Classic Eventing Nation

Wednesday News and Notes from MDBarnmaster

By on Sep 17, 2013 11:59 pm -

Amy and Gallerone at the 2011 AECs. Photo courtesy of Leslie Threlkeld/USEA

Today I’m happy to report good news from Amy Barrington’s Recovery Page: Amy’s eyes are open! While from the sound of things she has a long rehab ahead, Amy’s husband Greg reports that Amy opened her eyes and held her family’s hands on Monday. Soon she will be moving to a top class rehab facility in Atlanta called the Shepherd Center where her recovery will continue. While things are sounding hopeful, her recovery is probably going to be slow and expensive. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Amy’s recovery fund, there is now a page established in her name on the website HelpHopeLive. Everyone at EN continues to send our thoughts and prayers to Amy and her family, let’s hope for more good updates! [Donate to Amy’s Recovery Fund]

Weekend Preview:

Twin Rivers Fall H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times]

Northwest Equestrian Fall Gala H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times]

Plantation Field H.T.[Website] [Entry Status]

Otter Creek Fall H.T. [Website] [Ride Times]

Marlborough H.T [Website] [Entry Status]

Stone Gate Farm H.T. [Website]

Stoneleigh-Burnham School Fall H.T. [Website]

Tryon Riding & Hunt Club H.T. [Website] [Entry Status]

Coconino H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times]

Irish Olympian Aoife Clark scored her first big win last weekend just eight miles from her home base in Oxfordshire. While Clark finished 7th at the London Olympics last year at 8th at the recent British Open, this was her first CCI3* win. She told the Oxford Mail that ““to win here means a huge amount. This mare is just at the right stage to be looking at the (2014) World Equestrian Games and then Rio.” [Oxford Mail]

Ireland is on quite a roll this week: The Irish eventing teams took home the junior team gold   and the young rider team bronze at the Junior European Eventing Championships. The competition was held over the weekend at Haras de Jardy in France. Irish junior Elizabeth Hayden took home individual junior silver, and the young rider team pull off their bronze medal without the benefit of a drop score after their fourth rider was eliminated on the cross country. [Eventing Worldwide]

 Good news: Adequan is available again. Manufacturer Luitpold Animal Health announced that a shipment of the drug was released last week and should already be in veterinarians’ hands. However, supply does remain limited and will not be enough to satisfy demand. Luitpold said that it is working “diligently” to get out more product as quickly as possible while still maintaining high quality levels. [The Chronicle]

This week on the Eventing Radio Show: Breaking down Blenheim. Blenheim riders Clark Montgomery and Jessica Phoenix and attendees Max Corcoran and Katlin Spurlock join Jess and Samantha to talk about their stellar weekend in England. [Eventing Radio Show]

The USEA has announced a new partnership with sponsor Eventing Training Online, a provider of online video training. The website will be the “Official Online Education Partner” of the USEA, and will create exclusive training videos that will be available on the USEA website. In addition, USEA members will be offered a discount on subscriptions to the site’s services. [USEA Announcement]

This week on SmartPak’s “Ask the Vet:” Is pasture enough? Dr. Lydia Gray discusses mineral requirements for horses that live in the pasture all the time. [SmartPak Blog]

Thoughts After Blenheim

By on Sep 17, 2013 5:00 pm -

Meghan O'Donoghue and Pirate at Blenheim. Photo by Samantha Clark.

US Eventing High Performance has to be in a good mood after Blenheim CCI3*.  Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen finished third (tied for second, really) and first-timer Meghan O’Donoghue was 11th with Pirate.  Meghan received the Jacqueline Mars grant which helped fund her trip– and for what seems like the first time in a long time, grant money was very well spent.  Meghan and Pirate really stepped up on the international stage and proved their Rolex performance was no fluke.  While their three rails were disappointing in show jumping, her clear cross-country round is most important.  Phillip Dutton and Ben also had no jumping faults on xc, but a bunch of time penalties and five heavy rails down dropped them significantly down the results in 33rd.  Ben is still relatively green at the level, and we know Phillip has the experience; though their performance could have been better, it was certainly not an embarrassment.

 

US results at international events has been a mixed bag this year.  Saumur CCI3* saw two Americans in the top 10: Will Faudree with Andromaque in 5th, and Marilyn Little in 8th with Smoke on the Water.  The two other grant-receivers, however, did not go clear on cross-country– Hannah Sue Burnett had a stop with Harbour Pilot, and Buck was eliminated on The Apprentice for missing a flag on a corner and not re-jumping it.

Marilyn Little and RF Demeter finished a strong 7th at Luhmuhlen CCI4*; but fellow Americans Jolie Wentworth had two stops on cross-country with Good Knight, and Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda suffered a fall at the first water.

At the World Cup CIC3* in Aachen, the US team fell apart.  Tiana Coudray had a great weekend with Ringwood Magister, going clear cross-country and finishing 9th.  Her teammates, however, did not fare as well.  Marilyn Little suffered a fall from Smoke on the Water; Will Faudree had two runouts with Pawlow before they fell landing from the last fence; and Clark Montgomery also had a runout with Universe.

 

The trend seems to be that going clear cross-country corresponds to a respectable, and often competitive result. Perhaps it’s not truly the dressage and show jumping keeping us behind other nations; generally when our riders go clear cross-country, they can do well.  At Blenheim, we sent two riders across seas to compete, and both of them went clear.  That’s what we need: consistent, clear cross-country finishes.  Let’s hope US Eventing High Performance can continue this trend going on to Boekelo CCI3* and Pau CCI4*. [Grant Recipients]

Maybe Football Players Aren’t So Tough After All…

By on Sep 17, 2013 3:30 pm -

War Paint is quite likely the calmest horse on the planet.

This GIF surfaced on Buzzfeed today and I about lost my lunch laughing. There was some audio and video taken during a Kansas City Chiefs game that shows prominent safety Eric Berry shaking in his cleats at the sight of War Paint.

We all know that football players are among the toughest out there. You couldn’t pay me enough to go out there and get beat up as much as they do! Well, maybe you could, but that’s beside the point. I’ve talked about War Paint before, and having seen him in person, this horse is a true saint. I doubt he even swishes his tail at flies for fear of hurting them! So maybe that is what makes this so comical to me; this man is legitimately having a cow at the sight of War Paint!

Maybe Mr. Berry should get in touch with Eric Moore, who is an ex-football player turned eventer. Needless to say, I am the proud owner of an Eric Berry jersey, but now I will have to laugh a little every time I put it on.

Buzzfeed also posted another article with a video interview of Berry explaining why he harbors a fear of our favorite four legged friends.

You can read the full article (complete with more GIFs and the full video) here.

 

 

Tuesday Video from SpectraVet: The Oxer Two Step

By on Sep 17, 2013 2:00 pm -

We ask our horses to complete a lot of absurdly complex and athletic endeavors, but how about when the horses show off a little extra coordination of their own? Introducing: the oxer two step. Say what!? Have a gander at the video below to fully appreciate the absurdity of this action, but in brief to explain: the oxer two step is when the horse puts his hind legs down in the middle of an oxer, only to pull them out with unimaginable speed and agility to clear the jump with no penalties. Sounds impossible, right? Check out the video to see not one but two horses do this and not blink an eye!

 

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Why Horses Are Like Vending Machines

By on Sep 17, 2013 12:30 pm -

 

Sixteen year olds are too funny. They think they know it all. They think they are insightful and worldly, but they really are not (at least the ones I have come in contact with). I remember being in 10th grade in high school and all I wanted was my driver’s license. Having my own license and car meant that I would finally have a degree of freedom. I could drive my friends around. I could go somewhere without my parents having to drive me or pick me up. Basically having a car was equivalent to having a new pair of wings.

Funny thing about my driver’s license. I actually failed my permit twice, maybe three times…I can’t quite remember. My actual driver’s test, I failed once and passed the second time. Normally I was an avid student who received very good grades all around. Yet, I never once studied for that “silly” test. I never opened the books, or reviewed any materials. I thought I knew it all. I thought I could waltz right into the DMV in Montpelier and they would practically hand a license right to me. After failing my permit multiple time I realized I actually needed to study this stuff if I had any hope of EVER passing. I begrudgingly began reviewing and practicing for my exam and I finally passed.

Some people are luckier than others. Some people do not have to work as hard as others, but generally speaking if you want to learn how to do something, or you want to get better at something, you have to put the time and effort into that thing before you begin to see any results.

I went for a hack with Denny a couple days ago and he had a great story about horses and fitness. I am not sure if this is exactly how the story goes…but I have the general idea. Denny was sitting with a group of endurance riders and some guy asked how do you get your horses really fit? Someone responded by saying, you have to REALLY put the time in if you want results. The guy responded with the following: Oh, so it’s like a coke machine-you have to put your 25 cents in if you want to get a soda in return. Similarly, if you don’t put any money in the machine, you won’t get anything in return.

What a fabulous analogy. I never really thought of it that way. Truly, we have to put in a $1.50, or in our case, we have to put the TIME and ENERGY in if we want to have a real horse on the other side. Horses are not magically fit or strong. Riders have to dedicate their time and patience into making strong and agile horses.

Unfortunately for me, I have always been a person filled with a sense of urgency. I don’t particularly like waiting for anything…a bus, a plane, a friend meeting me at a restaurant. Whatever it is that I am waiting for, I don’t like it. I want things to happen quickly, and/or immediately. However, horses cannot be about immediate gratification. Everything about horses takes time and cannot be rushed. Fitness takes times and cannot be rushed or avoided. Therefore I really need to relax and learn how to wait because this sport cannot be rushed or learned quickly in a pinch. I will never forget that horses are like vending machines in that you need to put the time and energy into their training if you expect to get anything in return.

Blenheim CCI3* Helmet Cam and Commentary from Francis Whittington

By on Sep 17, 2013 11:00 am -

Francis Whittington rode two horses around cross-country at Blenheim CCI3*, Fernhill Highlight, shown here in the helmet cam picked up an unfortunate runout in the main arena.  He went clear, however, on his second horse Hasty Imp.  Enjoy this ride around Blenheim, along with commentary from Francis.

 

Your Success Equestrian Contest Winner

By on Sep 17, 2013 10:00 am -

The winning entry!

Congrats to Lynsey Ekema for submitting the winning entry in the How Do You Spell Success? Contest presented by our awesome sponsor Success Equestrian. For her prowess with horse shoe art, Lynsey wins a Deluxe Cross Country No-Slip Saddle Pad, the newest pad in the Success Equestrian family. The pad retails at $99 and is an ideal addition to your cross-country day gear.

The Deluxe Cross Country No-Slip Pad will keep your saddle in place. No more bunching up behind your leg, no more saddle slipping too far back or riding up the neck, and no more over tightening of girths. This pad prevents slippage on even the hardest to fit horses. The fully contoured top line ensures comfort for your horse, and the streamline shape helps keep your horse cooler.

With an added 1.5-centimeter open-cell breathable foam cushion in the seat, this pad offers extra shock absorption and stability. The air flow grip bottom layer is completely breathable and wicks perspiration due to the quilted cotton blend top layer. The quilted top layer is crisp and white — perfectly suitable for the show ring.

Many thanks to all the awesome readers who submitted an entry to this contest, and thanks to Success Equestrian for being such an awesome supporter of Eventing Nation. Show Success Equestrian some love by checking out their full line of saddle pads, and please consider adding one of the new Deluxe Cross Country No-Slip Saddle Pads to your collection.

Will Coleman Withdraws OBOS O’Reilly from Boekelo

By on Sep 17, 2013 8:42 am -

Will Coleman and Obos O'Reilly at Bromont. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Will Coleman announced this morning via his Facebook page that he’s withdrawing OBOS O’Reilly from Boekelo due to a minor injury. It’s another big blow to Team USA’s contingent at the major European events this fall, as Will Faudree withdrew Jennifer Mosing’s superstar mare Andromaque from Pau last week.

We’re relieved that Obos is only facing about a month of downtime after the injury, which occurred when he lost a shoe on cross country at Richland while running the Open Intermediate division. Obos, owned by the Four Star Eventing Group, won the CCI3* at Bromont in June and is absolutely a horse for the future. While it’s disappointing the horse won’t get the international experience this fall, we can rest assured knowing he’ll be back in the spring. Go Will!

From Will’s Facebook page:

“Unfortunately, it is with a heavy heart that I have had to withdraw OBOS O’Reilly from the U.S. Nations Cup trip to Boekelo CCI3*. He sustained a very minor injury at Richland Park after losing a shoe on cross country. The timing is horrible, obviously, but he will be fine. As I said, his injury is nothing serious, and though he will be sidelined for the next 30 to 45 days, we expect him to be completely ready to go next spring. Thanks to his wonderful syndicate for their support. We all understand that this is part of the deal and are thankful that it’s nothing more serious. I will miss that Boekelo trip though, but wish the U.S. the best of luck nonetheless.”

Tuesday News & Notes from Cavalor

By on Sep 17, 2013 1:00 am -

Insanity - and a river - in the middle

Colorado eventer Sally Dalton – and her horses – watched in horror as floodwaters tore through the cross country course she completed just weeks ago in Longmont, Colorado. As chinook helicopters continue continue to buzz back and forth from rescue missions, like massive black flies, plucking residents stranded by the 500-year flood, people are just beginning to comprehend the damage. Sally, her family, horses, dogs and chickens are safe. Our hearts go out to those who have not yet reached higher, safer, ground and to those in Washington, D.C., who never will.

Ease random violent acts of mother nature and humanity with non-random acts of help. This week’s news begins with an opportunity for one that probably includes a free sandwich, and definitely includes a great view.

Events Opening Today: Full Gallop Farm Horse Trials (South Carolina, A-3), Galway Downs International Three-Day Event & Horse Trial (California, A-6), The Virginia CCI1*, CIC2* and Horse Trials (Virginia, A-2), Rocking Horse Horse Trials (Florida, A-3), Pine Hill Fall Horse Trials (Texas, A-5).

Events Closing Today: Fair Hill International Three-Day Event (Maryland, Area II), Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event & Team Challenge (Lexington, Area VIII)  CCI, P3D and T3D close today.

News:

Feel powerful. Wear a walkie talkie. Judge champions. The Morven Park Fall Horse Trials in Leesburg, Virginia needs jump judges. The Area II Championships, running beginner novice through advanced, will be held Oct. 4-6. [Volunteer Here]

2013 FEI European Eventing Championships for Juniors and Young Riders. “Appalling” weather conditions in France didn’t stop the French from claiming the Junior Individual and Young Rider Team titles. A brave Irish steed named Chuckelberry was part of the Junior Team that splashed through to grab gold. [Horse Canada]

Aussies ban shots. Shots of anabolic steroids, that is. Suggesting they’d ban shots of the alcoholic variety, or bar imbibing of the alcoholic sort is sillier than George Morris on a unicorn. The Australian Racing Board threw down a total ban on the use of anabolic steroids both in and out of competition. Currently, in Australia, anabolic steroids are prohibited in horses only on race day. The new ban, which starts Nov. 1, applies to all thoroughbreds from the age of six months. [Horsetalk]

Forget bareback puissance. How about jump-n-strip? Blenheim riders lose their shirts in masters’ gate jumping challenge. Alas, co-winner Mike Jackson was only made to strip to the waist by the final round, in which he and co-winner Alice Dunsdon (shirted).  Both cleared 5 feet, 8 inches. [Horse & Hound]

Navajos oppose slaughter. This week Navajo Nation elders and medicine people unanimously approved a resolution opposing any action that leads to the slaughter of horses. The resolutions states “The Great Horse Nation is a part of the Great Covenant, as a supernatural being, it possesses incredible power, it is inextricably tied to our spiritual way of life and our cultural traditions… and must be given respect and honored for their sacred place within the Creation as they possess the same fundamental right to Life as we, Five Finger Ones, do.” Navajo Nation. Great Horse Nation. Eventing Nation. If only our groups of five finger ones had more power. [Horsetalk.co.nz]

SmartPak Product of the Day: Yeah, yeah, yeah it’s super-sturdy, spacious, and comes in fashion colors, but a critical feature SmartPak doesn’t mention about the Burlingham Pony Sport Trunk is that it floats! For example, on the off chance floods of biblical proportions roiled your farm’s lazy little stream into a 250-ft. wrath of mud with Class II rapids that surged through your barn, it’s not those lovely, wooden trunks crafted by master cabinet-makers that will be bobbing around in the barn aisle/creek like turds in a toilet when you finally force the barn doors open. It’s the plastic ones. Plus, they make swell life boats for barn cats. Designed for a padlock. Or a rope to tie them to the barn in high tide.

Video: Much more cheerful footage of horses & friends in water than what we’ve been seeing from Colorado:

Thanks HunterJumperBudd!

 

Get Well Soon, Joanie Nichols!

By on Sep 16, 2013 6:00 pm -

Joanie Nichols, a dear eventing enthusiast and supporter, recently suffered a stroke and is recuperating well but has been unable to participate in the competitions lately as much as she would like. Joanie and her husband Geoff own Tom White Hill Farm in Vermont and are wonderful supporters of the sport. They specialize in finding young Irish horses with talent, such as recent Richland CIC3* winner Trading Aces. Their head rider, Ashley Adams, was kind enough to fill us in and write a quick note for us on Joanie.

Ashley and Cooley Ice. Photo by David Frechette.

From Ashley:

Just about two weeks ago, Joanie Nichols suffered a stroke at her home, Tom White Hill Farm in Pomfret, Vt. She is currently at the Mt Ascutney Rehabilitation Hospital working on the motor skills most commonly affected by a stroke.

I was lucky enough to cross paths with Joanie and her husband Geoff Nichols about a year ago here in Vermont. Joanie is one of the toughest ladies I know, and while her stubbornness has proved to be a bit of a problem for the doctors, it is one of the traits that I admire most in her.

She and Geoff are avid horse enthusiasts and even more so diehard eventing fans. Joanie grew up riding dressage, and she met Geoff some 60 years ago at GMHA. (She asked to borrow some boots from him, and he said no; they have been together ever since!) Both have a strong love for wanting to provide quality young horses for the sport of eventing.

Joanie’s love for all of her horses is immeasurable, and having people like her and Geoff involved in the sport is what will keep this sport alive and thriving. The Nichols enjoy watching and being a part of every aspect of the process, from when the horses just get to the farm as rank 3 and 4 year olds that try to buck me off to seeing Trading Aces — a horse they picked out as a 5 year old — on the cover of magazines.

Both the horses and I are missing her and can’t wait for her to get back; after all, we have to get busy producing the next generation of Event Horses!

Ashley and one of Joanie’s young horses winning a division of Training last weekend at GMHA: