I have three pieces of good news. First and most importantly, Peter Atkins and HJ Hampton were added to the Australian team Monday night and are now set to ride at the World Equestrian Games. 2008 Olympic team medalists for Australia, Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester withdrew from the Australian team after a “travel related problem.” Kirby Park is recovering in Los Angeles and will not take the final connecting flight to Kentucky with the rest of the Australian horses.
My heart goes out to Megan and I can only imagine the pain she must be feeling now having her goals for this year evaporate due to a cause completely out of her control. Travel related issues are expected whenever you fly horses and avoiding such potential setbacks are one big advantage for the US and Canadian horses. When Australia named the 6 pair eventing squad, they also named Peter and “Henny” as the first stateside alternates.
This is a great opportunity for Peter and Henny and all their many fans who will hopefully get a chance to see one of Peter’s spectacular helmet cam videos of the WEG course. To learn more about Peter and Henny, check out Leslie’s fantastic 10 questions with Peter from earlier this summer.
Peter and Henny at Rolex 2010:
The second piece of good news is that posting news about Peter making the team means that I can delay posting photos of a half naked and translucent Doug Payne for at least six more hours. The third piece of good news is that my fantasy football team rebounded from a tough week 1 loss with a 40 point domination in week 2.
Whose rubbish it was, I have no idea, but while trolling the soul-crushing complimentary food buffet in a United Airlines lounge, I spied a discarded magazine next to a plate of shriveled carrot sticks and anemic cocktail olives. I noticed it because the cover was a photo of freshly-harvested round bales in a field. Sure, there was a cyclist riding by the hay field and the magazine was called ‘Bicycling’, but that wasn’t really what caught my eye. Those bales looked like quality hay.
But I took the mag and read it anyway, like you do when killing time in an airport lounge. A few pages in, past lots of ads for brightly-colored stretchy clothing and bicycle seats designed to ease anatomical anxiety, there was an article about something called ‘cyclocross’. The photo was of a cyclist on foot, carrying his bike, jumping over a hurdle. Intrigued, I read on, learning that cyclocross involves riding laps around fields or parks while having to occasionally dismount and carry your bike over manmade or natural obstacles. That, to me, sounded a lot like cross-country, except that we don’t plan our dismounts and we’re no longer allowed to remount.
Two quotes spoke straight to my heart. One: “Because you’re doing laps, you don’t have to worry about being dropped.” And then: “In ‘cross, no one gives a rat’s ass what you wear.”
I thought, I have got to try this.
But before I go on, a mini-manifesto on the semantics of cyclocross. Cyclocross is usually abbreviated by cognoscenti as ‘cross. While you pronounce it much the same as the bit of wood to which Christ was affixed, ‘cross is always written ‘cross,avec apostrophe. It’s annoying to look at and a PITA to type. I mean, do we write ‘phone or ‘plane anymore? But there it is: ‘cross, ‘cross, ‘cross. Especially irritating if you’re texting.
So as of now, I’m starting a new linguistic tradition: it’s called cross. Jesus died on it, you’ll ride on it.
Everyone still with me?
Back at home, I google ‘Vancouver’ and ‘cyclocross.’ Three hits down, I see a notice for a cyclocross skills clinic in a city park, scheduled for this coming Saturday, in preparation for the first race of the BC season, which was taking place on Sunday at a dairy farm out in the Fraser Valley. A clinic and a race in five days! Beginners welcome and if you don’t have a proper cross bike (think road bike with wider, slightly-knobby tires), you can bring a mountain bike. I have a mountain bike. This has to be a sign to me, personally, from the gods of cross.
Sensing a future in the sport, I email the organizer. See you on Saturday, he writes back.
My entire training regimen consists of taking my bike in for a tune-up. I also watch a couple of cyclocross bloopers videos on YouTube, just to see how bad the crashes are. It’s mostly people sliding around in mud, ice, snow and rain in their stretchy outfits. No rotational falls, no riders getting crushed by their twenty pound bikes. No need for controversial inflatable clothing.
The Clinic
Saturday is breezy with bright sun. Perfect weather for learning how to jump over things while carrying your bike. As I pedal down to our designated meeting place, I notice a group of elderly Chinese practicing the ancient art of Tai Chi. I’m thinking about how this is a good omen, presaging a day of balance and harmony, until I get closer and realize this group isn’t doing Tai Chi at all. What they’re doing is called The Hustle. An ancient art, all right, but from a very different dynasty.
The clinician, Aaron, is a current national cyclocross team member. His clothing is a word cloud of logos, more business names than I’ve ever seen aggregated on a single living creature. If he gets any more sponsors, he’ll have to gain twenty pounds to make more fabric space available. My fellow students of cross are amateur cyclists, all with proper cross bikes, dressed in their club outfits. All but one have experience in this discipline. Uh-oh. After Aaron gives his short introductory talk, he asks if there are any questions about cross racing. Right off the top of my head, I think of two: Can you hit people? Are there free snacks?
But I decide these questions can wait till later. I don’t want to scare anyone just yet.
Our first task is to learn the proper cross dismount. You swing your right leg over, lean your right hip into the seat – which I learn is actually called the saddle! – and, as you stand on the pedal with your left foot, grab the top tube in front of the saddle with your right hand. Then you coast until you need to step off and hit the ground running. Not hard at all. Easier than sliding off a horse. Your bike doesn’t stomp on you with steel shoes or try to run back to the barn.
Then comes the ‘remount.’ This is how you get back on the bike in cross. You run a few steps while gripping the handlebars, then you jump onto the saddle. The idea is to land on the inside of your right thigh. You do not want to land directly on the saddle. It will hurt, much worse for one gender than the other.
But hey, I know how to vault up onto a horse. I volunteer to go first. I run a few steps, throw my leg up and over and pedal away. There’s no mane to grab but bikes don’t have withers, they don’t spook and they’re no more than 8hh tall. How hard can it be? At this point, I notice my clinic mates are hanging back, reluctant to throw a leg up and over. They run and keep running or take a sort of skippy step rather than hopping on with gusto. “You have to commit!” Aaron implores. I do a few more remounts, then decide I’ve got the hang of it and don’t need to keep pounding my inner thigh on the saddle. I have a race to ride tomorrow.
I watch the others, who don’t get it so easily. Someone needs to get them some games ponies to practice on. One poor guy scores a brutal direct hit and splits his shorts. “Wouldn’t you know,” he says. “It would have to be the $400 shorts.”
$400 bike shorts? Even in Canadian dollars, that’s about, well, $400. I ask how it is that bike shorts can cost $400. “They’re from Switzerland.” Oh, right. But it’s not like they’re made from handwoven cashmere cultivated from rare baby antelopes found only on the north face of the Eiger. We’re talking about black stretchy bike shorts, for god’s sake. I think I found mine in the sale bin for $30. They’re probably not from Switzerland but I doubt anyone can tell.
This is one of my first clues to a not-so-unique observation about cyclists: they like their equipment maybe even more than horse people like tack. During breaks in the action, everyone chatters about chain rings and gears and gadgets and bike shops and how many ounces it all weighs. I’m pleasantly ignorant, not knowing anything more complicated than ‘wheels’, ‘brakes’ and ‘handlebars.’ Someone points to my bike and says, “That one probably weighs around 30 pounds.” I lift it and nod. To me, it feels like ¾ of a bag of grain, which would be 30 lbs. It’s not that I don’t know weights, it’s just that I have different reference points.
And that’s about to change. Our next skill is ‘shouldering’ the bike. This is when you reach down and, in one smooth movement, crook your elbow through the frame and under the down tube while hoisting the bike up onto your shoulder. Then you reach for the inside branch of the handlebars to ‘control the bike.’ Someone gives it a try and whacks themselves in the back of the head with the saddle. “That’s why we wear helmets,” Aaron says. I’ve got bigger problems. The angled top tube of my mountain bike doesn’t accommodate my shoulder. And damn, my bike is really heavy to lift that high.
“Can I try it with your bike?” I ask Aaron. His bike is shiny, brand-new and, you guessed it, covered with logos. He nods and pushes it toward me. I stick my arm through the frame and lift. I have to do a visual check to make sure there’s actually a bike on my arm. This sleek, purpose-bred machine weighs next to nothing. “What is this, about 18 pounds?” I estimate. Aaron mulls it over. “A little less.” I could run a marathon with this bike on my shoulder. I could probably ride around Rolex with this bike on my shoulder. That is, if I could ride around Rolex. The bike is that light. I also notice that the underside of the top tube is flattened so it doesn’t dig painfully into your shoulder. My bike isn’t merely super-heavy, the top tube is an inverted, pointed triangle. Ouch. During the drills, I devise some alternative carries that don’t require shouldering, which come in handy when we have to carry our bikes up entire flights of stairs.
Meanwhile, Aaron has set up some practice barriers for us. Barriers are 1″ x 12″ wooden boards that are propped up on their sides to create an obstacle that you jump or step over with your bike. Apparently, good riders can bunny hop these things but when Aaron demonstrates, he takes a flyer from a long spot and crashes on landing. Another reminder that bikes and horses have something in common. We practice over a single barrier, then he sets up a second, just beyond it. On a horse, it would be a simple bounce. On foot with a bike on your back, it’s a bunch of choppy steps followed by a clumsy jump. Then we work on our bunny hopping over a nicely-worn curb. I’m not too worried about getting too airborne on my bike; however, I do occasionally miss my distance quite badly. How do you count strides on a bike?
It’s right around now that I hear the distinctive musical stylings of an ice cream truck. Would it be good form to showcase my new cross skills by chasing down the vehicle, dismounting, shouldering my bike right up to the window, then making a running remount with ice cream in hand? It’s a tempting thought but no one else seems to take any notice of the truck at all, nor of the second one that comes round a little while later. I’m starting to think cyclists just aren’t normal. What kind of people ignore the ice cream man at the park on a sunny day?
We move on to a different area to ride up and down a short, steep slope and make hairpin turns on the side of the hill. ‘Off-camber’ riding they call it. This is where I admit to a terrible habit of half-halting on steep descents on my bike. When going downhill on a horse, half-halts are your friend. You engage the hind end and get it back underneath you and suddenly, you’re the Man from Snowy River. Do this on a bike and you’re Evel Knievel at Snake River Canyon. Aaron explains that I need to rely mostly on my front brake and only engage the rear brake when the bike is straight.
As counter-intuitive as it feels, it leads to a light-bulb moment for me: it’s okay to let your bike go around on the forehand. Think of it as hunters and you’ll be fine. I practice until I’ve got reasonable confidence in myself not to squeeze the wrong brake lever. It really is much easier this way, although, as in the cross-country phase of eventing, you have to plan your lines in advance and ride them accurately every time. I ask Aaron how many times he rides the course before a race. “A lot.” The technical sections, he says, you ride over and over until you know exactly where you want to go, and then you have a back-up plan for when that line just isn’t available to you. This all sounds quite familiar to me. I hope I remember to do it tomorrow.
Our last activity is a riotous game of tag in a quasi-wooded area. I take full advantage of my mountain bike capabilities by pedaling furiously and blindly into the brush and trees when anyone comes after me. I only crash once. My legs, however, catch lots of thorns courtesy of BC’s ubiquitous berry bushes. I also get a bee in my bonnet. Literally. I take off my helmet and it buzzes back to freedom. Then Aaron calls us in. We’re done for the day.
After five hours of jumping on and off my leaden bike and carting it all over the park, I’m so tired I can barely put it up onto the rack. And I’m really, really hungry. Where’d that ice cream man go?
Two funny Australians + video crew + complete access to the WEGs = brilliant
Honestly, I think that anyone with an Australian accent makes non-Australians smile but these guys are simply fantastic. Depending on how many videos they produce during the Games, we plan to have all of the Hamish and Dave videos here on Eventing Nation. Check out their video about the Australian team’s flight to Kentucky:
Buzzterbrown’s video of the prelim jumping phases at Marlborough HT:
Speaking of awesome WEG stuff, Will Connnell wrote some brilliant blogs from Team GBR over the weekend: Saturday’s post, Sunday. Keep them coming Will and go eventing.
I received several reports and inquiries Sunday evening that a horse had struggled after completing the XC at the Marlborough Horse Trials in Maryland on Sunday. I just got word from Marlborough’s organizer that Shadowfax, a 7-year old Westphalian, collapsed in the trailer area following a successful XC run at Training Level. Veterinarians responded immediately to assist the horse, but the horse expired shortly after the vets arrived. The horse was transported to Marion DuPont Equine Center for necropsy. From the accounts I have heard of the incident, the entire eventing community at Marlborough rallied around the horse and rider to assist them in every way possible, showing once again the tremendous strength of our sport. Eventing Nation’s thoughts and prayers are with Shadowfax and his family.
I’m writing from day 7 at Camp Canada down here in Ocala, Florida. We have been having a great time down here, having many very useful and educational rides over this past week. All the horses are doing well, even the few that have had to be rehydrated because of the heat and travelling on top of their stressful jobs. Dr. Ober has kept a close eye on everyone, doing several jogs throughout the week and even taking urine samples from each horse for a baseline of their hydration levels. Everyone is enjoying as much turnout as they want, as well as the ideal training facility that we are lucky enough to be able to use.
Our schedule over the past week has been something like this:
Monday–after dropping my boyfriend off at the very busy Atlanta airport WITH the truck and trailer, travel from Atlanta to Ocala with me, my horse and everything I own covered in red clay and dust.
Tuesday–attempt to remove the Georgia red clay and dust from me, my horse and everything I own with the help of my wonderful groom for these few weeks, Rachel Goff. Ollie got to have Tuesday off as an extra treat. 5 hours of turnout was exactly what he wanted to do.
Wednesday–“light” flat with DOC. This was probably a reasonable workout for Ollie. I felt a little stressed out about it. David is on a bit of a dressage warpath, and is really pushing to get every ounce of dressage wonder out of everyone!!
Thursday was my favorite–we had Gunner Ostergaard come to the farm to play with us on the 4 * test. It was really interesting to have someone else’s input on our work, and very educational to spend the morning out there watching everyone else have their lessons too! He put a little more focus on my inexperience than David has been lately, which may have been a good thing, but generally I like to be pushed within my education, instead of given any leeway whatsoever.
Friday–gallop day! This was probably Ollie’s favorite day. He felt great, powerwalked all the way back to the barn…
Saturday–dressage schooling show!! Jen Holling, who is a Canadian selector, is one of the behind the scenes forces at the Florida Horse park, and she set us up with 2 tests each at her show on Saturday morning…. The day after our gallop…. Fun times. Actually, aside from being a little tired in his canterwork of the second test, Ollie was great. I botched one movement per test, which seems to be my M.O. right now. As a wise man named Kyle Carter once told me: “One would hate to peak at the Ocala Schooling Show” I repeat this often. I have not yet said this to David (mostly out of fear of being smacked) but I am forgiving myself of my sins at the dressage show.
Sunday–each of the horses did some work over jumping exercises here at the farm. All I can say, is that Canada has some freakin awesome jumping horses… so watch out world!!
This week, Randy is here to shoe the horses, and we are going Sharn Wordley’s place right down the road to practice jumping more of a course scenario, as well as one final gallop, one final selection vetting, and some bootcamp in the 20×60 (of course)
I am so excited to be a part of this process. On a day to day basis, we are all just kind of putting our heads down and doing our jobs, but every so often the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I remember what it is we are actually doing here. Like, when I think that 5 days from now, we will be pulling into the Kentucky Horse Park, and 12 days from now we will have all done our dressage at the FREAKING WORLD GAMES. Now, I know that I’m one of the few eventers going to the WEG for their first major games, and all the veterans probably just take it all in stride, but I’m going to let myself be very excited and very proud of this opportunity, because who knows?? I might not ever get to do something like this again. (I might not even get to do it in the first place, 12 days is plenty of time for things to go ka-boom in the world of horses)
Every person involved with the CET has been a lot of fun to be around and I really feel like it is a very supportive group to be part of. I am looking forward to our last few days of camp, and for everything that is to come over the next 2 weeks!
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned…. And don’t forget to go to www.stephanie-rhodes-bosch.com for a chance to win a really cool all inclusive vacation. (The tickets are only 10 bucks, all proceeds DIRECTLY to the riders) It’s a shameless plug, really… but theres ony 10 days left to support CET athletes with this fundraiser.
When we first announced Leah as a guest blogger and explained that she was quitting her job at a high-profile Investment Banking firm in exchange for trying to make a career as a professional rider, reader reactions ranged from encouragement to claims of insanity. By the looks of this post, it sounds like Leah is very happy with her decision so far. Thanks for writing this Leah and thank you for reading.
Boyd has generously agreed to keep Eventing Nation updated on the US Team training sessions leading up the the WEGs. For more information on Boyd’s experience or just to say ‘thanks’ to Boyd for being a long-time friend of Eventing Nation, be sure to visit Boyd’s blog. Thanks for writing this Boyd and thank you for reading.
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Kim watching Neville’s gallop
From Boyd:
All the horses galloped Saturday morning starting at 7am. Neville and Comet also did a cross country school with Mark Phillips in the jumping arena at first light before the gallop. I wanted to practice bending lines with corners because Neville hadn’t had any real accuracy questions since Richland. All the riders were given an option for the gallop and most went up the hill three times, and a couple went up two times but at a quicker speed. A team vet took heart and respiration rates after each horse’s final gallop and looked happy with the results.
Woodbrun gets a bath from Emma Ford
We all will have a trot up at 9am Sunday just to check that everyone is looking good after the gallop, but just from glancing at a few informal jogs around the barns Sunday afternoon, all the horses look good. After the jog on Sunday, the horses will either go for a walk or do some light flatwork. Oded is back on Monday and Tuesday to work on our dressage. I intentionally left all of my horses from the AECs here at Chattahoochee Hills, not only to school them over this top class facility but also to keep me occupied and focused.
Usually all the riding takes place first thing in the morning and the riders have the afternoons to themselves. When I’m done riding, I usually spend the afternoons swimming, watching over my dressage test videos with Mark, or hanging out in the camper village with Karen, Max, Amy, and the grooms. Buck and his girlfriend Andrea Leatherman rented a house here and they usually disappear in the afternoons for a bit of romance. Phillip and Buck have also been doing some teaching in the afternoons with local riders.
Point Two’s Team USA Airjacket
In the evenings, there is usually a dinner or cocktail party where everyone gets together. I want to thank Carl Bouckaert for having all the riders, grooms, and support staff over to his beautiful house for a barbecue on Friday night. Clark and Jess Montgomery work with Carl’s horses and they have been incredibly accommodating donating turnout to all the team horses and making sure everyone feels at home. On Saturday night, we all went to former Olympian Julie Richard’s for dinner and had a great time. It’s serious business down here at the US training sessions but everyone is getting along and staying relaxed.
We have bad news from Italy today, as 22 year-old Austrian event rider Sebastian Steiner died while riding at the Montelibretti International Horse Trials. They fell at the 11th fence Saturday in Milan. The horse was uninjured. That is all the information we have at this point, but Sport’s Illustrated already has published the news. Eventing Nation’s thoughts and prayers are with Sebastian’s family.
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Sheikh Mohammed, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai will be the one of the favorites to win the WEG endurance gold medal. Sheikh Mohammed will lead a 7 rider endurance team comprised of other Dubai royalty on the 160km endurance championship. Sheikh Mohammed won gold at the 2002 WEGs. The endurance horses compete at a slow and steady canter over a predetermined course with regularly scheduled breaks.
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The world premier for the Secretariat movie will be held on October 2nd just outside of Lexington, Kentucky. I know people who have tickets to the world premier, so we’ll be sure to spoil the ending for everyone that night by announcing who wins in the movie.
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Be sure to check out the 2010 Radio Show from this week as we count down to the Games. Samantha and Glenn have been wonderful friends of Eventing Nation since the beginning and I can’t wait to follow their coverage of the WEGs.
CANTER is offering an award at Plantation Field to the top 2* and 3* ex-racehorses that includes a congratulatory cooler and sash. Of course, we absolutely love CANTER and all the other organizations that help find new homes for ex-racehorses here on Eventing Nation. Ex-racehorses make wonderful event horses and throughbreds are still the dominant breed in our sport. Thanks to CANTER for all their great work and check out the CANTER website for more information. Go eventing.
If you are bored on Saturday, I suggest turning on your television to watch some college football, taking your dog to the park, walking your kids, or pulling your horse’s mane–yes, we all know it needs to be done.
But, if you don’t feel like doing any of those things, then check out the FEI’s WEG Rider Biographieswhich are amusingly candid at times (Link: US bios). The USEA has an aggregation of the bios for the US team riders. Some of my overall favorites include:
Becky’s hero/idol: Karen O’Connor Allison’s reason for riding: Her dad bought Allison her first horse to stop her from sucking her thumb Karen’s hobbies: cooking and golf
Will’s hobbies: knitting Boyd started eventing because: “he didn’t have anything better to do” (joking, of course…maybe)
Boyd’s hobbies: gambling and weightlifting (definitely true)
And, just like NFL bios, the height and weight listings are pretty well enhanced. The FEI has bios listed for literally every single rider at the Games which means that at least one FEI intern had a very long summer.
The FEI also sent out an interesting press release about the massive Belgian horse airlift for the Games that we mentioned a couple of days ago. This is the only place I could find the press release published online so far.
Finally, as we all know, Anky van Gunsven will be competing for the Netherland reining team at the WEGs. Check out the video below of her competing in July aboard her horse Whiz. The warmup is not shown for obvious reasons, and are those European hillbillies whistling and hooting in the background?
One quick look at the World Equestrian Games countdown clock in Eventing Nation’s sidebar lets you know that the WEGs are approaching with incredible speed. This weekend, the teams are either traveling to the US or having a few last training sessions at home.
US Team Update: Oded Shimoni worked with the US riders on the dressage Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, the US horses will gallop up the same track as seen on our infamous Saturday morning gallop video. One big concern that I had with the US training sessions being held at Chattahoochee Hills is that the Georgia clay is dry and hard right now. But, the Chattahoochee Hills staff has aggravated the gallop over 6 times, and Mr. Bouckaert has put down two inches of sand and carpet shreddings over the entire gallop at great expense. The riders tell me that the mile long gallop now has “world class” footing. The horses will run up the gallop 2-3 times, with the already fit and fresh Thoroughbreds taking it a bit easier and the horses that still need to add a bit of fitness running a bit faster.
The riders and grooms all worked hard to clear rocks from the gallop Friday afternoon.
Thanks to Boyd for sending the photo
After the Saturday gallop, the US horses will have a light day on Sunday and then flatwork with Oded and jumping with Katie Prudent to start off next week. Also, the word is that morale is quite high among the riders and the USEF folks have done a great job keeping everyone happy and working together during what is always a tense time.
Boyd’s blog is the place to go for a look at Boyd’s living accommodations and more great Chattahoochee photos, including the team photo Boyd sent us yesterday.
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Canadian Team Update: The fighting Maple Leafs galloped early Friday morning in Ocala, Flordia, where the sand always provides good footing. The Canadians will compete at a dressage schooling show at the Florida Horse Park on Saturday. All of the Canadian horses are on a set schedule, predetermined by their fearless leader, David Captain Canuck. Yes, the only purpose of that last sentence was to use the phrase ‘Captain Canuck.’
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British Team Update: The eventers from Great Britain are getting in a few final training sessions this weekend before leaving for Liege, Belgium on the 21st, and from there they will fly to Cincinnati, Ohio. Patricia from Ecogold filmed some of the British training sessions that were held publicly at the Blenheim three-day.
Piggy French chats with the crowd about preparing for the Games
Team Great Britain has a fun team blog that gives insight into how the British support staff and riders from other sports who have already arrived in the States are getting on. Thanks to lec for sending us that link.
As we all know, Chelan Kozak is a four-star rider, a former WEG and Olympic rider for Canada, and an Eventing Nation guest writer extraordinaire. In this post, Chelan writes about the Canadian and US team selections and of course much more, including proper pronunciation of her name and a special WEG announcement. Be sure to check out Chelan’s blog for much more fun. Thanks for writing this Chelan and thank you for reading.
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From Chelan:
So every type A go get Ê»em competitor knows that one is only as good as the last competition. In the case of selection for the WEGs, the focus was on the competitions in 2010. Certainly, in my opinion that should be the case. While what happened in 2009 or in 2008 is relevant in terms of horse and rider experience, it should not overshadow more recent and therefore more relevant competitions. Certainly one obvious exception here were the horses given the option not to do Rolex this spring by the US selectors. Those horses fall into the category of Ê»been there done that got the T shirtʼ and did not need to run their legs off to prove yet again how terriï¬c they are. Even those horses had to prove themselves at the CICʼs this summer and at competitions leading up to the spring CCIʼs.
Thoughts on the Canadian Team:
Without further ado, let’s look at the Canucks. The sport of eventing is unusually cruel. On the way to making the WEG squad for every sport in every country there are countless casualties along the way. Bad luck, unsoundness, and just plain old Ê»donʼt cut the mustardʼ cull the numbers to this point. My Rolex performance this spring unfortunately put me in the latter category; riding a tough cookie on the flat left me far outside of the rest of my Canadian counterparts post Rolex. While that was a bitter personal pill to swallow, it was frankly exciting for our country. Two years ago, a similar performance could have gotten me on the team but this year it left me well off the list. The Canadian squad lists three BC girls: Hawley, Rebecca, and Steph. Over the years I have taught each of those ladies at BC young rider camps and clinics. Yes, i am that old…Jessie, Selena and Kyle round out the six.
The interesting thing about our Canadian selection process that differs from the US is that this year there are two horses (and one rider) who have not yet done a four star. We have fewer number to pick from than the US so this is not necessarily and unusual scenario. Our two riders as alternates are Diana and Ian, both on horses with four star experience. This circumstance is clearly stated (in bold italics actually) in the 2010 Canadian selection criteria. It gives the selectors freedom to choose the horse/rider combinations that they and the technical advisor (in this case David O’Connor) feel are the best combinations for the task at hand. I support this idea, and it works for our country. Simply Ê»doingʼ a four star isnʼt always enough. The other difference is that we have not yet named the Ê»Teamʼ and Ê»Individualsʼ. The Canadians will do that later, namely after training camp. This allows the selectors to take into account any little soundness stuff, for example. I also think that waiting helps the team atmosphere over the next couple of weeks. While this is not summer camp, the cohesiveness of the riders and support of management makes a tremendous difference in performance at this time and through the Games.
In no particular order:
Hawley and Gin & Juice–Hawley has done great things with her long time former partner Livingstone, and now Ginny is poised to eclipse Livingstone in helping Hawley continue her four star career. This pair is an obvious choice. Ginny is a spectacular horse, and they have been steadily raising the bar in dressage all season. On a personal note, I spent a great deal of time with Hawley in the early years driving up and down the west coast, and across the country and back. Our little girl has grown up and I am so incredibly proud of the horseman she has become.
Selena and Colombo–Rolex, check. Richland, check. AECʼs, check. Columbo is in the twilight of his career and he seems to only get better. Interesting sidenote–Kyle used to ride this horse. Selena is on a roll, keep it going girlfriend.
Steph and Port Authority–Okay, Iʼm going to come clean. When I saw the horse in the early days, out here in BC, going training I thought, Ê»what a nice young riderʼs horse that will make for Steph.ʼ Port Authority did not start to look like the freakishly good jumper he is until he was pretty much going Intermediate. Even now, he is not the natural mover you think of to get good dressage scores. Honestly, left to his own devices, “Ollie” trots like a pony. It is Stephʼs unwavering work ethic and attention to detail that has gotten her this far, and will continue to serve her well. Not to mention, Ollie shows up for work every day, and gives 110%.
Kyle and Madison Park–Kyle is old, like me. And if you ask John, well fed. We have been buddies forever, and we of course all love his fantastic wife and child. Kyle has spent his career riding many many horses. John made a comment that Phillip could ride a llama around the XC and still make time. Truthfully, Kyle can ride anything. And by anything, I mean an-y- thing. Parker is a little like Arthur, in that he is a good enough horse to win a medal, but anything can happen at any time, and you just never know. Parker hears voices, and Kyle has yet to completely get to the bottom of that horse. Kyle brings a wealth of team experience to the team. Plus, heʼll look great in the gold jog dress.
Rebecca and Riddle Master–Rebecca gave us all quite a scare this spring. It took everything I had not to squeeze her far too tight when I saw her at The Fork for the ï¬rst time after her accident. We out here in the sticks in BC are a tight group and Rebec is like family to me. She has had crap luck on more than one occasion the past few years and now itʼs finally her turn to get a red coat. I will shed a tear when I see that live in Kentucky. Go Rupert!
Jessie and Exponential–Once you get over being insanely jealous at what a great rider Jessie is at a young age, one can be truly happy for her success. Although she or her horse have not yet done a four star, have you seen him jump?!? Jessica will not disappoint.
The Canadian alternates are Diana on Manny and Ian on Napalm. Diana is a great rider, with plenty of miles to get the job done. However, Manny is a challenge to get to show jump clean, and it is tough for her to make time on him. Diana did not make the cut because the other horses are better right now. Donʼt count her out though, we will see her again. Ian is even older than I am. With that comes a wealth of experience on a variety of horses. I was not exactly sure what would happen with Ian and the team, as his horse is a great consistent jumper and his dressage has been getting better and better.
Kudos need to go to Graeme Thom, and the entire support staff, and of course to Canada’s fearless leader, David. He has had a vision for our country and what we could achieve if we just got our head in the game. Even though I am not going to WEG as a rider, I am profoundly grateful to everyone involved in our Canadian Team. It feels like a few days before Christmas, and you just canʼt STAND to wait until the big day.
Thoughts on the US team:
Phillip, Boyd, and Buck–DUH, of course. These three riders were obvious shoe-ins. Although, I bet even those boys all had a little easier time sleeping after the ofï¬cial selection was announced. There is the Ê»Reggie vs Bobbyʼ discussion, of course. It seems strange that Bobby was not named as an alternate for Buck. The selectors know more than I do, needless to say. Any event rider would be delighted to ride as well as Buck does on either of those horses.
Kim and Tippereary Liadhnan–Aside from being a nice person, Kim is a lovely rider. Clearly she has spent every waking moment since Rolex working on her show jumping. The last two outings have looked like a different horse and rider than Rolex. However, the last two outings are not the pressure cooker of the WEGs, and all that that entails. I would have put her as an individual for that reason. Iʼm not a US selector though. Sheʼs on the team and I wish her every ounce of luck and success.
Who would I have popped into Kimʼs spot? That brings us to Becky and Karen. Hmmm… Any sportʼs psychologist will tell you that consistency of performance is what we should strive for. HUH? I remember like it was yesterday the ï¬rst time that I heard that concept verbalized. I immediately thought that consistency was code for mediocrity. Not so! What happens is that the LEVEL of the performance ideally rises as time (and work and practice and experience) goes on. Thus, the level of the consistent performance gets better. We do not strive every time for the Ê»ride of a lifetimeʼ. That doesnʼt happen and it doesnʼt work. Instead, we pick away at each little facet of the performance to raise the level of the consistent performance.
Becky and Comet–Comet is spectacular (when in doubt state the obvious) and I am less concerned than some about what has happened prior to 2010 with the horseʼs records, including Comet. Like I said initially, last year and the year before brings experience, but is less reflective of consistency of current performance level. Experience brings with it the higher likelihood or performance under pressure, as that is a practiced response as well. Becky and Comet come with a boatload of experiences together.
Mandiba and Karen–First let me say, Ê»settle downʼ to the arm chair experts panicking about Karenʼs second XC fence at the AECʼs. It was a dumb-a%^ move, Karen would be the ï¬rst to tell you the same. I almost feel as a rider it is a bit of a positive to get that BS out of the way before the Games. Karen got a big wake up call (as did anyone else who had a run out, or stop or ay kind of blip at the AECʼs who is going on to the Games) That horse has been improving his dressage steadily all year (raising the consistent performance) and has had very few mistakes jumping. Karen has more experience on a variety of different horses in a variety of different team situations (aka sheʼs old…) and it is for that reason I would have had Karen on the Team.
US Alternates–Alison and Arthur will wipe the floor with just about anyone in the dressage and on a good day he could win a medal at the Games. But Arthur has been too risky recently in his performances to keep me calm as an alternate choice.
As for Amy and Leyland, my heart breaks for Amy. Itʼs bad enough when horses go lame, but when riders struggle with ʻsoundnessʼ issues, it just seems so unfair. No one would ever ask a horse to perform under the circumstances that Amy has performed under this year. I think she just did not have enough time in the saddle to satisfy the selectors that sheʼd be the wisest choice on the Team.
Not selected—
Stephen. Also a fantastic horseman and rider, on a lovely horse. Ditto the Amy sentiment of not enough time in front of the selectors, I suspect.
Will. When he was not listed as even and alternate, my response was WHAAAATTTT??? Then I read Johnʼs p.s. that his lovely Pawlow sustained a minor injury precluding him from being selected. While I am devastated for Will, it does restore my faith in the US selection process, as I thought initially that the US selectors were either blind or stupid.
Holly. Uh, fab horse see you in two years in London. Timing is everything as they say. WEGs just came a little too early for this talented pair.
About–To clear up a few things I have been asked about since I started writing for EN… The pronunciation of my name; Chelan is a place in Washington state, lake/resort town. It is a North American Indian (oh Gawd, Native?!? How un-PC…) name pronounced phonetically as Ê»shellʼ (as in sea shell) and then Ê»annʼ. For reasons unknown, many Americans like to call me Shuh-lawn. Not correct, but I have long since given up pointing it out. Ask any Canadian event rider, they can help you get it right. The other thing I get asked is Ê»what have you done?Ê» Okay, the questions are normally a little more polite. Answer: WEGs in 1994 and Olympics in 1996 for Canada. Since then, I have competed in numerous 3 and 4 stars but no team outings for a variety of reasons–no suitable horse at the right moment, suitable horse dies, suitable horse goes lame, suitable horse is sold to pay bills, etc. etc. etc. Yes, I am old, but happy to report the red coat from 1994 still ï¬ts. Enough about me, letʼs move on to what everyone is talking about–WEG selection.
Also, I have decided on an impromptu trip to the WEGs, conï¬rmed just today. I was not sure that I could bring myself to go because I am a terrible spectator. Frankly, I was still feeling a bit sorry for myself since Iʼm not riding. However, John has promised me an EN baseball hat if I come and write for EN. I have a free place to stay (THANK YOU DOROTHY CROWELL) and can fly there on points. So, God help each of the dedicated EN readers, youʼll have me to entertain/inform you during the eventing portion of the WEGs. Go eventing!
Three of the best in the business checking in with Eventing Nation
It’s a great day for US eventing! You can tell from Boyd’s boots that he just finished practicing dressage. I give props to Karen for staying hydrated in the Georgia heat and Becky is wearing one of the killer Team USA hats. If you want to find me at WEGs, I’ll be wearing one of those–unless Canada gives me a hat, in which case I might mix things up for a day. Go eventing.
With all the talk about the WEGs lately, it’s hard to remember that most of the eventing world has been carrying on this week with business as usual. Tonight we bring you part three of Jenny’s adventure as a working student and EN guest blogger. Jenny has ambitiously decided to spend the next year of her life as a working student for Team CEO, in Lexington, Kentucky. Jenny is two weeks into her working student experience and seems to be enjoying herself immensely, although most working students enjoy the first two weeks and the real question is how do they feel after two months! Thanks for writing this Jenny and thank you for reading.
I can’t believe it has already been two weeks since I first arrived here in Kentucky! I am having the time of my life, and I am already dreading having to leave here (even though I am several months away from that time!) Team CEO is everything it says it is– a team! Everyone is incredibly welcoming, and I already feel like family. In the past two weeks I have been familiarizing myself with all 47 horses, the wonderful clients, and all of the farm routines. Megan also found me a friend (another working student…yay!) named Andrea, and the three of us spend every day together riding and doing barn chores.
As far as working student positions go, I am about 100% positive Andrea and I have the best one in the country, maybe even the world! Not only are we treated like family, but our daily routine consists of feeding, turnout, riding, riding, riding, and riding! Did I mention we get to ride A LOT? Of course we have other barn chores, but we are extremely lucky to have a very riding-oriented program where the emphasis is on improving our riding as well as schooling future event horses and learning from Megan’s talented upper level horses. Every day is different, and Megan is always keeping things interesting and giving us new things to do, whether it’s traveling to look at a clients potential new horse, taking some horses x-c schooling off property, going on trot or gallop sets on her upper level horses, or working with our vet Chris Newton, who is one of the selected DVM’s for WEG. We have lessons every day, and I am happy to say that Molson is surviving Kentucky boot camp! I am even more surprised that I am surviving boot camp– with the number of horses we ride per day as well as the torturous stirrup-less lessons, I certainly have the stirrup-bar bruises to prove it! I can already feel us becoming stronger both in our dressage lessons and our jumping lessons. Last weekend we shipped out to do some x-c schooling and Moo was a superstar, we even mastered a Prelim sunken road! I am having almost too much fun, to the point where I am sad on Sunday nights when I realize that Monday is our day off and we don’t get to play with the horses!
This evening we drove over to Keeneland to watch the yearling sales, and that is a whole different world from us eventers! Megan started quizzing us on conformation and teaching us how to look for a good eventer, since most of her horses are OTTB. Let me tell you, it is a lot harder than it seems! I did take two judging classes in college, however we were mostly judging pleasantly-plump Morgans, instead of world-class, million dollar thoroughbreds! While there is no chance I would ever actually bid on one of these horses, it was still fun to get dressed up and experience the racing hype that Lexington is famous for!
This coming weekend we will be leaving Kentucky and traveling to Illinois for the Dunnabeck HT. I am a little nervous, but Megan is so positive and has so much confidence in Molson and myself, that I can’t help but feel excited for our USEA debut! This week we will really have to buckle down and practice because I don’t want to disappoint Megan or Molson! Next weekend we will be going up to Wisconsin for Otter Creek, and then it is WEG…eek! I just bought my x-c ticket last week, so now I am counting down the days until October 2nd! Until next time.
The first flight of the European World Equestrian Games horses arrived at the Cincinnati airport this morning. The WEGs will be largest horse airlift in history, which will unfold over the next few days as horses travel to Kentucky. Europe is sending 450 horses over for the Games and of they will be flying out of Liege, Belgium.
Speaking of Belgium, Eventing Nation’s Belgian team insider has sent us news that Belgium has announced their squad for the WEGs.
Word is that Karin Donckers broke her arm last week, so we will have to see how that influenced her WEG status. Also, I’m really disappointed that Carl Bouckaert will not be representing Belgium at the WEGs. Due to the high costs, Belgium will not be sending vaulting or driving teams despite the fact that the country has a rich heritage in both sports.
(1)Make no mistake, the 2010 USA eventing team is looking for redemption after finishing outside of the top 6 at the 2008 Olympics. Three of the US riders in Beijing have been named on the 2010 squad and two of the horses have as well (Mandiba and Comet). The biggest difference that I notice between the 2008 and 2010 teams is that we have upgraded our cross-country strength with the addition of Neville, Ballynoecastle, and Tipperary Liadhnan.
(2) Cross-country could be considered the strongest phase for all four of the US team horses and riders. With a team that consists of Woodburn, Neville, Ballynoecastle, and Tipperary Liadhnan, the US has to feel really optimistic about finishing on all four scores without a stop on XC. From having stared at the horse records for hours earlier this week, I think those pairs have a collective three stops in their entire careers together. With that in mind, a very difficult World Equestrian Games XC would be a perfect scenario for the US team, especially if the time is tough to make.
(3) The list of alternates (TruLuck, Leyland, Remington, Arthur) shows a lot of intelligence by the selectors. TruLuck and Remington are alternates for obvious reasons–no matter what, we need Phillip and Boyd riding in Kentucky. Amy is an excellent choice for an alternate because she is so strong mentally and the US has always been able to count on her coming through in the clutch. On face value, Arthur’s selection as an alternate is a lot more questionable. Arthur hasn’t put together a strong performance in any of his last four three-days and it’s hard for me to think that he deserved the spot more than the always consistent Brandenburg’s Joshua or the jumping machine Last Monarch. But, the Arthur pick makes more sense when we look at how the alternates will be used if (heaven forbid) something happens to anyone on the squad.
Obviously, if Woodburn or Neville don’t go to the WEGs, they would just be replaced by TruLuck or Remington. If Ballynoecastle or Tipperary encounter problems, then the best way to keep a team full of very strong cross-country horses is to add Leyland to the team. But, if Mandiba or Comet have problems then the one remaining short lister in the ‘win or bust‘ category is Arthur and I think he is a good replacement for the individuals. As we have been saying from the beginning, individual selections are very different than team selections and I give the selectors a lot of credit for picking a very smart list of alternates.
(4) I expect home field advantage to be a big help for the US team at the World Equestrian Games. In the National Football League, home field advantage has been shown by studies to be around 5% to 10%. Possible explanations for such a big home field advantage include more stress from traveling for the away team, the psychological advantage of having the fans cheering for the home team, and the influence of the fans on the officiating. All of these factors will play a role at the WEGs and they could make a big difference. At the 2008 Olympics, a 5% final score advantage for Australia would have given them gold instead of silver and a 10% advantage would have given Great Britain silver instead of bronze.
(5) Anything less than a medal by the US team is a complete failure. And no, pulling out an individual silver with a miraculous weekend by Comet will not make things better. History remembers the individual medals, but winning the team competition says a lot more about the quality and depth of a national program because it takes 3 horses to perform superbly rather than one pair just having the weekend of their life. I want to have a look at the final cross-country course and team rosters before making my WEG guesses picks, but my top three teams right now are (in no particular order) Germany, New Zealand, and USA, with Canada and Great Britain banging on the door. I’m not convinced that any other country will get three horses around the XC.
One of the best parts about making a WEG squad is that you get to shop for the jog outfits. After picking out the official jog outfits on Wednesday, the Canadians decided to have a little fun by trying on other outfits. If you’ve ever been to Ocala, Florida on a September afternoon, I’m sure you realize that playing dress-up was probably the most fun option at the time. The Canadians also sent me a picture of Kyle trying on the same outfit that will give me nightmares for a long time. Send us your training session photos for extra EN Karma–it’s guaranteed to keep your horse sound. Go eventing.
I’m always pleased to see event horses thriving well into their late teens and it’s great to see the few horses that keep competing into their 20’s. The oldest horse at the World Equestrian Games will be the 20 year old event horse Stand By Me, ridden by Sweden’s Linda Algotsson, according to the Horse and Hound. The pair has placed second at the European Championships — once in 1999 and again in 2003. A 20 year old horse competing at the WEGs is incredible and I would have expected the oldest horse to be a vaulter or a reiner or something. 2010 seems to be the year of the old horses, with the 17 year-old Lenamore winning at Burghley just a few weekends ago. There are lots of possibilities for causes of this trend including improved vet care, great stewardship by the riders, maybe just luck, or perhaps it has something to do with the short format. Your thoughts?
The rest of the Swedish team is:
Katrin Norling and Pandora Emm Niklas Lindbäck and Mister Pooh Niklas Jonsson and First Lady Malin Larsson with Piccadilly Z
The 6th pair will be either Viktoria Carlerbäck with Ballys Geronimo or Dag Albert and Tubber Rebel, who is already an EN celebrity. Go eventing.
Earlier this spring I started to get the feeling that Steph and Port Authority were going to do big things this year because they consistently had the fewest jumping penalties of anyone at the spring competitions. A few months later Steph placed 5th at Rolex, and a few months after that she was selected to Team Canada. Today, she coins a new phrase for us: Captain Canada. Please visit Steph’s website to learn more about her and be sure to check out her fundraising opportunities. The road to the WEGs is, if nothing else, expensive. Thanks for writing this Steph and thank you for reading.
Well, we’ve made it one step closer to Kentucky. Ollie and I have officially been named to the Canadian Squad for the WEG’s. That looks pretty damn good on my computer screen right now!!! I’m very excited and very grateful for everything that has brought me here. “Here” is currently the kitchen in Max Corcoran’s wonderful little house on Ms. Mars’s gorgeous farm in Ocala, Florida.
Ollie settled in almost immediately after we got here Monday afternoon… He got out of the trailer, looked around, and started walking back out the driveway towards the farm across the street where we spent the last two winters!! But, we turned around and headed in to the big yellow barn where Ollie will be spending the next 10 days. He has a big, grassy paddock to spend the morning in, and a big airy stall to hang out in for the rest of the time. He should be very happy. And, me… Well, I got a seriously good deal on my Training Camp accomodations. The house is just a stone’s throw away from the barn, and is surrounded by paddocks, with the dressage arena just beyond one of the paddocks. Its pretty perfect.
This morning, Ollie got to see massage therapist Jo-Ann Wilson for the first time. I am so happy that we have someone like her as part of the team, and I really think she will make a big difference in my horse’s body over the next few days. It was very educational to have her running commentary as she went over each of them, explaining to us what tightness in certain areas can mean for the way a horse will move his body.
On Wednesday, we will each have a light dressage day with Captain Canada to get the week started… I think all of us are of the same mind that it is our job to get as much as possible out of ourselves and our horses in the dressage to start the competition out right.
All I can really say is that I’m taking today to just be super excited about being in this position….the game face can wait until tomorrow!!!
At lunchtime Tuesday, the US riders were gathered in a breezeway at Chattahoochee Hills. Mike Huber, the head selector, walked up, read the team selections and walked away. With that, dreams were fulfilled for some and crushed for others. Will, Stephen, and Holly left soon thereafter for the long trip home and everyone else will stay at Chattahoochee Hills training until the team leaves for Kentucky. We posted the selections a few minutes after the riders heard about the selections and the USEF sent out a formal press release Tuesday evening confirming the team. As fate would have it, I had to take a friend to the ER this afternoon so Tuesday night’s post is several hours late and we will have much more about the US team on Wednesday. Horses usually don’t wait for convenient times to injure people.
I had expected word about the selections to come a bit later on Tuesday, so I was merrily typing up my US team predictions when I heard the final selections. I guess we will never know what my final team predictions were, but the last time I made my predictions was July 9th, when I wrote: “Gun to my head right now: Woodburn, Ballynoecastle, Neville, Leyland on the team, Mandiba, Comet as individuals” so I obviously like the selections. Of course, I like some more than others.
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The team:
Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos: Boyd told me that Remington is four points better in the dressage and Neville is four points faster on the XC, so he guessed Neville would be the pick if the selectors were particularly concerned about the WEG cross-country course. Boyd and Neville were 9th, 1st, and 4th at Rolex ’08, Fair Hill ’09, and Rolex ’10 respectively. Boyd has worked harder than anyone to improve himself as a rider and athlete over the past couple of years and it’s great to see those efforts really paying off.
Phillip and Woodburn: This was probably the easiest pick to make. Woodburn has never stopped with Phillip, the horse hasn’t been outside of the top 6 in his last 8 events, and Woodburn was second at Rolex ’10. The only question now is will Woodburn win his first CCI4* at the WEGs? If the cross-country time is hard to make, Woodburn will be one of the favorites.
Buck and Ballynoecastle RM: After “Reggie’s” stop in the show jumping at Richland, I would have predicted Bobby to make the team and Reggie to be named as an alternate. Obviously, the selectors saw things differently and either horse was a great option for the US. Reggie has never had a single cross-country jumping faults he was 11th at Burghley in 2009. Reggie also has a reputation for being a very sound horse.
Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan–By now, everyone knows the story with Kim and “Paddy”–great dressage, brilliant cross-country, terrible show jumping this spring, and one rail in their last two advanced events. Kim had as many or fewer rails than all but three short listed riders in her last two events combined and the feeling was that Kim and Katie have fixed the problem rather than covering it up. It’s Kim, it’s Kentucky, I like it.
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The individuals:
Becky Holder and Courageous Comet: Remember how I wrote that selecting individuals is different from selecting teams because you can pick riskier combinations with more upside? Comet has been to 9 CCI4*’s in his prolific career and he put together a great performance at Rolex earlier this year, placing 3rd. Seven of Comet’s 9 CCI4* have either involved a stop or more on XC or over 10 faults in the show jumping. However, the other two were when Comet placed 2nd and 3rd at Rolex, so Comet has a history of stepping up big in Kentucky and he certainly has the potential to medal at the WEGs.
Karen O’Connor and Mandiba: After placing 7th at Rolex ’10, they won the Rebecca Farms CIC3* and placed 3rd at Richland, but then picked up an unbelievable stop at the AECs. Like Comet, Mandiba’s cross-country scares me slightly, but I get the feeling that all the pieces are finally coming together for him and Karen is too good of a rider to leave off the team.
The alternates:
Allison Springer and Arthur: If you’re looking for a horse that would either medal at the WEGs or break your heart, Arthur is the horse for you. After clear rides at Rolex ’08 and ’09, Arthur was eliminated at Burghley ’09, stopped at the Blenheim CCI3* ’09, stopped at Rolex ’10, and had 20 time penalties at Luhmuhlen. The coffin that caused Arthur to stop at Rolex this yea is going to be on the WEG course, and even bigger and badder than it was at Rolex. That said, Arthur destroyed the rest of the short list in the dressage at the AECs and I expect that they would be in the top 5 at the WEGs going into the weekend.
Amy Tryon and Leyland: I can honestly say that the pain that Amy has competed through with her knee this year makes her the toughest rider I have ever seen. Layland has not competed in a four-star in 2010 because, along with several of Phillip’s and Buck’s horses, he was not required by the team to run at Rolex. Last year Leyland finished 13th at Rolex and then jumped around Burghley clear, making him one of the only US horses to jump around a XC course that might be as big and challenging as the WEGs. Leyland won the Advanced at Rbecca Farms but finished 8th at Richland and pulled two rails at the AECs, which gave him mixed momentum going into the final selections.
Phillip Dutton and TruLuck: It was just a question of which of Phillip’s horses would be named as an alternate and, with a 4th at Burghley last year, TruLuck is an excellent choice although the selectors really couldn’t go wrong. If Phillip didn’t have any horses left, we’d be sending him to the WEGs on a Llama and he’d get around within the time.
Boyd and Remington XXV: I can’t begin to describe how well Remington has developed under Boyd. If you had told me 3 years ago that “Remi” would be an alternate for the World Equestrian Games I would have thought you were completely insane. I’m glad that Neville made the team instead of Remi because Remi will have many more chances in the future.
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The long drive home:
Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua–Stephen is the kind of rider that all the other riders wanted to be on the team with them. I don’t think that I have heard more riders talk more positively about any other pair that Stephen and Joshua, and for good reason. Stephen has been part of the last two US gold medal winning Pan American teams in ’03 and ’07. In three Rolex tries (’06, ’08, and ’09), Joshua places 3rd, 4th, and 10th respectively. In the end, I think they just didn’t do quite as many events this year as they needed to force the selectors to pick them.
Will Faudree and Pawlow–Pawlow answered every challenge that was put in front of him throughout this entire process. I’m sorry that they had to leave Chattahoochee early, but this is undoubtedly a pair that will compete for the US in the very near future.
**Update: I just spoke with Will and he told me that Pawlow sustained a minor injury at the AECs and that Will withdrew Pawlow from the selection process Tuesday morning before the teams were announced. Pawlow is too nice of a horse and Will is too good of a horseman to take any chances. I had heard that Pawlow left Chattahoochee before the selections were announced, but I wanted to wait until I spoke with Will to mention it. A few weeks off and Pawlow should be back in action at a horse trials near you.
Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch–Like Pawlow, Last Monarch is a young superstar who has done everything within his power to make the team but the WEGs just came a year early. “Stewie” literally doesn’t have a stop on his record but the enthusiasm that makes him a cross-country superstar is a challenge to channel on the flat. Next year Stewie’s dressage will be 10 points lower and they’ll be begging him to compete for the US.
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I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the selectors to choose between so many fantastic candidates who have worked so hard to make the team. If it had been left up to me, I would have sent the WEG entry to the FEI with all 17 horses on it and let them figure things out. Go eventing.
I have just gotten word from Georgia that the riders have been informed about their selection. The final Executive Committee vote isn’t scheduled until later this evening, but the selectors have made their picks and I expect the Executive Committee to rubber stamp the selections. You heard it here first:
It’s selection Tuesday on Eventing Nation and the COTH has arrived at the party with a story about a few interesting elements of team selection. The article has some interesting facts like a list of the selectors, and it explains that the ‘Vet Panel’ that we have been discussing for a few days uses a curved numerical probability each horse will complete the WEGs. But, one thing to remember when you are reading the article is that gives a much more positive view of the selection process than you would ever get talking to a rider, probably due to the fact that it quotes 3 people from USEF but no riders.
When you speak with riders they will tell you that there’s very little communication between the the riders and the selectors or team vets at this point–you or I know just as much about what the vets and selectors are thinking as some of the riders. This method has legitimate reasons, but it created a very tense and frustrated mood at the selection trials. That tension is increased by several orders of magnitude today as the riders sit by those beautiful barns in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia and await to hear their fate.
It’s a well known fact that we love Team Canada here on Eventing Nation, and it has been an absolute pleasure to report on Canada’s emergence as an international eventing team force, even if the rest of the eventing media still hasn’t gotten the message. Five years ago I used to joke that I should just marry a Canadian girl and go to the Olympics for Canada because I had already done a two-star. Not anymore. Canada should be really proud of their eventing team–it’s a fabulous group of riders and horses.
In case you recently returned from a vacation in Siberia:
Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo Steph Rhodes-Bosch and Port Authority Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master Kyle Carter and Madison Park Jessica Phoenix and Exponential Hawley Bennet-Awad and Gin & Juice
(1) I gave Kyle a hard time in our team announcement post–only because I know Kyle can handle it–but I think it was a great decision to put Kyle on the team and not just because I’m a big fan of Kyle’s. Kyle and Madison Park jumped clear XC rounds for Canada the 2007 Pan Ams and 2008 Olympics, and Kyle’s experience brings a great veteran presence to an otherwise young Canadian squad. With everything on the line, under big-time pressure, Kyle is the man that Canada wants in the saddle.
(2) Speaking of men, where are they? With five ladies and one guy, Team Canada has the highest proportion of ladies that I have ever seen on an international squad, although Kyle might count for two guys or at least one and a half. I have written before that I think lady eventers are particularly tough and the lady Canucks are no exception.
(3) Between Port Authority and Exponential, Canada has two of the best jumping horses in the entire world.
(4) When I look at this tremendous squad that Canada has assembled, I have to give a ton of credit to the brilliance of Graeme Thom and the rest of Eventing Canada for hiring the all-star team of David, Dr. Ober, and farrier Randy Pawlak.
(5) One interesting decision by the Canadian selectors was to pick Rebecca Howard’s horse Riddle Master, who has never been to a four-star. Riddle Master was targeting Rolex, but diverted to the Bromont CCI3* after Rebecca Howard broke her collar bone, among other things, at Pine Top. Rebecca has always struck me as one of the most intensely focused eventers I know–she never gets too excited or too upset. Moving up successfully at the WEGs is no small feat, but Rebecca has the poise to do just that. Link: Rebecca Howard’s selection blog
Update: Chelan sent a quick email reminding me that Exponential has also not done a CCI4*, but considering that Exponential clears advanced sized fences by 4 inches anyway, I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.
(6) To win a team medal at the World Equestrian Games, either Canada needs to improve their dressage scores or the XC needs to be insanely challenging. Each member of the Canadian team needs to make it their personal commitment to take 5 points off of their dressage scores over the next two weeks of training sessions. Do that, and anything becomes possible.
It’s time to turn our attention back to the US team selections, which will get Eventing Nation’s full attention today. Go eventing.
