Become an Eventing Nation BloggerThanks to Jenni and Thehorsepesterer, we have some excellent video footage from Plantation Field. [Results] Check out Team Tredstep rider Lauren Kieffer, who won the Advanced division with Veronica, finishing on their dressage score of 30.0.
Boyd Martin and Pancho Villa won the CIC2*:
Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville won the CIC3*:
Whitney Weston and Rock On Rose made easy work of the troublesome water at 15abc in the Advanced division:
See more videos from Plantation Field
Fence 4, the first water, where many came to grief.
via Luhmuhlen’s official course preview
There was “a lot of flak” this year at Luhmühlen, where the cross-country proved quite difficult for many competitors. Luhmühlen stands behind their course designer, though– Captain Mark Phillips is signed on for another three years, though organizers have requested some changes for next year. [Read more: Captain Mark Phillips Responds to Criticism]
Organizer Julia Otto said the standard of riders this year had been “completely different and the technical questions were too difficult for some.”
Next year’s course would be “a little easier and friendlier”, she added, stressing that Capt Phillips was “one of the best course-designers in the world” and would stay on for another three years.
Mark Phillips told H&H he had met the organisers of Luhmühlen last month.
“It was decided they wanted to keep the CCI as a four-star, but make the CIC3* more for the younger horses, so that people will know what to expect,” he said.
That’s great that the CIC3* course will be adjusted; but most of the complaints this year were regarding the CCI4* course. The first water jump, fence 4, caused several horse falls, including American Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda, Nicola Wilson with Opposition Buzz, and Andrew Nicholson with Qwanza. There was also public outrage at the tragic death of Emeric George’s mount P’tite Bombe, who fell at fence 12 (a table).
Marilyn Little and RF Tabasco, photo by Julia Rau.
We cannot thank Julia Rau enough for sharing her wonderful photos from Schenefeld CIC3* in Germany this weekend. It’s difficult for the EN team to cover as many competitions as we would like, but with the help of others’ assistance we are thrilled to bring you events outside our reach. Julia has been so kind to offer these brilliant images to us and allow us to support to our American compatriot Marilyn Little with RF Demeter, who finished second, and RF Tabasco, who finished 12th. Please visit Julia’s full photo gallery for more.
Marilyn Little and RF Demeter finish 2nd at Schenefeld CIC3*. Photo by Julia Rau.
Congratulations to Marilyn Little and RF Demeter who finished second at Schenefeld CIC3*, behind Andreas Dibowski and Butts Leon. Marilyn and Demeter had one rail on the tough show jumping course, which had only five clear rounds out of 27 finishers. Her new ride, RF Tabasco, also had one rail down to finish 12th. [Results]
Marilyn has done very well with her horses in Europe this summer, and it’s great to have her representing the USA at these international events. Marilyn sent us a shout-out yesterday after cross-country, and she wishes to thank everyone for their support while she has been abroad, with a special note of thanks to Emily Dufort and Katlyn McMorris who have gone above and beyond in their care of Demi and “The Sauce.”
Marilyn Little and RF Demeter. Photo copyright Julia Rau.
Julia Rau is a professional photographer on site at Schenefeld CIC3* in Germany who is generously sharing some beautiful photos with us this weekend. Be sure to check out her gallery for more!
Marilyn Little had two fantastic rides today on Demeter and Tabasco, and is currently in third and 12th, respectively. [Scores]
Marilyn Little and RF Demeter at Blair Castle. Photo by Julia Shearwood.
The top three remain unchanged after cross-country at Schenefeld CIC3* in Germany. Marilyn Little and Demeter were double clear and remain in third on their dressage score of 37.2. Andreas Dibowski and Butts Leon remain in the lead, followed by Andreas Ostholt and So Is Et in second. Marilyn’s second ride, RF Tabasco also went clear (with the fastest time of the day) to move from 18th to 12th. Well done, and best of luck to her tomorrow in show jumping! [Full Results]
Thanks to Karen O’Connor for forwarding us the photos of Marilyn at Blair Castle.
Marilyn Little and RF Tabasco, shown here at Blair Castle. Photo by Julia Shearwood.
Schenefeld CIC3* Top 5 after XC:
The California Horse Racing Board approved the Breeders’ Cup request to host a race for Arabian horses on the first day (Nov. 1) of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The Breeders’ Cup is again held at Santa Anita Park this year, as it will be in 2014 as well. The Arabian race, “President of the UAE Cup” is set for a distance of 1 mile, and will offer a purse of $150,000. The purse is sponsored by the Emirates Equestrian Federation. [[The Bloodhorse.com]
Blogger Contest finalist Rick Wallace was all set with his fall schedule leading up to Fair Hill CCI3*, and had his sights set first on the American Eventing Championships at the Texas Rose Horse Park. However, the best laid plans always seem to change– Rick suffered an unfortunate broken wrist and will be watching from the sidelines this fall. Many thanks to Rick for writing, and we hope he gets well soon! Visit his blog at teamwallace.org.
Rick Wallace and Ultimate Victory qualifying for the AEC Advanced at the 2013 Chattahoochee Hills Country International Horse TrialsPhoto Courtesy of Aly Rattazzi, Rather Be Riding Photography
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Rick Wallace and Ultimate Victory qualifying for the AEC Advanced at the 2013 Chattahoochee Hills Country International Horse TrialsPhoto Courtesy of Aly Rattazzi, Rather Be Riding Photography
The American Eventing Championships (AEC) have become a must do event for TeamWallace Eventing (TW). Over the years, we have participated in the AEC’s and have marveled at its growth and participation. Developed to be inclusive of all the levels in Eventing, the AEC’s has established itself as the goal event of many riders throughout the country.
I decided last December that TW Eventing would be traveling to Texas to participate in the 2013 AEC’s. It was my goal to get all my kids qualified and to get Ultimate Victory qualified to do the $40K Adequan USEA Gold Cup Advanced Championships. The schedules where made and the work was done and TW Eventing qualified everyone on the team.
The planning for the AEC’s have been challenging for several reasons. My daughter, Elisa Wallace is doing the Million Dollar Mustang Challenge in Ft. Worth, Texas the weekend before (it is going on now) and I had to figure out how to get all the horses to Texas so that I could be able to watch her in the finals should she make the top 20. I had planned to head to Texas on September 20th and had help from our incoming USEA President, Diane Pitts on finding a private barn to keep the horses in Ft. Worth. Special thanks to Diane for taking time to find me a place to go.
I had to coordinate with parents on the kids traveling to Texas and worked on how to minimize missing school days. I have a busy consulting company which I had to figure out how to make sure I did not fall behind in my commitments and I have Cherry Hill Farm which I now lease and have to ensure care for the entire 40 acre facility. All this can be daunting but the plans were made, schedules developed and all seemed to be fitting together very well.
As all plans go, we are often hit with road blocks and mine came after my run in the CIC 3 Star at Poplar. Ultimate Victory’s training regiment was redeveloped after Bromont and he has been responding very well to the conditioning program. He finished 4th in the OI at Chatt Hills the end of August and we heading to the CIC 3 Star well prepped. We managed a very nice stadium round and headed out Sunday morning on the cross country course.
Ultimate Victory – Cody – was jumping nicely as we headed down to the angled brush at the Mulberry Pound. Knowing he drifts left, I did not make the line correction needed and as we approached the brush and I felt the drift begin. He boldly jumped the angled brush and made the drift left, enough left that we had no ground to land on on the backside and he landed in the ditch. It was basically on his belly and I was standing next to him on the other side. I was able to undo my air vest so it did not deploy and Cody climbed out of the ditch a little bewildered at what had happened.
I was disappointed at my approach and we headed to the barn with just dirt on his underside. Of course, now I am trying to figure out the fall season with Fair Hill being our final goal for the year. It was then apparent that I needed to do extremely well at the AEC Advanced Championships in two weeks which would prove to me that we were both ready for Fair Hill. We were already qualified but I wanted my green Advanced horse prepared if we were going to tackle a CCI 3 Star again.
TeamWallace riders finished up the weekend with Parker Miller and Jos Baco having a successful move up to Training and Ultimate Decision who won the dressage…again…went clean cross country but moved to 5th after having rails in his weak phase. Briggs and Taylor had some bad luck in their first CIC 1 Star. Briggs managed a beautiful CC round but missed fence 20 at the end of the course and Taylor’s mare did not like the soft footing in the stadium. Always a work in progress.
The trip home from Poplar with my student Briggs Surrat was full of optimism as we talked about the AEC’s, the need to never forget a cc jump again and the excitement of competing in Texas. As we pulled into Cherry Hill Farm, I was tired and ready to get the horses off the trailer and get some rest. Little did I know, all my well laid plans were about to go up in smoke.
I have to say to those of you reading, many accidents happen when loading and unloading our horses. We should never let our guard down even when we have easy horses. My excuse is that I was just plain out stupid. Ultimate Decision – Mark – has developed a bad habit of bolting backwards when you undo the partition. I know this and have made concessions on how to unload him.
Cody came off first and Briggs took him to the barn. I put the butt bar back up and untied Mark. I was thinking about the weekend and not really paying attention to what I was doing. I reached for the release on the partition and for some reason I went to grab the extender release. My right hand was on the partition and Mark bolted backwards slamming the partition into the tack storage wall.
What I saw happen was surreal. My hand went all the way back to my arm and was held there while Mark push back to the butt bar. To see you body part do something it should not do is very weird. I do not remember any pain but when I saw my hand released from the weight of Mark, it just flapped on my arm. All I could think was, “I just broke my wrist in two, how the hell am I going to ride next week!!!”
Mark stood patiently at the butt bar stop and I went to the trailer window and yelled for Briggs to get back to the trailer. He came running down and all I could manage was, “I just broke my wrist. Get Mark off and get him to his stall.” Poor Briggs looked mortified as he say my limp wrist – ok no jokes please. The swelling started immediately and we still had Hat Trick to unload.
Charlotte Weisberg is an 18-year-old from New Hampshire and an avid EN fan who just made the transition to college– with her horse. She wrote this article to spread the message to other readers in a similar position, in hopes that her experience will encourage others to consider bringing their horses along after high school. Thanks to Charlotte for writing, and thank you for reading.
William grazing at our new home in Pennsylvania
From Charlotte:
I know this feels premature, since I’ve only been in school for a month now, but I know that the college process for most kids is starting earlier and earlier each year, and I want to get my message out while it can still make a difference. I caught the “horse bug,” as we all know it, when I was eight years old and by the age of thirteen had convinced my parents I was ready for a horse of my own. That’s when Sweet William came into my life and changed it in ways I never imagined.
He was a big and bulky overweight Percheron/Quarter horse cross with a previous career at the Preliminary level under his belt, and nine months out of work. I was about as inexperienced in eventing as you could get, although you couldn’t have paid me to admit that at the time, and my parents were just along for the ride. We were clearly a match made in heaven. William showed me the ropes of eventing while also showing me the ground on more occasions than I could count, and I gave him a forever home. I could go on for days listing our wonderful times together and all that he has taught me, but everyone reading this most likely also has that one horse they believe is more special than anything else in the world and knows exactly what I’m talking about. Plus, that’s not the point of my story.
After four years together and a countless number of memories made with William, I was beginning my senior year of high school and of course, the dreaded “college process.” While most of my peers were stressing about how many student leadership committees they could sign up for, whether they could report that one thirty-second of Hispanic heritage on their Common App, or how to properly phrase every last sentence in their college essay, I had other things on my mind. Sure, academics have always come first for me, but if I had to write out my list of priorities in life it would look something like this:
Of course choosing a school was important to me, but somehow I never felt nearly as stressed out about that as it seemed my peers were. I fell in love with my school the moment I stepped on campus; I applied binding early decision, was luckily accepted, and never looked back. All of this only seemed like such a breeze to me, because there were much more pressing matters on my mind throughout the whole process. If I go off to school, what happens to my pony? My partner in crime? My other half? How do I just not ride every day? Or even not see him every day? Is my eventing career over? While my friends envied my laid back attitude about the college selection procedure, I, for once in my life, envied their horse-free lives. I tried reaching out to my fellow eventers and riders that had been in my situation for guidance but found little advice. The clock was ticking though and senior year was flying by.
I finally had the conversation I needed in order to make my decision though, and that was with my high school equestrian team coach. Although she had at the time only known William and I for less than a year, her response was simple yet firm. When I brought up my fears and doubts about me and my horse’s future, she simply turned to me and said: “What do you mean? There’s no question about it. You have to bring William to school with you.” While her response shocked me, it also forced me to realize what I knew was true all along. There was no way I could stop riding or even dream of giving up Will. From then on, I was determined to make this happen.
I fought all summer with the University Parking Services Department against their strict “No Cars on Campus for Freshmen” rule. My appeal letter to them looked something like this. No car = can’t see my horse = depression = flunking classes. After that they were convinced that horse people are indeed crazy, but that they should probably let me bring my car. I then faced the financial hurdle of all of this. Was it going to be even feasible to make this happen? Well lucky for me, my parents couldn’t be more supportive of me and William, and they promised to make it happen for me.
William and I at one of our last events of the season. Photo by a dear friend.
Soon enough, I had picked out the perfect farm (never before this did I realize how difficult barn shopping is), permitted a car on campus, and mentally prepared myself for the move from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania. So in typical chaotic eventer fashion, I signed William and I up for one last sanctioned event at Huntington Farm in Vermont. We completed it with a pink ribbon and a victory gallop, packed our lives into our little two horse bumper-pull, and loaded up for Pennsylvania the next day. With the help of some tubes of Ulcerguard and Probios we made the 7-hour journey effortlessly and William took it all like a champ. Before I knew it, my horse was moved in to a beautiful new farm, I was moved in to my dorm room at Lehigh University, my parents and siblings were saying their goodbyes, and I had accumulated 22 likes on my Facebook photo album titled “William goes to college.”
William at a rest stop in Connecticut on our drive to PA
So here’s my message to pass along to all of you high school eventers, riding enthusiasts, and the amazingly supportive parents out there. It’s not easy, but we’re eventers, so when is it easy? But I can look at just my one month here at school and say that it was all completely worth it. Did I have my initial freaked out phone calls to my father, because I thought William was slowly wilting away from only being ridden three times a week? Yes, believe me that happened on multiple occasions. Even if it is only two or maybe three times a week that I get to see my boy and spend time around horses, it’s always the highlight of my week. More importantly, it’s given me the chance to enjoy my time with my horse more and never take him for granted. I can safely say now, that bringing William with me was and will continue to be one of the best decisions I ever made. Sure, it’s stressful at times, but I look around at all my peers and I can’t imagine how they make it through those rigorous exam weeks without some riding time. I know that I am probably one of the few and extremely fortunate ones out there, but I hope that my story can make a difference to at least one person sitting in the same position I was at this time last year. I’ve always found it to be a bit corny, but that old saying “If there’s a will, there’s a way” really rang true for me on this occasion. So I encourage anyone out there facing these big decisions to make it happen. Bring your horse to college no matter how crazy it seems. Do whatever it takes, and tackle this just like you would any cross country course. Keep kicking on and put everything you’ve got into it, until you’ve got the outcome you want. And more importantly, the outcome that you know you truly need. Go Eventing.
Marilyn Little and RF Tabasco scored 50.1. Photo copyright Julia Rau.
Photographer Julia Rau generously shared some beautiful photos with us from the CIC3* at Schenefeld in Germany. American Marilyn Little is competing two horses there, RF Demeter and her new ride RF Tabasco (formerly with Ingrid Klimke). Demeter put in a stunning test to lie third on 37.2, just behind Andreas Ostholt and So Is Et (36.0) and Andreas Dibowski and Butts Leon (34.5). Many thanks to Julia for the lovely pics, please check out her site for lots more: RauPhoto Gallery.
Photo by Eric Swinebroad
The Horse & Hound is reporting that there is growing opposition to Princess Haya seeking a third term as president of the FEI. As the most prominent wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, certain countries sense a conflict of interest regarding the Sheikh’s history of drug violations in the sport of Endurance [including unauthorized drugs seized last week]. Charles Trolliet, head of the Swiss Equestrian Federation spoke with H&H about the situation.
Mr Trolliet told H&H that the Swiss and Dutch federations will now oppose changes to the FEI Statutes that would allow Princess Haya to stand for another four-years when her second term ends in 2014.
Mr Trolliet’s announcement follows the growing disquiet and controversy over the FEI’s endurance strategic planning group, which was established to tackle high incidences of doping and injuries in Middle Eastern endurance.
He is upset that, at some point, the “clean-up” operation appears to have morphed into something else. “The purpose seems to be more of a strategy to develop the sport, rather than solve the problems we described,” he told H&H.
Mr. Trolliet has a point: with over 20 positive doping tests since 2005 involving horses from the Maktoum family, having Princess Haya in charge of the FEI is a bit like the fox guarding the hen house. In the last eight years, we’ve seen dramatic changes in the sport of eventing as well– namely, the complete loss of the long format. Perhaps it is time for someone else to take charge of the FEI…though I doubt the overall senselessness of the organization will ever improve dramatically.
Meghan O'Donoghue and Pirate at Blenheim. Photo by Samantha Clark.
US Eventing High Performance has to be in a good mood after Blenheim CCI3*. Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen finished third (tied for second, really) and first-timer Meghan O’Donoghue was 11th with Pirate. Meghan received the Jacqueline Mars grant which helped fund her trip– and for what seems like the first time in a long time, grant money was very well spent. Meghan and Pirate really stepped up on the international stage and proved their Rolex performance was no fluke. While their three rails were disappointing in show jumping, her clear cross-country round is most important. Phillip Dutton and Ben also had no jumping faults on xc, but a bunch of time penalties and five heavy rails down dropped them significantly down the results in 33rd. Ben is still relatively green at the level, and we know Phillip has the experience; though their performance could have been better, it was certainly not an embarrassment.
US results at international events has been a mixed bag this year. Saumur CCI3* saw two Americans in the top 10: Will Faudree with Andromaque in 5th, and Marilyn Little in 8th with Smoke on the Water. The two other grant-receivers, however, did not go clear on cross-country– Hannah Sue Burnett had a stop with Harbour Pilot, and Buck was eliminated on The Apprentice for missing a flag on a corner and not re-jumping it.
Marilyn Little and RF Demeter finished a strong 7th at Luhmuhlen CCI4*; but fellow Americans Jolie Wentworth had two stops on cross-country with Good Knight, and Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda suffered a fall at the first water.
At the World Cup CIC3* in Aachen, the US team fell apart. Tiana Coudray had a great weekend with Ringwood Magister, going clear cross-country and finishing 9th. Her teammates, however, did not fare as well. Marilyn Little suffered a fall from Smoke on the Water; Will Faudree had two runouts with Pawlow before they fell landing from the last fence; and Clark Montgomery also had a runout with Universe.
The trend seems to be that going clear cross-country corresponds to a respectable, and often competitive result. Perhaps it’s not truly the dressage and show jumping keeping us behind other nations; generally when our riders go clear cross-country, they can do well. At Blenheim, we sent two riders across seas to compete, and both of them went clear. That’s what we need: consistent, clear cross-country finishes. Let’s hope US Eventing High Performance can continue this trend going on to Boekelo CCI3* and Pau CCI4*. [Grant Recipients]
Francis Whittington rode two horses around cross-country at Blenheim CCI3*, Fernhill Highlight, shown here in the helmet cam picked up an unfortunate runout in the main arena. He went clear, however, on his second horse Hasty Imp. Enjoy this ride around Blenheim, along with commentary from Francis.
Photo by CBS
CBS 4 News in Denver published a story yesterday of how a dozen horses and cattle were rescued from flooded fields in Weld County, Colorado. The Oschner family and other ranchers spotted their horses and cattle in helicopter footage that aired on CBS4 and — grateful to know the animals were alive– were determined to help get them out of danger.
[Video]
“One neighbor called another neighbor and before long we had a yard full of pickups and trailers,” Ochsner said.
The result on Saturday was that nearly a dozen horses were taken to safety. Together they were able to reach them by boat and then move them to higher ground. They were then taken from near Greeley to an area outside of Milliken. All the animals were successfully rescued by the next day.
Thanks to Marjean for the tip!
Lisa Saabye and Ebella were winners of the Training Rider Division. Copyright Flatlandsfoto.com.
GMHA Horse Trials is always a favorite in Vermont. Thanks to Katie Murphy for sharing her blog with us, and congratulations for a successful first outing with Esccord RGS at Preliminary! Thanks also to official event photographer Joan Davis of Flatlandsfoto.com for sharing her photos. Go GMHA! [Results]
From Katie Murphy:
Finally, the time had come. Garth was ready, willing and able to conquer a preliminary horse trials. What fun! Our adventure began at GMHA‘s fall horse trials, nestled in the lush mountains of Vermont.
Despite a lovely warm up, our dressage test was a disappointment. Much of the upset rested within the counter canter. Garth is naturally balanced, and performs flying lead changes and tempi changes with the ease of a nicker or twitch of the ear. Preliminary test B requires a counter canter around half the ring, including the short side (B to E, and E to B). We have been working diligently on learning the counter canter, while building the strength and balance to hold the movement. I was suspicious that the counter canter movements may become compromised during our test: due in part to my riding and the ring size (those white borders make a ring feel tiny!).
I was right. We started off our test lovely, fluid, forward and balanced, We scored an 8, then a 7 and an 8 on our trot lengthening. Fantastic! Our lateral work was lovely, but not quite as solid as it was in our warm-up. We were able to hold the left lead counter canter, however aesthetically unpleasant and then moved into the same movements to the other direction. He held the right lead counter canter until we reached the judges booth, then with grace and ease, he performed a flying change. Several attempts to regain the counter canter (and a few silent mutterings) did not prove successful. We were at E and needed to move on to the remaining trot and walk movements. I was very disappointed. As we walked from the Upway ring back to day parking, I reflected on the entirety of the test. Most of the issues lied within the movements associated with the counter canter. I was pleased with the rest. A sigh of awareness and appreciation brought to light a reminder of how far Garth has come within his career. Our collective marks were strong: an 8, 7, 6 and 7. The judge was wise, and I greatly appreciate her awareness and intuition. She noted “Lovely horse. Hard for such a big mover in small arena. Work on more effective re-balancing.” Smart judge.
As the sun lost the fight to shine through the clouds, and a chilly autumn breeze cooled the Vermont air, we eagerly prepared for stadium. The course was sharp, and would either prove to make the most of horse and rider pairs, or prove to be their downfall. Jump, turn, jump, deep turn, jump, land STRAIGHT, turn, jump, jump. Awesome. Garth entered the ring and immediately lit up like the North Star. He was dull, but obedient in warm-up. A spook set off a good step forward, and he maintained focus over the larger fences beautifully despite the many potential terrors that lied within the bright standards and along the ring’s perimeter. We sailed effortlessly around the course, proving that this is a stepping stone for Garth – these fences are just the beginning for him. He jumped double clean choosing to ignore the last stride to fence 5 and a good crack of his back as he stared into the liverpool over fence 8. Brilliant boy.
As the sun broke through the early morning clouds and dew began to dry on the Vermont fields, cross-country day began. Our course incorporated gallop stretches, an array of questions, and great fences. I was very excited and certain that this would be a progressive step forward for Garth and his budding career. My goals were to have less adjustment in front of the fences and seeing a forward distance from further away. Forward distance is key. Of course, this is not to overshadow the importance of adjustability when necessary, and continuing to build Garth’s confidence throughout this new challenge. I also wanted to build his gallop and get a feel for our conditioning program was working.
He was brilliant. Really, really brilliant. What a wonderful horse! As could be expected for a 5 year old, he was spooky at fences and other stimuli: spectators, fence judges, random large rocks, and retired obstacles stored along the tree line. He was bold, confident, and I think he genuinely enjoyed himself. He thought nothing of the weldon’s wall, two trakehners, large tables and technical elements. He carefully worked through the coffin (with sunken ditch), and was incredibly smart over the brush and corner combination, angling the second element. He tackled a line of fences down the hillside beautifully: jumping over a large brush, landing down hill and angling another brush, turning to a roll top at the base of the field. Garth chose to trot over the drop into the water and was very honest over the skinny chevron – I was unable to re-establish the canter before the drop and we lost our impulsion for the distance over the skinny. He could have easily run-out, but instead cleared it from a slightly angled approach. His gallop has improved, and I was thrilled to feel him eat up the distance between fences with each stride. We were one of only four pairs in our division to make time. Check ourFacebook Page for XC video, coming soon!
I am thrilled with Garth. He is an incredibly special horse and I adore him. Every day, he teaches me something new, and together we are growing as a team and partnership. Through his innate ability and athleticism, he has opened me to new experiences. It is because of Garth that my riding has improved and I have experienced a level of performance. I am very excited for his future.
Thank you for riding along with us!
EN is everywhere, even at a fancy LA store! Photo by Erin Milman.
How was your event this weekend? Did you have fun in that clinic last week? Was it beautiful on your hack yesterday? Send us your photos and stories! We love hearing from our readers and enjoy sharing your experiences on the site. This week, we see how Buck Davidson prepares for Plantation Field HT, a horse asks,” is it Christmas yet?”, Kyle Carter plays hairdresser, and one reader’s trip to Burghley was capped with a beautiful rainbow. Thanks to all contributors, and keep the submissions coming to [email protected].
Buck, Bruce, Carolyn Martin, and Madeline Blackman.
I thought I’d share this picture that I took today at the Martin’s beautiful Buckwampum Farm. Buck organized a very fun mock horse trial to get prepared for Plantation cic *** this weekend. This picture is of Buck, Bruce, Caroline Martin, and Maddy Blackman watching Nora Battig show jump.
– Jill Lukens
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Connor
Is it Christmas yet? Connor wants his photo on EN!
-Hillary Parker
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Kyle Carter is not just a fantastic clinician, he's also a stylist!
Thought you might have some fun with these photos of our weekend clinician, Kyle Carter, banging the tail and helping roach the mane of one of the clinic participants today.
– Lauren Romanelli
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I just got back from the UK and while we were there, we got to go to Burghley last weekend. We have gone to Rolex many times, so we thought it was time to check out another 4 star! Anyway—the entire weekend was awesome. I got some great pics, but this one I thought might be “Eventing Nation worthy.” Saturday, about an hour after the end of x-c, it started raining while the sun was still out. We were walking back to our car and caught these pics of a rainbow over Burghley House including the first and last x-c jump on the course. We were like, “Really? A fabulous x-c day followed by a rainbow over the course?” No leprechauns were sited, but it was still pretty amazing.
– Susan Prorak
Blenheim leader Sarah Bullimore and Lilly Corinne, photo by Samantha Clark.
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Dressage has concluded in the CCI3* at the Fidelity Blenheim International Horse Trials. As Samantha mentioned this morning, Sarah Bullimore and Lilly Corinne had a fabulous test to break into the thirties to lead on a score of 38.9. Aoeife Clark of Ireland moved into second with Fenyas Elegance, scoring 40.0. Less than a rail out of first, yesterday’s leader Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen sit in third on 42.7. Go Clark and Glen!
EN guest blogger Charlotte Agnew is seventh (44.2), just behind Doug Payne’s former ride Running Order and William Fox-Pitt. Canadian Jessie Phoenix and Pavoarotti are 20th, ahead of Phillip Dutton and Ben in 21st on 48.3. First-time international competitor Meghan O’Donoghue and Pirate should be happy with a 52.3, tied for 42nd. British-based American riders Cindy Rawson and Julian Stiller are a bit farther down the order, in 62nd (Mocharabuiee), 76th (Pandora X), and 82nd (Sinatra BK) respectively.
Blenheim Top 10 after Dressage
SO PROUD… RT“@LissaGreen88: DEAR GOD – on route to @BlenheimHorse & have forgotten my riding boots……ARGH – Can Anyone help?? Size 7?”
— Lucinda Green (@LucindaGreenMBE) September 12, 2013
Apparently Lissa Green forgot her tall bo0ts on her way to Blenheim. Could anyone help her out? Mom is amused!
I can’t say I’ve forgotten my boots before– they live in my trailer– but I do know what it feels like to arrive at an event and have that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize your girth (and spare) are at home! Thankfully eventers are always the nicest people and a complete stranger will often lend your her equipment with a laugh and knowing smile. Raised in Pony Club ways, my horse trailer is stocked with extras of many items and I’m always happy to help out a distressed neighbor…we’ve all been there!
What have you had to borrow at events, EN?
Farrier Steve Arnold, event horse Let's Dance, rider Jeanette Brakewell, and owner Ruth Williams.. Steve holds the rosette and plaque for Let's Dance's selection as the Best Shod Horse at Burghley.(Photo via The Hoof Blog, provided by Steve Arnold.)
Fran Jurga of The Hoof Blog has written a fantastic article about the Best Shod Horse at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials this year. While most CCIs have special awards for Best Dressed (rider) and Best Turned Out (horse), some events like Burghley traditionally have an extra prize for the farrier of the Best Shod horse. This year, the award was not listed in the program, nor was it announced, and there was some confusion as to whether it was actually judged and presented. Thanks to Fran’s research, it was indeed. Fran caught up with Andrew Casserly who served as the hoof judge at Burghley, and tracked down the ultimate winner to talk about it.
This year’s recipient of the Best Shod award was Let’s Dance, ridden by Jeanette Brakewell and shod by Steve Arnold. The mare’s shoes were handmade by Steve, perfectly fitted with special attention placed to the nail holes and stud holes.
Wouldn’t it be neat if we had some recognition for our best farriers at three-days in the USA? There are definitely some hoof care professionals who deserve to have their work rewarded…and perhaps some others who could be encouraged to step up their game a little bit.
Read more at The Hoof Blog and check out the full article, with quotes from the judge’s perspective and how Steve crafted the winning shoes. Consider showing it to your farrier, as well!
Mary Buffum kindly sent us some thoughts from Mikki Kuchta and her working student Janelle Phaneuf from King Oak Horse Trials. [Results] Many thanks to Mary, Mikki, and Janelle for writing! Joan Davis of FlatlandsFoto.com was the event photographer and generously sent us a few win shots. Thanks to Joan as always for the lovely photos, please visit her site www.flatlandsfoto.com. If you have an event report to share, send it to [email protected].
Mikki Kuchta and Vertical Limit were winners of the Open Training A division. Copyright Flatlandsfoto.com.
From Mary:
Great courses, great footing and a well organized event, paired with beautiful early autumn weather made for a picture perfect weekend of competition at King Oak Farm’s Fall Horse Trials, September 7-8, 2013. Three hundred horse riders competed from beginner novice through preliminary. Below are two accounts of the event from Mikki Kuchta, owner and trainer at Aiken Bach Farm in Patterson, New York and her working student Janelle Phaneuf. King Oak Farm thanks them very much for sharing their thoughts.
“It was very exciting to come home with three wins from King Oak Farm Fall Horse Trials this weekend,” Mikki Kuchta said. Mikki won Open Training A on Renee Fancher’s horse Vertical Limit, Open Novice E on her own ABF Special Agent and her working student Janelle Phaneuf won Open Preliminary C on her own Irish Ike. “On Saturday, I was fairly pleased with Vertical Limit’s (Bing) Dressage test, although he was a bit tense in parts, he scored well enough to lead the division [35.00]. He did a flawless job show jumping and then continued on to perform a beautiful cross country course clear, only adding 0.8 time penalties,” said Mikki.
Sunday was another gorgeous clear day and Janelle Phaneuf, Mikki’s working student, also took the lead right from the start scoring a 31.30 in Dressage at the Preliminary level. Mikki commented that the show jump course was well-designed requiring a forward ride through turns and short approaches. Janelle and Irish Ike had a lovely clear round. Mikki went on to say that “this year King Oak enlarged the show jump warm up area. It was an excellent improvement allowing for more warm up fences and more space to keep a good canter.
“Tremaine Cooper’s Preliminary cross country course had some challenging combinations, especially the big stone table at fence 6 with a bending line to offset houses 2 strides apart (fences 7 and 8). If you went the direct route, you had to ride very accurately to get the line just right. There was an option to jump one house and then circle without penalty and jump the second house, as they were numbered separately. Janelle planned to take the direct route and rode it well. The water and coffin combinations also required accurate turning to be rewarded with a smooth clear go. Everything rode very well for the winning pair,” Mikki said.
“King Oak holds many memories for me,” Janelle said, “as I’m sure it does for so many eventers in Area 1. It was my first USEA horse trial on my first pony, as well as, my first event on my horse Irish Ike. Back then he was a bit of an underdog competing at Beginner Novice, but this weekend he proved that he’s quite the force to be reckoned with as he won Open Preliminary C from start to finish. Adding to that excitement, my trainer, Mikki Kuchta, also lead both of her divisions from start to finish. It was a spectacular weekend for the Aiken Bach Farm Event Team! Thank you to the organizers, farm owners and volunteers who make all of this possible!”
Also on Sunday, Mikki rode ABF Special Agent in Open Novice E. ABF Special Agent, a four-year-old OTTB, is half-owned by Robert Scheuer. Known around the barn as “Salsa”, he has performed very well at two young event horse competitions and Mikki has plans to go to the YEH Championships in October. Salsa has also been the best placed TIP (Thoroughbred Incentive Program) horse twice this summer.
“His Dressage test was very light and consistent and scored a 28.0,” Mikki said. “Show jumping has been his weak area, but with grids it has improved and he jumped a lovely clear round. The Novice cross country caused some problems for riders; especially at fence 5, a significant ditch followed 3 strides later by a raised rail jump. It was early on the course and the track ran through the woods over a hill. I think it was difficult to get a good rhythm by then, so the combination proved to be problematic for some. However, this was the best cross country round Salsa has ever had. He really made it feel easy. He is a four year old and very green so we have brought him along slowly, as he was still growing until recently. He really seems to enjoy eventing and we look forward to watching him develop.”
“King Oak is a great event that I have been competing at for 20 years and I bring students here to both of their annual events. The facility is beautiful; Fran And Tom Cross do a great job every year to provide Area 1 with this quality horse trial. The organization at King Oak is exemplary with all phases running on time all weekend with fabulous, friendly and funny volunteers throughout.”
Photo by Samantha Clark
Samantha will be along with a full report shortly, but we have to give a huge shout out to Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen who put in a stellar test to take the lead in dressage at Blenheim. Clark and Glen scored a 42.7 and lead ahead of France’s Jean Teulere and Matelot Du Grand Val. EN guest blogger Charlotte Agnew is third with Out of Africa Two. Mark it down for EN karma! Canadian Jessica Phoenix sits in sixth with Pavarotti, just ahead of Phillip Dutton and Ben. Way to go North America!
Endurance at the 2010 WEGs
According to The Racing Post, 124 unnamed, unauthorized medications have been confiscated from Sheikh Mohammed’s Dalham Hall Stud operation in Newmarket, England. The Moorley Farm East segment of the estate, where the drugs were found, houses the Maktoum family’s endurance horses.
From The Racing Post:
The latest seizure notice, issued under regulation 41 of Veterinary Medicines Regulations and posted on the VMD website, said: “Moorley Farm East, Newmarket. 124 veterinary medicinal products were seized because they were not authorised in the UK and had not been imported into the UK in accordance with the regulations. These medicines, in varying quantities, were to be used on horses and included injectables, anaesthetics, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics.”
Asked about the latest controversy to embroil Sheikh Mohammed’s equine empire, Dalham Hall Stud director Liam O’Rourke, said on Tuesday: “There’s no connection with the thoroughbred operation.”
Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing Stable was in hot water earlier this year when several of his Thoroughbreds were found to contain traces of anabolic steroids, which are prohibited in British racing and training. Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni was subsequently banned from the sport for eight years, though Sheik Mohammed himself seemed unaware of the illegal steroid use.
Back in 2009, the FEI banned Sheikh Mohammed for six months after his horse turned up two positive drug tests at Endurance events. I know Sheikh Mo has a lot of horses in his operation, too many to personally keep up with, and he definitely wants to win. But you’d think he’d be all over his staff about this medications thing by now … or, does it not matter when your wife is president of the FEI and you are possibly the single most influential player in the Thoroughbred business? At the very least it has to be embarrassing.
The Bloodhorse.com recently published an article on Real Estate, a 2004 dark bay stallion (High Yield – Sassy Pants) who returned to the track in 2013 after a few years spent in the breeding shed. Racing for his owner/breeder Peter Blum, Real Estate won the James B. Moseley Sprint Handicap back in 2008. Trained by Allen Jerkens, Real Estate made his return to racing this year with mediocre results– he’s been off the board at Saratoga, but he did win $18,000 in a claiming race at Belmont earlier this summer.
On August 29, Real Estate’s first starter made his debut. A two-year-old colt, Sharp Razor (Real Estate – Trellis) won a maiden special weight at Charles Town by two and a half lengths. It’s rather rare for a sire and his son to run in the same era; usually a young stallion is shuttled off to stud, and only brought out of the breeding shed if he suffers fertility problems (thus, no progeny to compete against). There probably wasn’t a huge demand for Real Estate in the breeding market, thus his return to the track…but it’s still neat to notice that father and son are both running in the same year.
