Become an Eventing Nation BloggerIf I’m not mistaken, this is Eventing Nation’s first helmet cam posting of 2011. This is Storm and Auto Be A Storm, from the Chronicle forums, riding at Poplar Place last weekend. They finished 4th overall in the beginner novice with a great cross-country ride.
We had a great Monday on Eventing Nation with Samantha’s interview with Jimmy Wofford–which was made an instant ‘Best of EN.’ Jimmy truly is a remarkable horseman, and I get inspired every time I hear him talk. He has been a great friend to Eventing Nation and we really appreciate him taking the time to give us the interview. Our hope is to hear from all of the coaching candidates (that we know about) over the next few weeks. It’s going to be a busy Tuesday so let’s jump into your news and notes:
—Mid-morning Update: TheHorse.com writes about the Eriksson trainer liability case, and H&H is asking for survey responses on apprenticeship
–Speaking of coaching candidates, I have spent a lot of time ‘kicking the tires’ so to speak in Ocala and Aiken, and I am convinced that there are 8 or 9 applicants for the job. As I have been saying, there are a few who haven’t been made public–which is both reasonable and maddening. My guess is that we will hear about a short list in less than a month.
–The Make a Wish 2nd annual charity Equine Challenge will take place February 14th in Ocala. 10 eventers and show jumpers will switch places with “reined cow horse riders,” who are only slightly less talented than unreined cow horse riders. At any rate, Buck, David, Karen, Lainey, and Peter Atkins are all signed up, and the event will take place at the Ocala Equestrian Complex. Horses beware: Pat Parelli will also be there. Be sure to go out and support a great cause on Valentines Day. Samantha will be there to report for us. [Samantha’s blog]
—Denny takes a 50 year retrospective on sport horses [COTH]
–Most of Monday at the Aiken training sessions was spent at the ICP symposium at Paradise Farm, with Phillip and Mark coaching and a few of the training list riders participating. Today it’s back to Three Runs Plantation for more lessons with Uncle Mark.
–Turkmenistan’s president has decreed that beauty contests should be held each year for the country’s horses. Apparently, the competition will take place every April and President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is an avid horseman. The competition will also feature an award for the best carpet featuring a horse. I know what you are thinking–if John is ever going to make something up, this has to be it. [BBC]
–Jackie at Regarding Horses hates it when people punish their horses for their lack of training. I couldn’t agree more. Ultimately our horses are what we make them and their actions are a reflection of our training, so we should kick ourselves just as hard as our horses if something starts going wrong. [Regarding Horses]
–Elly Schobel was at the Aiken training sessions [COTH]
—Jack and Jill have lots to report from their new home [The Adventures of Jack and Jill]
–Linda Allen takes a look back at 2010 for US show jumping. The Chronicle gets three links today, which is usually an honor only bestowed to Horsetalk by Annie. [COTH]
–It’s good news for donkeys in Hawaii; their sterilization plans have been delayed. That’s always a good day and cause for much rejoicing. [Horsetalk]
–It might be a bit early to talk about this, but what should we do for this year’s April Fools Day joke? Last year’s EN April fools was that Chattahoochee Hills would be hosting the world’s first 5* and I heard about that one for weeks after the fact. I’m pretty sure that one EN reader who left for their 12 month trip to Siberia on April 2nd, 2010 still thinks Chattahoochee is hosting a 5*.
–The Pine Top spring advanced event is the only USEA horse trials that closes today. The Poplar Place March HT and Southern Pines 2 HT both open today, so be sure to get your entries in early because both of those events fill up quickly.
For your Super Bowl withdrawal:
That’s all for now. ESJ apparently ran into the new Australian eventing team leader Prue Barrett while shopping yesterday and set up an interview that we will post today. Until then, be sure to visit Ecogold, whose blog is so good that it makes me jealous sometimes. Wherever you may be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day. See you soon…
The Aiken High Performance Riders donned their headbands, wristbands, short shorts, and tall socks today for a fitness test with US Olympic Committee folks bright and early today. The idea was to get a baseline test and then re-evaluate later this spring, but of course it turned into a massive competition between all the riders. The planks and squats were a duel between Jennie and Doug, and Boyd dominated the sprints. To preserve everyone’s pride, we’ll only post the winning times:
Planks:
Jennie Brannigan: 6:17
Doug Payne: 6:08
Squats:
Doug: 360
Jennie: 360
Sprints:
Boyd: Domination
So, how would you compare to the High Prerformance riders? The planks are holding this position, and the squats are just body-weight squats. The sprints are more complicated and involved a 20m run back and forth with a beeper. I should note that there was a bit of a dispute with the tie between Doug and Jennie in the squats and some sources told us that Doug won by 1, but the official unbiased ruling said it was a tie.
The last thing I will point out is that EN Karma helped out Jennie and Boyd as they were our predicted winners yesterday. Oh, and the Aiken scores dominated the Ocala scores. In other news…
Horse and Country TV has posted video of Matthias Rath and Totilas in their first public appearance:
It’s not up to Edward Gal’s standards yet, but the partnership is surely still developing. The real pressure and test will come when they start getting scores on a world stage. If those scores aren’t up to where they were with Edward, then there’s going to be some serious public pressure. Is it just me or did they steal that music from Pirates of the Caribbean?
–Eventing great Luncinda Green has signed on to the daunting challenge of coaching the Austrian Team (not Australian). To qualify for an Olympic berth, Austria must produce one of the two best performances at the European Championships in Luhmuhlen (25-28 August), other than Germany, Britain, and Belgium, who have already qualified. [Horse and Hound]
–Hunter Lone Star wins the Chronicle’s horse of the year. I hope an eventer will win Rider of the Year. [COTH]
Go eventing.
For the second straight day we get the pleasure of introducing a new sponsor to Eventing Nation. World Equestrian Brands, as the name suggests, has a variety of premium equestrian brands, including Amerigo saddles, Amerigo Vega saddles, Vespucci bridles, E.A. Mattes pads, and Equilibrium boots. Over the next few weeks we will introduce Eventing Nation to these brands and why they are some of the best brands in the entire equestrian world. Be sure to check out their new catalog which is available on their website. Visit the World Equestrian Brands website at:
Thank you to World Equestrian Brands for supporting Eventing Nation. Now for your news and notes…
–If you missed the late news Sunday night, Australia has filled their coaching vacancy left by the great Wayne Roycroft by hiring Prue Barrett. I spoke with a member of the Australian program who told me that Prue is well liked and respected, and that she would be serving as “performance director” rather than coach. Apparently the riders will be allowed (and encouraged) to work with their own coaches and Prue will just oversee their development. The Australian press release made a big deal out of Prue being a female coach, but I think there are just as many great women coaches in eventing (perhaps more) than great male coaches, so it’s about time that we start seeing ladies in control of national programs. One of the best things about eventing is the equal treatment and competition of the sexes and that should extend up to coaching countries. Prue takes over one of the most successful eventing programs over the past 20 years, and Eventing Nation wishes her and the Aussie Team all the best moving forward.
–Jennifer Wooten-DaFoe and The Good Witch won an absolutely stacked intermediate division at Galway. The division included top eventing names like Gin N’ Juice, The Alchemyst, Coal Creek, Ballinakill Glory, Leyland, Ringwood Magister, and R-Star. Being the first event of the season, I don’t put too much weight into the final placings, but just looking at that division shows how powerful West Coast US eventing could be this year. As a quick aside, from what I have heard Amy is staying out west this year to do most of her spring training. [Galway Results]
–At the Poplar Place horse trials, Werner Geven won two divisions, including the open intermediate at his home farm. Nina Ligon won a three horse open intermediate/preliminary division–on three of her horses. [Poplar Place Results]
–Congrats to the Packers on a great Super Bowl win. Jon Holling is the biggest Packers fan I know in eventing, and he invited me to the Holling party as long as I didn’t root for the Steelers. But, the thought of seeing Jon topless with a green “G” painted on his chest was sufficient deterrent to keep me away–that and the 600 miles separating me from Ocala. To all of our Steeler fans around Eventing Nation, I wouldn’t worry too much about the loss because you are making it to one out of every two Super Bowls these days and there is always next year.
–The best Super Bowl commercials were either the tv stars wearing NFL jerseys, the Camaro commercial, or the E-Trade baby with the coughing cat right at the end. The Eminem commercial was a complete flop, and I even like Eminem. What was your favorite commercial?
–The Black Eyed Peas were awful at halftime, which was to be expected, not only becuase their music is mediocre but because they need a studio and massive computers to make themselves sound better. I’m not going to lie, I like a few of their singles, but there were so many better choices for the Super Bowl halftime show.
–We will be taking a break from training sessions today, both for my mental soundness and just because four straight days of training session coverage seems like it would be over-saturation. I hope to make it to at least one more day of the Aiken training sessions before Mark and the team personnel head to California.
–Two quick notes from the last training session rides that I watched on Sunday are that Doug Payne’s Running Order really impressed me with his presence in the arena and quality of gaits, and that Jennie told Mark she was planning to target a spring CCI3* with Cambalda. I give Jennie a lot of credit for taking her time developign Ping despite the temptations that can result from being so successful last autumn.
–One thing that I forgot to mention in my training session recaps is that all of the riders I saw wore their helmets. The team requested that the riders wear helmets, but they didn’t make it mandatory, so it was great to see that so many of our top riders decided to play it safe. Ultimately, there is a lot of public pressure right now to not be seen without your helmet on. While I am not supportive of publicly criticizing people for not wearing a helmet, we do of course praise people for wearing their helmets here on EN and we fully support the practice.
–Speaking of helmets, Riders4Helmets is hosting a photo contest where you can submit photos of wearing your helmet in situations other than riding. It’s a fun idea to promote the importantce of helemets. [Riders4Helmets]
—Totilas and Rath made their first public appearance in Germany [TJR]
—Long distance horse transport rules might be tightened in the UK [H&H]
—Jack and Jill are getting into a routine [Adventures of Jack and Jill]
–Felicity Foxhunter says “puce” is the color of the upcoming equestrian season. I suppose if anyone would know, it would be Felicity Foxhunter [Horsetalk]
An oldie but goodie:
–That’s all for now. We have a busy and exciting day planned on Eventing Nation, so keep it locked for all of your eventing fun, news, links, and ridiculousness. See you soon…
Australian Eventing has made their coaching decision and they will be led by female eventing coach Prue Barrett leading up to the London Olympics. For unknown reasons Australian Eventing decided to send out the press release during the Super Bowl, and the press release is not posted online elsewhere for us to link to yet, so I will just publish the full release and we will have more coverage later. Congratulations to Prue Barrett and our friends in Australia for finding their new coach! [via ESJ]:
From Australian Eventing Press Release:
Top Eventing Coach Prue Barrett has been appointed National Performance Director of the Australian Eventing Team ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Barrett’s appointment comes after long-term coach Wayne Roycroft stepped down from his role as Eventing Head Coach in December 2010. As an Assistant Coach to Roycroft over many major international campaigns, Barrett brings to the role a wealth of experience both as a coach and former rider herself.
There are not too many Olympic sports that have seen women rise to the top in coaching but Barrett says she is not daunted by the task at hand.
“I believe it is an enormous privilege to serve Australian riders in this capacity as the Eventing National Performance Director,” said Barrett.
“We have extremely talented riders and horses both at home and based overseas and as Australians can be very proud of the history that this country’s eventing teams have enjoyed at the Olympic Games.
“I am looking forward to working very closely with the riders in the campaign towards the London Olympics,” she said.
Barrett will draw not only from her coaching knowledge but also from her extensive experience as a rider competing at the highest level. Representing Australia twice at the World Equestrian Games and as a winner in Equestrian’s three-star events in Adelaide, Lochinvar and Melbourne, she knows firsthand what it takes to compete at the highest level.
Equestrian Australia’s (EA) Chair Paul Cargill said “Prue Barrett’s impressive record speaks for itself. We believe she is the right person to lead our Eventing team into the next Olympics with strong experience as a coach at major international campaigns as well as her passion to maintain Australia’s reputation as a leading equestrian nation.
“Being only 16 months out from London 2012, we couldn’t afford to miss a beat which is why we were quick to appoint Prue after the role became vacant in December.
“Prue’s position is not simply coaching but rather as the Eventing National Performance Director who will be responsible for our high performance pathways and programs.
“EA’s high performance program is well recognised internationally and this program has directly resulted in the success experienced by Australia at an Olympic level.
“Our strong performance at the Olympic Games was reinforced recently when EA was one of ten sports that received additional funding under the Government’s Green and Gold Project.
“The targeted funding announced by Minister for Sport Mark Arbib, is designed to boost Australia’s prospects of success at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Barrett said preparation for the Olympic Games is already underway and for her the London campaign starts today.
“We have a busy schedule as we prepare for London and for me our campaign starts today – I’m looking forward to getting started,” she said.
PRUE BARRETT BIOGRAPHY
Age: 41
Coaching qualifications:
Australian Sports Commission Scholarship Coach 2009-2010
NCAS Level 2 Eventing Coach, Coach Educator
NSW Institute of Sport Coach
EA National Youth Development Program Manager 2009-2010
Coaching experience:
2010 Assist Coach World Equestrian Games (Kentucky)
2003 Assist Coach Trans Tasman
2002 Assist Coach World Equestrian Games (Jerez)
Athlete experience:
1999 Adelaide 3 star winner
1998 World Equestrian Games (Rome)
1997 Lochinvar 3 star winner
1994 9th World Equestrian Games (Hague)
1992 Lochinvar and Melbourne 3 star winner
2000 Shadow Olympic Team
It was dressage all day in Aiken on Sunday. Boyd and Kim started the morning off with some high powered dressage. Just to set the scene, the weather here in Aiken was sunny and probably in the 60’s all day, and Three Runs Plantation was quiet with about 20 spectators. In addition to the lessons, the riders met with the USOC folks all day, and I would imagine the nutritionist is getting tired of hearing “I wake up in the morning and drink 8 cups of coffee with my Fruit Loops.” I have picked out three of the lessons to focus on, but, as I said from Ocala, we will write about all the riders as the spring progresses:
1) Lizzie Snow and Pop Star “Pop” (Dressage)
As a bit of background on Lizzie, she is originally from Oregon, but trains now in Southern Pines and is on the Developing B list. She and her horse Pop hope to do a few horse trials this spring and then the Young Riders 2* this summer. I know Lizzie from our mutual membership on the USEA Youth Board.
Lizzie’s lesson was all about achieving proper flexion by helping Pop to respect the inside leg. Mark helped Lizzie work through several exercises that really highlight the importance of not falling through the inside leg. The first exercise was walk to canter to counter canter to canter to walk transitions, all while maintaining good flexion and througness in the outside aids. As Mark explained, “the language that horses understand is pressure and the release of pressure.” When Pop would try to fall through the inside shoulder and leg in the walk to canter transition, Mark told Lizzie to apply pressure with the inside leg at the girth until Pop yielded and then release the pressure. It’s a simple concept, but one that often gets lost in our focus on all of the technical dressage movements.
Next up was pretty much every horse and rider’s favorite movement in the history of eventing: trot shoulder-in on the circle. I don’t think I am alone in saying that this is one of my least favorite movements–because it is so good at exposing weakness. Mark stressed that this movement (like all shoulder-ins) has nothing to do with the inside rein, and he emphasized keeping the inside leg at the girth rather than letting it fall back and tell the haunches to go out.
The final exercise was starting to introduce the half-pass to Pop. This was quite a challenge because the line between moving laterally properly and falling through the inside shoulder is so fine at the half-pass, and there are so many other body position thoughts to coordinate. Mark simplified the exercise down to the walk and gave Lizzie lots of homework for the next few weeks.
Throughout the lesson, Mark was very positive and seemed to think very highly of Lizzi’s riding–I don’t think I have ever heard him say ‘good job’ to a rider as many times as Mark did in Lizie’s lesson. Lizzie gave Pop a nice pat at the end of the lesson and I look forward to seeing their progress at events this spring.
2) Allison Springer and Arthur (Dressage)
Allison just arrived in Aiken a few days ago after spending the last few weeks in Wellington. We of course all know about Allison and Arthur, and Mark mostly worked with Allison on dealing with Arthur’s traditional spookiness. Arthur has improved greatly from when I first met him at the training sessions three years ago, where he would spook at everything. Now, when he is passing a crowd of people or something else that looks scary, he just sometimes shortens his neck a bit and backs behind Allison’s leg. When you’re as good of a horse as Arthur on the flat, that little change can make a big difference in the scores. When Arthur would shorten his neck, Mark had Allison follow back with her hands and keep Arthur’s legs moving with her seat and leg. A big key is keeping Arthur’s tempo forward when he starts to look around, which helps him to relax and re-focus. Arthur looked great in all of the movements, and I expect more dressage domination from him this spring.
3) Lainey Ashker and Anthony Patch “Al” (Dressage)
I think Lainey and Allison were having a fashion duel
For many of the horses, Al included, these training sessions are some of the first few major dressage sessions of the year. Lainey started the lesson off by explaining to Mark that Al can get a bit flat in the dressage, but throughout the lesson Mark explained that Lainey wasn’t asking quite enough from him (which again goes back to the first major dressage school of the year). As Mark said, “ok is not ok.” Mark told Lainey she needs to have Al stretch rounder into the contact, and that she needs to accept the resulting heavier contact and need for more leg for now. It’s all about knowing how much to ask. After the lesson, Mark broke out his favorite demonstration and used a bent whip to show how first you should make a horse stretch round, and then you half-halt to balance them onto their hindquarters–thus presenting the perfect dressage frame and elevation as the bent whip tilts back onto its ‘haunches.’
That’s all for now. Word is that the eventers are going to take over Hotel Aiken tonight for the Super Bowl. If you’re out celebrating tonight, keep it safe and don’t let Marmaduke have too much fun–especially if you are on the High Performance list and have fitness evaluations at 7am tomorrow.
Speaking of fitness evaluations, I’m making Jennie a 4 to 1 favorite in the planks because she’s so competitive, Boyd a 5 to 1 favorite in the sprints because he used to be a champion runner, and Phillip a 3 to 1 favorite in the squats because he has ridden a bajillion horses a day for decades. I’m going to try to watch the last few sessions without a camera and pad of paper, and go eventing.
Hannah Burnett has been a good friend to Eventing Nation since our beginning. Hannah started 2010 off by guest blogging her spring for Eventing Nation. She finished the year with a win at the Fair Hill CCI3* aboard St. Barths and she was named to the USEF 2011 High Performance B training list. Hannah is riding in Ocala, Florida this winter and has been an important part of the O’Connor Event Team program for several years. Hannah will be returning as a guest blogger for Eventing Nation this spring on her road to, as Lauren Kieffer calls it, ‘the event that shall not be named.’ Thanks for writing this Hannah and thank you for reading.
—-
From Hannah:
Helllooo again Eventing Nation! I’m fortunate enough to get to share my spring with all of you awesome readers again! I’ll jump right in to the Training Session we just had in Ocala.
I had an intense 3 days of dressage work with Nike (St. Barths) and 1 day with William (Harbour Pilot). Captain Phillips was happy with the progress I’ve made with Nike, with the additional help from Gunnar Ostergaard over the last month as well as lessons with Karen and David. Gunnar has been pounding on my position (something that I’ve really been wanting to fix), to try to get my shoulder over my hip and heel instead of tipping forward and losing the effectiveness of my seat. David clarified by telling me to tuck my tail bone under and pull my hips forward instead of trying to lean back. It’s funny how re-wording something can click with you and make the light bulb flip on. Although it’s something I have to continually work on and struggle with, I’m seeing and feeling a difference.
Mark had me really focusing on the small details of my dressage, not allowing myself to accept a mediocre transition and drilling them no matter how long it takes. He also had me riding both horses longer in the frame and more forward than we worked on last year. I didn’t do anything more than counter-canter and shoulder-in over the 3 days because that was all my horses were ready to give. I’m happy with the progress we made and the direction Mark wants me to go in.
My favorite part of the training session was the work we did with the USOC. These guys work with tons of American Olympic athletes and I was kinda star-struck. We had a fitness evaluation, worked out a fitness plan, and talked to a nutritionist and a sports psychologist. I have terrible work-out and eating habits so it was pretty eye-opening to talk to them. The Sports Psychologist was awesome too and they are all going to be keeping in touch and helping us stay on track. It’s exciting that we are taking our sport more seriously and acting like real athletes rather than just riding during the day and not taking any responsibility otherwise. It’s a very important and big step for Eventing. We obviously need a Change.
The other night I was at a dinner for Canadians and David was talking to them about his expectations for the Pan Ams and Olympics. He was telling them that they have to give people something to believe in. If they don’t believe and you lose, they’ll slaughter you. But, if they believe, you can win or fail and they will stand behind you. THIS is what our country needs!! We have a long way to go but we need to BELIEVE again. We have lost our heart, America! We have to inspire and be inspired. It’s the soul of Eventing and the soul of our country. I believe we can make a comeback. Instead of blaming individuals for mistakes made at the Olympics and World Games etc. we need to look ahead and prepare for what’s coming for us. We don’t need better riders. Our riders need to be better athletes, better thinkers, better inspiration for our Country. We have the USOC behind us, building and guiding us. We need to be positive and excited about our future–all Eventers, not just the ones with the American Flag on the saddle pads. It’s time to take our sport, and most importantly ourselves seriously. If you can’t tell, I’m pumped. Who’s with me?! Until next time–get excited and Go Eventing.
-HSB
As a quick note this morning, it is my pleasure to introduce Horse Quencher to the Eventing Nation family of sponsors. As many of you know, Horse Quencher is a mix of all natural grains and flavorings that, when added to water, encourage your horse to drink. My first experience with Horse Quencher was a few years ago with helping one of my horses who didn’t like drinking when trailering. When Horse Quencher approached us about advertising, I wanted to look into it more and I tested it at the barn. I offered 3 horses a bucket of plain water and they didn’t drink, but then they each drank about a third of a bucket of water with Horse Quencher in it. Every horse is different, but Horse Quencher is such a great value that it’s definitely worth visiting your local tack store and picking up a bag to try. Of course, staying hydrated is one of the most important steps for your horse, especially when traveling, and Horse Quencher is a great natural way to help that out. Learn more at Horse Quencher’s new website:
Here is a quick video:
We put this graphic together before the news came out that Bobby retired, so I suppose Bobby might have another kind of drinking problem if he gets too bored with retirement. Go eventing.
We have yet another big day planned for your Eventing Nation Sunday. We’ll get things started with a recap of the Ocala training sessions from Hannah Burnett, Annie will have a lunchtime post, and then I’ll be along in the afternoon with a report from the Aiken training sessions today. Also, there’s something called the Super Bowl going on tonight, which I considered live blogging, but I’ll be too busy rooting for the team whose quarterback didn’t get charged with sexual assault (allegedly). Now for your links…
Galway Downs Live Scores [All the top west coast horses are in the Galway intermediate]
Sinead had a much better day 3 at the Ocala training sessions
I wonder where the Horse and Hound heard Leslie Law was applying
Der Dau brings oxygen bars to horse shows
2 of the 52 Facebook horses are settling in nicely to their new home
Diebrecht is the 2011 KPWN champion stallion listing
George Morris insists on excellence:
[via Ecogold’s blog]
Go eventing.
I have just arrived in Aiken, and I need to get some sleep before my third straight day of trying to read Mark’s lips training sessions. But, there were two quick stories from the Sporting Days horse trials on Saturday that deserve mention on EN.
First, EN’s good friend Doug Payne filled in as a dressage judge at the last minute. As the story goes, there was a miscommunication and one of the dressage judges didn’t show up Saturday morning. The organizers scrambled to find a replacement in the Aiken area with no success. Doug Payne, who is a Developing A List rider and a certified dressage judge/TD up through the preliminary level, was scheduled to ride 7 horses at Sporting Days but generously volunteered to judge. I spoke with Doug and he said that they shifted his rides around so he could judge until noon and then fit all 21 phases in during the afternoon. Thanks to EN reader Sally F. for alerting us to the story and thanks to Doug for stepping up to help the event run smoothly.
The second story is that, as Annie explained earlier today, Jan Byyny officially made her return to competitive eventing at Sporting Days. This is the best news I have heard in a while, and we are so happy for Jan that she has made such an amazing recovery so quickly. Jan and her parents are absolutely the classiest people in eventing, and I am so excited for them. Jan competed one horse at training, another at novice, and one more at beginner novice, finishing in the top two with 2 horses.
Go Jan and go eventing.
Is he making a comeback for the US or scouting for the Canadians?
Today was not a quintessential Ocala day in terms of weather, but I think everyone here would take the scattered rain and 40’s over snow and freezing in most of the country. There was only a half day of sessions today because Mark is traveling to Aiken this afternoon. Let’s get right to the lessons:
1) Elinor MacPhail and Parador Mail (Jumping)
Ellie is on the Developing B list, but she definitely looks like someone to keep an eye on for the future. Parador Mail is a very good jumper, but has a bit of the classic impatient event horse in him. Mark didn’t try to reinvent the wheel, and he just had Ellie circle until the horse calmed down, go jump a jump, continue with the course if the horse stayed patient, and circle if it didn’t. The one important thing he added was to have Ellie stay forward with her seat because when a horse is impatient, sitting against it and holding will only exacerbate the tension and impatience. By the end, things were much improved.
2) Karen O’Connor and “Quin” (Dressage)
Because pictures of Karen and David riding together are just cool
Yesterday Karen told me that Quin was much better on the flat in a double bridle and today we really saw evidence of that. Karen used a double bridle for the lesson and I expect we will see Quin in a double at all of the events this spring. Like yesterday, Mark encouraged Karen to let Quin stretch down and relax his neck position. Quin naturally has a very high neck carriage, so the elevation of the poll will always be there when Karen needs it for the competitions. As a result, schooling at home should be all about stretching into the contact. Since Quin was being so good, they moved on to more complex movements such as flying changes, which like most of Quin’s work, are very talented but need to be ‘confirmed.’
3) Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot “William” (Dressage)
Hannah rode through the worst of the rain today. “William” is named after Mr. Micklem, and he was very successful at the preliminary level in 2010. Less than 15 people showed up to audit today (I expect quite a few more in Aiken), and none of us could hear much of what Mark was saying during Hannah’s lesson because of the wind and rain. Mark worked a lot on lateral work, especially haunches-in and shoulder-in. We’ll hear more from Hannah in the first of her EN spring guest blogs soon.
Nice Maui Jim hula girl
4) Heather Morris and Slate River “Roe” (Dressage)
The theme of improving communication continued for Heather and Roe today, specifically with respect to the subtlety of the aids. Heaher is a very strong rider, which is very useful in many situations, but it can create the tendency to overuse the aids. Again, Mark didn’t try to reinvent the wheel and he just instructed Heather to give with her hands and tune Roe to her leg by applying it lightly and then more forcefully if he didn’t respond. The important part of being strong is that then you have to melt to avoid creating tension. If a horse isn’t lightly tuned to the aids, pretty much everything else is going to be twice as hard. I was also left with the impression that Roe has a lot of talent and their dressage scores will keep going down as Heather gets even better about bringing out that talent.
5) Jessica Pye and Lightning Bound “Bounder” (Jumping)
Jessica started out her lesson with a hackamore, which, as we we have been writing about since last year’s spring training sessions, are one of the latest show jumping trends. This was only my second or third time watching Bounder jump and when they started out I would have said something like “it looks like Lightning Bound has to try harder than the other training session horses we have seen.” But, Mark, who doesn’t really like hackamores, quickly made Jessica switch to a bit. Jessica had wisely asked her groom to bring along a bridle with what looked like a snaffle full-cheek. Lightning Bound immediately started jumping better and, after he tapped one of the heavy wooden rails he started showing off some serious hops. After that, they got to go out and practice over some XC fences. Afterward, Jessica told me that she had been show jumping in a hackamore for a few months, and that Mark hadn’t hated it, but he eventually recommended the switch.
As a brief note on hackamores, I would say that, like anything, there is a time and a place and it all depends on the horse. From personal experience, I find hackamores to really help my communication with the horse by reducing the role of the arm/mouth connection by about 80%. Using your hands to do everything just won’t work with a hackamore so you are forced to enhance the use of the other aids. Also, I find that when I put the bit back in after jumping in a hackamore for a few weeks, the horse is much more responsive. But, the risk of using a hackamore is that the horse can easily get strung out and flat, and the quality of the jump can start to suffer quite quickly if you are not careful.
That’s all for now. I’m leaving right now to drive to Aiken for the training sessions tomorrow, and to see one of my horses, Toby, who I just sold to a fabulous young rider. Go eventing.
Good morning Eventing Nation! We work hard every day to bring you links to all the eventing news and content around the world, and today is no exception. Before we get to our traditional weekend links, I want to wish good luck to the competitors at Sporting Days, Galway, Poplar Place, and all the events around the world today. We have a very busy schedule coming up on Eventing Nation, including another training session report from right here in Ocala this afternoon. Now for your links:
Galway Downs Live Scores [Coal Creek leads the intermediate after dressage, Ginny & Leyland close behind]
*Friday at the training sessions with Sinead
The USEF is considering making helmets mandatory for dressage classes at breed shows
Totilas’ 2011 stud fee for British breeders is 8,000 Euros
Wofford, Hoy, and Law on the Eventing Radio Show
2 of the 52 Facebook horses move into their new home
British Dressage might soon follow the USEF to make helmets mandatory
Egyptian charities are appalled at the use and abuse of horses in riots
US High Performance para rider Laura Goldman broke her hip in a fall at home
In memoriam: the parasailing donkey Anapka has died
VIDEO: Headless horseman spotted in Cairo riot
Winter update from Bruce Davidson Eventing
ESJ previews the 2011 Risk Management Seminar in Greenwich
What does riding look like in the Czech republic? I’m glad you asked:
Go eventing.
Karen, Mandiba, and Mark
The last time that coach Mark Phillips and the US High Performance riders got together for training sessions was four months ago in the weeks leading up to the WEGs. The mood today was understandably quite a bit more relaxed, but there was a clear sense of urgency. It did feel strange watching the riders train with Mark knowing that the next international championship is 18 months away, but that just means that these training sessions are more about fundamentals and less about making things competition-perfect right now.
Mark was on top form today–he gave three of the best lessons I think I have ever seen him teach and I only watched 6 full lessons. I have said this before, but for all the justified flak that Mark takes for management of the Team, he can be an excellent instructor. I have included my thoughts and observations from some of the sessions, and while I know I will get a few angry texts tonight from folks I didn’t write about, I promise we will cover everyone a lot over the next few months of training sessions.
When you take highly skilled, tightly wound, perfectionist, and often obsessive riders, and combine them with cold weather and months of dressage in an indoor arena, the risk is that they will overwork their horses too round, too collected, and too bottled up. If there was an overarching theme of the day, it was getting the riders to work their horses forward and stretching into a consistent contact. Mark spent hours among the different lessons focusing on contact in one rein or both, straightness, and stretching the horse into the contact. The day started off overcast and foggy but turned into sunny with highs around 70. Here is an overview of a few of the rides:
1) Karen O’Connor and Mandiba (Jumping)
Today was Mandiba’s second time jumping this year so Mark kept all of the exercises very simple. They warmed up over a single fence and then focused the rest of the time on a 5 stride oxer-to-vertical line, jumping it both ways and focusing on adding strides from a proper half-halt. Initially, Mandiba would fuss in the contact several times during the half-halt, and Mark emphasized straightness and lateral control of the shoulders to get Mandiba accepting the half-halt more. Mandiba jumped well, but Mark commented once that “we don’t need to see that pogo stick jump.”
2) Hannah Sue Burnett and St. Barths “Nike” (Dressage)
Hannah and Nike won the Fair Hill 3* last autumn, and they look even better on the flat after a winter of work. Hannah is a perfectionists to the extreme and Nike is a naturally tense horse, so Nike started off looking a bit too round and too bottled up. Mark had some good phrases about how to improve this, including “move his feet to the place where he stretches more” and “ride the shoulder to the contact all the time.” As with most of the lessons, Mark didn’t focus too much on movements. The most sophisticated thing that Nike did was counter-canter, where Mark emphasized avoiding too much flexion and controlling the inside shoulder. If Nike can stay relaxed in the arena, nobody is going to beat them on the flat.
3) Karen and Quintus 54 “Quin” (Jumping)
Mark spent a long time working with Karen and Quin on the flat before they got to jump. They worked on keeping contact with the right rein, even when going to the right. In a world where our coaches are always telling us inside leg to outside rein, I always find it hard to remember the importance of the inside rein contact. When they started jumping they worked on jumping the same line from Mandiba’s lesson in 6 strides, keeping things the same whether jumping vertical-to-oxer or oxer-to-vertical. All in all, I was really impressed with Quin’s development over the winter. Quin is incredibly athletic and the pressure this spring is to get the fundamentals confirmed in time for Rolex.
4) Jessica Pye and Lightning Bound (Dressage)
I don’t have nearly as much experience watching Jessica as I do with Karen and Hannah, but I heard that Mark was impressed with them yesterday and I was quite impressed today. I watched most of Jessica’s lesson from afar because I had to take a phone call, but her position was very good and Lightning Bound is a great looking chestnut. I mostly wanted to write about Jessica to point out that she stayed after her lesson to watch her fellow Texan, Heather Morris, have her lesson. Staying to watch the lesson after yours sends the message that you are interested in learning and supportive to your fellow riders, and it was a classy move from Jessica.
Jessica (left) watching Mark coach Heather
5) Heather Morris and Slate River (Jumping)
Slate River is VERY athletic, and he is a really quick jumper with his legs. This kind of thing might not be the most beautiful to watch, but it comes in handy when things get dicey on the cross-country, if you know what I mean. Mark had Heather do a great deal of flatwork before they started jumping, and they probably ended up doing more complex movements, such as shoulder-in and flying changes, than many of the dressage lessons. Today’s jumping lessons were a good reminder of the importance of flatwork in the jumping warmup–it all starts on the flat. Heather has a very nice forward seat coming to the jumps. Many eventers (including yours truly) have a tendency to needlessly move our position away from the jump and sit slightly in the last few strides. This tendency is probably an artifact from our earliest days riding those wonderful ponies who would slam on the brakes at the last moment and leave us sitting in the middle of the jump. My only criticism of Slate River is that he gets a bit tense in the half-halts before the jumps. Other than that, Area V was certainly well represented today, which should warm the hearts of Jessica and Hather’s fans sitting at home in Texas buried in snow.
Fitness: As I mentioned Thursday, USOC fitness, nutrition, and sports psychology experts are working with the riders this week. The High Performance riders (Karen, Hannah, and Buck) took a baseline fitness test Friday morning that involved testing max time planks, and max rep full body weight squats, and sprints. Apparently Buck was impressive, which doesn’t really surprise me because he’s both very competitive and very strong. Hannah won the plank with a time of about 2 minutes, Buck won the sprints, and he won the squats by about 100. Apparently they eventually stopped him because he wasn’t showing any sign of getting tired by about 150.
Go eventing.
FOR IMMEDIATE COMIC RELEASE (RELIEF)!!!
The majority share of Michael Jung’s WEG champion ride La Biosthetique Sam has been sold to the German Olympic Equestrian Association (DOKR) by Sabine Kreuter, and Michael will keep the ride, according to a DOKR statement on Pferdnews.de, a German equestrian website.
“The [DOKR] on Friday signed a contract under which they take over 47 per cent majority stake in the eleven-year Wurttemberg gelding. Eric Single acquires 13 percent of Sam, and the Jung family keeps their 40 percent. The value of the horse is fixed at € 766,666.66. ” [Pferdnews.de via Google Translate]
Sam will undergo a veterinary exam 6 months from now because an exam in January found Sam to have a heart murmur. As always, we appreciate EN reader LD for keeping us posted on all things German eventing.
Since we first reported that WEG Champion La Biothetique Sam was on the market in October, Sabine took Sam from Michael Jung’s stable, a court ordered Sam to be returned, several rumored purchases fell through, and a mysterious prepurchase exam found a heart murmur. Throughout all of this, Ms. Kreuter, the DOKR, and the Jungs have engaged in publicity battles with contradictory claims, but it is good to see that all sides were able to come together in the end and find some common ground.
Ultimately, all of this should be about the horse, and I think that staying with Michael is the absolute best thing for Sam. They obviously have an incredible partnership and it would have been a travesty to break that partnership because of money and personal arguments. At least this particular ownership dispute has a happy ending.
Update: Kat Netzler at the Chronicle also has a full report on the sale [COTH]
We’ll have much more from the Ocala training sessions later today. Go eventing.
Today I am very pleased to welcome back Canadian WEG rider Stephanie Rhodes Bosch as the first of Eventing Nation’s spring guest bloggers. When we asked Steph to first start writing for us in early 2010, she was a relative unknown to most of Eventing Nation. With a considerable amount of hard work, a healthy dose of EN Karma, and a fabulous horse, Steph charged onto the North American eventing scene in 2010, finishing 4th at Rolex and 6th individually at the World Equestrian Games to go with her team silver medal. Don’t tell Steph this, but with two top-10 placings at four-stars, she and the Port Authority aka “Ollie” were probably the best performing eventing pair in North America during 2010. We are very fortunate to be able to join Steph’s journey once again this year. It is my guess that very soon Steph’s blog posts will start being filed under “Road to Badminton.” For more information on Steph, visit her website. Thanks for writing this Steph and thank you for reading.
—-
From Steph:
Hey Eventing Nation, and welcome to another inside look at how we do things at Camp Canada. We are fortunate enough to have another year training out of Ms. Mars’ beautiful Meredyth South here in Ocala, and there are even more Canuck’s joining in on the fun for 2011. Thursday was our final day of the first training sessions, and these last four days have given us all renewed excitement for the things to come, as well as some serious homework (some of us more than others…) towards our competitive goals.
One particularly exciting thing about 2011 is the upcoming trip to Badminton for several Canadian pairs. We are all looking forward to participating in one of the most prestigious and historical competitions in the world of Eventing, and everyone involved in the program is proud of the progress that is made obvious simply by our presence at an event of this caliber! Although, it’s not only our presence at these big international competitions that we are hoping to be remembered for. We are all intent on being competitive at whichever of the spring three days we compete at.
As John mentioned recently, Team Canada is excited to welcome Gunnar Ostergaard to our program for some extra help and fine tuning of the dressage. He came to the farm to teach on Monday and Wednesday afternoons to add that extra level to our dressage days. Gunnar provides a great attitude towards the process and a wealth of knowledge that is definitely appreciated by all of us.
Tuesday and Thursday were both jumping days, although the two days each had a separate focus and completely different exercises. Tuesday was very gymnastic oriented for a lot of us, using bounce rails in our canter work, gradually building up to a vertical with poles on approach and landing to help with that ever-so-important footwork that coach is always talking about!! I know that’s a good one for a lot of the horses at this time of year, because they are a little rusty on the flatwork and more than just a little keen on getting back to the fun stuff… running and jumping! After we had played in the poles for a while, we moved on to the next step, which was keeping that communication and discipline over single fences and combinations. We had a set of jumps in a circle, and jumping in, doing a tight circle, and jumping out proved to be a real challenge the first couple of times! Ollie in particular gets very excited and makes a move at fences on approach, and then has a tendency to want to tank off on landing, so a quiet canter up to larger fences and expecting a challenging circle on landing is a sure way to remind him he needs to listen!
Thursday was probably a little more what the horses had in mind… cross country! (Except for poor Ollie. We opted for another flat lesson, just to make sure all our body parts stayed where they needed to stay…) The exercises were geared towards helping get us back in cross country mode, where you are comfortable jumping out of a more open step, but can go from galloping to coffin canter exactly when you need to. Gotta be efficient!! Then there was some playing in the water jump, and some narrow and angled exercises to make sure everyone was on the right track. All in all, a good way to wrap up 4 days of training.
So, for all of you that can’t be in Ocala to audit the training sessions, hopefully you feel like you got a glimpse of what goes on! Thanks for reading…
~Stephanie
In a heartwarming story about the power of horses and social media to unite people around the world, 52 abandoned horses destined for slaughter have found homes and been saved in a matter of days. TheHorse.com has posted the full story:
“Lynn Boggs recently turned to [Facebook] to find homes for 52 Ohio Thoroughbreds in need. Boggs’ close friend, Daniel C. Sterns, DVM, died on Jan. 27. [Boggs] was instantly faced the task of rehoming Sterns’ 52 Thoroughbreds…
After Sterns’ son dismantled his father’s breeding and racing farm, he gave Boggs and her boyfriend, Jerry Noss, a week to find homes for the 52 horses. He planned to send any unadopted animals to auction. Boggs, who owns 10 racehorses herself, posted a plea for help on her Facebook page…Boggs’ post spread like wildfire. Countless people reposted it on Facebook, tweeted it on Twitter, and e-mailed it around the globe.
The impromptu Facebook campaign was more successful than Boggs could have imagined–she received more than 4,000 phone calls and hundreds of text messages about the horses…
Four days later, on Feb. 1, the last horse left the farm around 10:30 p.m.” [TheHorse.com]
Eventing Nation’s good friend Jackie Smith, of Ohio, adopted two of the horses and Jackie emailed us that you can read about their adventures from the horses’ perspective at Jackie’s blog. [The Adventures of Jack and Jill]
I can’t say enough about the wonderful work of Jackie and all the other people who helped to spread the word and find homes for these horses. I can’t wait to see some of these 52 Facebook horses grow up to become great eventers. Go eventing!
Eventing Nation has obtained a copy of a letter sent from Akaash Maharaj, Equine Canada’s Chief Executive Officer, to FEI President Princess Haya regarding the recently announced restructuring of the FEI statutes vian an extraordinary general assembly. The letter offers a rare insight into FEI politics in action, and a glimpse at a lack of accountability and transparency within today’s FEI. The letter is in response to a survey the FEI sent to National Federations in January regarding the proposed statute changes.
In accordance with my personal experience with Equine Canada, this letter seeks to make the new statutes more democratic and transparent, and it even goes farther than the options provided in the January survey. More importantly, the letter proposes broad structural changes to the FEI by requesting amendments to the “Internal Regulations of the FEI.” The proposed amendments include creating an obligation for the new board to respond to regional group requests, a responsibility for FEI boards and groups to publish their annual objectives and regularly evaluate those objectives, and to increase public scrutiny by webcasting public portions of FEI board meetings. The implied fact that the first two regulations in particular do not currently exist is particularly troubling. Click on each page to open a larger version:
Lastly, I should point out that Eventing Nation did not obtain this document from The Carrot. Go eventing.
The Chronicle has written an article this afternoon about some changes coming to Jersey Fresh:
“The Horse Park of New Jersey has announced three new divisions to the ninth edition of the Jersey Fresh Three Day Event, scheduled for May 11-15. In addition to its established CCI***, CCI** and CIC***, the Allentown event will now host a CIC** and U.S. Eventing Association Young Event Horse divisions for 4- and 5-year-old horses.
The entire competition will also operate under a new theme in 2011.
‘The whole event will honor the men and women who fight for our freedom,” said Horse Park trustee Lynn Mathews.'” [COTH]
I remember at Fair Hill last year that people were passing out flyers saying that Jersey Fresh wouldn’t be canceled in 2010, and representatives from Jersey Fresh have been trying to get that word out a lot lately. Frankly, publicizing “we won’t have to cancel” is disconcerting more than anything, but the event has embraced some important changes such as a revived fair and getting a positive word out in articles like on the Chronicle.
In 2009 there were 85 starters in the CCI2*, CIC3*, and the CCI3* combined, and there were 29 CCI3* starters. In 2010 there were only 55 entries between the CCI2*, CIC3*, and CCI3* combined meaning that there was a 35% decrease in total entries in 2010 from 2009. In 2008, Jersey only held the CCI2* and CCI3*, but there were 77 starters for those two divisions and 38 CCI3* starters. The CCI3* entries have decreased just over 40% since 2008.
From an eventer’s perspective, Jersey did a much better job last year than previous years. The courses were much better and the event ran quite smoothly. That being said, Bromont is the popular spring CCI3* right now, and even though Jersey is getting better, I’m not sure if they are going to be able to keep competing with Bromont. The one thing Jersey has going for it is that it comes a few weeks before Bromont so a lot of the riders set up to target Jersey and if something minor comes up right before Jersey they can re-route to Bromont. Go eventing.
With all of the attention we have been giving the US coaching search and training sessions lately on EN, we haven’t been showing our Canadian friends much love. So, this ‘News and Notes’ intro is dedicated to the land of maple syrup and April snow.
The Canadian Team training sessions with DOC have been going on this week. Monday was dressage day, Tuesday jump, Wednesday dressage again, and it’s a XC school today. The veterans Kyle Carter, Rebecca Howard, Jessica Phoenix, Diana Burnett, Steph Rhodes Bosch, and Selena O’Hanlon are joined by Canada’s developing talent–Kendal Lehari, Danica Moore, and Shandiss Wewiora. Danish Grand prix dressage guru Gunnar Ostergaard has been tag-teaming the dressage lessons with David. Gunnar worked with the US team a while ago, and anyone whose name has two A’s in a row has to be pretty awesome. Team vet Dr. Ober looked all of the horses over, and I’m told they are all looking good, which is good considering it’s February and there is a long season ahead. Now for your news and notes:
—Badminton is now accepting entries. With the London Olympics next year, we will see a larger than normal international contingent this year. As the Badminton blog points out, Canada will be sending three or four riders, and, from what I have head, I expect about as many US riders to make their way over to England. We’ll have more specifics as we get them over the next few weeks. Badminton entries close March 3rd. [Badminton blog]
–Word is that folks from the US Olympic Committee (USOC) will be doing baseline fitness tests on some of the US riders at the Ocala training sessions, which start today. Imagine the look on the faces of the poor USOC experts. After the first rider asks them for a light, and the second asks them for a bottle opener at 9 in the morning, I think they’ll be hopping right back on their plane to go back to dealing with Michael Phelps. Joking aside, the USEF is doing exactly the right thing by trying to bring more athletic and cross-training awareness to our program. I just don’t think anyone wants to watch any of those riders run a mile as fast as they can.
–Update: Debbie McDonald credits helmet with saving her life [Riders4Helmets]
–In one of the oddest statistical distributions of results I have ever seen, guys won 7 of the 8 divisions at Full Gallop on Wednesday. I only point this out because us guy eventers in North America are so outnumbered that we usually struggle to win a handful of divisions at any given event. Nonetheless, Doug Payne won 3 divisions, Matt Flynn won 2, Will Coleman won 1, and Michael Pollard won 1 division. To take a trip down statistics class memory lane, that’s like reaching into a bag full of 85 blue socks and 15 white socks, and randomly pulling out 7 straight white socks. That’s so statistically unlikely that I feel like we might go 4 more years of eventing without seeing guys win 7/8 divisions at an event. On top of that, Michael Pollard took the top four spots in the intermediate division. [Full Gallop Results]
–Wylie Eventing has posted a pretty brilliant collection of ‘horse owner texting acronyms.’ EN Team, why didn’t you guys think of this post idea? Here are a few of my favorites, click the link for the rest. Remember EN: don’t text and ride. [Wylie Eventing]
OOH – out of hay
LAS – lost a shoe
FOMHL – fell off my horse laughing
IPTI – I’ll pick up tennis instead
LWW – lesson went well
MSMBO – mud sucked my boot off
PIHH – poop induced half halt
GBBF – got board bill, fainted
HRHCF – husband realized horse costs, fainted
DQFOY – Dressage Queen fell off – yipee
HGR – have a great ride!
–If you haven’t turned on CNN, or any other news channel for that matter, in the last week then I should tell you that there is a problem in Egypt. You know how it goes–people don’t like government, government doesn’t care, people rampage and pillage, government starts to care, people pillage more, sometimes the government falls. At least, that’s the technical version of what happens. Furthermore, before you go casting judgment on the heathen Egyptian rioters, remember that the United States was founded by pretty much the same process.
At any rate, if you are stuck in the middle of an Egyptian riot in a city with collapsing infrastructure, suddenly horses start to seem like pretty valuable vehicles. And sure enough, the Egyptian protesters have started using horses to great effect. It’s amazing to me that after a hundred years of industrial revolution, after putting mankind on the moon with a Saturn V rocket, that horses are still playing an integral role in world news. Eventers do some incredible things with horses, but we should never forget how important horses have been in shaping the history of the world.
—Shockwave discussion at the AAEP [TheHorse.com]
–We have an exciting lineup of spring guest bloggers coming soon so stay tuned for that.
—Ecogold never neglects the Canadians [Ecogold’s blog]
–Pennfield has added two new dealers, one is called Anderson Hardware in Joppa, MD, and the other is Higby’s Country Feed in Dixon, CA–which is their first dealer in Northern California. Check out their dealer locator for more information.
–Don’t forget to enter our EN Point Two Contest
–Also, the world famous SmartPak blog has two posts featuring eventers today: ‘The top-10 eventing products,’ and ‘Meet Cynthia and Do It Exact.’
—Best of the blogs: The Galloping Vet
That’s all for now. I’ll be around throughout the day with all of your eventing news, commentary, and fun assuming I don’t wreck my truck on the way to Florida. We have a new sponsor announcement soon, as well as a new contest starting today. Wherever you may be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day. See you soon…
As we know, the PRO Derby Cross will be held March 5th at the International Equestrian Center of Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. The teams have been chosen from event riders, show jumpers and polo players for the Derby Cross Team Competition hosted by Leslie Law and Boyd Martin. [PRO via COTH]
Team HAYGAIN: Captain P Dutty, Sinead Halpin, Jennie Brannigan, US show jumping coach Katie Prudent, and polo player Nic Roldan
Team FarmVet/Cavalor: Captain Buck Davidson, Bruce Davidson, Will Faudree, show jumper Aaron Vale, and polo player Kris Kampsen
Team O’Connor: Captain Karen O’Connor, Clark Montgomery, Hannah Sue Burnett, show jumper Laura Kraut, and polo player John Gobin
Team Triple Crown: Captain Allison Springer, Marcia Kulak, Will Coleman, show jumper Georgina Bloomberg, and poloist Luis Escobar
Team Canada: Captain Kyle Carter, Rebecca Howard, Jessica Phoenix, Canadian show jumping legend Ian Millar and polo player Brandon Phillips
This is shaping up to be a pretty cool derby cross. Obviously, the strength of each team will be determined by what horses the riders take to the competition. Personally, I wouldn’t take my 4* horse to a derby cross if I had one, but I would imagine that some will. I’ll make full odds when we learn who the horses are going to be, but just looking at the teams right now, I give Team Farm Vet/Cavalor an early 2:1 betting line advantage because they have two Davidsons, both of whom seriously know how to make the time in the show jumping, Aaron Vale–he’s pretty good at show jumping too, and also Will who will leave them all up. Go eventing.
Eventing in the US has two primary winter locations: Ocala, FL and Aiken, SC. With all due respect to California, Southern Pines, and other areas of significant winter training, most of the 4* riders and coaches migrate to Ocala or Aiken. Conventional wisdom says that Aiken and Ocala are pretty equal: Ocala has David, Aiken Has Phillip, Ocala has Rocking Horse and the Florida Horse Park, Aiken has Full Gallop and many other great events–you get the idea. But, our thinking might begin to change from looking at the High Performance training schedule. I knew that Aiken would have three of the A-listers (PD, Boyd, and Kim) and many of the B-listers, but I was surprised to see truly how many B-listers and developing riders are in Aiken compared to Ocala and California this year. Here are the totals from the most recent training session schedules:
High Performance A-List:
Aiken: 3 (Kim, Phillip, Boyd)
California: 1 (Amy)
Ocala: 0
High Performance B-List:
Aiken: 5 (Jennie, Allison, Lainey, Will C, and Will F)
Ocala: 3 (Karen, Hannah, Buck)
California: 1 (Tiana)
Developing A and B Lists:
Aiken: 6
Ocala: 5
California: 3
Total High Performance and Developing riders on the schedule:
Aiken: 14
Ocala: 8
California: 5
Make no mistake that Ocala and California have a lot of really talented 4* riders, but it is interesting and surprising that Aiken has more High Performance riders than Ocala and California combined.
Why does Aiken have so many High Performance riders? Personally, I find Aiken to be cheaper than Ocala–a dry stall in Aiken costs about 30% less than a comparable dry stall in Ocala. Also, many of the developing riders travel to Aiken to take lessons from Phillip–which will be an important aspect of his US coaching application. Lastly, Aiken has a horse trials within a one hour drive every weekend from now until April–that’s a big luxury.
As a quick note, when we are looking at the list, remember that there are several Aiken session riders who are not based specifically in Aiken, such as Will Faudree who has a beautiful farm in Southern Pines, NC. Also, several members of the developing rider lists are not scheduled for these first three training sessions, but, knowing where they train, I don’t think it would change the results.
If you will be in Aiken next week, I highly suggest that you stop by and check out the training sessions at Three Runs Plantation. Auditing is free, and last year there were about 30 to 40 people watching each training session. I’ll hopefully make it to Wednesday’s session.
Here is the Three Runs Plantation schedule [via USEA]:
| Sunday, Feb. 6
8:00am Boyd Martin (HP A List) |
Monday, Feb. 7
8:00am Arden Wildasin (Dev. B) |
| Tuesday, Feb. 8
8:00am Phillip Dutton (HP A) |
Wednesday, Feb. 9
8:00am Phillip Dutton |
Also, Team USA is getting their buff on. The High Performance riders will also spend time in Aiken working with a US Olympic Committee nutritionist, sports psychologist and a strength/conditioning specialist. Go eventing.
Here are a few quick notes for your Wednesday afternoon:
–The Full Gallop live scores don’t appear to be updating yet. Hopefully the scores will start showing up soon. When they do start being posted, they will be available here. Coren is at Full Gallop today, so we’ll keep you posted on anything that happens.
–Thanks to Annie for writing a great first good news post this morning. We hope to make it a weekly or at least bi-monthly series called “Good News Wednesday.” The goal is to draw attention to the many fantastic organizations, people, and stories around eventing that often get forgotten. I have also made CANTER Eventing Nation’s new ‘Cause of the Month’ in our EN sidebar. Again, the goal is just to spread the word about CANTER’s wonderful efforts–there’s nothing in the world like an OTTB.
–In our morning N&N comments, EN reader faybe asked for my thoughts on the USEA’s new policy requiring a bill of sale to change registered horse ownership. We wrote about this a few weeks ago when the USEA first changed the policy, but the USEA’s ENewsletter went out today and announced the change again. I like the policy change despite the slight added inconvenience. It was embarrassing for the USEA that people could (and did) change ownership without any verification at any time, and the USEA has developed a simple and elegant solution. There was originally a controversy about people not wanting to reveal private informantion by submitting the bill of sale (such as purchase price) but the USEA quickly ammended the policy to allow us to black out any private information before submitting the bill of sale.
–If you are in Aiken, be sure to check out the ICP Jumping Symposium with CMP and P Dutty at Paradise Farm on February 7th from 9am to 3:30pm. Phillip will teach XC riding to 3 groups of victims riders. Admission is $40 per spectator. I’d also suggest going to the training sessions at Three Runs Plantation, which are completely free–more on those in a bit. [USEA]
–The USEA will be launching a new online Express Entry system on February 8th. It’s called Xentry–get it, ‘express entry’–and will hopefully streamline the entry process. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to spend more time riding and less time filling out entries. [USEA]
–One last clarification to make from a couple email questions we have gotten is that, as we have said before, even though helmets are now required in all US national divisions up through advanced, the FEI has not changed its helmet rule. This means that in competitions with both FEI and national divisions, there will be different helmet rules in place depending on whether you are riding in an FEI or national division–with strapped/approved helmets only required in the dressage for the national divisions. Clear as mud? Hopefully the FEI will adopt a full helmet rule soon, but I don’t see that as very likely. See the FEI eventing rules for full explanation. [FEI Rules]
–US Eventing High Performance has a new Facebook page. Check it out and ‘like’ it. [High Performance Facebook]
Go eventing.
