Happy Thanksgiving Eventing Nation! Annie will be along shortly with a fun post about what some of your favorite riders are thankful for today. But first, Christmas comes early–our friends at Point-Two are offering another chance for Eventing Nation to win one of their airjackets. Simply click the link below, watch a quick video and answer three random guess multiple choice questions. When the contest ends in a few weeks one lucky winner will be randomly chosen from the group of entrants. Of course, if you already have a Point-Two, the prize would make a great Christmas present…or you could always just wear two of them. Please spread the word about the contest to your friends not just to give them a chance to win a $700 airjacket but because lots of entrants make us look good to the bosses. As you remember, Brittany Schneider of Fredericksburg, VA won our first Eventing Nation Point-Two contest earlier this year. Will you be our next winner?
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It’s a boy!
Not that we’re trying to turn Eventing Nation into the go-to source for all eventing baby making news, but it’s a slow news day and I want to welcome Henry Elliott Bull into Eventing Nation. Molly and Eric Bull are based in Central Virginia and they are some of the nicest people in eventing. Henry was born on November 22nd, which means that he has the best birthday ever. Molly of course is a former Rolex rider on Kiltartan and Eric designs and builds XC fences. I guess that means that when young Henry grows us he will build jumps and then jump them. A big congratulations to the Bull family from all of Eventing Nation.
The Chronicle and the Horse and Hound are reporting that Paul Shockenmohle has scheduled a press conference for November 30th to announce Totilas’ new German team rider. H&H says that Paul has indicated that he only wants a German rider.
If you’re wondering what to do with Thanksgiving afternoon, how about setting up an indoor eventing course inspired by the Royal Winter Fair? Remember–safety first Eventing Nation.
In other news, the Korean peninsula is reasonably close to a war that might involve superpowers thanks to a short little insane maniac who happens to run a country. Let’s all just hope that if there is armageddon it happens before we have to watch 24 hours of ‘Black Friday Shopping Mob’ coverage on CNN. We’ll be back later with a special Thanksgiving announcement from Point-Two. Go eventing.
Thanksgiving with the Hollings
‘Tis the season to be thankful. Personally, one of the things I am really thankful for in my eventing career is getting to know Jon and Jenn Holling, and the positive impact they have had on my life. Jenn sent me an email about how wonderful her working students are, which surprised me slightly because, well…I’ll let Jenn explain it.
John,
I was trying to think of a great way to let my present group of working students know how much I appreciate them. As you know I am not one for flowery praise. At present we have a fantastic group of young working student. You know that I must like them as I usually refer to past working students as “the WS’s” .
Megan Johnston, Lexi Scovil and Alex O’Neal. These are the present Holling Eventing family and they make me laugh almost every day.
It is early in the season or late depending on how you look at it but I am enjoying them immensely. I am thankful for this group of students. They are attentive, intelligent and hardworking. They are goal oriented and they are able to roll with the punches. They all check in on your site daily – possibly during the hours that they are to be caring for my horses but I let that slide.
As a side note, this is in no way a bride to convince them not to make the t-shirts that they are threatening to make: “You can not scare me. I work for Jenn Holling”
A safe and wonderful holiday to all.
~Jenn
Congratulatulatory Wednesday News and Notes
Happy day-before-Thanksgiving Eventing Nation! I want to start off today by giving a big congratulations to Holly and Chuck Hudspeth. Holly finally gave me the go-ahead to tell Eventing Nation that she is eating for two these days. The baby is expected next May, and I couldn’t be happier for Holly and Chuck. Holly, of course, is a four-star rider, a member of the 2010 US training list, a good friend of Eventing Nation, and has been a mentor to me for many years. Holly told me that the plan is for Boyd to take her beloved Last Monarch aka “Stewie” (!) to Rolex in 2011. Our astute readers will remember that Boyd took Stewie to Pine Top in February when Holly was recovering from a wrist injury. One of the things I have always admired most about Holly is her ability to balance riding and life, and I’m so excited that a young Hudspeth will be joining Eventing Nation soon. Now for some quick notes:
–JER sent us this interesting article about the realities of eventing at the top level for one Kiwi rider. New Zealander Annabel Wigley moved to Englad 4 years ago along with her horse Black Drum with the goal of riding for New Zealand internationally. The pair barenly missed the 2008 Olympics and then the WEGs this year, and with Black Drum at 16 years old, Annabel decided to sell him while he still had time left to compete. She has moved back to New Zealand with two young horses and the never-ending cycle rolls on…
–Alex Hua Tian did not compete at the Asian Games because he was “too good”–at least according to Horsetalk. The event was not open to horses who had competed 4*’s in 2009 or 2010. There were various rumors before the Games about why Alex was not going to compete, but I for one was surprised that they didn’t find a way to get China’s only major eventing superstar into the competition. Alex has competed three upper level non-4* horses this year.
–Hamish and Dave’s Adelaide day 3 video has been posted. I almost saved it for a ‘video break’ post, but, since it was just uploaded to Youtube, here it is fresh off the press. [VIDEO–Show Jumping Showdown]
–In some sad news, a Pentathlon horse was euthanized at the Asian Games when it fell in the show jumping on Tuesday. The rider, who is from Kazakhstan, was taken to the hospital and is listed in stable condition. We wish the rider and their family the best in their recovery. China won both the individual and team Pentathlon gold medals. [Taiwan News]
—The Eventing Radio Show interviewed Jimmy Wofford this week.
Many of you will be traveling home for Thanksgiving today so be safe on the roads and try not to check Eventing Nation on your phone too often while driving. It looks like Coren is on the road to SC today and Annie is already home in Minnesota, which I think is one of only a few states where the internet is illegal. So, the moral of the story is that I have EN all day. See you soon…
Trend Alert: Horses
How does someone become a certified member of the EN Team, earn a keycard to the Eventing Nation corporate headquarters, and get a reserved seat engraved with their name at the EN round table? Most of the time I personally select people I know from the eventing world who are smart and have a good sense of humor. The other, harder, route is for an aspiring writer to take their chances and send us an email out of the blue, so to speak. Someday we will be organized enough to hold tryouts. Tonight’s new writer–Abigail–was in the later category but it only took a couple of emails for me to ask for a writing sample, and I was quite impressed. What say you Eventing Nation? This isn’t exactly a democracy, but your opinion does matter.
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From Abigail:
Being an eventer, I have never paid much attention to barn fashion. Growing up I would throw on whatever ratty t-shirt I could reach and head to the barn in my riding tights that my mother threatened to throw away on account of the many holes they sported. I managed to master the stock tie sometime around 2006, and from there my show turnout has vastly improved. I still can’t get the hair net trick down, you know that hunter one where they cover their ears and look so trendy…They really should call it a hair trap. Or maze. Maybe after another decade of shows I’ll figure it out.
Last year I started my freshman year of college. Fashion is a whole different ball game on campus. Here the perfected look is one I like to call “under-the-radar-preppy-and-totally-east-coast-with-a-touch-of-trendy.” Girls have spent a lifetime achieving just the right ratio of patagonia to vogue. Having a fair interest in fashion myself, I paid attention to what my peers were wearing and began noticing a disturbing trend. Is that girl really wearing boots with fake spurs? Yeah she totally is. That blazer looks suspiciously like a hunt coat. Dansko clogs were definitely sold at tack stores before the nursing population picked up on them. Same goes for Hunter rain boots. EVERYONE has Hunter rain boots. And don’t even get me started on Ralph Lauren. The whole brand is based on pretending to be an equestrian. On that note, I started getting a lot of compliments on my half chaps. Personally I find this a little odd since they are usually covered in an alluring combination of sweat, horsehair, mud, and a touch of manure. Trendy knows no bounds for a determined nineteen-year-old girl. My hallmates asked why I didn’t wear my riding pants to class. Really guys, they aren’t that comfortable.
Recently I was flipping through a magazine and happened upon this lovely creation from Gucci
Whoever guesses where the inspiration came from gets a lifetime supply of carrots brought to you by Hermes.
Those boots look suspiciously similar to a brand called Blundstone, which probably cost a fraction of the price of their Gucci counterparts. To the non-equestrian, I’m sure this is a novel idea for fall boots. Look at the utility! Both short AND tall, in one pair!
In a recent issue of Vogue, I counted no less than six ads featuring horses. This one was my personal favorite (The first photo. More photos from spread on link):
You can see the confusion in his eyes. What is this crazy woman wearing suede hot pants about to do to my nose? Not barn etiquette anywhere in the continental US (might slide in Europe, considerable undercover reporting must ensue).
No other Olympic sport enjoys the iconic fashion status that riding has. You don’t see Dior mass-producing shoulder pads, however they do use crops as a marketing device.
This is the face of determination. I WILL get this couch through the water.
Heels down, sweetie. Perhaps the fashionable nature of riding leads the public to take it less seriously. Most mainstream sports use equipment that adheres to form meets function standards, while riding (with the exception of cross country) leans towards aesthetics rather than utility. I’m not saying that we should abandon the years of tradition that have led to our current show attire. Clearly it is considered the height of fashion and sophistication. I like my stock tie, I mean when I’m wearing it I’m always prepared with a ready-made tourniquet. What other sport can claim to wear its own first aid kit? None that I can think of.
One of my muggle roommates went shopping yesterday. She came home with a pair of leggings complete with full seat patches. I might rethink wearing my breeches to class. I’ll just have to make sure it’s not the pair with holes.
Sally Cousins – Scheduling Multiple Rides in a Morning
Sally Cousins is a well known rider and coach here in the US and Sally has been a good friend of Eventing Nation from our early days. To learn more about Sally, check out her website. Sally will be guest writing a series of short posts on various eventing topics for Eventing Nation over the next few weeks. This is the first of her posts and it covers the scheduling challenges of one-day horse trials. Our East coast readers are used to seeing Sally at one-day events with 49 horses and most of them typically finish in the top 2. Sally’s experience provides great advice for planning and preparedness for riders with seven horses or just one. Thanks for writing this Sally and thank you for reading.
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From Sally Cousins:
I love the new one-day format where we do all three phases close together. It does however require a huge amount of organization. Ok, it takes an army and you need to start as soon as the times come out. For example I rode four intermediate horses at Maryland horse trials this summer and was scheduled to be done by noon. I am always aware of what the weather is supposed to be because the rain or excessive heat can add to the amount of help you need. We can count on July in Maryland being hot.
Also, the layout of the event is hugely important. At Maryland everything is close together whereas at Fair Hill I have to figure out a way to get the horses quickly out to the cross country field and back once they have finished. I am also careful about what order I ride the horses in and who I have entered.
Joule is not good at the start box so once I am on him I need to stay there or I might not be able to get back on! So, he will not compete often at Fair Hill since I can’t switch his bridle between jumping phases in the middle of the cross country field. I am also very aware of when the divisions change over to the next level so I know when I have to be done. The organizers have been really great about letting me do multiple rides and I want to make sure I don’t keep anyone waiting if I can help it.
In terms of groom support, I plan on having a person a horse and then one extra. The day before I carefully walk both the cross country and show jumping courses. If I have time it is best to walk around each twice. Each time you have to think “where is my next jump” it costs you seconds. On Friday night I write out a schedule of when each horse goes, what tack it wears, what time I need to warm up and who needs to be lead into the box. Before I get on my first horse to do dressage, I go over in my head each of the phases and how I plan to ride them. Before I get on each horse I also think about their strengths and weaknesses, how they need to be ridden differently, or where I need to be more careful.
At most events I have the horses brought to me at the dressage warm up. We need also to be careful that a nervous horse’s “friend” is not led away just before I go into the ring. The studs are changed as soon as the horse is brought back from dressage so that is taken care of. Each horse has a bucket with its own equipment in it. Whenever we have to change a bridle from show jumping to cross country we try to take the horse back to the trailer so we don’t lose it! Personally, I do not wear my vests to show jump. I find them a little bulky and in the summer they are really hot. Usually, I try to show jump two horses then do those two in the cross country while my other rides are getting ready for the jumping phases.
It is really important to work with the ring stewards. Most of them are quite aware of riders with multiple horses and they are great at getting me into the ring. If you wait for three horses for each phase, you have the potential to hold up the event sometimes for up to thirty minutes. Thank you to all the riders out there who so kindly let me go before them. I am aware that my scheduling problem does not have to be yours! I usually have to show jump the last two then do the cross country so I don’t hold up the change over in the show jumping.
I do find it hard to switch back and forth between the cross country and show jumping positions–I have to be aware of each in the warm up. Gatorade and water are brought with each horse and it is important to keep drinking. As you can imagine the cooling out and cleaning up from this whirlwind can take almost as long as the competition itself! At Maryland Horse Trials I had six people helping me. In the heat, it was just enough. I find the one-day type of format easier on the horses if not on the help!
Tuesday Pau Video Break
It’s time for a Pau CCI4* relapse here on EN. Patricia from Ecogold sent me a link to this video from a gentleman she described as the “French Buzzterbrown.” How cool is it that one of our sponsors sends us random links we can use? Congratulations, you are now 8 minutes closer to the end of work.
Ecogold’s Tuesday News and Views
First, it would be impolite for me not to say thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday. The attention that comes with writing for Eventing Nation is something that feels a bit unnatural for me and I am still trying to figure out how to best deal with it. As I look back on the last year on Eventing Nation, I am struck most by how we have grown from a 7 post per week site into a 20-30 post per week site. For every minute we spend writing, it takes two minutes of work behind the scenes working to figure things out, answer emails, and find sponsors to help keep the lights on.
My favorite birthday present on Monday was probably the Planet Earth DVD collection from my Mom. I guess I’m a bit late to the Planet Earth movement, but I have seen several episodes lately and it was pretty much the only thing on my birthday list. For all the impressive things that mankind has invented, Mother Nature is ten times more creative. Now let’s ceck out a few eventing news and notes…
–The Henny story has quieted down considerably since it broke over the weekend. The Friday press release explained that there will be another court hearing next Monday to determine if the court order that put Henny in Peter’s custody will be extended pending a trial. This case is now in the incredibly slow hands of lawyers and judges. Unless both parties can reach an agreement out of court, I expect it to be a while until the situation is resolved.
–A new CCI2* and CCI3* will be held Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh, Scotland next July. Ian Stark is the course designer on the 6,500 acre estate, which is home to the Earl of Hopetoun. A horse trials has been held at the venue for the past 15 years. Being in the UK, we can expect 100 CCI3* entrants and 200 CCI2* entrants.
–The USA Today wrote about the Asian Games because they were the first time in history that horses have been allowed to leave [mainland] China. Well, at least since Genghis Khan conqured, raped, and pillaged most of Eurasia 800 years ago. Before the Asian Games, any foreign horse that competed in [mainland] China would have to be sold in China because it was not allowed to leave.
–Michael Jung made his own three-day by combining dressage and jumping classes at the Stuttgart Masters and he won them all. Michael just keeps impressing me more and more and I have a ton of respect for eventers who can beat pure dressage riders or show jumpers–Michael can beat both.
–Miley Cyrus turns 18 today, which is probably exciting for either Coren, or Annie, or both.
–Speaking of mediocre music, remember the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto a few weeks ago? Apparently one of the dressage riders entered the musical freestyle arena to a soundtrack of her daughter leaving a message on an answering machine saying that she altered the music to a montage of more modern songs. I’ve Got a Feeling is a decent song but it’s so summer of 2009, Dynamite is solid but overplayed, I have no idea what the next song in the montage is, and Memories with Kid Cudi is excellent. Miley Cyrus is always terrible. Begin comment war.
Courtesy of Andrea
Best of the Blogs: Parents who invite their daughters out to ride my horse
VIDEO: Hamish and Dave uncut interview with Emma Mason
That’s all for now. Check back soon for a busy day on Eventing Nation, including guest articles from two writers who have never written for us before. See you soon…
Eventing at the Asian Games, part 6 – Happy Trails
First, thanks to Coren for the very public birthday wishes–a simple text would have sufficed, but I guess now we know who gets stuck with the Saturday morning post this weekend. Terri Impson of Thailand has sent us her 6th and final report from the Asian Games in China. The VA based horses and riders who competed in the Games are on their way back to the States now and I hope they get here before this brief stretch of beautiful autumn weather ends. As always, thanks for writing this Terri and thank you for reading.
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From Terri Impson:
The Thai Team ended up taking the Silver medal–our first equestrian medal since 1998! Japan was Gold with all double clear rides. Their riders were all experienced show jumpers before they tured to Eventing and they were fresh off the WEG’s in Kentucky. China took the Bronze and their Team was so overwhelmed on the podium I thought they were going to burst. One member turned to us and apologized for his enthusiasm saying he was just “so excited” to be there for Eventing. I was so proud of our Team. We were the youngest by far of any of the countries and at times it felt like high school competing against the NBA. While on the podium, we were glad to have Kim at our backs reminding us to wave, the boys to remove their helmets for the anthem and our experienced grooms to handle the horses in all the chaos.
The show jumping course wasn’t particularly huge, but it was very wide. The final combination was along the crowd and off a turn; a max width oxer TWENTY-SEVEN feet to a vertical then depending on how you jumped in, a 7/8/9 stride line to the final fence which was a funny looking medallion gate oxer. The stadium was packed and the crowd enthusiastic. When you hit a rail the gasps were so audible you could hear them from the barns a good distance away–they were really rooting for the horses of every country to jump clean.
The Thai Team had two horses in the top 14, which meant they would show jump an additional course for the individual medal. Unfortunately Nina Ligon just missed the podium with a rail down on a vertical but was still riding high graciously on our Team success. Japan’s Kenki Sato won the individual Gold riding Toy Boy (you have to smile) and it couldn’t have gone to a nicer person. He was always smiling and polite–unchanging from the quarantine in Aachen, Germany to Guangzhou, China. He’s also a Buddhist monk and when asked at the press box if this was his first Games, he very nicely answered “No, the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky was my first Games.” Ha!! It’s nice to know that the press over in Asia is as ignorant of our sport as in other countries.
As this is my first international Games competition I will rely on the comment from Kim that this is one of the best run Games she has been to. I do know that everything ran without a hitch. The buses were impeccably punctual, the schedules were adhered to and we never wanted for anything. Everything was top notch down to the footing and the farrier facilities. The same company that handled the WEG’s ran the bedding and feed here in Guangzhou and service was prompt, courteous, and fresh. China even adjusted their meal schedules for the equestrian athletes seeing how late we came in from the barns and including dinner items in the “night snack time ” service that ran from 830-1100.
I am now in Bangkok, Thailand with my Mother, who is the whole reason I decided to embark on this little historic adventure halfway around the world. I took a tough little 1/2 Connemara by Grange Finn Sparrow, owned by my friend and student, that I correctly thought would make the very long journey look like a walk in the park. This was an opportunity to represent my other country and my chosen sport in a positive light and get others excited about it. When I saw the expression on that Chinese athlete’s face on the podium, I remembered all the trials and tribulations that no one will know he has gone through to get there, the “almosts” and the disappointments—the journey—this time to fruition, fueling the drive to do it all again. Perhaps I’m too American or perhaps I’m too oblivious (!) but while being interviewed by a woman Chinese reporter, the questions turned to how I felt about being an inferior “female” to the males and also what I thought of the general knowledge that men were much more successful in Eventing than women. After remembering quickly to quell the “inside American voice” I referred to the sport being the only Olympic Sport that pitted women against men EQUALLY, but that I also believed they were also equals in life. Only then did I remember that Nina and I were the only women on the podium and that in other parts of the world Eventing is considered a “men’s sport” WHO KNEW?! Then I briefly worried that I should be careful with my comments as I did want to make it out of China and back home! Big smile!
I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing our Team’s story, big thanks to John and Eventing Nation for letting us. I’m ready to kick back for a few days, get a pedicure and then get back to my support team on my farm in freezing Virginia. Gotta hop on my fancy five yr old – ’tis the season to sharpen the flatwork!
Sunday Afternoon Video
We are about 10 days past Veterans Day, or we might say V-Day +10. A reader named Peggy recently sent us this excellent video from ABC about how horses help our veterans recover from injuries they sustained protecting this great country. It’s a great reminder of the price paid for freedom and how horses are creatures of healing.
Go horses and veterans.
BREAKING: Court Battle for HJ Hampton
Friday nights are known for being slow news times, but not tonight. It’s late so let’s get right to the facts. Peter Atkins and his legal team just sent Eventing Nation the following press release regarding a legal dispute between Peter and Linda Martin. The release:
HJ Hampton Center of Partnership Dispute
In a dispute surrounding the partnership interests of HJ Hampton, on November 2nd Linda Martin took HJ Hampton from Peter Atkins’ barn without his permission or knowledge.
Atkins was extremely concerned for the horse’s well being. On November 17th, Atkins obtained a court order that required Ms. Martin to surrender the horse to Atkins and further restrains Ms. Martin from selling, transferring, or otherwise taking any action affecting Atkins’ rights to HJ Hampton.
A hearing is scheduled for November 29, 2010 to determine whether the order will be extended pending a trial on the merits of the dispute.
HJ Hampton is a nine year-old Argentine-bred Selle Francais gelding. Atkins has been his exclusive rider, trainer, and caregiver since 2007. Atkins and HJ Hampton represented Australia in the 2010 World Equestrian Games, where they finished 24th.
As is usually the case with legal disputes, everyone needs to be very careful about what is said and when it is said, but a few things are clear at this point. Henny, perhaps Eventing Nation’s most beloved horse, is involved in an ownership and custody dispute. As the release explains, Henny is safely under the care of Peter’s camp by court order as of Friday evening but his legal battle is clearly just beginning. For what it is worth (pretty much nothing because anyone can change ownership online for $25), Linda Martin is listed as Henny’s owner by the USEA. [Horse Record PDF]
It seems that the Jung/Kreuter feud over La Biothetique Sam is playing itself out in a disturbingly similar pattern here in the US. Peter has made Henny from nothing into an eventing superstar and, as absurd as it sounds to any of us that Henny could be sold out from Peter, the ridiculous reality is that lawyers are now in control of the situation. We will of course have more later.
Update: Eventing Safety John’s view of the situation from Australia pretty well sums it up: “this is CRAP.”
Eventing at the Asian Games, part 5 – XC
Friday was an exciting day of XC at the Asian Games in China. The course seems to have ridden well with the top of the team and individual leader boards remaining unchanged. Terri Impson of Thailand was kind enough to send us her report following the XC, and her report starts with one of my favorite opening lines we have ever had on EN. Thanks for writing this Terri and thank you for reading. [Individual XC results, team results]
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From Terri Impson:
What a great day for cross-country in the mountains of China! The weather was beautiful. A good breeze was blowing, and misting fans were set up with tons of room for icing and cooling out.The warm up was well run with lots of room to gallop, a smattering of solid fences mixed in, and even a bending line of roll top to roll top. Surprisingly, on paper there were not very many problems or time penalties, but thats’s because a lot of rounds resembled the long format phase B “chase” complete with some chip-ins before the fences. While in warm up, I watched the first horse out, and I thought to myself that there was no way I could go that fast even if I wanted to! The crowd control problems that we were worried about was a non-issue as the Chinese corralled them behind wide tape in sections and didn’t let them near the ropes. A couple of teams had team members that were eliminated or retired which is very costly-if one team member has to retire or is eliminated you add 1000 points to your team score; but most teams have bought some really nice horses that did their job well. This will probably lend credit to the rumor that the next Asian Games will be a CCI**. Obviously safety is an issue we face everyday in this sport and today was a good day for eventing safety in China. If we want this sport to survive, it’s the little countries that are going to have to catch the fever and fuel the support to keep this sport alive in the international arena.
The top three of standings remain the same and Thailand is still trailing Japan by 2 points going into tomorrow’s jog. We had a fairly exciting cross country day with a couple of good sticks by myself and our teammate Kingwan Promton, who we know as “Ice,” and Nina having a well ridden “kick on ride ” through the water. Ice had a sticky fence to the second element of the double corners and “bellied the fence” a bit just flicking the red flag off with his horse’s right foot. He took a check back to make sure he was through the flags and then galloped on home through the finish flags.
This would prove very influential as about a half an hour after cross-country the official protest from Japan came in claiming he had a stop. We provided a united Thai Team front with all the coaches, chef d’equipe, team captain and Ice at the Stewards/Sports info room and waited as the minutes ticked by as China joined the protest and then Qatar as well. I started to look for a sign up sheet to see if the rest of the teams were going to jump on board! After a stressful two hour wait, someone finally came up with video from the backside of the course and the still frame indeed showed the horse squarely through the flags. We headed back to the barns happy but tired. I guess it’s guilty until you can prove yourself innocent!
The jog is tomorrow at 9 am and then Show Jumping in the afternoon. The course looks colorful and bold- here’s hoping everyone has their game on and is ready to jump.
Hamish and Dave at Adelaide, part 2
As usually happens when I am on the road, today has turned into a busy day around Eventing Nation. We’ll have an Asian Games report from Terri and a post by Annie posted shortly. Welcome to the weekend Eventing Nation!
Zenyatta’s Friday News and Views
Zenyatta graces the top of an Eventing Nation post today for what I imagine will be the final time for quite a while–probably until her first foal is born. The greatest female racehorse of all time officially retired earlier this week. While I am sad that we won’t get to see her race any more, Zenyatta’s connections have once again shown their class by gracefully moving her on to the next phase of her life while she is still happy and healthy. Zenyatta will retire to a life of making babies at Lane’s End Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Z lost the title of “greatest racehorse ever” by six inches at the Breeders’ Cup Classic this year, but, as time wears on, the memory of those six inches will fade and increasingly be replaced by thoughts of her greatness and charisma.
—The La Biosthetique Sam drama continues today with news that Sam has arrived back at Michael Jung’s barn [pferdenews.de]. On Thursday, a German site and the COTH reported that, following the Tuesday court injunction ordering Sam to be returned to Michael, Kreuter and the Jungs reached a written agreement specifying the terms of the return. From what I have heard, the agreement allows prospective buyers to try Sam at Michael’s farm and it prevents the Jungs from selling the horse for a profit at a later date if they end up buying Sabine’s share of Sam. While all of this has been going on, Michael is competing at the prestigious Stuttgart horse show and he has been kicking butt and taking names–he has won three upper level dressage divisions and the indoor eventing competition.
Sabine Kreuter has been pretty quiet throughout this entire process so we don’t have her full version of the story, but it sounds like there is a 1 million Euro difference between what Sabine says she can sell her 60% share of Sam for and what Michael’s sponsors have offered her. Sabine is restricted from selling the horse until an agreement between her and the Jungs expires on December 31st, and, unless the Jungs can find more money to offer, it looks like Sabine will wait the 40 days and sell Sam to her 2 million Euro mystery buyer. Unless, of course, she is bluffing. As always, thanks to LD for keeping us posted on the situation.
–Coren wrote a post about this on Thursday, but please check out the CANTER online charity auction and bid on a few items. There are tons of great lessons with top coaches and many other awesome items up for bidding. Most importantly, the money is going to a fantastic cause. There’s a lesson with Bruce going to $85 right now–are you kidding me? I don’t want that selling for anything less than $200. And you know bidding gives you great EN Karma.
–The Horse and Hound is reporting that horse owners are likely to cheat on their spouses. The first thing to note is that the H&H says that the finding are from a study by a website called EllicitEncounters.co.uk, so I think we should be at least a little skeptical from the start. The reported study of 2,000 UK cheaters revealed that 8% of cheaters owned horses or ponies. I suppose if we wanted to be scientific, we would have to compare that figure to the percentage of faithful spouses who own horses, but the story didn’t go that far. One explanation for the correlation of cheating to horse ownership might be that, as the study says, both cheaters and horse owners tend to be higher-income earners. I think we should just chalk this up to hunter princesses giving us all a bad name…again.
–You might notice three new beautiful SmartPak banners in the EN sidebar over the next couple of times you visit Eventing Nation. The banners are randomly rotating so each time you visit EN one of the three will show up. They each link to a different SmartPak page so check them out and, as always, a big way you can help keep the heat on at the EN corporate headquarters during the long winter is to buy from our sponsors directly through the links on EN.
–Going below the fold for a moment, Kansas City police are looking for information leading to the arrest of a person who stole a Meerkat from the local Zoo and then dropped the stolen animal off at a nearby pet store 11 days later. Apparently the thief tried to make the Meerkat a pet. My favorite quote from the news report is that “Meerkats make very poor pets. They bite…and they will use their scent to mark their owner and the house as their territory.” This suspect should be pretty easy to find–severely wounded and very stinky. Thanks to BC for the link to that story.
–I want to thank our good friends at the Canadian WEG team and Omega Alpha for sending me this autographed poster that they signed at the Royal Winter Fair. One of my favorite memories from the WEGs is of Graeme Thom and David yelling at me at the celebratory Canadian after-party for picking Canada for team bronze rather than silver. I’ve never been happier to be wrong.
Best of the Blogs: Chelan writes about her new horse and Galway
Stay tuned for a busy day on Eventing Nation. I’ll be traveling most of the day, but Annie will keep things running smoothly with your help. Also, we might have a post from a new guest writer so stay tuned for that. See you soon…
Eventing At the Asian Games, part 4 – Nina Ligon Leads
The dressage at the Asian Games has finished and Nina Ligon and Chai Thai of Thailand are leading the individual competition with a 40.6 and Japan is leading the team competition. Our US readers of course know Nina because she is based out of Central Virginia, where she rides with Kim Severson. Terri Impson, also riding for Thailand and based in the US, has sent us her report from China after placing 11th in the dressage. The Thai team is in 2nd place going into the CCI1* XC, which is scheduled for Friday. Thanks for writing this Terri and thank you for reading. [Individual Results, Team Results]
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From Terri Impson:
Dressage day is finished and the Thai Team is sitting in second place just two points behind the Japanese going into x-country. We’re pretty psyched! There was a big crowd watching the dressage and the weather was perfect. Nina Ligon took the day with a beautiful test on Chai Thai scoring a 40.6 and our Germany based Teammate was third with a 42.7. Windy had an enthusiastic test helped by the early large crowds and the MUSIC (!) that started after our first halt, to end up 11th.
Our team was allowed in the “kiss and cry” section to root our teammates on. When you were done riding your test, you handed your horse to the groom in bit check and would do a brief interview. At the rider briefing they stressed that no matter how your test had gone that you must look happy and thrilled to be there. My interviewer said “We think that your horse is so beautiful when he leaps into the air with his white tail!” I smiled and said thank you. I saw one Hong Kong rider not even off her horse yet and they were taking off her bridle to look at the bit!!
Amongst the humor everything ran like clockwork, and the scoreboard was so cool— the three judges scores were automatic and the percentage score would change as the test went on, you hoped higher, and the leader score was underneath so you instantly knew where you were on the board.
Speaking of scoring… there was some disparity with the judge from Japan. She was 10% lower on many of the top rider’s total scoring; often two points lower on every movement than the other two judges. I wonder if our sport, like figure skating, will eventually have to find a way around those politics. On another note the Saudi’s have moved in to our barns with their Jumpers — they were in a separate quarantine in Aachen. Wow… to watch $1.2 million and up in horse flesh walk down the aisle not one under 17.2–it’s a different world.
Two of our horses were clipped tonight, mostly because the heat as it is supposed to go back up and the show jumping will be in the afternoon. But first, the Cross tomorrow!!!!
Thank goodness for galloping! Go eventing!
Ecogold’s Thursday Reader
It’s later than I would care to admit and I have an early morning, but the timestamps on articles never lie. Fortunately, spending two weeks every summer at the 4-H county fair with 7:30am show times and a completely white horse who ended up brown every morning taught me that sleep is for Pony Clubbers. Oh how we used to enjoy looking down upon the local city-slicker Pony Clubs with their newfangled bridles with bits and their elitist custom of wearing shirts. There’s nothing more gratifying than populism.
In all seriousness, I enjoy making fun of my former 4-H self, but my time as a member of the Rainbow Riders 4-H Club taught me countless lessons of teamwork, humility, toughness, and how to castrate a hermit crab. Pop-quiz time: what do each of the four H’s in “4-H” stand for?
Now for some eventing notes…
–Hwang Young Shik (that’s a person name) of Korea won the gold in the individual dressage at the Asian Games. The Chinese dressage team was summarily executed. Kidding aside, winning gold medals is an incredibly high priority for China, both as the host country and as the regional super power. China has already won 105 gold medals in these Asian Games with the next closest country at 30. China has apparently even resorted to using hot cheerleaders to distract the other teams. We should have thought of that for the WEGs. I’m looking at you London 2012…well, maybe Normandy 2014…ok, fine, who has 2016?
–In other random speculation from the Asian Games, word on the street is that the Japan team has presented video to competition officials of the Korean eventing team schooling and walking their horses through the sunken road on the backside of the cross-country course. I have yet to hear whether there will be any official sanctions taken against the Korean team. Imagine a scenario like that playing out at Young Riders between Area V and Area II.
–The Dutch WEG riders were honored earlier this week with a tour of the Dutch royal palace. The Dutch teams brought home an unprecedented 4 gold medals–all three in the dressage and the team driving gold.
–Speaking of dressage, Coren’s link yesterday to Robert Dover’s comments about eventing have led to heated discussions here on EN, over at the Chronicle Forums, and on Robert’s original article itself. Robert’s argument against eventing seems to come down to this point from his post:
“The problem for me is that I am having greater and greater difficulty as I get older, finding a way to legitimize Eventing while horses which have no choice in the matter end up getting killed for the sake of sport.”
I respect Robert a lot as a horseman, but I think if he spent even just a few moments thinking about it, he would realize the absurdity of claiming that horses have no choice. Indeed, if horses have no say in anything and our event horses are just slaves in a fatal sport, wouldn’t that mean that pure dressage is just a less dangerous form of enslavement? Anyone who has ridden knows that the horse very much has a choice, and anyone who has evented knows that our horses love jumping around the cross-country more than anything in the World. Undoubtedly there are far too many deaths in eventing, but, as the great Reed Ayers posted as a comment on Robert’s article, a lot of brilliant people are working really hard to make eventing safer. Go back to writing about 20 meter circles Robert.
–The mildly popular singer Leona Lewis has “fallen off horses more times than she can remember“–but she still refuses to wear a helmet.
–FEI President Princess Haya has been awarded the United States Sports Academy’s most prestigious international honor for her “contribution to equestrian sports and the Olympic Movement.” The US Sports Academy simultaneously released news that it will be building a new $20 million headquarters. As an aside, when the FEI ‘disappears’ me on some dark rainy night, I will my braiding kit and body clippers to Visionaire.
We have a busy day on Eventing Nation with hopefully some good news from the first day of dressage at the Asian Games and much more. See you soon…
Eventing at the Asian Games, part 3 – Jog Day
One thing I learned a lot about while writing during Adelaide was timezone conversion. With the Asian Games underway this weekend, we get to put what we learned from Adelaide into practice. The moral of the story is that the action at the Asian Games will start each day during the night in North America. Here is a quick Wednesday jog report from Terri Imspon.
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The slippery jog strip
From Terri:
Everyone made it thru the jog with just a couple of holds. The temperature has dropped suddenly and the wind was quite brisk today–we were very thankful for our blazers and looked with sympathy at the short pencil skirts that Hong Kong was jogging in–Brrrr! We had our Team cross country walk with Kim as Wednesday warmed up. As I said in my last report, the time is going to be tough to make, although it is a short course. The narrow lanes, turns and combination are going to definitely eat up time.
Funny enough I asked Kim about making the time on such a twisty course yesterday; the wind was blowing and there was a tractor dragging the ring, so I couldn’t hear very well and she said “Like David says, ‘Land over the fence on a straight line and get your right boob on the rope, then your left boob on the rope.'” She was so serious I didn’t dare question her, but as I was riding later I realized she said “BOOT!” We had a good laugh later.
The water complex is interesting, it’s an A,B,C,D,E… with bowl shaped round waters and the footing sucks a bit at your feet. It’s a small canoe in, through the first pond up on a small pimple over a canoe, down into the second pond and out over a triple narrow brush. A lot of the fences are fairly upright including the double corners at the end of the course and they are set on a half stride. The option there doesn’t look too time consuming and is much more straight forward. Dressage starts at 12:00 tomorrow and I think we are all eager to get on with the show, we have been in transit for three weeks!
Hamish and Dave at Adelaide, part 1
Our favorite eventing video personalities are back online with a new video. Hamish and Dave have just published the first of several reports from Adelaiade last weekend. The video combines the talents of Hamish & Dave, as well as Peter Haynes, who produces some awesome equestrian videos from Australia. Check out Peter’s Youtube page here.
BREAKING: Court orders Sam returned to Jung’s barn
As a quick update on the feud between world champion La Biosthetique Sam’s 60% owner, Sabine Kreuter, and the horse’s 40% owner and rider Michael Jung. The court injunction sought by the Jung family a few days ago has been granted and the District Court of Rottweil, Germany ordered that Sabine Kreuter return Sam. As we all know, Sabine took Sam from the Jung barn on November 8th. The injunction was reportedly granted because new cases of Equine Infectious Anemia have been found near Kreuter’s barn in Allgau, Germany. According to the temporary court injunction, Sam is to be delivered back to the Jung stable within 24 hours. Kreuter’s efforts to sell Sam will continue, although there are reports that the Jungs have refused to allow any prospective purchasers to try the horse at the Jung stables. [via pferdenews.de]
Eventing at the Asian Games, part 2 – Moving In
The eventing CCI1* at the Asian Games starts with the jog on Wednesday. We have been writing about the Asian Games for a while, but as a brief refresher, they are the largest sporting event in the World in terms of number of athletes and they are being held on mainland China this year. Two US based riders from Thailand, Nina Ligon and Terri Impson, are competing at the Games and Terri has kindly sent us this report. Since her last report from the quarantine in Aachen, Terri and the Thai team have arrived in China and attended the opening ceremonies. Click here for video of the opening ceremonies, which were apparently and predictably quite amazing. Thanks for writing this Terri and thank you for reading.
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From Terri Impson:
Ok where to start! The horses arrived in good knick last Wednesday at 1am. There were about 40 people to greet 30 horses as they came on a 19 hour plane ride, from Brussels, landing in Dubai to refuel and then on to Guangzhou, China. After customs they were loaded into A/C vans and trucked 2 hrs North to Conghua, a very rural resort town known for their Lychee fruit and hot springs. We were greeted at the airport and funneled into express lines with our accreditation passes and then on to huge buses to take us north — all the people were very excited, friendly Chinese people wanting to get you were you needed to go.
The athlete’s equestrian sub-village is in a very nice hotel at the bottom of the mountain where the venue is and we have security (x-ray, walk thru and body scan) each time we enter the village. Any person not on an athlete bus (officals included) must go through security halfway up the mountain everyday in order to enter the venue. The barns are fab with icemakers, washer, shower and matted floors with drains. They are super serious about disinfectant and all the vehicles drive thru a large “bath” and we have to put horribly drying disinfectant on our hands and walk across a wet disinfectant carpet each time to get into stabling. There are two large zappers for flies in the barns and none of us have quite got used to the loud WAP they make when an unfortunate insect is drawn to the light.
It’s been unusually hot, and the pure Dressage riders look half melted with big smiles on their faces–with the exception of the Qatar Team who showed me their jackets on the bus and said today was “cool” for them!
Kim Severson arrived last Thursday and, after a bit of a steep learning curve, has become the official coach of the Thai Team and stepped up to the plate brilliantly. The Team members from Thailand look vastly more confident and are jumping well. Our Team member from Germany is working with Bettina and Andrew Hoy and we all try and watch each others sessions for support. The horses have had little to no turnout for almost 3 weeks and they are all a bit punchy which is better than tired!
The first couple of days we just walked our horses and then had an easy day and got 30 minutes to ride in the “Field of Play” or main arena with grandstand. Then we have had flat lessons working on parts of the test with Kim, a jump lesson with a few gymnastics, and and did our final gallop Sunday. We get the the horses out to hand walk as much as possible, and hack them if we have had a light ride earlier in the day and have a time slot for the hacking/gallop track. The countries are rotated through all the 5 rings and the gallop/hack/x-country, so you are only ever riding with your own team in a 30 or 60 min slot!
The cross country course is interestingly all on footing…eurofelt and sand almost identical to the rings at Poplar Place. Surprisingly, it is a bonafide one-star course (from what I have seen when hacking ), with a sunken road and all–that’s pretty exciting for eventing if you ask me. There are plenty of options to be safe for those countries with less experience and the time looks like it will be tough. But it’s not a dumbed down Training/Prelim which I had thought could have happened. On our final gallop I thought my horse might feel a bit bogged down, but Windy nearly popped me off bucking with glee at full tilt.
Sometimes I have a reality check that here we are with horses from Charlottesville, Virginia, literally on the other side of the world, in mainland China behind the biggest Area 51 barrier fence (it’s lit up by spotlights at night and over 7 kilometers long), competing in a three -day championship.
This is a first class, brand new venue, impeccably run, but also with the reminders that you can only go where they want “for your safety” which is always said with a smile. For those of you around the world who appreciate your freedom, appreciate it more!
More after the jog on Wednesday!
Tuesday Video Break
It’s video break time and today’s video is a particularly interesting piece from CBS News. It shows the role of horses in the modern Italian army and the fascinating blend of modern technology and tradition that all equestrians face. Thanks to JS for sending us the link.
Mikhail Kalashnikov’s Tuesday News and Notes
If you are going to Ocala for the winter and you need a new truck, you might consider going to Nations Trucks in Sanford, Florida. The dealership is offering a free AK-47 assault rifle with every truck purchase. I’m not sure which is my favorite quote from a local newspaper report; the Vietnam veteran who said “I’ve had them shot at me [but] because I need a truck or want a truck — that’s why I’m here,” or the dealership owner who said “it would be the same if someone came in and got drunk and killed five people: we aren’t liable for what they do once they purchase it.”
Like the printing press, the AK-47 is one of the most influential inventions in history–a cheap, mass producible automatic weapon that is easy to operate and will shoot under any conditions. It’s inventor, Mikhail Kalashnikov, has played a tiny role in perhaps more deaths than any human in history. And you can own one with your next truck purchase. Link courtesy of BC. Now, let’s take a look at a few news and notes:
–The Daily Mail has outdone their journalistic standards with breaking news that riding is good for your health.
—The Jurga Report has more details about how absurd it is that several Indian equestrian team horses have not been allowed into China for the Asian Games. Apparently the Indian horses were denied entrance due to positive tests for Western diseases not found in India, despite the fact that if the horses had the alleged diseases they would be overwhelmingly ill, and despite the fact that the horses were retested with negative results. China wouldn’t let a box of fried rice across the border if it threatened their chances to win.
–The New York Post is reporting that Georgina’s Bloomberg’s boyfriend, speed-skating gold-medalist Joey Cheek, dumped her four days after a show jumping fall that hospitalized her. Georgina fell from her horse at a November 5th competition and eventually went to the hospital with a concussion and fractured vertebra. We can officially add Joey Cheek to Eventing Nation’s list of people going straight to hell. Georgina is good looking, she’s worth a billion dollars, she rides, and she seems pretty cool–somebody put in a good word for me.
—Best of the Blogs: P Dutty clinic recap from Golightly Sport Horses
–The Big Lead, which is one of my favorite non-horse blogs, has posted a video of a bull jumping into the crowd at a rodeo. It is a miracle that someone didn’t die although one woman was taken to the hospital. Remember to not sit in the front row the next time you go to a rodeo, which for me will be never.
The eventing at the Asian Games is approaching rapidly and we will have a report from Terri Impson later today to get us ready for the jog on Wednesday. We will also be introducing a new guest writer on Eventing Nation soon. Stay tuned throughout the day and I’ll see you soon…
Only in Kansas
Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up. A man in Kansas was driving with his wife and kids to…you guessed it…Walmart when they noticed there was a horse in the back seat of another car. Like all God-faring Americans faced with a shocking and potentially dangerous situation, the man took out his video camera and the rest is history.
According to the man’s Youtube page, the owner of the horse found him a few days after the video was shown on local TV. He wrote: “Rascal the 15 year old horse and Jerry [the owner] drive all over Kansas doing shows for folks. Rascal can do 40 different tricks and some say he’s the smartest horse in the world.” Some say get a trailer.
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Success Equestrian
FutureTrack
Sport Horse Nation
mileseventing
Fun and uncomplicated eventer
mileseventing
Fun and uncomplicated eventer
Juli Hutchings-Sebring
YEH 5 yr old – 5* Potential – Purebred Connemara
