Classic Eventing Nation

Blenheim CCI4*-L, Day One: Reigning World Champ Sets Personal Record

By on Sep 14, 2023 6:37 pm -

Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir take the CCI4*-L lead at Blenheim. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

When World Champions Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir showed up on the Blenheim CCI4*-L entry list, it felt like rather a sure thing — really, in this field of largely inexperienced horses or reroutes, how could anyone possibly live up to the standard they’d set?

But nothing’s ever quite as straightforward as all that in the horse world, and though the pair come here as previous victors — they won this class here in 2021 — there are no guarantees with horses, and their 2023 season hasn’t been totally plain sailing. They had uncharacteristic run-outs at coffins at both Kentucky CCI5* and the European Championships, with a historic CHIO Aachen win in between, and now, with the Paris Olympics less than a year away, it’s all about reconsolidating, ending the season on a high, and, of course, nailing down that long-format qualifying result.

Cross-country might, as such, be the main focus of their week, but before they get to all that, they started off on an extraordinary high note. They currently sit in first place — a lead that it’s hard to imagine anyone will pass tomorrow — on a 20.5, Yas’s personal best score at any international competition on any horse.

The clincher? A whole new mental outlook for the still-relatively-inexperienced French-bred 12-year-old (Nouma d’Auzay x Gerboise du Cochet, by Livarot).

“I’m always such a perfectionist, and I always want to try to be better all the time,” Yasmin says. “Today, he was really rideable and soft, and I felt like I could ask for more from him than usual, because usually we’re a little bit on the edge of maybe a slight explosion. It definitely always feels a little more fragile than it looks, but today it didn’t feel fragile at all, which is a really great feeling.”

Yas and Banzai du Loir. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The decision to come to Blenheim, just a month after that European Championships run with its shortened cross-country track, was almost circumstantial, Yas explains: “He came out of the Europeans so well, and we pondered for a little bit after that and thought, ‘It was at the beginning of August, all the other horses still have three more events to do, he has no one to go in the field with, and he ended up only running for about eight and a half minutes [at the Europeans]. So we decided that actually, it would be really good for both of us to go out and just finish the season on a good note. I think more than anything, it’s about positivity. I want to come out and just have a nice time and enjoy it.”

Although the Paris Olympics, for which the gelding was initially bought, is still very much on her mind, Yas is also focusing on the bigger picture, and working on just creating the best possible performances for where she and her exceptional horse are at.

“Obviously [the Olympics] has been a dream of mine since I’ve was tiny, running around on little ponies,” she says. “But what will be will be — as long as we do our best and hopefully have some good results, there’s not very much else we can do. At the moment, I’m just trying… not to forget about it, as it’s always in the back of your mind, but I’m definitely not hell bent or going to go absolutely nuts. I’d really like to have some good results, and then hopefully we’re still in the mix, but you just never know what will happen with horses.”

Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Gemma Stevens was among the first group of riders in the ring, and she and the former Karin Donckers ride Jalapeno set a standard that wasn’t met for a long time. Ultimately, they moved down just one place to overnight second on their very good score of 25.6, which sees them sit a margin of 5.1 penalties behind the overnight leaders.

“She’s an old-timer, and she knows what she’s doing,” says Gemma, “but it’s such a shame we’ve got an early draw. We’ve been drawn before some of the multiples, which is a real shame when you’ve only got one horse — and one that’s so established on the flat. She’s got the ability, as we saw at Badminton, to do low-20s. But she’s gone in there this morning and done a lovely test, and tried really hard, and we’re on a 25, so it’s okay! It’s not going to lead, but it’s a good start, and for early on Thursday morning, it’s good.”

We last saw Gemma and Jalapeno in an FEI event way back in May, when they contested that extraordinarily tough Badminton. They finished sixth there, which was the culmination of an extraordinary amount of rehabilitation and fitness work on the part of Gemma and her team after the mare had sustained an injury a couple of seasons prior. In bringing ‘Jala’ back, Gemma had learned how to fitten a horse without overusing the gallops — a technique that her prior top horse, Arctic Soul, had relished — and since then, she’s adhering to the mare’s newfound routine.

“She’s literally just done a couple of Open Intermediates to keep her sweet and happy,” says Gemma. “We know she can jump ’round, so she doesn’t need to go run at hundreds of events — she just needs the odd run for her fitness, and to keep her sweet. She’s been swimming and treadmilling and gently cantering; that seems to work with her, so we keep it going!”

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and all that; you can catch Jala doing her best David Hasselhof at a community pool near you. Maybe.

Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Pippa Funnell and her seasoned Billy Walk On sit third on 27.1 after a smart test that began with one unfortunate mistake: “He was a good boy. It’s just a shame that he bobbed into canter at the very beginning, but I was happy enough with him – 27 is around his standard mark. He’s not the most impressive of movers, but he’s a good boy in his temperament, and he was actually, if anything, a bit brighter than normal,” says Pippa.

That, she explains, probably has something to do with how she’s managed his routine this week as we’ve collectively faced something rather like summer, finally.

“I just have to be careful that I don’t overdo the work. Possibly he was maybe a little bit more inattentive than normal, but I didn’t want to overdo the work, because the ground has been drying up recently, and a lot of the warm up is quite sort of bumpy lumpy. He’s done lots of hacking, so I’ve been on him plenty, but not worked him hard.”

Still – it was a sweet starting point for the gelding, and as someone else in the top five proves, there are always plenty of interesting ways to pick up an unexpected penalty or two, even on the most solid of horses.

“I had a bit of a brain fart,” laments Kirsty Chabert, who holds fourth place despite a bit of a miscalculation in her test with the experienced Opposition Loire. That miscalculation? A near error-of-course in the canter work, which ultimately saw them find their way to the desired route — but with a few unplanned tempi changes along the way, a stunning bit of overachievement that, unfortunately, doesn’t earn any extra credit on the scoreboard. Instead, they picked up two 5s and a 4, slightly hampering their sheet that had otherwise been chock full of 7.5s and 8s.

“She’s the most consistent horse I’ve ever had on the flat — like, she’s the same every day of the week,” says Kirsty of her 12-year-old homebred (Opposition Heracles x Brooks Carnival Spirit, by Carnival Drum). “If a horse could nap to go into an arena… she effectively gets there and kind of goes, ‘thank God for that! I’m in the arena now! What would you like me to do?’ She’s just the most beautiful thing to ride on the flat — so I feel a bit guilty!”

The goal for Blenheim, Kirsty explains, is to put a positive cap on a year of ups and downs.

“She was at Badminton, and I had a few not-very-great runs with her in the spring,” explains Kirsty. “She’s not a fan of unpredictable ground, so basically, we’ve just been going back to Open Intermediates and three-stars and trying to get her confidence back. She was third at Bramham CCI4*-L last year, so it’s not that I don’t know she can jump everything, and then she went to Ireland a couple of weeks ago and did a four-short and was fantastic, so my aim of this week is for her to have her ears pricked and a smile on her face on Sunday.”

Julia Krajewski and Ero de Cantraie. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Germany’s Julia Krajewski, our reigning Olympic champion, wasn’t necessarily planning her year around a Blenheim trip — but when two of her students in the Warendorf young rider training scheme, Calvin Böckmann and Libussa Lubekke, opted to come over and compete in the CCI4*-L, she decided to bring her two star nine-year-0lds along for the ride, too. One of those, Nickel 21, will compete in the CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-olds this week; the other, French-bred Ero de Cantraie, with whom she won this summer’s German National Championship CCI4*-S at Luhmühlen, is contesting his first-ever CCI4*-L here. And what a start he’s had to the week: at the end of day one, he sits in overnight fifth on 29.6.

“He’s really come on leaps and bounds the whole year,” says Julia, explaining her choice in dividing and conquering among Blenheim’s two classes. “One year ago, he couldn’t even do a flying change properly, so he really came on this year. He’s maybe a bit more of a big galloper, so I thought he’d enjoy the hilly terrain here, while [Nickel 21] takes a good breath and then goes to Boekelo. I think a lot of Ero; he’s maybe a bit disadvantaged in the dressage, because he doesn’t have a naturally flashy trot, so we still have to make that a bit more. On a good day, there’s more, and on a day when he’s a bit more cautious there’s not as much, but I do think he’ll be super, super nice.”

And his best trait?

“He really wants to please. He wants to do well, and I think that’s the most important,” says Julia, who intimated at Luhmühlen that Ero’s brain reminds her of that of Samourai du Thot, her now-retired Olympic partner and CCI5* winner.

Coming from continental Europe, where much is done on a surface at competitions, Blenheim’s expanse of grass is also a useful part of Ero’s ongoing education.

“We’ve ridden a test on grass before in our first two-star — and it was very bad,” laughs Julia. “I like riding on grass generally; I do a lot at home, but I actually think it’s probably the warm-up and preparation that’s a bit different, because when you compete on a surface you have a surface to warm up on, and a surface to train on at the competition. That’s a bit different for the horses and how they can move.”

Like many French horses, Ero isn’t necessarily totally straightforward in his brain — but careful production over the last eighteen months has meant that he’s chosen Julia as a safety net of sorts, and every confidence-building experience she can give him is a net positive in his overall production, particularly in busy rings like Blenheim’s.

“He was sweet, and he doesn’t really mind atmosphere. He can come in somewhere and be a little bit cautious, but he never forgets himself, and that’s really nice. I’ve only had him a year and a half, and when I got him he was quite insecure and didn’t know where to put himself — but I think he decided to put himself with me, and that’s fine!”

Today, she says, that translated to an often elusive quality: consistency.

“He really stayed with me. He came in and went, ‘oh! Okay. There are more people than yesterday. It’s exciting!’ There are no massive highlights, but it’s very even throughout, which means that if we get everything half a mark better, it’s a lot — you don’t have to rely on only the medium or the canter. The second flying change wasn’t as nice, but it was through, and that means we’ve had no late flying changes all season, which I’m really happy about because he really didn’t have a clue a year ago.”

One of the changes that Julia has implemented this week, which she introduced while contesting the CCI4*-S last month at Arville, is a double bridle: “He’s actually the first one I’ve ridden in a double. I find he looks more dressage-y,” she laughs, “and he takes it well, so why not?”

Tiana Coudray and Cancaras Girl. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We’ve had one US competitor so far in this class, and that’s UK-based Tiana Coudray, who rerouted Cancaras Girl here after a couple of issues — and ultimately, a rider fall — at Burghley earlier this month. They sit 24th overnight on 34.3 after a sweet test, which is, Tiana explains, a means to an end rather than the goal in and of itself.

“She’s come on so much this season, and at Burghley I was so pleased with her because she really come on again,” says Tiana. “Today, no, it wasn’t the best test she’s ever done by any stretch, but there’s more maturity in the ring. This weekend is a little bit ‘after the fact’. She did a nice enough bit of work in there — nothing to get terribly excited about, but equally she didn’t misbehave or anything like that. So that’s fine! It’s a stepping stone, and then on to another 5* in the future.”

Rerouting to Blenheim, Tiana explains, works against her usual nature — but finishing the season on a high is a compelling override to her ordinary system.

“It’s been a bit weird coming here, because I think I’m quite methodical, and I’ve never come to an event just like ‘yeah, let’s go to this’,” she says. “I haven’t planned it out; I haven’t even had a chance to school the test before coming here, because off the back of Burghley she had a few days off and then a few days hacking and then it’s like, ‘right, let’s try again!’ So it is a bit weird being here a bit last minute. Not that she wasn’t prepped, obviously — she was prepped for Burghley. But it mentally for me it’s just taking me a minute to regroup and readjust to the goal.”

Though her Burghley was plagued with bad luck, including an extraordinary save at the Leaf Pit that lead to an inflated air jacket, which Tiana rode with for much of the rest of the course, she’s not letting herself take the easy way out in hindsight.

“At the end of the day, if you don’t ride well enough, you’re not going to go well enough,” she says sagely. “There’s no excuses — there’s plenty of things like I could have, should have, would done, or could do better. And then also, you do get a few things thrown at you that make it even harder.  I think it’d be very easy to make excuses and say, ‘oh, you know, I’ have gone clear inside the time if that hadn’t happened!’ No, the reality is we should have been better and it wouldn’t have happened in the first place. So we go home and try to train harder and try it again. It wouldn’t go amiss for both of us to have a really good confident spin around here and go away happy with things and build off the back of that.”

Tomorrow’s CCI4*-L dressage recommences at 9.00 a.m. local time/4.00 a.m. EST with Harry Mutch and HD Bronze first in the ring — and while there’s no livestream for the first phase, as in the CCI4*-S, we’ll be bringing you all the news you need as the competition unfolds. Keep it locked on EN — and Go Eventing.

The top ten in the CCI4*-L at the end of the first day of dressage at Blenheim.

EN’s coverage of Blenheim is presented by Kentucky Performance Products. Click here to learn all about their full line of science-backed nutritional support products, including Neigh-Lox Advanced for digestive support.

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Blenheim CCI4*-S, Day One: McEwen’s Unconventional Morning Alarm Heralds Success

By on Sep 14, 2023 2:57 pm -

 

Tom McEwen and MHS Brown Jack take the day one lead in Blenheim’s CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-olds. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Day one at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials didn’t quite start how Tom McEwen might have planned — “I’ve got puppies in my lorry, and they woke me up at five!” he bemoans with a laugh — but nevertheless, he rallied those dwindling energy levels to produce a serious test on Fred and Penny Barker’s oversized MHS Brown Jack to take, and hold, an early lead in the CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-olds. And as in the CCI4*-L, that day one gauntlet isn’t going to be an easy one for tomorrow’s competitors to catch: they posted the gelding’s four-star personal best of 24.6, uniting the judges at E and M, who each gave the smart test a 75%.

That test came despite an unforeseen challenge: “I was hoping he’d have a friend next door in the ring,” says Tom, referring to the side-by-side competition arenas, which have seen horses and riders entering in pairs to perform their tests in tandem through the day, “but there was no one there. So I was like, ‘right — he’s going to have to be really mature.’ And he was; he was fantastic.”

The ride, he says, was just about “on par with his test at Bramham”, at which he scored a 28.7, but today, both the highlights and the little errors were more numerous.

“With him, it’s just general progression through basics and strength,” says Tom. “His highlights are that there’s a lot more air time, but in a relaxed way rather than with tension, though that’s probably the wrong word. It’s just really nice air time. The little mistakes were that he just got a little bit tense coming into his last change, and because I went for a bit more extended trot today, we just took two seconds to find a balance.”

But, he reasons, “they’re all minor minor things and it’s all part of the learning stage.”

For a big horse — the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse (OBOS Quality 004 x Gowran Lady, by Cavalier Royale) sticks at over 17hh — that time to learn, and to itemise one’s limbs, is key, and although he’s making his Blenheim debut a year later than planned thanks to last year’s clash with the World Championships, that’s something that Tom is taking in his stride as he fine tunes everything the gelding needs for a top-notch performance.

“He’s Mr Relaxed when he’s in a relaxed place, but he can be a bit of a panicker, and because he’s so big, he can move his weight a bit,” says Tom. “It’s just getting him in the right mindset, and the more he relaxes and listens, the more you can ride for a test like today — but when he panics, it’s time to just pop him away and try again later. He’s just taken time; he’s a powerful horse, and he’s better over a bigger course, and so we’re just playing around a bit with him.”

Piggy March and Brookfield Future News. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Just one-tenth of a penalty behind Tom is his fellow Brookfield Stables rider, Piggy March, who posted a 24.7 with Brookfield Future News to take overnight second for the eventing enterprise spearheaded by owners John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn.

“He’s a horse I’ve always thought a lot of, and I think he’ll be a five-star horse,” says Piggy of the eight-year-old Irish gelding (Future Trend x Cashmere Breeze, by Last News xx), who she’s piloted throughout his international career. Like MHS Brown Jack, he’s a big horse — and like many Irish-breds, a slightly late-blooming one, and Piggy’s now beginning to dial up the pressure she puts on him in competition.

“He’s not done masses this year, and because he’s a big-framed horse, we’ve taken it easy with him,” she says. “This is a great competition for him — the jumping in the main arena on Saturday will be a whole new thing for him, and I’ll be really interested in how the whole week goes for him.”

That week has certainly begun positively; this is just his second CCI4*-S test, and though he’s scored exceptionally well at the lower international levels, his only previous test at the level saw him post a 34.8 — a ten mark difference between starts at the level.

“The work he did today is as good as he’s got at the moment, and I was so impressed that he wasn’t spooky at all — he was very settled, and he’s getting more and more expressive and starting to come off the floor,” says Piggy. “He’s a very blood horse, and so it’s great to see that there’s all this movement coming out of him.”

That tendency to spookiness hasn’t been a major factor in ‘Matthew’s’ production — “he’s quite simple,” but, Piggy says, “for some reason, every now and then, white boards do feel like they have dragons in them! It’s frustrating at times, but he’s a good boy — it’s just the confidence, and getting out and doing it. He was at Bramham for the CCI4*-S, and there were definitely dragons down at A that day, but the thing with these big arenas is they only get the confidence and experience by getting in there and doing it.”

Tim Price and Jarillo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tim Price has been introducing a fierce little string of future superstars to spectators so far at Blenheim; this morning, it was Viscount Viktor who took the spotlight, taking overnight 21st on a score of 31.4 and totting up another bit of valuable experience en route to becoming, as Tim describes him, his next big star — and this afternoon, all eyes were on the flashy Jarillo.

The nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Dantos x Fiorilla, by Alicante) isn’t just flashy to look at — though he is that, with his four white socks and sweet white face — he’s also expressive and mature in his balance in his movement, too. That tidy little package combined to earn the pair a score of 26.7, putting them into overnight third place.

“He’s a very sharp little red-headed thing that’s a little bit scared of his own shadow sometimes,” says Tim. “But it’s nice to be somewhere for a couple of days, rather than at a one-day event, because we get to show him the places and give him the confidence to ask him a little bit more.”

Handily, the gelding finds the atmosphere and eery quiet of the main arena a more relaxing environment than the hubbub of a warm-up ring full of friends: “He’s actually a little horse-shy,” explains Tim. “It’s a nice way around to have it though. It’s the same in the showjumping; he’s a really cool little jumper, and sometimes the warm-up arenas are a bit manic, so when he finally gets in the arena, he’s like, ‘aaaah, this is better — let’s go and jump some jumps!'”

For now, Tim’s focus with Jarillo is development — but in time, he’s confident that the horse is going to be a real weapon in his arsenal. With four top tens out of six FEI starts on his record, and a clean sheet across the country in international competitions, it’s hard to disagree with him, and heartening to see him afford the requisite time to letting that strength develop at its own pace.

“He’s working at a good level, and he’s got a lot of exciting things in there,” says Tim. “As he gets more established at this level, I think I’ll be able to go for a bit more, to come out of a turn and really just hit the button for an extended trot, whereas now, I’m nurturing him around a bit.”

British-based Aussie Sammi Birch holds fourth place overnight on a score of 27.9 with Jutopia (Caretino Gold x Bali-Utopia, by Sandreo), who also adds a positive tick in the box for the Dutch Warmblood studbook.

“This is her first ever attempt at four-star, and so she hasn’t done this test in a competition before — and I’m thrilled with her,” says Sammi. “I had a baby earlier in the year, and she’s a nine-year-old, so she’s probably a bit greener than some of the others, but it’s very exciting to have her here.”

While Sammi was off games, Jonelle Price deputised by bringing the mare to Spain to showjump for the winter — a nifty little swapover that might not have worked so well for a young horse, were it not for Jutopia’s best quality: her brain.

“She’s just the sweetest thing, and she tries harder than any horse,” enthuses Sammi. “If they all tried as hard as her, we’d have a yard full of superstars!”

Mollie Summerland and Flow 7. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

2021 Luhmühlen winner Mollie Summerland might have bid a bittersweet farewell to her famous partner, Charly van ter Heiden, who’s now soaking up the sun in Ocala, but the horse who’s moving into the top spot in her string is no slouch, either.

“I really do think he’ll go sub-20 in the future,” she says of Paula and Adrian Cloke’s Flow 7, who rounds out the top five on day one with a score of 27.9. “He has so much ability on the flat and I think we’re just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of. It still feels so green, and he’s not seen many atmospheres like this, so I think he’s definitely one who’ll go right down.”

The Oldenburg gelding (For Romance x Hauptstutbuch Disney) only began his international career in the latter part of 2021, and as a big horse, has taken time to physically mature — a process that remains ongoing. But his progress is also clearly evident from event to event; where the flying changes were particularly tricky for him at the beginning of this season, they’ve already matured into something much more flowing and functional, helping him to nudge his four-star scores down from the mid-30s we’ve seen when they’ve slightly fallen apart in the ring.

“It’s quite remarkable, actually, what he’s achieved with the lack of mileage he’s got,” says Mollie. “He’s new to all this, and he’s big and still quite weak, but he continually excels himself. He has all the ability to be a top one, it’s just about time — I could take him up the hills and all that [to physically strengthen him], but at the end of the day, he’s a big horse and he just needs time to grow into himself.”

Mollie, who is herself a formidable dressage rider and trains with the likes of Carl Hester and Olivia Oakley, is also settling into translating the language that she shared with her former top horse into how she works with her greener up-and-comers.

“I knew Charly inside out, and he’d basically speak to me in the warm-up and tell me if he needed to do more or less,” she says. “With Flow, it’s a bit more of an unknown quantity; I wasn’t sure whether to do much more with him this morning, or whether to leave him, and so it’s still about building that relationship and learning what ticks with him and what the best system is like. We try different things at every event; at Jardy [Nations Cup] I actually undercooked him, and then with the big screen and the speakers, it wasn’t enough — but he’s coped really well in there today, so it shows how much he’s come on.”

Hallie Coon and Cute Girl. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The best of our US competitors in the ring today was Hallie Coon, who cruised the nine-year-old Cute Girl to a 29.5 and overnight equal seventh, just a fraction of a penalty behind sixth-placed Oliver Townend and En Taro des Vernier. For Hallie, who relocated from Ocala to base in the UK in December, getting to know the Holsteiner mare (Coventry x Caligula, by Clearway) has been a process of ups and downs, trial and error, and an unwavering commitment to learning, which has seen them spend much of their tenure here learning under Australia’s Kevin McNab, with whom the mare won the Seven-Year-Old World Championship two seasons ago. Now, they’re continuing to work part-time with Kevin, but have relocated to Wiltshire, to the base of fellow US rider Katherine Coleman, where they’re working with British team performance manager Dickie Waygood and, like Mollie, dressage rider Olivia Oakley.

All these factors, and all that education, have helped Hallie to unlock a new side to the occasionally mercurial but enormously talented little mare, who’s found a new flow to her extravagant movement in the ring.

“We’re just learning a lot about her and how to manage her,” explains Hallie. “I think the maturity is coming, finally, and the ability to just go in there and take a little bit of a breath. And now I’m able to, too, because I know a little bit more about what to expect with her, so that’s been really helpful. We’ve just been sort of grinding away things bit by bit.”

Getting the measure of Cute Girl’s massive movement has been a huge milestone, she continues: “It’s so hard to actually get it rhythmic within all the gaits; like, collected, medium, all the things in the same rhythm with her, because she is a little bit all over the place. And then she does use it against you — and when they move this big, if you don’t get it just right. They absolutely nail you. So consistency is really what we’re after.”

Katie Malensek and Landjaeger. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Canada is out in force at Blenheim this week thanks to the help of a set of travel grants kindly put forward by Kelly McCarthy-Maine and Shane Maine, which saw a full north-of-the-border team take on the Nations Cup at Arville, Belgium, this summer, and then continue their education on this side of the pond. One of those? Small animal veterinarian and reptile specialist Katie Malensek, who’s been based with Tim and Jonelle Price through her tenure here and will continue to be so until after the CCI4*-L at Lignieres in France at the beginning of next month.

Her partner for her exciting sabbatical is the nine-year-old Landjaeger, who she’s owned since he was a weanling and with whom she’s made her return to the upper levels for the first time since her Young Rider years. Today, they tackled their third four-star test as a partnership, and showed the extraordinary consolidation of skills they’ve been working on since flying over, delivering a significant level personal best of 29.9 to take overnight tenth, just fractionally behind equal-seventh-placed Tom Crisp and Dassett Rock Star (“this horse might actually make me enjoy dressage,” he quips) and ninth-placed Oliver Townend and Caunton First Class.

“I’ve been working with Jonelle over the last month or so, and we’ve really been working on trying to change his shape and get a little more energy and power in the gaits,” says Katie. “For where he’s at in his career, I’m super happy. It’s about balance — he’s not built with the most uphill, smooth conformation, so he works against himself a little bit, but he tries really hard, and he always wants to do the right thing.”

Being able to take the time away from work to train, thanks to “a great crew at home” has been transformative, says Katie.

“It’s been an amazing experience. I have a full time job; I’m a small animal veterinarian and I own a practice, so to have the time to just focus on this horse and the training and just immerse myself in the programme with the Prices and watch and just take it all in… I’m definitely not taking any of it for granted. I have to go back, because someone’s got to pay for it, but honestly, I feel I’m very proud of the fact that I’m an amateur, I work really hard at it, and I find a way to do it.”

And to do so with a horse she’s had throughout not just his career, but his life? That’s even more special.

“We’ve raised him, broke him, trained him — and I’ve actually tried to sell him several times because his legs are all crooked and I didn’t think he’d get this far,” laughs Katie. “He just keeps surprising me — so now he’s not for sale!”

Katherine Coleman and Sirius SB. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

One of the most exciting horses of the day was, arguably, British-based Yank Katherine Coleman‘s Sirius SB, who’s probably one of the greenest horses here — he’s making his Advanced debut in this class — but also quite possibly one of the most naturally talented. You’d be forgiven, at a glance, for mistaking him for World Champion Banzai du Loir — “I get that a lot,” laughs Katherine — not just for his stamp, but for his effortlessly airy movement. The pair impressed roundly in their test, just losing marks here and there for inexperience, to earn a 30.3 and overnight thirteenth place.

“This is his first time doing changes in a test, so it’s really exciting,” says Katherine, who sourced the horse from Jody Amos, who had, in turn, sourced him from Harry Horgan. “I think he’s one of the nicest horses I’ve ever had. His trot’s amazing — it’s unreal, and his gallop is insane. He gallops the way that he trots. His weak point at the moment is just his showjumping; he’s super scopey, but he doesn’t quite know what to do with it yet!”

This week will be a foundational milestone in his learning journey — and whichever way the competition itself plays out, Sirius is absolutely in his element.

“He’s so funny — he’s actually calmer at a show than he is at home,” Katherine explains. “At a three-day, especially, he just gets into his stall and takes a breath, but at home, he’s such a busybody — he’s dancing around in the cross-ties and pawing in the truck. He comes to the competitions and he absolutely loves it.”

Tomorrow sees the CCI4*-S dressage resume again at 9.00 a.m. (4.00 a.m. EST), with Italy’s Vittoria Panizzon and DHI Jackpot first into the ring. Alas, there’s no livestream for this phase — but keep it locked onto EN for all the news and updates from this class, and stay tuned for a full report on the feature CCI4*-L shortly!

The top ten in the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S.

EN’s coverage of Blenheim is presented by Kentucky Performance Products. Click here to learn all about their full line of science-backed nutritional support products, including Neigh-Lox Advanced for digestive support.

Blenheim Palace International: [Website] [Entries] [Live Stream]

 

How to Follow Blenheim Palace International All Weekend on H&C+

By on Sep 14, 2023 12:16 pm -

Piggy French and Brookfield Inocent win the CCI4*-L in 2019. Photo by William Carey.

This weekend sees the return of one of eventing’s biggest and busiest upper-level fixtures: come Saturday morning, it’ll be time for the ‘fun bits’ of the 2023 Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, which will see nearly 200 horses in total take to the jumping phases across the feature CCI4*-L and the CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses.

Unfortunately, there’s no live-stream for today and tomorrow’s dressage, but Horse&Country TV will have wall-to-wall coverage of the entirety of cross-country and showjumping this weekend. Here’s how that schedule is looking at the moment:

Saturday, September 16

  • CCI4*–S: showjumping, 8.00 a.m. — 10.00 a.m. (3.00 a.m. — 5.00 a.m. EST)
  • CCI4*-L: cross-country, 11.00 a.m. — 17.00 p.m. (6.00 a.m. — 12.00 p.m. EST)

Sunday, September 17

  • CCI4*-S: cross-country, 11.00 a.m. — 14.00 p.m. (6.00 a.m. — 9.00 a.m. EST)
  • CCI4*-L: showjumping, 11.00 a.m. — 13.00 p.m (6.00 a.m. — 8.00 a.m. EST)

To watch on Horse&Country TV, you’ll need a membership pass — and you can take advantage of a seven-day free trial, or choose a monthly or annual membership or an event pass, here. Your H&C+ membership gives you access to a whole host of archival content as well as live events — so happy streaming, and Go Eventing!

 

Resources to Rely On: FEI Launches Digital Grooms’ Toolkit

By on Sep 14, 2023 9:13 am -

US groom Taylor Greene at Boekelo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

One of the FEI’s points of focus over the last few years has been the improvement of conditions for grooms — and, concurrently, an increased standardisation of their education, in a bid to create a cohesive and welfare-first environment for everyone in international sport. The latest development in this quest? The launch of the FEI Grooms Toolkit, a one-stop shop for accessing up-to-date resources and information (and a boon for anyone who’s ever tried to work out what’s actually going to inadvertently cause a drug test failure, frankly).

The nine sections of the Toolkit link several of the FEI’s apps, with segments focusing on, yes, doping regulations, but also covering biosecurity, tack rules, third-party insurances, workplace safety, and a wealth of useful content from FEI’s Campus programme, which is packed full of educational articles and videos and plenty more.

Even more excitingly? The Toolkit incorporates Giving Grooms a Voice, in partnership with the International Grooms Association and the Grooms Consultative Group, to ensure that positive progress continues to be made and allows for the easy submission of feedback to improve conditions at events.

“It is by ensuring that the highest welfare standards are maintained that we can grow our sport in a positive and sustainable manner,” says the FEI. “As governing body for international sport, the welfare of the horse is of vital importance to the FEI and it is imperative that the wellbeing of horses remains at the forefront of all our undertakings, in whatever capacity.”

Check out the Grooms Toolkit here — it’s a free resource for anyone to use, and while you’ll need to sign up for an FEI Campus account to use the wealth of educational resources, it’s a quick and painless process that doesn’t require you to actively work as an international competition groom. Open access to equine educational resources, led by industry professionals? That’s our favourite flavour of internet.

Thursday News & Notes from Morven Park

By on Sep 14, 2023 12:03 am -

THE water complex at Blenheim. Photo by Bec Braitling.

Yesterday I was giving a usually very quiet horse a little lunge session in the morning, really enjoying those first feelings of fall, and just vibing. This little horse picks up the canter like a good boy, and around he goes, when suddenly a dog decides she has a really good idea. The idea is for her to run straight at the horse as he is cantering towards her, and then freeze when it comes time to decide which side to dodge and get obliterated. Clearly, she didn’t think it through. Luckily for her, my little horse just thought this was a super weird cross country obstacle and leapt over her with a display of athleticism and kindness I did not see coming. Hey, at least my. horses are idiot proof?

U.S. Weekend Preview

Aspen Farm H.T. (Yelm, WA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Flying Cross Farm H.T. (Goshen, KY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer][Scoring]

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

Marlborough H.T (Upper Marlboro, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]

Otter Creek Fall H.T. (Wheeler, WI) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]

The Event at Skyline (Mt Pleasant, UT) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

The Fork at Tryon (Mill Spring, NC) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Other International Events

Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials (Oxfordshire, UK) [Website] [Timetable] [Entries: 4*-S] [Entries: 4*-L] [Live Stream]

FEI Eventing Championships for Juniors and Young Riders (Montelibretti, Italy) [Website][Timetable] [Entries: Juniors] [Entries: Young Riders] [Live Stream]

News From Around the Globe:

Marcus Ehning adds his voice to those concerned about future of horsemanship in sport. Even for an Eventer, Marcus Ehning hardly needs an introduction, but in short, the man won the FEI World Cup Final three times, has gold medals from Olympic, World, and European Games, and also has won the Aachen Grand Prix three times, including this summer with Stargold. For a man who has won a whole lot, he confesses that his true passion lies at home, with the small details and improvements in horses in training. Read more to find out about his fascinating journey in horses, and how he’s worried that the younger generations have lost their passion for the small things. [Marcus Ehning on the Past, Present, and Future]

Marilyn Payne fell victim to the COVID-era buying-a horse-off-a-video-sight-unseen craze that went around a few years ago, so now you don’t have to feel so guilty about it! She told herself she would never buy a horse without trying it first, but after watching a video of Rock Me Mama, and with encouragement from both her 5* veteran children, Marilyn bought the young Irish mare. Her bet paid off this year at the AECs, where the pair finished in 6th place out of 42 in the Novice Horse Championship. [Judge, Competitor, Mom, Grandma, It’s Her, Marilyn]

The Amato family made the AEC’s well, a family affair this year. Andy Amato and his wife Tonya Cummins Amato had both previously competed at the AEC’s on separate occasions, but this year their 12-year-old daughter Addison qualified as well. So, with all horses and humans healthy and qualified, they packed up from Aiken, SC, and headed to Kentucky. Tonya rode her 12-year-old Connemara Stallion, Get Smart, in the Training Rider Championships, Andy rode his 14-year-old Holsteiner-Connemara gelding Superman in Preliminary Rider, and Addison rode her 8-year-old Connemara mare Hermione Granger in the Junior Beginner Novice division. [Amato Family Shares Special Week at AECs]

Within France’s rich equestrian tradition, the walk has always deserved to be called the “queen of gaits” because of the benefits that both horse and rider can derive from this gait. In fact, there are several notable classical French dressage trainers who believed in ONLY training their horses at the walk until they could fully do everything, and then they would proceed to be perfect in all the other gaits. I….don’t know how, but….they say it’s true. Anyway, I do agree that walk training is important. [Walk: The Queen of Gaits]

 

Wednesday Video from Kentucky Performance Products: Recap Cross-Country at Blenheim’s 2022 CCI4*-S

By on Sep 13, 2023 5:19 pm -

We’re just a couple of days away from one of the best weekends of the year: that is, cross-country weekend at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, which gifts us a day full of CCI4*-L action on Saturday and then a hundred or so more horses in the CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-olds on Sunday. This latter class, in particular, is so exciting: it’s got a reputation for pulling winners who then go on to take a five-star or championship win within the next couple of seasons. Prepare yourself for all that’s to come with this full coverage video of last year’s CCI4*-S cross-country action across one of the most beautiful parklands in the world.

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93 Horses Pass Colossal CCI4*-L First Horse Inspection at Blenheim Palace

By on Sep 13, 2023 1:47 pm -

British-based Dutch rider Jillian Giessen and the ex-racehorse Gold Nugget. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s been a few years since EN has been able to have boots on the ground at Oxfordshire, England’s Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, a competition that’s managed to clash with the World Championships and CHIO Aachen over the last couple of years — but what a joy it is to be back. Not only is the estate, which is famed as the former home of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a feast for the eyes, but the event itself, which hosts both a CCI4*-L and a CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-olds, is a crucial fixture in the annual calendar. That CCI4*-L, which is generally situated on the softer end of the level, is a super end-of-season aim for less experienced horses and riders, while the eight- and nine-year-old class has an extraordinary track record of developing young horses who go on to become five-star winners, generally within just a year or so of their success here.

Former eight- and nine-year-old victors — and World Champions — Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir come forward to try to win the CCI4*-L (for the second time!). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Don’t believe us? Let’s take a look at how that roll of honour stacks up since the inception of the CCI4*-S back in 2009. The first winner, Piggy March’s Flying Machine, went on to a top-five finish at Luhmühlen in 2011; the second winner, Mark Todd’s NZB Land Vision, won Badminton the following spring; the third winner, William Fox-Pitt’s Oslo, won Pau just a matter of weeks later; the fourth, Andrew Nicholson’s Quimbo, went on to win Boekelo the next month and Kentucky the following spring. Catch your breath for a moment, and then let’s move to the sixth: Jonelle Price’s Faerie Dianimo, who won here in 2014 and then took Luhmühlen the next summer; in 2017, Chris Burton won it with Cooley Lands, who then headed to the following year’s World Equestrian Games; in 2018, Laura Collett and London 52 nabbed it, and we all know where that trajectory led them; in 2020, when the class was temporarily relocated to Burnham Market, it was won by Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir, who then became World Champions two years later. It is, in no uncertain terms, a very big deal to score a victory here, and this year’s field of entries, which sits at 98, is absolutely chock-full of talent. We’ll see the likes of five-star winner Mollie Summerland bring forward young talent — she’s got a serious entry in the Cloke family’s Flow 7, who made his British team debut at Jardy’s Nations Cup this year — and we’ve got a former Young Horse World Champion in Cute Girl, piloted by US rider Hallie Coon. Reigning Olympic champion Julia Krajewski pilots Nickel 21, with whom she finished on the podium in Luhmühlen’s German National Championship this summer, while Oliver Townend has a formidable contestant in nine-year-old Cooley Rosalent, who’s been very successful at Le Lion d’Angers and stepped up to five-star this summer. You can check out the entries for the class in full here.

Will Rawlin and Ballycoog Breaker Boy. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But that’s the CCI4*-S, and today, our attention was wholly on the CCI4*-L, which has no such age restrictions for its equine entrants. A golden late-summer afternoon unfurled over Blenheim’s picturesque parkland — one of the few such summery days we’ve seen this year, frankly — as its 93 entrants presented in front of the ground jury of president Andrew Bennie, Judy Hancock and Angela Tucker.

Selina Milnes and Gelmer. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

All 93 of them ultimately passed into the competition, with minimal drama; just Selina Milnes and Gelmer were sent to the holding box, and were accepted upon representation. A number of horses were trotted a second time, mostly because of an excess of jolly spirits: those included Tom Rowland and Dreamliner, who he recently inherited from Oliver Townend, Scotland’s Louisa Milne-Home and the striking palomino Future Plans, and US rider Cosby Green, currently in the midst of a season based with Tim and Jonelle Price, and her lop-eared Highly Suspicious.

Gaspard Maksud and Kan-Do 2. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Jewellery company Hi-Ho Silver were on hand to award Best Dressed prizes; these went the way of Tom Grant and Frankie Reid-Warrilow, while a one-off ‘special prize’ was given to British-based Frenchman Gaspard Maksud, who delivered a delightfully odd nod to the sport of golf with a loud set of trousers and a beret designed to look like a hole, complete with hovering golf ball. Never change, Gaspard. Never change.

Now, there’s an awful lot of competition ahead to think about, and both of these enormous classes will get underway promptly at 9.00 a.m. tomorrow in the main arena. The pathfinders for the CCI4*-S class will be Jonelle Price and Fernhill Kankan, while the CCI4*-L will hit the ground running with today’s Best Dressed Male, Tom Grant, riding Penhills Optimax.

There isn’t, unfortunately, a live-stream for the first phase, which will play out through tomorrow and Friday, but you’ll be able to follow along with all the cross-country and showjumping over the weekend thanks to Horse&Country TV. But don’t worry — we won’t let you miss out on any of the news and views from this hugely important fixture, which will be run under new directorship this week after the early termination of the Jockey Club’s tenure. Keep it locked on EN for full reports daily — and until then, Go Eventing!

Blenheim Palace International: [Website] [Entries] [Live Stream]

EN’s Got Talent: Sharon White & Jaguar Duende

By on Sep 13, 2023 9:30 am -

We hear all the time about horses at the top of the sport, but what about the next generation of equine talent? EN’s Got Talent introduces the future superstars of the sport, interviewing riders about how they’re tackling training with these youngsters.

Sharon White and Jaguar Duende collect their winnings in the Preliminary Horse Championship at AEC. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Jaguar Duende gives Sharon White wings.

The young bay Westphalian mare (Jaguar Mail – Latina x Lancaster), is starting to take flight at the FEI level. While only in her second season of international competition, “Jag” is one we expect you’ll see at the very top of the sport one day. “She is just a competitor. I’ve never had a horse be that competitive, to be honest,” said rider and owner Sharon White.

Jag’s magical name matches her Pegasus-like jumping abilities. “Duende is a magical spirit. It is like a magical fairy or a sprite. I just think it fits her to a tee,” Sharon said. “When she’s going around cross country it’s like she has wings, like you’re sitting on a little fairy. She just lifts up off the ground so easily.”

Her less serious barn name suits the classy mare equally well. Plus, it lets Sharon have some fun. “I get to say I’m taking the Jag out,” Sharon said, chuckling.

Bred by Hendrikus-Johannes Von Boggel in Germany, Jag comes from a star-studded lineage. Her sire, Jaguar Mail, was ranked as the second best sire for three years in a row, from 2017 to 2019 and is currently standing at New Normandy Farm. He competed at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, ridden by Peter Eriksson for Switzerland. According to New Normandy Farm, Eriksson thought highly of the stallion, saying he was “always in the best of moods and always ready to go to work in and out of the stables.”

It seems that Jag has a lot of her father’s personality. “She is a worker. She’s funny. I’ve had to teach her to learn to take a breath because she tries so hard. She just puts in so much effort,” said Sharon.

Sharon bought Jag sight unseen when she was three years old. “Dirk Schrade from Germany found her for me. He broke her, he started her, he did all the things, until she was ready to come to the States when she was five years old,” Sharon said.

Sharon White and Jaguar Duende. Photo by Sally Spickard.

It takes a lot of skill to find a top competition horse, but Sharon says there’s no one she’d trust more than Dirk to find her next top competitor. “I trust Dirk to just find the horses for me. I didn’t even see her before I bought her. I mean I probably got a picture or something,” Sharon said. “You have to find things in life you trust, you know? I trust Dirk, and I trust Jag. I’m not actually very good at picking horses for myself, but it’s easy to do it for someone else. So if you have someone who can help you, that’s priceless.”

Since coming to the United States a little over two years ago, a lot has changed for Jag, physically and mentally. “She’s grown so much. When she got here she was a little tiny thing. And now she’s huge. Dirk cannot believe how big she’s gotten,” Sharon said. “It definitely took me a year to really feel like we were on the same team. But now it feels like I’ve been riding her forever. It doesn’t feel like a new partnership at all anymore. She’s very much with me.”

The exponential growth of Jag and Sharon’s partnership is most likely due to the mare’s trainability… or perhaps because she gets plenty of her favorite treat: bananas. “She is very food motivated. She will eat anything. Bananas are her favorite thing. She’ll do anything for a banana peel,” Sharon said.

Sharon and Jag’s close connection in combination with the mare’s raw talent has paid off in spades so far. The mare has completed four FEI events at the two-star level, including one CCI2*-L. She’s never placed lower than third, even in highly competitive fields against other top riders. “Her record is unreal, I’m very proud of that actually,” said Sharon.

While Jag does have two withdrawals after the dressage phase on her record, both were due to Sharon becoming ill. “It was so hot and I was so sick. I just thought I wouldn’t do her any justice.”

If you ask most eventers which phase is most difficult for their horses and which phase their horse enjoys the most, you’ll probably get the same answer seven out of ten times: dressage is the hardest, cross country is the easiest. Jag is the exception to the rule. “She is excellent in all three phases and competitive in all three phases and wants to do the right thing in all three phases,” Sharon said of the type-A mare.

As a matter of fact, Sharon’s biggest struggle with the young mare has been controlling her own temptations to move up the levels faster. “My only struggle with her has been being patient enough. And I’m doing a good job of that I think, because she is one of those horses that it would be easy to push her too fast. Strength takes time. You can’t rush strength.”

Biding her time is finally about to pay off. After two seasons at the two-star level, Sharon has made the decision to move the mare onto bigger things. “She’ll move up this fall. I wanted to move her up at Millbrook. But there’s that rule that you can’t move up if you haven’t done an event in three months and the last thing she did was the CCI2*-L at Ocala. So she missed the deadline by three days. It was fine, it’s no big deal to wait a little longer to move her up,” Sharon said.

Jag took on the Preliminary Horse Championships at the USEA American Eventing Championships and will move up to the Intermediate level this fall. Again proving her talent, Jag and Sharon were crowned Champions of the Preliminary Horse division, finishing on a remarkably low score of 28.5. Those duende wings clearly served her well, as she pulled off a double clear round on both cross country and show jumping and finished on her dressage score.

We cannot wait to see what the future holds for Jaguar Duende and Sharon, as they shoot for the stars.

This article was sponsored by World Equestrian Brands. As Sharon is on the World Equestrian Brands’ trainer team, she’s very familiar with not only their products, but the company as a whole. “They don’t do something if it’s not good. Anything you get from them you know that they’ve thought about whether it’s something that they want to put their name to, to distribute or produce or support. I absolutely love that about a company. It’s about quality.”

Click here to shop all of World Equestrian Brands’ products.

Wednesday News & Notes from Ocala Horse Properties

By on Sep 13, 2023 12:01 am -

There’s no denying that AI is gaining ground as we speak. To those of us of the low-techy-techy variety, it probably just means giggling over pics of horses with five legs or smugly correcting whatever it throws up if you ask it what eventing is. But lucky for us, more high-techy-techy types are wrangling the technology so that the rest of us can actually use it purposefully.

One such team is Ridesum, who have recently added an AI Seat Analytics function to their digital training and diary app. Using a smart phone, you upload a video of your ride and then use the app to check out just how balanced you are whilst in the saddle through an assessment of your posture. You then get tailored tips and exercises to improve your position, and you can stay on top of your progress with the tracker function.

Ridesum tried it out on Carl Hester’s ride at the recent European Dressage Championships. I’m guessing there were a bunch of 10s coming in for the King of Dressage, something for us mortals to aim towards perhaps.

U.S. Weekend Preview

Aspen Farm H.T. (Yelm, WA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Flying Cross Farm H.T. (Goshen, KY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer][Scoring]

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

Marlborough H.T (Upper Marlboro, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]

Otter Creek Fall H.T. (Wheeler, WI) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]

The Event at Skyline (Mt Pleasant, UT) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

The Fork at Tryon (Mill Spring, NC) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Other International Events

Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials (Oxfordshire, UK) [Website] [Timetable] [Entries: 4*-S] [Entries: 4*-L] [Live Stream]

FEI Eventing Championships for Juniors and Young Riders (Montelibretti, Italy) [Website] [Timetable] [Entries: Juniors] [Entries: Young Riders] [Live Stream]

Wednesday News and Reading

A new microchipping rule for USEF competitions has been approved by the US Equestrian Board of Directors. It may not be coming into play until December 2025, but it never hurts to make sure you’re ready for a rule change. Check out their fact sheets to make sure you know what you need to know. [Microchipping 101]

A proposal for permitting rising trot in dressage tests, and a real-life example of what this would mean for some riders. USEF ‘S’ dressage judge Natalie Lamping put forward the suggestion on her social media in July in order to gather support for an official proposal for change, advocating that rising trot is better for horse welfare. COTH’s Sara Bradley considers the impact that being allowed to post will have on riders, specifically those who are physically unable to sit to the trot and are therefore limited in their competitive progression. [Read Natalie’s Proposal] [See What Sara Had to Say]

The results of the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission survey into societal concerns about horses in sport are in – and it’s looking promising in terms of horse welfare. Around 66% of the 6000 respondents had noticed a rise in initiatives to improve sport horse welfare and 79% agreed that horses can enjoy a good life whilst involved in sport. Training and riding practices and tack were the areas found to be of most concern, and there was good support for an Equestrian Charter, which would ask equestrians to pledge personal responsibility for horse welfare. The results, and the EEWB’s recommendations will now be passed onto the FEI. [A Good Life for Horses]

Eventing’s Oliver Townend and show jumping’s Geoff Billington teamed up to talk about how your body language can help you clear the colored poles. From seat and subtle aids, to consistency and riding one-handed, they talk through what riders should be doing to be the support system horses need, rather than getting in their way. [Be Body Aware]

The horse and fashion worlds collide as Vogue covers a new jewelry range from Australian Olympic show jumper Edwina Tops-Alexander. Featuring glittering bits and horseshoe motifs, the collection is intended to bestow more than just fashion on its wearers, with fortitude, connection and confidence at the core of the brand, inspired by her twice Global Champions Tour winner and two-time Olympic ride Toti and his amazing comeback after being hit by a car as a three-year-old. Described by Vogue as “elegant and sports-inflected”, I’m just wondering if it’s too early to start a Christmas list. [Horse Girl Chic is Always in Fashion]

Sponsor Corner

This 20-acre horse farm has us Ocala dreamin’. The gorgeous property features a 20-stall barn, 19 paddocks, and both a jumping and dressage arena. Take a tour with this reel from Ocala Horse Properties.

Video Break

See more from Carl Hester and Fame in the team competition:

Tuesday Video from Dressage Land: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl Has Paris in Her Sights

By on Sep 12, 2023 3:00 pm -

Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl has her sights set on Paris — and she made that very clear in unveiling her latest freestyle performance at FEI European Championships this weekend. Partnered with #supermare TSF Dalera BB, Jessica scored a 92.818% in the final competition at Riesenbeck to set a new Europeans record and take home the title ahead of fellow superstars Lottie Fry and Charlotte Dujardin. Quite some company to keep!

You can catch up on the full list of results from Riesenbeck here.