Classic Eventing Nation

NAJYRC CH-Y** Scores After Cross-Country

By on Jul 20, 2013 9:28 am -

Cross-country proved very influential today in the 2-star division at the North American Junior & Young Rider Championships here at the Kentucky Horse Park.  Only five riders went clear, and four did not finish. Trouble was scattered throughout the course; a few runouts at fence 6 for riders who tried the direct route– jump judges said that several horses just didn’t see the brush at 6b.  As such, several riders took the long option to give horses extra time to line up properly to 6b.

Another horse or two was caught out at the corner at 13b, but I saw a lovely ride there by Mary Atkins Hunt and Nuance.  The big drop rode beautifully for Caroline Martin and Quantum Solace, but not for everyone (Hannah Krueger and Pinney North were unfortunately eliminated there).  I didn’t hear of any problems at the Head of the Lake, which seemed to ride fairly forgiving, as did the coffin at the end of the course.  There was some great riding today– especially by the riders who went clear– and some green riding as well, which you expect from riders at this age at this level.  It has been a beautiful morning so far, and let’s hope the heat can hold off a little longer for the one-star.  Go Young Riders!

[Results]

Team Standings:

  1. Area III
  2. Area VII, VIII, & IX
  3. Area V

 

USEF Announces European Competition Grants

By on Jul 20, 2013 5:35 am -

Lynn Symansky and Donner received a Jacqueline B. Mars Competition and Training Grant to compete at Pau this fall. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The USEF announced the recipients of the Jacqueline B. Mars Competition and Training Grants and the USEF Land Rover Competition Grants last night. As we expected, a large contingent of U.S. riders will be crossing the pond this fall to compete at Blenheim, Boekelo and Pau. In total, three pairs will compete at Blenheim, five pairs will compete at Boekelo and eight pairs will compete at Pau. Samantha will be on the ground at Blenheim, and I’ll be your boots on the ground at Boekelo and Pau, so you can expect full coverage of our U.S. contingent at these all-important fall outings. Get excited!

From the USEF:

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and United States Equestrian Team Foundation (USET) are pleased to announce eventing competition grants for European competition in the fall of 2013. All grants were awarded based on an application process.

Jacqueline B. Mars Competition and Training Grants

The USET Foundation is pleased to announce that the Jacqueline B. Mars Competition and Training Grants have been awarded to Meghan O’Donoghue and Lynn Symansky; eventing riders who have been identified and recommended by the USEF Eventing Selectors, with impressive records and potential to represent the United States in future international competition. O’Donoghue (Carbondale, IL) will compete her own 2002 Thoroughbred gelding Pirate at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI3*. Symansky (Middleburg, VA) will compete her own 2003 Thoroughbred gelding Donner at the Les Estoiles De Pau CCI4*.

The United States Equestrian Team Foundation (www.uset.org) is the non-profit organization that supports the competition, training, coaching, travel and educational needs of America’s elite and developing international, high-performance horses and athletes in partnership with the United States Equestrian Federation.

USEF Land Rover Competition Grants

The USEF has awarded USEF Land Rover Competition Grants to the following horse-and-rider combinations. Grant recipients will compete at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI3*, Military Boekelo CCI4*and the Les Estoiles De Pau CCI4*.

Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI3* 

The following horse-and-rider combinations have been awarded Land Rover Competition Grants to compete at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI3*, September 12-15, 2013 in Woodstock, England.

Clark Montgomery (Wiltshire, UK) and Jessica Montgomery, Kathryn Kraft, and Holly and William Becker’s Loughan Glen
Loughan Glen is a 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding

Sharon White (Summit Point, WV) and her own Wundermaske
Wundermaske is a 2003 Hanoverian/Thoroughbred gelding

Learn more about the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI3* here.

Military Boekelo CCIO3*

The following horse-and-rider combinations have been awarded Land Rover Competition Grants to compete at the Military Boekelo CCIO3*, October 10-13, 2013 in Boekelo, The Netherlands.

Will Coleman (Charlottesville, VA) and Four Star Eventing Group’s OBOS O’Reilly
OBOS O’Reilly is a 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding

Buck Davidson (Ocala, FL) and Debbie Adams’ DA Adirmo
DA Adirmo is a 2005 KWPN gelding

Lauren Kieffer (Middleburg, VA) and Team Rebecca, LLC’s Veronica
Veronica is 2002 Dutch Warmblood mare

Boyd Martin (Cochranville, PA) and Trading Aces, LLC’s Trading Aces
Trading Aces is a 2004 Irish Sport Horse gelding

Caitlin Silliman (Chestertown, MD) and her own Catch A Star
Catch A Star is a 2000 Holsteiner/Thoroughbred mare

Learn more about the Military Boekelo CCIO3* here.

Les Etoiles De Pau CCI4*

The following horse-and-rider combinations have been awarded Land Rover Competition Grants to compete at the Les Etoiles De Pau CCI4*, October 23-27, 2013 in Pau, France.

Will Faudree (Hoffman, NC) and Jennifer Mosing’s Andromaque
Andromaque is a 2001 Irish Thoroughbred mare

Kristi Nunnink (Auburn, CA) and her own R-Star
R-Star is a 2001 Holsteiner mare

Marilyn Little (Frederick, MD) and Raylyn Farms and Team Demeter’s RF Demeter
RF Demeter is a 2002 Oldenburg mare

Phillip Dutton (West Grove, PA) and the Mr. Medicott Syndicate’s Mr. Medicott
Mr. Medicott is a 1999 Irish Sport Horse

Clark Montgomery (Wiltshire, UK) and Jessica Montgomery, Carole Montgomery, Janet Higgins, and Elizabeth Smith’s Universe
Universe is a 2001 Dutch Warmblood gelding

Hannah Sue Burnett (The Plains, VA) and Jacqueline Mars’ Harbour Pilot
Harbour Pilot is a 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding

Michael Pollard (Dalton, GA) and Carl Bouckaert’s Mensa G
Mensa G is a 1998 Thoroughbred gelding

Learn more about the Les Estoiles De Pau CCI4* here.

Saturday Cross Country Links from Tipperary

By on Jul 20, 2013 12:33 am -

Caroline Martin & "Nacho", current leaders in the CCI2* at NAJYRC

Happy Cross Country Day!!! Goodness, the emotions around the barns today in Kentucky will be running high. Saturdays at a three-day are always full of extreme elation and ultimate disappointment, but the feeling of watching your teammates rock around challenging courses and come home safe is really unequalled. A lot of competitors will be getting their first taste of the team atmosphere this week, and that’s a really exciting new experience. Cross country begins with the CCI2* at 8:00am EST, our fearless leader is in fact the current leader in that division, Caroline Martin & Quantum Solace.

Make sure you read Visionaire’s NAJRYC Course Walk from yesterday, and check out Coach O’Connor’s challenging courses for both divisions. Good luck to everybody!!

NAJYRC Links:

[NAJYRC Website] [Live Scores] [List of Competitors] [Schedule] [FEI NAJYRC FB Page]

Events This Weekend:

Cobblestone Farms HT: [Website]

Coconino Classic 3-Day Event & HT: [Website]  [Live Scores]

Fitch’s Corner: [Website]  [Live Scores]

Olney Farm: [Website]  [Live Scores]

Aspen Ridge: [Ride Times]

Saturday Links:

Area III & Caroline Martin dominate the CH-Y** division

Area V & Lauren Clark kick butt in the CH-J* division

Equine Canada’s daily NAJYRC wrap-up

MD Eventer performs CPR on the side of a highway

Don’t Think: JUST DO

Success Equestrian ponders the trials and tribulations of finding THAT horse

15 random horse tweets from non-horsey people

More horse meat found in pies in England

 

The View from Flathead Valley, MT Presented by World Equestrian Brands

By on Jul 19, 2013 6:45 pm -

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] including a quick blurb about this photo’s story and write “The View” as the title. Today’s view is a prelude to the countryside that will house the Event at Rebecca Farm next week.

From Lida McAllister:

From Bigfork, MT. Looking out over the Flathead river and Flathead Valley. Looking forward to (literally) the Event at Rebecca Farm in a couple of weeks.
– Lida McAllister on Flagmount’s Harmony (aka Hermione)

 

Sally Spickard: Love, Loss and Remembering

By on Jul 19, 2013 4:30 pm -

EN Blogger Contest finalist Sally Spickard send in this beautiful tribute piece to Zeppo, an OTTB who tragically passed away this week at just 12 years of age. We’ve all experienced equine loss in one way or another. Even if our own horses haven’t yet passed away, we know a barn friend who has faced the death of their partner and friend. Rest in peace, Zeppo.

Makenna and Zeppo enjoying a few moments of relaxation at a recent jumper show. Photo credit to CJM Photo.

From Sally:

It is days like today that make us glaringly and acutely aware of what we have and how fragile it is. A good friend of mine, Makenna, received a phone call from her barn owner, who said her OTTB partner of 4 1/2 years to the day, Zeppo, had appeared to have gotten cast the night before. He was a little banged up, so Makenna cleared her day and drove to the barn, only to find that her horse of a lifetime was down in his stall having convulsions. He stopped thrashing after a few minutes, and she was able to get into his stall and hold his head as he took his last breaths.

It is her belief that he held on long enough to say goodbye to her, and at the happy and healthy age of 12, Zeppo passed away in Makenna’s arms. My heart is breaking as I write this piece knowing that there are no words, no condolences, no thoughts or prayers that will be able to bring back Makenna’s best friend. I think of the horses that we as an equestrian family have lost, and I know that we all wish that we could bring them back to us. We are all too often reminded that life is too short and that we are never afforded enough time with the ones we love. For all of the horses we have had to say goodbye to before we were ready, this piece is to serve as a humble tribute.

It’s not often that you find someone who understands the bonds we share with our horses. If I had a dime for every time someone raised their eyebrows and immediately moved me into their “not quite right friend” category whenever I tell them that horses mean the world to me, I would be filthy rich. It’s not something that is easy to understand when you are not a part of this world. They don’t wake up at 4 a.m. on the day of a show, riddled with anticipation and nerves at the prospect of competition. They don’t feel the weight of the world lift from their shoulders when they set foot in the barn and hear the quiet breaths and inhale the comfort of hay and leather. They don’t feel  a rush of pure happiness when they put their left foot in the stirrup. They don’t comprehend the unadulterated love and joy that comes from seeing your horse prick his ears and nicker in your direction when he sees you coming. And they most definitely don’t understand the earth shattering, heartbreaking feeling that comes when you must say goodbye to one of the only things that keeps you sane and makes you feel whole.

In our world, we understand these feelings. We know how surreal of a feeling it is to forge a partnership with a living, breathing creature and cultivate that partnership into a lasting bond of trust and friendship. We have all held our breath in anticipation while watching these partnerships in action, watching the ears swivel back in concentration before the next jump and seeing the smiles of complete satisfaction and the floppy ears after a stellar dressage test. We have seen these partnerships galloping home at Rolex, fists pumped in the air in triumph and ears pricked forward and ready for more.

Today, I would like to take a moment to memorialize the horses we have lost. I know that they say time heals everything, but our horses leave us with lasting memories and feelings that will never fade. Take a moment to be grateful for what we have, as life fails to make sense sometimes, and sometimes all the love we have is not enough. Our lives have all been touched in some way by a horse, and it is worth remembering that without our companions, we are limited to only our own earthbound feet. Rest in peace, Zeppo, and may we never forget the others we’ve lost along the way.

NAJYRC: Cross-Country Course Walk

By on Jul 19, 2013 2:32 pm -

I wandered my way around the Kentucky Horse Park lawn to bring you most of the cross-country fences that the one-star and two-star riders will face tomorrow.  The two-star course looks big, and both courses feature lots of combinations throughout.  As Jon Holling mentioned in his blog, the one-star does indeed pass through every water complex at the Park, and the two levels share much of the track together with jumps often side-by-side (or shared).  Both levels get an inviting pass through the water to a hanging log out, to let horses get their feet wet at the start of the course.  After that, things start to get serious.

The first question on the two-star course is the “pass-by-a-ditch” that Jon talked about; however, the ditch is barely visible now as course builders have covered it liberally with brush.  A horse may still give it a hairy eyeball, and so riders will still need to be on their line for 6b.  Nearby, the one-star has a straightforward A-B terrain question with a narrow skinny out.  From there, both courses make their way to the water at the top of the hill.  The two-star has a fairly serious log in, curving to a skinny in the water.  The one-star has a ramp landing on the water’s edge, straight to a skinny.

Both courses jump matching oxers (11, 9), built with narrow rails on a breakaway system.  Almost every vertical top rail on each course has a breakaway safety feature, that can also be easily re-set for the next competitor.  The two-star heads on to a set of angled ditch-and-brushes (12ab), one of which is shared by the one-star in a turning question (10ab).

Turning toward the old wishing well corners, the two star has a table four strides to a corner, with the option of left- or right-handed.  The one-star has a similar table, on a bending/angled six strides to a left corner.  Both courses cross the road and head downhill into the back field.  The one-star has a stout question at fence 15abc: a brush fence, one stride to a log-drop, three or four curving strides to a skinny.

The two-star goes off to do its own loop at the back of the course, not quite going out to the Hollow but making use of the old Rolex drop behind the polo field.  That drop always rides a little bigger than it walks, and riders will find two narrow chevron brushes at the bottom, about four strides apart.

At the Head of the Lake, the two-star drops in over a good-sized rolltop drop, curving to a Rolex duck.  The one-star has their own rolltop drop in, then they must circle back to jump another log back into the lake.

Both courses finish with a shared coffin near the end, with the two-star taking the right option (two strides to one stride) and the one-star on the left option (two strides to two strides).

There’s plenty to do on both courses, and enough questions that it’s hard to predict where trouble may occur.  The ground is a little bit firm, but there is a chance of rain later today; and for July in Kentucky, it could certainly be much worse!  Best of luck to all riders tomorrow, kick on and Go Eventing!

 

Friday Video: Plantation Field Promo

By on Jul 19, 2013 1:00 pm -

Plantation Field is still two months away, but this new promo video filmed in partnership with Evention will get you PUMPED. The video starts with Jimmie Schramm getting tacked up for cross country, then plays a variety of clips from the jumping phases from past years — including quite a bit of footage from the always exciting Bareback Puissance — and wraps up with interviews from Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton talking about why Plantation Field is the BEST. EVENT. EVER. Mad props to Evention for their hand in this fantastic promo spot for Plantation Field, and don’t forget to mark your calendars for the big event on Sept. 20-22. Go Plantation Field!

Rick Wallace Will Be On Fox News Tonight!

By on Jul 19, 2013 11:00 am -

Rick Wallace during his Skype interview on CNN.

I think we can officially say Rick Wallace is making the rounds on all the news channels. CNN interviewed him on Wednesday about the viral video of his show jumping round at Chatt Hills, and the interview ran during “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer. Now Fox News will air the video at 5:55 p.m. EST tonight to close out the national 5 p.m. news hour. According to Rick, Dana Perino, a Fox News political commentator, loves the video, which now has more than 255,000 views on YouTube. Be sure to tune in to Fox News at 5:55 p.m. tonight to see Rick’s interview. What’s next — the daytime talk show circuit? Go eventing.

NAJYRC: Dressage scores from the CH-Y**

By on Jul 19, 2013 10:25 am -

Jennifer Caras and Fernhill Stowaway, sitting in third on 52.0 in the two-star.

I wasn’t able to see much of the two-star dressage today…well, I would have seen more of it, if it weren’t for the traffic jam getting into the Horse Park this morning.  It’s Breyerfest weekend, and hoardes of plastic horse lovers are out in droves.  Wouldn’t you think they’d rather watch real, live horses competing this weekend? (The Rolex arena is completely empty, aside from a few teammates, grooms, and family members.)  Don’t get me wrong… I loved my Breyers as a kid and enjoyed collecting them…but the mass hysteria over model horses escapes my understanding.
Nonetheless, I was able to catch some great rides today.  Rowdie Adams and No Money Down put in a steady, accurate test to lie in second with a 50.9.  Caroline Martin and Quantum Solace lead the division with a 50.2.  Rounding out the top 3 is Jennifer Caras and Fernhill Stowaway, a flashy moving horse ridden nicely uphill to score a 52.0.
Team results:
  1. Area III
  2. Area V
  3. Area VI, VIII, & IX
  4. Area II & IV

 

Rowdie Adams and No Money Down, second in the two-star on 50.9.

Photos & Video from NAJYRC 2013

By on Jul 19, 2013 9:00 am -

Amazing sunset as riders school in the Rolex arena

Young Riders is fully upon us during this sweltering hot time in July, and there’s nothing better, despite the weather. Yesterday brought good fortune to Lauren Clark and Yosche Bosche who used their beautiful canter work to earn a top score of 47.7, and are currently leading the CH-J*. Nicole Doolittle had a wonderful test on Tops to score a 48.1 and sit in second, while Reagan LaFleur and Orient des Touches are close behind in third with a 49.6. Impressive scores ladies!

Area V is also in the lead for the CH-J* division, with Area II only two points behind in second place, and scramble team Area VII & VIII only two points behind that! It’s a tight race folks, and you can bet those young riders are gunning for gold this weekend!

[NAJYRC Scores]

Luckily for those of us unable to physically attend the NAJRYC, we have the internet, and we have people taking tons and tons of smart phone pictures! For your convenience, I have gathered them all here for you, from Jogs to Dressage, we have it all. Be sure to check out the FEI NAJRYC FB Page, as they continuously add pictures and updates through the week.

 

Watch the video below to get an inside look at Team Ontario and their winning strategy.

http://youtu.be/6pEJOHBAlX4