We can always count on Horseware to get us into the holiday spirit. This is the company whose signature blanket is green and red, after all!
They’re back this year with a new Christmas commercial featuring top riders, ponies with impressive tree decorating skills, one very adorable little kid, and some magical snowglobe action.
For the commercial, Horseware once again partnered with world renowned horse trainer Emma Massingale and her amazing Connemara ponies, whom you may recognize from other Rambo videos including this one from a couple years back. You’ll also spot top #teamhorseware riders including Carl Hester, Cian O’Connor, Ingrid Klimke and, one celebrity horse, the famous Valegro. The video also features Horseware CEO Tom MacGuinness and a very talented four-year-old boy named Blue.
What’s your Horseware Wish this season? This year, Horseware is giving us 25 days of #horsewarewishes. Check out Horseware’s Facebook page for more details!
Sarah Broussard goes skijoring! Photo by Tommy Diegel courtesy of Rebecca Farm.
Eventers gotta keep themselves entertained in the off-season somehow! As such, Rebecca Farm is gearing up to host its first skijoring (think: skiing behind horses) competition on Dec. 30-31.
It’s actually the first time Rebecca Farm, located just west of Kalispell, Montana, has ever held an event during the winter months.
“Many folks associate Rebecca Farm with eventing in the summer, so we’re thrilled to try something new, and bring a different kind of sporting event to Rebecca Farm in the winter,” says organizer Sarah Broussard. “Not only is skijoring a unique sport in itself, it is so much fun to watch.”
Derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring meaning “ski driving,” skijoring is a winter sport that combines skiing and horseback riding. The sport consists of a horse pulling a skier through an obstacle course, all while hitting jumps that range in size from three feet to nine feet high. Competitors are judged based on how long it takes for them to run the track, which stretches approximately 850 feet from start to finish.
Fortunately for the organizers, no major changes will need to be made to the Rebecca Farm course in order to host the competition. “It is not so much about changing anything on the farm,” Sarah says. “It is more about making sure we have enough snow.”
In the event the farm does not receive enough snow before the competition, Sarah will have it trucked in, she says.
Those that finish the course the fastest will be awarded a cash prize, known as the “total purse.” This year’s purse, to be raised via sponsorships, will total up to $25,000. A portion of the proceeds from this year’s competition will be donated to Halt Cancer at X, an initiative created by Sarah that raises funds for breast cancer research and support services.
Last year’s skijoring competition, hosted by the West Shore Visitors Bureau in Lakeside, welcomed nearly 100 competitors and thousands of spectators over two days. Sarah hopes even more are able to make it to this year’s event.
“People come from all over to experience skijoring in the Flathead,” Sarah says, noting that some people come from as far as Colorado to both attend and compete. “We look forward to carrying on this community tradition, and hope to see even more faces rallying behind this festive sport in December.”
Even with a seasoned organizing team in place, there will still be a need for lots of enthusiastic assistance. Participation and support of the community, through both sponsorship and volunteers, will be vital in making the event possible, according to the organizers. Those interested in volunteering are encouraged to contact Heidi Diegel at [email protected]. For more information regarding sponsorship, contact Marcia Spano at [email protected].
Any takers, EN? For more information on the skijoring competition, click here. Learn more about the sport of skijoring here.
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That’s a wrap for USEA events in 2017! The final sanctioned horse trial of the year was held at Sporting Days Farm in Aiken, SC. The venue hosts four horse trials a year and on behalf of the eventing community, we wish to thank Joannah Hall Glass for generously sharing her farm as well as all the organizers, officials, volunteers and competitors who have made Sporting Days the longest continually running event in Aiken.
Click here to view the farm’s winter/spring calendar of events which including both recognized and unrecognized horse trials and cross country school.
Intermediate/Prelim: Susie Beale & Canny Calypso (44.9) Prelim: Julie Richards & Fernhill Rodger (31.4) Prelim Rider: Stephanie Sills & Vino del Porto (34.6) Prelim/Training: Brittany Kart & Filomena (40.7) Training: Katie Lichten & Sapphire Blue B (35.0) Training Horse: Susie Beale & Metropolitan (32.1) Training Rider: Susan Cipolla & Run the World (31.1) Training Young Rider: Clara Richards & Fernhill Prada (34.6) Training/Novice: Heather Bush & Spectre 007 (54.4) Novice: Laurie Wettstone & Fandango (25.8) Novice Horse: Jessica Schultz & Let It Slam (32.3) Novice Rider: Jean Fowler & Friend of Bill W (33.0) Novice Young Rider: Marley Fossett & Full Gallop’s Red Headed Step Child (38.3) Beginner Novice Horse: Morgan Batton & Absolut Harmony (31.8) Beginner Novice Rider: MeriJane Sayre & Legend (35.8) Beginner Novice Young Rider: Alexa Brogna & Jax (31.3) Intro: Lara Anderson & FGF Rienzi (36.1)
Here are a few of your Instagram photos and videos from the weekend that was!
Congratulations Amanda and Rob! Photo courtesy of Megan Murfey.
It was a special wedding weekend for eventers! Cross country jump builder Rob Mobley and rider/judge Amanda Miller were married in North Carolina. Meanwhile four-star eventers Daniel Clasing and Kaitlin Spurlock tied the knot in Virginia. It’s incredible to think that a shared passion of horses brought each of these couples together. Congratulations and best wishes to the newlyweds!
Eventers have tons of stuff so we have to be fairly organized when we go to an event. A long format event, however, is a whole different ball game. There are extra phases, horse inspections and vet box to pack for. Here’s a helpful list of things you may need at a classic three-day. [What to Pack for a Classic Three-Day Event]
One might reasonably assume that an obese horse is overweight because it eats more than its skinnier pasture mate. But that may not be the case. A recent study showed obese horses may actually more active and eat less while lean horses spend more time eating and be less active. [Do Obese Horses Spend More Time Eating Than Lean Ones?]
With Samorin, in Slovakia, recently withdrawing its bid to host the 2022 World Equestrian Games, the FEI is once again seeking expressions of interest. This is not a unique scenario and the cost of running the Games is a likely reason finding a committed host is so difficult. How can we lower costs? [The bid for WEG 2022: Let’s discuss it over lunch]
Monday Video: This should be easy now that #NoStirrupNovember is over!
My mom always says, “It’s not what you eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas but what you eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving that counts.” It’s a passable excuse to over-indulge in the abundance of delicious baked goods that seem to always be within arm’s reach during the holidays.
If you love baking but would rather not add another yet batch of Christmas cookies to your own counter, try these holiday treats for horses. They’re easy to make, customizable and horses love them! They also make a great gift for your horsey friends.
In the market for a new four-legged partner? You may find your unicorn on our sister site, Sport Horse Nation. To help with the search, we’re going to feature a selection of current listings here on EN each week. We include the ad copy provided; click the links for videos, pricing and contact information.
Sorry for all the acronyms in the title. I just couldn’t help myself. Here are five off-track Thoroughbreds in search of a new partner in crime.
Forward Thinking, or Thomas, is an 8-year-old, 16.1-hand OTTB gelding. He has a lovely balance and would excel in the dressage ring, as an event horse, or as a jumper. He’s been off the track since Dec. 2016 and has settled into post-track life well, living both in a stall and out 24/7.
Thomas loves going off property and is very well behaved on his outings. He’s jumping 2’6″ courses at home and off property, has gone on a few hunt trail rides over the summer and been the best behaved horse despite the chaos, and has really enjoyed cross-country schooling. He’s always willing to try, and learned about water, ditches and banks pretty quickly. He could also make a nice foxhunter. Sound, no vices, easy keeper.
Thomas is ready to start his show career, wherever it might take him. Motivated seller hoping to find him his special person! Located in Virginia.
Iron Ginny is an 8yr old 16.2h bay TB mare with chrome. Lightly raced and retired sound on clean legs in 2014. Purchased by non-horse people and eventually abandoned in a boarding barn. Lightly worked and trail ridden (which she loves!) until put into event training this September.
Easy going in the barn. Uncomplicated ride, but sensitive and will not tolerate a green rider. Solid dressage foundation, jumping 2’6″ with ease. Has completed one combined test at the KY Horse Park, schooled at the indoor jumper shows, and recently schooled XC and loved it! Banks, ditches, water no problem!
Nice feet, good gaits. Loads, ties, cross-ties, good for farrier. Quality mare for well-educated amateur or junior rider. Can handle a mistake at the fences. Still green, but willing. Will continue to show indoor jumpers and dressage this winter and school XC weather permitting. Located in Ohio.
Neko Lad is a 17 hand (measured) 2013 registered Thoroughbred bay gelding. Neko came off the track this spring (sound) and was rested until about 3 months ago, when he was put into 3-4 day per week work. He is schooling training level dressage and jumping around 2’3″ courses.
He just completed his first starter trial at the elementary level, placing 4th out of 13 horses on his dressage score of 32. He was complimented many times on his excellent mind at the show. He is dead quiet, sensible and brave. He is scopey enough to run up the levels in eventing, but quiet enough to be a hunter.
He is still owned by his breeder. Sound and healthy. This is a lovely young gelding with a lot of potential and a great brain. Clean legs, great feet. In your pocket attitude. Located in West Virginia.
Summer SunTan is a laid back, easy to work with Off the track thoroughbred. He retired from racing as a 5 year old with no injuries. Has competed in many county jumpers shows with amateurs and pros. Currently competing novice level ready to move up in the spring. Scores 7s and 8s in gaits.
Owner is 83 year old widow looking to down size since she hasn’t ridden in years. Clips, ties, bathes, stands for vet/Shoer/tied at the trailer. Located in California.
Updated price – owner wants to sell before winter!! This is a steal for a horse with LOADS of talent and an INCREDIBLE brain!! Tiz Time To Shine (Tiz Now/Shine Upon) is a really lovely and level headed 5 year old OTTB gelding that’s been well restarted since coming off the track sound a year ago.
He’s schooling BN like a pro and is a straightforward ride in every way. He hacks out with a group or alone, and is easy to ride and handle. He will make a great partner for an amateur or young rider looking to event or spend time in the show ring. Located in Pennsylvania.
Listings included in this article are randomly selected and confirmed to be current and active before inclusion. Sport Horse Nation features user-generated content and therefore cannot verify or make any warranty as to the validity or reliability of information.
What’s in Your Arena? is an EN series sponsored by Attwood Equestrian Surfaces in which riders share their favorite jumping exercises. It’s easy to get stuck in a training rut, and we hope this will inspire you with fresh ideas that you can take home and incorporate into your own programs. Have an exercise to share? Email it to [email protected]!
What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? The answer, if you subscribe to truths put forth by Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is “42.” An effortlessly basic answer to a mind-twist of a question that has baffled thinking human beings for centuries. A two-digit number, which took a supercomputer purpose-designed to answer the question seven-and-a-half million years to deduce. Simply: 42.
In her most recent Bad Eventer blog post, two-star rider and noted eventing philosopher Laura Szeremi lights the fuse on this stick of cerebral dynamite:
Which is more important: having the right canter, or being able to see the distance?
A question that is basically the jumping equivalent of “What is the meaning of life, etc.” And when it comes to answering it, things can get pretty heated. We’ll let Laura take it from here (for the illustrated version, check out her original blog post):
“Without fail every single person I have ever lessoned with (and there have been quite a few in my *cough* four decades in this sport) has had a strong opinion on this subject.
“It’s just not a lukewarm area like … lettuce. Most people don’t get overly passionate about lettuce. They’ll eat it in a taco, or on a sandwich. But they won’t get their blood pressure up over loving or hating lettuce.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/CC.
“But this canter vs distance concept? Holy cow — I’ve seen otherwise calm trainers cross over into frothing-at-the-mouth-zealots when discussing this topic.
“For many years I’ve had my own opinion on the subject, which is a complex equation relating rider skill to the size of the fence as compared to the scope of the horse.
Diagram by Laura Szeremi.
“But recently I had one of those I’m-an-idiot epiphanies and thought I might not be alone.
“Here’s the rub:
“What the hell is “the right canter”? And how on earth do you know when you have it?
“I had a jump school where things didn’t go quite perfectly.
“And while I was thinking about bits and lines and sensitive horses and all the things that seemed to be going wrong, the fearless leader steps in and says something like, ‘Your canter sucks, you were just hammering down to everything being Bad Eventer.’
“Wow.
“He hadn’t called me out on ‘being Bad Eventer’ in a LONG time.
“A quick perusal of articles on ‘the right canter’ gives me a lot of hocus pocus answers saying things like it’s ‘in the flat work,’ ‘it’s about an uphill balance,’ etc. Not that any of that is wrong, but it still doesn’t tell you how you know when you have that magical canter.
“That’s when I figured out that calling it ‘the right canter’ leads you down the wrong path.
“It has more to do with rhythm and adjustability than the canter itself. You can have a beautiful uphill canter on a 12′ stride and it’s still not the right canter if you ask the horse to move up or slow down and nothing happens.
“The other piece of the puzzle I only discovered when I changed horses … and this secret of the universe is that the canter can’t change unless you want it to.
“I was cantering around a tight turn to a fence, and for the first time in my life I saw that I was going to meet the fence perfectly before I had even made the turn.
Photo courtesy of Laura Szeremi.
“That had never happened before.
“It turns out that the WonderPony, as amazing as he was, never gave me the same stride to anything. He bombed around cross country like the epic XC machine he is.
Photo courtesy of Laura Szeremi.
“But our stadium demons were real.
Photo courtesy of Laura Szeremi.
“And now I know a big piece of that puzzle was that we never had a consistent stride.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/CC.
“Sooooooo. Part of the elusive ‘right canter’ is one that doesn’t change unless you ask it to, and that changes immediately, when you ask it to.
“This exercise turned out to be more of the answer than I knew.”
Canter pole Olympics! Turned a 5 stride line into a 10 & a 3! #Boom #Zebrasaurus #BadEventer
“Canter pole Olympics! Turned a five-stride line into a 10 and a three!”
And there you have it, folks. Two canter poles, set 72′ apart. A galaxy of possibility. How many strides can you fit in or take away, while keeping the step length perfectly even? Do try this at home!
Pull out the hay bales and hide the manure pit, y’all: we’ve got a barn wedding to put on! On the equestrian/actress’s 32nd birthday, her FEI-level boyfriend of two years Karl Cook popped the big question with a rock worth more than your truck and trailer, and she said yes!
The two can often be spotted together on the West Coast circuit shows, from HITS Coachella to Del Mar. They also share a stunning chandeliered barn in Southern California that we think would be ideally suited for some exchanging of vows if we do say so ourselves.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbh_rIaFbku
Kaley Cuoco, best known for her role of Penny on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory, has been an equestrian longer than she’s been famous, and has always found ways to ride. At one point Cuoco and her two co-stars Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons were making $1 million per episode, but they reportedly took a voluntary paycut to even their salaries with newer cast members Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch.
Kaley has a handful of FEI performances to her name, including the Longines Masters in LA in 2016, and has had many successes in the high J/AO divisions with her talented string.
Karl Cook, who long before he was dating a Hollywood starlet had a reputation for audacious looks in the ring and exploding with personality on the circuit, has had an impressive career in his nearly 27 years. (Fun fact: if the FEI Database is to be believed, Karl’s birthday is Christmas Day!) In his youth he made three appearances at the NAJYRC and in his professional career, three appearances at the World Cup Final (One aboard his current mount Tembla and twice on Jonkheer Z). In his first NAJYRC performance, he won the individual AND team show jumping final.
He’s also been on a handful of Nations Cup Teams, most recently the Nations Cup in Langley, British Columbia in 2016 where Team USA came in fourth.
In addition to sharing a passion for Show Jumping, both Kaley and Karl are also passionate advocates for animal adoptions and rescues. Kaley has been a spokesperson for The Humane Society and has flown around the world to bring awareness to a variety of animal plights, and Karl has taken up a more public banner on the topic since meeting her. Kaley’s many dogs are all rescues.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcDEAbAFhcT
Basically, despite being huge stars in their fields and absurd amounts of money, they seem to be some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and we wish both of them all the happiness and horse shows in the world.
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Happy belated birthday to Doug Payne! His sister Holly shared a classic throwback in celebration of his birthday yesterday, and honestly it’s the best thing we saw all day. We already knew he was a talented event and show jump rider, but there’s some vaulting promise too!
National Holiday: National Roof Over Your Head Day
Leaving the comfort of home and traveling to an unfamiliar venue with a young horse can be pretty nerve wracking. You never really know what kind of horse you’re going to have when you get out there. Will he be barn sour or overly eager? Will he insist there are trolls hiding in the ditches? Who knows! But hey, the unpredictability of baby horses is half the fun, right?
Elisa Wallace recently took several young horses to Full Gallop Farm‘s sprawling cross country course in Aiken, SC. The goal was to build their confidence, so she approached every new experience with an open mind and only two rules: no bolting and no bucking. Watch these young horses find the fun in cross country.
