Classic Eventing Nation

Friday News & Notes from FLAIR Nasal Strips

By on Dec 11, 2015 12:03 am -
It's second round clipping time again.... Photo by Emily Rector.

It’s second round clipping time again…. Photo by Emily Rector.

YOU GUYS. It’s only TWO FRIDAYS from Christmas!!! Have you watched Elf yet? At least two to three times already? What about Love Actually? I admit that one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is re-watching shamelessly addictive holiday movies. I love that so much. I’m also going Christmas tree shopping this weekend, and starting my egg nog, as well as my apple butter. Maybe I just like the traditions more than the actual holiday? Tell me I’m not alone in this.

News From Around the Globe:

Congratulations to Mary Kate Valentine and Lynsey Ekema, the winners from yesterday’s 12 Days of Christmas giveaway! Mary Kate and Lynsey will receive a tub of Cosequin ASU or Cosequin ASU Plus to give to their happy horses. Congratulations, ladies! [12 Days of Christmas: Cosequin]

The ever popular ICP Symposium has announced the instructors for both east and west coast for 2016. This year, U.S. Eventing Chef d’Equipe David O’Connor will teach at both Symposiums. Sports Psychologist Shannon Thompson will lead a session on the West Coast, and Silvio Mazzoni will teach show jumping on the East Coast. [ICP Symposium Instructors Announced]

Crowd favorites Laura Graves and Verdades killed it in the Grand Prix Special at Festival of Champions. After winning the Grand Prix on Wednesday, they scored a 77.13% in the Special, and are now leading going into the Grand Prix Freestyle scheduled for Saturday night. Steffan Peters finished second and third with Rosamunde and Legolas 92 with a 74.549% and a 72.412% respectively. [Laura Graves & Verdades Light Up Festive of Champions]

Did you know that Mike Plumb, Eventing legend, was also a winning Junior Equitation rider? Yeah, me neither. In fact, a 17-year-old Plumb won the 1957 ASPCA Maclay Championship and placed second in the American Horse Shows Association hunter seat medal final (now the USEF Medal) at Madison Square Garden. He was also second in the Maclay and third in the Medal Finals in 1955. [COTH Throwback Thursday]

I’m a total rein snob, and I find that I can’t even deal with stiff or even braided reins any more. I adore these Harwich Inside Rubber Reins for dressage, because they have a smooth leather outside, and a grippy rubber inside so that I look classy while I’m performing my dressage test (hopefully!) and also have the grip of the rubber to help me maintain my perfect rein length. I’m not alone in thinking that my coach is constantly thinking ‘shorten your reins!’, so rubber is essential for achieving that perfect grip. [Harwich Inside Rubber Reins]

Hot on Horse Nation: George Morris Clinic Report…Complete with Memes

 

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Thursday Video from Zoetis: Remembering Molokai

By on Dec 10, 2015 5:00 pm -

Molokai is a Thoroughbred legend in eventing, an ex-racehorse turned international eventing superstar memorialized on a Wheaties cereal box. With his owner and rider Dorothy (Trapp) Crowell, Molokai traveled the world representing the USA in eventing.

Molokai earned a silver medal at the 1994 World Equestrian Games in the Netherlands and finished in the top 10 at both Badminton and Burghley. He topped off a stellar career with a second place finish at the inaugural Rolex Kentucky CCI4* in 1998.

Molokai passed away in 2013 at age 30 and was inducted in the USEA Eventing Hall of Fame during the Annual Meeting and Convention last week. He will be forever remembered for his bravery and heart.

#EventerProblems, Vol. 45

By on Dec 10, 2015 3:00 pm -

Sometimes with eventing, everything just feels right. It’s like you’ve just come bursting out of the start box onto the course of life, and the footing is perfect and the sun is shining and the birds are singing you’re jumping every fence out of stride and it’s like, “Man, could this be any more perfect?”

Other times, it feels more like this:

Yep.

Here’s your latest edition of #EventerProblems.

If you missed them: Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.

 

Training went well. #oops #Eventing #eventerproblems A photo posted by Helen Brew (@helen_brew) on

#eventing #eventerproblems

A photo posted by Kendall Marchi (@kendolly33) on

 

Grey horse owner’s worst nightmare #uspc #eventerproblems #notsowhitewonder #wherestheworkingstudent A photo posted by Allie Blyskal-Sacksen (@asacksen) on

 

Hand drug riding ring. Phew. #notinthejobdescription #eventerproblems #trainerproblems #ilovewhatido #Austineventing A photo posted by Becca Speer (@beccarides) on

Phillip Dutton Leads U.S. Charge in Final FEI Rankings, Michael Jung Tops Charts

By on Dec 10, 2015 1:00 pm -
Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn at Aachen. Photo by Jenni Autry. Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn at Aachen. Photo by Jenni Autry.

No one is surprised to see Michael Jung is World No. 1 in the final FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings, leading by a whopping 159 points over second-placed Chris Burton. Tim Price, William Fox-Pitt and Shane Rose round out the top five. Shane jumped all the way from 25th to fifth place to end the year after finishing one-two at Adelaide CCI4* with CP Qualified and Virgil.

Phillip Dutton finishes the season ranked seventh in the world, making him the leading U.S. rider on the charts. He had a strong end to the year, taking the Reserve National Championships in both the CCI3* and CCI2* at the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International with Mighty Nice and Z, respectively, plus a win in the Galway Downs CCI3* with Fernhill Fugitive.

Boyd Martin (10th) joins Phillip as the only other U.S. rider to end the year in the top 10 of the rankings after finishing three horses in the top three at Fair Hill CCI3*. Team USA has three additional riders in the top 30: Lauren Kieffer in 19th, Marilyn Little in 25th and Buck Davidson in 28th.

Another two U.S. riders sit in the top 50, with Matt Brown in 35th place, boosted by the top American performance at Boekelo CCIO3* with Super Socks BCF, and Tamie Smith in 41st after her dominant win in the Fair Hill CCI3* with Mai Baum.

For Canada, Waylon Roberts is the highest ranked Canadian in the world in 80th place, followed closely by Jessica Phoenix in 86th place. Click here to see the final FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings for 2015.

[FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings]

Yes, That Is Boyd Martin Climbing a Flag Pole at the 2000 Olympics

By on Dec 10, 2015 11:00 am -

You might have thought that Boyd Martin made his Olympic debut as a member of Team USA at the 2012 London Olympic Games. But it turns out that he actually made his first Olympic appearance 12 years earlier … while climbing a flagpole during the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

As Boyd explains it, “I managed to make the nightly news after I climbed up a flagpole at the Rocks in Sydney at the closing of the Olympics. Proud moment. I am proud to say that I have matured slightly since then.” (That last point is up for debate.)

Go Eventing.

EN’s 12 Days of Christmas: Win a Supply of Cosequin ASU/ASU Plus!

By on Dec 10, 2015 9:00 am -

We’re kicking right along with our giveaways from our very generous sponsors, and anyone who uses or is interested in Cosequin will love this one! Today, we’re teaming up with Cosequin to give away a container of Cosequin ASU 500 gram and, to a second winner, a container of Cosequin ASU Plus 525 gram.

Cosequin is one of the most widely regarded products for joint support for your horse, and you’ll be quick to see why once you begin using this great product! You can learn more about Cosequin here.

To enter today’s giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter before midnight tonight. We will announce the winner in tomorrow’s News & Notes post. Good luck!

Disclaimer: Information given in the Rafflecopter widget, including email addresses, may be shared with the corresponding sponsor at their request. You will also be signed up for our weekly EN eNews email newsletter, if you aren’t already. Don’t worry — you’ll just wonder what you’ve been missing out on — and you can unsubscribe if you don’t want it.

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Thursday News & Notes from Kentucky Equine Research

By on Dec 10, 2015 12:03 am -

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I got a horse for Christmas one time in my life, when I was about 13, and ever since then, my brain seems to think that it should happen again. The advent of Facebook “horse for sale” groups has really only ruined my life more, because I’m pretty sure I’ve found at least five horses in the past week that I would like for Christmas. I found a lovely cousin of my 3* horse, only three years old, for a very reasonable price, but definitely not in the states. Then, I found a ridiculously adorable Haflinger cross mare who had the best advertising scheme yet. She was dressed in a Christmas wreath and her ad read: “Cindy Lou Who, now just over two, wants a home for Christmas… maybe it’s with you?”. Um, yes please??

News From Around the Globe:

Congratulations to Victoria Lachelle Henderson, the winner of yesterday’s 12 Days of Christmas giveaway! Victoria will take home a Shoulder Relief Girth from Total Saddle Fit and will definitely be the stylin’ one at her barn! [12 Days of Christmas: Total Saddle Fit]

Horses are now helping youths with PTSD to great success. Young people suffering from post-traumatic stress symptoms experienced a significant reduction in symptoms after undertaking equine facilitated psychotherapy in a new study in the US. The two groups, of young people from 8-18, were divided into horse therapy and regular therapy, and at the end of the study horses were shown to be much more effective at reducing stress. [Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy]

Are you also dream horse christmas shopping? You should definitely get into the art of demystifying horse advertisements, because some of the phrases are just straight hilarious. What about “broodmare prospect”? Or, “completely bombproof”? Check out H&H’s great guide. [Horse Adverts: What They Really Mean]

Mike the donkey survived a harrowing episode of almost drowning in a flood in Ireland this past week. Thanks to Animal Heaven Animal Rescue (AHAR), Mike was pulled to safety despite the dangerous situation, using a boat and a lifebuoy, and the help of a lot of wonderful people. The best part of the whole thing was Mike’s smile after he was saved, and his happy fluffy little expression as he ate hay in a warm stall. [Mike Gets Saved]

Hot on Horse Nation: Weird But True: Horse Facts

Best of Blogs: Millennial Grooms are Ruining the Equestrian Industry

KER ClockIt Session of the Week: This week’s session looks at the whole process of running XC. Of this 78-minute session, about 4 minutes is competing on an Area BN Championship course. You can see the horse was working hard on course, spending almost the entire time above an 80% heart rate. The warmup, located on a side hill, also illustrates the effect of incline on heart rate.

Shopping for an eventer who has everything? Give the gift of insight into their conditioning regimen! This month only, KER is offering $15 off any purchase of $100 or more on Shop.kerx.com, including KER ClockIt heart-rate monitors and other accessories. Just use code MERRY15 at checkout.

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Because why not, Nibbit?

 

Wednesday Videos from Kentucky Performance Products: Learn the Masterson Method

By on Dec 9, 2015 5:00 pm -

We’re all about education here at EN, and we found a great playlist from Absorbine which focuses on movement issues. Equine bodywork specialist Jim Masterson focuses on a different area of the body for each exercise he does, which can help pinpoint issues and alleviate discomfort.

There are five videos in all contained in this playlist, each one containing several educational tidbits on the inner workings on our horses. As it goes, horses are so much more than what meets the eye, and understanding the anatomy and makeup of our horses can help us identify and treat issues.

What They Didn’t Teach Us in College

By on Dec 9, 2015 3:00 pm -

EN guest blogger Katharine Stancliff has often regaled us with stories of her “wonder horse”, Poppyfields Tristan. Now, she takes the time to reflect on sudden losses and life lessons. Many thanks to Katharine for sharing her blog, and thank you for reading.

The three amigos from this summer: Bear, Paco, and Tristan. Photo by Katharine Stancliff.

The three amigos from this summer: Bear, Paco, and Tristan. Photo by Katharine Stancliff.


When I was a kid, people would suggest I turn my love of horses to a veterinarian profession and I shied away from the thought. Not only did the idea of gore, needles, sticking your arms up various bits of the horses, turn me off, but there was always the calls to put horses down that made me know that a career path in medicine definitely wasn’t for me.

So instead, I opted for happier work like boarding, training, retail, and saddle fitting, thinking I’d be safer from grief except for my own horses.

Getting a bachelor’s degree helped prepare me for my career path and opened my eyes to new facets of equine care; farm design being less about aesthetics and more about ventilation, drainage, and safety.

Planning schedules for veterinary and farrier appointments, maintaining pastures, fencing, arenas, proper electrical considerations to protect against barn fires, all in the name of the safety and health of horses under our care. We learned how to recognize and treat illness and injury in horses, how to identify various lamenesses, and properly condition to prepare for competition. All in the name of safety.

But life doesn’t always follow the rules. Even if you offer the best care, top of the line service, and your client’s horses thrive under your care, tragedy can and will still strike.

Nothing we learned in school prepared me for the moment I saw that my best friend’s horse had sustained a life ending injury in a freak accident. Nothing prepared me for the panicked phone calls to local vets to get help as quickly as possible.

Nothing prepared me for telling my friend her horse had passed before she could see him. Nothing prepared me for the grief over a horse that was never mine, but had still managed to leave a huge impression on my heart.

But life goes on. The rest of the farm still needs care, the other horses need to be fed, stalls need to be cleaned. Seeing the other horses seeming to process the loss was the hardest. My horse Tristan was most closely attached to the horse we lost, and he never once called out to him. I caught Tristan gazing from his stall at the spot where he passed, but not a single whinny.

We take solace in the things we can. The injury was dealt with immediately, he wasn’t in pain for long. Nothing could have been done to foresee the accident. We are lucky to have the support of wonderful friends and family that have offered love and shoulders to lean on.

I will always live with some small amount of guilt. What if I had caught them to feed five minutes sooner? Would it have never happened? Would it have still happened but in the middle of the night under worse circumstances? We’ll never know, but I’ve been over and over it in my head enough to know I did everything I knew to protect him. It just wasn’t enough this time.

Appreciate every moment with your horses. For being such strong and graceful animals, they are so very precious and fragile.

We will be ok eventually, things will go back to normal. Life goes on. For now, there will still be some grief.

Rest in peace, Bear. Once by our side, but forever in our hearts.

A Few More #GOTD Exercises from Laine Ashker

By on Dec 9, 2015 1:00 pm -

Laine Ashker continues to post new ideas for grid exercises to cure that winter boredom. These are great exercises for riders at any level — you could even make these grids into pole gymnastics for a greener horse or rider! Whether you are working on your position, your horse’s technique and footwork, or a combination of both, gymnastic exercises are a great way to accomplish your goals.

I just love a good one stride series of verticals to get my position #onfleek

A video posted by Lainey Ashker (@laineyea) on

And just for fun, here’s a look at Laine’s upper level partner, Anthony Patch, out stretching his legs!

When the master comes out to play all my doubts just sail away ⚓️⛵️ #GoAlGo

A video posted by Lainey Ashker (@laineyea) on