We try to start your mornings off right by beginning every single News and Notes post with a brief discussion about an interesting/relevant topic, usually related to eventing. Today we get to take a look back at, in my opinion, the greatest event horse in history. Charisma, who stood just 15.3 hh, was mostly thoroughbred (a tiny part Percheron), and he was nicknamed “Podge” because he loved food. Apparently, Charisma would eat any type of bedding except for newspaper.
Mark Todd started riding Charisma in 1983, and they finished second at Badminton just a year later and then scored shocking victory at the LA Olymics in ’84. Charisma placed second again at Badminton (’85), second at Burghley (’87), and then dominated the 1988 Olympics, winning Gold by 10 points. Charisma was the second event horse in history to win back-to-back individual Olympic Gold medals, after Charles de Mortanges and Marcroix (NED) in 1928 and 1932. In one of my favorite quotes ever, after Charisma retired, Mark Todd said “he is so tiny, I wonder how he achieved so much.” One of my dogs is named after Charisma (‘Chrisy’ for short) because I was reading Mark Todd’s autobiography, So Far, So Good when I bought her. Chrisy turns 9 years old today. Now for some very quick eventing news and notes…
–Matthias Rath has announced that Moorlands Totilas will be staying at Paul Shockemohle’s barn to stand stud until the spring. Rath is regularly traveling to ride Totilas but he will have to wait until later this spring to compete him. As Annie mentioned over the weekend, the first time the public will get to see Rath riding Totilas will be a February 6th exhibition. [H&C]
–A New York woman has been arrested for stealing a saddle. Like most criminals, this woman was caught because she is stupid. And if there is one thing I hate more than criminals, it’s stupid criminals. So let’s take a quick moment to guess how the saddle thief was caught by looking at the top three mistakes by stupid criminals:
A) She left her wallet at the scene of the crime
B) She sold her stolen goods online
C) She forgot about the security cameras
The answer is B; the shop owners noticed the saddle for sale on an online auction site. The woman was working at the store at the time of the crime and she faces felony larceny charges. [Poughkeepsie Journal]
–Newly engaged Zara Phillips will start the Golden Button Challenge, which is a three mile cross-country horse race in Gloucestershire. Zara will also start a human running race which follows right after that. Yes indeed, the news is just that slow this morning. [Horse and Hound]
–Courtney King-Dye didn’t make it to the helmet symposium on Saturday because she was feeling ill. [Courtney’s website]
–VIDEO from Riders4Helmets: [Allison Springer], and [Sara Ike]
—Best of the Blogs: 100% stone-cold scientific evidence that Eventing Nation Karma exists
–Four police horses who were laid off (can horses be ‘laid off’?) due to budget cuts from Newark have found new jobs working for the newly reinstated Philadelphia mounted police. [Philly.com]
–I’m the kind of guy who never realized that yesterday was 1-11-11 until just now.
–Last but not least, check out Ecogold’s Secrets of Success in 14 Steps.
That’s all for now, check back with Eventing Nation throughout the day for much more. See you soon…
