Thanks to Frankie Theriot and the USEA for a fantastic CCI3* course preview with course designer Ian Stark.

www.useventing.com

Area V held its 2012 Championships at Holly Hill Farm in Benton, Louisiana this past weekend.  True to its northern Louisiana roots, Holly Hill is known for hospitality and the excellent food served on Friday evening by the Rockin WH Ranch & Hay Co.  Holly Hill won my heart from the moment I opened the program book and found the dressage tests for each division printed next to the course map.  Follow up with delicious tortilla soup served in the pavilion, along with challenging but fair courses enhanced by some new construction, and Holly Hill earns its reputation as a competitor-friendly event.

Owners and organizers Bobby and Tracy Hewlett selected this farm many years ago for its sandy soil, gentle hills and lush meadows.  With their hard work it has gradually evolved into one of Area V’s best-attended event fixtures, with over 250 entries for this event.  Both Championship and regular divisions were offered.

The David O’Connor-designed courses asked for forward riding and technical skills at every level.   The Intermediate, Preliminary and Training courses were built largely up to height, and often width as well.  Big solid spread obstacles were found in the gallops.  For all the levels, solid bank complexes, technical water jumps, wooded trails, open grassy meadows and much more offered some of everything, spaced among long gallops.

Each course had something that added an extra twist.  Intermediate and Preliminary found a rollback-turn navigating between two huge logs on either side of a large oak tree.  Novice had a max. rolltop, to a down-bank, to a feeder, well-spaced for a forward ride.  Beginner Novice included a terrain path through the woods with a shady cabin jump, and two water crossings.

Training Level riders in particular had a combination on the course that was discussed obsessively by those committed to ride it – perhaps even dreamed about – before cross-country.  One experienced trainer called it “prelim-ish.”  An invigorating gallop across the hilltop meadow to #10, a big-ish table, then five strides into the shade to #11-A angled log, with two forward strides to the #11-B log.  The riders who rated the exuberantly galloping steed to get to the table on a good stride, but not a flyer, found the logs jumped easily, angle and all.  Those who came in overly strong to the table found the #11A-B combination rather sticky, but jump-able, with perhaps a few spare horse-legs flying here and there.  The forgiving nature of the combination saved most hinky pairs from any penalty points.  It was more the spectator-entertainment factor, along with rider nerves.

The Intermediate Championship was won by Emma Fisher of Mounds, OK and long-time partner Carlingford’s Forever, with clean jumping and only 4.8 time faults, finishing with 40.4.  Emma and Forever have represented Area V atn the last two Area V NAJYR Championship 2*’s, and have been jumping around Intermediate courses since 2009.  Another Area V 2012 NAJYR 2* representative grabbed reserve champion, Mary Frances Cargile and Take The Mick, of San Angelo, TX.  Mary Frances and Take The Mick rode their first recognized Intermediate last year at this Holly Hill event, winning it with clear jumping rounds.  The division’s small field of four were less than 2.8 points apart after dressage, so with everyone gathering time faults while jumping clean, the game was “fastest clear round wins.”

It was a different story for the Preliminary Championships once Lynne Partridge and El Cid of Bartonville, TX had put down a 25.2 dressage score, 8.3 points better than the next best dressage score posted by Kristy Limon and Excel.  However, 3.8 time faults on cross-country and a rail in stadium dropped Kristy and Excel to 7^th.  The final top 5 all jumped double-clear in both cross-country and show jumping with the exception of the one rail by El Cid.  Laura Szeremi and her chrome-y chestnut Argento, of Killeen, TX, posted the second-fastest cross-country round, coming up from their initial dressage 4^th place to finish as reserve champion on a 34.8 dressage.

Kristin Curreri and Hondo of Dallas, TX squeeked out the Training Championship by finishing on dressage 29.6, after leader Bonner Carpenter and Picture This (Dallas, TX) added just one rail to finish second on 30.4.  As does happen when the best compete in championships, the top seven finished less than a rail apart, double-clear throughout saving Picture This’ single rail.  If it saved Bonner’s disappointment at all, she also went home with a 6^th place and a double-clear / double-clear with All Inclusive.

The Novice Championship went to Heather Morris and Barnabus (owned by Cherye Huber) for finishing on a 24.5 dressage score.  Rebecca Brown and Belafonte D’Avalon (owned by Kathy St. Martin) finished as reserve, also on dressage with a 29.5, while Mike Huber and Salzburg (owned by Debra Dealcuaz) gathered a single show jumping time fault for a final 33.0 and third place.  The Novice championship division almost all went double-clear in the cross-country, but a show jumping course requiring a smart pace and precise turning skills thoroughly shook up a good bit of the dressage leaderboard.

The top 11 finishers in the Beginner Novice Championship thoroughly mastered all of the jumping, save for a total across the group of 3 time penalties in show jumping and 4 time penalties in cross-country.  It was Brigitte Wexler’s sterling 22.4 dressage score that earned her championship, comfortably in front of reserve champion Jacqueline Sterle and Ibn Sashali on their 27.2 dressage.  The top five finishers all finished on a dressage below 30.

What I learned at Holly Hill, photographing horses hurdling a single jump, then looking at the image just captured:  It did not matter if the horse approached fast, slow, bold, calm, look-y or psychotic; it did not matter the horse’s size, conformation or stride length.  What mattered is if the rider had set the stride properly from the beginning of the approach.  So long as the rider accomplished that task, the images of horses in flight over the jump were very similar, regardless of the theatrics coming to the take-off.   However if the stride were not right to the take-off, no matter how athletic the horse and rider, there was a much more entertaining variety in the positions of horse bodies, legs, heads, tails, etc.

Y’all come, sometime, to Holly Hill Farm in Benton, Louisiana and Go Eventing!

California is a busy state this weekend.  Galway Downs HT & Three Day Event started today; CCI2*/3* dressage begins tomorrow.  And down in Santa Anita, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships kick off Friday and Saturday.  Remember the last time the BC was in Santa Anita?  In 2009, the great mare Zenyatta came from behind to beat the boys in the Classic.

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Course designer John Williams and the Roebke’s Run crew have been busy upgrading the cross-country course for the FEI One Star rating.  Pat Schmidt kindly sent us a story on the event’s planned improvements and what to expect next year.  Go Roebke’s Run!

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This 100 ft. x 170 ft. pond at the north end of Roebke’s Run, complete with pirate ship jumps, will be added to the new Intermediate course and will be ready for the July horse trials. A new coffin ditch will be one of 32 efforts on the new Intermediate course.

Roebke’s Run gearing up for FEI One Star rating, approved for ‘Intermediate’ summer horse trials
By Pat Schmidt

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John Williams is a guy who knows his horses and who knows his courses.

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He competed as a team rider at the 2004 U.S. Olympics in Athens, the 2002 World Championships
as lead rider in their gold medal effort and was also a member of the 1991 PanAm team. He’s been
around, to say the least.

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For the past 30 years he has put all that “horse sense” and experience together to pursue what is
now his primary vocation of course design and evaluation. His work takes him to over 20 venues annually and he estimates he has designed over 2,000 courses at all levels. Most of these courses are
in the United States, but he has also worked in Columbia, Venezuela, Guatemala and five sites in
Mexico — the most notable being the 2011 PanAm Games Course in Guadalajara.

John Williams oversaw bulldozers hard at work digging a new water jump at Roebke’s Run inHector, MN. An improved Roebke’s Run under Williams direction, will be ready for Intermediate and FEI One Star riders next summer and fall. Williams is a nationally known designer ofequestrian and cross country courses.

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His reputation as a nationally recognized designer of cross-country courses across America, brought
him more recently to Roebke’s Run cross-country course in Hector, Minnesota Oct. 16. He was there
to design the course for a FEI One Star Event rating, which will be the final decision of a USEF committee. On October 17, Roebke’s Run was given approval to run Intermediate in July/Oct. 2013.

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The FEI One Star rating promotes young riders to compete on the course and ultimately compete in
the FEI North America Junior and Young Rider Championships. The Intermediate ranking will bring in
the more advanced riders.

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“Putting together a course is actually like putting together a puzzle,” said Williams. I have to come up
with a track that feels the way the riders want — forward, open and galloping, not tight and twisty.”
He explained that an event can include as many as five other courses being run on the same day
that intermingle with each other. At the most, maybe two jumps out of up to 32 would be shared per
level.

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“Bumping up to Intermediate and One Star level is a big deal, but relatively easy to accomplish here
with the team that Roebke’s Run has put together.”

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The Intermediate level accreditation was awarded to Roebke’s Run, but due to construction that
doesn’t mean it exists yet. A bulldozer was hard at work today digging a large new 100’ x 170’ water
jump. There will be a total of three water complexes, a Weldon’s Wall, two coffin ditches and pirate
ship jumps at the new water complex, along with 32 treasured jumps to be added to the course as
well.

Six or seven preliminary fences will be added to Roebke’s Run, including this Weldon’s Wall, now under construction.

A new coffin ditch will be one of 32 efforts on the new Intermediate course.

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“The Schweiss’s have hit the ground running, making fast and good progress in order to run a popular and top-notch competition. In the short two years since I’ve been here, they’ve made many wonderful improvements to their overall facility and have purchased additional land for it to be all that it
can be. The entire atmosphere of Roebke’s Run is very appealing,” noted Williams. “As a team effort,
we have managed to make the most out of it in a relatively short period of time.”

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Cleon J. Wingard, a FEI/USEF licensed official concurs. “The entire course has made very good use
of terrain. This course is one of the best courses I have seen. In my opinion, the event would be an
excellent choice for a FEI One Star event. I do not think USEA/Area IV could have a better event to
host an FEI One Star.”

At this point in time, Roebke’s Run coordinators, Julie Schweiss and Brook Mead are planning to
conduct the Intermediate trials during the Roebke’s Run events in July and October and to push back
the FEI One Star event to the October Roebke’s Run trials.

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Next Summer, Roebke’s Run Horse Trials are slated for July 12-13, 2013.

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For more information on Magister Equitum Stables or Roebke’s Run Horse Trials, visit their website
at: www.magisterequitum.com or visit them on Facebook or on the web at: www.SchweissStables.com.

A new clocktower stall building will be built to stable a total of 228 horses. There are 76 stalls
on the left side and 152 on the right side of the 348 ft. long structure.
(Photos by David Eckman, Schweiss Doors)

2012 Rolex winner William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk, photo by Eran

Rolex is 175 days away, and it’s time to get your 2013 tickets!

From rk3de.org:

Spectators can receive ringside hospitality packages for a custom world-class experience. Featuring prime locations and hospitality amenities, these packages include the “Patron Plus” and “Patron Club” options, both of which include admission to the Kentucky Horse Park, the International Trade Fair and all four days of competition. Also included are closed circuit televisions, dressage and stadium jumping commentary, a keepsake pin, and an official event program.

Advance sale ticket packages include four-day, three-day (Fri-Sat-Sun) and single day general admissions, as well as group sales and reserved grandstand seating. All general admission tickets include parking, admission to the Kentucky Horse Park and International Trade Fair. Reserved grandstand seating is sold separately from admission.

Once again this year, spectators may purchase Land Rover Tailgate reserved spaces along portions of the famed Cross-Country Course at the Kentucky Horse Park. The purchase of a Land Rover Tailgate space provides a reserved location for a passenger vehicle plus general admission for up to six people. Standard and Premium tailgating spaces are available at costs of $300 and $350. Tailgaters may bring their own food or there will also be concessions stands near the tailgating locations. Given the popularity of the Land Rover Tailgate at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event over the last two years, it is sure to sell out and those interested are urged to reserve their spaces early.

As of November 1, tickets may be ordered directly online, or by printing the ticket order form and returning it via mail or fax (859)-254-5116 to Equestrian Events, Inc. Tickets may also be ordered by calling 859-254-8123. To receive a printed ticket brochure, please send your name and mailing address to [email protected].

This video is a couple years old, but it’s worth watching again in the Halloween spirit.  Videographer extraordinare Buzzterbrown captured the 2010 WIHS Gambler’s Choice, highlighted by interesting constumes worn by show jumpers as they race to beat the clock.  Happy Halloween!

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This story has made its rounds over the years.  Written by Shelby Weeks, it is my favorite horse-related ghost story.  Happy Halloween!

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Charlie Feathers

by Shelby Weeks

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“It will take a few minutes to work.” I injected calcium into the cow’s jugular vein, slipped the needle out, capped it, and returned it to my breast pocket. Like all of Dean Paulus cows, she was a registered Holstein that would produce a remarkable amount of milk once she was over the milk fever that I’d been called out to treat.

It was a fine night for October, mild and clear. A breeze stirred wisps of hay in the mow. The barn was dark beyond the circle of light cast by a dim light bulb hung overhead on a knotted extension cord. A flutter of barn sparrows in the rafters drew my eyes upward.

“It is haunted, you know,” Paulus offered from the hay bale where he sat leaning against a massive beam that supported a shadowed roof fifty feet above us.

Tripod trotted over to him and flopped on the hay. The dairy-man automatically scratched him behind his single ear. A small mixed-breed, the three-legged one-eared dog traveled with me visiting rural clients in the Northeastern Indiana county where I practiced veterinary medicine. Tripod, a stray hit by a car, had been my first patient after I took over Doc Sommer’s solo practice last spring.

Doc Sommers had stayed on awhile that first summer, introducing me to clients and his anarchical filing and billing system that consisted mostly of scraps of paper stuck in the visor of his pick-up truck. At the first hint of frost, he clapped me on the back, wished me well, and left for retirement in
Florida.

Again the flutter. I glanced at my watch and the cow, then drew up my own hay bale.

Paulus shifted to a more comfortable position.

It was the summer of 1930 (he began). Things was rough. Depression and such. My daddy went to Gary to find work, and my ma stayed in Elkhart taking in wash for money to feed my baby sister. I was sent to this very farm where grandpa was working our one hundred forty acres by himself since the hired man had died that winter.

Grandpa blamed himself some for that hired man dying. Fellow’s name had been Charlie Feathers. They called folks like him simple-minded back then. Couldnt read nor write, signed his name with a real careful X. Theys a photograph of him standing beside Grandpa holding the halter of one of the
draft horse stud-colts. He was a moon-faced man with a smile that just split his face in half. Loved horses he did. He’d come in to eat with the folks, but every night, summer or winter, he’d sleep beside the horses stalls in a little room off the barn. I keep my tools in there now.

He’d worked for Grandpa a long time, even before Grandpa married Grandma and my daddy was born. He was a hard worker, doing things before Grandpa told him to. He was a good farm hand, but his real calling was those big draft horses.

All the farming was done with horses then. I guess Grandpa had twentyor more Percherons on the place. Breeding and selling work horses was a considerable part of the farm income. And he used the horses himself. Plowing, cultivation, harvesting, haying, logging, hauling ice, him and Charlie Feathers kept four teams working pretty much full time. It gave Grandpa a chuckle how Charlie Feathers would always get the best of him each morning.

No matter how early Grandpa got to the barn, Charlie Feathers was always ready and waiting with the teams harnessed and set to go. Grandpa’d act all surprised, and Charlie would smile like a kid at
Christmas.

Grandpa’s horses was the best. Charlie fed right, and looked after them good. Our stallion stood taller, our mares settled better, and our workhorses pulled stronger and longer than anyone elses. Charlie did our vetting, and in all the years he lived, Grandpa said, there was never a sick or lame horse
on the place.

Did the training too. A colt learned to turn quicker and stop faster and back straighter and pull harder when Charlie Feathers held the lines. Most amazing was that Charlie Feathers could drive two teams of four, one behind the other offset plowing. He drove the first with his lines and the second four
with his voice. Grandpa said he liked nothing better than to see some neighbor stop by the fence to rest a team in the shade. Grandpa would wait until the team was close to them, then slip off the seat saying, “You take ’em, Charlie.” Then he’d visit with the neighbor; all the while the two of them watching Charlie make flawless turns at the end of the field, the second team’s near horse keeping his head right even with Charlie’s right shoulder. Something special that must have been to see.

Buying the tractor killed him, Grandpa said. Just wasn’t the need for so many draft horses on the place. Charlie Feathers seemed to fade a little each time a horse was sold. Actually cried when the big stud horse went for mink food. Charlie brushed him nice, and nailed on a new set of iron shoes, knowing all along the big horse wouldn’t live out the day. Finally there was just the team of geldings left when one morning Grandpa found Charlie wrapped in his blanket, dead in the hay beside the team. Died right here in this here barn.
Of course the roof is new, lost the original in the Palm Sunday tornado. Last thing Charlie Feathers done, Grandpa said, was harness the team so they’d be set to go.

Now, that summer I came to work for Grandpa, he was doing all the farming with a tractor, but he still had that last team of horses for logging in the fruit hills south of Bristol. I know it was late May because he was plowing. I was a ten-year-old, smart-mouth city kid, mad I’d been sent off. I missed my Ma more than I’d say, and I was sure mad at my daddy for not taking me with him.

Grandpa put me to helping Grandma, her being more patient and all. That day I was supposed to be putting in the vegetable garden with her. Truly I was trying to be a help, but hating every minute grubbing in the dirt.

About noon she took pity on me and set me out with a basket for me and Grandpa to eat dinner in the field. I had to walk up a rise, then down to where he was plowing around the west side of Dock Lake, which is more of pond surrounded by wetland. I kept listening for the tractor, but not hearing it. Finally, I fell into following the new-turned earth, figuring he’d see me on his next sweep back.

I found him first.

The tractor–it was a gray Fordson–had slipped one of its metal-spiked rear tires into a soft spot where Grandpa had come too close to the lake. It was easy enough to do, that black crust sometimes looks firm but covers a real mud hole. A team of horses would have felt the soft footing and turned in
to avoid it. I guess that trying to turn out too sharp had sent the tractor over, catching Grandpa underneath in the watery mud. Fordson tractors always was back heavy like that.

I ran around to where Grandpa was pinned under the tractor. Hes been there awhile judging from the dried mud on his face. His big arms were wrapped around the tractor with the tips of his fingers wedged under the engine hood, his legs were somehow caught under it.

“She’s sinking, son,” he told me, “Go get the team.”

I ran.

(more…)

Here is some cross-country footage from the CCI4* at Pau.  First, a compilation video of a bunch of different rides. and then a video of His Greatness, Andrew Nicholson on the winning Nereo, making the course look entirely too easy.  Even the French commentators call him “Meester Steekabeeleetee.”

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This video is mostly Andrew Nicholson and Nereo, but it does include Gemma Tattersall, and Mary King (see her unfortunate fall with Imperial Cavalier at 6:45).

From Holly Covey:

Kelly's barn roof damage

The Good news:

Karen Fulton of Full Moon Farm (MD) reported they did have power go out over night but it has come back on, allowing them to continue to care for the horses on the farm. Waredaca (MD) also lost power for a time but it came back on today, and A Bit Better Farm (MD) down the street is still without power but barns and horses are fine.

The  Chester County barns reported scattered power outages but most had power back on today in the region of Unionville and were surveying soggy fields, paddocks and outdoor rings. Some places are reporting no damage and all horses ok.

Meg Kep in NJ – Sinead Halpin’s eventing barn; (see the photo of the road to the barn that they WALKED around to get to the horses, from Sinead’s Twitter) Laurie Jakubauskas, GP jumper barn LRJ Enterprises in Wilmington, DE; horse owners in Chestertown, MD., Bucks County, MD., Unionville, PA.

No electric for Destination Farm & Eventing, and Natalie Hollis was mucking by flashlight (feel for ya) in MD., Glenda Player and Playland Farm in MD. are ok, Dodon Farm in Davidsonville, MD. are ok.

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Doug Payne DPEquestrian in NJ took a photo of the trees down across the road to the barn, and that getting to the stable took some time but that all horses were ok.

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Charish Campbell of Hundred Acre Wood in Easton, MD reports a tree down but horses ok.  Molly Rosin/Havarah Equestrian reports they are ok in PA., and in St. Micheals, MD., Country Comfort Farm had some tree and shed damage but the horses are fine.Kris Ennis, mother of Jules Ennis, advanced level young rider , reports the horses and barn in Queenstown, MD. are fine but fields are flooded –so the ponies are restless and want out!

Some of the rainfall totals from Sandy; (from National Weather Service):
9.55 in. Milford DE (yes, 10 miles from me) My four-inch rain guage overfilled twice so I guess we had about that much!

8.46″ Dover AFB

4.17″ Wilmington DE
4.11″ Washington, DC
7.16″ Ocean City, MD
6.29″ Annapolis, MD
4.11″ Hagerstown, MD
11.62″ Wildwood Crest, NJ on the coast
9.37″ West Cape May, NJ
5.28″ Millville NJ

Vicky Madsen is a British event rider who currently competes at 4* level on her homebred horse By Crikey (William). William is not your traditional 4* horse being 1/16^th Exmoor Pony and 1/16^th Clydesdale and a good dose of Anglo Arab from his sire Tracey X. Last year Vicky and William competed at Luhmuhlen 4* coming 20^thand this year achieved their highest ever placing at CIC3* coming 5^th at Arville. Vicky has one horse competing at this level and last year contemplated selling William because the finances did not add up. William is not a natural dressage horse but he is fast and clever cross country so can often make up for the dressage.

Photo by Photos Les Garennes

From Vicky:

We’re back from Pau, I’d love to say with a PB and a suntan, but sadly with neither! I drove down on the Tuesday, and was greeted by the lovely Jean-Jacques and Jean-Francois (have I mentioned yet that every other man I’ve met in France is called Jean-something?!), stable managers and parking gurus. They helped me unload whilst they pondered where to park me, being that the 4* lorry park was already bursting at the seams. When they offered me a place on hard-standing, next to Nicolas Touzaint, and with the promise of Mary King and William Fox-Pitt as neighbours on the other side I managed as nonchalantly as possible that that would be just fine by me. Especially seeing as Mary King was in fact delivering my uber-groom for the week, old friend Sally Poppe who evented alongside me in Belgium long long ago when we both rode ponies.

Wednesday was superb, we woke to watch the hundreds, if not thousands, of resident racehorses at the Domaine du Sers training facility come out to work in the morning mist from which the Pyrenees gradually emerged as the sun rose higher. I took William out for a hand-graze but really the pair of us just wanted to watch the racehorses! Meanwhile it got warmer and warmer, and I felt ever so smug as the Brits marveled at the weather and the palm trees. Little did I know…. Wednesday we also had the competitors first briefing, and in an effort to increase attendance the organisers put on a wine-tasting session straight after it, at 12.20 – barely past breakfast time but when in France… After riding Sally and I went to have a look at the cross-country, and by fence three she was banned from making any comments on the fences! We did take a few pictures though just to show some of the dimensions! We also found a lemon tree much to our amusement, not a regular feature on the cross-country courses either of us have met so far. At this stage I kept my thoughts to myself on the course.

Thursday we had the trot up and we were drawn 17th to go in the dressage, which meant a late afternoon slot for us. The trot-up provided an unwelcome first for us when he felt so well coming back towards the Ground Jury the first time he cantered, so we got sent straight back, and although staying in trot he snaked his head down and hopped in his trot, wanting to canter again, so we were sent to the holding box. Heart rate spike or what! The treating vet pinched his tendons and ran hoof testers round both front
feet, and made us trot several times, and couldn’t find anything of concern, so told me to make sure he behaved and kept his head up! Brows were mopped when we represented and were given the nod, although I couldn’t help but feel it would mean the Jury would be scrutinising our dressage test even more closely for any irregularities in the trot work.

As we got ready for our test the rain started coming down, and we were rather wet by the time our turn came. Just before we went in he changed twice out of his counter-canter, and I didn’t really have time to sort it out as I would have liked, but I just had to tell myself it would all be fine and that I KNOW we are capable of cantering a half-10m circle in counter canter as long as we are relaxed enough. Off we went down to the arena, and he started well in the test, maybe not as light in the hand as we can sometimes achieve at home, but not at all far off the best we can expect at the moment in competition. The extended walk wasn’t as good as it can be, but he halted quietly and rein-backed smoothly. Unfortunately he struck off on the wrong lead, so we hurriedly corrected, and went into the canter sequence. The first extension followed by change went ok, then the counter-canter was cautious but we held it, the medium on a circle wasn’t really strong enough and the change after that we completely fluffed! It went something like bounce, bounce, buck, change! The final 5 loop serpentine, worth 40 marks, again was more about survival than I would have liked it to be, but the counter-canter held, and the 4th change was better than the 3rd, which was late behind. I looked up at the score board after our last movement and was pleased to see 7, 6, 7 for our final centre-line, so was rather disappointed to see an average score of just over 56%, giving us 64.8 penalties. On the other hand a year ago he did all his changes cleanly in the same test and I was delighted with 60.8, so perhaps it’s a measure of my higher expectations?

That evening I ran the course by myself, stopping to look at the trickier fences and combinations (not catch my breath or anything!), and I very nearly got shut on the racecourse, arriving as the fences were being closed at 1 minute to 7, not having realised the place was locked up at night! Later on Sally and I went to the evening entertainment put on by the event, and a very good time was had by all, there may have been some dancing on tables by Olympians young and old.

Friday the weather continued to be disappointing, and worsened as the day went on. I walked the course again, and was looking forward to riding it, although I felt quite strongly that the first section to fence 6 was very technical, and the last section from 23 to the end, with the middle being very big and galloping type fences, which might almost cause us to switch off and be caught unawares when we came back into the tricky last bit. The exception in the middle was the big bounce of angled brushes into water
which was concerning me a bit. Friday I also took the time to try a Butet dressage saddle with a flat seat, and whilst I felt rather lost in it William was a bit of a revelation in it, loving the flatter panels and
doing some really lovely work. Even though it was 2nd hand the price tag was way out of our range at the moment, but it has spurred me on to find one that he likes as much over the winter. He was also clipped ready for Saturday.

During Friday night I woke several times to hear the rain pouring down, I don’t think any of the riders slept much at all! Dawn was grim, and in fact the 2* riders were set off cross-country before it was fully light, and many of the early ones faulted at the water, causing a fence there to be removed. Plenty of long faces and muttering could be heard around the stables, and I can’t say I was bursting with enthusiasm to ride round the track in those conditions, especially when I went out to see how the ground was holding up in the waters and I saw how wet the ground was. William had a pre-xc massage from Karen Gunn, and as we tacked up the sun came out, lighting up the event and everybody’s mood. I watched William Fox-Pitt’s path-finder round on Chilli Morning on the cttv in the stables and of course he made it look easy, just having to help the horse a bit at the first and third waters. My William warmed up well, really using himself over the fences and on his toes. As we went over to the start we both could feel the adrenaline rising, and we set off well over 1 and had a lovely forward shot to 2. 3 was already a big test, up a huge bank then a few strides to see and jump a brush-topped palisade running down on 5 or 6 strides to a corner at 4. We didn’t have a great line to 4 but he took it on, taking the flag with him. From on top it looked to me like his front legs went either side of the flag, and as we galloped away I was trying to decide whether we would have been deemed to have gone through the flags or not, as I didn’t want to gallop round 11 minutes of 4* track to find out we’d been eliminated at 4! I got it together to ride properly for 5, an enormous table which he jumped like a star, then we collected for the turn to the first duck going to the water. We landed and turned, and my planned neat four strides turned into 5, leaving us too close with too little impulsion to jump the 2nd duck: 20 penalties. I circled away and jumped it 2nd time, but pulled him up from the big log and drop into water. I’d dithered coming in with my doubts about fence 4, and the stop just confirmed to me that my head wasn’t in the right place to tackle a track like that. As it turned out the fence judge at 4 had deemed us to have cleared it, but there you go, the doubt had already done its damage.

Of course I was disappointed initially, but as horse after horse got ridden back to the stables having been pulled up I started to realise what problems the course was causing. The fence analysis makes interesting
reading that’s for sure! Fence 6 claimed more than its fair share of victims, causing 16 of the 62 starters to have a fault of some kind, and in the end only 33 finished. The weather turned grim again, but we were still able to host a drink for all the friends who had come and supported us, even if the mood wasn’t quite as celebratory as we had hoped for when organising it! The next day Sally left quite early as Mary had retired on Kings Temptress and been eliminated for a very unlucky, but thankfully harmless, horse fall when Imperial Cavalier stuck his leg in his martingale and failed to get it out in time to land over a straightforward fence. I packed up and was able to wander around the trade stands a bit, in addition to commiserating with some other riders including Buck Davidson who I’d not met properly before. I saw Jean-Paul Bardinet who has been helping me with my dressage, and discussed with him the idea I’d had of running at a CIC** in three weeks’ time in the south-east of France, just to cheer ourselves up before the winter. I don’t want to dwell on what’s happened, so if British Eventing and the event give us the go-ahead I think we’ll do that.  Pau may not have been our finest hour, but we’re in one piece and able to
think of alternative plans, for which I am really thankful!

Tips for Eventers Living in Itty-Bitty Apartments in the City: Riders on the Storm

 Ha-ha…You’re too late to screw up Waredaca’s fall horse trials, Sandy! 

But thanks for the extra days off!

From Yvette:

Hey EN!  Not sure if you’ve heard, but we’re having a wee little storm over here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  While I’m grateful to have an extra day of rest after a very hectic 10 days that started in Fair Hill and ended at Waredaca, I’m certainly not used to spending THIS much time in my itty-bitty apartment.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve been trapped in here this long since…Snowmaggedon 2010?  But alas, while Sandy rages on outside, I’m busy waging war against the evil Drosophila melanogaster (aka fruit flies) that have decided my place is a great spot in which to shack up during the storm.  Picture me running around with a can of insect spray, cackling “I’ll get you, my pretties!” Perhaps that, and not the whole horse thing is why my building-mates think I’m a weirdo…

Anywho, some of you may have been following Waredaca Novice 3-Day Event adventures (here, here, here, and here) over the weekend.  I don’t have to tell any of you that getting ready for a competition takes a lot of time…there’s tack to clean, a horse to bathe and braid, courses to walk, a trailer that needs to be packed, etc., etc.  And, like many adult amateurs, I’m doing much of this on my own while juggling a full-time job that is likely non-horsey.  What this means is that I end up having some long nights followed by very early mornings.  And you know what?  I’m never late for a horse thing.

Work, however, is a completely different animal.  I may wake up an hour and a half before I need to leave for the office, yet I somehow always manage to be running late.  So I’ve come up with the following solution…

Tip for Eventers Living in Itty-Bitty Apartments in the City #13:

While it always seems as though I’m running late for a 9 am start at the office, I readily possess the ability to wake up on time to drive 35 miles from DC to the barn and start braiding manes promptly at 4 am for an event. Therefore, on days where I must be in the office at some “ridiculous hour” (for me, that would be 8 am), I just pretend I need to get in early to braid manes. Just don’t actually start braiding your coworkers’ hair, because that would be weird. And possibly grounds for complaints to HR.

A quick Monday afternoon eyewitness update on Hurricane/Nor’easter Sandy: (I am not at Ground Zero but pretty darn close — 20 mi. inland from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware).

Elkton, Maryland: Fair Hill “racehorse barns” which are the stables normally used for horse shows and weekend events, at the top of the hill on the south side of 273, are open for shelter for horses in the north eastern part of Maryland. (MPS Park Manager Wayne Suydan at 410-409-8974 (cell).) Here’s a link courtesy of Xctrygirl for Maryland:

http://www.thebaynet.com/news/util_files/util_printstory.cfm/story_ID/30028/storytype/textarticle
Cecil County in Maryland and Lancaster and Chester counties in Pennsylvania are near the eye of Sandy and may be hit hard.

 

Salisbury, Maryland: Wicomico Equestrian Center is open for equine evacuees. Ginny Morris is coordinating and can be called at 443-783-5883 if you need horse shelter in Wicomico County. I would also think Worcester County would also be welcomed there.

 

 

Virginia: Chincoteague ponies: they have sought shelter on the island of Chincoteague from what the picture caption says. This is probably the Chincoteague ponies owned by the Chincoteague fire company on the Virginia/Assateague Island side. Photo from WBOC-TV in Salisbury from FB page, taken Monday morning.

“The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company opened the gates to fencing of their grazing areas to allow them seek the highest ground on Assateague which they will do instinctively. There is high ground on Assateague Island that will not be covered by flood waters. The ponies will ride out the storm on that high ground. After the storm fire company personnel will get out on Assateague Island to verify that all the ponies are ok. We will post any updates about the ponies we receive.”

You can find them on Facebook at Chincoteague.com.

 
Delaware: at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in northern Sussex County, a barn has been opened for horses and livestock that need shelter. This is located in Harrington, DE. You must bring your own buckets, feed, bedding, tools to clean out, and must feed your own horses and care for them or coordinate with fellow shelter users. The Delaware Dept of AG (Bob Moore 302–689-4566) has assured us that the Sussex Barn at the DE State Fairgrounds in Harrington, will be available for use by anyone needing shelter for their equines during the storm. The owner is responsible for all services, and the fairgrounds is assuming no liability. Frank Chick Jr. of Chicks in Harrington said that if anyone needs horse feed or hay to call him for possible delivery.  (If anyone needs delivery let us know. 302-270-4432)

 

In northern Delaware, I have no information at present, but Carousel Farms in New Castle County as well as Delaware Park in Stanton, just north of I-95, may have open space for evacuating horses. I am guessing at this with no confirmation – call someone to find out first. This area is near the eye of Sandy and will be hit hard. NOTE: right now Delaware is under a state of emergency and no one is supposed to be traveling on the roads except essential personnel. If you haven’t moved horses by now you probably can’t until late tomorrow.

 

New Jersey: This is the News page of the NJ Ag Dept. which has a generalized roundup of links and info, nothing specific to horses: http://www.nj.gov/agriculture/news/hottopics/approved/topics121026.html#3

And a pdf which also is generalized: http://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/ah/pdf/livestockbro.pdf

I am looking for southern New Jersey equine emergency links. This area is in the eye of Sandy and will be hit hard.
v- Disaster Veterinary Animal Care Reimbursement — for veterinary supplies used in disaster –

http://www.avmf.org/whatwedo/disaster-veterinary-animal-care-reimbursement/
– Disaster Veterinary Practice Relief — for reimbursement of veterinary practices damaged in disaster –

http://www.avmf.org/whatwedo/disaster-veterinary-practice-relief/

-Facebook pictures are showing absolutely devastating flooding in all ocean front areas of Delaware and Maryland right now, and many inland coastal areas such as Long Neck, Delaware and Ocean Pines, Maryland. Although we have been monitoring the Weather channel and national media we are seeing very little coverage of the Delaware/Maryland/Virginia coastline, and I have to tell you it is much worse than the pictures we are seeing of New Jersey and New York. This is Monday afternoon. We have 12 more hours of this including even higher winds. I cannot believe that people will be leaving their horses out in this but some will, I am sure, under the misguided nonsense that the horses can better fend for themselves without shelter.  I am writing now as we have electric and internet via aircard. Will update later as the power allows. If you are in this area, keep up with your Facebook friends via cell phone, they say that will be your best bet if you need help with your horses and have no power.

Holly Covey

Greenwood, Delaware

Gymnastics is impressive to watch.  Add in a cantering horse and it gets even more intense.  Switzerland’s team won the FEI World Vaulting Championship this year, with an amazing array of lifts, flips, and coordination.  I wish I only looked half as graceful coming off my horse…!

It’s football season, we just finished Fair Hill, Halloween approaches, and it’s time to prepare for a massive hurricane.  Here’s how eventers around eventing nation have been spending their time…

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Where's the water jump?

From Venesa Crumpley:

Just thought you’d like to know that we are fully prepared here in Cochranville for the impending weather!  We might even have a couple new water jumps to prepare for the Virginia HT next weekend.

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Caiden Holling a Tebow fan?

From Savannah Kilpatrick:

Hi I’m a working student at Holling Eventing. Obviously Caiden is not following in his dads steps and becoming a Packers fan. I have turned him in to a full on Tebow fan! GO JETS!

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Happy Halloween!

McKenzie Miller and Saturday Night Live at the Twin Rivers Halloween one day event.

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Daniel Clasing and Houston

Beth Collier sent us some snapshots from Fair Hill– Daniel Clasing and Houston survived a dramatic moment at fence #23, the Wine Complex.

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Phillip Dutton, photo by Diana Rowland

Laine Ashker wins bareback show jumping, photo by Diana Rowland

Hannah Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot, photo by Diana Rowland

Diana Rowland kindly sent us a few photo from Fair Hill as well… including this awesome shot of CCI3* winner Hannah Sue.

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Have a photo or story to share with EN?  Send it to [email protected].  Go Eventing!

“Why Does My OTTB (insert weird quirk here)?” Volume VI

From Lauren:

Why on earth to people even WANT and OTTB if they are so danged quirky?  I am here to do my best to answer all of your questions about these curious, outgoing creatures that you have always been too embarrassed, afraid, or freaked out to ask and to hopefully explain the strange compulsion to acquire these creatures.  Enjoy!

Spotlight enters a crowded ring like I imagine he entered a racetrack on race day.  He looks for the most dominant horse to make sure he can “whoop” it. How many races are decided before the bell goes off? And how does that attitude translate to the show ring? (courtesy of EN reader Adam Barb)

Honestly, I find the most successful race horses to be calm and unaffected by the hustle and bustle of the paddock area and to be absolutely focused heading into the gate and preparing to break. Calvin Borel even spoke of Rachel Alexandra taking several deep, calculated breaths every time she entered the starting gate.  I do find that stallions and geldings that were intact past the age of two seem to embrace a more domineering persona and desire to make themselves known when entering a crowded area. To specifically answer your questions, races are not ever decided in the paddock unless the favorite(s) flip(s) over or self-destructs in some other way. In trying to acclimatize OTTB’s to the show ring with this sort of attitude, I usually try to gradually increase the stimuli (number of horses/people) while maintaining my mounts attention and convey to them that they should be far more concerned with what I may be asking them than with what they may be trying to tell the other horses. Good luck!

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BOTH of my OTTB’s have major aversions to any contact on their shoulders.  This occurs almost always when grooming and they are both sensitive to being touched on their shoulders, approximately the same place where you would see a blanket rub. Adding to my confusion, it’s always the right shoulder on one horse and the left shoulder on the other. I’m stumped.  (compliments of EN reader Kirsten Collins)

This is a little left field but I would speculate that both of your horses were routinely “shoulder twitched” and that one probably had a left handed groom and the other, a right handed groom. Shoulder twitching is done by grabbing the skin of the shoulder, sort of above the point (near where you would see a blanket rub), between finger tips and base of palm, squeezing firmly, and then twisting about 45 degrees. This is likely mildly uncomfortable to the horse but does release calming endorphins much like lip twitching. However, this common practice will often result in long term increased sensitivity in the shoulder area. Hope this helps!

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Why does Roscoe seem to have a ridiculous oral fixation?? Everything and anything he can hold in his teeth he will! He does not chew and he does not bite or even nip really, but zippers, crop handles, the nozzle of the hose, my bag sitting in front of his stall. I’ve even seen other OTTBs at the barn do this, too. (compliments of EN reader Rebecca Tanis)

Was Roscoe possible gelded at a late age? I often find that horses gelding after the age of 2 tend to permanently retain the predisposition to put their mouth on EVERYTHING that stallions are so prone to. Testosterone has been linked to activation of the salivary glands and often these permanently slightly higher levels of T in horses gelded later in life continues to stimulate the salivary glands and encourage oral obsessions. It is also worth noting that many trainers at tracks provide jolly balls, empty milk jugs, and other sorts of stall toys that encourage oral fixations. What would Freud think!? Hope this helps!

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I have very much enjoyed (when I’ve not been horrified) by your columns on the behavior of OTTBs. I don’t mean to be negative or cynical, but after reading more about the OTTB and its training, I must ask: why would anyone want to purchase one over almost any other purpose bred eventing/hunting/showing horse, which has been lovingly, conscientiously and responsibly raised to be a well-adjusted, confident animal? (courtesy of EN reader Judith Davis)

Thank you for your inquiry. This is quite a legitimate question. In my experience, the single most motivating factor in purchasing an OTTB is COST. OTTB’s all across the country can be had for $1000 or less. The really, really fancy/sound/athletic/attractive ones sometimes bring around $3500 but that is about top dollar. Horses like Courageous Comet, El Primero, and Bad Boy Billy were once lowly OTTB’s and to know that, for a few hundred dollars, world beaters can be purchased is a glimmering promise that many middle-class riders seek out. Even the most modestly bred, slightly crooked, plain brown wrapped purpose-bred horses often command price tags of $10,000 and up. OTTB’s are bred to run (to state the obvious) and to run well, they must be athletic. This athleticism is something that most breeds, even those that are purpose bred to jump, cannot guarantee. Of course not all OTTB’s are athletic, but perhaps 1 in 100 can’t get out of its own way. I hope that I have adequately conveyed that, for the money, OTTB’s have the POTENTIAL to offer the most bang for ones buck and that is where the obsession begins.

I do hope that some of my answers to the questions above have demystified atleast one of your OTTB’s strange quirks and I encourage you to send any further, horse-specific questions to me via email ( [email protected]) for more in-depth and on-point answers.  The EN and COTH response has been great and I look forward to make more thought-provoking questions!  Go Eventing and go gallop a (former) racehorse!

Yvette Seger had a wonderful weekend at Waredaca, competing in the Novice 3-Day Event.  Read her previous entries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

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Waredaca Novice and Training 3-Day Event Diary:  Day 4

 Isn’t Waredaca just beautiful?

 From Yvette:

Hey EN!  Before I get too far into my stream of consciousness regarding the last day of my Novice 3-day experience, I want to make a correction to my last post in which I attributed cross country course design credits to Tremaine Cooper.  Now, while Tremaine has designed some pretty slick courses, he can’t take credit for this one, which was actually designed by Robert Butts.  Sorry about that, Robert – every once in a while I have a blonde moment like that…

While I spent most of Friday night reveling in my successes on cross country (check out these great videos by Video by Patrick – here for Finders Keepers and here for Roger Rabbit), I was also a little stressed about making sure those eight legs would be sound for the jog bright and early on Saturday morning.  Super Pony runs barefoot (yes, pick your jaw up off the ground – he’s very surefooted and has hooves of steel), so I invested in some Rebound Hoof Pack (a sponsor of the 3-day) to make sure he was extra comfy to show jump the next day.  Roger had his standard icing and poultice routine for his legs and pretty much a full body coating of Sore No More to make sure my 23 year old partner in crime would be ready to fight another day.  Me, I took a few ibuprofen and at a bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys.  Hey, it takes a lot of energy to ride two horses in a full format – girl’s gotta have bacon!

Anywho…I arrived at Waredaca at 5:30 am to feed and assess the damages (actually hoping that there weren’t any).  Roger – who is a normally fussy eater – was like, “woman, bring me my GRAIN!” The pony was also excited for his cup and a half of low starch pellets, but…he’s a pony, so not such an exciting development.  As expected, the old man was a little stiff, but worked out of it after walking a bit.  All of our morning prep led to both boys being accepted by the Ground Jury, and we moved on to show jumping.

The show jumping course was designed by my favorite, Kathy White, and was yet another one of her thoughtful tests of riding.  With Roger, I would need to keep him forward (always interesting, as when Roger gets TOO forward, he likes to start bucking and leaping like a rabbit – hence his name), and with the pony, I would just need to focus on keeping him straight and “on the balance beam,” per Stephen Bradley’s advice.  Since my boys were close in the standings, I would be the first horse on course with Roger, and then go in regular order with Twix.  Roger warmed up great, but I quickly realized I didn’t quite have the same horse once I got in the ring.  Luckily, we know each other so well that my gritty and far from pretty round still resulted in zero penalties.  Hey, to be 23 and finish a full format 3-day on a dressage score 32.0 ain’t too shabby, right?  Roger proceeded to snooze in the sun by the ring while I rode the pony.  This round was a bit more polished, but a bum rail early in the course added 4 penalties to his dressage score of 28.0, resulting in…32.0!  My boys were technically tied – how’s that for consistency?

Our 3-day experienced closed with a mounted awards ceremony, which is really cool because we don’t have many of those opportunities here in Area II as most of our events run in a one-day format, and a lot of times, we will just leave a couple bucks with the show office to have our ribbons mailed to us rather than sticking around.  Roger was a bit annoyed to be awoken from his nap (“Really?  Haven’t I done enough Mom?”), but he had to go collect at least one special award – Oldest Horse – which I was thrilled to find was a nice big jar of Cosequin!  Roger and I were also surprised with another award – Best Conditioned Novice Horse (thank you GRC Photo for sponsoring the award of a farm photo shoot!) – and I burst into tears.  Anyone who has an older horse, let alone competes an older horse, knows they are a labor of love (and Adequan), but my old man (who never had a temp above 101 in the vet box) has been worth it, rewarding me with 31 recognized USEA starts in the past 5 years when all I ever wanted was for him to last a full season back in 2008.  Oh, and I should also note that his 32.0 represented the last score necessary for him to receive his USEA Gold Medal at Novice (we have a habit of getting great scores at the Maryland Horse Trials or the Seneca Valley Pony Club Horse Trials, but have had trouble getting one at a third venue).  I can’t forget the efforts of the Super Pony, who got to join the victory gallop by finishing 10^th and ALSO earned his gold medal!  I was so delighted with my boys!

There are so many people I want to thank for making this experience SO special, and I hope I don’t screw it up…first of all, I need to thank Gretchen and Robert Butts (co-organizers) and the entire Waredaca team for making this experience available and opening it up to novice riders this year.  If you’ve never been to Waredaca, it’s a pretty amazing facility, and I’m lucky enough to have it within 40 minutes of my itty-bitty apartment (hey, I totally passed Metrobuses every morning on my way to the event!)  Cindy Deporter also deserves a special shout-out as Gretchen’s co-organizer for the 3-day and for giving me sass to keep me on top of my game throughout the 3-day experience.  Cindy Wood deserves a prize for managing the stable area for the 8^th year (hope I got that right!) – she was so patient and helpful, not only in the stable area, but also for keeping time in the vet box and letting us know how much time we had until D start.  Dr. Julie Augustine provided great support and advice throughout the competition, and brought a great team of veterinary students to assist in the vet box (she also didn’t give me a hairy eyeball when I told her Roger’s age during the in-barns at the start of the competition).  To all the clinicians – Stephen Bradley, Tremaine Cooper, Natalie Hollis, Melissa Hunsberger, Max Corcoran, Valerie Vizcarrondo, Phyllis Dawson, Steurt Pittman, and Jessica Morton of Southern States (Roger LOVES their Legends Performance feed!) – thank you for providing your time and invaluable expertise!  Pam Wiedemann (TD), Sue Smithson (President), and Mindy Friesan made up the wonderful Ground Jury (and yes, Pam, I’ll be filling out my Rider Rep report today – promise!), and I can’t forget to thank announcer extraordinaire, Brian O’Connor, who truly made Roger’s last run special.  Brian – bring your helmet to an event next season, and I promise to let you take a spin on Finders Keepers!  Finally, a big THANK YOU to the Area II Adult Riders and other volunteers for making this event happen!  I’m really grateful that you all took the time out of your week to volunteer!

Roger Rabbit bids a very fond adieu to Waredaca by keeping an eye on the BN horses running XC in the regular weekend horse trial

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge Dee Cook and her very special family.  Dee offered me the ride on Roger Rabbit 5 ½ years ago, mainly because she needed to wrangle about 20 decent training level event horses for a Pony Club exchange, and Roger needed to get into shape after about 2 years of semi-retirement.  Little did she know that that decision would lead to years of adventures around Area II!  She and her family have been so supportive of Roger’s and my efforts, and I can’t thank her enough for all the trailering, moral support at events, and a second home complete with dinners – I am truly lucky to have the Cook family in my life!  Same goes for Karen Tilley and her family, from whom I purchased Finders Keepers after a 2.5 year “trial period” this summer.  He is a special little pony, and I have a feeling he’s just getting started!

Finally, I need to thank my parents, Larry and Diane Seger, who dutifully drive from my childhood home on the west side of Cleveland, OH to support me at nearly every event.  I’m sure every once in a while they regret having sent me to the Girl Scout camp where I first caught the horse bug, but I think deep down they are happy that I found a way to get horses back into my life after a 9 year hiatus.  They are probably also happy that I pay my own bills now.

I’ll leave you with a video of Roger’s first order of “retirement business”.

Go Eventing (Classic Format Style).

We’ve all been waiting for it– Fair Hill cross-country highlights from the video wizard, Buzzterbrown.

Fresh off announcing The Big Guys at Fair Hill CCI2* and CCI3*, Brian O’Connor stayed in Maryland to lend his vocal talent to Waredaca.  We’ve been keeping up with Waredaca from Yvette Seger and Grace Fulton, but here is Brian’s take on the event…

From Brian:

Waredaca’s Three Day Event  .5 star and the new  .25 star (!)  has finished up in grand style.  All the horses and riders looked great this morning at the horse inspection and all that were presented moved on to  the show jumping.  The cross country courses were really super, full of challenges, and were extremely fun to ride .  I, of course, only say this because I actually do “ride” these courses as I announce. Some of the standouts (to this annnouncer) were:

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– Sprite (the little palomino Connemara pony) ridden by Quinn Anderson, who had a spectacular cross-country round….very handy, fun to watch, and lots of energy.

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– Mister President and Diane Zrimsek, who went double clear on xc and stadium on the draft/cross….maybe other “Mr. President”s should take note of how to perform solidly, with no flash, and with honesty…seems appropriate for the up coming week’s decisions for all of us!!

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– Autumn Rae, who from the get go won handily with no jumping faults on Friday or Saturday.

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– Lisa Hannan, who after getting a history-making 17.8 (yes 17.8!) in dressage, only added 4 in show jumping to win the Novice division. And it turns out both of these last two winners come from the same farm: Scattered Acres Sporthorses…how about that?

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–Grace Fulton (a blogger on EN too) on Sharon White’s Leo the Lionhearted, who was #1 on course and finished #1 in her division.  This young lady (and her equally talented sister Woodge) are the upcoming stars of our sport. Grace and her Dad, Stephen, competed equally throughout the weekend, with lots of love and support for each other.  Great to see such a wonderful family sharing such fun times.  Grace (#1) went first , put in a great dressage test, was the first to go on XC with no faults, and then with her clear in stadium, moved up from 3rd to win on her dressage score.  Watch out for these two Fulton girls…they are the real thing.

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-And of course I leave the best for last…Yvette Seger and Roger Rabbit (you have read her blog in previous postings here on EN).  She completed this “young” 23-year-old’s career with a tremendous performance: double clear on xc and double clear in show jumping.  The crowd cheered the loudest for her both on Friday when she left the box, and when she received her ribbon and award for best conditioned for the level on Saturday!   Tears and cheers…then beers , that is what it is all about.

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Thanks to the staff at Waredaca – Gretchen, Robert, Rob and the whole gang…and especially to the two Cindys for making this all happen.  Takes an army and a whole town to do this you know….and yes, of course the town’s comic (no…. I did not say idiot!… but the announcer/jester) played a small part too!  I so enjoy doing these, and after the huge task at Fair Hill International, it is just great to see the same enthusiasm, commitment by riders, parents, coaches, grooms, teachers, and organizers that flows all over the show grounds. From clinicians to volunteers…it just does not get better than our whole eventing community doing what we really love…hats off to all of you, and please take care of your horses during the upcoming week of SANDY!

 

Go EN…see y’all soon….Brian

Photo via the Uptown Eventing facebook page.  Check it out for more great photos!

Show jumping at Pau starts at about 9:15am local (3:15am EST) with the CIC2*.  American Jules Stiller on Enjoy Me is sitting pretty in 9th place after cross-country with a score of 49.8.  Christopher Burton leads the CIC2* on a 40.7, but a single rail would drop him and Graf Liberty to fourth.

The CCI4* show jumping begins at 2pm local time (8:00am EST).  US hopes lie with Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz, who sit in 25th after a clear cross-country round with 28 time penalties.  In talking with Samantha, Colleen mentioned that the twisty course had some “blind” fences, and with Luke’s bold jumping style she decided to take a few long routes to be on the safe side.

Jonathan Paget and Clifton Promise lead on their dressage score of 36.7 going into show jumping.  Andrew Nicholson and William Fox-Pitt each have two horses in the top 7, adding no penalties from cross-country.  The course caused plenty of trouble for other top combinations, however: Mary King did not finish either of her two horses, nor Mark Todd, Buck Davidson, and dressage leader Chris Burton also retired on course.

Jock and Promise, photo by Samantha

Cross-country proved to cause a lot of problems today at Pau.  Mark Todd and Major Milestone took a big tumble, but they are reportedly fine.  Just 22 of 60 starters finished clear and 28 starters failed to complete the course.  10 pairs did finish double-clear.  Olympic team bronze medalists for New Zealand, Jonathan Paget and Clifton Paget moved up from 2nd overnight to take the lead.  Will this be the weekend Jock wins his first four-star?  He’s one show jumping round away.  The terminator Michael Jung is in second with Leopin on 38.3.  Andrew Nicholson and Nereo make it two Kiwis in the top three.  Astier Nicolas and Jhakti du Janlie from hometown France are in 4th, within a rail of Jock.  To give you a feel for how tough the XC rode, Kai Steffen-Meier and Karascada moved up from 43rd to 12th with 1.2 time penalties.

As for the USA, Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM retired after two stops at the bank into the first water.  Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz continued their four-star XC domination with a clear round, adding 28 time and moving up 27 spots.  Canada’s Lindsey Traisnel (ne Pearce) had a stop at the Kiosks before retiring.

Samantha Clark was sending out awesome Tweets throughout the cross-country and she was kind enough to let us publish her notes and insights from the XC below.  Please remember these are live notes, written in real time!

[Pau Results]

After the cross-country, Colleen posted this on her blog and her husband Brian was kind enough to send it our way:

Luke was his regular superstar man, going clear on a wicked cross country. My time was more than I have ever had, but looking to finish with numbers not letters is always my goal. I took more long routes than I ever have, but that was from our over-jumping fences in some of the combinations.

This course is unlike any you’ve ever seen with completely man-made terrain on flat ground and turns upon turns. There is absolutely no seeing a spot because the jumps are hidden around behind in the combinations.

It is still so amazing to watch the phenomenal riding that exists on the continent.  Jung deserves every accolade he receives. WFP is a rock star, I want to be him when I grow up (or grow legs).

I’m so proud of the pony, let’s hope he show jumps as well as we know he can.

A few quick notes from Samantha, written in real time:

First of all – Enormous thanks to Ruth Edge and John Kyle.  They had fabulous commentary on FEI TV that was really enjoyable and informative.  Also a disclaimer–I only saw what I saw on a computer screen, which doesn’t always give a true picture.

Colleen and Shiraz: It was very frustrating not to see Colleen at all except for sailing over last fence.  Annoying!  They finished with 28 time and clear.  Colleen & Shiraz now four for four at four stars – only (!) Badminton and Adelaide to go to complete the set!

Buck and Reggie: Ballynoe astle looked surprised at the bank going down into first water.  He put one leg down and almost jumped, changed his mind (Will Coleman London 2012), and then stopped a second time.  Buck called it a day.

William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning – Class ride, no surprise. Although unhurried and rhythm like a metronome, they were by no means hanging around.  They didn’t waste a single second away from fences.  Chilli looked very fresh and full of running the whole way round.  Took the long way at one combination near the end (I don’t think anyone actually took the short route) but otherwise straight thru, made it look like canter in park.  Flawless.

Mr. Cruise Control – I didn’t see much of him but everything I saw looked pretty good.  High head carriage, very genuine, looks like a nippy, very classy big pony, and looked more tired at the end than Chilli Morning

Kings Temptress – Picked up an early 20 at number 4, which is a corner off a bank.  Came down and perhaps slipped very slightly but didn’t lock on and ran past it a bit.  Shame.  This fence caused more problems later on too

Highland Ford  – Richard Jones, very quick long route at first water.  What a clever, lovely genuine horse.  Not as pretty to watch as William or Andrew but getting it done.  Lost a shoe about halfway on. Aparently a problem at 18, the third water, but I didn’t see it.

Alice Montgomery and Gordon – Squeezed in extra stride coming out of first water, Gordon didn’t look like he was loving the going on the track.  Sticky ride 2nd water but just kept on going and answering questions.  Completed provisionally clear over the time, but then given a stop later.

Most horses putting in two strides coming out the first water up the bank to brush fence.

Ugo Provasi’s horse is a saint!

Clifton Pinot hangs a front leg at brush first part of first water and very sticky moment for both. Incredible stickabliity and will to survive, and then great positive ride away and through 2nd water.  Settled a bit as course went on, super ride by Kevin.  Kevin has spent summer in UK at Jock’s barn after taking ride on Pinot early in the year.  Horse finished looking really good.

By Crikey – Took the flag off at fence 4, the corner at bottom of bank, where Mary had a problem.  Then ground to a halt at duck the brush going into first water then retired

Nicky Roncoroni and Trig Point – Nicky has been on GB Equine Pathway for last four years.  Looked good at four star debut, won CCI3* Ballindenisk, lovely jumper.  Didn’t see much but liked everything I saw, completely different ride to Andrew, William, and Kevin.  A really good star for the future, good example of GB program at work.

Philip Brun – Two refusals at second duck at first water, then third stop at brush coming out.

Very frustrating not to see Colleen at all except for sailing over last fence – 28 time and clear and instead had to see an elimination and a retirement and a stop early on.  Annoying!  Colleen & Shiraz now four for four at four stars – only (!) Badminton and Adelaide to go to complete the set!

Marecelo Tosi – Slow and struggling from the get go!

John Paul Sheffield – Cadoc Z  was impressive through the first water but then a stop at second water at the first part of the bounce in, also stop here for Joe Wise and High Handed who was pulled up later for minor nose bleed.

Horsewares Parko – Cracking round, played safe with long route third water, smart riding.

Didier Dhenin – Eliminated at first water, tripped out step coming out, horse trod on rider’s leg.

Nichloas Wettstien – Long route 2nd water, on lovely horse Onzieme Framoni, plain noseband and snaffle, no martingale.  Disappointing 20 quite late in the course (25b).

Kai-Steffen Meier – Living dangerously first water, needs to gather up knitting!

Caroline Powell – Lovely through first water on Onwards and Upwards.  Such a quiet yet effective rider, incredibly economical on lines, one of the fastest in the world, yet also so stylish.  Absolutely beautiful round to watch.

ODT Sonas Rovatio – Completely misses step out of first water, chests it, catapults Oliver Townend out of saddle.  He vaults back on very neatly pony club games style for walk back home.

Laurence Hunt’s On Q for Gold – Looked a bit sticky to start off with, lots of “encouragement” at first water vocally, and slaps down the shoulder in between fences.  Hard work every minute but funnily enough looked much easier as soon as they turned towards home!

Hippolyte and Bill Levett – Set off very quick but ducked out at second duck going into first water.

Merel Blom and Rumor Has It – Very lucky moment over 3 and stuck on well and survived to take long route 4.  Very bold first water, and in fact all way round. Luckily seems to have great partnership with horse, gets away with it, knows him inside out and vice versa, still taking fliers even at very end.  Took a couple of long routes.

Didn’t see Canadian Lindsey Traisnel (ne Pearce) except for stop at Kiosks after which they retired.

Jock and Promise – Took the flag at the corner at 4 but didn’t look chancy.  Another great partnership, super bold horse beautifully ridden by Jock.  Very fast, Jock seems to anticipate every move.  Jock has instinctive feel.

Kenki Sato – Quite keen after second water.  Still looking strong at third water, Kenki riding really well.  Very disappointing to have a stop at second part of kiosks (24) and then seemed to tire quite quickly near the end.

Astier Nicholas – Huge applause as they set out.  Well ridden first water, very positive, slipping and sliding a bit and a bit all over the place, then reorganized before continuing in a much tidier fashion.

Major Milestone – Clipped the top rail of the hedge at 19 coming off the racetrack and no chance of staying up.  Looked like a soft fall in the mud but very annoying nonetheless.

Chris Burton and Underdiscussion – Just ran past corner at 4.  Looked like it was gong to happen early, then looked nice the rest of the way round after they moved down a gear until third water jump where they retired

Quirinal de la Bastide – Had a stop at 2nd duck  first water, and grapes later.

Michael Jung – Very quick but took long way at the second water very smoothly.  Such a soft rider, and yet very strong and fast. Stays out of his horse’s way unless needed but then very strong and effective. Smooth ride to watch even though the horse got quite strong and might not have looked so nice with any other rider.

Andreas Dibowski’s Butts Avedon changed his mind last minute about first water, had both legs down bank, somehow clambered back up.  Jumped in on 2nd attempt then retired.

Bay My Hero – Took flag at 4, but William was amazing through first water and then gradually stepped up the acceleration a notch as he went on despite never looking hurried. Horse looked a tiny bit tired and longer/strung out at end, but William such a master at keeping him together, keeping him confident, and keeping the rhythm.

Both William and Michael look so calm and quiet, yet at the same time instil confidence in their horses (and fans, me!).  Such a treat to watch them both ride.  Both save so much energy around the course for their horses, both by economical lines, but also by doing so little on top of their horses.

Waredaca Novice and Training 3-Day Event Diary:  Day 3

Throwin’ the deuces while walking steeplechase….

From Yvette:

Hey EN!  Endurance day has come and is almost gone, and I just have one thing to say…

Classic format is still as exhilarating as I remember it…maybe even more so.

The weather was perfect for endurance day – overcast, low 60s – and Tremaine Cooper’s cross country courses were divine.  The Training riders started the day, with my new BFF (blog friend forever) Grace Fulton paving the way. I had the opportunity to watch her 2 second-under steeplechase run, which made me all antsy and want to get on with my OWN rides…

Back in the stable area, there were hot debates about the best way to mark your time points on your arm, and how much information you actually needed.  While I keep it simple (Phase, number of gates, and time points), I think some people copied Anna Karenina on their forearms!  Vet box newbies (including my parents) were briefed on what would happen in the box and plans were made regarding who would be in charge of what for cool down.

I was the first Novice rider on course with my 14 HH little fireball, Finders Keepers.  He was very excited to be out on Roads & Tracks and was very handy in terms of making the 4 minute K markers.  Steeplechase was great – took him 2 hurdles to get the hang of it (including an ungraceful, but effective stuff to get over fence 1).  By the third fence, he was flying them like a little pro.  I even sort of had brakes and steering at the end…SWEET!  My vet box team was very capably led by Ann Adams, an Area II Adult Rider/Graduate HA Pony Clubber/Generally smart and competent individual.  Super Pony came down and was cleared within 2.5 minutes.  As I expected, the whole vet box thing didn’t phase him…in fact, I think I saw him nuzzle the vet’s pocket to check for peppermints (he’s spoiled.)  After the longest 10 minutes EVER, we were off on Phase D, where the little boy gave me a great ride (helmet cam!).

Soon after crossing into the final vet box with Twix, I had to go back to the barns and get ready to do it all again on Roger Rabbit.  Within 20 minutes of crossing the cross country finish line with the porse, I was back out there on Roads and Tracks.  It was kind of…awesome!  Anyway, Phase B with Roger was pretty special – there is NOTHING like galloping a Thoroughbred over steeplechase hurdles!  Roger was thrilled to open his stride and really show off for the spectators on the rail.

When Roger left the 10min box to head to the start box, I had a feeling that he would give me a great ride.  Knowing it would be the last time I would see my jumps framed by the most perfect grey ears (helmet cam!) got me a little choked up.  My fellow competitors cheered us out to the start box, and I could just feel Roger puff up with pride.  Roger did not disappoint, giving me one of the strongest and bold (okay, and a little on the quick side) rounds we’ve had.  Like the pony, he recovered quickly, so I was doubly pleased.

In fact, I’m still on an XC buzz 12 hours later, BUT…I should crash a little bit so that Roger, Twix and I look fresh as daisies for tomorrow’s jog at 8 am (ugh).  ‘Til tomorrow!

Photo via Uptown Eventing's facebook page

After two competitive days of dressage, cross-country at Pau is likely to shake up the leader board– with such tight scores, time penalties are bound to be influential.  American hopes lie with Buck Davidson, who sits just inside the top 15 on Ballynoe Castle.  Colleen and Shiraz are a bit farther down on a score of 62.2, but a typical clean cross-country run could move them up. Though we are quite a distance (and 6 hours behind) from Pau, there are many ways to follow along at home:

[Full scoring info from worldsporttiming.com]

[Live scores]

[Start times PDF]

Live streaming available on  Equidia,  France 3 WebTV, and FEI TV (not free).

Check out Uptown Eventing’s facebook page for photos of dressage and other happenings at Pau.

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The CIC2* cross-country starts at 8:45am local (2:45am EST); the CCI4* cross-country starts at 1:00pm local (7:00am EST).

Colleen and Luke are set to start at 2:02pm local (8:02am EST), right after Vicky Madsen and By Crikey.  Canadian Lindsay Traisnel and Saniki goes off at 3:19pm local (9:19am EST).  Buck and Reggie go at 3:54pm local (9:54am EST).

*******

If you have the CourseWalk app on your phone, you can easily access both the CCI4* and the CIC2* courses through that app, or you can also see them on your computer, through the CourseWalk website. You can click on each and every numbered fence to see a picture and description!

[CCI4* Coursewalk]  [CIC2* Coursewalk]

Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM, photo by Samantha Clark

The leaderboard has shifted quite a bit from yesterday as dressage has concluded at Pau.  Overnight leader William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning have been bumped all the way down to 13th.  Dressage extraordinaire Christopher Burton is in first with Underdiscussion, scoring a brilliant 34.8.  Jonathan Paget and Clifton Promise sit second on 36.7, just ahead of Michael Jung in third with Leopin FST on 38.3.  American Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM had a super test to tie them with Andrew Nicholson and Mr Cruise Control (45.7) to sit in 14th.  Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz are near the bottom of the pack on a 62.2.  It’s shaping up to be a very competitive weekend.

Canadian Kathryn Robinson and Let It Bee were apparently eliminated in dressage.  Nicky Roncoroni (competing in the CCI4* with Trig Point) said on Twitter yesterday that the elimination was allegedly due to haylage wrapped around the bit of Let It Bee.  EN commenter EventingBrit says the Canadians planned to appeal that decision this morning.  No word yet on the outcome.

Just moved up to 7th, a rider above eliminated for allegedly wrapping haylage around the horses bit…???

— Nicky Roncoroni (@nbreventing) October 25, 2012

Pau CCI4* Top 10 after dressage  [full results]  [worldsporttiming.com]

1		UNDERDISCUSSION	CHRISTOPHER BURTON		34.8
2		CLIFTON PROMISE	JONATHAN PAGET		36.7
3		LEOPIN FST	MICHAEL JUNG		38.3
4		NEREO	ANDREW NICHOLSON		39.0
5		JHAKTI DU JANLIE	ASTIER NICOLAS		39.5
6		IMPERIAL CAVALIER	MARY KING		39.8
7		HIPPOLYTE	BILL LEVETT		41.3
8		BAY MY HERO	WILLIAM FOX – PITT		41.7
8		LAMICELL CHARIZARD	KARIN DONCKERS		41.7
10		CHIPPIEH	KENKI SATO		41.8