Become an Eventing Nation Blogger
Meanwhile, the entry list is also growing, and the third blog installments are in from featured riders James Allison, Jan Bynny, and Doug Payne. Definitely worth a read!
RIDER  |
HORSE/OWNER | NAT. |
| Laine E. Ashker | ANTHONY PATCH | USA |
| Kristen Bond | ARE YOU READY Ray & Jeff Bond |
USA |
| Barb Crabo | EVEREADY | USA |
| William Fox-Pitt | LIONHEART Jeremy & Judith Skinner |
GBR |
| William Fox-Pitt | NEUF DES COEURS Mr. & Mrs. Skinner & Mr. & Mrs. Hall |
GBR |
| William Fox-Pitt | PARKLANE HAWK Catherine Witt |
GBR |
| William Fox-Pitt | SEACOOKIE TSF Catherine Witt |
GBR |
| Kate Hicks | BELMONT | USA |
| Holly Hudspeth | LAST MONARCH Rider & Chuck Hudspeth |
USA |
| Lucy Jackson | KILCOLTRIM AMBASSADOR Rider & The Sprout Syndicate |
NZL |
| Ashley Leith | JET | USA |
| Jordan Linstedt | TULLIBARDS HAWKWIND | USA |
| Clark Montgomery | LOUGHAN GLEN Holly & Bill Becker, Kathryn Kraft & Jessica Montgomery |
USA |
| Kristi M. Nunnink | R-STAR | USA |
| Karen L. O’Connor | MR. MEDICOTT Mr. Medicott Syndicate |
USA |
| Karen L. O’Connor | VERONICA Team Rebecca LLC |
USA |
| Beth Perkins | SAL DALI Cynthia Barclay |
USA |
| Oliver Townend | ODT SONAS ROVATIO Andrew Cawthray |
GBR |
| Oliver Townend | PEPPER ANNE Nina Barbour |
GBR |
| Lucy Wiegersma | GRANNTEVKA PRINCE Geraldine Mills |
GBR |
Meanwhile, today was also Cheltenham Gold Cup Day. Unfortunately the legendary Kauto Star was pulled up during the race; trainer Paul Nicholls says the horse is fine, it just wasn’t his day. Congrats to Synchronized, the 2012 Gold Cup winner!
Click here to watch a YouTube video of the race.
What started off as an innocent remark following the cross country at Red Hills, that wouldn’t we all love to see a Henny helmet cam at Badminton, has turned into something akin to an international incident, and although we don’t have all the answers, yet, it seemed like a good idea to share what we do know so far.
From www.teamfredericks.com, it was announced today that the great mare Headley Brittania is retiring from upper level competition and will not be aiming for the London Olympics. The 15.3h, 19-year-old mare will have an official retirement ceremony at Badminton.
As Lucinda Fredericks says, “Her record is outstanding, starting with a win at the first event I
rode her at in 2002 and the last event in 2011. In between she won
Blenheim 3*, Badminton 4*, Burghley 4*, Rolex Kentucky 4*, the Hickstead
Eventing Derby, 3rd Luhmuhlen 4* and a Silver Team Medal at
the Beijing Olympics. It is very tempting to try one last time for
Gold, especially as she is so fit and well, but she is very precious to
our team and family and at her age have decided that to push her to the
highest levels again will be too much to ask.”
What’s left in Brit’s future plans? Hopefully teaming up with 8-year-old Ellie Fredericks, and there are plans for breeding via embryo transfer. Brit already has two ET foals, Little Brittania and Brittania’s Mail, sired by Jaguar Mail in 2008.
No more Henny Helmet Cam??
Twitter has been a bit ablaze this morning, as fear spread that there will be no Henny Cam at Badminton. Fortunately, our very own Twitter Queen, Samantha, has done some work to give us an answer.
You may read the entire Twitter exchange [here], but to save you the clicking, I’ll summarize the end result:
The FEI has stated in their rulebook (Chapter IV, Article 140; page 38):
The use of cameras on Athletes or equipment (such as on Protective Headgear, head covering or carriage) shall not be permitted, unless otherwise specifically agreed by the FEI. An Athlete’s decision to wear a camera while competing shall always be voluntary and at the Athlete’s own risk.
So, technically, helmet cams “shall not be permitted” at FEI events. However, you can get around this with special permission. Elisa Wallace signed a personal injury waiver and was allowed to wear her helmet cam in the CIC* at Red Hills. The FEI says they will offer further clarification on this issue when that is available.
Thus, we can all breathe a sigh of relief and know that Helmet Cams at FEI events may not be going away permanently forever. It appears the FEI’s issue with helmet cams is a rider-safety issue (err, liability issue).
I do wonder, though, if the helmet cam videos could be seen as an infringement on media rights for large, publicized events like Badminton and the Olympics. It would be a real shame for media corporations to override the use of a personal helmet cam video and Youtube!
Oh boy EN readers, do I have a treat for you! Success Equestrian, maker of fantastic, affordably-priced high-tech saddle pads, has teamed with us to present our latest contest. Two lucky ducks will win a fancy Success Equestrian saddle pad, emblazoned with the EN logo… imagine all the EN karma you’ll have riding in that!
Success Equestrian Deluxe Jumper/AP, pictured without EN logo
Success saddle pads tackle the very common problems of saddle slipping and
stability. They keep your tack in place including the pad itself, and
the special open cell foam seat cushion adds extra stability so it’s
almost like riding with a built-in half pad…you will feel the
difference. The air-flow no slip grip is configured only where
you need it and not where you don’t. By leaving if off the rear
quarter panel, your horse will be more comfortable and cool faster. The
saddle pads maintain a traditional ‘show’ appearance even after many
washings.
Prizes offered:
Success Equestrian Deluxe Dressage No-Slip, Medium (23″spine x 20.5″flap), suggested retail $89.95
Success Equestrian Deluxe Jumper/All Purpose No-Slip, Large (22″ spine x 18″ flap), suggested retail $89.95
So… how do you get one? The theme of this contest is “How do you spell Success?” Send us a photo of your creative way to spell “success;” use jump poles, flower boxes, letters of the dressage ring, poultice finger painting… or take a photo of you and your horse in a successful moment, with a hand-written SUCCESS sign in the background; use your imagination! We’re looking for uniqueness, use of horse-related themes, and (as always) humor. The word “success” must be included somewhere in the original photo– No Photoshops, Please. Email your entry to [email protected], include your name, state/location, and pad preference (dressage or jumping). Deadline for the contest is 4/1/12 at 12:00am EST.
EN saddle pads, people… let’s see your best work!
A pretty comprehensive CIC*** video from COTH forum member Peregrine Farm:
Dressage Today was kind enough to share with us a blog by their senior editor, a former eventer. We appreciate the tip, and a great story to read. Thanks Dressage Today!
March 14, 2012
When
I was a teenager, I had the hardest competition years of my life. By
“hardest” I don’t mean exhausting or high-pressure, but because they
taught me some of the biggest, and most difficult, lessons about
equestrian sports. I was attending high school in addition to working
every night and free weekend as a working student and training/competing
two horses for a spot on Young Rider teams — one in dressage and the
other in eventing — and those days taught me two very important things:
Lesson #1: Focus on the positive and you will succeed.
The hardest weekends were those where I woke up at 3 a.m. and drove 4+
hours with my eventing horse, Sampson, to an event. Though he was an
honest horse, Totilas he was not. Our day usually began with a horrible
dressage test — no thanks to the fact that he was an OTQH with the body
of a tank and mind of a sports car, who was retired from racing because
he “got too distracted by the spectators.” Despite his lack of natural
ability in the dressage ring, he taught me that it is possible to ride
through. The moment I forgot about my fifteenth-place dressage score, I
could support my horse through his stronger phases of the competition
and we regularly moved up as high as second or third place. I began to
not only accept his weaknesses, but focus on improving them. Sampson,
with his horrible dressage tests, forced me to spend extra time training
him on the flat-to relax, accept the leg and bit without racing off …
my first true lessons in training the basics of dressage.
Lesson #2: Someone will have a better horse.
Notice how I said second place, not first, when I talked about
how well I could place with my eventing horse. Back in those days, there
was a horse and rider combination that always competed with us. They
were always in the lead after dressage and always jumped clear. Riding
around the dressage warm-up on my horse’s sewing machine trot, seeing
that rider’s smiling face and her gorgeous gray horse made me think
horrible thoughts. I was a teenager with little experience in the
competition ring and I was convinced that this pair was the only thing
standing between me and the Olympics. If only she would go away, I would
be overwhelmed with blue ribbons and success. Until one day, I learned
that was not what I wanted at all. Because at one particular show she
was forced to scratch because her horse came up lame. I was convinced it
was my chance to take the lead, until I learned the show was
oversubscribed and I had been placed in the Open Training division with
31 professionals. Instead of worrying about one unbeatable pair, I had
31! At that point, I gave up on my chances of winning and just made a
goal of getting through my dressage test and surviving very hard
cross-country and stadium courses. Survive I did and when I was the only
one to jump double clear, I won the class.
After years of working as hard as I could with my horse, I learned a
lesson that has carried me through my years of competition: someone will
always have a better horse, but they will push you to give 110% and
ride your horse to the best of his ability. Those unstoppable pairs will
make you unstoppable. After that year, that rider gave up riding but
other talented people replaced her-some were in the competition ring,
while others were in my college classes or other areas of my life.
Recent Red Hills CIC*** winner Mystery Whisper and Phillip Dutton, at last month’s Aiken Training Sessions
EN reader “mm” asked about the Aiken Training Sessions schedule in the comments section of this morning’s News & Notes. Since we love all things Training Session-related, here is the schedule for this week. Kindly stolen borrowed from Boyd & Silva Martin’s website, but also available on the High Performance Facebook page:
Lauren Hough
will be teaching Tuesday March 13th and Wednesday March 14th. Capt.
Mark Phillips will be teaching on Thursday March 15th and Friday March
16th .
Tuesday Mar 13th
w/ LH
0900 Boyd on Thomas
0930 Phillip
1000 Boyd on Neville
1030 Phillip
1100 Boyd on Otis
1130 LUNCH
1200 Boyd on Remington XXV
1230 Jan/Jennie
1315 Will F
1415 Becky
1445 END
Wed. Mar 14th
w/ LH
0900 Becky
0930 Phillip
1000 Boyd
1030 Phillip
1100 Lynn/Kristin
1145 LUNCH
1215 Jan/Jennie
1300 Kendyl/Megan
1345 Jan
1345 END
Thurs Mar 15th
w/ CMP
0800 Phillip
0845 Boyd
0930 Phillip
1015 Boyd
1100 Will C
1145 LUNCH
1215 Will C
1300 Jan
1345 Lynn
1430 Maris
1515 Kristin
1545 END
Friday Mar 16th
w/ CMP
0800 Phillip
0845 Jennie
0930 Phillip
1015 Boyd
1100 Will C
1145 LUNCH
1215 Will C
1300 Jan
1345 Doug
1430 END
Last week, JER kindly sent us a post catching up with the sport of pentathlon and previewing the World Cup event held in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend. Today, JER is back to give us results and notes from the competition. Thank you JER for sharing this with us– it’s a welcome break from Red Hills mania! But don’t worry, dear readers, there’s plenty more Red Hills to come later today and throughout the week. But for now…Go Pentathlon!
Pentathlon World Cup wrap-up
This
weekend, Charlotte, NC hosted the first World Cup of the 2012 modern
pentathlon season. Of the four athletes profiled on EN last week,
Canadian girl Melanie McCann got through the qualification round and
into the final to finish in 15th place. [full results – Charlotte Pentathlon World Cup]
UIPM’s YouTube channel
has all the action for your pentathlon viewing pleasure. The riding
highlights show the top half of the table, all in real time:
The
first ride is atrocious, just textbook awful. That girl should have
been given the old showbiz hook and yanked out of the ring. After that,
it does get better but really, those UIPM apparatchiks shouldn’t
tolerate any display of utter incompetence on a horse. If you couldn’t
swim, they’d pull you out of the pool because you’d be a danger to
yourself. Why should riding be any different?
The
horses are an impressively capable lot. Big props to their owners for
loaning them out for the weekend. I’d have happily hopped on any one of
them. Riders, for the most part, give pats and hugs after crossing the
finish. If you didn’t know it was pentathlon, you’d think they were
riding their own personal horses rather than one they just met twenty
minutes ago.
Melanie’s
ride, which starts at 13:09, is an absolutely lovely double clear.
This should be a big confidence-booster for her. She struggles with
nerves and fear in the riding phase – and is refreshingly candid and
open about this – so a nice showjumping round to start off the 2012
season means a lot. Well done, Mel!
[Click below for much more]
All the horses presented passed the trot-up this morning, most of them looked fabulous although Marilyn Little-Meredith had to suffer through a nerve-wracking few minutes when Rovano Rex was held for re-inspection, but then accepted, as did Sara Kozumplik with Manolo Blahnik. Sadly Rachel Jurgens did not present Ziggy. The CIC* horses also all went forward to show-jumping with just one horse held and then passed on re-inspection which was Kate McQuilken’s Revelry. All the CIC** horses passed without incident.
