual cross-country calendar.  Beth’s website is www.BethCollier.com.  Beth was kind enough to write this early EN guide to the London Olympics, which are just over 400 days away.
—-

From Beth:

London is a fabulous city–the public transportation is easy to use and many places are within walking distance. There is also great shopping at Heathrow Airport. London survived the bubonic plague and Great Fire of 1666 and bombing during World War II (The Blitz 1940 – 1941). Amazingly, much of old London still exists. Whether you’re interested in history, art, politics, theater, shopping, or night clubs, there is something in London for you.

The Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics is scheduled for Friday July 27 at the new Olympic Park in the northeast of London. The equestrian events start on Saturday July 28 with the dressage phase for eventing. Eventing is scheduled for four days, with two days of dressage, then cross-country on Monday July 30 and Showjumping on Tuesday July 31. Pure dressage starts with two days of the Grand Prix Test Thursday and Friday August 2 and 3. The Grand Prix Freestyle takes place on Wednesday August 8. Showjumping starts on Saturday August 4 with the individual finals on Wednesday August 8. For those watching at home, London is five hours ahead of the US East Coast time.

The venue for all three Olympic equestrian events is Greenwich Park, southeast of central London. London will host three main areas for Olympic sports: Central Zone, Olympic Park, and the River Zone (which includes Greenwich Park). There are also venues scattered around Great Britain for sailing, rowing, soccer, and cycling.

For those in the US, Olympic tickets can only be purchased through www.CoSport.com. Tickets for the eventing cross-country cost $120.00 plus shipping. CoSport also has pricey “hospitality packages” which include a hotel room at the Park Plaza Westminister Bridge.

One of the packages includes 5 nights and 4 days of Olympic events (dressage, volleyball, swimming, tennis) for $17,000+. Hotel rates in the Greenwich area are about $300/night. Olympic ticket holders may access London public transportation for free during the Games. The London Olympic website advises that those traveling from central London to Greenwich Park (7 miles) should anticipate two hours travel time.

My favorite and most up-to-date tour guides are from www. RickSteves.com. His guidebooks are compact (both in size and scope) and include all types of travel information from phones to exchanging money. (London Pocket Guide $12.99). I also follow his recommendation to travel light–if you really need something extra, you can buy it in Great Britain.

According to the British Airways website, the best price for a July round trip plane ticket from the Baltimore BWI Airport to London Heathrow Airport is $1,000. When you fly into London you pass right over Windsor Castle and Kew Gardens.

Here’s my favorite tip for getting a soft drink with ice in Great Britain: Go to a fast food place like McDonald’s or Burger King, but ask them to fill the cup with ice first. In most pubs, if you ask for ice they put two mini-cubes into a glass, so wherever you are, make sure you make it clear you want lots of ice. (And don’t bother asking for iced tea)

And in most hotel rooms, you’re likely to have “tea making facilities” and a heated towel rack, but no hair dryer or wash cloth (“face flannel”).

If you’re an anglophile who likes to read British literature from Shakespeare to Jane Austin to Agatha Christie, etc., and you enjoy PBS shows like Fawlty Towers, East Enders, Doc Martin, Sherlock Holmes, Are You Being Served?, Upstairs Downstairs, Downton Abbey, etc., then you’ll like Great Britain.

As one of the many public services we provide here on EN, we are always looking for ways to help you save money on gas, especially when trailering to shows.  One potential solution was recently demonstrated by a man in North Wales, who attempted to take his horse on a train.  Needless to say, and thankfully, he was prevented by the train station staff.  I would guess that, as the police say, “substances were involved.”  Closed circuit TV photos show you step by step how to be denied access to a train with a horse in tow:

1) Attempt to buy a ticked, get denied

2) Put the horse on an elevator to get to the train, because escalators and horses do not mix

3) Attempt to board the train, get denied, probably because you don’t have a ticket

The incident took place last Saturday [Daily Mail via FA, Horse and Hound]