There is a horse trials today!!  While most of Eventing Nation is either stuck in snow or at work, Full Gallop in Aiken is hosting a one day Beginner Novice through Intermediate horse trials today.  One day events in the middle of the week are very rare here in the United States, but they are common in the UK.  One-days are possible in Aiken because most of the riders are winter visitors so they are probably working in eventing, and have more schedule flexibility than eventers with an office job.  Furthermore, competing on a Wednesday makes it convenient for the pros to focus on their younger horses.  Full Gallop will host another event next Wednesday as well.  There aren’t any major horses competing today, but it might be fun to watch the live scores at work or stranded at home in the snow.  [Live Full Gallop Scores]

–A bill to make it a potential felony for employers to assist illegal immigrants has passed in the Kentucky Senate.  The Kentucky horse industry is worried because if they actually stop farms from employing illegal immigrants, it will restrict the supply of labor, which will in turn raise the cost of labor, thus raising costs throughout the horse industry.  The other side of the argument says that Kentucky farms are currently openly and wantonly employing illegal immigrants, so what does it say if we do nothing to try and stop it?  [TheHorse.com]   

—Training sessions get started on Thursday in Ocala for the High Performance and Developing riders.  They run in Ocala from Thursday to Saturday and then in Aiken from Sunday to Wednesday.  I’ll hopefully get to attend and report from Friday and Saturday in Ocala and then Aiken on Wednesday if my schedule unfolds properly.

–Speaking of Full Gallop, there was a bit of a confusion about helmets in Aiken.  Full Gallop Farm’s website said on Tuesday that Intermediate will not be affected by the new helmet rule (the website has since been corrected).  The USEA has responded with the following reminder:

“Effective immediately, ASTM/SEI-approved helmets must be worn at all times while on grounds at a national competition. This includes the dressage phase as well as on-grounds hacking, and is applicable to all national levels (Beginner Novice through Advanced)“

The easiest solution of course is to just wear your helmet all the time.  [Full Gallop Website]

–The NAJYRC (Young Riders) has added endurance, and no I don’t mean they are bringing back the long format. [COTH]

–A massive winter storm is sweeping across the Midwestern and Northeastern US.  We wish our readers in Area IV, VIII, I, and II the best of luck riding it out, no pun intended.  Stay safe and be sure to keep an eye on snow piling up on barn roofs.  The rest of us (on the east coast) will just get rained on.  [CNN]

–In our ‘let’s discuss’ post Tuesday night about the most important qualities for the next US coach, I think Meghann has the funniest response: “Non-CMP-ness.”  Mark is a good coach and I think all of the riders gain something from working with him.  Uncle Mark just doesn’t do a good job selling the program to the public.  Sponsorships and, more importantly, event horse ownership depends on getting people excited about the US High Performance program.  Nothing gets people excited like a dynamic leader, and in this sense the new coach needs to be the exact opposite of Mark.

—Remembering Barbaro [Bleacher Report via Paulick Report]

–Recently JER sent me an email suggesting I check out Phoebe Buckley’s website and video diary as something cool to link to on EN, and I was extremely impressed.  Phoebe is a UK-based eventer who’s probably best known for her many trips around Burghley and Badminton on the 15hh grey mare Little Tiger.  As JER explained, Phoebe is remarkable in many ways; one that gets mentioned most often is that she is a Traveller by heritage.  Travellers are a nomadic group of Irish origin who have their own traditional language and customs — and are heavily discriminated against in Ireland and the UK.  Phoebe maintains an excellent video diary showing many elements of her life with horses.  No I don’t have a crush on Phoebe.  At all.  [Phoebe’s Website, Video Diary via JER]

–Today’s Tack of the Day item is a FITS Half Zip Long Sleve Tech Shirt for $20 off retail–hurry it’s only available until noon. [TOTD]

—Best of the Blogs: Nunn Finer=Excellence in Service — Nunn Finer is one of Eventing Nation’s sponsors because not only do they make fantastic products but they stand by them with excellent customer service.  When you buy Nunn Finer, you know you are getting quality.

–Rocking Horse recap [eventersmom blog]

–Clark Montgomery and Jessica Phoenix were the most polished at Rocking Horse [Samantha’s blog]

That’s all for now.  I’ll be around throughout the day and Annie will have the first post in her mysterious new series.  Check back throughout the day for all your eventing news, commentary, and fun.  See you soon…

Since we haven’t talked about the US coaching search since…well, the last post, I thought we might talk about it again.  By now, all of the entries are officially in and there are a few points that I think are very important as we follow the process over the next weeks and months.  First, and most importantly, I am confident that not everyone who has applied has been made public–I think there are at least one or two more applicants than the 5 we know about now. 

Furthermore, the reality is that there is nothing that says for certain we will ever know who all of the applicants are.  As I mentioned Monday night, this is a private process for good reasons, and the only applicants we are sure to know about that we don’t know about now are those that the Search Committee puts on the short list to pass along to the Active Athletes.  I’m repeating myself, but anyone who remains private during the Search Committee and also doesn’t make the short list might remain unknown forever.  This is a job application and we should be ok with that.  Besides, a little mystery makes things interesting.  Now I’ll pretend to move onto news and notes, but really I’ll just keep writing about the coaching search:

–I think this is the third time I have published the list of 5 confirmed applications, but there’s always that one reader who has been in Siberia for two weeks, looks at EN for 30 seconds, and then shoots us an email asking who all the applicants are.  Also, lists give me a chance to make blatant typos.

Leslie Law
David O’Connor
Phillip Dutton and Bobby Costello
Jimmy Wofford
The Hoys

–The US Pony Club has named new officers. They were all voted into office because they didn’t have dirt on the bottom of their boots.  We love the Pony Club, I’m just jealous because I was in 4-H.  [COTH]

–Over the weekend Team Canada won Equestrian of the Year for their silver medal WEG performance.  Yes, there were lots of acceptance speeches and merrymaking, and the trophy looked like a Chinese entre.  [Ecogold blog]

–British Eventing has posted a positive report about the first event of their 2011 Jump Training series.  Lec recently wrote about the series as part of her dicussion of the British coaching system. Basically BE Accredited trainers teach at competitions, with schooling and coaching taking place simultaneously. It seems like an excellent way to get up and coming British riders a chance to work with experienced coaches that they might not otherwise get a chance to ride with.  [British Eventing]

–I think we might have had a Marmaduke posting on Sport Horse Nation yesterday.  Seriously though, Sport Horse Nation started based on reader requests for a sport horse classified and it has turned into a tremendous service.  An average of 1 out of every 10 classifieds we post leads to an email from the person saying they sold their horse (or saddle) through SHN and almost everyone I know who posts ads gets phone calls.  People have also reported a much higher response rate than other classifieds.  $15 and 3 minutes for a great shot at selling your horse is a pretty darn good deal.  [SHN]

–Yesterday I mentioned that the Chronicle won a USEF Pegasus award.  What I forgot to mention was that our good friends at the USEA also won a Pegasus award.  Josh, Emily, and Leslie won the media award for best affiliate organization publication.  Those guys are a pleasure to work with and the Eventing USA magazine is a really fantastic service to eventing.  The magazine is upgraded and even better than ever this year, and we’ll tell you more about that soon.

–Ian Stark will chair the International Eventing Forum in Gloucestershire next week which will involve a series of presentations from various vets and riders including WFP.  The theme of the forum is “risky business.” [Horsetalk] 

–Sarah ‘works like a convict’ [Boyd’s Blog]

—Best of the Blogs: 3 CTs in 5 days…only in Aiken   

That’s all for now.  I have EN all day, but if today turns out to be as busy as yesterday then I’ll turn the writing over to the Chinchillas at noon and go ride for the rest of the day.  See you soon…

If you haven’t already noticed it, we have a new SmartPak banner graphic posted in the EN sidebar.  The banner is pretty self explanatory–it means that you can get free shipping for SmartPaks over $40!  This is great news because you save some money while getting the fabulous SmartPak system for your horse.  SmartPaks are cost effective, they eliminate supplement errors, and they are convenient as heck, and now you don’t have to pay UPS to get them. 

SmartPak and EN’s other wonderful sponsors have helped keep the heat on at the EN headquarters and our Chinchilla army well fed this winter, so be sure to support our sponsors by shopping with them.  Click here or, as always, on the banner to check out all the great SmartPak options. 

In my news and notes this morning I mentioned a tweet by Ecogold that it was rumored My Boy Bobby had retired and would continue being ridden at the lower levels.  The Chronicle has confirmed that Bobby is retired and that there are no plans to compete him at any lower level events, but Bobby will continue to be ridden and worked throughout his retirement to keep him happy.  Bobby’s owner, Carl Segal said regarding the decision to retire Bobby:

“We don’t want to chase it.  Some people just keep going and going and going until the horse breaks, but we figure it’s good for an athlete to go out on top sometimes.” 

Certainly this was a classy decision by Buck and the Segals to retire Bobby rather than trying to push the line too hard to the detriment of such a fabulous horse.  Lots of fans loved Bobby for his dressage talent, but I loved him because he was such an honest and kind jumper and because he had an incredible heart galloping on XC.  You will be deeply missed Bobby.  Go eventing.  [COTH]

If you didn’t catch the news last night (don’t worry, only Coren reads Eventing Nation on Sunday nights), Leslie Law became the 5th confirmed application for the US coaching position.  I say ‘application’ because there have actually been 7 applicants with the two paired applications of the Hoys and Bobby/Phillip.  My guess is that there will still be one or two more applicants, but we can safely say that the USEF’s Search Committee now has a wide variety of choices. 

The application deadline is today, and then the next major step in the process is when the USEF Search Committee will pass a short list onto the Active Athletes Committee.  Wisely but frustratingly, a deadline has not been announced for when that step or the final hiring decision will occur.  We’ll have more about Leslie Law later, but my first reaction is that it’s a very good application from the standpoint that Leslie is familiar with US eventing, having lived in the US for 4 years, but he is also very independent because he has never been part of the USEF’s system.

Now for your news and notes, which are scientifically guaranteed to cure a case of the ‘Mondays’:

—Buck Davidson kicked butt at Rocking Horse, winning two intermediate divisions and taking second in the other intermediate division.  Buck was riding Ballynoecastle RM in the Open Intermediat-B and won by 8 points.  Canadian Kendal Lehari placed first and second in the Intermediate/Preliminary.  I could tell you a story about Kendal’s jack russell, but I should probably stay on topic.  Leslie Law won the Prelim Horse division on Amarna, edging Karen O’Connor by two points. [Rocking Horse Results (FL)]

–The Pine Top results page appears to be offline at the time I am writing this, but I can tell you from chatting with someone at Pine Top on Sunday that Nathalie Pollard won a prelim division on a 20.  That dominant finish was likely made all the more satisfying by the fact that she beat her husband Michael who was in the same division.  Nathalie has been taking a maternity break from riding for the past 3 years, but she obviously hasn’t lost a step from her previous USEF training list days.  Nathalie scores 9’s for rider about half the time…and 10’s the other half of the time.  To get an 8 on rider you need to have perfect position, to get a 9 you need to have perfect position and have the horse so well tuned to the aids that it looks like you are doing absolutely nothing.  Seriously, go watch Nathalie ride dressage at an event some time, it’s a very humbling experience for us dressage mortals.  [Pine Top Results]   

–Buck Davidson spent all of Saturday at Rocking Horse riding in a Green Bay Packers jersey because he lost a bet with Jon Holling, who is a big Packers fan.  If you can find a photo of Buck wearing the Packers jersey, please send in to the EN Team at [email protected].  It will certainly be worth EN Karma, and it might be worth an EN hat.  Speaking of which, yes, the hats are coming soon.  More importantly, who is EN rooting for in the Super Bowl?  Which reminds me Jon, whose my little…?  Inside jokes were not meant for websites.

–Ecogold, one of Eventing Nation’s fantastic sponsors, tweeted Sunday night that “Buck Davidson no longer rides My Boy Bobby, who will have a happy future at a lower level.”  Ecogold has a pretty good source for this, but I haven’t confirmed it yet.  For what it’s worth, keeping Bobby sound while getting him 4* fit has always been a challenge, but Bobby is one of the truly great US horses and I would hate to see him retire from the upper levels so soon.  A sponsor finding news for EN?  Gotta love it.  Also, if that’s not enough, the Ecogold Facebook page reports that 23 Canadian pairs have already applied for the Pan Ams.  @ecogold  @eventingnation

–Eventing Nation was rocking loud and proud courtesy of the announcer at the Rocking Horse HT.  Cyndi Kurth is absolutely one of my favorite announcers in eventing, and not just because she was able to sneak in two Eventing Nation shout-outs while our very own Annie Yeager was galloping around the cross-country.  I have already sent an email request to Cyndi to not mention EN when she announces my rides because that would almost certainly make me fall off.

–In other news, the world is all ears for a major grand prix showdown.  The champion Swedish team is facing staunch opposition from the Brits in the UK’s first rabbit Grand National.  The BBC has all the coverage (cute bunny video included) [BBC via the great one, JER]  If you send us enough awesome news tips, you can get an official EN title like ‘the great one’ too.    

–Top 10 reasons to wear your helmet [Riders4Helmets]

–Samantha welcomes Obi home [Samantha’s blog]

–Zara Phillips will marry Rugby player Mike Tindall in Edinburgh on July 30th. [Daily Mail]

–Winter hacking with Buzzterbrown [Youtube]

–Something that I forgot over the weekend was to give a big congratulations to the Chronicle for winning the USEF Pegasus award for General Publication.  It’s a pleasure to work along side the Chronicle on a daily basis and they have some really great journalists working for them.  A special shout-out to the Chronicle crew that I see regularly at events including Sara, Kat, Lisa, and Lindsay. [Chronicle] 

–Hay is becoming so scarce in the UK that supply companies are having to import hay from as far away as Pakistan.  As one supplier exaplined: “We’re importing hay from Norway, Sweden, France, Pakistan, Canada and America and I’m trying Morocco next.” [Horse and Hound]

–Today’s Tack of the Day items are high and standard neck heavy turnouts for 35% off retail.  Click here to view them, but hurry–you only have until noon ET before TOTD posts new items.  And, whenever you see the TOTD banner in the EN sidebar, be sure to click on it and check out what new items they have each day. [Tack of the Day]

–Eventing Nation seems a bit brighter today, can you tell why?    

–Be sure to enter our EN Point Two contest.  Some people have told me that the video is dull to watch, which I can agree with, but I think it’s well worth the chance to win a Point Two Airjacket.  I had to watch the entire video and I don’t even get the chance to win one!

That’s all for now.  We are speeding towards the most exciting two months in eventing and Eventing Nation is absolutely at the top of its game.  I’ll be leaving for Ocala this week, but I am around all day today with regularly scheduled posts and breaking news as it happens.  Now more than ever, thanks for coming to the Eventing Nation community for your latest eventing news, commentary, and fun.  Wherever you may be, thanks for making us part of your day.  See you soon…

EN’s good friends Holly and Chuck Hudspeth will be having a baby girl in early June!  Holly told me they are naming her Hailey Charles Hudspeth so that Chuck won’t have to change the monograms on Holly’s trailer if Hailey decides to become an eventer.  To be honest, it’s actually making me feel slightly old watching all these young eventers growing up.

We’ll miss seeing Holly competing this spring, but we will get to see Holly’s Last Monarch aka “Stewie” in action with Boyd at all the spring events. Holly, of Raleigh, NC, was an EN guest blogger for most of last year and came frustratingly close to making the US WEG squad with Stewie.  Major EN baby karma for the Hudspeth family!  Go eventing.

What would a Saturday be on Eventing Nation without a La Biosthetique Sam update?  I’m starting to feel like one of those reporters that your local news station sends to the zoo in Panda mating season–“Well Tom, there is no action, we don’t know when there might be any action, and frankly I’m not sure if we really want to see any action.  Back to you.“

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, Sabine Kreuter, who owns 60% of Sam, and the Jungs, who own 40% of Sam, have made regular contradictory claims. 

Earlier today, the posturing continued when Ms. Kreuter spoke with the Horse and Hound.  Ms. Kreuter claims that she had been speaking with the German Olympic Equestrian Association (DOKR) for over 18 months and they had promised to buy her out.  As the article explains:

“Ms. Kreuter would not discuss the price, but said talks ground to a halt when she said the ride must stay with Michael and Sam could not be sold on.”

Ms. Kreuter also said that the aforementioned vetting that revealed a heart murmur was performed without her consent.  She confirmed that the DOKR had offered a lease to own agreement but she was only interested in selling Sam. 

Sam will be at Ms. Kreuters barn starting at the 1st of February and Michael will keep the ride for now.  Neither the DOKR nor the Jung family spoke in the H&H story.  [Horse and Hound]

Back to you Tom.

After a long week around Eventing Nation we have finally made it to Friday.  Thankfully the Team didn’t party too hard at the EN corporate headquarters while I was away, although the Chinchillas did shoot a tv.  I’d say that the most exciting news from the past week is that it looks like the USEF is going to have several great applicants for the next US eventing coach.  There was a time when I was worried there might only be three applicants but it now looks like that number will be closer to five or six.  I thought about applying for the job, but I think I fall a little short in the experience category and I have won at least a few fewer Olympic medals than all of the other applicants.  I guess I still have the weekend to think things over…Now for your daily eventing news and notes:

–It’s nearly Superbowl time and that means Budweiser Clydesdale ads.  So far, we don’t know much about what the ads will look like other than this quick preview of Clydesdales mysteriously galloping across the desert.  It seems like Budweiser is working their way up to a western action movie theme, which gives me mixed emotions.  But, Budweiser is a master of marketing so I will refrain from judgment until I see the final ad.  [Regarding Horses]

–Scientists at the University of Sydney have determined that whipping racehorses is futile.  The researchers studied finishing positions in relation to the use of whips and found that whipping did not affect the probability of horses finishing the race in the top placings.  One of the things that I don’t like about horse racing is the pervasive whipping of tired horses, and hopefully this will become less frequent when jockeys learn that it doesn’t do anything to help their chances.  [Horsetalk]

–The recent record snow storms in the US have cause several barn collapses, including one collapse in Somers, Connecticut that led to two horses being euthanized.  Needless to say, snow and horses do not mix very well.  Be sure to keep an eye on your barn’s roof if it is covered in deep snow.  Also, make sure to remember other snow related safety issues, such as keeping your horse trailer cleared of snow in case you have to make an emergency trip to the vet clinic.  [The Jurga Report]

Video from the Somers collapse:

–Researchers at the University of Antwerp in Belgium have discovered why seahorses have heads shaped like horses.  Apparently the arched neck gives the seahorse the ability to flex and extend its head to reach a wider area with its mouth and therefore catch more prey.  Years from now, after aliens take over Earth, alien researchers will spend months researching why humans studied ridiculous things like why seahorses have heads like horses.  [Psyorg]

–Leslie Threlkeld has posted photos from Poplar Place on her website.  Be sure to check them out if you were at Poplar last weekend and buy a few. [LesleThrelkeld.com]

–Ecogold has posted videos from  Dr. Jennie Stone’s presentation about equestrian fitness and physical therapy for humans from the Area II annual meeting.  In my mind, eventing is one of the only high intensity sports where most athletes don’t spend time fitness training outside of the sport.  The top athletes in almost every single sport are known for working harder in the gym than their competitors and it’s time that more eventers adopt that mentality.  [Ecogold Blog]

–The Rocking Horse and Pine Top horse trials are being held this weekend.  Both events are favorites of mine and they are true cornerstones of the spring US eventing scene.  If you are competing this weekend or sometime soon, be sure to check out the FLAIR nasal strips website to give your horse the best possible respiratory health in 2011.

–That’s all for now.  We have the first post of a new and exciting series from Annie later this afternoon and I’ll have all the rest of your eventing news and fun dialed in throughout the day.  Wherever you may be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day.  Go eventing.

First, let me say thanks to Annie for covering my shift with the morning News & Notes.  I assure you that Annie has overstated my condition; I only have a head cold–you know, the kind of head cold that makes you nearly faint when driving down the highway.  Oh well, as they say, the brain is a long way from the heart.  Now, to the fun stuff:  

I have heard from several people who have talked to Bettina this week, and apparently Bettina has been saying that she and Andrew will be applying for the USEF Technical Advisor/Chef position.  My guess is that Bettina would be applying to coach the High Performance squad in the dressage and the developing riders, and Andrew would cover the High Performance jumping.  Bettina has been in the US for the past few days, teaching in Georgia last weekend and at Full Gallop Farm in Aiken this week.  To be clear: the application process is private.  So, unless Bettina and Andrew wish to announce their application, this is neither official nor certain, but let’s just say I like the odds. 

The Hoys have been a name that I have mentioned before as possible applicants.  Bettina is a favorite for US riders to train with when they go to Europe, and pretty much every single US rider who has ridden with Bettina swoons at the prospect of getting her as the dressage coach.  Riders in the US have less experience working with Andrew, but the riders I have spoken with really respect him. 

Bettina, of course, is a former Olympian for Germany and might be best remembered here in the US for her extraordinary Rolex ride in ’09 aboard Ringwood Cockatoo.  Andrew of course won Rolex ’06 on Master Monarch, and is a three-time Olympic team gold medalist riding for Australia.  The only real question now is if they get the job will they make the US riders wear those awful silver XC outfits?

Go eventing.