We’re thrilled to welcome Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch back as an Eventing Nation guest blogger. Stephanie and her incredible partner Port Authority are well known on EN for their incredible 2010 season, during which they helped Canada win team silver at the World Equestrian Games and placed ninth individually, as well as garnered a fifth-place finish at Rolex. Ollie has been recovering from an injury, and is just starting back this season.  Be sure to like Steph on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.  Click here to read her first installment this year: Poised For A Comeback.

From Stephanie:

So most of us horse people are aware that horses are accident prone. We are also familiar with the terrible timing that our equine partners have for their mischief and clumsiness. There is a fairly common (although cynical) belief that its the horses who are the most attentively-cared for who manage the most impressive stunts with the most problematic timing.

I can attest to this after dealing with Port Authority’s lead up to Surefire Farm HT last weekend.

If any of you have read my previous EN entries, or if you follow me at srbequestriansports.wordpress.com you will know that Ollie has been rehabbing from an injury since September of 2011. During this time period, I had little to no incidents with him. He was turned out with no boots on, from 7-3 with inconsistent supervision (he’s very good about eating grass when it’s available and isn’t one to throw tantrums when he wants in). No lost shoes, no bumps and bruises, and all of his blood stayed on the inside where it belongs!

About a month ago, we got the all clear from Dr Ober to enter Surefire to kick off our season. He has been in full work including jumping since January. Pretty much right after we made the plan to enter, I arrived to the barn one morning to find a hot, squishy swelling on the inside of THE leg. It looked nothing like the swelling he had when he was injured, and he was sound…but it’s hard to rationalize that at times! Into the trailer we went for a road trip to see Dr Copenhagen, who has seen Ollie lots over the past year or so with Dr Ober. It was determined pretty easily that he was sound and the swelling was superficial…he must have interfered and whacked himself, which is impressive because he had just begun being turned out in boots again. (Therein is the basis for the theory that its the carefully managed ones that mess with us the most!!) Thankfully, the swelling came down quickly and life resumed as normal.

The first cross country school, although it was a full body and mind workout unlike any I have had in a while, produced no incidents. Several days later, Ollie came in from the field in need of some assistance. Most horses pull shoes at times, grabbing a heel of a front shoe with a hind toe and pulling… I would have preferred that! Ollie somehow grabbed the plastic pad under his shoe, and managed to partially displace it. My efforts to squish the pad back into place were completely unsuccessful and in the end farm manager Dave cut the pad out with some garden pruners. The farrier came later in the day to repair it and on went the bell boots.

The second cross country school was much more civilized, although was two days later than planned because of the pulled-pad debacle followed by torrential rain. Day after the school, two days before Surefire…guess who has angry, irritated, swollen legs from boot rubs???!  This guy…

Now I feel like this story is a bit of a saga. It goes on and on. It definitely felt like drawn out, dramatic, and no fun at all!! Two days of sweating, fleece-lined booting, and general micromanagement later, we were packed and braided for the trip to Surefire.

6 am on Saturday, day of show… I can’t for the LIFE of me get the %*€~%* desitin/furazone mix off of his legs! After soaping and washing with a strong detergent, I still have a goopy layer of diaper rash ointment that won’t budge off his fetlocks or his face… After a quick text back and forth with my friend Lisa Barry, who assured me she had a remedy and would meet me at the show, I went to load up.

Now, 9+ years ago when my parents bought Ollie, they also bought a horse trailer that was bigger as better for his highness. He has had this trailer for YEARS!! But because he was braided (??) he apparently got excited and scrambled around while loading, ultimately bashing his upper hind leg and creating a delightfully large wound. At this point, I will admit that I gave up on competing that day. The wound wasn’t deep or really bleeding at all, but still. What more of a sign did I want?! After assessing the damage, and figuring that my trip to Purcellville would be about the same amount of time as waiting on a vet, I slapped some SSD cream on the wound and, after texting the faithful Dr Copenhagen to inform her of the situation, drove away.

Once I arrived at the show, things definitely started to take a turn for the better. Lisa showed up with her Dawn dish detergent, and after persistent scrubbing managed to make Ollie’s extra white markings disappear. The ever friendly and helpful Laine Ashker let us borrow some AluShield to seal up the scrape on Ollie’s leg, and Dr Copenhagen examined the boot rubs and the wound on his leg and told me to put my saddle on for dressage! Whew…

Wait? Crap… Now we have just enough time to get dressed and hack to the dressage! Luckily that wasn’t too much of a scramble. I definitely used our dressage test as a permission slip to jump that day. Not having had much left in the way of emotional energy, he was actually very relaxed and happy! I should see if I can find a way to be that casual while also asking for more than just the bare minimum of engagement….

The jumping phases were as I had hoped, really fun and a little bit exciting. I was hoping that he would just chew the jumps up and spit them out and he certainly did. He was respectful of the combinations and the turning exercises, but was the definition of bold and into it on cross country! I was so thrilled with the opportunity to have him out doing what he does best.

I definitely prefer to not need my veterinarian to give me the go ahead for competition, but I do appreciate the dedication of vets like Dr Ober and Dr Copenhagen who have taught me how important it is to stay on top of every little detail. Thank you for coming out to reassure me!

I’m hoping that now every thing is a little more tame in the lead up to MDHT 2 and his Intermediate run. I know things happen and we have to be able to deal on the fly, but come on man… That was enough.

Stay tuned to SRBequestriansports.wordpress.com for more updates on Ollie and the rest of the crew as we get closer to the next competition.

Stephanie

We’ve posted miniature horse jumping before.  But have you seen it on a grass tennis court?  Little “Crunch” is 80cm (31.5″) tall, and can jump up to 1.1m (that’s 3’6″).  Think about that next time you walk your show jumping course!

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From Lauren:

There is a degree of animosity present in every discipline that is directed at the gadgetry of all other disciplines.  Don’t shake your head, you know it’s true!  Eventer’s far and wide roll their eyes and covers their mouths when asked by some neophyte about the efficacy of standing martingales or the implements used to produce rollkur.  All the while, these same riders are probably heading out to the XC course bitted up to the nines with the likes of Mikmar combination bits that look better suited for a Saw movie than a horse’s sensitive mouth.  The racing industry, with its reputation for appalling PETA at every turn, seems to catch the brunt of a lot of disdain as well for using cruel, harmful, and abusive methods to produce speed from anything on four legs (and two in some cases…Google Ostrich and Jockey races for a good laugh!).  In most racing barns across the country and world, however, quite the opposite is the case.  Allow me to provide you, dearest EN readers, with a virtual tour of a racing barn tack room.

The shedrow is quiet in the Monday midafternoon heat as you walk into a 12′ x 12′ room at the end of the barn probably denoted by a number or letter (there are usually four at each end of each barn on a backside for a total of eight).  A groom and his flavor of the week are holed up in the room to the right, housed for free by their employing trainer and paying no mind to the thin walls separating the adjoining rooms. To the left, the feed room is wall-to-wall shelves of supplements, electrolytes, buckets, garbage cans full of feed, and bags of feed yet to be opened.  Through the door, you gaze around at the saddles, pads, bridles, yokes, rings, nosebands, blinkers, laundry, and tack trunks that number enough to outfit the 75^th Calvary unit during the Civil War.  On the left, a long table is butted up against the wall and ends at the cage surrounding the hot water heater.  A coffee machine and microwave are veritable giants’ among an array of filters, used cups, stir sticks, and sugar packets.  Apparently, a Starbucks bomb was detonated there earlier in the day.  A lone donut with a bite out of it occupies an otherwise empty Krispy Kreme box, a sure sign that a horse in the shedrow won a race over the weekend.  Under the table, a half-consumed 18 pk of Natural Light looks as though a wolverine opened the cardboard box.  Chances are, a salary rider from this stable had a Polytrack sandwich for lunch and is paying for it.  If you fall off on the track (no excuses, ifs, ands, or buts), it is industry standard to supply the barn with beer pronto or you will hear about your faceplant/lawndart/dirtbath forevvvvvvvver (but quickly produce the alcoholic goods and it will never be mentioned again).  Dragging your gaze from the donut or beer calling your name, you begin to inspect the tack piece by piece.

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All of the exercise saddles are tiny, well-loved, and pretty much identical though some are emblazoned with the initials and colors of the trainer on the flaps and others are just plain black or brown leather.  There is one saddle half the size of all of the rest (a “work” saddle, which is usually a racing saddle used only for breezing) and all of the saddles are topped with stacks of 2” thick foam pads, ½” thick wool pads, and piles of basic English girths.  Piled in an orderly regiment on top of the tack trunk next to the corner full of saddles and pads, the saddle towels and girth covers form color-coordinated ranks of fleece and cotton and are flanked by a stack of polyester and plastic “burn pads” that are used to prevent rubs from the girth and the rider’s feet.  Saddles, pads, girths….all of these are fairly standard issue in any barn.  Your eyes then shift upwards to brigade of headgear.

A single nail holds a mass of blinkers with cups ranging from tiny, ¼” ‘cheaters’ used to acclimate horses to the idea of a hood and limited vision, to full cup and even extended cup blinkers.  One set of blinkers even has a “bubble”  over one eye (often used to protect horses that have lost an eye).  Blinkers, while seemingly a bit cruel to some, are most often used simply to encourage a horse to focus and are sometimes used to discourage horses from ‘lugging’ out towards the outside ride or in towards the infield (after all, horses aren’t typically all that keen on heading in a direction that they can’t see).  The bridles are all primarily simple leather headstalls.  There are a couple of nylon headstalls and a couple of bridles with fancy browbands in stable colors.  One bridle (the racing bridle used on big race days) on the end is figure-eighted and has a noseband and browband padded in stable colors.  The bits are all primarily narrow D bits, with a fat eggbutt or two thrown in, one full cheek, one or two ring bits, and a three-ring ‘elevator’ rounding out the mix.  Another single nail holds long loops of leather with a buckle on one side and a long strip of leather with a loop on the end attached.  Known as ‘martingales’ in most disciplines, these are what racing folk call a ‘yoke.’  On the next nail, leather triangles hang with two brass or metal rings on the top and a snap on the bottom.  These function as basic ‘running’ attachments (to form a complete running martingale) but are known as ‘rings’ around the backside or ‘training forks’ to the old schoolers.  Last but not least, nosebands hang on the final two nails.  One nail holds plain leather cavessons while the other holds an assortment of drop, figure-eight, and rubber figure-eight nosebands with an overcheck (that thing Bad Boy Billy used to run in for Ralph Hill) thrown in for some flavor.

As you scan the remaining assortment of gear, nothing seems all that unconventional really.  A basket full of polo wraps here, some rolls of vet wrap, some ace bandages, and some bell boots there.  While it would surprise most English riders, the average racing tack room is really not all that different from their own tack rooms at homes.  Any questions?  Feel free to email them to me at [email protected] and get me those conformation pictures for next week’s return of the OTTB conformation clinic!  Go Eventing and go gallop a former racehorse!

Paynter finished second to Union Rags in the 2012 Belmont Stakes.  Photo by Mike Lizzi, via Wikipedia.

Last summer, 2012 Belmont Stakes runner-up Paynter nearly died from a serious bout of coliits and resulting laminitis.  After winning the Haskell Stakes at Monmouth, the Awesome Again colt came down with a fever and ended up spending weeks in an equine hospital receiving intensive care, including colic surgery and laminitis treatment.  Owner Ahmed Zayat was dedicated to saving the horse’s life, and Paynter’s story touched thousands of racing fans, earning the Vox Populi Award founded by Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery.

Six months ago, Paynter returned to the track to start training again.  Today, he is entered in his first race back, a $62,000 allowance at Hollywood Park.  Post time is 4:15pm PT (7:15 ET).

Read more about Paynter’s story from The New York Times.

Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda at the Fork Horse Trials.

With just under 20 riders left to go, the three of the four US riders at Luhmühlen have already finished their dressage.  Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda had a great test, scoring 48.7, currently tied for 8th place, and she’ll likely stay in the top 20 by the end of the day.  Jolie Wentworth and Good Knight scored a 55.5, currently 15th.  Marilyn Little and Demeter just finished their test after the lunch break, good enough to score 53.5 and sit ahead of Jolie in 14th.  The final US rider, Jules Stiller and Enjoy Me will start their test at 9:05am ET.

Many more great horses are left to come (Rutherglen, Bullet Proof, Tabasco TSF, Lionheart and Mr Cruise Control) so I expect the top 15 to change a bit by the end of the day.

Last year’s runner-up, Lucinda Fredericks and Flying Finish currently hold a comfortable lead with a 36.7.  Kai Ruder and LePrince des Bois (40.8)  is second at the moment, followed by Kenki Sato and Chippieh on 41.5.

[Live Scores]

***UPDATE  9:25am***

Jules Stiller and Enjoy Me scored a 52.2 to stand 21st, right ahead of Marilyn (22nd) and Jolie (23rd).  Jennie Brannigan sits tied for 13th, with ten horses left to go.  Zara Phillips and High Kingdom had a superb test to jump into second place with a score of 39.7.  Several other horses have also moved into the top 15.

UPDATED LEADERBOARD  9:25am

RANK		RIDER		HORSE	DRESSAGE		RANK AFTER DRESSAGE
					POINTS	PERCENTAGE	SCORE	RANK
1.		Lucinda FREDERICKS		Flying Finish	680	75,56	36,70	1.
2.		Zara PHILLIPS		High Kingdom	662	73,56	39,70	2.
3.		Kai RÜDER		Leprince des Bois	655	72,78	40,80	3.
4.		Kenki SATO		Chippieh	651	72,33	41,50	4.
5.		Andrew HOY		Rutherglen	622	69,11	46,30	5.
6.		Kevin MCNAB		Clifton Pinot	¹    615	68,33	47,50	6.
7.		Nicola WILSON		Opposition Buzz	615	68,33	47,50	7.
8.		Jonathan PAGET		Bullet Proof	614	68,22	47,70	8.
9.		William FOX-PITT		Neuf des Coeurs	614	68,22	47,70	9.
10.		Andrew NICHOLSON		Rathmoyle King	612	68,00	48,00	10.
11.		Andreas DIBOWSKI		FRH Butts Avedon	610	67,78	48,30	11.
12.		Ludwig SVENNERSTÅL		King Bob	609	67,67	48,50	12.
13.		Emily LLEWELLYN		Pardon Me II	608	67,56	48,70	13.
14.		Jennie BRANNIGAN		Cambalda	608	67,56	48,70	14.
15.		Andrew NICHOLSON		Qwanza	602	66,89	49,70	15.

Leslie Wylie’s “Bad Jumping Clinic with George Morris” continues to receive unparalleled responses of approval.  The new column on Horse Nation is the most amazing thing any of us have ever come up with, and we will all now bow to Leslie for her amazing skills.   Be sure to check Horse Nation on Tuesdays for the next one!    (Please note that this is not actually written by George Morris…seriously.)

Previous Installments:

5/14/13  Bad Jumping Clinic With George Morris: I’m getting too old for this crap.

5/21/13  Bad Jumping Clinic With George Morris: What is wrong with you people.

5/29/13  Bad Jumping Clinic With George Morris: If I have an aneurysm, it’s YOUR fault.

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Bad Jumping Clinic with George Morris

by Leslie Wylie

Photo by Jackie Imholte

The eyes of the eventing world fall upon Germany this week, as the year’s third CCI4* is contested at Luhmuhlen.  While Jenni and Samantha stay home for the weekend, the chinchillas are out enjoying bratwurst and Heineken and we have a nifty network of guest bloggers in place to bring you all the live action.  Fifty-one horses and riders are entered in the CCI4*, and another 47 in the CIC3*.  It’s shaping up to be a very competitive field, so let’s discuss some of the entries.

The US is represented by Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda; Marilyn Little and RF Demeter, with RF Black Pearl in CIC3*;  Julian Stiller and Enjoy Me;  and Jolie Wentworth and Good Knight.  Jennie and Cambalda look to make their second appearance at a CCI4* — they competed at Luhmuhlen in 2011 — after their mishap before dressage at Rolex this year.  Marilyn and Demeter also hope to move on from an unlucky fall at Rolex, when Demeter banked a table and Marilyn took a tumble.  Jolie Wentworth had a go at Rolex last year with Good Knight; she was awarded the Broussard International Grant, and decided to use it for Luhmuhlen this weekend.  Enjoy Me has had an inconsistent cross-country record, so it’s hard to predict how his weekend will go with Jules Stiller.  Stay tuned here on EN for more blogs from Kate Miller, groom for Good Knight, and Jackie Imholte, Cambalda’s groom.

2012 winner Michael Jung is noticeably absent from the CCI4*, as both his best horses (Sam and Leopin) were at Badminton earlier this year.  While the rest of the world would like to breathe a sigh of relief, save your breath because Big Willie and the Silver Fox are out for another four-star showdown.  William Fox-Pitt brings two of his ever-experienced four-star horses: Neuf de Coeurs and Lion Heart, while Andrew Nicholson has Qwanza, Mr. Cruise Control, and Rathmoyle King.

Germans Bettina Hoy and Lanfranco TSF, Andreas Dibowski and FRH Butts Avedon, and Ingrid Klimke and Tabasco TSF will all be defending their home turf with experienced horses.  I’m not saying it will be a dressage show, but you’d better bring your A-game in the first phase.

A few competitors from last year are back at it again: Andrew Hoy is entered with the stunning Rutherglen, 6th in 2012, and  Lucinda Fredericks with Flying Finish did even better, finishing second in 2012.  British favorites Zara Phillips and High Kingdom, and Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz round out some big names at Luhmuhlen this year.

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[Entry List]

[Cross-Country Course Map]

[Course Preview]

[Official Site]

Follow on Twitter: @luhmuehlen2013

[Live Stream] (for cross country and show jumping)

Provisional Schedule

Wednesday  5:00pm local time / 11:00am ET  :  First Horse Inspection CCI4*

Thursday  9:30am – 5:55pm local / 3:30am-11:55am ET  :  CIC3* Dressage

Friday  8:30am – 5:55pm local / 2:30am – 11:55am ET  :  CCI4* Dressage

Saturday 9:00am – 11:25am local / 3:00am – 5:25am ET :  CIC3* Cross-Country

                   12:45pm – 4:45pm local / 6:45am – 12:45pm ET :  CCI4* Cross-Country

Sunday  8:45am local / 2:45am ET  :  Horse Inspection  CIC3* followed by CCI4*

                 10:30am – 12:15pm local / 4:30am – 6:15am ET  :  CIC3* Show Jumping

                 1:45pm – 3:30pm local / 7:45am – 9:30am ET  :  CCI4* Show Jumping

The weather forecast looks like high-60s to low 70s, with 70% chance of rain Thursday, 20% chance of rain Friday, and clear for the jumping on Saturday and Sunday.  Go Luhmuhlen!

Note: Lauren originally wrote this before Rolex, but due to overwhelming event coverage since then, this article got pushed back a bit.  Thanks as always to Lauren Nethery for sharing her tales from the track and OTTB pursuits!

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Freeport Bay, aka Porter.

From Lauren:

It is often said, especially in the southern half of these United States, that there is ‘more than one way to skin a cat.’  After some extensive googling, it seems that not only are there not many similar saying that convey the same meaning but that the origins of the phrase have more to do with a gymnastics trick than with the act of rendering some poor kitty pelt-less.  Bearing these things in mind, I think it appropriate that, here in our vast Nation of Eventers, we coin replace this atrociously visual phrase with the more pleasing “There’s more than one way to capture an OTTB.”  What ways?  Capture?  Huh?

Well, you see, here in Kentucky we don’t always do things by the book and during a recent jaunt to a racetrack (Beulah) in the neighboring state of OOOOO-HIIIII-OOOOO, the Alison Wilaby and Lauren Nethery Dynamic Duo descended upon the unsuspecting Beulah trainer population, intent on acquiring yet ANOTHER OTTB for Ali’s ever-growing collection.  There was laughing, there was a little bit of light-hearted crying, and we came home with a brand-spanking-new OTTB named Freeport Bay (Race Record Here.  Pedigree Here.) Enjoy this cautionary tale of OTTB obsession, EN readers, and don’t ever ask me to go OTTB shopping with you if you aren’t reallllly sold on buying one.  Because you will.  Every time.

Beulah, located in the quaint little village of Grove City, is give or take 3 hours North of Lexington.  If you’re running way late and trying to make a horse race, it’s really only two and a half.  On a balmy Wednesday, I blazed the highways towards the track for the second time in a month.  Just three weeks before, one of my racehorses had won her first race (racetrack lingo: broke her maiden) in the mud (rt lingo: slop) by 8 and a ¼ length and we were back out for easy money.  In a moment of weakness, Ali had taken a day off work to accompany and shop for another horse (didn’t she just acquire one?  Yes! But two is almost always better than one!) and I was happy to enable her, gorge myself on the box of Applejack’s she brought, and laugh about boys (human and horse alike).

We arrived at Beulah on a wing and a prayer, not really sure how many horses we were actually going to be able to look at because it seems that between cell phone cover, language barriers, and a middle-of-the-week afternoon race, there weren’t all that many people around just dying to throw horses on our trailer.  Shocking really.  We are normally inundated with prospects but, ever the optimists, we did not let this dampen our spirits!  The first order of business, however, was running my filly.  We squared that away in short order with a disappointing 5^th place after she cavorted around the paddock like an orangutan on a murderous rampage, basically a loose horse, and didn’t slow down or speed up once leaving the gate (racetrack lingo: ran even without any closing kick) and returned to my truck to head to the barns (rt lingo: backside) in search of Ali’s next big star and a brother for Myles.

Here, it is worth mentioning for comic value that a well-meaning, adorable, dedicated love interest came to the races without my knowledge and left a note on my truck announcing his presence while wishing me better luck next time.  Here I was thinking that I was getting in trouble AGAIN for parking my truck and trailer in an illegal location when, in fact, a guy whose heart I had won was just trying to be supportive without interfering (when I had mentioned I was running close to his hometown he had offered to come but I had respectfully declined due to the many obligations that race day for a trainer and OTTB shopping entail.  His plan B was to be supportive anyway in an unobtrusive manner as described above).

Upon retrieving the note beneath my wiper, which said something to the effect of “tough race (insert pet name here), you’ll get ‘em next time, catch up with you later – you know who,” and reading it aloud to Ali, she might have been just a little freaked out that we were being watched without our knowledge and might have had some choice words that suggested a restraining order be acquired.  However, after talking things over with the one and only, ever-sensible, best-guy-ever John Thier, she was placated and I was really just bemused throughout the whole thing so we moved on to horse shopping while I grinned a little bit when she wasn’t looking.

We looked at a few horses that really just didn’t suit us and, one by one, the races came and went.  By the time the last two races of the day (rt lingo: on the card) came around, we (Ali) were (was) getting a little desperate.  Standing by my filly’s stall while she stuffed her face with straw in preparation for the jaunt home, a lovely stamp of a horse sauntered by getting ready for the last race and, in a comical turn of events, we went into full out stalker mode.  Long story short, we started asking questions, watched the horse run, asked the trainer to jog him for us after he cooled out from his race and decided then and there that he simply must come home with us.  He floated across the ground like there were little cherubs on the bulbs of his heels, he had the kindest eye we had seen in a weeks, and was GIANT without being a big oaf.

Apparently, somewhere between the interrogation of the trainer and the jogging, our wires criss-crossed every which way and when we said we would take him, she looked as us as though we had three heads.  She all but said “Hell to the no I’m not putting my horse on some stranger’s trailer!  You people aren’t even offering me cash in hand!” However, we are two of the most persuasive people in the tri-state area and, after convincing her there are goal was not to horsenap her beautiful beast and gallivant off into the wild blue yonder never to be seen or heard from again, she reluctantly handed over the shank and we took him home with us that very evening.

Since then, he has vetted well, actually been paid for, and have been enjoying keeping his little brother Myles on his toes (and their pet mini horse Rocket).  So, dearest EN readers, the moral of the story is this: There is more than one way to capture an OTTB!  Go EVENTING, and don’t forget to send me more OTTB conformation pictures for the upcoming feature of YOUR horses!

Lower-Level Event Rider Profile

Jamie and Nike, photo by Beth Stelzleni

Name: Jamie

Age: 21

Location: Athens, GA

Primary horse’s name, age, breed, pertinent info: His Highness (Nike) , 20 years old, Dutch Warmblood

Level currently competing: Novice

Short term goals this spring/summer:  No more stops at half-coffins on cross-country—none!

Year-end goals: Compete in the AECs at the Novice level in Texas!

Overall goals?: To continue having the time of my life riding and competing with my best friend. I love when people tell me Nike looks like he is still 8 years old. My main goal is for Nike to continue to be healthy and enjoy showing off for as long as we continue to compete. We’ll slow down only when he decides he wants to.

What’s the best thing you’ve learned recently?  Less IS more. The more relaxed I am during dressage, the better Nike goes. When jumping, if I focus on myself and my position, then Nike just seems to flow to the fences underneath me.

Favorite eventing moment/story?  The first time I enjoyed the gallop. I rode in the hunter-jumper circuit for many years, and had become used to having complete control within the arena at all times. The idea of letting my horse go full speed in an open area seemed insane! Nike and I were running cross-country at Chattahoochee Hills at the beginner novice level when I finally just grabbed some mane and let go in the galloping stretches. We ended up coming in way under time, and despite dropping a couple places as a result, I couldn’t stop smiling.

Photo by Holly Breaux

Photo by Holly Breaux

William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning win Bramham CCI3* for the second year in a row. Photo by Samantha Clark.

William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning had a rail in hand going into show jumping, but they didn’t need it.  The pair finished on their dressage score of 43.6 to win Bramham CCI3* for the second year in a row.  Mark Todd and Leonidas II also jumped clear to take second place.  Out of the 33 finishers there were only 7 clean rounds.

Former US horse Running Order, now ridden by William Fox-Pitt, had 16 jumping penalties and ended up 24th.

[Full Results]

No	Horse		Rider	Dres	XC Time	XC Jmp	2nd Day	S.J.	Total	Pl
60	CHILLI MORNING		William Fox-Pitt	43.6 2	–	–	43.6 1	–	43.6	1
62	LEONIDAS II		Mark Todd	48.8 5	–	–	48.8 2	–	48.8	2
15	OPI DE SAINT LEO		Didier Dhennin	53.2 14	–	–	53.2 5	4	57.2	3
6	CALADOR		Paul Sims	57.8 27	–	–	57.8 11	–	57.8	4
54	ANNIE CLOVER		Nicola Wilson	52.6 12	1.2	–	53.8 7	4	57.8	5
16	THE HIGHLAND PRINCE		Michael Owen	60.4 32	–	–	60.4 13	–	60.4	6
26	LETS DANCE		Jeanette Brakewell	55.6 22	0.8	–	56.4 10	4	60.4	7
9	BELTANE QUEEN		Nicola Wilson	59.2 30	–	–	59.2 12	2	61.2	8
39	ZEUS OF RUSHALL		Lucie McNichol	53.0 13	0.8	–	53.8 6	8	61.8	9
18	SECULAIRE		Donatien Schauly	51.8 10	2.0	–	53.8 8	8	61.8	10

Palace Malice, shown here in the Kentucky Derby, won the 2013 Belmont Stakes. Photo by Wendy Wooley, used with permission,.

Blinkers off turned out to be a winning decision as Palace Malice led the field across the wire in the 2013 Belmont Stakes.  Oxbow finished second, just ahead of favorite Orb.  Jockey Mike Smith had a super trip on Palace Malice, near the lead for most of the race, and the bay son of Curlin finally lived up to expectations.  The final quarter was fairly slow; Orb had every chance to make up ground, but just couldn’t get there.  The filly, Unlimited Budget, finished sixth.