Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High at Kentucky CCI4* 2017. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
The Equestrian Canada Eventing Committee announced the 2018 Eventing High Performance Squad today. Riders and horses were selected based on FEI results from the 2017 competition season.
“The Canadian athletes had a strong season in 2017 at the international 2*, 3* and 4* levels. 2017 also marked the first year of our strategic partnership with the eventing data analytics company, EquiRatings. This proved to be a valuable investment both for athletes and the High Performance Advisory Group,” Dr. Rob Stevenson, Chair of the EC Eventing High Performance Advisory Group, said.
“We are fortunate to once again have David O’Connor providing technical guidance to our athletes. Given the success he has had with the Canadian team in the past, we feel this bodes well for 2018. At this time, we believe we have the horses and athletes, the leadership, and the strategy that should yield strong results in 2018 and beyond.”
National Squad
Colleen Loach (Dunham, Quebec) and Peter and Susan Barry’s Qorry Blue d’Argouges
Selena O’Hanlon (Kingston, Ontario) and John and Judy Rumble’s Foxwood High
Jessica Phoenix (Cannington, Ontario) and Don Good’s Pavarotti
Kathryn Robinson (Kettering, Great Britain) and her own and Gayle Robinson’s Let It Bee
Development Squad
Hawley Bennett-Awad (Aldergrove, British Columbia) and her own Jollybo
Lindsay Beer (Springwater, Ontario) and her own Kennystown Frankie
Dana Cooke (Mooresville, North Carolina) with Kingfisher Park’s Mississippi and Kingfisher Park’s FE Stormtrooper
Lisa Marie Fergusson (Langley, British Columbia) and her own Honor Me
Sabrina Glaser (Langley, British Columbia) and Patricia Yust’s Rembrandt
Rebecca Howard (Marlborough, Great Britain) and Blithe Hill Farm’s Riddle Master
Lesley Grant-Law (Ocala, Florida) and her own Harthill Diamond
Brandon McMechan (Toronto, Ontario) and his own Oscar’s Wild
Jessica Phoenix (Cannington, Ontario) and Amara Hoppner’s Bogue Sound
Waylon Roberts (West Grove, Pennsylvania) with Anthony Connelly & Skye Levely’s Kelecyn Cognac, Michelle & John Koppin’s Lancaster and Anthony Connolly & Skye Levely’s Mindful
The site of the 2018 USEA American Eventing Championships. Photo courtesy of Colorado Horse Park
Area IX has rallied to fill the 2018 USEA calendar following the Colorado Horse Park’s announcement that the venue is canceling three horse trials this year in order to concentrate on hosting the American Eventing Championships this fall, Aug. 29-Sept. 2 in Parker, Colorado.
“We canceled the events as we want to put all our resources into the AEC,” Michael Stone, president of Equestrian Sport Productions, told EN. “We want to ensure that the AEC are the best they can be and that is our priority. Unfortunately, we have to manage our resources, and we had to take the difficult decision to cancel the other events. We will still do some eventing derbies, and the dates will be announced shortly.
The Colorado Horse Park canceled the May 31-June 3 event with a CCI2*, CIC2* CCI1* and National levels from Introductory to Intermediate; the Aug 9-12 event with National levels from Beginner Novice to Advanced, in addition to Novice and Training Three-Days; and the Sep 21-23 event with National levels from Intro to Preliminary.
Area IX Chair Deeda Randle received notification of the canceled events in mid-December. “The August date was always going to be canceled due to the USEA policy of a hosting venue not running an event at least 30 days prior to the AEC,” she said in a memo to Area IX eventers. “This AEC in Colorado will also host non-championship divisions. That means they will run a National level horse trials in conjunction with the AEC.”
While the Colorado Horse Park will still host non-championship Open divisions alongside the AEC, the larger concern for Area IX riders became having enough opportunities on the calendar to qualify for the championships, especially at Preliminary level.
The Area IX council submitted an emergency proposal to the USEA Board of Governors and Executive Committee prior to Christmas and received unanimous approval to make two changes to the 2018 calendar.
The Event at Archer will now host an additional competition in Cheyenne, Wyoming to fill the May 31-June 3 date with Starter to Preliminary levels. Power Basin Horse Trials will also add a Preliminary division to the July 7-8 event in Gillette, Wyoming.
“The addition of Archer, Powder Basin Preliminary and the Open division running at AEC means that we have the same number of Preliminary competitions on the Area IX calendar as originally scheduled for 2018,” Deeda said. “We are short one horse trials in total from what was scheduled in 2018.”
The Event at Archer hosted its first USEA recognized horse trials in 2017 with levels offered through Training. With the addition of Preliminary now approved for Archer’s June event, Allison Murphy and other members of the organizing committee are scrambling to raise $30,000 to build a Preliminary course ahead of the June date. Donations are being taken through GoFundMe.
While the changes to the calendar are providing critical opportunities for Area IX riders to qualify for the AEC, especially at Preliminary level, young riders in the area are still missing an event to qualify for the FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships due to the cancellation of the CCI2* and CCI1* at the Colorado Horse Park.
“We do not have access to another venue in Area IX that is able to host such competition on short notice,” Deeda said. “The qualifying time frame for NAJYRC is short, but there are still several CCIs in which to qualify that are in Texas and California. The added expense of travel and the time off of work and school make it unhandy, but still possible to qualify.”
Click here to view the 2018 Area IX competition calendar. Complete information on the additional competition at Archer Farms and the addition of Preliminary level at Powder Basin will be available shortly.
“I would really like to thank all of the Area IX council for stepping up and finding solutions to this loss of competition problem. I would also like to thank the USEA Board of Governors and Executive Committee for expediting the process of allowing for these emergency changes to the Area IX 2018 calendar,” Deeda said.
“Think about what you can do as an individual to support our existing events and organizers. Our demands, needs and expectations as riders have become more sophisticated. These changes are expensive to produce. Every show has its breaking point, be it financial, hours in the day, venue constraints or simply growing old. Remember that by far and away eventing is a labor of love on all fronts.”
On Oct. 11, 2009, EN founder/publisher John sat down at his computer and wrote the following post, the first of over 20,000 more that would be published on his fledgling website in the near-decade to follow. Nine years later, while much has changed, it is our greatest hope that John’s original mission statement still rings true. –the EN team
Hello World!
…or, as I should say, “Hello Eventing Nation!”
As a brief introduction, my name is John. I have four kids, in the form of two wonderful Event horses and two beautiful German Shepherds.
My puppy, Elsa, is nearly six months old and has spent many long hours laying by my computer desk, helping me to design and develop Eventing Nation. It’s pretty safe to consider her the brains behind the operation. Now, on this, the 11th of October 2009, we are very proud to launch our creation.
Our goal at Eventing Nation is to serve the Eventing community by providing convenient and comprehensive access to our great sport. Eventing Nation is the World’s first Eventing news and content aggregator, meaning that we will bring the best Eventing content from throughout the Internet directly onto our homepage. In the coming months and years, we hope that Eventing Nation will become a forum for Eventing’s great thinkers and ideas.
Ultimately, you, the citizenry of Eventing Nation will shape the direction of this site by telling us what you like and what needs changing. Eventing Nation is going to grow rapidly over the next several weeks with respect to features and content, so stay tuned. And, throughout all of this, I promise that we are going to have some fun along the way!
Finally, a special thanks to all of the people who have helped to make Eventing Nation possible. From the novice riders I pressed for content suggestions to some of our sport’s greatest veterans who offered words of encouragement and support, thanks. Most importantly, thank you for being one of Eventing Nation’s very first citizens, we would be honored if you return sometime soon.
“Gallop poll,” haha. Get it? Bad puns aside, it’s time for the smart, good-looking citizens of Eventing Nation to stand up and be counted.
The EN team is on an eternal quest to make this the best eventing website in the land, and the more we know about our readership the better we can shape the site into exactly what YOU want it to be. Help us out by answering 10 quick questions about yourself — it only takes a minute and we’ll send you a great big heaping scoop of EN karma in return!
Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in our survey. Karma’s in the mail!
Many eventers have encountered a special horse, had a breakthrough competition, or experienced a revelation during training that changed … well … everything. In a new weekly series presented by Attwood Equestrian Surfaces, eventers share their ah-ha! moments. This week Will Faudree, whose Gavilan Farm includes an Attwood Ameritrack nine-furlong gallop, recollects a piece of advice that would shape the career of his four-star mount Pawlow.
Will Faudree and Pawlow. Photo by Allie Conrad.
When I think of an ah-ha moment that helped shaped my career my mind goes down a path similar to the one Alice traveled … filled with trials and tribulations that have helped shaped who I am as a human. It’s hard to bring it down to just one but I do have one in particular that currently sits in bold.
At Jersey Fresh in 2005 I was sitting with my dear friend and mentor, Amy Tryon. She was telling me about a young horse she had that she thought would be a good match for me. Off I went to Washington where I met Ernie — better known as Pawlow. Fast forward to 2008, I was being spun at the first jog at Kentucky with the incomparable Antigua (it really was just an abcess) where I was again talking to Amy trying to sell Ernie as an equitation horse because I didn’t think he had four-star potential. In Amy’s perfect form she looked at me and said, “Why? He runs, he jumps, he moves — learn to ride him better.”
Will Faudree and Pawlow. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Flashback to 2006 where I was sitting at Jane Murray’s surprise 50th birthday party when the great Karen Stives congratulated me on the WEGs and told me not to expect my next horse to fill his (Antigua’s) shoes. Back to the tearful Kentucky jog … I thought to myself, well, he (Ernie) is going Intermediate, I should take him to a two-star and then decide, I didn’t have any other horses keeping me busy. Skip on to that autumn when Ernie finished in the top 10 (I think he was 4th or 6th) in the Fair Hill two-star and I was elated with him and hopeful for his future.
November 2008 was a hard month for me. I did close on my new and current Gavilan farm property which was exciting and scary all at the same time, but lost my sister to cancer on the 22nd, which is a grief I can not convey in words. But now I had a farm, some young horses, a recently retired Antigua, and a very fancy two-star horse that I had to sell.
Will Faudree and Pawlow. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Two weeks after Kristen died I reluctantly went to Holly Hill in Louisiana to teach a clinic, where I met the preeminent Jennifer Mosing — which is an ah-ha moment in itself. I spoke to several people about Ernie and the need to sell him but did not want to with the form he had shown me after my ah-ha moment at the tearful Kentucky jog … two weeks after that Ernie had a new last name and by fate I got to keep riding him.
Little did I know then what a “ride” he would take Jennifer and I on, and who all he would put in the hospital while attempting being clipped. He moved up to Advanced, went to England, had colic surgery, gave me my first ever FEI victory, tackled Kentucky with a vengeance, had colic surgery again, stormed around Luhmuhlen, fell at Aachen:/, put me on some short list, took me back to Europe, won some more big events, finished 6th at Kentucky in 2013 … the list could go on and on.
Will Faudree and Pawlow at Rolex in 2013. Photo by Kasey Mueller.
So the big ah-ha moment for me is that top horses come in all shapes and sizes. Ernie could not have been more opposite than Antigua, or the many wonderful horses that I have been lucky enough to be a part of their careers since. But if you believe, show up, train well (and with the right people) great things can happen — greatness comes from determination and perseverance.
Ernie, Jennifer and I would never have gotten to do all the fun things we did without the amazing coaching we had (Bobby Costello, Sandy Phillips, Mara DePuy, John Zopatti and David O’Connor) the support (Doretta Gaudreau, Suzanne Konefel, Nat V-C, Christina Curiale and the amazing vets and farriers that kept him in form) and that ah-ha moment of just train better.
Charlotte teaching dad about yoga! Photo via Will Coleman Equestrian FB.
Yesterday, I went to work with my OTTB, Turkey, after he had some time off through the holidays (whoops!) and he’s been eating all this lovely alfalfa and gaining weight, and he got his neck chiropracted, so he’s feeling great. A little too great. In fact, he was bucking and rearing and pronging around so much on the lunge line, I realized that I’m in big trouble! If he ever does that under saddle I’ll be shot to Timbuktu! Let’s just say I love lunge lines right now.
The E25 Training Sessions with Leslie Law are well under way in Ocala, FL. With some tough days of dressage behind them, they moved on to jumping, with more challenges on the way. The overall message? “Seize every opportunity—you can’t ever stop trying to be better because the reality is you’re never good enough,” Law said. “There are so many ways to learn, and I think it depends a little bit on the type of person you are and how you learn.” [Seizing the Opportunity with Leslie Law]
Interested in working with OTTBs in one of the best organizations in the country? You’re in luck! Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center is hiring interns! MMSC is the gold standard in thoroughbred reschooling. Based at the Kentucky Horse Park, their horse centered reschooling program ensures that every horse adopted out has a solid foundation and goes to the right home. They do a lot of groundwork, desensitization, therapies and under saddle work. A barn intern would have the chance to be hands-on and learn what goes into correctly retraining thoroughbreds, as well as what it takes to run a busy barn! [Apply Here to Be MMSC Intern]
Sadly, Mary King’s amazing mother passed away this week. Mary’s mom, Jill Thomson, was thoroughly un-horsey, but went out of her way to help Mary on her way to greatness in a sport that was quite foreign to her. From forcibly removing her IV drip at the hospital in order to drive the lorry to competitions for Mary, to caring for her children during injuries, Jill was a powerhouse and a legend in her own right. [Mary King’s Mother Honored]
“At my old job, men at the executive level wouldn’t bother to learn my name. They’d call me ‘pencil skirt,’ ‘pretty girl’ or ‘Hey, you with the good face!’ I guess those hard times did prepare me for my new life on the show pony circuit as a very pretty show pony because I’m getting the same lines over and over again. I guess in that way the corporate world has prepared me well for life as an award-winning filly.” [I Was Told I Was Too Pretty To Be A CEO. Here’s Why I Became A Show Pony Instead]
While arena eventing is gaining popularity worldwide, it still garners some criticism for the fact that a timed round may encourage riders to run too fast at solid fences. However, the organizers at Reiterverein Lippe-Bruch Gahlen in Germany may be on to something.
Best I can tell from the German to English translation of this report, their indoor eventing competition last weekend was judged on both time and style, as demonstrated by Ingrid Klimke and Parmenides in the above video. Former German eventing coach Martin Plewa and announcer Volker Raulf discussed each performance, informing the audience on what the judges were looking for and how they might score.
It’s a new format for indoor eventing–an inherently spectator friendly showcase of the sport–that still has some development ahead. Rider Jens Hoffrogge commented, “We riders were also a bit unsure how and if a short turn will be rewarded or not. This then affects the pace and the mood among the spectators.”
Vanessa Bölting ultimately found the new format agreeable and took the top two placings with Carlson B 2 and Comtesse 208 on scores of 8.5 and 8.3, respectively.
Ingrid’s lovely, smooth and controlled trip with Parmenides was rewarded with an 8.2 for third place. Ingrid and the 14-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by his breeders Marion and Eric Gottschalk have been longtime partners. They competed up to the CIC3* level in eventing are are now competitive in pure show jumping. Ingrid tugs at our heart strings when she shares that with Parmenides, “every round is a gift.”
Joseph Murphy and Electric Cruise at Luhmühlen 2015. Photo by Leslie Wylie.
Eventers lucky enough to be escaping the winter in Ocala next month will have the exciting opportunity to learn from Irish Olympian and cross country master Joseph Murphy during a three-day jumping clinic.
Held during the week leading up to Ocala Winter I Horse Trials, Joseph’s clinic on Feb. 6-8 at Liz Halliday-Sharp’s Horsepower Equestrian will combine show jumping and cross country fences to get horses and riders tuned up for the competition season.
If you’re not familiar with Joseph, you certainly know many of the horses he produced in Ireland as youngsters. Joseph competed Rio Olympic bronze medalist Mighty Nice at the start his career, including at Le Lion d’Angers as a 5-year-old, before he went to Phillip Dutton.
He also produced Will Faudree’s late four-star partner Andromaque in the early years, as well as Sam Griffiths’ super mare Paulank Brockagh, who won Badminton in 2015 and finished fourth individually in Rio to boost the Australian team to a bronze medal.
Based in Co Down in Northern Ireland, Joseph has represented Ireland at the last four European Championships, as well as competed at the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 World Equestrian Games. He competed in his first CCI4* in 2011 and has since completed 19 four-stars with multiple top-15 finishes at Badminton, Burghley, Luhmühlen and Pau.
Joseph has trained with William Fox-Pitt, Michael Jung, Chris Bartle and Ginny Elliot. Lucky for us in the States, he is keen to share the training technique and philosophy he has developed throughout his career, especially in the jumping phases, during his clinic in Ocala next month.
“I’ve had it in the back of my mind for a good while to go over to the States and see how people train and run their facilities. I also want to show people what I’ve been working on and how I train my horses, particularly in the jumping and cross country, that I feel is a successful way,” Joseph said.
“It’s important to me that people come away with something really important and it sticks with them. I’m not there for people to come and jump a few fences. It’s more for the actual knowledge and intuition and giving them the tools.”
Joseph is preparing for his own competition season this week during Irish team training. With a stellar coaching staff of Ian Woodhead for dressage, Yogi Breisner for cross country, and Ian Fearon for show jumping, the Irish team feels confident in the early lead-up to the 2018 World Equestrian Games.
“All the vibes are positive within the team. We have been trying to raise funds so when it comes to the WEG there are no barriers for funding with training and traveling,” Joseph said. “Now we meet up as a group this week to see which horses are available for WEG and how everyone is feeling and what everyone’s plan will be.”
Joseph represented Ireland at the 2014 World Equestrian Games with his London Olympic partner Electric Cruise, and last year he rode Sportsfield Othello at the European Championships. Now 17, Sportsfield Othello has completed nine CCI4* competitions in his career and will certainly be making a case for a slot on the Irish WEG team.
But Joseph is especially excited about Gorsehill Pearl, who at 13 is now established at three-star level and ready to step up. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she is the one who comes out on top this year,” he said. “In all three phases she is very good. Everything could fall into place for her because the WEG is late enough in the year for her season.”
Joseph plans to start Gorsehill Pearl’s season at Barroca d’Alva in Portugal in March, then run her at a few national events back home in Ireland before aiming for a CCI3* to gain her WEG qualification, most likely at Bramham.
You can get to know Joseph and more of his horses in this video:
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Andrew McConnon, both good friends of Joseph, helped organize the clinic at Liz’s winter base, Horsepower Equestrian, so we have them to thank for bringing this top clinician to our side of the world.
The clinic is filling fast, and Liz recommends early booking to secure your slot. The clinic will combine show jumping and cross country fences and is open to to all levels of riders, from Beginner Novice to Advanced. The clinic will have small group sessions with 80 minute lessons.
The cost is $150 for one day, $290 for two days and $420 for all three days. The price includes the facility fee for Horsepower Equestrian. If you haven’t yet ridden at Horsepower Equestrian, EN strongly encourages you to do so! The cross country course designed by Pan American Games course builder Greg Schlappi is one of the best private facilities in Ocala.
Follow Joseph Murphy Eventing on Facebook to keep up with his 2018 season, and you can also learn more on his website. We wish Joseph the best of luck in 2018 and beyond. Go Eventing.
Tamie Smith riding Bonner Carpenter’s Summerbridge Parc, winner of the 2017 USEA Young Event Horse 5-year-old West Coast Championships. Photo by Shelby Allen.
Following an extensive review of feedback on the USEA Young Event Horse program, significant changes are rolling out for 2018. From shorter dressage tests to the elimination of the conformation portion at qualifiers, read on for everything you need to know about the new look for the YEH program.
New, Shorter Dressage Tests
The YEH dressage tests have been shortened following competitor and judge feedback. Most notably, horses are no longer asked to halt at the end of the tests at qualifying events and instead are scored on the walk as they exit the arena.
Conformation will now only be scored at championships and will no longer be included as part of the overall score at YEH qualifying events. Qualifiers will now include only dressage and jumping/galloping.
Click here to view the new score sheets for YEH qualifiers. Click here to view the new score sheets for YEH championships.
In addition, the jumping/galloping test will now count for a more significant 70% of the final score at both qualifiers and championships, as opposed to 50% of the score in the past. Click here to review a full breakdown of changes to the YEH classes.
No Bye Year for Mares
The YEH Committee has officially eliminated the bye year for mares. The bye year previously allowed a mare with a full-term foal to compete in an age group below her biological age. All horses must now compete in their age groups. All YEH horses and riders must also be current USEA members.
New Scoring System
YEH jumping courses will now include exactly five show jumping efforts and exactly 10 cross country efforts. Judges will score each fence with a mark ranging from 0.0 to 3.0. At qualifiers, fences in combinations will each receive an individual score, while at championships only one score will be awarded for the entire combination.
The new scoresheets for qualifiers and championships provide further detail on how jumps will now be scored.
To learn the new scoring system, all YEH judges are being asked to attend the YEH day on Feb. 21 at the Young Horse Educational Symposium in Ocala, Florida. Judges unable to attend can contact Marilyn Payne to review the scoresheets before judging YEH competitions.
Judge seminars will also be held at both the 2018 YEH East and West Coast Championships this fall for those who wish to continue judging in 2019.
What do you think of the changes to the YEH program, EN? Are you planning to participate in YEH competitions in the 2018 season? Let us know in the comments below.
I’m a visual learner — you can talk at me until you’re blue in the face or write a novel on the subject, but until I’ve seen it with my own two eyes it’s going to go right over my head.
For instance: dressage tests. I need to watch a test be ridden for it to stick in my brain. Thankfully, patron saint of eventing video David Frechette, a la The Horse Pesterer, has done our sport yet another massive service in filming and posting the bulk of the new 2018 USEF dressage tests for Beginner Novice through Advanced horse trials, most of them via a schooling show at the Florida Horse Park over the weekend.
The new tests went into effect Dec. 1, 2017. Click here for helpful test-riding tips from Marilyn Payne via her 2018 test preview presentation at the USEA Convention. Watch more tests on The Horse Pesterer YouTube channel.
