I’m going to be honest; I’m not a huge fan of kids. However, upon viewing this video I decided I quite like this one in particular. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t want any of my own, but I’d be happy to go pony shopping with this one any day. You see, I have this exact same conversation every single time my husband catches me browsing horse ads online. Everyone knows you don’t need to know a pony’s name to need a pony — even if you already have 15 others at home.
Marilyn Little and RF Tabasco. Photo by Julia Rau.
In another round of bad news for Team USA at Boekelo, Marilyn Little withdrew RF Tabasco tonight after the horse sustained a minor injury in the pasture. This news comes just a week after Buck Davidson officially withdrew D.A. Adirmo and Caitlin Silliman withdrew Catch A Star. Will Coleman withdrew OBOS O’Reilly last month. As the goal presumably remains to field a team for the CCIO3* competition, I’m assuming an alternate will be named. At this point, Team USA will be Boyd Martin and Trading Aces, Lauren Kieffer and Veronica, and Elizabeth Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night or HHS Cooley.
“Unfortunately, RF Tabasco sustained a minor injury in the paddock yesterday, which will preclude him from completing his final preparations before the event at Boekelo next week. Though it appears Tabasco should require only a few days of monitoring before returning to normal work, with only a week prior to the event the timing couldn’t be worse.
“I am incredibly grateful to my staff, veterinarians and farriers for their attention around the clock and am so sorry to miss the incredible opportunity to join the U.S. team at Boekelo this year. It goes without saying that the chance to represent our country while competing at what has become the Raylyn Team’s ‘hometown event’ — located only 10 miles away from our summer base here in Holland — is an opportunity sadly lost, but we all look forward to coming to support the other U.S. riders throughout the week.
“Fortunately, Tabasco should be back in form in short order, and we are hopeful that upon confirmation from our veterinarians that he is fully ready to return to competition, we will be able to re-route our fall plans to include a CCI3* at this year’s Galway Downs in California before our team returns home to the East Coast in November.”
Update 10/04: Joanie Morris, the USEF Managing Director of Eventing, confirmed this afternoon that an alternate will not be named to replace Marilyn Little and RF Tabasco. According to the FEI rules governing Nations Cup competitions, teams of three are perfectly acceptable, so the U.S. will still be able to compete as a team. The lack of a fourth rider means there’s no drop score, unfortunately.
According to the USEF High Performance Facebook page, Veronica and Trading Aces are currently waiting at JFK Airport to board their flight to Boekelo. All the action kicks off on Wednesday at 1 p.m. local time with the first horse inspection, and I’ll be your boots on the ground to bring you all the action and news from Team USA. Go eventing.
Guilty! But awfully lovable. Enjoy these shameful submissions from readers across the country.
VEGETABLES DON’T COUNT.
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“THE FIRST TIME I HAD AN ITCH.THEN I REALIZED THEY WERE ‘QUICK RELEASE’ TIES AFTER ALL!” – JOEY
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YOU GROOM YOURSELF IN YOUR BATHROOM, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
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THE DIRT COLOR IS SLENDERIZING
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WHAT? ISN’T THAT WHY THERE’S A DRAIN IN HERE?
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MY NEIGHBOR’S PINNED EARS ARE HIS SPECIAL WAY OF SAYING “HAVE SOME!”
Pony Shaming. Send us a snap of your pony coming clean. It’s easy. It’s cathartic. And we are certain in the knowledge: No equine is innocent.
Get out the Sharpie and email your best/worst to [email protected]. If you’re handwriting’s as bad as mine (or even if you think it’s not) please also type out the Message of Shame, your pony’s name and any helpful info about their misdeeds.
Thanks Victoria F. Chin, Sarah Hayday, M. Wette and Jamie from Horses in the Morning and their ponies, for today’s shames.
EN loves photos shot between the ears! If you happen to be out for a hack, are riding in some obscure place or just take some cool photos aboard your mount, send them to [email protected] with a quick blurb about the photo’s story. This week’s View comes to us from Mieka Decher in Washington State.
From Meika:
Here is an ears photo of my horse, The Last Say, who is competing in the 100-Day Challenge sponsored by the Prodigious Fund. She ships to Donida Farm today for the final debut at Emerald Downs against the four other Thoroughbreds in professional training. Go OTTBs!
Burghley gave us all a little treat to end the week by posting Jock Paget’s analysis of his winning weekend with Clifton Promise. Watch the video for Jock’s excellent fence-by-fence commentary on his cross-country trip with Promise, as well as to hear him answer questions like “Has it sunk in yet that you’re essentially taking over the world?” It’s hard to believe we’ll watch another Grand Slam showdown play out next year, only this time it will be here on U.S. soil when Jock and Promise try to clinch the Rolex win. Go eventing.
Ellen Doughty and Sir Oberon have had a fantastic year, most recently finishing in third place in the Advanced division at the AECs. Ellen was kind enough to write in to tell us about her amazing journey with Obie. Thanks for writing, Ellen, and good luck at Fair Hill!
Ellen and Obie approach the big Advanced drop at the AECs. Photo by Aruna Matata.
From Ellen:
My life with horses began when I was 8 years old when my mom and dad sent me off for a week of Girl Scout camp. I absolutely fell in love with everything about horses — the way they smelled, grooming them, riding them and just being around them. I couldn’t get enough! After camp, my mom signed me up for weekly lessons, and the rest is history! I dabbled in a few different English disciplines (hunters, saddleseat and dressage) before finding my true love, eventing. After that first time out on a cross-country course, I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
My parents helped me purchase my first horse, an off-the-track Thoroughbred, when I was 16. I sold him less than two years later for a profit and bought myself another OTTB, which I trained and competed through Training level. I sold him a few years later and purchased two more horses, which I also trained and sold, and the story goes on from there. Part of my training philosophy is to let each horse work at its own pace and realize that not all horses are created equal.
Some horses take two years to do what another horse can achieve in two months of training; my job as a trainer is to let each horse work at its own pace and strive to make that horse the best that he can be. Some horses will top out at Novice, while others can go all the way. I think it is important to realize what the horse is capable of achieving and maximize that talent to the highest level possible.
In high school, I was captain of my varsity swim team and also captain of my varsity softball team. I held three jobs: lifeguard at the YMCA, waitress at a Greek Restaurant and waitress at a banquet hall for weddings on the weekends. I also found time to ride my horse daily and keep straight A’s.
My parents taught me to work hard for what I wanted, and I knew what I wanted — to one day be able to afford a horse that could take me all the way to the Advanced level, maybe even Rolex CCI4* and ride on a team. I had big goals, and I knew to achieve those goals; I would need to work hard. During high school, I joined Pony Club and started working my way through the levels, eventually attaining my A rating.
Through college, I was head trainer at an Arabian barn to help pay expenses and also was a working student for ICP faculty member, Robin Walker, for a year. My last semester of college, I spent six months in Northern Ireland at an equine college taking courses such as jumping equitation, dressage equitation, equine sports medicine and equine nutrition. Upon returning from Ireland, I took a job in Fort Worth, Texas, at Curragh Equestrian Center as the head trainer/instructor.
I worked at Curragh for two years, gaining a lot of teaching and riding experience. In October 2008, I decided to venture out on my own and started my own business, Pegasus Eventing. During these years, I also realized that I really loved teaching all levels of riders, even the beginners. I try to teach every lesson as if the student one day wants to ride in the Olympics, even if their goal is only to learn the basics and have fun.
Ellen and Obie at the AECs. Photo by Aruna Matata.
My Dream Horse and Dream Job
In November 2008, I came across Sir Oberon online while browsing for horses for sale for a client of mine. I called his owner right away and went to see him the next day. From the moment I saw him and sat on him, I knew this horse was something special. I purchased him and started working with him. I spent a year giving him a solid foundation at Training level. I took him to the AECs in 2009 in Chicago and ended up eighth in the Training Horse Championships. I moved him up to Preliminary for a season and then took him Intermediate.
In 2010, we traveled to Chatt Hills in Georgia for the Preliminary Horse AECs and ended up 13th after one judge gave us a 28 and the other gave us a 40. I was so disappointed, but I kept my head up and knew that one day Obie and I would get our big chance if we just kept working hard. Someone once told me that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, so I took the judge’s comments to heart and worked hard to improve those things to make my test better for the future. Obie kept getting stronger and better in each phase, and we did several two-stars in the spring of 2011, finishing eighth at Poplar CIC2* and sixth at the Ocala CCI2*.
Our plan was to move to Advanced in May of 2011, but Obie suffered a very slight strain in a hind suspensory ligament and needed some time off. I scraped the piggy bank to afford to get him all of the latest in treatments to make sure he had the best chance of full recovery, and the vets cleared him to go back to work in less than two months. I decided to give him some extra time off, just to be doubly safe, and took him to the Aqua-Tred, an underwater treadmill for horses. I started bringing him back slowly in the spring of 2012. He started jumping again that summer, and his first event back was in the fall of 2012.
About that same time, I moved to my current location in Terrell, Texas, at the beautiful Southern Cross Equestrian Center. We are only 25 minutes from downtown Dallas and have a wonderful 80-acre facility with awesome, sandy loam footing and turnout; an indoor arena; and a cross-country course in progress. The two owners, Michelle and Kim Cheney, are two of the kindest people I have met in this business, and I think I have really found a forever home at this barn. Having a great facility with people who believe in you means everything.
Ellen, Obie and a pint-sized fan after the victory gallop! Photo by Angie Mitchell.
Moving Up to Advanced
Obie and I moved up to the Advanced Level this spring at Texas Rose Horse Park. He won the dressage, went double clear in the show jumping and then the rain hit. We had a rain delay, and after the rain was over I put in his studs and headed up to the warm-up. I got up there, and I was the only one up there. I was told that everyone had scratched because of the rain. We warmed up and Mary D’Arcy — who I had asked to coach me that weekend for my first ever Advanced — and I decided that the footing seemed to be holding up well and that it was safe to run.
I took off my watch and decided that we were going to go out and have a fun, safe and confident first Advanced experience. I “put my big girl pants on” and off we went out of the box with Obie wondering why I was making him go so slow. He is a horse who likes to go, and I normally don’t have to push him. He knows when they say GO that he should run like the wind. But not this day.
I brought him down to a nice prelim pace and ran the whole course, taking all of the long routes and giving him a steady, slow ride. We came home clear at our first Advanced with about 60 time penalties. I was beyond thrilled! To my surprise, my good friend, Julie Norman, was the only other Advanced rider to go cross country that day and she ended up winning, as she finished with fewer time penalties.
This year has been a whirlwind. Our next event was the Chatt Hills CIC3* in Georgia, where we finished in second. We also traveled to Montana on a Broussard travel grant to compete at the Rebecca Farms CIC3*, finishing in seventh. Next it was on to Michigan for the Richland Park CIC3*, where we finished in 14th against a strong 40-plus horse division. Leading up to the AECs, I took Obie to several recognized dressage shows and debuted him at Fourth Level and Prix St. Georges.
We earned our Bronze and our Silver USDF rider medals in just three shows. I truly believe that dressage is the basis for any equestrian discipline, and dressage is what I focus on most at home. I believe that improving your dressage will improve every other phase and aspect of your riding. The week before the AECs, I found out that I was one of the two grant recipients for the Fair Hill Land Rover Competition Grant — so thrilled.
The 2013 American Eventing Championships
Coming into the AECs, my goal was to have another confident run at Advanced. I thought we had a steady dressage test, but I know this horse has so much more in him. I will keep working hard to get him stronger and get more out of him in his dressage tests. The cross country looked big and technical, but so did the last three three-star courses, which Obie sailed around with ease. I went out on the course confident and with the intention of riding him more forward through the combinations instead of over-collecting him.
He is so easy to adjust that I tend to over-adjust him and waste time, so I have been working on letting him travel on a bigger stride while keeping his balance uphill. I thought he was foot perfect on the cross country, and I could not have been more pleased. Show jumping was supposed to be Saturday evening, but a huge thunderstorm ended up delaying it until Sunday morning. It was agonizing to have to wait another night to jump.
We ended up with two rails down in the show jumping to drop us from second to third, but I again couldn’t have been more proud of my horse. This was our first season at Advanced, and I can’t wait to see where the future takes us. Our last show of this season will be the Fair Hill CCI3* in Maryland, which will be our last qualifier for our CCI4*. Wish us luck!
Never Quit
This sport takes a lot of time, hard work and dedication. I have learned that if you truly put your heart and soul into it, you will one day be rewarded. This sport certainly has its ups and downs, but it is well worth it in the end. For those that think it’s impossible to make it to the top without a fancy horse and a lot of money, I am here as proof that anything is possible. Keep working hard, and one day you will succeed.
I can count the number of lessons I have had in the last four years on my two hands, and I don’t have a trainer I work with on a regular basis, mainly because of funds. I am still that girl scraping pennies together, buying and selling horses, trying to make it in this world. Those times when it is hard and you just want to throw in the towel, remember to push through and find a way to visualize your end goal. Work harder than everyone else and you will succeed.
The second water combination at fence 20.
Morven Park Horse Trials starts today, and considering this event offers the Area II Championships as well as the last run for the majority of horses headed to Fair Hill, it’s a pretty special competition. Beginner Novice through Advanced is running in both championship and regular divisions this weekend. With more than 400 entries, the event is positively packed with top-notch horse and rider combinations at every level.
While most competitors haven’t arrived yet, the championship Advanced and Intermediate combinations are already on the grounds, as those divisions start early this morning with dressage and show jump in the afternoon on the grass in the steeplechase field. Just briefly looking at that course from afar, I can tell it will be influential because of the tricky terrain.
I arrived yesterday and took the opportunity to walk the Advanced cross country course to see what it’s all about. There are three divisions of Advanced this weekend: Advanced Championships, Advanced CT and Advanced HT. The regular division is large, with 22 entries, while the Championships is relatively small. The CT division is small as well, but it’s wonderful of the organizers to offer it, as they also do the same three-star test in dressage that they will see in a few weeks at Fair Hill.
The cross-country course is designed by Tremaine Cooper, who seems to be designing just about everything on the East Coast right now. Unfortunately, after being completely rained out all spring and summer, Virginia is experiencing a dreadful drought, and the ground is quite hard. They are working very hard here to aerate and aggravate the ground, but I imagine that with a three-day looming in the near future, there will be quite a few combinations that will opt out of cross country due to the ground.
I was pleased with the course, and I think it flows quite nicely. There are a lot of technical combinations that require accuracy and the ability to find a distance on a bending line. The terrain is used quite well to make the questions a little more complex, but I was surprised to find so many options. Every combination has a black-flag option for one or more of the elements. This is not characteristic of Tremaine’s courses, but I was unable to find him late in the day to figure out what he was intending.
However, this means that riders can choose to have an easy and slow day to build some confidence for less experienced horses or go the direct route and challenge their horses to step up to the task. Overall, it looks challenging and also inviting, and I’m excited to give it a go on Saturday morning.
Morven Park Fall H.T. Links: [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Last week Evention launched a brand new season of videos and a sparkling new website to go along with it. We were assured that our entertainment and education would continue every two weeks, but as it turns out, they just couldn’t stay away from us for that long. Inspired by “How Animals Eat Their Food“, this week’s fun video features some very good imitations of hungry horses that we’ve all owned at one point or another. I currently own both the stuffed one that gets only two sprinkles of grain and the grouchy one that steals everyone else’s food! For more great videos, be sure to check out the new EventionTV website and take a look back at Season 1!
Will Ze Terminator reign again in Lexington?
Good morning! I must say, I was quite pleased to see that Lexington and Wellington have put in their bids of interest in hosting the 2018 World Equestrian Games, if only for the fact that this would likely give me a chance to see Michael Jung ride in person again. After figuring that there really isn’t going to be a feasible way for me to get to Normandy next year, this news is quite welcome since I wouldn’t have to cross an ocean to go! Great Britain is also in the running, although the proposed host city has not yet been named, as is Canada and its fabulous Bromont location. We will know a bit more after December 2 when the official host city candidates are announced.
Events This Weekend:
Morven Park Fall H.T. [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Roebke’s Run H.T [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]
Woodside International H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times] [Live Scores]
ESDCTA New Jersey H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]
WindRidge Farm Fall H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]
Kent School Fall H.T. [Website] [Ride Times]
Friday News:
October is the last month to qualify for FLAIR’s contest! You can win $250 by winning back to back horse trials between now and October 31. Be sure to use FLAIR strips for both your cross country and stadium rounds (take photos so we can see you rocking them!), and FLAIR will give you $250 in bragging rights! [Eventers Win Big With FLAIR]
Breaking news! “Equestrianism” has been named to the Top 10 list of the most expensive sports! As if we did not already know this. What we didn’t know, I bet, is that “equestrianism” is what all of the non-locals are calling it. I had to chuckle a few times when I read this article, as the person who wrote it clearly was basing much of their knowledge off of a recent political figure and his wife’s dressage horse. Just a hunch, though. [Top 10 Most Expensive Sports]
Oregon and Kentucky have reported new West Nile Virus cases. A total of eight horses have reportedly tested positive for this scary disease between Oregon and Kentucky. [WNV Reports for Oregon and Kentucky]
Eventing superstar Jock Paget may continue his world domination with the Adelaide CCI***. While he plans to be on location for clinics during the Adelaide event, he may also hop on horseback and cruise around the course in true Paget style. Not a lot of details are available yet, but keep your eye on that entry list! [Paget May Ride at the Austrialian Four Star]
Are you as befuddled by the seemingly countless blanketing options as I am? SmartPak has a great guide that will help you sort through your options this year. Can I just order one of each and get it over with? [SmartPak Blanketing Guide]
Best of the Blogs:
Boyd and Silva recap their Dressage at Devon adventure.
Tiana Coudray updates us on her UK endeavors.
Your Friday Video Break:
AEC rewind! Watch Katy Groesbeck and Oz the Tin Man’s stellar show jumping round from the AECs.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
It’s hard to believe, but the world’s horse population saw a drop of about 1 million horses per year between 2009 and 2011, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Other types of livestock saw the same reduction in numbers world wide, but pig and donkey populations grew during the same time period.
In Europe, horse numbers dropped from 6.3 million in 2009 to 5.8 million in 2011. However, in North America, horse numbers actually increased during the same period, rising from 10.1 million to 10.5 million. The United States looks to have the world’s largest equine population as well, contributing 10.15 million to North America’s total headcount. If the human population in the U.S. is around 313.9 million, that means there’s around 30 people for each horse. The next largest population is in China, with 6.77 million. China’s population is estimated to be about 1.351 billion, so that means about 200 people per horse.
Looking at these numbers, I’m left with a few thoughts. First and foremost, it’s no wonder it’s so easy to pick up a free horse these days. There are an obscene number of horses in the United States. Second, you would think that if we had that many horses to draw from, American breeders would be more consistently able to match the quality of sport horses produced in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Don’t get me wrong; there are excellent breeders in the U.S., but many people are still of the mindset that if you want an elite horse you have to go to Europe.
Finally, I’m even more impressed by the horses out there at the top of the sport. While I’m sure there are plenty who are simply undiscovered talents or owned by folks who lack the resources, skill or desire to get them to the top, the number of horses in the world that compete successfully at the upper levels are an amazingly small portion of a very significant population.
