Photo courtesy of Tilly Berendt Media.

Since protests erupted around the world in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, EN’s British correspondent Tilly Berendt has had her foot on the petrol, committed to making a difference both within our sport and beyond. Her activism isn’t limited to the words she writes but is also evident in her actions, the latest of which is her launch of a limited range of t-shirts and sweatshirts. 100% of the profits from their sale goes to equestrian access programs such as Ebony Horse Club (London), The Urban Equestrian Academy (Leicester), Compton Cowboy Jr. Posse (California) and more. Also, each sale buys a book for Saddle Up and Read, a North Carolina-based literacy program that gets kids in the library and in the saddle.

The idea for the shirts has its roots in Tilly’s June 15 edition of Monday News & Notes. The post featured photos from a horseback-led Black Lives Matter demonstration in Compton, California, as published in the New York Times. Hanging from one horse trailer, penned in marker on a piece of cardboard, was the message “Racism Ain’t Cowboy.”

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Tapping into a long tradition, black cowboys are taking to the streets. This past Sunday in Compton, Calif., a group of black men and women known as the Compton Cowboys led a peaceful protest through the streets with Mayor Aja Brown. As hundreds of people marched alongside, the cowboys rode with their fists raised in the air, yelling, “No justice, no peace,” as the music of Kendrick Lamar, also from Compton, blared in the background. Around the country, hundreds of other black cowboys and cowgirls have joined in the protests over the death of George Floyd and against police violence and racism. Their presence is a reclaiming of sorts of the traditional role of mounted riders in demonstrations. Historically, horses have been used by military units and law enforcement as a way to show authority — their visibility and height seen as a symbol of power. The @comptoncowboys grew out of a group of 10 friends who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s — one of the city’s most violent and chaotic eras. They learned about horses on Richland Farms, an agricultural community in the heart of Compton. Many of them have talked about what it means to be a black cowboy in one of the world’s most stigmatized communities, and how horses provide salvation from past trauma and safety from police violence. Randy Hook, in the 2nd photo, saddled his horse that day for a larger cause, he said: “I could cry, and I never imagined anything like this. We’re making our family proud, our ‘hood proud, and our city proud.” Keiara Wade, the only woman in the Compton Cowboys, in the 6th photo, expressed similar emotions. “These horses feel whatever we feel, and they are hurting right now because we are hurting right now, too,” Ms. Wade said. “There is so much love and unity within the black cowboy and cowgirl community. We’re just trying to bring that energy to these marches in a peaceful way.” Tap the link in our bio to read more from @mychivas. Photos by @kaylareefer.

A post shared by The New York Times (@nytimes) on Jun 9, 2020 at 2:25pm PDT

Tilly dug into the history of Black cowboys in the American west.

“Think about cowboys – what comes to mind? It’s John Wayne hunting down injuns (problematic), it’s Budweiser at the rodeo, it’s Toby Keith putting a boot in yer ass, ‘coz it’s the American way, right? ​

“But here’s the thing: the idea we’ve all got of American cowboy culture is all wrong. In fact, the wild, wild west was pretty damn, well, black.

“Before the abolition of slavery, many slaves in the southern and western states were taught typical ranching skills – they learned to ride, to rope, to patrol fence lines and tend cattle. The only difference between what they did and what their white compatriots did? The white ones got paid. But then the Civil War happened, and white Confederate ranchers were conscripted into the war efforts en masse, heading into battle to fight for their “right” to keep slaves. Spoiler alert: they lost. Even bigger spoiler: while they were away, their cattle – you know, the thing that earned them the big bucks – had sacked them off with much the same enthusiasm as their newly-freed ex-slaves. The ranchers were, in a word, screwed – their staff numbers were way down, their retirement fund was mooing off into the sunset, and the white lads they’d normally hire had all gotten themselves killed in service of the world’s worst cause. There was only one option left.

“So that’s how tending America’s ranches and leaning hard into cowboy life became one of the earliest ways for a free Black man to earn a living after the Civil War – in fact, around 25% of cowboys were Black, though the extraordinary whitewashing that Hollywood gleefully undertook has told you a very different story. As it happens, Django wasn’t quite as much of a fairytale as you might have thought.

“These days, the Black cowboy is one of the most enduring symbols of the ongoing human rights movement, thanks in large part to organisations such as the Compton Cowboys, and individuals such as Brianna Noble, who rode her horse Dapper Dan into urban Oakland to take a peaceful stand against police brutality and systemic racism. All over the country – and beyond! – mounted protesters have raised their fists and demanded better from the world. Once again, the horse has become a conduit for freedom.” Read more here.

Photo courtesy of Tilly Berendt Media.

Equestrian sport is one of the final frontiers to tackle in the push for diversity, representation and inclusion, and the onus is on us all to do our part. Your purchase of one of these limited edition slogan tops can help encourage the next generation of BIPOC cowboys and cowgirls — you can do so at the “Racism Ain’t Cowboy” website here.

Photo courtesy of Tilly Berendt Media.

It’s miserable enough out there in the sauna that is a mid-July horse trials, even without a face mask that makes it seem tenfold hotter. The Sunday forecast is showing highs of 84 for Genesee Valley Hunt H.T. (Geneseo, NY); a high of 90 for Maryland H.T. II at Loch Moy Farm; a high of 94 for the War Horse Event Series H.T. (Raeford, NC); and a high of 96 at Poplar Place in Hamilton, Georgia. 84 (Geneseo, NY). Champagne Run H.T. (Lexington, KY) endured a temp of near 90 on Saturday but looks to be getting a merciful reprieve today (well, if you call scattered thunderstorms and 80 degrees a reprieve?)

Summer temps + horse trials + face mask = I’m sweating just scrolling through your Instagram pics. I know it’s incredibly uncomfortable, but thank you for doing your part dutifully and without complaint, for the health of yourself and others, and for our sport.

A few of your mask pics from the weekend:

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Support the Kentucky Horse Park today! Make a $10 contribution to the KHP Foundation for a special edition face mask! Order: www.khpfoundation.org #khpfoundation #kyhorsepark

A post shared by KHP Foundation (@kentucky_horse_park_foundation) on Jul 10, 2020 at 7:47am PDT

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another mask picture but this time toby had to steal my hat and wear a mask too 🤪

A post shared by jaycee vanesky (@jaycee.vanesky) on Jul 11, 2020 at 4:48pm PDT

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the only good thing about wearing a mask is not having to smile for pictures 🙃

A post shared by jaycee vanesky (@jaycee.vanesky) on Jul 9, 2020 at 1:06pm PDT

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#coursewalk #covid style. Thanks to our awesome #barnfamily for keeping everyone safe by wearing their 😷masks😷 so we can all EVENT!!! #FUCovid #eventing #usea #xc #poplarplacefarm

A post shared by Go With It Farm (@gowithitfarm) on Jul 10, 2020 at 4:30pm PDT

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So happy we got to stop and see Claire and Ivan kill their dressage test this morning! Good luck to all of our clients competing at Champagne Run this weekend! 🐴🏆💫

A post shared by Drs Heather & Holly (@foxwoodequine) on Jul 10, 2020 at 5:18am PDT

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Teamwork makes the dream work at CEC! 😃 #pleasestandstillforonesecond #babyhorse #thestruggle

A post shared by Columbia Equestrian Center (@columbiaequestriancenter) on Jul 10, 2020 at 12:00pm PDT

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Oh yeah we are ready!!! @eliterhythmeventing @eventing_a_marshmallow

A post shared by Chrissy West (@chrissy_rides_dragons) on Jul 10, 2020 at 7:30am PDT

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Saddlebreds proving they can JUMP!

A post shared by Columbia Equestrian Center (@columbiaequestriancenter) on Jul 11, 2020 at 9:26am PDT

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The Meatloaf. #eventing #eventer #ottbtraining #thoroughbred #thoroughbredsofinstagram #horses #equestrian #HummingbirdsTHEmeatloaf #ahorsenamedmeatloaf

A post shared by Amy Nelson Eventer Official (@amynelsoneventer) on Jul 12, 2020 at 4:41am PDT

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We did it! One phase left.

A post shared by Ramblin Jo (@ramblin_jo) on Jul 12, 2020 at 5:24am PDT

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Wearing is caring! We look forward to seeing all of our competitors this weekend at the Southern Pines Equine Associates War Horse Event Series! Thank you for respecting the health regulations mandated by the USEA, USEF and the state of North Carolina. Kick on!

A post shared by Carolina Horse Park (@carolinahorsepark) on Jul 9, 2020 at 7:17am PDT

That’s #eventerstrong to the core. Go Eventing!

We are very sorry to hear that Some Like It Hot, a 19-year-old Thoroughbred mare contesting the Starter division at Winona H.T., collapsed and died while on cross country.

The USEA released the following statement:

“The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is sad to report that Some Like It Hot collapsed and died on Saturday, July 4 at the Winona Horse Trials in Hanoverton, Ohio. Some Like It Hot was a 19-year-old Thoroughbred mare of unrecorded breeding owned by Ellie Celarek.

“Tamar Lask was riding Some Like It Hot in the Starter division when the horse collapsed and died while approaching fence 9 on the cross-country course. The rider was unhurt. An investigation into Some Like It Hot’s death is ongoing and the results will be reported to the USEA’s Safety Committee as part of the USEA Cardiopulmonary Research Study.”

We share our condolences to all of Some Like It Hot’s connections.

[Some Like It Hot (2001-2020)]

Photo courtesy of FLAIR.

Happy Fourth of July! These colors don’t run — they gallop. To celebrate, we’ve teamed up with our friends at FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips to give away two packs of American flag strips. 

FLAIR® Strips are drug-free, self-adhesive nasal strips that support horses’ nasal passages and promote optimum respiratory health of equine athletes, in all disciplines and every level of competition.

The Strips are clinically proven to help horses:

How to enter: Share a photo of your horse showing off its American pride in the Facebook comments section of this post OR email it to [email protected]. Entries are open throughout the weekend, July 4 through midnight on July 5. From red, white and blue cross country colors to, I don’t know, video of your horses recreating the musical Hamilton in the barn aisle, anything goes!

Go Eventing.

Update 7/8: The entry deadline has been extended by one week to midnight on Friday, July 17. Read more here.

Update 7/2: Wow, the donations just keep coming. Thank you, Hannah Hawkins, for making another $1,000 available toward elevating minority voices and giving deserving riders a leg up! Read more here. As the Scholarship amount is now five times the original amount, we are in the process of reevaluating how the funds will be distributed to applicants.

Update 7/1: We are happy to share that five-star eventer Katherine Coleman has pledged to double the new amount of $2,000, bringing the total to $4,000! Read more here.

Update 6/30: We are happy to share that Stable View in Aiken, SC, has pledged to match NM’s original Diversity Scholarship award amount of $1,000, bringing the total to $2,000. Thanks to the generosity of Barry and Cyndy Olliff, we will now be able to award the 1st place winner $1,000 and two runners-up a sum of $500. Read more here.

Update 6/27: We thank our readers for sharing feedback with us — we hear you! It is the mission of this Scholarship to call for, encourage, elevate and immediately give a platform to minority voices in a space where they are underrepresented. With the help of your input, we have made some changes. It’s not perfect and it’s certainly not enough money (like many businesses, Nation Media has taken a big hit in recent months). But we humbly submit this Scholarship as a small contribution toward real change, with much more work still to be done in the future. Read more here.

Randy Ward and Grando. Photo by Jenni Autry.

“We as a horse community need to grow, to reach new audiences and to introduce another generation of riders to keep our sport going strong. A diverse equestrian community is a strong equestrian community, and it’s time to open the doors of opportunity to all.” — former Horse Nation editor Kristen Kovatch

The Nation Media family, comprised of websites Eventing Nation, Jumper Nation and Horse Nation, has been working hard to highlight the importance of racial equality, and we have been encouraged by the messages of inclusiveness that have reverberated throughout our equestrian community.

Today we are excited to announce Nation Media’s 1st Annual $1,000 Diversity Scholarship, with the funds to be divided as follows: 1st – $500, 2nd- $300, 3rd – $200. [Update 7/1: As the Scholarship amount has quadrupled since it was launched, we are in the process of reevaluating how the funds will be distributed to applicants.]

All minority equestrians of all disciplines are invited to apply. The Scholarship may be used any in way that the recipient desires to further their riding career, be it educational opportunities, competition entry fees or equipment/tack.

Applicants are invited to submit, via essay or video, a contribution to the discussion of diversity and inclusion in equestrian sport. This is your space to use however you wish, and we are listening.

Please submit entries to [email protected]. The deadline for applications is Friday, July 10, 2020. There is no word minimum or maximum. After the Scholarship recipients have been announced, we will be honored to share entries on EN throughout the summer with permission.

Go Diversity. Go Eventing!

Will Faudree and Pfun, winners of the Advanced division at Millbrook H.T. in 2019. Photo by Abby Powell.

We’ll have to wait until 2021 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Millbrook Horse Trials. The event’s Board of Directors announced this morning that this year’s event, scheduled for July 30 through Aug. 2 in Armenia, NY, has been canceled.

From Millbrook’s Facebook page:

“The Board of Directors unanimously decided today that it cannot proceed with this year’s competition. While several weeks ago we took hope from improving conditions in our area and a broadly positive spirit in the country, recent events have led us to the conclusion that the interests of the communities we support will not be best served by holding the event this year. All of our efforts to this point have been directed toward hosting a safe and successful competition, but the recent increase in the spread of the coronavirus, related new regulatory restrictions, and the impact this has had on support within our communities has convinced us that we should not proceed.

“This is a great disappointment to us individually and as organizers of the event, as we know it will be to many who have been looking forward to Millbrook, with its full slate of competitive divisions, especially this year. We are determined, however, that the support and energy that was to have gone into this year’s event will be turned to making MHT 2021 even better, as we proceed with our plans to begin making substantial upgrades in the coming years.

“We are thankful especially to all who have so generously contributed to our effort this year. While we have incurred expenses in preparation for this year’s event, we have decided to refund all paid competitor entries in full (minus credit card fees), to refund or make applicable to MHT 2021 all sponsorship payments, and to refund contributions. Should you wish to do so, we will gratefully accept any amounts contributed as fully tax deductible donations for this year’s expenses.

“With our thanks for your support and in anticipation of 2021,
The Millbrook Horse Trials Board of Directors”

On Tuesday of this week, HITS Saugerties received a cease-and-desist order from the state health department for its Vermont Summer Special horse show scheduled to take place this week. New York has stated that horse shows are not restricted starting July 6, providing that this COVID-19 protocol is followed.

Executive Order Number 205, which went into effect June 24, requires a mandatory quarantine for those arriving from states with high infection rates. This order imposes a 14-day quarantine for, “All travelers entering New York from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10% test positivity rate, over a seven day rolling average.”

New Jersey and Connecticut have similar executive orders. This travel advisory currently affects sixteen states:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Arizona
• California
• Florida
• Georgia
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• Nevada
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah

We are happy to share that Stable View has pledged to match NM’s original Diversity Scholarship award amount of $1,000, bringing the total to $2,000.

Thanks to the generosity of Barry and Cyndy Olliff, we will now be able to award the 1st place winner $1,000 and two runners-up a sum of $500. The Scholarship calls for contributions to the discussion about diversity and inclusion in equestrian sport from minority equestrians — you can view full details here.

“We built Stable View to be a Gathering Place,” Barry says, yet notes that there is an imbalance in the racial profile of those who gather there. He says he is troubled when he looks around and sees majority white competitors and spectators knowing that Aiken demographic is 33% African American. He also recognizes that educating oneself is a first step toward building an equestrian community that is diverse and inclusive of all races and ethnicities, and sees the Scholarship as an opportunity to listen and learn.

“We’d like to learn,” he says. “You can’t instruct — this is all about learning. It’s about trying to work out what it is we’re missing.”

Financial support is one small step toward dismantling the systemic disadvantages of being non-white, particularly in a sport as expensive as equestrian. “We have to ask how we can make it affordable for those who want to be part of it,” Barry says.

“White youngsters have got many opportunities if they want to work hard,” he says. “Minority youth can work just as hard but not have access to the opportunities.”

It is our sincere hope that this Scholarship gives some deserving equestrians a leg-up while encouraging, elevating and giving a platform to minority voices. We thank Stable View for its continued support of the equestrian community.