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… well it’s just too darn cute.
From Amber Long:
The result of a successful trail/conditioning ride in West Virginia: one tired pup and two sweaty horses!
It looks like a pretty normal hack until you notice the dog in one of our hacker’s lap!
Barbury Horse Trials is well underway this lovely weekend in July, and an American is leading one of the incredibly competitive divisions of CIC3*! Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen lead 52 competitors in CIC3* Section B with a 34.2, and after being named to the USEF Eventing High Performance Summer/Fall National Training Lists, he’s having quite a good week! As Jenni mentioned earlier, this is Glen’s first major competition since he underwent a non-invasive “tie forward” surgery earlier this year after a scope showed he had a soft palate issue. Personally one of my favorite horses, I’m excited to see him back in the mix.
Glen completed his dressage test yesterday, and nobody could catch him today, although Piggy French and Tinkas Time were the closest in that effort scoring a 36.4 to sit second going into the show jumping tomorrow. Mary King and Imperial Cavalier follow closely on their heels with a 37.8 to place third, which is super to see her back in action, as she suffered a rotational fall on Rolex winner Kings Temptress just a mere two weeks ago at Salperton Horse Trials, and was hospitalized with heavy bruising and a concussion.
Barbury Links:
[Barbury Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Live Scores]
The CIC3* section A is currently being lead by last year’s winner Andrew Nicholson on Avebury with a 34.4 to place well ahead of the rest of the competitors. Up and coming British rider Laura Collett with her unbelievable horse Rayef are in 2nd place on a 38.8. Tied for third are German rider Franca Luedeke on Parlando, as well as Australian Tim Price with Wesko who both scored a 42.6. They are closely followed by fellow Australian Paul Tapner, who sits just .2 points behind them with Kilronan.
Canadian Rebecca Howard is also placed in the top ten for CIC3* Section B, scoring a 42.8 to sit in 10th place following Dressage. Rebecca has been over in England ever since the Olympics last year, and has really been stepping up her game. She looked fantastic at Fontainbleau earlier this spring, and finished 6th in the CIC3* there.
Tomorrow both divisions of CIC3* show jump, while divisions of CIC2* complete both jumping phases and finish their weekend on a Saturday. Sunday morning the CIC3* does Cross Country, and it looks like a wonderfully challenging course.
Be sure to “Like” Barbury International Horse Trials on Facebook! They have beautiful pictures and updates throughout the weekend. And, as a bonus social media point, if you feel brave and have a burning question for Andrew Nicholson, he’s been spotted answering questions with the #nicholsonontwitter hashtag from fans on Twitter! Do it.
We receive wonderful stories and photos in the Eventing Nation inbox each week. This week’s roundup features firefighter Rowdie Adams, an OTTB named Sunny Smiles making a very creepy face and Denya’s story about setting out on a new OTTB adventure. Have a photo you’d like to submit to EN? Send it to [email protected].
From Michael Adams: “This is a picture of my daughter Rowdie Adams, an upper level event rider, fighting a large grass fire with her team from the Cash Texas Fire Department. She wears pink on cross country too!”
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Photo by Maya Kuntze
From Stefania Schuller: “This is my daughter Livia Schuller riding her 5yo OTTB mare Sunny Smiles at Seneca on June 23. Yes, that is in fact her name A little something to brighten everyone’s day …”
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From Denya Massey: “Once I get my new pony up and running (not literally, of course, he can already to that!) and do a few local competitions, I’ll do a little story on old people keeping at it. He’s a new horse, 5 yr OTTB (gorgeous, chestnut, smart, sassy, sweet). Not what I thought I’d be doing at my age, but what the hell! With all the ‘young rider of the future’ articles, someone has to talk about those of us who still try to challenge ourselves and have fun doing it!”
Charlotte is one of Great Britain’s most promising Event Riders, having represented her country on both Junior and Young Rider teams – most notably winning team gold and finishing 4th individually on Little Beau at Blair Castle in 2007.
Charlotte graduated from Edinburgh University in 2011 with a 2:1 in English Literature.
She has been placed consistently, including finishing 9th at Blenheim in 2011 and 5th at Luhmuhlen CCI**** with the homebred Out of Africa (“Zulu”) in 2012. Despite being a true British rider Charlotte is keen to remember her Scottish roots, and indeed she has been ranked the No. 1 Scottish Event rider in the FEI World Rankings for the last two years.
Supported by the lottery funded World Class Development program she now has her eyes firmly set on the 2016 Olympics. Thanks for writing, Charlotte, and thank you for reading. For more, visit her website. All photos used with permission. Click here to read [Blog 1] [Blog 2] [Badminton 2013]
Photo by Adam Fanthorpe, used with permission.
From Charlotte:
June
This month started with a very happy bang when the little star Dumbleton went and WON his CIC*at Brand Hall! I was feeling mildly nervous on arrival, as having confidently told Lady Bamford that I was sure he could pull off a really good result here, and that it was definitely worth keeping him to do so, I realised that I’d better prove myself right…! Thankfully all my persuasions were justified, and he did a super test to lie 3rd on 44, and then jumped the most awesome double clear inside the time. The show-jumping caused carnage in fact, possibly partly because there was a triple of uprights, which certainly tested out the careful ones, and Dumble was one of only two horses to finish on his Dressage score. He felt absolutely awesome cross-country, and we went like lightning as having stolen minute markers (very competitively!) from the pony riders who were also doing the 1*, I only clicked at the end that they had all obviously been given very tight minutes to start with, to get them ahead of time… and as a result I felt like I’d gone back to my Junior days with my foot flat to the floor in surprised panic for the first half, before realising that I was way ahead of time by the last section! What an absolute star Dumble is though, and I am so sad that he is now for sale. However, I am sure that he will give a junior the most amazing time.
With Zul still on holiday at the start of the month it was all up to the other two to keep the competitive enthusiasm flowing, and Woody manfully kept up his end of the deal. Having had to go home suddenly for my Grandpa’s funeral the day before I was supposed to be doing my Dressage at Nunney, I was a bit concerned that the brain might be a little fluffy… but thankfully Cara worked her usual wonders at keeping us (me and the Woodster!) in order. I always seem to do quite well in the West Country for some reason, maybe it’s the chilled atmosphere down there, or the fact that it’s a bit similar in some ways to the homeland, but Woody did a massive PB in his Dressage scoring 49 in the CIC**, which I was totally thrilled with. He felt soft and supple, and really tried which is very exciting as this has historically been his weakest phase. His show-jumping has got better and better alongside the flat work though, and he felt much more relaxed having been practising at Summerhouse, just tipping one unlucky pole before zooming round the cross-county with his usual enthusiasm to finish 11th in a very competitive section.
I’d love to say I’ve been out scoring lots of double clears, and maybe even winning a few classes on some exciting youngsters, but sadly that’s jumping the gun as my SEIS scheme is still getting assessed by the tax man. It seems to be taking forever, which is mildly frustrating as I really want to get hunting for some super steeds, but I’m having to exercise patience instead. On the entertainment front though I’ve had a couple of great nights – firstly going with my good friend Alice Pearson to the Fox Rocks (Ledbury Hunt Ball) which knowing Alice was a pretty epic choice, involving a LOT of dancing, merriment and a 6am taxi home…! It was awesome fun and a great alternative to Bramham if anyone’s not going next year?! The second, racing at Ascot, had a very different vibe, and one that I’m trying to get use to as I progress into the supposedly civilised second half of the 20’s. Being much more at home in a little dress and sneakers than smart and heels, the Ascot dress code took a bit of preparation. Luckily it seems to coincide with the mid-season sale which is very handy, and I was quite proud of myself for managing to actually find dress and jacket in one relatively quick session. However, it never seems to be that simple, and I had a very nasty shock when someone told me, when I described my outfit the day before, that fascinators were banned this year. I’d been banking on wearing one that I’d bought for my last trip there a couple of years ago, and a) didn’t have time to find anything else and b)had NO idea where I would find a hat, even if I did have time! The lady concerned was adamant that I wouldn’t be allowed in without one, which didn’t really soothe my concern, and I rang a friend in panic. He very generously said he’d donate me his top hat if it came to that…. but thankfully nobody seemed remotely bothered about fascinators or hats – or even short dresses as it turned out, judging by some girls’ outfits! It was a great day out though; the racing was fantastic and made much more exciting by the fact that now I actually know some people in the industry.
The month has been rounded off by a couple of really good days at World Class training, where we were lucky enough to have the legendary Irish show-jumping coach John Ledingham casting his watchful eye over us, and giving us a good selection of exercises to be practising until next time. Zul is now back in action and we are all gearing up for Barbury this weekend, so fingers crossed the weather stays nice and everyone can have a merry day out!
C x
Mikaela Kantorowski, a groom for the Area II Young Riders team, is keeping us up to date on all the action leading up to the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships later this month. Today Mikaela introduces us to the Area II CCI* team, and we’ll get to hear from all the team members in their own words. Congrats to the Area II CCI* team, and best of luck in Kentucky!
Maddie Parisan and Hope to Star. Photo by Steve Berkowitz.
From Mikaela:
We have had some exciting new developments here in Area II! Everyone has been working their tails off as the final weeks draw to a close. Rich Frankel has been organizing an amazing fundraiser, and Pam and Meg Kepferle have been ironing out the final details of camp. There are so many people that go into making each team a success, and I could never name each and every person — from the parents who put up and encourage our dreams to our siblings who spend countless hours in the truck going to events and helping. I know I speak for the whole team — grooms and riders — when I say we could not do this without you.
Also, thanks to Sinead Halpin, who gives her time to us at camps and events, making sure she helps any way she can and that she knows each and every one of us. And last but not least, I have to thank all our sponsors, who ever so graciously donated products and funds to help make this trip a success. Every penny matters, and we could never do it without them.
What each athlete goes through to qualify and keep all these horses feeling their best is amazing and a huge congrats goes to them as well. It is a massive undertaking to organize such a trip and to make it happen and I can’t believe it is now so close! Camp starts on Monday and The Fork has been so gracious to let us use their facilities! Now I’d like to introduce our one star team!!! I’m sure they will represent area two well.
Chase Shipka and Palm Crescent and Victory Shetan
Chase rides with longtime coach Jan Byyny and has recently started riding with Allison Spivey on the flat, who works with Lauren Sprieser. Her goals for the rest of the year are to, of course, do well at the championships and hopefully move up to intermediate at the end of the summer or fall. Chase owns and rides three super talented horses. Toddi (Victory Shetan), Bagel (Ever So Lucky) and Palmer (Palm Crescent), all of whom qualified for the NAJYRC’s at VAHT by placing 1st, 8th and 9th respectively. Palmer, the youngest of the three, is an OTTB and is only 7. Bagel was campaigned by Area 9’s Kendyl Tracey through the Advanced level. Her final horse Todi has been her longtime partner, and the started at novice and moved up to the one-star level. Each horse has their separate funny personalities, and everyone enjoys having them in the barn. Chase can’t wait to head to Kentucky and be a part of the Area II team!
Madeline Parisan and Hope to Star
I’m Madeline Parisan and I’m 14, my horse “Carson” aka Hope to Star is a 19 year old flea bitten grey thoroughbred, I’ve had him for five years and I trained him for eventing on my own. I started doing jumpers with him then I trained with young rider champion Alex Zavoyna to start me off in eventing. I now train with Molly Kinnamon and fast forward some and some of the big accomplishments were when I competed at the Fair Hill three day at prelim, we got second place finishing on our dressage score of 28.6 and throughout the year we had never had a stop on cross-county and finishing in top six a lot, and we finished that year with plantation fields CIC*. He was awesome; he was double clean cross county and only one rail in stadium. Coming around to the next year (2013) this is the year we want to make the young rider team. We did a prelim and CIC* at fair hills spring three day, and he ended great. All three phases went well at the Virginia CCI* including a super dressage, a fantastic cross-county and only one rail in show jumping, we finished in 7th place. A huge step for us, I was very happy. I am so excited to head to Kentucky this July!
Morgan Booth and Lucky Little Spy
My name is Morgan Booth and I will be competing at NAJYRC with my horse Lucky Little Spy in the CCI*. After a great experience at Young Riders last year with my longtime horse Cameron Creek, I was motivated to make 2013 Young Riders a goal for Spy and me this spring. Spy is a 10-year-old OTTB who was beautifully produced by Kristin Bachman, and I have had him since last fall. Spy is an incredible horse, and I am so grateful to have him to continue my riding education. I have been working with Will Coleman for several years, and I’m spending this summer as a working student in order to get ready for the championships. My qualifying run was at Bromont in early June, where we had a great run. I learned a lot about my horse and what I need to do to improve on our performance. I was extremely lucky to have had experienced coordinators, coaches and team members last year. I look forward to another great year in this new chapter of Area 2 Young Riders. Meg, Pam and Sinead have been working really hard to get us all to this point, and we couldn’t do it without them. Thank you to my coach, family and friends for helping me get where I am, and I can’t wait to head to Kentucky again in a few weeks.
David Pawlak and Just Bailey
Hi, my name is David Pawlak. I am 16 years old, and I have been riding for my entire life. I started eventing when I was 7 years old and have been doing it ever since. My horse Just Bailey is a 15.1 chestnut Thoroughbred that just started doing preliminary this year. Bailey and I have been on the fast track this spring doing his first and my second preliminary at The Fork and placing 5th. We had three more runs at Louden, Plantation and Fair Hill, just qualifying for the 1* at Virginia. We placed third at the Virginia CCI1* and received Best Turned Out as well as Best Conditioned Horse. I mainly trained with Po (Alexandra) Tatham, but also some with Hannah Burnett and the occasional lesson from David O’Connor. I have to thank all of these people along with my dad, who is also the farrier, and my mom, who helps me and supports me at every event. Without them, I would not be competing at the championships this year.
Caroline Day and Malibu
Hi! I am Caroline Day riding Malibu in the CCI*. I am 14 years old, turning 15 on July 17, and I am going to be a sophomore in high school. I live in Rockleigh, N.J., and board Malibu in North Salem, N.Y., where I train with Mikki Kuchta. Over the past year, I have completed three CIC*s to qualify for the selection process of young riders. This is Malibu’s third year attending Young Riders; however, this is my first year going with her. I bought Malibu about a year and a half ago. Prior to me buying her, Malibu was owned by Joelle Baskerville and lived in Canada. Malibu and Joelle did very well in the Young Riders CCI** and CCI*. I aspire to continue eventing through college and to have a career involving horses as an adult because riding is my true passion.
Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen at Barbury last year. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen celebrated being named to the USEF Eventing High Performance Summer/Fall National Training Lists by leading the CIC3* Section B dressage at Barbury Castle on a 34.2. This is Glen’s first major competition since he underwent a non-invasive “tie forward” surgery earlier this year after a scope showed he had a soft palate issue. If his dressage score is any indicator, it looks like Glen is back on track and ready to put in a solid showing at Barbury this weekend. If all goes well, Clark hopes to point Glen at Pau this fall. Go Barbury.
Barbury Links:
[Barbury Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Live Scores]
Events This Weekend:
The Maryland H.T. at Loch Moy Farm I [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]
Chattahoochee Hills H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]
Powder Basin H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times] [Live Scores]
South Farm H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times] [Live Scores]
ENYDCTA/Old Chatham H.T. [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Huntington Farm H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Your Friday News:
The 2013 Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials scheduled for next weekend have been canceled due to extremely wet footing and more rain forecasted for this week and next. Competitors’ USEA and USEF fees will be refunded as soon as possible. The cocktail party for patrons and sponsors will still be held next Friday night at 6 p.m. [Stuart Horse Trials]
Andrew Nicholson used the now famous #nicholsonontwitter hashtag to answer questions from fans yesterday at Barbury. Nicholson said Burghley is his favorite CCI4* event, likened Nereo to Bruce Springsteen and admitted he’s not sure how anyone finds the time to tweet. [British Eventing]
The new FEI Yellow Warning Card now includes more details under the “Abuse of Horse” category, such as “causing unnecessary discomfort to the horse,” “riding an exhausted horse,” “excessive use of the whip,” “inadequate preparation of horse,” “encouraging the horse to jump from a standstill” and “spur marks.” [Horsetalk]
Nominations are now being accepted for the Longines Rising Star Award, which rewards a young rider, vaulter or driver who has consistently demonstrated outstanding sporting talent and commitment. Thai eventer Nina Ligon won the award in 2011 and went on to represent Thailand in the 2012 London Olympic Games. [An Eventful Life]
The Blogger Contest poll is now open, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite blogger. After a long battle in the Third Annual EN Blogger Contest, four finalists remain: Erin Critz, Ella Rak, Sally Spickard and Rick Wallace. We need your help to determine who should become the next member of the EN team! [Vote]
Buschreiter.de editorial: A reader found several errors in our original translation of the Buschreiter.de opinion piece that addressed Capt. Mark Phillips’ Luhmühlen course design. The first key substantive error involves the event’s official FEI course walk, while the second incorrectly translated the German as saying that Phillips wanted to “go back to the old format.” For more details and a corrected translation, click here.
Best of the Blogs: Team Sprieser Rocks the Ride For Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV0d0cdyFZ4
Go Horse Nation.
Many thanks to Joan Davis of Flatlands Foto for sharing a few images with EN from Groton House Horse Trials this past weekend. View the full gallery at FlatlandsFoto.com. Look for Flatlands Foto at Huntington Farm this weekend then UNH the following weekend.
Erin Renfroe and Porter Creek were winners of the Open Preliminary A Division. Copyright Flatlandsfoto.com.
Katherine Gieseke and My Combination were winners of the Jr Open Novice Division. Copyright Flatlandsfoto.com.
Rebekah Calder and Jazz King were winners of the Intermediate Preliminary Division. Copyright Flatlandsfoto.com.
Diane Thompson and Back In Boston Again were winners of the Sr Open Training C Division. Copyright Flatlandsfoto.com.
Katie Murphy competed at Groton House Horse Trials with her own Esccord RGS (“Garth”), the 2012 YEH East Coast Champion Four-Year-Old. Katie was kind enough to share her blog from the weekend… thanks Katie!
Garth Shines at Groton House!
Garth on XC – Photo compliments of Meaghan Wood
From Katie:
I have ridden at Groton House for many years, beginning as a junior at the Novice level and continuing through my Young Rider years at Preliminary. It was at Groton House that I met Biko and saw many of our country’s finest riders – in 1996, it was a mandatory outing for Olympic contenders. It was also the place where, after jogging Sharri down an oak-lined dirt road, I was asked to join Area 1′s NAYRC team. Groton House is a magical place. For anyone with a history of competing in Area 1, Groton House resonates as the epicenter of old world charm, grace, and formal competition among eventers. This property, only opened to the riding community during the competition and one annual clinic, epitomizes the passion, pursuit, and elegance of equestrianism.
Our adventure began with dressage on Friday, upon which Roger informed me that my competitor number 187 was code for murder. This was news to me – who knew? Warm-up was in a massive open field, and the five dressage rings were placed next to one another in an adjacent grass field. Groton House presents not only fabulous competition, but the opportunity to test the partnership with your horse in a big environment. Garth, though initially distracted, settled beautifully as we navigated the undulating terrain and wet footing. My goal was to touch upon the larger, move powerful gates we achieve at home. As we approached our dressage ring, Garth had a substantial spook at the photographer’s umbrella. Carrying on, we circled the ring and built towards that fabulous trot. I chose not to push for his next gear due to the footing – a slip could have a long last effect on our test, and the weekend. Our test was lovely. He had a slip at the first canter lengthen on the circle, so I asked for less change in the other direction. I was most pleased with him – he maintained his balance, rhythm and engagement beautifully in the wet grass, and never once lost focus during our test. He scored a 23.2, earning several 9s in the movements and collective scores. I later learned that we led our division by 10 points. That was humbling.
Our ride cross-country was in the afternoon, and knowing how quickly my excitement can turn into fatigue, Roger and I enjoyed a mid-morning nap before heading to the grounds. The sun was emerging and the humidity was on the rise – it was hot. The training level course offered many excellent questions, incorporating terrain, lighting, stimuli and long gallops. Garth was a champion. Though the heat was taking its toll on him, he cantered along with pricked ears and an eager attitude. I chose to tap him before several fences to encourage a jump directly out of stride, and he obliged beautifully. I remember galloping towards a table and thinking to myself “That fence doesn’t look nearly as big when I’m riding you, Garth.” Garth is continuing to grow in confidence, and during that course, learned to think quickly out of stride. Our gallop is a gait in progress, and from watching his casual form across the field, I suspect there is quite a bit more in his tank. We had 3 seconds of time, and led the division by 8.8 points. He is a fun horse to ride!
Groton House’s stadium is misleading. The terrain sneaks up on you, and causes problems for horses and riders that rarely incur points in the show jumping. I know this well. I have entered that stadium field three times in first place, each time losing it to a rail or a tie broken by optimum time. Yet, entering the ring in first place this year had particular meaning – it was Roger’s birthday, and I wanted to win for him. Despite having two rails in hand, I did not take my lead for granted. Rails can drop easily, and confidence can shatter quickly – I could lose this lead just as easily as I had years before. The environment was electric: Spectators lined the shaded fence line, brilliantly painted fences shined in the grass field, and a large patron’s tent loomed within the field. Garth’s fatigued from the heat did not effect his alert awareness, and he spooked throughout the course. Despite rubbing a fence, we jumped clean, and earned a blue ribbon for Roger!
To top it off, we earned The Jim Stamets Award for the lowest Senior Open Training score of the four OT divisions.
Thank you for the many volunteers, contributors, supporters and sponsors of the horse trials. Due to their generosity, Garth and I left with a lovely silver cup, poultice kit, dog biscuits,Charles Owen certificate, and Bit of Britain open front boots.
A big thank you goes to Linda Donavan, who graciously hosted us at her beautiful farm. Linda and her team were very flexible given Garth’s enthusiasm for the large paddocks and the prospectus of making new friends. After jumping into another paddock, Megan Howe kindly allowed her pony to befriend Garth and help keep him calm for the remainder of the weekend. Surrounded by elegant granite walls, acres of grass paddocks and lush trees, Roger and I felt like we were on holiday in Old Europe and the stress of competition quickly melted away. Thank you all!
Thank you for riding alongside us!
As the Third Annual EN Blogger Contest wraps up, we’re giving YOU, dear readers, one last chance to weigh in. Who’s your favorite finalist? Whose future posts are you most excited to read? Whose name, at the top of a post, inspires within you an urgent desire to READ and LAUGH and LEARN and LIKE and SHARE?
In case you need a refresher:
Erin Critz: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3
Ella Rak: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3
Sally Spickard: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3
Rick Wallace: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3
We’ll take popular opinion into account as we make our final decision. Vote now for your favorite. Go Bloggers.
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. Have you spotted a spectacular young horse at an event you think should be highlighted in this column? Tip me at [email protected].
Tamie and Cinco at Galway Downs. Photo by Tass Jones.
Last week we met Tamra Smith and Fleeceworks Cinco, a 6-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Judy McSwain of Fleeceworks fame. While Cinco had stellar 4- and 5-year-old seasons — winning the West Cost Young Event Horse Championships both years and setting a record for the highest score ever earned in a YEH competition — he’s been out of work for the last few months due to a whacky growth spurt that left him uncomfortable in his own skin. After Cinco didn’t feel like himself during a preliminary run at Twin Rivers this spring, Tamie decided time off was the best plan of action for Cinco. “I had my vet look at him, and we decided he was going through a weird growth spurt where he’s awkwardly built all of a sudden,” Tamie said. “We decided to give him some time to get through the growth spurt and not keep pushing him.”
While in the past this series has looked at horses currently competing, I wanted to highlight Cinco here because I think Tamie and Judy’s decision not to push the horse shows a display of horsemanship that should be applauded and mirrored when similar problems arise with young horses. “This can happen, especially when you’re dealing with warmbloods,” Tamie said. “They mature much later than Thoroughbreds. He’s actually a hot horse and a little too full of himself on cross country, and he wasn’t that day at Twin Rivers. That day, he went around like a hunter. That isn’t my Cinco that I know. So that’s where we are now. We decided to just take our time.” Judy ended up bringing Cinco to her farm for six weeks, where the horse could enjoy time off in green pastures — a rarity in Southern California.
Tamie and Cinco at the Del Mar Fall Festival. Photo by Captured Moment Photography.
“The good thing about it and why it’s unique for me is I’m really lucky because I have a lot of nice young horses right now,” Tamie said. “That helps because you take out the selfish part of yourself competing and you really focus on what’s best for the horse.” Having Cinco since he was 3 has helped Tamie develop a special bond with the horse, and she believes her close relationship with him ultimately helped her realize something wasn’t quite right with the horse. “You have to really listen to your horse,” Tamie said. “He’s such an extravagant mover, and one of the vets I consulted with said Cinco is like a stone moving in circles on the end of a string. The velocity and force is so big, and if your horse isn’t mature and finished growing, you’re going to end up with injury.”
Thanks to Tamie’s vigilance, she took Cinco out of work before any injury could occur. “You just have to stop and say, ‘I can’t mess this up,'” Tamie said. “All horses can break, but you don’t want them to break because you made a bad decision. That’s why I slammed on the brakes.” After some time off to mature and settle into his new body, Tamie is happy to report that Cinco seems back to his old self. “I’m happy that we slowed down and took a little time. A few months is better than a year.” Cinco will come back to Tamie’s farm after Rebecca Farm to prepare for the fall season, and Tamie is hoping to aim him at the Galway Downs CCI*. Kudos to Tamie and Judy for making the right decision for a very special horse. Go Cinco.
Next week on EN’s Got Talent: We’ll meet Leah Lang-Gluscic and AP Prime, an 8-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding she picked up for $750 on a snowy night in Martinsville, Ill., after spotting the horse on the CANTER Illinois website. We all know stalking the CANTER listings is a dangerous game, but it worked out beautifully for Leah. AP Prime (Aptitude X Czarina Kate, by The Prime Minister) raced 31 times and has only been eventing for two years, but he’s already moved up to the CIC2* level and placed 13th in the Red Hills CIC2* earlier this year. I’m a sucker for a good OTTB story, and AP’s is a great one.
Tiana and Finn have moved onto the World Class Training List thanks to their performances at Badminton and Aachen.
The USEF has just named the 2013 Eventing High Performance Summer/Fall Training Lists. The lists have been redesigned for 2013, and this is a targeted approach to identify talented horse/rider combinations for future championship teams. There’s quite a bit of movement on the lists from what we saw on the Spring Lists back in December. You can view the Spring Lists here, and we’ll be back with commentary and analysis on the new Summer/Fall Training Lists soon.
World Class
Combinations that currently possess the ability to be competitive anywhere in the world. The combinations listed on the World Class List will receive Land Rover Training Grants.
Will Coleman (Charlottesville, VA) and Four Star Eventing Group’s OBOS O’Reilly
OBOS O’Reilly is a 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding
Tiana Coudray (Ojai, CA) and Jatial Inc.’s Ringwood Magister
Ringwood Magister is a 2001 Irish Sport Horse gelding
Will Faudree (Hoffman, NC) and Jennifer Mosing’s Andromaque
Andromaque is a 2001 Irish Thoroughbred mare
Will Faudree (Hoffman, NC) and Jennifer Mosing’s Pawlow
Pawlow is a 1999 Irish Thoroughbred gelding
Sinead Halpin (Oldwick, NJ) and Manoir De Carneville Syndicate’s Manoir de Carneville
Manoir de Carneville is a 2000 Selle Francais gelding
Marilyn Little (Frederick, MD) and Raylyn Farms and Team Demeter’s RF Demeter
RF Demeter is a 2002 Oldenburg mare
Clark Montgomery (Wiltshire, UK) and Jessica Montgomery, Carole Montgomery, Janet Higgins, and Elizabeth Smith’s Universe
Universe is a 2001 Dutch Warmblood gelding
Kristi Nunnink (Auburn, CA) and her own R-Star
R-Star is a 2001 Holsteiner mare
Lynn Symansky (Middleburg, VA) and her own Donner
Donner is a 2003 Thoroughbred gelding
National List
Combinations that are currently competitive in domestic international-level competition, and who the USEF Selection Committee feel have the future potential to be competitive anywhere in the world.
Hannah Sue Burnett (The Plains, VA) and Jacqueline Mars’ Harbour Pilot
Harbour Pilot is a 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding
Buck Davidson (Unionville, PA) and Carl and Cassandra Segal’s Park Trader
Park Trader is a 2002 Irish Thoroughbred gelding
Lauren Kieffer (Middleburg, VA) and Team Rebecca, LLC’s Veronica
Veronica is 2002 Dutch Warmblood mare
Marilyn Little (Frederick, MD) and Raylyn Farms and Phoebe and Michael Manders’ RF Smoke on the Water
RF Smoke on the Water is a 2005 Wurttemberger gelding
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
Meghan O’Donoghue (Carbondale, IL) and her own Pirate
Pirate is a 2002 Thoroughbred gelding
Michael Pollard (Dalton, GA) and Carl Bouckaert’s Mensa G
Mensa G is a 1998 Thoroughbred gelding
Katie Ruppel (Anthony, FL) and her own Houdini
Houdini is a 2004 Thoroughbred gelding
Caitlin Silliman (Chestertown, MD) and her own Catch A Star
Catch A Star is a 2000 Holsteiner/Thoroughbred mare
Erin Sylvester (Unionville, PA) and Spike and Jeanne Sylvester’s Mettraise
Mettraise is a 2004 Thoroughbred mare
Sharon White (Summit Point, WV) and her own Wundermaske
Wundermaske is a 2003 Hanoverian/Thoroughbred gelding
