Classic Eventing Nation

Friday News & Notes Presented by Stable View

By on Jun 2, 2023 12:03 am -

Photo of the week for sure. Photo courtesy of Nico Morgan Media.

Please, everyone join me in crossing your fingers and toes for some of the rain that is plaguing England to make it’s merry little way over here to the east coast of the U.S. because sweet baby orangutans, the ground is so hard, and the arenas are so dusty, and no amount of Allegra is making my life feasible. England, we will gladly take your rain, and you can just have our firm ground on loan for as long as you like.

U.S. Weekend Preview

Carriage House Farm Combined Test (Hugo, MN) [Website] [Entries]

Essex H.T. (Medford, NJ) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

Genesee Valley Riding & Driving Club Spring H.T. (Geneseo, NY) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

GMHA June H.T. (South Woodstock, VT) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

IEA Horse Trials (Edinburgh, IA) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

MCTA H.T. at Shawan Downs (Cockeysville, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]

Ocala Summer H.T. I (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]

Poplar Place June H.T. (Hamilton, GA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

The Spring Event at Archer (Cheyenne, WY) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

News From Around the Globe:

Describing Boyd Martin as “immensely hyperactive” is perhaps underselling it. A man who doesn’t even like days off, Boyd gets up at the crack of dawn every day for an intense workout in his basement, followed by riding at least ten horses, lessons for students, time for his similarly hyperactive sons, and then late night mowing and moving cross country jumps around. Oh, also, he and his wife are expecting a third child in the fall (scheduled for early in the week of Morven) and Boyd is strongly considering naming him after a certain white-faced Olympic mount. [Ringside Chat with Boyd Martin]

What would life be like if we still used horses for transportation instead of hobby riding and sport? What if they were still our major source of military power? Would we be bringing Quiescence to the battlefield? Horse Nation explored possible situations and conversations in this imaginative reality. Blending modern horse practices with well…the practical…makes for some humorous moments. [If We Still Used Horses…]

Mustangs make for great little eventers, and riders across the U.S. are embracing the breed as a serious sport horse option. Four years ago, Megan Weber was feeling discouraged about her event horse who didn’t seem to want to do the sport. She’d made the decision to find a new horse but found she was struggling to connect to the several she’d tried. She reached out to a friend who had experience with adopting mustangs, and the idea of an untouched, green horse sounded like a fun idea. Fun…crazy…same thing! [An Unlikely Eventer]

Sometimes, it’s just really good to go back to the real basic basics of dressage. I think all my students should read this article, because it breaks down exactly how every dressage test is judged, how and why each movement exists and what skill it tests, and importantly, what score you receive and how that is determined. You can always improve you dressage test a few points by understanding the system upon which the test was built. [Improve Your Dressage]

Millstreet, Day One: Top Price Puts New Zealand in the Lead

By on Jun 1, 2023 4:30 pm -

Tim Price and Falco lead the way after day one of dressage in the CCIO4*-S, presented by Connolly’s RED MILLS. Photo by Bit-Media.

World number one rider Tim Price has put the New Zealand team in a great position after the dressage phase in the Irish leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ series, held at Millstreet, County Cork, this weekend.

New Zealand heads the CCIO4*-S leaderboard of seven nations with a team score of 86.0 before Saturday’s showjumping phase. The three counting scores are from Tim Price (Falco, 24.6), Samantha Lissington (Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ, 30.3) and Clarke Johnstone (Menlo Park, 31.1), while fourth team member Jonelle Price is only a penalty behind on the diminutive McLaren.

The Prices and Clarke were members of the bronze-medal winning team at last year’s world championships, therefore New Zealand is not under pressure for Olympic qualification in the CCIO3*-L team competition starting tomorrow at Millstreet, in which the first two nations not already qualified will secure a team place at Paris 2024.

“We are taking it seriously, though, because we want to make a good showing,” said Tim. “The powers that be back at home in New Zealand will be watching this and we want to show them that we’re on track. We’re very glad that we have the good going in all three phases here at Millstreet in order to be able to demonstrate that.”

The Netherlands are in second place in the FEI Nations Cup™, presented by Connelly’s Red Mills, on a team score of 97.3, with Andrew Heffernan currently in third place individually on Gideon on 27.9 dressage penalties. Belgium, the country that heads the FEI Nations Cup leaderboard after two legs, are third on 99.2, with the very experienced combination of Karin Donckers and Fletcha van’t Verahof in second place individually on 26.6.

Ireland is in fourth place on 99.3, with Joseph Murphy and Calmaro the best placed in fourth individually with the excellent score of 30.1 from judges Anne-Marie Taylor (GBR), Jane Holderness-Roddam (GBR) and Vanda Stewart (IRL).

Tim Price and Falco, a 14-year-old Hannoverian gelding owned by Sue Benson, also won the individual bronze medal at the 2022 world championships at Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy. “He was a bit sprightly in the arena, but if you can catch him on the edge of his exuberance you get something special,” said Tim afterwards.

Equiratings, the Irish data analysts for eventing, actually rate Tim’s secondride tomorrow, Happy Boy, as the best horse in the CCI4*. Among the other highlighted horses are Fletcha van’t Verahof, McLaren, Camaro, Kirsty Chabert’s mare Classic Vl, a member of the fifth-placed British team and Australian rider Kevin McNab’s Willunga, who performs dressage tomorrow. Happy Boy is last to go tomorrow, at 7.30pm.

“A Model in Terms of Equine Welfare”: The French Government’s 46 Suggestions to Paris 2024

By on Jun 1, 2023 2:47 pm -

The Chateau des Versailles. Photo: Panoramas/flickr/CC.

A study group from the French National Assembly, part of the French parliamentary system, has released a 72 page report outlining 46 recommendations to the Paris Olympics organising committee on how to improve equine welfare standards at next year’s Olympic Games.

The report, it states, “is the result of 18 hearings carried out from October 2021 to January 2022”, among a significant number of equine professionals, including veterinarians, lawyers, representatives from governing bodies, riders, trainers, and more.

Thank you to Australia’s Horses and People for their efforts in translating the report to English. Their full translation can be read here.

“The equestrian events of the Tokyo Olympics saw incidents in several disciplines,” begins the report. “These incidents triggered some very strong reactions from the media and spectators, with a section of the population asking for a ban of all equestrian competitions from the Olympic Games, considering them to be practices harmful to the well-being of horses. It therefore seems essential to us to think about possible improvements, for the horses on the one hand, but also to ensure a serene future for these equestrian sports. The equestrian events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will take place in Versailles, must be a model in terms of equine welfare.”

The report begins with Part One, a round-up of the three major issues of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: the euthanasia of Robin Godel’s Jet Set, who sustained a serious soft tissue injury on cross-country; the highly publicised incident in the Modern Pentathlon competition in which Germany’s Annika Schleu and trainer Kim Raisner both appeared to use excessive force upon the horse Saint Boy, which has ultimately led to the removal of the riding phase from Modern Pentathlon; and the significant nosebleed of Cian O’Connor’s Kilkenny in the showjumping competition. It then goes on to round up both the media response and the public reaction to these incidents, including an open letter, sent to all members of the International Olympic Committee, penned by equestrian journalist Julie Taylor and titled “I Can’t Watch Anymore: The Case for Dropping Equestrian Sport from the Olympic Games”. Finally, it goes on to report on the official response to each incident, in order to establish the importance of avoiding similar issues at next year’s Paris Games.

Part Two commences the 46 suggestions for the improvement of welfare, beginning with the facilities provided for horses. It recommends sufficient relaxation areas, including lunging areas, exercise areas, and grazing areas, all of which are currently provided at FEI competitions, but also advises the addition of small paddocks, allowing horses free movement while also respecting biosecurity measures.

It also highlights the need for attentive officials on the ground who are prepared, and willing, to step in when a welfare transgression is taking place.

“In an interview with the magazine “L’Éperon” on January 20, 2022, Jean-Maurice Bonneau, ex-trainer of ‘Bleus’, explains that the major authorities must question themselves following the incidents in Tokyo as well as the recent scandal following the leak of video footage from the stable of Ludger Beerbaum rapping horses or using jump poles covered with nails,” the report states. “He admits that he himself has not always respected the rules of good treatment and that this concerns everyone in equestrian sport. He adds that ‘sometimes, some stewards in the arenas do not set clear boundaries and I have already gone to see such and such a rider to point out his bad behavior… We have to regain credibility and for that, we need new rules…’. Professionals also point out that ‘at the high level, event stewards do not dare report abuse, for fear of reprisals from the sports stars who threaten them when they try to intervene to protect the horses‘.”

In order to counteract these issues, the report suggests that the IOC establish a “‘Welfare Committee’, made up of independent experts authorised to move freely throughout the Olympic site of the equestrian events, as part of a special ‘Equine Welfare at the Olympic Games’ mission.”

It also recommends 24/7 video surveillance, observed by veterinarians and stewards, with footage delivered by a completely independent company.

A significant segment of the report focuses its attention on tack, with overtightened nosebands at the forefront. Recommendation #7 suggest: “Improve the controls against the excessive tightening of nosebands and curb chains: Provide a more calibrated check, preformed randomly during training sessions and systematically when entering or leaving each event, using a 1.5 cm ISES taper gauge placed on the nasal bones (which allow one adult finger to slide between the noseband strap and the hard nasal bone) and apply a penalty in the event of an infringement.”

The report also recommends prohibiting the use of elevator or gag bits on cross-country, particularly when used in conjunction with flash or grackle nosebands, and recommends scrapping the use of combination bits and bits with twisted or double mouthpieces across the board.

The use of hind tendon boots on jumpers is also questioned by the report, which recommends using video to record a “tabletop check of the tack” before each competition. As concerns spurs, the report advises allowing riders to opt out of wearing them, and to ban the use of bellybands, which can hide the ill effects of overuse. Where the whip is concerned, it suggests limiting whip use to once per event and twice per warm-up.

Doping is also covered in the report, as well as neurectomy — better know as de-nerving. This means of artificially masking limb pain cannot necessarily be reliably tested for — “It should be noted, however,” says the report, “that the FEI has taken this problem into account: for the first time, the horses of the AlUla endurance race in Saudi Arabia on January 29 were the subject of sensitivity tests carried out by veterinary doctor Morgane Schambourg, who has been working for a long time on the development of a neurectomy detection system. It would therefore require a veterinary certificate to certify that these horses have not undergone this intervention, or take the risk that they do not respond to sensitivity tests which would lead to disqualification.

“Mainly used in endurance for the moment, the hyposensitivity test consists of screening horses which have undergone treatment intended to reduce their sensitivity to pain in their limbs by truncal anaesthesia (either definitive by surgical section or temporary with anaesthetic blocks of nerve trunks) so that horses do not stop or slow down due to being in pain.

“Thermography is also a valuable tool, as it allows assessment of the differences in surface temperatures of the horse’s skin, by highlighting hot and cold thermal signatures on body areas. Thermal variations as well as asymmetries are all clues that will help identify possible pathologies or traumas. Cold signatures may be related to possible vascularization defects related to the presence of oedema, hematoma, or abscess (existing or in formation). The hot thermal signatures specify areas of inflammation (e.g. back pain, tendinitis, etc.). They also allows the detection of fraudulent use of rubefacient products.”

Where ‘traditional’ doping is concerned, it recommends a more robust approach to recording any medications that enter the facility, limiting doses of allowable substances — for example, joint injections — to no sooner than two weeks prior to the event, and maintaining an FEI Medication Logbook for each horse. In light of the recent equine herpesvirus outbreaks at major competition centres, it also recommends mandating the rhinopneumonitis vaccine.

One of the bolder suggestions made by in the report is that of recommendation #27, which suggests that organisers “remove from competition any horses with a medical history that is not compatible with an optimal state of health (e.g. a history of bone, ligament or muscle injury resulting in long periods of inactivity), which is necessary for participation in the Olympic Games. This optimal state of health will have to be verified in advance by the FEI Veterinarians.”

It also suggests that any sign of blood – regardless of where it appears on the body, and why – should result in horse and rider being immediately stopped, in order to avoid another incident such as the Kilkenny one.

Each discipline also features in its own section: the dressage section focuses largely on the recurring issue of hyperflexion, while showjumping’s section cites riders’ pleas for a return to the four-per-team format used prior to Tokyo as indicative of a wider welfare issue. In the eventing section, it advises that the use of safety devices must be the topmost priority, and recommends that 100% of the obstacles on course be deformable. It also makes recommendations for scientific tests of ground suitability.

The FEI has confirmed that many of the suggestions are already covered within its own rulebook, and national governing bodies, too, have been reviewing the contents of the report to see if there are any positive changes that can be pulled from it.

 

Empower Your Horse’s Personality: An Excerpt from ‘Training Horses the Ingrid Klimke Way’

By on Jun 1, 2023 11:30 am -

In this excerpt from Training Horses the Ingrid Klimke Way, Olympic eventer Ingrid Klimke explains her views on respecting each horse as an individual and the superior results you can attain when you allow a horse’s personality to shine.

Photo by Horst Streitferdt.

If I want to build unity with a horse, I need to listen really deeply and get on the same wavelength with him. A certain inner attitude is required to build a positive relationship. The power of positive thinking will carry over to the horse, and so will the power of negative thinking. I can only build a close relationship with my horse if I like him and I show him that.

Each horse has an entirely individual personality, just as we humans do. One personality type appeals to me more, another less. After some years, I know as a rider which types of horses I prefer, and which less so. I look for those that are a good fit for me. Still, it takes a while until I can really know the character of a horse. I’ll have to live with some quirks and characteristics I may not prefer. However, I always try to have a positive influence on the horse’s personality.

Through deliberate training, bad habits can become less pronounced; but, having said that, I must never allow myself to believe that I will be able to change the horse’s essential character, which I could not do if I wanted to—for example, a horse that tends toward “laziness” and would rather not try too hard.

To deliberately develop the horse’s personality within his potential means to notice his personality, understand it, and cherish it: notice just how this creature is—with his strengths and his weaknesses. As such, I must not suppress his personality for any reason. This advice, too, was passed down to me from my dad. I need to completely take my cues from the horse, listen deeply, and remain very open to what comes forth.

With a shy horse, it can certainly take a while before he trusts you enough to show himself. In this case, I need to practice patience and not pressure him with expectations set too high. I need to find out what gives him pleasure and which activities and tasks allow him to relax. By accomplishing this, I’ve already achieved a lot.

In contrast, with a confident horse, the challenge lies in maintaining and developing his significant motivation, while at the same time establishing a conscious basic obedience. My mare Escada is a good example. She is really ambitious, with lots of courage and confidence, but at the same time has the tendency, especially in dressage, to be too independent from me. Since she already knows—for the most part—which element follows which in the test, she doesn’t need me to provide the aids at all, and would prefer to self-confidently anticipate every element of the test. It took a long time and many attempts at dressage tests until she finally learned to wait for my aids, and we continue to patiently work on this.

The balancing act lies in the fact that I want to cultivate autonomy in my horses and I don’t want to suppress their willingness to perform, but at the same time, I cannot just be the “passenger.” They must give me their complete attention, so that we are together in the same moment, concentrating on the same thing. With Escada, I got to that point by often taking her to dressage competitions so that she would get familiar with what is expected there. It also turned out to be good for her to have the experience of completing a dressage test and not automatically going cross-country the next day. This helped her relax more and develop an inner calm.

When riding a dressage test, I direct my thinking and aids very strongly onto the element we’re doing in the moment. However, I also need to be ready to think about the correct execution of the next movement five to six seconds ahead of time. This means the next movement is always already in my head. This can potentially cause a very refined, sensitive horse to anticipate. Should I punish a horse for thinking independently? No! I must, however, correct the horse consistently and with the necessary calmness, and have patience.

This excerpt from Training Horses the Ingrid Klimke Way by Ingrid Klimke is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books (www.horseandriderbooks.com).

The Jewel in Ireland’s Crown: How to Follow Millstreet International From Afar

By on Jun 1, 2023 9:00 am -

Laura Collett and Dacapo, winners of the 2022 Horse Sport Ireland CCI4*L at Millstreet International Horse Trials.

We’re heading into a very important event in the European calendar as Ireland’s Millstreet International kicks off this week, welcoming hundreds of

The event, which features Ireland’s highest-ever international entries for an event, boasts a plethora of classes, including the third leg of the FEI Nations Cup series, an Olympic qualifier for nations from Groups F & G (Oceania, Asia, and Africa, inclusive), a CCI3*-L, a CCI4*-L, CCI2*-L classes for Juniors and Seniors, a CCI3*-S, a CCI2*-S for six- and seven-year-olds, and a CCI1*, began today (May 31) and runs through Sunday, June 4.

Six teams will contest the crucial CCIO3*-L in hopes of securing the two Olympic berths up for grabs here: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand are all in play with strong teams.

Just the CCIO4*-L, incorporating the Nations Cup, and the CCI3*-L classes will be live streamed: you can watch them either through your ClipMyHorse.TV membership, if you’re a subscriber, or both classes will be streamed in full for free viewing via the FEI’s YouTube channel.

The streaming schedules are as follows:

Thursday, June 1

CCI3*-L Dressage: 8.30 a.m. local time (3.30 a.m. EST)

CCIO4*-S Dressage: 2.30 p.m. local time (9.30 a.m. EST)*

First Horse Inspection for CCI4*-L and CCIO3*-L: 6.30 p.m. local time (1.30 p.m. EST)

Friday, June 2

CCIO3*-L Dressage: 2.00 p.m. local time (9.00 a.m. EST)*

CCIO4*-S Dressage: 3.30 p.m. local time (10.30 a.m. EST)*

Saturday, June 3

CCIO3*-L Cross-Country: 8.00 a.m. local time (3.00 a.m. EST)*

CCIO4*-S Jumping: 2.30 p.m. local time (9.30 a.m. EST)*

Sunday, June 4

CCIO4*-S Cross-Country: 11.o0 a.m. local time (6.00 a.m. EST)*

CCIO3*-L Jumping: 12.20 p.m. local time (7.20 a.m. EST)*

(* denotes that the streams will be available on both ClipMyHorse and FEI’s YouTube. Schedule entries without * will not be available to view on YouTube.)

Live scoring from across the classes can be found on Rechenstelle, while entries can be viewed here. We’ll be keeping you up to date on all the happenings, especially in the Nations Cup and Olympic qualifier classes, right here on EN.

Go Millstreet, and Go Eventing!

Millstreet Links: Website, Entries, Live Scoring, Live Stream – ClipMyHorse, Live Stream – YouTube

Thursday News & Notes

By on Jun 1, 2023 12:03 am -

Whoopsie. Photo courtesy of Michael Willham.

I’m just going to steal this bit of wisdom from Michael Willham, who posted this on his Facebook page yesterday, because it is honestly so apt. Every day when I go to the barn, I’m reminded of this truth as I pick stalls and pull manes and spend just five more minutes massaging that poll.

If you ever want to find true enjoyment and satisfaction in horses, read this:

You have to enjoy the journey.
Enjoy the grind.
Enjoy the teeny tiny little baby steps.
Enjoy the challenge.
Enjoy the process.
Enjoy the setbacks and the steps forward.

Because 99.999% of horses is always going to be about the journey. The destination is *maybe* 0.001% of the time. Winning that competition, or maybe getting competent at a certain level. Sometimes the destination never comes. Riding can be a frustrating sport. Because even when we are on top of our game, we still need another living creature to also be on top of their game. Sometimes those stars align, and sometimes they don’t. So you have to enjoy and value the journey, because you never know if, or when, you’re ever going to get to the destination.

U.S. Weekend Preview

Carriage House Farm Combined Test (Hugo, MN) [Website] [Entries]

Essex H.T. (Medford, NJ) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

Genesee Valley Riding & Driving Club Spring H.T. (Geneseo, NY) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

GMHA June H.T. (South Woodstock, VT) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

IEA Horse Trials (Edinburgh, IA) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

MCTA H.T. at Shawan Downs (Cockeysville, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]

Ocala Summer H.T. I (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]

Poplar Place June H.T. (Hamilton, GA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

The Spring Event at Archer (Cheyenne, WY) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring] [Volunteer]

News From Around the Globe:

The equestrian world can seem, and is, very white, so what is the industry doing to become more accessible and inclusive? After Khadijah Mellah made history in 2019 by becoming the first British Muslim woman to win a UK horse race, brothers Oli Bell, Phil Bell and Naomi Lawson (all of whom had worked on the documentary, Riding A Dream that had followed her story) wanted to create a lasting legacy for the sport. They decided to set up the Riding A Dream Academy, which would help other young people from diverse communities get involved in racing, thereby helping to make it more diverse and inclusive. Thanks to the Racing Foundation, the academy now runs four programs that are all aimed at young people aged 14-18. [Riding A Dream Promotes Diversity]

In the fall of 2014, a sway-backed gelding sitting in an auction in Washington sold for his price-per-pound at $500. 2,400 miles away in Anchorage, Alaska,  Amy Brassard made the necessary arrangements to get her new dun Quarter Horse from the lower 48. With shipping and quarantine and vaccine, the process took about a week, and when the hauler called Amy, it was not with good news. She reported that she wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped dead upon arrival due to his starving state of being. He didn’t, and of course with a name from Frozen, Sven went on to be Amy’s horse of a lifetime. [From Rescue to Ribbons]

Best of Blogs: Crunchier But Wiser

If you’re like me, you love the thoroughbreds, but also acknowledge that they’re not for everybody. Horse Nation blogger and trainer Aubrey Graham explains it in her most recent article. “Thoroughbreds can be tough. Hell, all horses can be — of course they can. But I have found that this breed, perhaps more than others, will encourage folks to mosey into one of two camps: “horse people” or “people with horses.” And if you see a fit, happy, good-footed Thoroughbred, sure, some of it might be luck. But somewhere in its lineup of caretakers and humans, that horse probably has a “horse person” in its corner.” [Making Better Horse People]

Wednesday Video from Kentucky Performance Products: Get to Know Badminton Champ Ros Canter

By on May 31, 2023 4:59 pm -

Ros Canter is every inch a champion: she has been, quite literally, since she took the World Champion title back in 2018 riding Allstar B, and she certainly is this spring as the new reigning Badminton winner, taking the crown a year after finishing second with the young talent Lordships Graffalo. But for all Ros’s achievements, she’s still something of an enigma; softly-spoken, and more given to working away behind the scenes than soaking up the spotlight, she’s not necessarily a rider you’ll be able to rattle off facts about. But this long-form interview will certainly give you an interesting insight into the rider, her programme, and the horses within it. Settle in and get to know Ros Canter – equestrian sport’s best-placed case of nominative determinism.

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The Race Car Driving, Skydiving, Astronaut-Marrying Eventer

By on May 31, 2023 1:30 pm -

Race car driving. Skydiving. Eventing. What do these three things have in common? All are sports that amateur Janine Shoffner has had a hand in. Did I mention her husband, John, is an astronaut and has just returned from a historic 11-day mission to the International Space Station this week? 

On behalf of World Equestrian Brands, we interviewed Janine to discuss the similarities between her two hobbies: race car driving and eventing at the two-star level. Our conversation took us from her career teaching competition-level skydiving to how the first horse she ever sat on was an unbroken three year-old — but while I would have originally called her an adrenaline junkie, she says that’s not quite the case. 

Skydiving over Lake Tahoe. Janine Shoffner is in blue, her husband John Shoffner is in beige

“I don’t know, I think I’ve lost all the adrenaline,” says Janine. “I think I may have started out as an adrenaline junkie, but over the years, I have tempered it with a lot of caution. I mean, I have over 300 base jumps. I’ve jumped off buildings and bridges and cliffs and stuff like that. But when you really get down to the bare bones of this kind of stuff, I think it’s a path to knowing yourself. And I think most sports are like that. We discover ourselves and who we truly are by competing.”

So, how did Janine go from adrenaline junkie to calculated risk taker? And what the heck does race car driving have to do with eventing?

Janine seems to have first started off in all of these fast-paced sports, including eventing, the same way: almost entirely by accident. She got into race car driving, she tells us, because of her husband’s midlife crisis: she encouraged him to get a fast car, but after he did, she was worried they’d both lose their licenses driving too fast, so they took it to the race track. “We went to Germany and to the Nürburgring, which is the world’s longest most dangerous track, and we learned to race there,” Janine says. “Within 18 months, we did our first race at the Nürburgring and we started an endurance racing Pro-Am team in Germany. That was 10 years ago.”

Her path to eventing was similarly direct. Janine and her husband had bought an 800-acre ranch near Lake Tahoe in California. Originally they bought the property because it was near an excellent jump zone for skydiving. But it came with one other unique addition – horses. They leased part of the property to cowboys who kept their horses on it, and while Janine says that she “didn’t know one end of a horse from the other” at the time, she would go out and give them scratches and love on them. 

One day, a cowboy said she could get on one of the horses. “The cowboy said, ‘Oh, you can ride him if you want, just jump up on him. Just grab a halter and a lead rope and you’ll be fine,’” says Janine. “Well, that f*&^#r was lying. It turned out they were all unbroken three and four-year-olds.”

After Janine figured out how to stay on, she took a few lessons, although it wasn’t quite what she originally expected. “That was my rationale,” Janine laughs. “‘It can’t be that difficult, I see people do it on TV all the time! You sit on the horse, go for a gallop, get off and drink a cocktail.’”

True to her personality, the first horse sport she tried was fox hunting. That early experience has led her to develop a unique style of eventing. As she says, “When you see me ride you’ll understand that I can get shit done, because that’s how I learned. I learned to stay in the tack, but I’m not the most elegant of riders. But I’ve managed to stay in the tack mostly and be reasonably safe over the last 24 years, so it seems to be working.”

Kilkenny Star and Janine Shoffner. Photo courtesy of Janine Shoffner.

Three years after she took her first riding lesson, Janine competed in her first one-star event (now a two-star). Today, she owns several horses, the majority of which are named after Quentin Tarantino characters. (I can’t say I’m surprised. Somehow I can’t imagine Janine enjoying a relaxing chick flick.) Her personal string includes O-Ren Ishii, a nine-year-old three-star event horse; Big Kahuna, a show jumping mare who is putting in an impressive 1.60m jump at home and is slowly moving up the levels in competition; and Komanche, a young clone from her first FEI horse, Kilkenny Star. Janine also owns Stuntman Mike, ridden by Harriet Mchord and Isselhook’s First Sight TSF, an eventing stallion currently ridden by Doug Payne, as well as being a part-owner of Turbo, ridden by Sorrell Klatzko, who is hopefully on track to be selected for the Irish dressage team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Janine has now been riding for almost a decade longer than she’s been racing cars, but her race car driving career is even more decorated than her riding career. “My claim to fame in racing – although I was Amateur Champion at the Nürburgring in 2021, which is very cool – is that I did a four hour race on my own,” Janine says. “That is unheard of and had not been done before. So it was quite a feather in the cap.”

Amateur race car driver Janine Shoffner in her AMG GT3 race car at the 2020 Nürburgring 24 hour race. Photo courtesy of Janine Shoffner.

While she loves both sports with a passion, Janine says that they’re quite opposite environments. “The racing is more glamorous; like, I turn up at the track and I have two engineers and six mechanics that work on my car. I don’t ever touch it, you know?” Janine says. “I get a big trailer with slide outs. There’s a girl there that makes me my cappuccino in the morning, just the way I like it. So it’s all very luxurious. And then I step into my car and I have to perform.”

On the other hand, the eventing competition atmosphere is quite different. “With horses, you take your muck bucket and your trailer to the show and you’re shoveling shit all the time,” says Janine. “And then you have to work your horse all the time. So you have to train it at home to get ready for a one or two star, which involves six months of training or fitness. Everyday, six days a week, you’re working on your horse.”

Janine also finds that eventing is different to racing in the number of factors that you have to consider when you’re competing. “Eventing is very different to racing. In racing, as soon as they plug you into the car, you go as fast as you possibly can. There’s no gray area,” Janine says. “Horses are very gray. There’s a lot of gray areas that involve the levels of training, rider ability, and fitness and health, both of the rider and of the horse.”

According to Janine, while race car driving and eventing are as different as “chocolate and cheese,” there are similarities as well — particularly when it comes to the mindset needed to win. “I think you can only really perform correctly if you’re out of your own way, like if you’re in your zone and everything’s kind of working automatically,” Janine says. “I think on a technical level there are similarities, too. In order to drive a car fast, you have to balance the car. In order to be effective on a horse, you have to balance the horse.”

While both sports require mental fortitude, nerves of steel, and great feel, Janine says that the type of balance is logistically different. “It’s a different balance because with horses we are always trying to lighten the forehand. And then in the car, we’re trying to load the forehand because that gives us better turning around the corners. So it’s a different balance, but it’s still balance and a similar skill set involved in achieving the correct balance in the correct way.”

Janine & John Shoffner’s 1952 Grumman Albatross airplane. Photo courtesy of Janine Shoffner.

Throughout my conversation with Janine I was often so stunned by her casual revelations – for example that time she and her husband refurbished a 1952 Grumman Albatross plane and flew it for Red Bull – that I’m afraid I probably sounded like a record of surprised noises stuck on repeat. But, after so many times of saying “Wow, that’s amazing!” Janine reminded me that “with enough money and time, there’s a lot you can get done.”

I often joke that horses have played their cards right. They used to be the ones pulling the wagon, now they’re riding in the backs of our trailers. Janine seems to have a knack for both modes of transportation, whether that’s modern race cars or performance horses. 

This article is brought to you with support from World Equestrian Brands — proud supporters of all riders, including the most adrenaline-driven amongst us! You can equip your equine athlete by visiting www.worldequestrianbrands.com.

Burghley Names Spinal Injury Recovery Charity as Chosen Beneficiary for 2023

By on May 31, 2023 10:29 am -

Wills Oakden and Oughterard Cooley. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Defender Burghley Horse Trials (31 August-3 September 2023) has appointed Horatio’s Garden as its official charity for this year.

Horatio’s Garden, whose Main Avenue show garden won Best in Show and a much-coveted gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last week, nurtures the wellbeing of people after spinal injury in beautiful, accessible, restorative sanctuaries within the heart of NHS spinal injury centres. The charity’s gardens are vital places for reflection and adjustment for people facing these life-changing injuries and long stays in hospital, and have a profoundly positive impact for patients, their loved ones and NHS staff.

The charity is named after Horatio Chapple, who had the original idea to create a garden for patients with spinal injuries and their loved ones while volunteering at the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury during his school holidays. The first garden opened in 2012 and following its enormous success, a nationwide charity was henceforth formed with the mission to open a Horatio’s Garden in all 11 UK spinal injury centres.

The eighth Horatio’s Garden will open at The Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre Unit at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield in 2024, also designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg of Harris Bugg Studio who created the charity’s award-winning show garden for the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Horatio’s Garden’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show installation, designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg. Photo by Marianne Majerus.

Dr Olivia Chapple, Founder and Chair of Trustees at Horatio’s Garden, said: “We’re delighted to be chosen as this year’s charity partner of Burghley Horse Trials. It’s with the support of organisations like Burghley that we are able to continue our vital work to nurture wellbeing after spinal injury in beautiful, vibrant gardens in the heart of NHS spinal injury centres. We are really looking forward to working together on the partnership, which is well timed to coincide with our major appeal to open the eighth Horatio’s Garden. Located in Sheffield, it will support the whole region from the West Midlands to East Anglia, South Yorkshire to Lincolnshire.”

Defender Burghley Horse Trials Director Martyn Johnson said: “Rehabilitation after spinal injury is something all riders support, and Horatio’s Garden provides wonderful sanctuaries for patients to escape from the intensity of hospital life. We are so pleased to be able to support this very worthy charity and look forward to welcoming Horatio’s Garden to Burghley this year.”

Between the Ears with Isabelle Bosley

By on May 31, 2023 9:16 am -

It seems like these days we look at each other’s lives through the lens of a highlight reel. We get to see the incredible trips, the best jumps, and the moments that we’re proud enough of to put on social media. What we don’t talk about is how much pressure this adds to athletes on both ends of the news feed.

Riders, whether professional or not, are made to feel like they ‘have to’ post something that makes them look cool and successful. Then, as we consume this content, we are stuck with the disillusioned perception that the sport is easy and that if you’re not succeeding, then maybe you aren’t cut out for it. I would like to take this opportunity to go ‘between the ears’ of some of the riders that make up our Eventing Nation and work to understand some of the real challenges this industry presents.

To read more from the Between the Ears series, click here.

Isabelle Bosley and Night Quality. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Isabelle Bosley is no stranger to the international horse show scene. She’s spent the past 8 years working for five-star event rider, Lillian Heard Wood, as a groom, rider, and just about everything in between. After several overseas trips grooming for Lillian, Izzy got her first crack at overseas competition herself in the spring of 2022.

What started as a grant to compete at Bramham ended up as a double whammy when Izzy was named to the Nations Cup team at Houghton Hall (talk about pressure!). The experience proved to be less than ideal from an outcome-based perspective: at Houghton, Izzy had a fall at the water, and she ended up retiring on course at Bramham. When I asked Izzy about her experience, she said, “Honestly, in all the failure, I’ve probably learned more than I have in five years before getting to that point.” Hopefully, by hearing about Izzy’s journey and experience, you will get a chance to learn something too!

Can you tell me a little bit about your horse background and start in eventing?

“Both of my parents train racehorses so I kind of grew up from day one in the barn with them. They didn’t put any pressure on me to do horses, and I don’t think they ever wanted me to make it a full-time career, but I picked up the bug. Once I had my first eventing lesson, I thought “this is it!” and never looked back.

“I first worked for Lillian in a ‘gap year’ after high school, but my parents made me go back to take classes at a community college the following fall. That year made me realize that I didn’t want to be in school and that I wanted to do horses full-time. My parents have always been supportive of me, but with their own experiences of what life is like in the horse industry, they wanted me to be realistic about what I was getting myself into. They told me ‘If you’re going to not do school, then you’re going to have to start paying your bills and making your way in the sport because it’s going to be tough, so you should start learning now.’

“In hindsight, I’m glad that I did go to school for that year because I think if I had gone straight into horses I would have always thought ‘Should I have gone to school?’ But I know I’m where I’m supposed to be one hundred percent. This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.”

Isabelle Bosley and Night Quality. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography.

Talk me through your 2022 season. What roadblocks did you face and how did it affect your confidence?

“When I first moved Millbrook (Night Quality) up to Advanced in 2021, we had almost a fairytale season. He was going great, so I set my sights on getting a grant to go to Bramham the following year. I got the grant, and on top of that, I was named to the Nation’s Cup team for Houghton as a prep run. As a young kid doing their first trip overseas, I wasn’t as nervous as you would think, because I had done it so many times as a groom for Lillian. I knew the atmosphere and the competition would be intense because riders over there are insanely good. All I was thinking was, ‘This is going to be awesome for us.’

“The winter before my trip, I dislocated my shoulder, which put a little bit of a wrench in my plans. It was the second time I had dislocated that shoulder and I was feeling the physical effects of that and worried about my physical fitness. My prep runs didn’t feel quite like the runs I did in the fall before, which could have been partially my shoulder but I think maybe the difficulty of the level was just catching up with us. I was a young rider not seeing my strides all the way around and my horse was pretty green too. Looking back, I did progress through the levels pretty quickly and some of the gaps in my fundamentals just started to creep up on us.

“By the time we made it overseas, it was like the wheels just kind of fell off. We weren’t 100% confident and we were going around some of the toughest tracks that we had ever seen. When I fell off at Houghton, everyone on the team was incredible and supportive, but what was pressing on me was that 2 weeks later I was supposed to go to a four-long. Not exactly an ideal situation! But I had amazing support and connections through the team, so I pressed on.

“Another challenging factor was that I felt Millbrook wasn’t feeling 100% himself. I had to battle with this a lot because I constantly wondered if I was just overthinking things. I was overseas all day obsessing over my one horse when I’m normally staying busy all day with Lillian’s entire barn. I had to try to navigate my intuition with all of the heightened pressure of the environment that I was in. At Bramham, he gave one hundred and twenty percent around that course. And I mean, that course was extremely technical and challenging. We got ten minutes around the course and then got eliminated at the last water, where there was a monstrous drop in that I couldn’t make happen.

“Hindsight is 20/20. When I returned home, I got some vet work done and it turned out that he tested positive for EPM. Interestingly, EPM can lie dormant in a horse and be triggered by stress, which I think is what happened to Millbrook, with all the stress of the trip. Looking back, I feel like I should have trusted my gut a bit more when I thought he wasn’t feeling well, but that’s kind of just part of the learning game. The line between trusting your gut and overthinking is a tricky one! After getting the EPM sorted, Millbrook ended up having a pretty bad abscess that prevented us from having a fall season. It was almost like in a way, my whole year was botched and in another, I had learned so many important lessons I know I will take with me through the rest of my career.”

Isabelle Bosley and Night Quality. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

How have you moved forward from the experience?

“I ended up dislocating my shoulder a third time in the fall of 2022, so I had to get surgery that included a three-month recovery with absolutely no riding. I thought about it and the longest I have gone without riding since I can remember was three weeks when I dislocated my shoulder the first time.

“I’m the kind of person who feels weird when I’m not in the barn, so this was definitely a mental and emotional struggle for me. I was throwing myself a pity party, and then I realized that this, too, is part of the game. So I was able to rechannel that energy into positive reflection. I thought about everything I have done and where I want to go.

“I broke down my approach to riding and really took the time to refresh and refocus my mindset. I think the most important lesson I learned is that we can start to get selfish about our goals but we have to remember that the horse is a huge part of this too. I came into this year thinking we’d be so behind, but he’s come out this year feeling phenomenal. I think he needed the time to refresh just as much as I did.

“I feel really good about the way things have gone and now I’m just focused on getting both of our confidence levels where they need to be. I’ve just tried to go back to the basics with him a little bit and kind of establish our foundation a bit better, taking it show by show and not putting too much pressure on any year-end goals.”

Isabelle Bosley and Night Quality. Photo by Abby Powell.

Have you ever experienced burnout?

“I think the times I’ve felt most burnout and have questioned what I was doing coincided with not feeling like I was getting anywhere and being successful. I’ve always made the most of my time riding whatever horse that I’ve got. For a long time, I just rode whatever ex-racehorse I got from my Dad and these were great experiences but I wasn’t moving up levels.

“I worked for Lillian for five years before finding Millbrook, and right before he came into the barn was when I was most burnt out. It’s always helped that my parents are in horses and they’ve always given me good advice on those hard times and feeling stuck. Millbrook has been incredible for my career, but the reality is sometimes you’re just going to be the rider without the horse and you have to be able to keep perspective during those times. You have to take what you can get.

“You might get burnout from not having a horse, just like you might get burnout from going to too many competitions. You kind of have to roll with it. And when I am really feeling burnt out, just on the workdays themselves, I try to do something non-horse related. I have a lot of friends that aren’t a part of the horse industry and that’s been important to me as well.”

Isabelle Bosely and Night Quality. Photo by Shelby Allen.

What would you tell someone who is facing their own adversity in the sport?

“Talk to someone. A friend. A professional. Even sometimes just reading an article is enough. You’ll find that any rider, even the professionals at the top of the sport all go through adversity and it makes you feel better about the fact that even if you are going through a low, you’re in good company. For me, thinking about the fact that all these great riders have all dealt with the safe stuff I am reminded that it doesn’t make me any less of a rider and it doesn’t mean I’m good enough or that I should quit.

“It’s just part of the game, you gotta just be able to handle it and keep moving forward with it. And that’s a lesson that will help you not just in horses, it’s in many things that you would do in life.”

Izzy’s shoulder is healed and she and Millbrook are getting back to competing, with a new timeline and new perspective. For me, hearing Izzy’s story highlights the paradox around goals. Of course, you have to have them, especially if you want to be on teams and ride at a high level — but sometimes it’s in pursuit of those goals that we lose sight of what is important.

We let the pressure of the future change the way we experience the here and now. Realistically, if you are in horses, you are going to go through struggles, so the more we can normalize talking about them and helping each other navigate the rough patches, the more our industry will benefit.