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Need to Know Wednesday

By on Sep 8, 2010 1:52 pm -

The big news in the US this week is of course the AECs and WEG selection trials for the US and Canadian teams taking place at Chattahoochee Hills in GA.  The competition itself starts tomorrow with the prelim through advanced divisions starting on Friday.  If you have some time to kill at work, check out the world’s longest entry list.  
We reported last week that Neville Bardos, Remington, Balynoecastle RM, My Boy Bobby, The Foreman, and Woodburn will not be required to run XC on Saturday.  Word is that these horses will have a gallop on Saturday morning to simulate some stress for the selectors.  I have heard that the US team will be drug testing all potential US WEG horses at the AECs and that they are not to compete on anything whatsoever, independent of competition rules.  The question of course is how to compare horses that have different levels of exercise over the weekend, but that’s why they pay the selectors the big bucks.
Phillip’s blog explains that Kheops did not make the trip to the AECs.  
Also, Omega Alpha is looking for help for a few hours working their booths at the AECs.  If you’re interested in getting some great supplements and cool swag and you plan to be at the AECs, send Patti and email at [email protected].  If not, stop by the OA booths anyhow to learn about their great products.
The Blenheim jog was held on Wednesday and I have gotten word that all of the US horses passed the first inspection.  Sharon White on Rafferty’s Rules, Will Coleman and Nevada Bay, Madeline Blackman on Gordonstown, and UK based riders Julian Stiller and Aimee Chambers will be representing the USA this weekend at Blenheim amidst a very strong international field.  Link: Blenheim CCI3* entries
64 year old British retired school teacher Robin Donaldson is paralyzed from the neck down after a fall on the BE100 level course at Beckwithshaw Horse Trials.  The jumps in the BE100 class are 100cm or approximately 3ft tall.  Mr. Donaldson was an experienced rider who rode at Burghley in the 80’s.  Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Ecogold’s patriotic WEG saddle pads

By on Sep 8, 2010 10:15 am -
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A few weeks ago someone gave me an official US team WEG hat and I love it–there’s nothing better than representing for the red, white, and blue.  The point is that it’s fun to wear the same stuff that the riders will be wearing at the World Equestrian Games.  With that in mind, our brilliant friends at Ecogold are now selling their world famous secure saddle pads embroidered with US and Canadian flags.  The “WEG Patriotic Collection” will make your horse look and feel great, and there are unconfirmed rumors that wearing the patriotic saddle pads has made several horses start jumping like Woodburn, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the level.  Click here for more information on the WEG Patriotic Collection.

As a complete aside, if you want to recognize me at the AECs, I’ll be wearing the aforementioned USET hat and of course my trusty gorilla suit.  
Go eventing.
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Sharon White’s thoughts from England

By on Sep 6, 2010 11:47 am -
US eventer Sharon White is in England with her horse Rafferty’s Rules preparing for the Blenheim CCI3* on September 9th-12th.  Going over to England is always an eye-opening experience for US eventers and I love hearing them talk about their trip.  Sharon attended Burghley this weekend and was kind enough to  write to Eventing Nation with her thoughts and observations.  Thanks for writing this Sharon and thank you for reading.  
From Sharon:

Hello EN! Sharon White here reporting from England where I have been for the past couple weeks in preparation for the Blenheim CCI***. This is my first time competing in England, the mecca of eventing, and I told John I would give my views on Burghley and British Eventing.

About Burghley:  Burghley is in a word, massive. I thought everything in England was smaller than in America–road, cars, parking lots (especially parking lots)–until I went to Burghley. Bughley is huge and there are people everywhere. There are so many people that it’s hard to get close enough to some of the jumps to see them. The crowd is not only large but very well educated! The comments I overheard made it sound like people really follow horses and riders and know their histories. 

I will say I spent all day at Burghley on Saturday.  I arrived early to walk the course, then walked around the course while it was running to watch horses at each fence, then spent the rest of the day watching the big telatron screen, where you could see the most. And I have to say EN knew more about what had happened with the airlifted rider than I did! When the rider was airlifted, there was a long hold, but you didn’t know what had happened or what was going on, the announcers just immediately started interviewing British WEG riders. I find it quite amazing that I was at a venue but knew less about circumstances there than someone in the States! 
About England: The best thing I’ve discovered since being over here in England is that eventing is an awesome sport back in the United States. Let me explain myself. Yes, England is the mecca of eventing and it is amazing, but our US events totally hold up to what I’ve seen here. We have great cross country courses and great events, super facilities and organizers, and at all levels our riding skills and horses seem comprable. 
All that being said, one of the big differences that I see is that there are many more events here in England–you could go 5 days a week to different events.  Also, there are many more top notch competitors in England. At the Highclere HT last weekend, the intermediate and advanced all ran on monday (as it was a bank holiday), and there were 5 intermediate dressage rings and 3 advanced dressage rings all running at the same time. That is a lot of upper level eventing going on at the same time. And every other rider was a team rider from some country. Many, many great riders, many, many nice horses. It’s a density of talent competing against each other that we don’t have in the US. The other big difference is the footing. The soil is just different here. If I were a farmer I could probably tell you how, but I’m not so I can’t. The soil is loamy, so it makes for good turf (and excellent dairy I might add–the cows get better grass I think). This makes keeping your event horses sounder a bit easier.
The crowds at all the events in England are also a big difference. At Highclere HT they had a country fair going on with shopping, food, moonbounces, pony rides, a rock climbing wall, and…ferret racing. Ferrets running in tubes. I now can completely appreciate what Phillip is trying to do with Plantation. Make it a fun day for the family to get outside interest. Our sport is just as great at home as it is here in England, they just liven it up more here. I’ve had the chance to walk around Gatcombe and Badminton while here, and the settings are amazing, and there’s great tradition there, but I couldn’t help but feel we do have equally beautiful places in the US. Morven Park, for example, is steeped in our own history, with amazing grounds and a beautiful course, and I think the terrain and course on the advanced side of Morven rivals any event anywhere. And think about The Fork! That is a beautiful spot with a fabulous course and facility. And that’s just to name two.  My point is that we have great events back home in the US. We just need to make the general US public realize that! I vote for wine tasting. Get wine tasting and dog agility involved in all events and we’d have to turn people away. Go eventing.

Working on Labor Day

By on Sep 6, 2010 9:26 am -
Whether you are enjoying a relaxing Labor Day at home or you are stuck at work wistfully looking out the window at the fleeting days of summer, hopefully it will bring you comfort that I recently checked EN’s archives and found that I have gone over 300 straight days with at least one post on EN.  With the AECs this weekend and then the WEGs in three weekends, that streak doesn’t look like it will break anytime soon.  We have some great stuff coming from the EN Team this week, but let’s take a quick look at some Monday morning eventing news and notes:






Watch interviews after Caroline Powell and the amazing Lenamore won Burghely:

Go eventing.

Burghley Results: Caroline Powell and Lenamore Win

By on Sep 5, 2010 11:59 am -

Caroline Powell and the 17 year-old Lenamore jumped double clear on Sunday at Burghley to take home the victory for New Zealand.  Oliver Townend had two rails down to drop from 2nd to 4th.  William Fox-Pitt moved into the second spot with Seacookie.

Link: Burghley Results

1.Caroline Powell on Lenamore (NZL) +0  38.7 
2.William Fox-Pitt on Seacookie +1  42.9 
3.Clayton Fredericks on Be My Guest II (AUS)  +0  45.8 
4.Oliver Townend on Carousel Quest +8  47.6 
5.Mary King on Apache Sauce +4  48.8 
6.William Fox-Pitt on Macchiato +0  48.8 
7.Mary King on Kings Temptress +4  49.3

My first reaction in looking at these results is that they must make the New Zealand, British, and Australian selectors sweat a little bit.  New Zealand put Caroline on their WEG team, but with Mac McDonald and they can’t be feeling very good right now about leaving a Burghley champion off of the team.  At the beginning of this year, everyone figured William would go to the WEGs with Seacookie or Macchiato rather than Cool Mountain, and Cool Mountain might have been the better pick despite Seacookie’s 2nd at Burghley, but today’s results raise some eyebrows.  Australia understandably left Clayton off of the team with Be My Guest because Clayton hasn’t been riding the horse for very long, but if Australia had a time machine I wonder if they would switch things up after today.  

The BBC is reporting that Nicola Malcom has been released from the hospital after her airlift from Burghley on Saturday following a fall at fence #19.  The article quotes Mark Phillips as saying: “My information is that the horse stood off a little too far, hit the fence with its hind legs and the impact catapulted Nicola into the air.”  It happens to the best of us and the good news is that both horse and rider get to go home safely.  Maybe the best advice anyone has ever given me to prevent missing way long is wen Kim told me to never make the same mistake 3 times in a row.  Meaning if you miss a little long and then miss long again at the next jump, make damn sure you don’t miss long a third time because by that point your eye is dialed back and a long distance will look normal.  
All of the rides including show jumping are viewable online for free from Burghley.tv.  I for one love the ability to select which ride to watch rather than having to sit through a bunch of people I don’t want to see.  On the other hand, that tattoo bank commercial at the beginning of each video is really creepy.  
After watching the XC videos, Alex Hua Tian had the save of a lifetime after his horse slithered over a corner.  Speaking of rides that looked shaky from the get-go, you could see Ruth Edge’s issues coming after watching just the first few fences.  I feel like Pippa got away with one at the leaf pit, where he horse really hesitated at the drop–she was originally scored 20 penalties but got them taken back after a protest.  The riders who had problems at Burghley have the chance to re-route to Pau later this year.  Caroline Powell definitely deserved the win because she had a beautiful XC ride.  Again, you can watch all of the rides yourself at Burghley.tv.  
As a final note, Mark Todd made his first Burghley run after returning from his retirement and finished on his dressage score to move up from 29th to 11th.   If you didn’t think Mark Todd was the greatest eventer in history when he retired, hopefully his comeback is convincing you.  Go eventing.

Rider airlifted from Burghley

By on Sep 4, 2010 12:54 pm -
Scottish rider Nicola Malcom was arilifted from Burghley after falling from McFly at fence 19, the Birch Hedge, SportingLife reports.  The cross-country was held for nearly an hour as she was treated and then transported to a hospital in Coventry.  A Burghley spokeswoman said “The rider’s condition is stable following a head injury suffered when the horse fell during the cross-country phase…The horse was not injured.”  We will have more information as we get it and Eventing Nation’s thoughts and prayers are with Nicola and her family this Saturday. 
The XC video is viewable online for free through Burghley TV.

1.Caroline Powell on Lenamore (NZL) 38.7 

2.Oliver Townend on Carousel Quest 39.6 
3.William Fox-Pitt on Seacookie 41.9 
 4.Mary King on Apache Sauce 44.8 
5.Mary King on Kings Temptress 45.3


Everything else that happened Saturday at Burghley in 7 sentences or less: Caroline Powell and the 17 year-old Lenamore galloped around Burghley with a double clear to move up from second to first going into the show jumping.  Ruth Edge and Two Thyme led after the dressage but retired on course.  Oliver Townend and Carousel Quest picked up just 0.4 time penalties and lurk less than a point behind Caroline in second.  William Fox-Pitt and Mary King both have two horses in the top 10 after the XC.  Of the 72 Burghley XC starters there were 12 double-clears and 25 rides with problems on the course. The US pair of Michael Pollard and Wonderful Will retired after picking up 20 penalties at fence #4, the Leaf Pit.  The rest of the cross-country problems were evenly distributed amongst several elements, meaning there didn’t appear to be one particular bogey fence.  Read more at the Horse and Hound.
If you don’t feel like watching Burghley, check out Buzzterbrown’s just released full Richalnd video.

 Go eventing.

Burghley Saturday

By on Sep 4, 2010 12:28 am -
Link: Burghley Live Scores–6am to 11am ET

It’s crunch time across Eventing Nation and especially at Burghley.  In my book, Burghley is the toughest CCI4* course in the world, and even though the word is that Burghley course designer Mark Phillips has toned the course down a bit this year, there is sure to be movement throughout the leader board on Saturday.
The lone US pair of Michael Pollard and Wonderful Will are tied for 25th after the dressage and are scheduled to start XC at 7:56am ET. 
The XC will be viewable online for free through Burghley TV, but I don’t think it will be live and I don’t know how quickly they will post the video after the rides.  Of course we will have a full recap Saturday afternoon.  

Post-dressage interviews
XC Preview
There are of course lots of other events this weekend.  Here at Five Points the weather has been hot but the Carolina Horse Park is hosting a wonderful event.  US short listers Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch are doing the combined test down here, just like Holly explained in her most recent EN blog.  Last Monarch looked fantastic and relaxed Friday in the dressage and scored a 34.  
Go eventing.

Two Thyme leads Burghley, Carousel Quest lurks in 3rd

By on Sep 3, 2010 12:40 pm -

Link: Burghley Dressage Scores

1. Ruth Edge and Two Thyme 38.3
2. Caroline Powell and Lenamore (NZL) 38.7
3. Oliver Townend and Carousel Quest 39.2
4. WFP and Seacookie 40.3
5. Christoffer Forsberg and Grrafman (SWE)
6. Mary King and Apache Sauce 44.8
Ruth Edge and Two Thyme took the lead at Burghley on Friday with a 38.3.  Oliver Townend and Carousel Quest scored 0.6 points better than their winning dressage score in 2009, but sit in third.  Ruth Edge and Two Thyme were placed second after dressage at Badminton earlier this year but were eliminated on the XC.  
Second placed Caroline Powell and Lenamore of New Zealand are in strong position in 2nd.  Caroline and Lenamore moved up from 33rd to 5th at Badminton by adding just 1.2 penalties to their dressage score.  Caroline said after her ride that she didn’t warm Lenamore up for the dressage at all–just walked from the stables to the arena, but I would have to guess that she warmed him up some time earlier in the day.  
Fifth placed rider Christoffer Forsberg of Sweden is just 19 years old and is the youngest competitor at Burghley.  William Fox-Pitt has two horses in the top 10, and Great Britain has 6 riders in the top 10.  Go eventing.
For more info, see the Horse and Hound’s Burghley coverage.

Hurricane news and notes

By on Sep 2, 2010 8:04 pm -
Earlier today we mentioned that Mary King missed a movement in her dressage test but continued and finished the test.  After she halted ground jury member Marilyn Payne walked out of the judging box and asked Mary to redo the test starting with the missed movement.  Of course the question is why did Mary finish her test in the first place?  The word from a very good source is that the dressage judges repeatedly rang the bell but that Mary continued her test.  Granted, the missed movement was towards the end of the test, but it is certainly a curious situation.
One thing I should have mentioned earlier today for our US readers is that EN favorites Michael Pollard and Wonderful Will had a fantastic dressage test and are tied for 10th after Thursday’s action.
The online Burghley TV worked well for me when I tried it.  You have to register and sit through commercials for Joules, but they have all of the rides on demand.  Or, you could search Youtube for illicit personal videos from Burghley–
Pippa and Mirage dressage from Thursday:

WFP and Mark King chat about the dressage:

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I’m competing at Five Points in Southern Pines, NC on Friday and it looks like Hurricane Earl will miss us.  I wish our readers along the eastern seaboard, particularly near the Outer Banks and New York City, the best of luck on Friday.  Do you have any horse related hurricane survival stories?

Go eventing.

Mary King leads Burghley

By on Sep 2, 2010 12:49 pm -

1.Mary King on Apache Sauce 44.8 
2.William Fox-Pitt on Macchiato 46.8 
3.Laura Collett on Ginger May Killinghurst 47 
4.Pippa Funnell on Mirage D’Elle 48.2 
5.Geoff Curran on The Jump Jet 48.8 
6.James Robinson on Comanche 49

Mary King and Apache Sauce took a two point lead at Burghley on Thursday.  In an interesting moment during the test, Mary missed a movement and was asked after she finished the test to redo it starting with that movement.

“I missed a movement out and carried on to the finish and Marilyn Payne [ground jury member at E] got out of the hut and told me I’d missed the serpentine,” said Mary. “I did that then re-rode the last changes and final centreline and he did them better than the first time, so maybe it worked to my advantage.”

There are 5 British riders in the top 6, including William Fox-Pitt and Pippa Funnel, who is returning to Burghley for the first time since 2004.  The 21 year old Laura Collet, who won European Young Riders with the British team, is a ride to watch on XC, as the Horse and Hound reports she will be running XC in “a running gag with two mouthpieces and Kineton noseband.”  
For more Burghley Thursday coverage, check out the Horse and Hound’s recap, or the Burghley recap.
Go eventing.

Working Student Diary, part 2

By on Sep 2, 2010 8:33 am -

Today we bring you part two 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. Everything in eventing depends on working students, from the development of new talent to the financial viability of top programs. Thanks for writing this Jenny and thank you for reading.

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Link: Part 1

Hello Eventing Nation! 

      Well, the good news is that Molson and I have made it to Kentucky–he is a mere twenty feet away from me happily munching on hay in his stall, and I am here sitting in my new room, trying to balance giving lots of pats to our resident cat (literally the most affectionate animal I have ever met!), and typing this! The bad news is that while I was only joking in my last post when I said something always goes wrong when you don’t need it to, my words actually became a reality! I am lucky that my amazing parents joined me on this long adventure, so I had ample help along the way. Day one of our trip was driving for twelve hours, from Massachusetts to Connecticut first to pick up Moo, then straight to a layover stop in a town just outside of Pittsburg. For my first time ever driving a trailer for more than a few hours, I have to say it was pretty easy and relaxing. I am such a worrier when it comes to my horse’s safety that I would much rather prefer driving him myself! However, day two brought a stiff neck and a sore ankle from flooring it up all of western Pennsylvania’s hills, so my lovely father stepped in and drove the rest of the way. In the beginning of the journey on the second day, my dressing room door just did not want to stay shut, even though I had properly closed and locked it! Twice I looked back and saw it swaying open, but luckily both times it was when we were breaking, so nothing fell out and no harm was done!

      Just when I began to relax, and stopped worrying about all of my tack falling out into the middle of the highway and causing multiple accidents, a large ‘pop’ came from behind– one of the trailer tires blew up. The tire was somewhat polite in that it just so conveniently happened to pop right before a truck weigh station, so we pulled off of the highway and I proceeded to call US Rider. Not only is US Rider great because they found someone to come help us out, but they sent us David. David was a kind man who was out riding his horse when he got the call that someone had a blown trailer tire with a horse on board, now sitting on the side of the highway in the 95° heat. I should also mention that this was on a Sunday. David and his Morgan/Mustang mare galloped two miles home to his truck to come out and bring us a new tire (our spare wouldn’t last all the way to Kentucky). David, if you are reading this, THANK YOU! After a couple of hours, we were back on our way to our final destination–Team CEO with Megan Moore!

      In the two days it took us to get down here, about 16 hours were spent driving, 3 were spent stopping for gas and offering water to Molson, and 2 were spent sunbathing (more like burning) somewhere on the highway in Ohio, waiting for David to come rescue us. Needless to say, I have never been so happy to unload a horse in my entire life. Moo was an absolute angel the entire trip, and is now quickly settling in to his new home–although the hot walker is still a terrifying monster that he wants to stop, stare, and snort at all day J

      At the moment I am the sole working student here, and I have been told that tomorrow, my first day of work, we have dozens of horses to ride–I think I have died and gone to heaven! With that said, sleep is looking like a high priority right now!

Until next time

xo, Jenny

Late night reader

By on Sep 1, 2010 11:29 pm -

It’s late and I leave for Five Points on Thursday so here are a few quick late night notes.

Link: Burghley Scores–Dressage on Thursday from 4:30am to 11:30am ET

Ireland has named it’s squad for the World Equestrian Games:

Mark Kyle – Step in Time (Owned by Tanya & Mark Kyle) 
Liz Power – Kilpatrick River (Owned by Dermot O’Rourke) 
Michael Ryan – Ballylynch Adventure (Owned by Carol & Tom Henry) 
Patricia Ryan – Fernhill Clover Mist (Owned by Carol & Tom Henry & Sheila Foley) 
Camilla Speirs – Portersize Just a Jiff (Owned by Bridget & Camilla Speirs) 
Sam Watson – Horseware Bushman (Owned by John & Julia Watson & Tom MacGuinness) 

Reserve riders: 

Jayne Doherty – The Only One (Owned by Jonathon Doherty) 
Capt. Geoff Curran – The Jump Jet (Owned by Maurice Cassidy & The Minister for Defence)

The full press release from Eventing Ireland has much more information, including pointing out that Ireland originally only planned to take 5 horses but reconfigured the transport plane to take 6.  The Irish coach, Ginny Elliot echoed a lot of other national coaches by pointing out that a big priority at the WEGs is to qualify for the 2012 Olympics with a top 5 placing, although these days I think that most riders consider winning the WEGs more of an achievement than winning the Olympics.

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Wiki Commons
The Germans have also named their WEG squad according to horseweb.de:

Andreas Dibowski – Butts Leon or FRH Fantasia 
Michael Jung – Sam 
Ingrid Klimke – Butts Abraxxas 
Frank Ostholt – Mr. Medicott 
Dirk Schrade – Gadget de la Cere 
Simone Deitermann – Free Easy NRW

Reserve: 

Kai Rüder with Leprince des Bois 
Anna Warnecke with Winkle Bee 
Andreas Ostholt with Franco Jeas 

The Germans have dominated the international eventing scene recently by winning the 2006 WEG and the 2008 Olympic team competitions, and heck, they nearly won the 2006 Olympics although I probably shouldn’t bring that up.  Ingrid and Frank Ostholt were on both of those teams, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Germany could win it again in Lexington.  The only question left in my mind tonight is where are the Hoys?  Thanks to RL for a heads up about the German team.
We have released the Ausie, Kiwi, Irish, and German WEG teams all in the same day and quite frankly I’m glad that we will be able to focus on Burghley for the next couple of days because I’m a little tired of writing about the WEGs.  
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In a story that absolutely begs for The Carrot’s commentary, it appears that FEI President Princess Haya gave the FEI $30 million in 2008 to build its new headquarters.  I’m sure that if the FEI had released a press release about the donation back then we would have heard about it much sooner.  Go eventing.

77 horses move on to Burghley dressage

By on Sep 1, 2010 4:34 pm -

We are well on our way to a five post day on Eventing Nation, which is really just a quick way of getting me to apply to law school.  But, eventing news doesn’t care about my schedule and thus is life.  

As we all know, Burghley is this weekend.  The field will be more tame than last year because most of the world’s best pairs are headed to the World Equestrian Games in just a few weeks, and only Oliver Townend uses four-stars as prep runs for other four-stars.  Speaking of Oliver, he has to be one of the favorites this year because he is riding last year’s Burghley champion, Carousel Quest.  The pair fell in the Luhmuhlen water and Carousel Quest’s health has been a question, but it’s hard to pick against such a great rider on such a great horse. 
Two horses withdrew from the Burghley Wednesday jog after being held–Rachel Gough’s Bow House Mandalin and Ben Hobday’s Guna Be Good, according to the Horse and Hound.  Two other horses, Quixotic and Star Quality were held but passed on reinspection.
77 horses move onto the dressage, with British team members Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz riding the test ride Thursday morning.  It’s hard to imagine what that horse couldn’t jump.
As we reported last week, you can watch rides for free through Burghley.tv, which requires registration.
Of course, Eventing Nation will have complete coverage of Burghley throughout the weekend.  Go eventing.

Mark Todd is coming to Kentucky

By on Sep 1, 2010 10:23 am -
Our busy day of Aussie, Kiwi, and German WEG team announcements continues with the island best known for the beautiful scenery in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The New Zealand World Equestrian Game team clearly has extraordinary veteran leadership from Mark Todd and Andrew Nicholson, who each have been to 6 Olympic games and havethree team WEG gold medals between them.  But, most of the horses are relatively inexperienced at the 4* level.

Andrew Nicholson and Nereo 
Caroline Powell and Mac McDonald 
Mark Todd and NZB Grass Valley 
Clarke Johnstone and Orient Express 
Jonothan Paget and Clifton Promise

Andrew Nicholson is his own reserve rider, with either Mr. Cruise Control, Armada, or Averbury.  All the quotes from the New Zealand team suggests they are looking at the 2010 WEGs as a building block to do well at the London Olympics.  This is an interesting strategy and perhaps is an attempt to take the pressure off of the first time team riders.  Joe Meyer looked good to make the team as of a few months ago but recent injuries to his top two horses prevented this.  Andrew Nicholson has a solid chance at an individual medal.  Are you as excited as I am that Mark Todd will be returning to Lexington for yet another trip around the Kentucky Horse Park?

Horesetalk has a lengthy article on the New Zealand team.  
Thanks to Camilla and Samantha for the heads up on on the Aussie and Kiwi teams.  

Now, please enjoy a NSFW but very funny exploration of the language of Kiwis:

Australian Eventing Team for World Equestrian Games

By on Sep 1, 2010 9:47 am -
It is WEG team announcement season on Eventing Nation, with the German, Australian, and Kiwi World Equestrian Game squads all being named within a few hours of each other.  We will take it country by country and link to more information at the end of each listing.  Let’s start with the Aussies:
The Australian team looks to improve upon their bronze medal at the 2006 WEGs:

-Christopher Burton and Holstein Park Leilani–1st time on Aus team, rider won Adelaide ’08
-Sam Griffiths and Happy Times–UK based, 3rd at Badminton and Burghley 2008
-Sonja Johnson and Ringwould Jaguar–Jag is 19 years old, the pair was 10th at ’08 Olympics
-Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester–The pair was individual 4th at ’08 Olympics
-Paul Tapner and Inonothing–Won Badminton ’10, top 10 placings in 5 four-star events
-Stuart Tinney and either Vettori, or Panamera–Vettori won the ’09 Adelaide 4*


The Australians ship out from Sydney on September 13th.  Of the Australian team, only two riders are based in the UK–Paul Tapner and Sam Griffiths.  This tendency to focus on the home-based riders is nothing new to the Australians, and, while it might have led to the 6 best horses getting selected this year it also has a tendency to alienate foreign based Aussie riders.  The Australians always find a way to do really well at international team competitions, and I expect that 3 top 10 placings at the WEGs will be enough to give them yet another team medal.  


Everything you ever wanted to know about the Aussie team is in this article from Equestrian Australia.

Richland Park Video from Buzzterbrown

By on Sep 1, 2010 9:36 am -
I wish I had gotten a picture of Buzzterbrown’s video camera.  It looks like a traditional still camera with a huge fluffy microphone cover on top to cut out the wind but it shoots incredibly high quality video.  Buzzterbrown said that the TV show House uses similar looking cameras to do all of their filming.  It seems like size and shape are becoming irrelevant in video cameras.

Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch: Road to the WEGs

By on Aug 31, 2010 7:15 pm -

hollyhudspethandstewie.jpg
From Holly:

Hello Everyone!


Well I am fresh off a solid run at Richland Park, and for those of you who have never been there, the place is AMAZING! Let me back up and fill you in on what Screwball (aka Stewie) and I have been up to. Basically, it is lessons with Oded and Katie, traveling all over the place, packing and re-packing my suitcase, and somehow managing a personal life and business! Many of the short listed riders and I went to the Culpeper jumper show after a few days of dressage/sj lessons in Middleburg. We met up with Katie there who walked courses, warmed all of us up, and watched us in the ring. I absolutely LOVE Katie because there is no room for silly mistakes. She is a perfectionist, and when she says do six in a line, she means six! Katie has also changed my position a bit by having me sit lighter in the saddle and making it a priority to come to the jumps more in control. It definitely has worked to my benefit that she really likes Stewie, but she does not allow him to come sideways through the turns. (A Stewie speciality I might add) Anyway, Culpeper went great and I was pumped for Richland!

Oded has some super ideas for Stewie and I, and our lessons have been going well. Before my test, Oded, Mark and I agreed that I needed to really ride through any tension I may encounter in the ring. Oded said, “use today as a school and push him very forward throughout the test.” I thought, hold on, I am at Richland, not a schooling show! Although I want nothing more than to only improve my scores, I was willing to give it a try. I will admit the test felt rushed and quick, but Stewie was very obedient. Both Oded and Mark were happy with my efforts, but being the competitor that I am, I was disappointed with my score. The new ideas are great, but I am going to focus on those points this winter, and at SPHT ( I am doing a CT) and the AEC’s, I am going get back into my comfort zone.

After dressage was over and I quit sulking, I was so excited to tackle the xc course! I knew I was going to go quick because I wanted a good round with speed before I had to do it at the AEC’c. And of course my amazing little horse did not disappoint!!! He jumped his heart out and skipped around the big track well inside the time. Jumping Stewie around an advanced track is honestly one of the most thrilling things I do. His foot work, turning abilities, and speed are almost dangerous. I feel like a teenager with the keys to the fastest sports car on the planet. I wish everyone could experience what I get to ride xc, it is so thrilling!

Show jumping went well too. Stewie was a jumping bean and should have been clean if his idiot mother had steadied for the 5 strides between fences 5 and 6. As I came out of the ring Katie said, “I said that was a STEADY FIVE!!! That was totally your fault!” Again, she is a very disciplined coach, and was completely right about it being my mistake. Although we did not finish as high up in the placings as I had hoped, Stewie came out of the competition great, and his trot up and his quick USEF vet check Sunday afternoon went perfect. It is now to SPHT for a combined test, then the AEC’s. Stewie and I cannot wait to rock it in GA!

Good news Tuesday

By on Aug 31, 2010 12:56 pm -
I am very pleased to report that I have gotten word from the Loudoun horse trials secretary that the rider who was airlifted from Loundoun was released from the hospital Monday night.  Brittany suffered at least one cracked rib, a concussion, and other bumps and bruises in a rotational fall at an intermediate double bench combination on Sunday at Loundoun.  She was airlifted from the event after she reported painful breathing.  Considering the nature of the fall, it is a relief that she was released so quickly and all of Eventing Nation wishes her a speedy recovery.  
Will.groom.for.food will be handling our afternoon post and we will have Holly Hudspeth’s guest blog from Richland later this evening.  Until then, here’s to keeping our fingers crossed for a quiet afternoon of eventing news.  Go eventing.

Steph Rhodes-Bosch Road to the WEGs, Chapter 4

By on Aug 30, 2010 7:45 pm -

One of the first things Steph did after winning the advanced at Richland and then driving home to Virginia all night was sit down and write her EN guest blog.  We appreciate the dedication Steph!  Please visit Steph’s site 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.

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From Steph:

This past weekend, Ollie and I took another step forward in our fall season at the Richland Park Horse Trials in Michigan. This was my first time at this event, and it was well worth the 11 hour drive! I drove up overnight on Tuesday with Rebecca Howard, mostly so that we could have lessons on Tuesday morning with David while still giving our horses all day Wednesday to rest and recover from the trip. We figured that we spend most nights staring at the ceiling thinking about our dressage tests anyways…. so we might as well just drive!! 
 
Ollie travelled well, as always, and felt very good in our pre-ride on Thurdsday morning. Our test wasn’t until late in the day, so I got on him about 10 am to see what sorts of things I would need to focus on for our final warmup. We had some serious dressage bootcamp with David in the week leading up to the competition, and I felt like we were a lot better for it technically, but there’s still a lot of improvement to be had as we get comfortable. I was pretty pleased with my test, but as usual felt like there was more to be shown, and I was very happy with our score of 31.7. I’m going to use the next 10 days to work towards squeezing out an even better test at the AEC’s! 
 
I was very excited to see that the  cross country course looked like a fun, galloping ride around. After our quiet jump around the Intermediate at Waredaca two weeks ago, it was a very good next step! Not super huge, and not a ton of technical stuff, but a great chance for us to practice the exercises and also to practice jumping out of a bit of a faster rhythm. Ollie is usually very quiet in the start box, but on Saturday he was ready to get on with it and really peeled out of there!! The first jump was quite close to the start, so we jumped that and the second a little quietly before getting up to speed for the third fence. I don’t really know why, but apparently quite a few horses landed hard into the first water at fence 5, and Ollie definitely joined them! He felt nice and soft going up over the hedge, but he must have gotten a little too vertical as he came down. As a result, we kind of went splat and ended up with an extra stride before the boathouse. Luckily for us, Ollie is a really powerful jumper, so he had no trouble with the big effort out, even though it wasn’t the best ride through! After that, though, it was pretty smooth sailing!! The advanced horse trials did the two star route through the second water, which was a water to water 5 stride to a hedge on a steep mound, and then four strides out over an angled brush. I think that was probably my favorite line of the whole course, he was just so rideable and confident through there… made it feel so easy! Jon had asked me what I thought about the approach to the sunken road in the woods, and I had said I thought it would be a little spooky for horses that went that way, but I thought Ollie would just nicely back himself off and be fine. Well, I dont even think he was concerned about the change in scene at all!! He galloped straight into the woods, and I actually had to work quite hard to get his canter back as we wove our way through the trees to the first element…. which he drew to right away! Overall, I think that he felt like his usual cross country machine self, and we didn’t have any trouble making the time even with our quiet first two fences. 
 
But, all did not go exactly as planned. At some point through the course we lost our Left front wheel (shoe), and I was really concerned that I was going to have to work really hard to make that foot feel better after galloping around on it barefoot. Luckily, he wasn’t sensitive to the hoof testers at all, and after a couple rounds of ice that we would have done anyways, he jogged off just fine!! 
 
Ollie and I also made a new friend this weekend in Massage therapist  Angie Cooney. Dr. Ober introduced us early in the week, and on Saturday night after we had recovered a bit and had some dinner, Angie did some work to help undo some of the tension that Ollie was carrying in his body from the run. He was so funny during the massage, because he was very sensitive in some parts of his body and as she was applying pressure you could tell that he was really uncomfortable. He kept looking at her like he was very offended! But Angie said that as she felt each muscle start to release, she felt him sort of relax and he accepted the pressure more and more as she moved around his body. By the time she was working on his hind end, he was leaning into her!! I usually think that other people don’t really notice his expressions as much as I do, because I know him so well, but Angie thought he was pretty hilarious the way that he was so offended at first, but then figured out that if he just went with it, he would feel better! And feel better he did. He came out of his stall on Sunday morning and took a huge stretch and then marched off to find some grass. 
 
Obviously, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way he jumped on Sunday afternoon. I felt like there were a few fences in warm up where I wasn’t completely there for him, but he was still jumping great. The course, however, I felt like I did a pretty good job with. He was very focused and did his job just right. After our clear ride, I would have been happy finishing the competition in third place, because we did everything we set out to do. The way I see it, there is absolutely no shame in finishing third behind the likes of Becky and Kim. Winning was a very nice icing on the cake for us, seeing as its only the second time I have ever won anything!!
 
So now, we are home in Virginia after driving until 3 am, and the preparation is ON for the AEC’s next weekend. It might be the American Championships, but I would think that the Canadian invasion will continue!! Hopefully I’m right, for those of you who have been rooting for us, please carry on!! And for those of you who haven’t been, consider jumping on the bandwagon!!! Thanks a lot for reading….  🙂


~Stephanie

Sharon White is excited for Monday news and notes

By on Aug 30, 2010 3:04 pm -

I have always been told that I have a face for radio.  So when our friends at the Horse Radio Network asked me to come on their Stable Scoop radio show and chat about Hahahorses.com, I jumped at the opportunity.  I had a fun time, but in all honesty, I haven’t listened to the show because I always get really critical of myself when I see or hear replays.  So, you might say I have a voice for writing, but you can hear the show below for yourself.

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From The Stable Scoop Radio Show:
 A variety pack this week from Kathleen’s Wild Ride update, to HaHaHorses, to Sports Massage Therapist Jamie Cohen about why CROSS TRAINING is so important for muscle health in ALL horses. Listen in… Stable Scoop Episode 106 – Show Notes and Links:

Please visit our sponsors and show your support:

_____________________________________ Listen, Download or Subscribe: listennow125

You will remember today’s photo on Hahahorses as being featured on Eventing Nation’s Omega Alpha caption contest.  If you entered that contest, you are welcome to reuse your captions, just please submit the same email address so we can verify the entry.
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In other news, Sharon White and Rafferty’s Rules continued their Blenheim prep today by competing in the Highclere advanced.   The competition was held on Monday because it was a bank holiday–Badminton finished on Monday this year for the same reason.  Sharon told me before the event that she was planning to just do the combined test.  Rafferty’s Rules got a 34 in the dressage and would have finished towards the top of the division just looking at the combined test scores.  Sharon also mentioned that they have ferret racing at Highclere, as if the XC wasn’t exciting enough.  Link:  Highclere Results
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**Don’t forget to submit your entries to win a free Point Two Airjacket from Point Two and Eventing Nation.  There are only a few more days left to enter and remember that we will get the vest autographed by a rider at the WEGs.  Go eventing.

Monday US Team Vet Inspections

By on Aug 30, 2010 12:21 pm -
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I just got word that Neville Bardos, Remington, Balynoecastle RM, My Boy Bobby, The Foreman, and Woodburn will not be required to run cross-country at the American Eventing Championships.  The 6 horses received a full inspection by the US team’s veterinarians on Monday morning and will likely just do the combined test at the AECs.  The US Team obviously has good reason to be confident in these horses on the XC, and I think this further supports what I have been saying for a while–it’s just a question of which horses Phillip, Buck, and Boyd will take to the WEGs.  Go eventing.

Monday Reader

By on Aug 30, 2010 10:14 am -
One thing is clear: it’s an exciting time to be an eventer.  We have Burghley this coming weekend, then the AECs in two weekends, and the World Equestrian Games in just under a month.  Michael Pollard and Wonderful Will are still on the Burghley entries list as of Monday morning, so hopefully our US readers will have a rooting interest in Burghley.  Also, the word is that Peter Atkins and Henry are reserves for the Australian team.  I’m glad to see that the Aussie selectors took our advice, and Eventing Nation is one step closer to getting a helmet-cam video of the WEG course.
If you are still looking for hotel tickets for the WEGs you are in luck.  The Canadian Team has a small number of rooms available from Sept 28 to October 3 (incl) at the Marriott Griffin Gate in Lexington. The rate is $325 per night.  The GG is one of the best hotels in Lexington, and I am told that it has sold out of all other rooms at $450-500.  The teams all made reservations years in advance, and I guess the Canadians have a few extra.  I think they might throw in an official Team Canada hat designed by yours truly if you buy the rooms.  If you are interested, contact Sandra DeGraff @ 613-248-3433 xt 109 and please reference Eventing Nation, I think they have heard of us.
Check out Doug Payne’s helmet cam of the Richland CIC3* course:


Go eventing.

Weekend Links

By on Aug 29, 2010 8:53 pm -

We have some good news from Virginia this evening.  I mentioned earlier today that a rider was airlifted from the intermediate XC at the Loudoun horse trials.  I spoke with Margaret Good, who is Loudoun’s organizer, and she told me that the rider, Brittany Yard, probably had some broken ribs but didn’t have other serious injuries and that she “would probably be fine.”  Margaret said that they were originally not planning to airlift Brittany, but Brittany said that it hurt when she breathed so they decided to take every precaution.  As we learned with Oliver Townend, you have to be careful with situations like this, but the mood at the EN corporate headquarters is one of cautious optimism.
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Peter Atkins has released the helmet cam footage of his CIC3* Richland ride on HJ Hampton:

Henry really impressed me all weekend and I would love to see Peter get a chance to ride at the WEGs for Australia.  If you are reading this Aussie selectors, this pair will get the job done for you in KY.
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Kat decided to break out the bold font in her Richland recap for the COTH

The USEA recap explains that Colombo was started by Oliver Townend and then Kyle Carter bought him and Colombo ended up at Selena’s barn after an injury.  I’ll bet Oliver and Kyle wish they had kept him, but that’s horses for you.  There’s also a quote praising the show jumping course–I’m not sure if it was the course or the footing/terrain, which was undulating hard packed down grass, but I didn’t think the horses jumped particularly well in the show jumping.

I promised Michelle that I would watch Brother Thomas, who is a horse she discovered on Sport Horse Nation and is interested in purchasing.  Brother Thomas did XC today and I saw him through the water Michelle and he looked very game and finished the weekend on his dressage score. 

Michael Jung won the HSBC eventing World Cup and the $50,000 prize money 

Other US event results: Shepherd Ranch, Feather Creek, Genesee Valley, Valinor, Loundoun