3:40pm update – While in the air, JB’s Star put a front leg down between the rails of the oxer, causing JB and Jennifer to fall. Jennifer was reported to be breathing, speaking, and moving after the fall but likely had a concussion. She was loaded onto the ambulance wearing neck and back braces but these are often routine precautionary measures. It is unclear whether JB’s star was standing when he was loaded onto the equine ambulance. The last few riders are getting started on course and they have the unenviable task of refocusing and staying positive to give their horses the best ride. Here at Eventing Nation we will try to refocus and have a recap of the entire CCI3* soon.
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Jennifer Simmons and her horse JB’s Star fell at fence number 17. Both Jennifer and JB’s Star were on the ground following the fall. The tarps were put up and Jennifer was quickly loaded onto an ambulance and transported away. JB’s Star has been loaded onto the equine ambulance. That is all the information we have at this time but of course Jennifer and JB’s Star are in Eventing Naiton’s thoughts and prayers.
3:00pm update: I decided it would be most appropriate to sign off of the live blog after Jennifer Simmons and JB’s Star fell at fence 17 and were transported away. There were 12 riders left to go after Jennifer and we will have more information on the final riders shortly.
We will mix in jump by jump commentary with general discussion so please write your comments/questions. Comments are moderated so it might take me some time to post specific ones. I can see the first and last parts of the course, but I will be using Brian’s announcing as my eyes and ears for the rest.
Loughna Glen looked great getting rinsed off at the finish line after his great round
Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen were just two seconds over the optimum time and will take a 1.7 point lead into the show jumping. Erin Sylvester and No Boundaries had one of only 7 double-clear rides of the day to hold onto second. Clark Montgomery moved into third with his second horse, Universe. Bruce Davidson moved up from 10th to 4th with a double-clear. Valerie Vizcarrondo and Clifton Jade moved way up from 42nd to 13th with a double-clear. The CCI2* caused problems throughout the course–there were 22 issues on course out of 56 starters. The most significant fall was Sharon White’s (see below). Tik Maynard’s horse had a fall and was transported back to the barn but was up and walking. More later.
11:50am update – The latest word is that Sharon was awake, alert, and moving and that the medical personnel were primarily concerned with Sharon’s pelvis, which Sharon has broken before. The fall was rotational. Obviously the big hope with such falls is that we have dodged any head, neck, and spine issues.
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Sharon White was transported from Fair Hill in an Ambulance at approximately 11am after her CCI2* horse Russian Roulette fell at fence #9, a narrow vertical with an uphill approach. It was a hard fall with both horse and rider going over the jump. The horse walked away from the fall and Sharon was quickly shielded by the screens and loaded onto an ambulance. Very early reports are that Sharon was talking. Anything else at this point is speculation.
I think I speak for the eventers here at Fair Hill when I say that I feel physically ill at the thought of Sharon being injured. There is no one in the entire sport of eventing who has more class and grace or is more respected by the riders than Sharon. Needless to say, everyone at Fair Hill is praying for Sharon right now. The competition is back underway.
It’s a bright, windy, chilly, beautiful day in Maryland–quite the change from 2009
I’ll post quick updates throughout the day from Fair Hill on this post with the latest at the top. At lunchtime we will have a recap of the CCI2*. I still haven’t quite made up my mind as to the video vs. live blog question for the CCI3* so please let me know which you would prefer.
12:43am – Clark Montgomery and universe are just wrapping up the CCI2* division. We will have a live blog for the CCI3* and more from the cross-country at Fair Hill soon.
11:33am – Sinead picked up just a few time penalties at Boekelo and is tied with Will on 57.0 and they moved way up to 13th and 14th place. Tiana is in 7th. Doug’s blog is providing Boekelo updates throughout the day.
11:20am – After the 20 plus minute hold for Sharon (see individual post), the CCI2* division is back underway. The early falls on the course before Sharon were pop-offs. The event is running about 25 minutes behind.
10:08am – Well that was anticlimatic. Overnight leaders Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen finished with only two seconds of time and second placed Erin Sylvester and No Boundaries were the first double-clear of the day, meaning that whatever happens with the rest of the CCI2* division, Clark will be leading going to the show jumping and Erin will be in second. For some reason when I’m walking around the course, everyone’s favorite question for me is “how’s it going at Boekelo.” What, do they think I’m around a computer a lot or something?
9:25am – I just spoke with someone who wheeled the course and they said that they came up 100 meters short. When riders wheel the courses to get our minute markers we intentionally walk really tight lines to make sure that we cross the line before the measured distance of the course runs out–minute markers that get you to the finish 7 seconds late are pretty useless. II would expect the CCI3* time to be tough to make because the course was so tight to wheel.
9:17am – Glancing at the Boekelo results, Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister had a good ride with just 7.6 time but that will drop them in the placings. Will Faudree and Andromaque were fantastic, as expected, and jumped a double clear. Doug Payne and Running Order had 60 jumping faults. Sinead has yet to ride.
–In all honesty, I am glad that the Fair Hill CCI3* only did dressage on Friday–one day of watching 3* dressage was more than enough for me. None of the dressage tests really stood out as spectacular, which I attribute partially to the fact that the last dressage I watched was at the WEGs, but the fact that lowest CCI3* score was a 46.6 accurately reflects the fact that no one was truly outstanding on Friday. But, it’s time to put the dressage behind us and look ahead to the cross country.
–The Fair Hill XC times are posted here as a Word document, but for all of us Mac users, the CCI2* starts and 9:30am ET and the CCI3* starts at 1pm ET, running at 4 minute intervals in the same order as dressage. Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Eagle are the last pair on course and they are scheduled for 3:08pm on Saturday.
–The wind on Friday dried the soggy Fair Hill ground just enough to make for nearly ideal footing conditions on Saturday. I do think that the footing will be pretty torn up in certain places for the later riders but the CCI2* and CCI3* courses are different enough that most of the CCI3* footing will be perfect when that division starts. The riders will have to be careful with the fences that are shared on the two courses.
–It is hard to compare the cross-country courses to last year because a third of the 2009 jumps were removed due to the horrible weather and that course actually rode relatively simple as a result. The consensus from the riders this year seems to be that the course is fair but keeps consistently asking tough questions–there are no long easy stretches. One feature of Fair Hill is that the terrain and windy turns make efficient riding an absolute necessity to making the time. If the time is tough to make, Nate and Phillip are two of the fastest pairs near the top of the CCI3* leaderboard.
–We have several options for Saturday’s Fair Hill coverage on EN. One option would be for me to walk around the course and get some video while everyone else who knows me will try to distract me with long conversations. Or we could attempt a live blog for the CCI3* or part of the CCI3*. Finally, I could just go and do the dog agility course myself–I’m pretty sure I can win against the 30lbs and under dogs. As always, our aim is to please our audience, so let us know what you would prefer.
–Meanwhile in the Netherlands, the Boekelo cross-country starts well before the sun rises here in the US and will be wrapping up around lunchtime on the east coast. We will of course cover Boekelo to the best of our abilities.
–One final note I want to make is that Boyd has responded to a critical thread on the COTH forum with this blog post. In this era of hypersensitivity and an often (sometimes justified) very negative view of professionals from the eventing community, I would probably have advised Boyd to just let the thread die out if I had been Boyd’s PR manager. But I respect Boyd for his belief in dealing with things openly even if it leads to more criticism in the long run. Before Boyd, when was the last time you can remember a member of the US team writing publicly about a controversial and substantive issue? If more professionals would be as willing to voice their opinion publicly, even at the risk of being criticized, eventing would be a better sport for it.
Good luck to all the cross-country riders and godspeed.
Cruise Lion was energetic in the warmup but calmed down for a beautiful test with Bruce
(1) The wind picked up this afternoon at Fair Hill and the riders had to work hard to keep their horses focused with flags, tents, and leaves blowing around. Quite a few riders left the arena shaking their head and commenting on what their test might have been if their horses had been a little more relaxed. A few top hats blew off in the warm up today and even one in the middle of a CCI2* test.
1. Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone 46.6 2. Hannah Burnett and St. Barths 49.4 3. Molly Rosin and Havarah’s Charly 51.8 4. Kelli Temple and Axel Rose 52.2 5. Phillip and Fernhill Eagle 53.0 6. Imtiaz Anees and Interwin 53.8 7. Karen O’Connor and Quintus 54 54.2 8. Bruce Davidson and Cruise Lion 55.0
(2) Nate Chambers and “Roly” are no stranger to first place after the dressage and they had an excellent dressage test today. Interestingly enough, Nate mentioned in the press conference that he had not walked his XC course yet–he said that he likes to take it one phase at a time and will get three walks in before his ride on Saturday. Nate and Roly have been double clear on the XC at each of their events this year.
(3) Here is a montage of leading dressage tests including Nate, Hanna, Molly, and several others. I tried using a tripod for the first time with some success and the specific clips I used were just based on the order of go rather than any particular judgment on the clips.
(4) Hannah Burnett and “Nike” are in second place following the dressage. Hannah and Nike won the CCI2* at Fair Hill last year and they look to be in great position for a repeat win this year. The weekend will likely come down to the show jumping for both Hannah and Nate.
(5) Third placed Molly Rosin and Havarah’s Charity had a tense moment when the judge from C came out to chat with them after the test. The pair received an error for circling the arena with their dressage whip. Molly dropped the whip before she entered the arena but even having the whip around the arena is a penalty under FEI rules.
Quintus 54 showed his incredible potential with beautiful movement in the trot and especially the canter Quintus 54 scored a 54.2 and is in 7th place–get it…Quintus 54…54.2…nevermind.
(6) The crowd grew this afternoon around the dressage and the trade fair. One of the things I admire about Fair Hill is how well they work with the local community to get so many great volunteers and spectators. With a great trade fair and activities such as dog agility, Fair Hill is terrific at creating entertainment for spectators beyond the horses.
The wind even blew over part of the arena during one CCI2* test–volunteers quickly righted it
(7) Boyd Martin will be defending his CCI3* win at Fair Hill last year aboard Neville Bardos. Boyd is catch riding Armani IV for Erin Sylvester, who is second in the CCI2* aboard No Boundaries. Erin said that she has Boyd riding Armani to give the horse a more experienced ride this weekend.
(8) Sarah Cousins rode in her helmet aboard Westerly in the CCI2*
(9) None of the Friday riders broke into the top three of the CCI2*. Clark Montgomery has two horses in the top five, Erin Sylvester is in second with No Boundaries, Sharon White is third with Russian Roulette. The highest placed Friday rider is Mara Dean in fourth with Fun Maker on a 49.2.
I will have much more from Fair Hill later this eventing and until then go eventing.
Dressage has just concluded at the Boekelo CCI3* and wold champion Michael Jung leads a field of 100 competitors by five points with River of Joy. As one EN commenter said, even if Sam gets sold it looks like Michael has a very nice CCI3* horse. Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister stole the show for the US by delivering a 46.2 and sit in 6th after the dressage. The US had two other competitors on Friday–Aimee Chambers and After Eight are in 21stand Sinead Halpin moved into 39th.
With very strong Friday dressage performances, the US moved into third position in the Boekelo team competition. The US squad is 14 points behind Germany and just one point behind the hometown Dutch team. As Doug said in one of his blogs, Boekelo is not a dressage test and the US has some excellent cross-country horses as we look forward to Saturday’s XC.
Regarding grants: A recent email from a reader alerted me to the fact that in a couple of previous posts about USEF travel grants I may have implied that the USEF paid for travel expenses to Blenheim. While the USEF provided logistical support and US riders competing internationally work through the USEF, the Blenheim riders did not receive financial support from the USEF. Sharon White and her wonderful support group in particular spent a lot of energy raising money for the Blenheim trip by hosting a derby-cross and other fundraisers. My understanding is that Will Coleman received a training grant from the USEF earlier this year, but again, that was not a Blenheim travel grant. The reality is that international trips require a huge amount of money whether or not riders receive grant funding.
–Kelli Temple and Axel Rose delivered a very good test Friday morning to take the lead in the CCI3*. Axel Rose was a little tense in his transition to the canter and in the flying changes, but his beautiful movement elsewhere made up for the tension and then some. David is here this weekend coaching the Canadians and Axel Rose is definitely a horse to keep an eye on for the future.
1. Kelli Temple and Axel Rose 52.2
2. Katie Willis and Polar Storm 56.2
3. Kelly Sult and Hollywood 57.2
4. Colin Davidson and Draco 60.0
5. Kate Brown and Mojito 62.6
Ashley Leith rode very well with Jet in the CCI3* Friday morning
–Most of the dressage heavy-hitters in the CCI3* ride Friday afternoon and I expect big changes to the top of the leader board by this evening. Quintus 54, Cruise Lion, Rolling Stone, St. Barths are just a few of the really good horses on the flat who will compete at Fair Hill this afternoon.
–In the CCI2*, the top three from Thursday has remained unchanged through Friday morning. Clark Montgomery and Loughan GLen lead with a 45.3 and are trailed by Erin Sylvester with No Boundaries and Sharon White with Russian Roulette.
The riders who are not riding in the CCI3* this morning are out walking their course. Recent rain has made the footing muddy so we will see some big studs being used tomorrow. The Friday weather is very sunny with a cool breeze. We will have much more from Maryland throughout the day, but here is an early look at the XC course:
Holly told me an interesting story about the barnyard corners (#7AB on the CCI3*). Apparently the chickens used for decoration are a little too authentic and a mischievous Fair Hill fox scattered them all over the barnyard Sunday evening. Holly was one of many volunteers who helped build the XC course and I can tell you that it looks absolutely beautiful. The Fair Hill course is yet another example that eventing would not exist without so many wonderful volunteers.
Speaking of XC, the London Olympic ticket prices have been released and the price for general admission to XC day is 55 pounds. Lec sent me the link and mentioned that only 15,000 people will be allowed in to watch the XC. Three words: supply and demand.
I have just arrived at Fair Hill and unrolled my sleeping bag established the Eventing Nation mobile command center. Walking around Fair Hill reminds me how quickly 2010 has flown by. Here’s to a weekend of tolerable weather and another great event in Maryland. Friday is a busy day with the CCI3* dressage running here at Fair Hill, but here are a few quick links from around the eventing world:
–Some good news that I didn’t get around to writing about earlier today with all of the Totilas, Boekelo, and Pau madness is that Badminton winner Inonothing has had surgery in England to remove a bone chip from his stifle that he suffered while on course at the WEGs and is expected to return to eventing by next autumn. Paul Tapner is quoted by the H&H as saying that the surgeons found more cartilage damage than was expected–such damage is often tough to see on the 2D radiographs. Inonothing is 14, and, from having gone through a similar situation with one of my horses, there will always be special attention paid to that stifle and the joint will likely be more prone to arthritis. Eventing Nation wishes Inonothing a comfortable and speedy recovery. Read more at the Horse and Hound.
–An article on Eurodressage.com about the Totilas sale mentions that current rumors suggest a sale price of 10 to 15 million Euros, and that the speculation is that Matthias Rath or Andreas Helgstrand are potential future riders for Totilas. However, the Edward Gal camp still seems to hold some hope the Edward will get to keep the ride.
–Horsetalk has an interesting recap of the WEGshere, sent to us by lec.
–Thursday’spress releaseexplains that Clark Montgomery leads after the first day in the CCI2*
I want to thank Doug for taking the time out of his busy Boekelo schedule to keep his fans back here in the US posted on how the event is going for him. The Boekelo riders are a very long way from home this weekend, but Eventing Nation is rooting for them from afar. Be sure to check out Doug’s website. Thanks for writing this Doug and thank you for reading.
So dressage was today for both Running Order and Will riding Missie. The day started early, we were in the lobby at quarter to 7 for a first ride at 7 then back on by 8:30. RO was excellent, and not affected by the atmosphere at all. I think this was due to last nights familiarization at 6pm where he stood staring at the two jumbo-trons for quite some time. He was very good in the test. I did make a very stupid error, halting early at the first halt, but really was very pleased with his test. The score, however, not so much. I did have the pleasure of following Michael Jung, the current world champion, which didn’t help the situation. I do have to keep all of this in perspective, he’s only 8 and did his first one-star 18 months ago. We finished the first day of dressage in the middle of the pack with a 61. Give him a year or two and it’ll be a different story. His progress has been astounding over the past few years, especially what has been accomplished in the past week. Give him time…he’ll be there!
Will had a simelar experience finishing on a 58 immediately following Betinna Hoy. Sinead and Tiana go tomorrow…hopefully with happier judges!
For me, tomorrow will be quite relaxing…just taking RO for a walk a time or two. I’ll walk the course again tomorrow for a 4th time. It did look a bit smaller the 2nd and 3rd times today. It’s certainly not going to be a dressage show…
The CCI3* dressage at Fair Hill starts Friday morning with Silva Martin giving the test ride aboard Remington. In the CCI2*, Clark Montgomery has taken an early Thursday afternoon lead with Loughna Glen on a 45.3. Clark has another chance to better his own score with Universe, also in the CCI2*. Clark is definitely one of the most talented riders in the country without an active 3* horse right now, so can we please get him an advanced horse? I’m looking at you eventing gods.
The weather in Elkton, MD is supposed to be windy with highs in the 60’s over the weekend.
For the US contingent, Will Faudree and Andromaque are placed in 20th with a 57.0 and Doug Payne is in 36th with a 62.6. There are over 100 competitors in the field. One thing that I have not mentioned yet is that the UK based rider Aimee Chambers is competing for the US aboard After Eight and she rides tomorrow along with Sinead and Tiana. There is also a team competition going on at Boekelo and the US team is in fifth after Thursday. Thanks to PH for the scoreboard link and KM for the Boekelo TV link.
One of my favorite Boekelo links is Meg Kep’s blog about grooming at Boekelo.
I’ll let this video tell you about the rest of Thursdays dressage
Video from the Wednesday jog–what’s with European eventing videos and absurd music?
Last week we mentioned that the USEF would be giving several grants to compete at the Pau CCI4*. Today I received the following text from our very own Coren Morgan: “Boyd Lainey and Phillip.” Coren is stuck in class all day but apparently she spent the morning figuring out the Pau grant winners rather than paying attention to her teacher. After a bit of research, I confirmed the horses:
Boyd and Remington
Phillip and TruLuck
Laine and Anthony Patch
Remington and TruLuck are obvious choices since they just barely missed out on competing at the WEGs. Lainey and “AI” finished 14th at Rolex this spring and will gain some valuable international experience from the trip. Pau is November 4th to 7th. This is the current list and the horses will be bubble wrapped until their departure in late October. You can read about Lainey’s final preparation plans at her blog.
Between Blenheim, Boekelo, and Pau, the USEF will have sent 10 US horses overseas for three-days in Europe over the past two months. It will be fascinating to see how the investment of this grant money pays off over the next several years. Go eventing.
Well, it’s official. One of the most talented horses to ever walk the Earth has been sold to former German showjumper and now top European breeder Paul Schockemohle, according to the Horse and Hound. During the WEGs, Edward denied rumors that Totilas had been sold with enough finality to make former LSU now Alabama head coach Nick Saban proud. Totilas broke every scoring record at the grand prix level with Edward over the last year and the sad reality is that his value as a breeding horse became too high for his owners not to sell him.
On Wednesday, rumors of the sale finally broke through into the German media and today Totilas’ former owners, Cees and Tosca Visser of Moorland’s stables have issued a press release in which they stated “After Kentucky it was impossible for us to refuse the offers on Totilas.” Of course, the amount of the sale has not been disclosed.
Eurodressage.com quotes a heartbroken Edward Gal as saying “From the first moment I rode him I knew he was a once-in-a-lifetime horse. Of course there was continuous interest in him, but I never expected it to go this quickly. I understand Moorland’s decision, but I’m sad.” My first reaction is to feel awful for Edward, and I am frustrated that, from what I have seen, neither the seller nor the buyer talked about Totilas’ welfare in their public statements.
Make no mistake: this was all about the money. From the sellers not being able to turn down such large sums of money to the buyer making calculations about how high and how many stud fees he can generate, there was a lot of math involved in this decision. While we may never know how much Totilas was sold for, this reminds me of the famous blockbuster racehorse sales, many of which do not work out well financially for the new owners. Totilas is such an outlier that he is unlikely to produce a horse as good as himself and if his first few groups of foals are not sensational then his breeding stock will fall considerably. This also reminds me of what Bruce says about breeding–it’s all about the mare. Unfortunately, the real losers here are the many dressage fans and aspiring your riders who will not get to see Totilas and Gal break any more records.
Cathy Wieschoff hacking through the tunnel at Fair Hill on a 5yo YEH
Can you believe it is already time for Fair Hill? Good thing it’s been a while since we have spent a weekend covering a major three-day. And this time we have another big event going on with the CCI3* at Boekelo. At the WEGs I felt very much removed from the horses and did not get to spend much time in the barns, but I am looking forward to a hopefully more relaxed weekend in Maryland.
If you haven’t noticed already, we switched the SmartPak banner during the WEGs to feature their beautiful Wellfleet Eventer bridle. Click here or on the banner to check out the bridle–I bought one and can’t wait to try it out. Remember that buying products through EN makes our sponsors happy, which in turn helps keep the experiment that is EN brining you insanity for many years to come. When you need something for the barn, click on the SmartPak banner.
Before we get to Boekelo, I’ll just make a quick note that all of the CCI3* jog at Fair Hill went through Wednesday afternoon with no holds and of course no spins. Sinead kindly sent us her report from Wednesday at Boekelo and we will have the pleasure of getting her updates as well as Doug’s throughout the weekend. Check out Sinead’s blog for more information and great photos. Thanks for writing this Sinead and thank you for reading.
Pictured: Two angled tables on three strides built under a beer tent of sorts. This tent comes complete with beer on tap,a lounge area with tables and stools under the same tent as our jumps!
From Sinead:
HELLO EN!
“There can only be one winner of Boekelo, but everyone else is going to have a bloody good time!” has been the quote repeated throughout the stables and common area’s at Boekelo CCI ***. I feel like this is the right event with the right group of people/horses and most definitely the right time to be here in Holland. At Bad Boekelo (our hotel) the four of us (Will,Doug,Tiana and I) have very quickly become like family members due to the fact that we are all staying in a 2 bedroom apartment together. Unfortunately when living with two boys being like a “family” means politeness is out the window. Tiana and I have found ourselves speechless and a little grossed out on more than one occasion, but mostly there has been a lot of laughing!
This is the B element of an A,B combination. A is a max table off a left turn 4 forward strides up a hill to a brush skinny with this massive drop over a ditch on the back side.
We had our trot up and briefing today which both went well and then we took off to look at the course. I knew that I liked the idea of going on this trip for the experience of travel etc. but when I walked this track I realized that my horse nor I have competed with atmosphere like this. I am feeling like this experience will help in future competitions where hopefully we will be competing in an official team championship. The knowledge on how our horses and how individually we will handle this type of “high profile” event will be invaluable . I’m not kidding you when I’m saying that literal bars( for drinking alcohol) are built into the jumps! There are supposed to be around 40,000 spectators and the galloping lanes at times are only about 5 ft in width. The track is 10min 45 sec and is mostly flat terrain in and out of woods, stadiums, trade fairs, restaurants,lounge areas and occasionally an old fashioned field!
Keyhole out of the woods 2 strides to a narrow brush then 2 more strides to off centered brush narrow
Dressage starts tomorrow and because of the unofficial team competition here we got to decide our order of go. Doug will be starting us off around 9 in the morning. Doug’s horse is green and will benefit from less of a crowd also Doug handles being the the first of the the day pressure very well. Will and his mare will go next tomorrow around 1:45 Tiana will go Friday at 11:30 and I will finish off with Tate around 4:00pm. We will go in the same order on cross country day. We are all feeling excited and eager to compete. The horses all traveled well and now it is just a matter of preparing properly to get the best horse we can in the ring. All I want to do is ride 5 times a day and practice every move in the test and then jump 1000 jumps but instead I am trying to keep myself occupied by sitting back and watching the likes of Mary King, William Fox-Pitt, Bettina Hoy, Clayton Fredricks and on and on and on… There are 104 starters and every nation from Australia to Sweden representing so its enough to keep me from annoying Tate and keep my eyes peeled to see who is going to be walking past my stall next. The organizing committee is working on live feed from Boekelo so stay tuned I will email it to john before cross country day. To everyone at Fair Hill good luck! We will be working hard and enjoying this experience here for sure!
During the World Equestrian Games, rumors swirled around the Kentucky Horse Park with whispers of two major horse sales–the wonder-stallion Moorlands Totilas and Michael Jung’s eventing World Champion mount La Biosthetique Sam even while the horses were winning golds at the WEGs. But, when I left Lexington no deal had been finalized for either horse. To the best of my knowledge, Totilas is at his home in the Netherlands, and La Biosthetique Sam is very close to being sold. Well, at least part of “Sam” is close to being sold.
Sam’s majority owner is Sabine Kreuter, who owns 60% of the horse. Sam’s minority owner is Joachim Jung, Michael Jung’s father. Ms. Kreuter decided to sell her share of Sam just prior to or during the Games and, as you might expect, the last two weeks have been filled with offers and counter offers.
Bushchreiter.de reports that Mary King’s husband and Mr. and Mrs. Davies (owners of Imperial Cavalier) made an offer for Sam and the word is that the offer was around 2 million pounds. However, another German website, Horseweb.de, has written that Ms. Kreuter wants to keep Sam in Germany with Michael Jung riding him and she has given Michael’s family a verbal agreement for “the right of pre-emption,” which is presumably the right to veto a sale. Note: Google Translate is the best option for figuring out the German websites.
Holger Heigel, the chairman of the German eventing Olympic committee has reportedly offered Ms. Kreuter 600,000 Euro for her 60% share but their talks have broken down, perhaps as a result of the much larger international offers that Ms. Kreuter has received.
The most promising option so far seems to be for German super-owner Madeleine Winter-Schulze to purchase Sam. Madeleine Winter-Schulze sponsors Ludger Beerbaum and Isabell Werth, and she purchased FRH Butts Abraxxas so that Ingrid Klimke could keep riding that horse. Ms. Winter-Schulze has extremely deep pockets and could match any other offers for the horse and would in all likelihood let Michael keep the ride.
There have also been discussions of trying to put together a syndicate to purchase Ms. Kreuter’s shares. Either way, hopefully the involved parties can find a way to keep the horse for Michael to keep riding.
As sport horses become more and more expensive, the sacred partnership between horse and rider gets pushed farther and farther out of the equation. In this situation with Sam, it seems as though both ownership groups want to keep Michael riding Sam. The potential sale of Totilas looks more bleak for the rider because prices I have heard kicked around are between 10 and 30 million Euros due to the stud fees that Totilas will collect.
Sadly, I have heard barely any talk about what would be best for the horses in the purchasing discussions. More than ever before, eventing is becoming a business sport. The important thing moving forward is to find a way to continue to look out for the best interest of the horse and to respect the bond between rider and horse.
Much of the information from this post came from a very well informed EN reader and insider who we will call LD. Thanks LD and go eventing.
–The WEG Plague: When you gather thousands of people together in close quarters, mix in sometimes inclement weather, and then, in my case, sleep for less than 5 hours a night, you can often get a flulike illness that strikes lots of people at said event. At the WEGs, everyone got a cold and we jokingly referred to it as the ‘WEG plague.’ My WEG plague seems to be getting worse, but I like to apply the eventing approach: when in pain, ride until it stops hurting. So here are a few quick news and notes before I head out to the barn.
–Major international events, like the Olympics, usually play out economically like this: economists predict big gains for the host city, host city begs for the event, costs exceed expectations, the event occurs, host city commissions economic impact study following the event, the study shows that the host city lost money, politicians scramble. However, it looks like things will go a little differently in Lexington. The Herald-Leader is reporting that no one has commissioned a study to look at the economic impact of the Games. The World Equestrian Games were beleaguered by a bad economy at the worst possible time so worse than expected economic results are understandable, but I am shocked that WEG organizers and Kentucky politicians seem content to declare victory and move on without figuring out how much money the Games made or lost for Kentucky.
Buzzterbrown sent me an excerpt from a book about the 1978 World Championships in Lexington. In the forward, the book says that there were over 170,000 attendees for the combined training–there’s a phrase you never hear anymore–which absolutely blows my mind. That says a lot about where our sport has gone relative to other entertainment options over the years.
–The Fair Hill ride times will be determined following the first horse inspection on Wednesday. The list of entries is available here. There are some familiar names in the 41 horse CCI3* field, such as Cruise Lion, Hollywood, Cavaldi, Quintus 54, UN, Axel Rose, Wonderful Will, and Gryffindor. If I did not mention your horse do not send me an angry text–I will cough on you and then you will have the WEG plague too.
–I went to see Secretariat last night and I would give the movie 3.5 out of 5 stars as a family movie. It was certainly a feel good movie that will leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling and might even make you cry a little bit–not that I would ever admit to that. One thing that took away from the movie is that Disney’s rendition of the races, complete with helmet cams I might add, can never compete with the real footage.
We have good news this morning as I have received confirmation from a Maryland horse trials official that Vicki Roussel is scheduled to be released from the hospital today. We reported on Sunday that Vicki was airlifted from the MD horse trials after a fall on the cross-country. The horse is apparently fine and the accounts that I heard of the incident said that the Maryland crew responded really quickly and handled the entire situation extremely well. Major props to the EN commenters, especially Shannon who kept everyone posted on the situation in the comment section of the original airlift report. I am glad to hear that Vicki is doing so well and we look forward to seeing her back on a horse soon. Go eventing.
As you know, Leah has quit an investment banking job in exchange for a life as an aspiring eventing professional and has kindly offered to share the ups and downs of her experience with Eventing Nation. Today we get to hear about the downs. Thanks for writing this Leah, and thank for reading.
It looks like we may have a mystery from the WEGs that would make Agatha Christie proud. The Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting that there has been no progress in the investigation into who vandalized the Dutch combined driving carriage on Saturday morning. With all due respect to the WEG security staff, I am not surprised that someone was apparently able to infiltrate the barn security because pretty much anyone who wanted to was able to get into the barns by trading barn passes, although I did hear about one incident where an international rider was handcuffed by police for having the wrong pass. Ijsbrand Chardon, the driver whose carriage had its brakes and seats slashed with a knife, responded to the vandalism in amazing fashion by leading the Netherlands to team driving gold medal and winning a silver medal himself. Go Chardon.
Happy Thanksgiving and Columbus Day Eventing Nation. Today Canada celebrates their Thanksgiving, which is an autumn holiday to give thanks for the presumably bountiful harvest. In the US, we are celebrating the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World in October of 1492, although Columbus may or may not have been the first European to discover the Americas, and he may or may not have been the kind of guy we want to celebrate with a holiday, but who cares about the details when it comes to national icons? Either way, Eventing Nation isn’t a post office so we are open for business today. And yes, I will wear my Christopher Columbus hat all day long.
Somehow it seemed appropriate to leave the 5th and final stage of EN’s Kubler-Ross grieving model–the acceptance stage–until after the Games had concluded. I don’t think the term ‘acceptance’ is suitable for eventing because to perform better at the next international championship, US fans, riders, and the team need to do anything but ‘accept’ what happened at the WEGs. ‘Moving on’ is probably a better choice of words and with CCI3*s looming at Fair Hill, Boekelo, and then Galway in November, moving on is our only option. But there are a few things that we learned at the WEGs that we should probably learn to accept.
1) We should accept that Canada is going to have a strong eventing team for a while. The Canadian riders and horses are young and their dressage is only going to get better. No one knows if Canada will repeat a team medal in 2012, but after two more years working with David on the flat they will certainly be better placed after the dressage in London. Why is David so happy right now?
Riddle Master 9
Gin & Juice 10
Exponential 12
Colombo 16
Port Authority 12
Madison Park 12
2) I have alluded to this several times before, but we should accept that the WEGs will not be back in the US for a long time. The good news is that Kentucky was a fantastic host for the Games and I can’t say enough about the wonderful work of the many WEG volunteers. The bad news is that the majority of the competitors at the WEGs are Europeans and the high transportation costs to the US will have a big impact on future WEG locations. The 2014 Games will be in Normandy, France, and I expect the Games to be awarded to Europe for at least three or four more consecutive times unless some city in the US or Asia can make a really superb bid.
3) Finally, there is no way to get around the fact that the US disappointed in the Olympic disciplines at the WEGs. The US did not win any of the nine Olympic discipline team medals and we won just two (both bronze) out of 12 individual medals. The US had a great chance to showcase our Olympic equestrian sports to a home crowd at the WEGs and one of my non-horsey Lexington friends who went to the WEGs summed up perhaps the entire competition by saying to me “the horses were all really pretty but why didn’t the US win more?”
