Over the last couple of weeks, England has been subjected to record-smashing high temperatures, which — apart from being an enormously concerning harbinger of further climate-change crises to come — certainly has an impact on how we look after our horses. We’ve seen our national governing bodies cancel competitions across the country, and riders opting to hack at the crack of dawn to get their horses exercised outside of the brutal heat of the day. For owners of leisure horses, it’s easy enough to cancel plans and spend the day cold-hosing — but for Britain’s working horses, keeping cool requires a bit of forward-planning. Check out how the Household Cavalry in London managed it with their stable full of hard-working horses.
Energy is traditionally supplied by cereal grains such as oats, corn, and barley. These feedstuffs deliver energy as carbohydrates or starch. But what if you want to supply more energy to your horse without increasing the feed intake? Feeding a fat supplement is an excellent way to achieve this.
Fat is considered a source of “calm” energy and is thought to modify behavior in some horses, making them more tractable. This, in turn, allows horses to focus their energy on work rather than nervousness.
Jack Le Goff and Image on their way to a team bronze medal at the Rome Olympics in 1960. Photo courtesy of Jack Le Goff.
Whether it is on the flat in a dressage ring, in a show-jumping ring, or on a cross-country course, the eyes are the first and most important tool that a rider has. Most of my life, I have heard instructors yelling, “Keep your eyes up.” Of course, that is true, but do their students know why they are being asked to do this? There is more to it than just saying the words. The eyes should anticipate the track you are following for jumping fences, just enough to make sure you are on the track you walked for riding your course. In dressage, your eyes should be only a few strides ahead as the speed is slow and you know the geometry of the figures in the dressage arena. If you turn your head too much to one side, you are likely to get your horse off the track that you are supposed to follow. One word of caution: your head weighs between 20 and 30 pounds. If you move your head over to one side or the other, you will totally alter the balance, the direction, and the straightness. So if you have a bad habit of tilting your head, then I say, “get rid of it!” The habit, that is.
I have said for years that horses will follow your eyes. Nothing is truer because your eyes dictate the desired position needed to make a turn to the rest of your body. Consequently, it has a significant influence on your weight and balance. I have repeatedly used the example of a racecar going downhill as fast as possible and asked students to think what would happen if the driver took his eyes off the road ahead.
There is also one other imperative factor that is related to the use of the eyes and that is the sense of balance. Without getting too involved in physics, let’s accept that the center of gravity is directly under our feet. When moving forward on a horse, the balance is obviously always moving forward directly under you at a 90-degree angle. So if you keep your eyes on that 90-degree angle relative to the ground (center of gravity), you are in the best place to detect if your horse is speeding up, slowing down, or changing his balance or direction. Please experiment. Look down first and see where the center of gravity is, then raise your eyes directly in front of you and look straight ahead so your line of sight is parallel to the ground. This line will always put you at a 90-degree angle from your center of gravity and down to the ground. I would be surprised if you could not feel a remarkable difference. It is like riding a bicycle or driving a car: you will be able to feel, as well as see, whether the horse is staying on a straight line and whether he increases his speed or slows down. I guarantee you will feel it.
Observing horses teaches you a lot of things. When a horse is jumping please concentrate on his eyes and you will be able to tell at which precise moment he sees the jump. You will then see him react to that jump: he will run to it, slow down, or avoid it. The sooner the horse sees the fence, the sooner he will react to it and the more time the rider has to adjust his riding to the horse’s reaction and make the necessary corrections for a successful jump. So get his eyes on the fence as soon as you can…. People have often heard me shout, “Get his eyes on the jump!” The best way to do this is to get him straight in his neck between the reins.
This excerpt from Horses Came First, Second, and Last by Jack Le Goff is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books (www.HorseandRiderBooks.com).
Anneli Drummond-Hay (who would go on to be the first-ever winner of Burghley.) when she was just 16 at the European Championships.
It’s with heavy hearts that we share news of the passing of Anneli Drummond-Hay, who died on Sunday at the age of 84. Her passing came after a short bout of illness.
Anneli’s legacy in equestrian sport is extraordinary in its breadth and depth. To eventers, she’s perhaps best known as the first-ever victor of Burghley Horse Trials, which she scooped in 1962 aboard the six-year-old Merely-a-Monarch. She was just 24 years old at the time, but had amassed enough experience to pilot her green gelding to the top spot through a career that began with a decisive victory in the European Pony Championships at the age of 16. Prior to her victory with the young gelding in 1961, she’d already notched up sixth and third place finishes at Badminton Horse Trials with her former top ride, Trident.
By the time she made Monarch’s entry to Burghley, he’d already made it to Grade A showjumping classes — but his experience of horse trials was considerably more limited, and she later told Horse&Hound that his only experience of water jumps was “leaping over puddles in the road”. But they gave themselves such an extraordinary margin in the first phase that by the time they set off for the multi-part cross-country, with its long roads and tracks stints, they were a solid 30 points ahead of their nearest competitors. They had been drawn as last to leave the start box, and as she prepared to start, Anneli was greeted with some news that would dictate her plan for the challenge to come: every competitor before her had fallen, which meant that she could afford the luxury of slowing down and giving her young horse an educational ride where the intensity of the track warranted it.
“I took Monarch carefully and cantered him round – he had a huge stride that just ate up the ground,” she said to H&H. “He was a trifle spooky, but he cleared everything,including the stone wall located at the bottom of a deep ditch, a bullfinch, and the “bogey” fence, the Trout Hatchery, where a hole in the bottom had caused a lot of the falls. The Trout Hatchery that year consisted of a choice of a high post and rails to the water, or a log with a bigger drop in. I chose the latter option and then squeezed around the side, thus avoiding the troublesome hole.”
Their clear round the next day would secure the win, which they followed up with victory at Badminton the following year by a record-holding 42 points, but as women still weren’t allowed to compete in eventing teams at championships, Anneli opted to switch back to showjumping so that she could make a bid for a place at the Olympics.
By the time the 1964 Tokyo Olympics came around, though, Anneli had put herself in such a strong position across the disciplines that she was shortlisted for all three teams — all with Merely-a-Monarch. They remain the only partnership ever to achieve this and now, as the disciplines have become so distinct and professionalised, it’s enormously unlikely that it’ll ever be repeated. In 1968, they were once again shortlisted for the Olympics, this time just for showjumping, but were left off the team in favour of Marion Mould and the 14.2hh Stroller. That would be their last look-in at an Olympic team, as Anneli was offered a lucrative sponsorship deal shortly thereafter, making her ineligible for Olympic selection under the IOC’s rules at the time, which enforced a strictly amateur competition. In taking that deal, though, Anneli became the first-ever rider to secure funding in this way, creating a model for top-level riders that’s universally in use today.
Anneli Drummond-Hay and Merely-a-Monarch – perhaps the world’s first truly remarkable event horse. Photo courtesy of Badminton Horse Trials.
Many years of success at the top level of showjumping followed, including wins in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Hickstead Derby, winning Nations Cup berths at London, Geneva, and Rome, and Grand Prix wins at Brussels, S’Hertogenbosch, Paris, Geneva, Chile, Toronto, Berlin, and many, many more. She was also a prolific winner in Derby classes, taking top honours in Hickstead’s showpiece, as well as Rome twice, Geneva, Berlin, and South Africa twice. Her tours of America also yielded enormous successes, with wins at Madison Square Gardens on her roll of honour.
In 1971, she relocated to South Africa, where she continued to teach and compete, and was awarded a number of honourable accolades — such as British Sportswoman of the Year on three occasions, South African Sportswoman of the Year on eight occasions, the Italian Equestrian Federation’s ‘Premio Caprilli’, and the Cadre Noir’s Golden Spurs. In 2010, she was inducted into the British Horse Society’s Hall of Fame. She also holds the ladies’ high jump record, at a staggering 2.36m, and was actively competing up until her death.
“Anneli set the path for all of us, as female riders, to follow,” says Helen West, British Eventing Chief Executive. “She was a woman who showed the world that women should be included and compete on equal terms with their male counterparts and it is hard to believe there was ever gender inequality when you consider that we are one of the very few sports today where men and women compete on equal terms.
“We all owe so much to Anneli and her legacy lives on with the number of women she will have inspired over the decades to not only ride but to never give up on their dream. On behalf of myself, the British Eventing Board and our entire membership I would like to express our heartfelt condolences to Anneli’s husband Trevor Bern, their family and friends whom she has left behind.”
Anneli’s legacy is certainly one that’s felt every day by all of us women who get to enjoy competing in one of the only sports that’s truly gender equal — and her family legacy will continue to live on, too, in the form of her great-niece, Izzy Taylor, who continues to show exactly what strong women are made of.
All of us at EN offer our most heartfelt sympathies to those connected with this extraordinary powerhouse of a woman. Anneli, we salute you — and we thank you for all you did.
We let Chinch watch the dressage, and now he won’t stop asking for an orange tailcoat.
While we’ve still got six weeks to go until the FEI World Championships for Eventing kicks off in Pratoni, we’re hardly short of action on the global stage in the meantime — and this week, all eyes turn to Herning in Denmark, where the World Championships for dressage, para-dressage, vaulting, and showjumping are about to get underway. Most of this week is devoted to settling horses in, training and familiarisation sessions, and horse inspections, and from Saturday, the action will kick off in earnest with the dressage team Grand Prix.
Here’s a look at how the schedule will work for each day of competition at Herning:
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6
11.00 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. BST/5.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Team Dressage Grand Prix Championship, followed by individuals
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7
10.00 a.m. local time (9.00 a.m. BST/4.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Vaulting Female Championship — Individual Female First Round Technical Test
11.00 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. BST/5.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Team Dressage Grand Prix Championship, followed by individuals
3.00 p.m. local time (2.00 p.m. BST/9.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Vaulting Male Championship — Individual Male First Round Technical Test
6.00 p.m. local time (5.00 p.m. BST/12.00 p.m. EST): FEI World Vaulting Pas-De-Deux Championship — Pas-De-Deux First Round Freestyle Test
8.oo p.m. local time (7.00 p.m. BST/2.00 p.m. EST): FEI World Dressage Championship — Grand Prix medal ceremony
MONDAY, AUGUST 8
8.30 a.m. local time (7.30 a.m. BST/2.30 a.m. EST): FEI World Vaulting Female Championship — Individual Female First Round Freestyle Test
1.00 p.m. local time (12.00 p.m. BST/7.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Vaulting Male Championship — Individual Male First Round Freestyle Test
1.30 p.m. local time (12.30 p.m. BST/7.30 a.m. EST): FEI World Dressage Championship — Individual Grand Prix Special
3.30 p.m. local time (2.30 p.m. BST/9.30 a.m. EST):FEI World Vaulting Squad Championship — Squad Round Freestyle Test, followed by medal ceremony for squad, female, and male individuals
8.oo p.m. local time (7.00 p.m. BST/2.00 p.m. EST): FEI World Dressage Championship — Grand Prix Special medal ceremony
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10
8.30 a.m. local time (7.30 a.m. BST/2.30 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Individual Championship — Grade IV
11.00 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. BST/5.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Team & Individual Jumping Championship — First Competition – Speed
11.00 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. BST/5.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Vaulting Pas-De-Deux Championship — Pas-De-Deux Final Round Freestyle Test
12.15 p.m. local time (11.15 a.m. BST/6.15 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Individual Championship — Grade II, followed by Grade IV and Grade II medal ceremonies
1.00 p.m. local time (12.00 p.m. BST/7.00 a.m. EST):FEI World Official Nations Team Vaulting Championship — Nations Team, followed by medal ceremony for Pas de Deux and Nations Team
3.30 p.m. local time (2.30 p.m. BST/9.30 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Individual Championship — Grade I
5.00 p.m. local time (4.00 p.m. BST/11.00 a.m. EST): Para Dressage Medal Ceremony for Grade I
8.oo p.m. local time (7.00 p.m. BST/2.00 p.m. EST): FEI World Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle Championship
11.00 p.m. local time (10.00 p.m. BST/5.00 p.m. EST): Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle Medal Ceremony
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11
1.00 p.m. local time (12.00 p.m. BST/7.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Team Jumping Championship – Round 1, followed by FEI World Jumping Championship — Individual – Second Competition – Round 1
2.00 p.m. local time (1.00 p.m. BST/8.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Individual Championship — Grade III
5.30 p.m. local time (4.30 p.m. BST/11.30 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Individual Championship — Grade V, followed by medal ceremonies for Grade III and Grade V
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12
11.00 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. BST/5.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Team Championship — Grade IV
2.45 p.m. local time (1.45 p.m. BST/8.45 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Team Championship — Grade II
5.20 p.m. local time (4.20 p.m. BST/11.20 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Team Championship — Grade I
9.oo p.m. local time (8.00 p.m. BST/3.00 p.m. EST): FEI World Team Jumping Championship — Round 2, followed by Individual — Second Competition – Round 2
11.30 p.m. local time (10.30 p.m. BST/5.30 p.m. EST): Jumping Team Medal Ceremony
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13
11.00 a.m. local time (10.00 a.m. BST/5.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Team Championship — Grade III
2.20 p.m. local time (1.20 p.m. BST/8.20 a.m. EST):FEI World Para Dressage Team Championship — Grade V
8.3o p.m. local time (7.30 p.m. BST/2.30 p.m. EST): Para Dressage Medal Ceremony — Teams
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14
9.00 a.m. local time (8.00 a.m. BST/3.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Individual Championship — Grades IV, II & I
11.30 a.m. local time (10.30 a.m. BST/5.30 a.m. EST): Para Dressage Medal Ceremony for Grade VI, II & I
2.00 p.m. local time (1.00 p.m. BST/8.00 a.m. EST): FEI World Jumping Championship — Final Individual – Third Competition
2.15 p.m. local time (1.15 p.m. BST/8.15 a.m. EST): FEI World Para Dressage Individual Championship — Grades V & III
4.30 p.m. local time (3.30 p.m. BST/10.30 a.m. EST): FEI World Jumping Championship Individual medal ceremony
5.10 p.m. local time (4.10 p.m. BST/11.10 a.m. EST): Para Dressage Medal Ceremony for Grade V & III
HOW TO WATCH
No matter where you are in the world, you’ve got plenty of options for following along with all the action. The primary live-stream provider for the entirety of the event will be FEI TV, which has been absorbed into ClipMyHorse.TV. They’ll provide wall-to-wall livestreams, plus almost immediate on-demand viewing options, across the disciplines, though you will need to take out a subscription or a trial membership to access their coverage. (They’ll also be in charge of the streams from Pratoni, so it’s well worth getting your account sorted now so you’re prepared for the busy autumn season!)
There are a number of non-championship classes going on throughout Herning, too, including small-tour dressage and showjumping classes, and you can sign up to ZibraSport Equestto keep up with these, plus watch masterclasses and Riders Corner interview segments daily.
There’s currently no plan for any of the disciplines to be shown on the BBC’s Red Button service as they have done in previous years, though representatives for the service have said that this could change as we get closer to the start of the action. Keep this page bookmarked and we’ll be sure to update you with any additional coverage options that become available.
Hawley Bennett-Awad and Jollybo. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
The Canadian eventing team for the forthcoming FEI World Championships for Eventing at Pratoni del Vivaro (September 14-18) has been released today, and it’s arguably among the strongest Canadian teams we’ve seen in recent memory. Though we don’t yet know which of the five named horses and riders will take the four team berths, and which will come forward as an individual, we can expect to divulge that information closer to the competition itself.
The named horses and riders are as follows:
Hawley Bennett-Awad and Jollybo – eighteen-year-old British-bred Sport Horse mare (Jumbo x Polly Coldunnell, by Danzig Connection), owned by the Jolly Syndicate LLC and the rider.
Holly Jacks-Smither and Candy King – twelve-year-old British-bred Sport Horse gelding (Grafenstolz x Eye Candy, by Moothyeb), owned by the Candy King Eventing Limited Partnership.
Colleen Loach and Vermont – ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Van Helsing x Hauptstutbuch Hollywood, by Heraldik), owned by Peter Barry.
Karl Slezak and Fernhill Wishes – thirteen-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Chacoa x KEC Galway Bay, by Gildawn Diamond), owned by Kirk Hoppner and the rider.
Mike Winter and El Mundo – thirteen-year-old KWPN gelding (Numero Uno x Calvaro’s Bria Z, by Calvaro F.C.), owned by Jonathan Nelson, Emma Winter and the rider.
The non-travelling reserves for the team are:
Dana Cooke and FE Mississippi – twelve-year-old Württemburg mare (Cassini II x Liastra, by Legaat), owned by the FE Mississippi Syndicate LLC.
Lisa Marie Fergusson and Honor Me – sixteen-year-old Welsh Sport Horse gelding (Brynarian Brenin x Dream Contessa, breeding unknown), owned by the rider.
Canada will be fighting for a top seven finish at the World Championships, which would secure them a team spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics — a goal that’s very much at the forefront of the squad’s collective mind after a disappointing previous Olympic cycle saw them fail to qualify for Tokyo. There’ll be plenty of fighting to do in Pratoni, but we have high hopes for this exciting line-up.
If you’re looking for all the latest information on Pratoni, be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide that’s chock full of the latest coverage, team announcements, and much more.
I’m not sure anything has ever encapsulated the mid-season vibe quite so deftly as this — Laura Collett‘s account of the many miles she’s driven over the weekend while flitting between three competitions on each end of the country. Are eventers lunatics? Yes, absolutely. But we reckon the good results she’s notched up make it worthwhile.
Horse nerds, listen up: there’s some fascinating new research into the origin story of horses in the US, and there’s some pretty interesting links between the ponies of Assateague and Chincoteague and Spanish settlers. Lots to sink your teeth into with this one. [All from a solitary molar, too]
If you were at the USPC Championships East over the weekend, you might have spotted a pretty special team. The Brook Hill Pony Club rides exclusively rescue horses, with a wide swathe of unique needs, and many of the kids in the programme are overcoming mental and physical challenges themselves. [We’ll happily root for these guys any day of the week]
Nicola Wilson has released another update on her progress. In it, she shares exciting details about how she’s smashing her own movement goals, and bittersweet details on the horses leaving her yards for pastures new. [Keep on fighting, Nic]
Watch This:
Yesterday, we rewatched the cross-country from the Young Rider European Championships – now, we’re deep-diving into the Junior CCI2*-L track. Sign us up (although we’re far too old).
Huge congratulations to the British Junior and Young Rider teams, who took decisive team golds in their European Championships over the weekend at Hartpury in Gloucestershire. There’s always something extra special about a home win, and it’s particularly heartening (though perhaps not for anyone from any other countries) to see that the next generation of riders is every bit as formidable as the current upper echelons in this country. To give you an update on the medal tallies so far, Great Britain currently holds Olympic gold, WEG gold, and European golds at Senior, Young Rider, and Junior levels. We’d be fairly confident they can add the Pony Europeans gold to that this week, too.
US Weekend Action:
Horse Park of New Jersey H.T. (Allentown, NJ): [Website] [Results]
Hunt Club Farms H.T. (Berryville, VA): [Website] [Results]
UK Weekend Results:
Hambro Sport Horses Burgham International CCI4*-S (Morpeth, UK): [Results]
FEI Eventing European Championships for Young Riders (Hartpury, UK): [Website] [Results]
Kilguilkey House International CCI4*-L/CCI4*-S (Cork Co, Ireland): [Website] [Entries/Times]
Your Morning Reading List:
We’re inching ever closer to October’s Young Horse World Championships in Le Lion d’Angers, and that means that the race for the Holekamp/Turner grant is hotting up. There are two exciting seven-year-olds newly qualified to fight for this lucrative bit of funding, and plenty who are close to completing their required MERs for the event – catch up on who’s in contention here.
I don’t know about you, but my favourite part of an eventing day is carbing up at the burger van at the end of it all. But I’m far from the first person to benefit from the unbridled joys of eating things in bread – and as it turns out, in medieval times, that was actually the main philosophy behind feeding horses. [The great equine bake-off of 1593]
We’re deeply saddened to hear the news that Anneli Drummond-Hay – the first-ever winner of Burghley – has died, age 84. This extraordinary powerhouse of a women was shortlisted for the Olympics in all three disciplines, and proved to a world that wasn’t quite as accepting of women at the top level that they could do anything the men could do – and often better. [We owe her a great debt]
We talk a lot about the potential concerns of wormer resistance – but antibiotics resistance in horses, too, can be a major concern. Just as in humans, overuse of antibiotics can cause bacteria to evolve and adapt, minimising the impact of medicating and potentially leading to veterinary crises that are considerably harder to deal with. [Find out how to minimise risk here]
We’ve featured 20-year-old Alice Casburn on EN a number of times in the past for her great successes with the homebred Topspin II, with whom she stepped up to five-star last season and completed Badminton this year. The horse is the grandson of Alice’s mother’s former Advanced horse, which is about as pony novel chic as it gets, and over the weekend, they represented Great Britain at the Young Rider European Championships, taking team gold and individual bronze for their efforts. Give her a follow to see what adventures they go on next — we hear there are some exciting ones planned for the latter half of the season!
Morning Viewing:
Relive the action from the Young Rider Europeans cross-country day at Hartpury:
Ruy Fonseca and Ballypatrick SRS. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.
And so it begins! The Brazilian team is the first to be named for this year’s World Championships, which will be held from September 13–19 in Pratoni del Vivaro, southwest of Rome. Due to their relative shortage of horses and riders in this championship cycle, their team announcement was dependant on their final combination – Marcio Carvalho Jorge and Kilcoltrim Kit Kat – gaining the required MER, which they accomplished in this weekend’s CCI4*-S at Burgham. Though we expect to see some further announcements over the next couple of weeks, teams will have until September 5th to make their final entries and reveal their teams.
The team is made up of the following riders and horses:
Carlos Parro and Goliath, an eleven-year-old KWPN gelding (Chello III VDL x Octa, by Belisar). Owned by EMTEC Laboratories and the rider.
Marcelo Tosi and Glenfly, a seventeen-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Presenting x Dorans Glen, by Over the River). Owned by the rider.
Marcio Carvalho Jorge and Kilcoltrim Kit Kat, a thirteen-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare (Waldo van Dungen x Kilcoltrim Kitten, by Ghareeb). Owned by Alison and Helen Mordaunt and Alistair and Annabel Vere Nicoll.
Ruy Fonseca and Ballypatrick SRS, an eleven-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Pacino x Ballypatrick Romance, by Clover Hill). Owned by Renata Rabello Costa and the rider.
There’s considerable championship experience among the four named combinations: Carlos and Goliath represented Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics and also competed in Pratoni’s test event in May, and Marcelo and Glenfly were part of the team at Tokyo in 2021 and at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon in 2018. Ruy and Ballypatrick SRS were part of the Brazilian team at the 2019 Pan American Games, when the horse was just eight, while Kilcoltrim Kit Kat, who joined Marcio’s string just this season, has had no previous championship experience but has completed several four-stars.
Rosie Fry and True Blue Too II en route to victory at Blair. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
We’re desperately sad to report that Rosie Fry‘s True Blue Too II has been euthanised after falling in the cross-country warm-up at Northumberland’s Burgham International Horse Trials today. The gelding, who was owned and bred by Rosie’s aunt, Di White-Hamilton, had been contesting the CCI4*-S class.
The team at Burgham have released a statement about the incident on social media:
“It is with great sadness with which we announce that the horse True Blue Too, ridden by Rosie Fry (GBR) and owned by Mr and Mrs White-Hamilton, was put down on humane grounds as the result of a fatal accident at Burgham International Horse Trials, Alnwick, United Kingdom, CCI4*-S, at 1.30pm on 30 July 2022. True Blue Too, an 11-year-old gelding, fell in the cross-country warm-up,” it reads.
“Veterinarians immediately attended to the horse, providing all veterinary care, and full medical attention was given to the rider, Rosie Fry, who was transported to hospital for further observation. At every FEI event the maximum consideration is given to the safety and welfare of horses and riders. The organising committee of Burgham and the FEI are sending all our thoughts to those connected with this horse.”
True Blue Too won the CCI4*-L at Blair Castle last year at just ten years old, giving his longtime rider a career-best result, and stepped up to CCI5* at Badminton this year, finishing 47th. His run at Burgham had been intended as part of an autumn campaign towards Burghley. Our thoughts are with Rosie, Di, and the rest of the team around this much-loved family horse.
Rosie and True Blue Too moments after winning at Blair. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
So often, England’s Magnolia Cup – an invitational charity flat race for women who aren’t actually jockeys at England’s Glorious Goodwood – is the site of extraordinary, inspiring stories. It was here that teenager Khadijah Mellah became not only the first-ever Hijabi winner of a race, but the first Hijabi jockey in the UK back in 2019, which inspired a flurry of aspiring jockeys to join the Ebony Horse Club programme in London, where she’d learnt to ride.
This year, upon the race’s return to the calendar, we’ve seen a similarly exceptional winner in Ashleigh Wicheard, who used the race as a platform to promote diversity in equestrianism and the continued fight to end systemic racism well beyond the realm of sport. I’m putting the site of the jockeys collectively taking the knee down as one of the most moving sporting moments of the year, and I doubt we’ll see it eclipsed as the rest of 2022 plays out. Check out this short documentary video for the full story, and give Ashleigh a follow on Instagram to keep up with this powerhouse rider.
A super-speedy Gemma Stevens celebrates after sailing the last with Flash Cooley. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
We so often see eventing Grand Prix classes relegated to the depths of winter and the dramatic floodlights of indoor shows, which is one of the reasons that the Ashby Underwriting Eventers Challenge at the All-England Jumping Course at Hickstead feels so special: it’s something of a summer sweetener in the midst of a busy season, and though it’s undeniably fast, furious, and enormously competitive, it’s also a welcome bit of fun in the calendar for riders and horses alike.
That sense of fun is certainly something that Gemma Stevens – nee Tattersall — has been cultivating in ten-year-old Flash Cooley, who she inherited from Liz Halliday-Sharp on the rider’s return to the US. The petite grey has been delivering some exciting results over the year they’ve been together, including a twelfth place finish in Blenheim’s eight- and nine-year-old class in 2021 and a move-up to CCI4*-L at Bramham this year. Throughout, he’s earned himself a reputation as a promisingly swift little horse – but never has he shown that with more certainty than in the ring today, when he delivered a round so fast that even a knocked pole didn’t cost him the win.
“That was absolutely brilliant – what a cool little horse he is,” says Gemma, who took the win by just over a second and a half over second-placed Helen Wilson and My Ernie, who had led for much of the class. “Two weeks ago he was up at Bolesworth doing the Mini Major and the Ride and Drive, and then last weekend he won an Advanced eventing class at Aston le Walls, and now he’s won an Eventers Grand Prix. He’s just so much fun and he absolutely loves the speed.”
Each of the top three — Gemma, second-placed Helen, and third-placed Pippa Funnell and Majas Hope — are local to Hickstead, which sweetened their superb rounds all the more.
“As my father just told me, I’ve been trying to win this for over half my life – so at long last, I’ve managed to win,” laughs Gemma. “It’s really cool, and I’m really happy. It’s like being home, basically, at Hickstead – I live fifteen minutes away and I come schooling here all the time, so it’s really cool to win here. That arena still gives me such butterflies, because it’s just such a cool arena. Everyone comes to Hickstead to want to jump in the main ring, so I’m just really lucky not only to jump in there but to have a win, too.”
Gemma is no stranger to Hickstead’s iconic main arena, either — she’s been gaining some serious mileage in the ring over top-level courses with her pure showjumping mare, the nine-year-old MGH Candy Girl.
“I’m very lucky to have the amazing MGH Candy Girl, and at the last show I was extremely lucky to be in the four-star showjumping, which is really exciting. I jumped two 1.45s and a 1.50m – and very big and very terrifying! I’ve actually been invited to do the Queens Cup, which is absolutely a dream come true. We’re just going to jump her today and hopefully I’ll do it – as long as it’s the right thing. I might walk the course and freak out!”
Flash Cooley makes easy work of the tough Normandy Bank. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Even with ring experience over considerably bigger fences, Gemma wasn’t totally free of nerves ahead of today’s class, which featured a mix of portable cross-country fences and knockable derby-style showjumping fences.
“It’s really fun, and I felt really relaxed all day, but then I was like, ‘oh god, I’m actually really nervous!’ Because, you know, we’re all competitive and we all want to give it a go, and I always want to win. I’m not scared of doing the jumps, I just don’t want to mess it up. I want to do well and give it my best shot – and also, I know what it takes and how fast I’ve got to go, and that is actually scary. Although it’s fun and exciting, too!”
“Helen [Wilson] is incredibly competitive, and she’s an absolutely fantastic rider and that’s a fantastic horse. So I knew I’d have to really go for it, and then we just hit that little fence because bless him, he was trying to be so careful and we just got a little close. So then I was like, ‘well, I’m not going to beat the time, but I’m going to give it a go!’ And somehow I managed it. He’s actually a very speedy little horse, and he’s so nippy, and he’s really careful, so I can just trust him.”
Helen Wilson and My Ernie set a nearly unsurpassable standard but ultimately are pipped at the post for second. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Helen Wilson‘s very near win with her five-star mount My Ernie was certainly a popular one, not least because she’s local: the petite black gelding’s trajectory has been a unique and appealing one that’s helped him become a fan favourite. Bought as a bargain basement project due to his quirks, he hunted extensively with Helen at the local Surrey Union hunt before starting his eventing career in 2019. By last year, he’d made enough headway to finish sixth in the CCI4*-L at Blenheim, and though his Badminton debut this year was an educational one, there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most exciting up-and-coming horses on the British scene – and undeniably one of the most fun to watch.
Pippa Funnell and her Pratoni-longlisted Majas Hope take third. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Pippa Funnell was the first ever winner of this class back in 2000, when she piloted The Tourmaline Rose to victory over a very different track, and she certainly made a good bid for another win today, jumping a swift clear with her European Championships mount Majas Hope. But they’d find themselves just over a second and a half too slow for victory despite their best efforts, ultimately taking third place.
The course caused plenty of influence throughout the class, with a number of horses knocking rails at the Devil’s Dyke rails and ditch, and others hesitating when coming down Hickstead’s iconic derby bank and Normandy bank complexes. The reigning winners, 2019 champions Nicky Hill and Kilrodan Sailorette, set off at a remarkable pace, but ultimately fell at the third fence after misreading the stride. Both were unharmed, as was Tom Crisp, who took a tumble from Vendome Biats in the Devil’s Dyke.
Tom Crisp delivers the save of the day with Vendome Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Simon Grieve celebrates a classy effort with Drumbilla Metro. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Simon Grieve and his experienced five-star partner Drumbilla Metro finish fourth. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Pippa checks the clock after crossing the line. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Pippa Funnell guns for the finish after jumping the last with Majas Hope. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Helen Wilson and My Ernie. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Lucy Jackson and Kallio B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Laura Collett and Dacapo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Katie Preston and Templar Juno. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Gemma Stevens and Flash Cooley. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Francis Whittington and DHI Fiktor Nita. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Gaspard Maksud and She’s The One. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Francis Whittington and DHI Fiktor Nita. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Felicity Collins and Shadow Minnie Moon. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Claire Deuten and Ustinov van Elsenham finish ninth. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Claire Deuten and Ustinov van Elsenham. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
This week sees the return of England’s iconic Royal International Horse Show at the All-England Showground at Hickstead for the first time since pre-pandemic, and one of our favourite classes of the week is on the schedule for tomorrow — that’s the Eventers’ Challenge class, which has taken a number of forms over the years and even involved a number of top show jumpers at one point. We’ll be bringing you coverage and snaps from the class tomorrow, but in the meantime, we’re whetting our whistles by looking back at how the class played out in 2000, when it still involved a long loop outside of the main arena. That year, it was won by a baby-faced Pippa Funnell aboard The Tourmaline Rose; this year, we’ll see Pippa return to try for the title aboard Billy Wonder. Stay tuned to find out if she can repeat the feat!
Energy is traditionally supplied by cereal grains such as oats, corn, and barley. These feedstuffs deliver energy as carbohydrates or starch. But what if you want to supply more energy to your horse without increasing the feed intake? Feeding a fat supplement is an excellent way to achieve this.
Fat is considered a source of “calm” energy and is thought to modify behavior in some horses, making them more tractable. This, in turn, allows horses to focus their energy on work rather than nervousness.
Reignite your Versailles daydreams for just a moment, because we’ve got some exciting new fuel for them: the International Olympic Committee has released its schedule of sport for the 2024 Paris Games, which will see the equestrians living it up like royalty in the grounds of the iconic gilded palace.
The eventers will lead the way for the equestrian disciplines, kicking off in earnest on Saturday, July 27th with the dressage phase. Interestingly, we’ll see just one day of eventing dressage for the first time ever at an Olympics; all assembled horses and riders will perform their tests between 10.00 a.m. and 6.40 p.m. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, folks.
Here’s how the full equestrian calendar will look across the disciplines:
11.00 a.m. – 3.30 p.m. CEST: Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle (individual)
Monday, August 5:
11.00 a.m. – 1.45 p.m. CEST: Jumping team qualifier*
Tuesday, August 6:
2.00 p.m. – 4.30 p.m. CEST: Jumping team final*
(* denotes that the scheduling is still under discussion with the FEI.)
A floating orchestra will add some extra ambience to the Opening Ceremony. Image courtesy of Paris 2024/IOC.
The Paris Olympics will begin the day before the start of the eventing — so, on trot-up day — with the Opening Ceremony, which is set for July 26 and will take place along the Seine, ending at the Eiffel Tower in the west end of the city. The Games will wrap up on August 11 with the final medal deciders and a closing ceremony. We’ll be bringing you more Olympic info as we get it, so keep it locked on EN and faire du concours complet!
Get well soon to Michael Jung, who’s had a month of some serious ups and downs — including a second, official nuptial ceremony with longtime partner Faye Füllgraebe — and who recently took a pretty gnarly tumble with his German National Champion, Highlighter, in the CCI3*-S at Switzerland’s Alpine Cup. He assures us he’s doing just fine after a routine visit to hospital for further observation, and we want to take a moment to give particular kudos to one German press release which, when run through Google Translate, informed us that “nothing is broken, but everything hurts a bit.” Honestly…same?
There’s plenty of history behind Connecticut’s Town Hill Farm Horse Trials venue. And with some of Area I’s best grassroots offerings, there’s also a huge amount of history left to be penned. [Find out more about this special place]
If you’re anything like us at EN, you’ve probably spent plenty of time perusing the brilliant Equestrians of Colour photography project. This portrait series focuses on — you guessed it! — equestrians of colour from across the disciplines as they share their experiences and stories. [Enjoy an introduction here]
Fancy using the mid-season break to boost your dressage performances? Carl Hester’s got some can’t-miss tips to help you make that happen. [Put on your dancing shoes]
Speaking of dressage, this story from our friends between the boards will give you all the hope and inspiration you need if you’ve got a bargain basement horse that occasionally makes your life a bit difficult. [Even the quirky ones can go all the way]
Watch This:
Amateur eventer Lucy Robinson is just days away from taking part in the Magnolia Cup charity flat race at Goodwood in England — check in and find out how she got on in her final practice run:
This week sees the Junior (CCI2*-L) and Young Rider (CCI3*-L) European Championships come to Hartpury, England and, poignantly, it also sees the retirement of Eros DHI, who partnered young British superstar Bubby Upton to individual gold in the 2017 Junior European Championships in Ireland. Though he’s just thirteen this year, the gelding will enjoy an easier life being treated as the king of the yard — an accolade he well earned when helping to establish his rider as one of the next generation of greats. U.S. Weekend Action:
Like Badminton before it, September’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is opting to launch its own subscription streaming service of this year’s event, doing away with previous years’ BBC red button coverage, which costs events six figures to secure. The £20 annual fee will include wall-to-wall coverage of the competition, including masterclasses and demos during the lunchbreaks, behind-the-scenes feature programmes, and historic coverage dating back to 1990. [We’re already planning a nineties binge, tbh]
Most of us are lucky to have had our lives touched by a good Thoroughbred. But in the story of teenager Jessie Webster, who found herself battling a stage four lymphoma diagnosis, and rescue OTTB Pilgrim, the extraordinary impact goes both ways. [This one will make you hug your horses today]
New research at England’s Liphook Equine Hospital has found a potential link between mycotoxins in stored hay and liver disease in horses. Though the results aren’t definitive, they’re a fascinating springboard for further studies – and could change the way we think about storing forage. [Also maybe don’t grow magic mushrooms in your barn]
Morning Viewing:
Alodar the mustang is making massive progress — check out his second ride with Elisa Wallace!
We’re enormously lucky to live in something of a technology boom for our sport as sport science, data, and performance analysis tools become more and more commonplace to help us hit those marginal gains and see huge results across the levels. Among the newest pieces of kit available on the market is the Alogo Move Pro sensor, which collects data throughout your ride and then presents it back to you in an easily accessible way, allowing you to review and refine your performances with quantifiable information to guide your decisions. But that’s all a lot of big words, really — to get the feel for the Alogo, it’s best to see it in action. Fortunately for all of us, we’ve got the chance to see what performance data can really do in this cross-country hatcam video from Pratoni’s test event in May, where Australia’s Andrew Hoy took it for a test ride with Bloom des Hauts Crets. Welcome to the future.
It’s not at all uncommon to see hatcam footage from Ingrid Klimke, who’s always been enormously generous with the educational tools at her disposal — but most of the time, that footage comes from rides with her recently retired top-level superstar, SAP Hale Bob OLD. This time, though, we’re getting to see rather a different ride around CHIO Aachen’s CCIO4*-S, because the horse she’s riding, Equistros Siena Just Do It, is much more inexperienced and still learning about navigating top-end technical courses. They didn’t have a perfect round — the exuberant ten-year-old mare picked up 40 jumping penalties out on course — but that makes it even more of an interesting, insightful watch, particularly when paired with SAP’s performance analysis data and running commentary from Ingrid herself. This’ll be one that’s worth bookmarking for a rewatch.
The first day of The Event at Rebecca Farm is all about the trot-ups — for the international divisions and for the Novice and Training long-format classes. We’ve also seen our Novice competitors hit the dressage ring, with some super performances on the board so far in these classes. Want to catch a glimpse of the action? Check out some of our pics of the best of social media from Montana. Go Eventing!
Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.
One of the major events returning to the calendar after a pandemic hiatus this year is the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, set to take place in the first week of September (1–4) – and while we’re used to waiting until an entry list has been fully formed before we’re allowed to see it, this year, we’re getting to watch it take shape in real time. Since the list appeared this morning, we’ve already seen seven horse-and-rider combinations make themselves known, including two for the US – Emily Hamel and Corvett will make their debut at the Lincolnshire fixture after running at Badminton this spring and spending the summer based in the UK, while Meghan O’Donoghue and her game ex-racehorse Palm Crescent are tacking Burghley onto their first trip abroad, which saw them compete at Germany’s CHIO Aachen earlier this month.
Elsewhere on the fledgling list, we’ve got an Australian combination making the long journey over in Sarah Clark and LV Balou Jeans, a sophomore five-star for Great Britain’s Rose Nesbitt and EG Michealangelo, who completed Badminton this year, and level debuts for both Kate Shapland and Uris Cavalier and Kristina Hall-Jackson and CMS Google. We’ll also see a return to the level for Richard Skelt and Credo III, who competed at the last running of Burghley in 2019 and its replacement fixture at Bicton last year, though are still chasing their first completion.
While it’s very early days yet, and we’ll see a number of otherwise likely Burghley entries save their legs for a trip to Pratoni’s World Championships later in the month, we’re expecting a seriously exciting line-up for the first renewal of this big, bold, and inarguably iconic event in three years. You can keep an eye on entries as they roll in here — and let us know in the comments who you’re hoping to see join the list!
We’re sad to report that King Eider (Toulon x Pearle, by Capital), one of Scotland’s best-loved five-star horses, has died of cancer at the age of 22.
“So sad to say that we said goodbye to the amazing King Eider last week, he got a cancer that affected some of his nerves,” writes rider and owner Louisa Milne Home in a heartfelt statement on her social media channels. “We have had so much fun, from his arrival with us as a four-year-old, all the way through to the very end, he ruled the yard with a lovely but very big personality.”
Louise produced King Eider, or ‘Duck’, as he was known at home, through his competitive career, lodging 33 FEI and ten CCI5* starts along the way. The oversized Belgian Warmblood was a popular entry at Badminton and Burghley, where he amassed plenty of fans with his game, bold jumping style and his tight-knit partnership with Louise, which helped them pick up several top-3 finishes in these most prestigious competitions.
“I can’t begin to list all the amazing things that we did together. He competed at 10 5*s, was in the top 3 at 4*s, won at Advanced and Intermediate. We were longlisted for the Europeans, but very sadly he got an injury just before it,” continues Louisa. “He did a very smart test and he was just a fantastic jumper, he loved all his 5* competitions. He had no TB blood and just showed that eventers come in all shapes and sizes. In 2013 he was one of only 12 horses to jump clear round both Badminton and Burghley. He loved a crowd and so Badminton and Burghley where his favourite events, he would spend most of the course checking out the crowds and looking for cameras!”
Like many top-level competitors, Duck wasn’t always the most straightforward ride — but that was largely down to his famous sense of humour, which kept Louisa on her toes ahead of major competitions.
“He had a very cheeky side and we always had to practice skinnies before any event or he would think it was very funny to show me up,” she writes.
Though Duck was diagnosed with a heart condition back in 2013, careful management ensured that it never caused an issue with his competitive endeavours, and he competed at the top level until he was nineteen years old. His retirement in 2019 saw him bow out after Badminton, looking as fit and well as he ever had.
“Just before our first Badminton he got an atrial fibrillation, which the Edinburgh Vet School managed to correct and luckily it never went wrong again, until just after he stopped competing, but it never caused him any problems to just have fun at home,” writes Louisa. Her one regret? A non-completion at Burghley in 2017 for the 17.1hh gelding, who jumped a stylish clear across the country but picked up an injury. “It was really sad that he didn’t complete his 5th Burghley, he jumped a fantastic clear cross country but wasn’t sound that evening, having tweaked a leg, I think having pecked coming out of the Trout Hatchery.”
Bred in Belgium and originally named Quattro Van De Kwakkelhoek, Duck could have gone down a variety of career paths — and indeed, several of his full siblings have enjoyed considerable success in the showjumping ring in Europe and the USA. But despite clocking in at just 32% blood, Duck was made for the rigours of five-star cross-country.
“He was always good but it wasn’t until he was 9 and he jumped clear round his first Advanced at Eglinton, then went to Blair for 4*s and jumped double clear followed by a clear round Blenheim 8/9 yr old 4*s, that he really started to show what he could do, up till then he was mostly stepping over things! It was always difficult to find a jump he didn’t make look small,” says Louisa, who also recently lost her top show jumper, Harry DV. “I was so lucky to have had him and Harry and I can’t believe both have gone in such quick succession they made so many things possible and feel so easy.”
The EN team send our most heartfelt condolences to Louisa and everyone connected with this super horse.
Do we sound like broken records yet? Maybe — but Rebecca Farm really is that event, and we can’t help but buzz about its return this week. It’s almost time for the action to start in Montana, so to get you just as hyped as we are, take a look back at 2019 with Julie Wolffert of Paradox Farm Sport Horses. If that doesn’t make you hunger for those vistas, we don’t know what will. Then, stay tuned right here on EN: we’ll have a trot-up report coming later today and then plenty of action and updates from this stunner of an event.
Energy is traditionally supplied by cereal grains such as oats, corn, and barley. These feedstuffs deliver energy as carbohydrates or starch. But what if you want to supply more energy to your horse without increasing the feed intake? Feeding a fat supplement is an excellent way to achieve this.
Fat is considered a source of “calm” energy and is thought to modify behavior in some horses, making them more tractable. This, in turn, allows horses to focus their energy on work rather than nervousness.
The latest update to the planned location designs gives the equestrian sports an impressive home for the LA Olympics in 2028. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles 2028.
We’ve still got another two years to go before the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the IOC’s engine never stops whirring, and this week we’ve been gifted with a serious date for our diaries in six years’ time: the Los Angeles Olympics, which will be held in the California crown jewel for the third time, will take place from July 14–30, 2028.
But where in this expansive city will we see the action take place? And more importantly, will there be a cross-country jump that looks like the Hollywood sign? While we’ve got no confirmation one way or another on the latter (but are happy to offer our services as fence decoration consultants as needed), we do have some teasers to point us in the right direction for the former.
The Paris 2024 Olympics are setting a precedent for unique opening ceremonies: they’re dispensing with the idea of a stadium-based celebration entirely, instead taking to the Seine on a series of boats for a parade of sorts that anyone in the city can watch. While L.A. isn’t following the same script, they’re also doing their own thing — instead of one ceremony, there’ll be two, hosted concurrently at the Coliseum and the SoFi Stadium, giving even more spectators the chance to get involved with this unique, creative, special part of the Games.
An artist’s interpretation of the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area’s temporary facilities – some of the only temporary venues planned for the 2028 Games. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles 2028.
One of the major issues we’ve seen with previous iterations of the Games is the enormous cost of creating infrastructure, which often ends up as a sunk cost when those purpose-built venues and structures crumble into disrepair in the years following the Olympics. But because L.A. has such a rich history of hosting top-level sport, including the Olympics in 1932 and 1984, it benefits from a number of excellent venues that’ll be updated as needed. Those include the Crypto.com Arena, home of major sports teams including the Los Angeles Lakers and the Pauley Pavilion, which hosts a number of sports on the UCLA campus. UCLA’s student dorms will also become the athletes’ village, which means some lucky freshmen will get to move into a room that was once occupied by gold medal-winning legends. These efforts are estimated to save the organisers billions — yes, with a ‘b’ — of dollars as they turn L.A. into the home of global sporting excellence for their stint.
One of the earliest bid photos for the equestrian facilities shows a temporary arena that isn’t dissimilar to Greenwich’s arena for London 2012. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles 2028.
And the equestrians? They’ll head to Encino, in the north Valley area between Kardashian-klub Calabasas and Burbank, to the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. This is already a popular area locally for recreational sport, with a number of existing facilities, but it’ll look wildly different once the Games hit: the equestrian disciplines, shooters, and canoers will use this facility and its adjacent space, benefitting from one of the few temporary constructions of the 2028 Games. That’ll include a grand arena, which looks like it could be of a similar design to the temporary platformed arena installed in Greenwich for the London 2012 Olympics, and though we don’t have any information yet about how the cross-country course will be set and designed, some of the artist interpretations created for the bids show us a very promising swathe of land extending behind this arena. Indeed, there’s a golf course that spreads out from the recreation complex, though it’s fairly comprehensively tree-lined, so it’ll be interesting to see whether they use this space for the roughly 5700m course or do as previous Olympic committees have done and travel to a separate location for this phase. We’ll bring you more info as it’s released – in the meantime, we’ll be pondering which rider we’d like to see installed on Hollywood’s walk of fame.
It certainly takes some commitment to get to Montana’s Rebecca Farm, but whether the journey involves multiple days of driving or a cheeky trip in an airplane, there’s no doubt at all that the effort is totally worth it when, on arrival, you’re greeted with some of the most striking scenery in US eventing. And beyond that? You get creative, clever courses, super hospitality, stunning hacking routes, a unique, charity-oriented start box, and, frankly, just some very, very good vibes. Well worth spending a few hours curating the perfect road trip playlist, we reckon.
Before the competition gets underway in earnest today with this afternoon’s first horse inspection, we caught up with some of this year’s competitors as they made the trip and got settled in over the last couple of days. Here’s what life is like at Rebecca, through the lenses of those who are living the dream there this week.
