Ride On Video put together a wonderful recap of the first two phases of competition at Woodside International this weekend. In case you missed our recap of the event, be sure to check out our coverage here. The recap is definitely worth a watch, and we have to thank Ride On Video for bring us great coverage, which eases the pain of not being able to be at Woodside ourselves!
To check out more videos from Ride On Video, head over to their YouTube channel and surf to your heart’s content.
GoPro has really made headway into the event world as the prime source of video footage. EN had the pleasure of meeting eventer Jennifer Taxay Kelly at the AECs last week, and she shared a video made with her and her upper level horse, Taboo, using multiple GoPros.
“It was really fun to make, and they got very creative with where to place the cameras,” Jennifer said. “The music is what gets me every time!”
Check out the video above and try not to get goosebumps – we dare you!
What’s the most creative way you’ve used your GoPro or helmet cam?
The Royal Stables at Christiansborg Castle (Copenhagen, Denmark).
It’s Sunday. For many, that means popping open the newspaper or internet browser and catching up on all of the latest headlines from the week. We know you come here to EN for all of the latest eventing/horse-addict news, and we had a feeling that this Horse Nation article might catch your eye. After all, who doesn’t like to window shop for ridiculously expensive barns in their free time? Come on, don’t leave us hanging here!
While you’re at it, if you want to take a look at some real-life equestrian properties that may fit your needs, be sure to check out our awesome sponsor, Ocala Horse Properties, who offers the best in equine real estate services. In the market for a new farm? Look no further!
This post originally appeared on Horse Nation. To read the post in its entirety, click here.
The sight of your horse’s head poked over its stall door, nickering for breakfast, is enough to make any equestrian happy. But if it just so happened to be in one of these barn aisles? Let the swooning commence.
What’s your dream barn style?
From Wellington posh…
Two Swans Farm (Wellington, Florida)
…to European palatial…
The Royal Stables at Christiansborg Castle (Copenhagen, Denmark)
…to Texas rustic…
Or at least “rustic” compared to some of these other barns. By Lake|Flato Architects.
… to Martha Stewart contemporary…
Like literally, this is Martha Stewart’s barn in Bedford, New York.
…your fantasy barn aisle is probably in here somewhere. Take the tour — click here to read the full post and view the gallery — and careful not to drool too much on your computer, m’kay?
Note: We tried to trace each photo back to its source but weren’t able to do so for all of them, in which case we just included whatever information we had. If you recognize a barn we weren’t able to identify, please leave a comment below or email the editor at [email protected].
Go Riding!
Picture Frame
Last weekend my student and I made the five-hour trek to check out Area IV’s newest recognized event at Sundance Farm in Plymouth, Wisc. For us, it was the last easily accessible event in our area before winter arrives.
Sundance Farm is owned by Kelly and Steve Mahloch, who, along with their daughters Whitney and Ali, have been active in Area IV eventing as a family for many years. Although Sundance has held non-recognized mini-events in the past, this year was their first recognized horse trial.
We arrived, EN-style, after a beautiful drive through southern Wisconsin’s colorful farm country on Friday afternoon and were immediately welcomed to the stabling area by Leah, who made sure we knew where everything was situated and told us to ask her about any stabling questions we might have.
Stabling, as well as dressage and stadium (held on Saturday) were all taking place at the Sheboygan County fairgrounds, and the cross country action was over at the Mahloch farm on Sunday, about four miles away.
Arriving at the event at Sundance Farm, EN-style.
The sun came shining in on a bunch of gleaming, braided ponies on Saturday morning. With the start of the day came the vendors — a local tack shop, an equine artist, a saddle company, and (drumroll please …) a coffee shop on wheels!
I know I wasn’t the only competitor excited by the prospect of a delicious latté to jumpstart sandbox day. When lunchtime rolled around there was also a local food truck making pulled pork and chicken sandwiches on homemade bread with in-house slaws and sauces.
Dressage was held in an awesome white sand arena with some lovely foliage for a backdrop. The show was small — just under 50 competitors — so dressage wrapped up around noon. Energy levels in the barn began to shift as riders buckled on breastplates, screwed in studs, velcroed open-front boots and carefully placed jump saddles on their mounts.
The stadium course was situated on a grassy space adjacent to the stabling area, and it was a fairly big but wonderfully rideable course. The footing, also used as parking space for the fairgrounds, was a little dry and slippery, which caused problems for a few riders, but overall the course rode well.
The beautiful dressage ring at Sundance.
After Saturday’s competition wrapped up (and after we all wrapped up our horses, as well!), the whole crew shifted to the Mahloch’s farm for a cross country coursewalk and a wine-and-cheese competitor party (and so many divine desserts!). The Mahloch farm is situated next door to the Sargento cheese plant, so the food at the party was not your average cheese plate. Viva Wisconsin!
I had walked both the Beginner Novice and Training courses the night before with my student, and was impressed with the size and scope of the Training course. During a chat with Kelly, the course designer, on Saturday, she told me that while people thought the course would be ‘soft’ because it is the farm’s first recognized event, that they were in for a surprise. Rather than the mandated half of the course being maximum height, Kelly said she had far more questions reaching max size. I gulped and told her that I had noticed!
All of the cross country courses are beautifully designed and wind through woods, pastures and through a central area with the water complex that is a fabulous spectator viewing area. The competitor party was full of people laughing, chatting, kids running around the course, and music blasting from the radio. With the setting sun casting reds, oranges and golds through the trees, there was no other place I could imagine wanting to be at that moment.
Beautiful backdrop for a competitor party.
Sunday morning saw all the competitors in the barns before the sun, packing equipment and equines for the short trek to the Mahloch’s farm. Once there, we were all directed to park in a large, flat field that was centrally located near the wash racks and vendors, and which had a convenient water truck parked smack in the middle.
Cross country day was, as always, full of adrenaline. The courses rode well, the footing was fabulous, the spectators cheered us on like we were at Rolex. I was pleased to find the footing was great throughout the terrain changes on course, between the shady wooded areas and the sunnier pasture areas.
My student and I gave Sundance’s first recognized trial four thumbs up – the ponies approved with a rousing eight hooves firmly planted in front of their hay nets on the drive home after their cross country exertions.
The volunteers were friendly and helpful (and abundant!), the show ran incredibly smoothly, the Mahlochs were warm and welcoming, and many other competitors said what a great time they had.
Many thanks to the Mahloch’s for giving Area IV eventers another fabulous horse trial destination! Walker Farms Eventing plans to come back next year to Sundance Farm’s Fall Horse Trial on September 26-27, and we hope to see more Area IV’ers joining us!
And here’s a virtual tour of the Training level course at Sundance Farm HT:
Bobby Meyerhoff after taking a cross country tumble.
Bobby and Danica Meyerhoff relocated their operation to California in August and have been enjoying the scenery (and being close to the ocean!) as they settle into life as west coast residents.
Not all has gone according to plan, however, as Bobby took a tumble from a horse while schooling cross country last month, resulting in a rather serious knee injury. “I went to Woodside to teach some cross country lessons, and I took a horse along who was moving up to Intermediate,” Bobby said. “We jumped a couple of bigger fences and she was going like a million bucks. We came down a hill and jumped this table with a great distance and she jumped up, and it felt like she didn’t push off to get across it. She landed right on top of it and fell to the right; the table was wide enough that she was on top and my feet were still in the stirrups, so she rolled right on top of my leg.”
Bobby counts himself lucky that he fell off the back side of the table and not directly under the horse, who rolled off to the right side and walked away with no injuries. Unfortunately, Bobby’s knee took the brunt of the force from the fall, and Bobby endured a few trips to the hospital to find out exactly what had been injured.
The end result of the fall, Bobby found last week, is a tibial plateau fracture, which greatly affects the knee joint, as well as a torn MCL and an injured ACL. “I’ve been going to an orthopedic surgeon at Stanford who works with a bunch of NFL players, and they originally thought my ankle was broken too, but it’s just the fracture on the inside of the knee and a small chip on the outside of the knee,” Bobby said.
Anxiously awaiting some good news! Photo from Danica Meyerhoff.
Upon initial examinations, the doctors thought Bobby’s ACL was torn, but an MRI revealed that the MCL was torn. “Right now, we’re waiting to see if the ACL will heal itself because it’s not torn in the usual place where they’d have to do surgery,” Bobby said. “We’re hoping it will just heal on its own to avoid the surgery, which would be a big bummer.”
Bobby is still targeting a return to Rolex in 2015 and hopes to be back in the saddle once spring comes around to train in earnest. “Danica’s going to help out riding the horses,” Bobby said. “Right now, I need to decide what to do with them, whether I want to send them to someone to compete them or if Danica can just keep them in work. Danica’s retired from eventing, but that might be a whole new story if I can convince her to return!“
Aside from the setback with Bobby’s leg, the Meyerhoffs are settling in well at Bonny Doon Equestrian Center. “We should be able to train anything with our facilities and how well they’re set up,” Bobby said. “The people are great, and the eventing community in this area is pretty strong. Business is definitely not bad, and we’re still looking to grow.”
“The town and living here is just like a dream for me, it’s so cool,” Bobby said. “The beach is just three miles down the hill – and I’m learning how to surf! I went out for the first time and loved it, and now I’m hurt, so I’m just a little down on that.”
We’d like to wish Bobby the speediest of recoveries, although he’s still very thankful that the accident wasn’t worse and that it’s coming as the off-season is approaching. Check out the gallery below for photos from Bobby and Danica’s new home base, and be sure to visit their website for more information.
Photo via RRP on Facebook.
The Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover expo and competition will conclude today with the announcement of the winner of America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred.
The festivities kicked off yesterday with demonstrations on everything from dressage to Roman riding featuring ex-racehorses. Today, the Thoroughbred Makeover continues with forums in the morning and demonstrations beginning at 1 p.m. EST.
At 9 a.m. EST, the discussion forums kick off with an Open Forum to facilitate discussion on the future of the OTTB. A second will feature a Q&A session with the 10 trainers from the America’s Most Wanted competition, as well as Laine Ashker.
This afternoon, the demonstrations will include what we’ve all been waiting for: eventing! Laine Ashker, Jennie Brannigan, and Phillip Dutton will be on hand to strut their stuff. Don’t forget that Phillip’s mount, Icabad Crane, is one of the horses vying for the Most Wanted title!
There’s still time to vote for your favorite OTTB in this year’s competition, as a second and final poll will be opened up at 1 pm EST. You can vote for your favorite by visiting the poll here.
A live stream of today’s demonstrations and awards will be available via Blood Horse, which can be found here, complete with a schedule. You can also follow along with updates from the day on the RRP Facebook page.
Go OTTBs!
Your winner of the CiC 3* at Woodside this weekend, Bonner Carpenter. Photo via Tamie Smith's Facebook page
One of my favorite things about eventing is that we get awards ceremonies right. Victory gallops and awards dinners make me smile. Maybe it’s simply because it’s one ribbon for the whole weekend, but my eventing related ribbons hold more meaning for me than many of the ribbons from my hunter/jumper days. Yes, even the ones that I picked up at the office. Bonner is adding a lovely one to her collection this weekend after winning the CIC 3* at Woodside.
North American Weekend Preview:
Kent School Fall H.T. [Website][Scores]
Morven Park Fall CIC & H.T. [Website] [Ride Times] [Scores]
WindRidge Farm Fall H.T. [Website] [Entry Status][Scores]
ESDCTA New Jersey at the Horsepark H.T. [Website]
Woodside International CIC & H.T. [Website] [Scores]
Sunday Links:
Anonymous letters spur questions over future of Devon Horse Show
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 2014: Horse-by-horse guide to the field
Horse farms fear they will close if racing ends in Massachusetts
Three horses put down after breaking legs in Stockton, California races
Juvenile detention center hosts horse program
From HorseNation: The Quick and Dirty Guide to Better Photos of Your Horse
Sunday Video:
Bonner Carpenter and Basco at Woodside CIC3*. Photo courtesy of Sherry Stewart.
Bonner Carpenter came to Woodside looking for her first completion at the CIC3* level after a couple of unlucky attempts, but she’ll be driving home with a big blue ribbon on the dashboard. A double-clear cross-country trip was enough to move Bonner and Basco from second into first when overnight leader Bea di Grazia withdrew before cross-country.
“I went out there, honestly, just to get around,” Bonner explained in a press release. “But when I was on the early minute markers, I began to think that it would be possible, so I just kept going.”
The 26-year-old calls Dallas, Texas, home but has been in California since August in preparation for Galway Downs at the end of the month. It was her first time competing at Woodside and her first time tackling a Derek di Grazia course.
“I knew I had to be aggressive and ride forward to every jump. You have to be attacking all the way around,” she said. “But it really is a super course. Derek uses the terrain really well, and it feels like a huge galloping course.”
It’s been unseasonably toasty out there this weekend…
Screenshot from woodsideeventing.com.
… prompting the ground jury to move the CIC3* cross-country start to 10:20 a.m. instead of the scheduled 1:20 p.m. Being a Texan, Bonner is used to the heat but was appreciative of the decision. “I think it was great that they changed it. It would have taken a lot more out of our horses to have gone in the afternoon,” she said.
In addition to glory, Bonner earned $3,000 along with the Adequan USEA Gold Cup and the CTETA Founders’ Cup, established to honor Robert E. Smith, whose vision established the Horse Park at Woodside in 1981. Since the CIC3* is a member event of the 2014 PRO Series Tour, she also walked away with a seven-dose box of Adequan, $350 in Nunn Finer products, a Smart Pak Wellfleet Eventer Bridle and $200 toward a Point Two Air Jacket. Nice haul, girl!
Second-place finishers James Alliston and Tivoli must feel like the rust has officially been knocked off, this being their second run since Rolex in 2013 and their first back at the Advanced level due to an injury.
James earned $2,250 for finishing second and, even though he and Tivoli won the Woodside CIC3* in 2012, he said he wasn’t at all disappointed.
“I figured I’d just take the time as it came, but he was right there from the start, so I just let him go,” said Alliston, who finished two seconds slow. “It’s amazing how older horses like him seem to remember everything. It was like he hadn’t had any time off.”
Like Bonner, James was thrilled with the way the course rode. “Derek is my favorite course designer,” he said. “He blends everything together into a complete course. I think he’s the best course designer in America, and maybe in the world.”
Kaitlin Veltkamp and Flashpoint D laid down a double-clear trip to round out the top three. Ashlynn Meuchel and Morning Star bested the small Advanced division.
Lauren Billys and Castle Larchfield Purdy hung on to their show jumping lead for the CIC2* win. As she mentioned yesterday, Lauren had two horses competing in the division and was hoping to get a feel for how fast the course was riding on her first mount, Ballingowan Ginger. The mare picked up a run-out but Lauren capitalized on the experience for her second ride on Castle, a new horse.
Lauren Billys and Castle Larchfield Purdy. Photo courtesy of Sherry Stewart.
“I was going to be really brave today, and I got three-and-a-half strides instead of four strides to the wedge (at fence 10C), so she had no choice but to run past it. She jumped just great the rest of the way — I was bummed,” she said. “So I rode it differently on Purdy — I held for the four strides. I thought you were going to have to ride forward more to get the four strides, but you didn’t.”
Lauren trains with Derek di Grazia but he didn’t cut her any breaks on the course. “Wedges are my problem with Ginger, and his course uncovered it,” she said. “But there’s really no point on this course when you think, ‘OK, I’m home,’ until you get to the end. There are so many great questions, and he keeps you on your toes all the way around.”
She added, “I went out there with a plan, and it didn’t work out perfectly everywhere. But it still rode well, and I came off the course a little better rider because of the way he designed it.”
The 26-year-old lives in Sanger, California, but is a citizen of Puerto Rico and hopes to represent her home country in the 2016 Olympics. The next event on her calendar is CCI2* at Galway followed by a move-up to Advanced.
CIC1* winner Frankie Thieriot had said yesterday that, this being 6-year-old Chatwin’s first FEI competition, she would decide how much to put the gas pedal down when she got out on course. Her first priority, she said, was to cement their partnership and to ride the course in a good rhythm whether that meant making it under the optimum time of 5:37 or not.
Frankie Thieriot and Chatwin. Photo courtesy of Sherry Stewart.
Chatwin came out swinging and ate up the course — Frankie even had to check him a bit toward the end. “He was awesome,” she said. “His natural gallop is so big that we were up on the time at three minutes, so I slowed down to come home.”
Like Bonner and Lauren, Galway is the end-goal of Frankie’s 2014 season. “Even though he doesn’t have a lot of mileage, I thought Derek’s course was really good preparation for him to take the next step of doing the CCI1*,” Frankie said.
Continuing in Woodside’s tradition of rewarding its winners handsomely — a rarity in the event world! — Frankie received $1,000 for her first-place finish.
Top 15 finishers in the CIC1*:
Frankie and her friends created a special award in 2011, the Fric Frac Berance Award, in memory of her former advanced-level horse. The award’s intent is to honor the horse in the CIC3* whose cross-country performance best emulates Fric Frac’s love for and cleverness at meeting the challenges of cross-country courses, jumping in a way that takes care of himself and his rider.
Frankie and a panel of three to five others choose the winner each year at the Woodside, and this year they chose Kaitlin Veltkamp’s Flashpoint D, a 13-year-old warmblood gelding whose faultless round propelled him to third place in the CIC3*, with no penalties added to his dressage score. The award comes with a $1,000 prize.
VIDEO:
Here’s CIC1* winner Frankie interviewing CIC3* winner Bonner after show-jumping yesterday. Perhaps now Bonner should interview Frankie?
Woodside International CIC & H.T. [Website] [Live Scores]
Go Eventing!
Screenshot from "Jumping a car" on YouTube, posted by Galindo Sport Horses.
The next time you’re out walking your course and you get to a jump that looks kinda big and scary, here’s what I want you to remind yourself: AT LEAST IT’S NOT A CAR.
And, of course, the EN classic…
Go Riding!
A year ago this weekend at Morven Park, Colleen Rutledge was getting carted off the cross-country course in an ambulance. The horse she was riding in the Preliminary Championships toppled over a table, rolling over Colleen and fracturing her hip. The damage: surgery and a premature end to her competition year.
This weekend has been a very different narrative. Colleen and “CR” grabbed hold of the top spot in the CIC3* in the dressage and never let go, clinching the win despite a show jumping rail and 9.2 time cross-country. The twisty, muddy track took its toll on the field; there were no double-clears in either the CIC3* or Advanced divisions.
In her Morven Park preview EN fortune teller/statistician called Colleen and CR her Dark Horse pick of the weekend, as their dressage has been competitive but they’ve had a hard to adding it all up on the cross-country. It seems to have all come together for them this weekend, though, and an extra congratulations is in order: Not only was this CR’s first FEI win, it was Colleen’s as well!
Photo via the Morven Park International Equestrian Center Facebook page.
The pair has a neat story, which EN featured in 2012 in an edition of EN’s Got Talent. CR is a homebred and Colleen competed his dam, Let’s Get It Right, through Advanced. His sire is Lisa Reid’s BFF Incognito, a thoroughbred/Clydesdale cross, which is pretty fun fact as well — you don’t see too much Clydesdale blood at the three-star level!
Rounding out the top three in the CIC3* were Kate Samuels with Nyls Du Terroir in second and Sara Kozumplik Murphy with Fly Me Courageous in third.
Cross-country time penalties shuffled the Advanced division leaderboard around dramatically, with the two fastest rounds of the day moving into the top two spots. Both Holly Payne and Never Outfoxed and Caroline Martin and Pebbly Maximus had just four faults apiece to move from fifth to first and seventh to second respectively. Phillip Dutton and I’m Sew Ready won the dressage, dropped to second after a show jumping rail, and finished in third having come home with 12.8 time cross-country.
Boyd Martin and Welcome Shadow added nothing to their winning dressage score of 42.2 to win the CIC2*. This was the horse’s second CIC2*, the first being Plantation Field a couple weeks back where they dropped three rails to finish 34th in a competitive field. Boyd had the only double-clear cross-country round in the division, and Marilyn Little and RF West Indie posted the second fastest time with just two penalties. That was good enough to move them from third to second, with Kelly Prather and D. A. Duras rounding out the top three.
Top 15 CIC2* finishers:
Morven Park Fall CIC & H.T. [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
