Classic Eventing Nation

Friday Video: Black Friday — Equestrian Style

By on Nov 25, 2022 5:13 pm -

Okay, okay, of course the most important part of the holiday season is being with those you love and appreciating what you have — as well as doing and giving what you can for and to those less fortunate. But also, isn’t Black Friday shopping kind of fun

I don’t know about you guys, but my Black Friday so far has consisted of spending my pennies on… my horse. Of course it has. She’s got new rugs, new rug liners, new treats and toys and a whole host of things she probably won’t appreciate even a tiny bit, but man, it was great fun buying it all. Almost as fun as actually doing the bargain hunting is hearing about the great deals other people have snapped up — so please do brag about your shopping wins in the comments so we can all enjoy the fruits of our great labours together. Times are tough right now, so let’s share the deals where we can find them! (Also, if you haven;’t started shopping yet, check out our Holiday Gift Guide and nab yourself something special!)

Maxime Livio Takes the Lead in Round One of Sweden’s Indoor Eventing Challenge

By on Nov 25, 2022 9:00 am -

Maxime Livio and Boleybawn Prince lead the way on a scorching time of 30.92. Photo by Roland Thunholm/SIHS.

France’s Maxime Livio and Boleybawn Prince were the best combination in the first class of the Agria Top 10 Indoor Eventing in Stockholm, Sweden, last night. This means they will go last in the final on Sunday.

Livio was very pleased with his horse after the ride: “He is just an amazing horse,” he says. “He did Boekelo when he was eight with the German team. I’m training the Thailand eventing team and now he belongs to one of my Thai riders. He’s 17 now and still loves to compete. We train him for these competitions because they are not so physically demanding — he can just have big fun and feel the atmosphere of the big shows. I’m very lucky to have this horse and I’m very thankful to his owners who let me ride him.”

On indoor eventing, which takes place at many of the big winter indoor competitions, Maxime remarks, “I think it’s really good with the indoor shows because we can promote our sport and it’s helpful for us to have competitions during the winter season. I also think the audience loves to see these competitions, there is always a very good atmosphere.”

But, he points out: “It’s important though to have specific horses for this kind of classes. They need to be fast, but very connected and listening to the rider. They also have to be experienced, because everything comes very quickly.”

Sofia Sjoborg and Eastbourne are the best of the formidable home side in round one. Photo by Roland Thunholm/SIHS.

Sunday will see the finale of the class play out, run in reverse order of merit — and so Maxime will be the last rider to enter the ring, following joint-second placed competitors Sofia Sjoborg, piloting Eastbourne for the home nation, and Denmark’s Peter Flarup, riding his top horse Fascination.

“It will be the first time we do two fast classes during a competition,” says Maxime. “I think I will just have to manage my horse a little bit, because he will probably want to go too quick. I’m happy to be at the end of the order, that means I will have some answers about the course. And I will know who’s in the lead and what kind of risk they took.”

The ten-strong class saw plenty of drama and excitement, including a shock elimination for Oliver Townend after a spooky round with catch-ride Sotomayor resulted in the gelding jumping onto the bounce bank on a half-stride, refusing on top, and then slipping backwards off the side of the bank. Both were totally unharmed and landed on their feet. US representative Boyd Martin sits fifth currently on catch ride Caruccio Paradise, just a fraction of a second behind Germany’s Anna Siemer and the excellent eight-year-old Lillybelle EA, while Olympic champion Julia Krajewski sits sixth after the first round with the exciting eight-year-old Nickel 21.

You can rewatch the class on Horse&CountryTV here, and for full results, click here.

Friday News & Notes Presented by Zoetis

By on Nov 25, 2022 12:03 am -

Thanksgiving at Windurra! Photo by Silva Martin.

 

U.S. Weekend Preview

Pine Top Thanksgiving H.T. (Thomson, GA): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

News From Around the Globe:

Hello Black Friday, our Holiday Gift Guide has landed! We’ve picked out a few of our favorite gift ideas for all types of riders and partnered with some awesome brands to bring you special deals and promotions. [Start shopping]

In 2018, There were 42 young horses contesting YEH 5-year-old Championships between the East and West Coast Championships which were held in Elkton, Maryland, and Woodside, California, respectively. Following 2018’s YEH finale, many of the graduating class of the 2018 USEA Young Event Horse Championships have worked their way up through the rankings as they establish themselves as upper-level event horse prospects. [YEH Yearbook: Class of 2018]

Winter is the perfect time to work on some details with your riding, one of which is certainly position and rider biomechanics. Mary Wanless, an internationally renowned dressage coach and rider biomechanics specialist, shares some useful advice on how correct biomechanics can positively affect performance. [13 Facts About Rider Biomechanics]

Best of Blogs: Thankful For A Thoroughbred

After watching the annual Presidential Turkey Pardon earlier this week, a Florida trainer was inspired to grant clemency of a different kind. On Wednesday, Alice Abrahams led her fleet of multi-colored lease ponies, three in each hand, to the largest, nine-acre field on her Ocala-based Palm Lane Farm property. There, she removed their halters, handed each a jumbo carrot, and sent them on their merry way.“Nobody’s earned it more,” Abrahams said. “No more little heels banging them in the sides, or pulling on their mouths over cross-rails. No more having to wait out the waterworks when the kiddos take second place, or when they throw a tantrum when it’s time to apply more sunscreen at the show ring. From now until January 1, 2023, my ponies are officially unclipped and off the payroll!” [Ponies Pardoned for Thanksgiving]

 

Thursday Video: William Micklem’s Winter Motivator

By on Nov 24, 2022 6:49 pm -

We feel exceptionally lucky here at EN to count the legendary horseman William Micklem among our friends, supporters, confidantes and collaborators — and we’re sure we’re not alone in having grown up heavily influenced by his experience. I, for one, had a copy of his Complete Horse Riding Manual that, like the Velveteen Rabbit, was loved so hard that its fur (um, its cover) wore off, and in the years of my childhood when I couldn’t actively ride, it was the thing that almost singlehandedly kept me in a place of positive progress. For that alone, I’ve always been grateful to William — but he’s certainly never stopped giving back to the sport, either in his remit as a Fellow of the British Horse Society, inventor of the Micklem Multibridle, source of horses such as Biko and Custom Made and breeder of Olympic High Kingdom and Mandiba, and much-loved educator.

Now, to add a seriously cool string to his bow, he’s tackled the world of Ted Talks — and his recent talk, The GO! Rules, is essential listening for all of us as we learn to run our own race, compete with ourselves, and strive for that same positive progress every day. If you’re in need of a bit of a jump-start for this off-season, take the time to have a listen to this. It’ll be well worth your time.

A Non-Dressagey Exercise to Improve Shoulder-In, Haunches-In and Half-Pass

By on Nov 24, 2022 11:30 am -

In this excerpt from 55 Corrective Exercises for Horses, respected trainer Jec Aristotle Ballou explains how and why to use trot poles with the outer edge raised in your schooling.

Photo courtesy of Trafalgar Square Books.

Schooling horses over ground poles can cure numerous gait irregularities or movement compromised by tension, crookedness, and weak muscle patterns. Because they require the horse to take designated stride lengths in sequence, they install good clear rhythm in all gaits. As the horse traverses over poles, he learns to push equally from both hind legs, correcting imbalances in the effort of his hind limbs. Pole work contributes to straightness and symmetry through his core and mobilizes the spinal joints. The postural adjustments needed for crossing poles recruit the horse’s interconnected abdominal muscle group, thoracic sling, and gluteal chain. Schooling different arrangements of poles helps re-pattern existing habits within each gait, and leads to the creation of new signals from the nervous system.

  • As a general rule, walking over raised poles improves core stability, joint flexion, and intervertebral joint spacing. It assists horses recovering from sacroiliac pain, back injury, or disrupted muscle use from stiffness. Walking over poles contributes to the horse’s looseness and range of motion.
  • Trotting over poles plays more of a strengthening role. It develops strength in the larger back muscles that effect limb movement plus utilization of quadriceps, pelvic stability, and stronger spinal stabilizing muscles. As these muscles are recruited, it can lead to a release of stored tension from the extensor muscle chain, which is a common culprit of horses that tend to be chronically hollow in their toplines.
  • Cantering over poles tones the thoracic sling, loosens the shoulders as the body rocks between forehand and hindquarters, and lifts the back. It can greatly improve flexion and extension of the back, which allows it to lift and carry the rider better. It is believed to deliver the most mobilization of the lumbosacral joint, which enables the horse to engage his hind limbs.

Here’s an exercise to be ridden at the trot with the poles arranged on a curve with the outer edge raised. This setup will encourage greater mobility of the horse’s scapula and engagement of the latissimus on the outside front limb. For horses with asymmetrical reach from their forelimbs, this exercise can help correct it. The stability required from the oblique muscles and latissimus carries over to improved dressage movements like shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half-pass.

1. Place five to six poles on a curved line. The curved line should be approximately the degree of curve on a 20-meter circle. Space them so they are slightly less than four feet apart at the center.

2. Proceed in working trot around a circle that crosses over the center of the poles.

3. Maintain a light contact with the reins, asking the horse to travel in a rounded frame.

4. Keep the horse bending to the inside around your circle, and be sure to maintain consistency of rhythm throughout, including when you cross the poles.

Ride 10–15 repetitions over the poles in each direction. Be sure to ride this exercise in posting trot. Adjust the spacing of poles as needed; it should feel like the horse takes a comfortable trot step between each pole, not that he has to extend or shorten his stride to negotiate them.

This excerpt from 55 Corrective Exercises for Horses by Jec Aristotle Ballou is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books (www.horseandriderbooks.com).

Stalwart Five-Star Competitor Reve du Rouet Retires from Eventing

By on Nov 24, 2022 9:00 am -

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It feels like a big month for high-profile retirements, and the latest to hit the airwaves will leave a serious hole in five-star entry lists: at the age of eighteen, Sarah Bullimore‘s odd, wonderful Oldenburg Reve du Rouet (Balou du Rouet x Onassis Queen) has stepped down from the top.

In a recent episode of The Eventing Podcast, Sarah shared the news that she’d made the tough call to retire her stalwart partner, who’s owned by husband Brett and Christopher and Susan Gillespie, from the upper levels of the sport. The decision, she explains, came after she began his fitness work for Burghley this autumn.

“He was aiming for Burghley, and then when we started up his canter work, I thought, ‘he’s just looking his age’,” she explains in the podcast. “We’re not in it to kill him, and he doesn’t need to go and do it — and he didn’t need to go and be an also-ran. If he was going to do it, it would be to go and be competitive.”

Reve du Rouet — or Blou, as he’s known at home — has been a familiar face at five-stars in Britain and beyond since stepping up to the level in 2014 at Kentucky, where he finished in thirteenth place. Since then, he’s amassed an exceptional 18 five-star starts, making him one of the most prolific top level horses around.

Part of that comes down to his extraordinary physical toughness, which comes paired with the unusual, tricky brain that made him as famous as his ability did: “He’s been so tough and sound — I’ll be very, very lucky to find another like him,” says Sarah. “He’s like Ironman. When he was younger he was a little bit tricky, and could have won a lot more things, but his tricky little demons would come out — he’d have a moment in one phase or another. But anytime he went to the vet for a check-up they’d spin him in a circle on the concrete and he’d be long and low and loose. We always joked that if there was a competition for concrete circle trotting, he’d win that hands down!”

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Blou’s reputation for trickiness came after some high-profile incidents earlier on in his five-star career, in which he bolted in the dressage arena due to a genuine terror of crowds and atmosphere. But as he got older, and gained valuable experience in the tactful hands of his rider, he began to embrace the big day, which earned him impressive scores in hot company.

“He’s a tricky character, but he’s been amazing — I think it’s really sort of thrown me,” says Sarah. “He’s been there at five-star for so long, and he’s eighteen now, so there was always going to come a point — but it’s just weird. He’s been tough and sound and he’s never taken a lame step in his life.  He is tricky in his mind, and keeping his head right; he does take quite a bit of work. Not so much physical work, but just mentally keeping him right and keeping him used to crowds and things like that.”

Though Blou had well and truly overcome his stage fright before the onset of the pandemic, two years away from crowds meant that he found readjusting to them a bit tricky this spring, which resulted in an uncharacteristic dressage score of 34.4 — a score he put to bed in his final international run in the CCI4*-S at Burgham, where he posted a 25.2 for third place.

“Being back at Badminton in the spring was just weird, because of Covid — and that’s what finished him off, really,” says Sarah. “He had two years of not really doing it, and he missed it. That was the funny thing — I’ve always said he’s terrified of crowds, and genuinely, but when he wasn’t going, he missed it. So it was like, ‘okay, you do actually love what you do’, which is great, but then being back at Badminton, because he hadn’t seen those sorts of crowds in two years, it was like being back in 2017 again. He was kind of looking around, and while he was amazing on cross-country, he just doesn’t gallop. He was fabulous with the fences, but he spent so much time looking at the crowds that it feels like you’re galloping backwards.”

Blou’s quirks go further than just the dressage ring: he’s also an oddball to handle, and Sarah has often speculated that he might have a form of equine autism, because he finds minor changes so distressing and had to be taught by another horse — fellow 5* mount Conpierre — how to interact with other horses.

“We genuinely believe he’s autistic, because of the way he has to do things – even things like putting him in his stable,” Sarah told EN back in 2019. “He has to turn a certain way, or he gets confused and upset. It’s all a compromise – I have to keep my promises, and I have to hope that he does, too.”

Sarah Bullimore pilots Reve du Rouet through the last water at Pau. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Throughout his career, Blou earned a number of placings at five-star, taking fourth at Burghley in both 2018 and 2019 and fifth at LuhmĂźhlen in 2019 — but his best result came at an extraordinarily tough Pau in 2017, where much of the field failed to make it past the first quarter of the course. Blou made it look like an easy job — as did both of Sarah’s other rides that day — and ultimately finished second, losing the win to Gwendolen Fer and Romantic Love by a couple of hundredths of a penalty. That, though, felt like a real turning point for the gelding, who stepped into his own golden era from then onward.

For us, he was always great fun to write about – particularly in the many, many form guide entries we penned over the years. Here’s one such description of the gelding, from our LuhmĂźhlen 2019 guide, which we’re prepared to stand by, frankly:

“The consummate heartbreaker, Reve du Rouet is the sort of guy you’d match with on Tinder knowing, even through the brain fog of that third glass of Savvy B, that for better or for worse, this one would change your life. For a while, you’d imagine he’s changing it for the better – he’d show up unannounced with your favourite takeaway, looking sickeningly handsome with his crooked grin and slightly-too-long hair. He’d make you feel like he really got you, and he’d know lines of Pablo Neruda poems by heart, which is either lovely or incredibly cringe-worthy, depending on the sort of person you are. Then, you’d be sure he’s changed your life for the worse when, fuelled by his commitmentphobia and one too many whiskeys, he’d call you a very rude name in a bar and end up snogging some girl you’re pretty sure you sat behind in high school Trigonometry. Eventually, he’d grow up and get over himself and settle down with you, but he’d never quite lose the air of sheepishness for having been such a committed knobhead once upon a time. But you’d love him nonetheless.

That’s Reve du Rouet all over – gorgeous, crazy talented, and sometimes, well, just plain crazy, he’s spent years putting us all on the edge of our seats wondering which side of the Jekyll and Hyde coin we’d be given today. His flightiness is down to a genuine fear of crowds, which has seen his tension boil over dramatically in the past but – dare we say it? – seems to be under control these days. This is largely due to some seriously tactical riding – Sarah sneaks most of his schooling into her hacking and fast work, so he never realises the pressure that’s being put on. As a result, he finished his 2018 season with a first-phase PB at Burghley, posting a 27.3. That beat their previous PB of 28.5, delivered the previous season at Pau, and on both occasions, he backed up his impressive starts: he finished second at Pau by just a tenth of a point and was fourth at Burghley. Sarah, who has compared her partnership with ‘Blou’ to that of a battered wife, will be hoping to go one better than that Pau result from 2017, and she certainly could do.”

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet at Burghley. Photo by Peter Nixon.

And so what next for the horse who has so reliably captivated fans of the sport?

For right now, the future is a bit of a question mark for Blou, who Sarah feels isn’t quite ready to be totally turned away, but wouldn’t be happy leaving her yard, either.

“He’s here and he’s having a holiday at the moment, and then we need to make a decision about him. I’m not sure dropping down and doing some OIs would really sort of cut it for him, or whether he’d cope with going to a different yard. We don’t think anything of it, because we’ve had him since a three-year-old and we’re used to him — to us, he’s normal, but actually, when you take him out of that, he can’t cope with it. You put him in a different environment, or without us being there, and he doesn’t cope and he stops eating. We’ll sit down with the owners and have a long chat, because he needs something to do — he’s not ready to just stagnate in a field.”

Watch this space: perhaps, somewhere down the line, there’ll be an opportunity for a locally-based young rider to learn the ropes from one of the sport’s strangest, most talented horses. Lucky them!

 

Turkey Day News & Notes Presented by Stable View

By on Nov 24, 2022 12:03 am -

Happy Snoot Day! Photo by Kate Samuels

Happy Turkey Day! I hope that everybody gets to spend today with some pony nose kisses, maybe a little stall mucking for cardio, and then an absolutely unreasonable amount of food. Turkey is great and all, but honestly I live for mashed potatoes and stuffing, I mean I could survive on that for at least a month and be totally happy. I might not fit into my riding pants afterwards, but you know, there are trades to be made.

U.S. Weekend Preview

Pine Top Thanksgiving H.T. (Thomson, GA): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

News From Around the Globe:

Our Holiday Gift Guide has landed! We’ve picked out a few of our favorite gift ideas for all types of riders and partnered with some awesome brands to bring you special deals and promotions. [Start shopping]

Did you know that the jump on course that gives you nightmares is named after a drainage ditch in Prussia? Yeah, me neither, but apparently the Trakehner comes from the Trakehnen area of East Prussia in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the jump design comes from teaching war horses to leap over fenced drainage ditches on the battle field. You too can learn fascinating and ridiculous stories about eventing fences to bore your family with today at dinner. [Jump Names Demystified]

Horses very rarely misbehave simply to be bad, and more equine professionals are coming to realize that. Oftentimes what people perceive as “naughty” behavior is the horse trying to tell his owners and riders that he’s hurting. Many owners and trainers underestimate how much pain a horse is actually feeling – even when they aren’t performing up to their usual standard. When called out to assess a horse that is “grumpy,” “lazy,” or even “misbehaving,”. [Decoding Poor Performance: Lameness, Behavioral, or Something Else?]

As somebody with a firmly NOT retired 21-year-old in my barn, I am coming to love these super senior horses who just love their work. Eye Candy (Escudo II x Goldstern by Grenadier), a 1999 Hanoverian began his classical dressage training in Vechta, Germany, with Catherine Haddad Staller in early 2003.  Eye Candy was purchased by Robin Mattson in October of that year.  Eye Candy remained in Germany in training with Staller until the fall of 2005, when Robin  imported him to the United States.  Over the next 17 years, Robin and Eye Candy progressed through the levels to Intermediare I, earning their USDF Bronze and Silver Medals. Although in perfect health, Robin felt Eye Candy had earned his retirement at 21, but after visiting him in his field, she found that he was far from ready to hang up his bridle. [Ageless Eye Candy]

Movie recommendation of the week: EO. Kinda like Eyore but EO. The donkey’s name is EO, and as the action begins, he is part of a small circus act with a loving young woman trainer. But when the circus goes broke, EO is sold off to farmers. They don’t treat EO badly but the donkey remembers a happier, earlier life and soon escapes, beginning a journey across modern Europe that carries EO from forests and towns, to villas and scrap heaps the size of small Alps. [Donkey Movie For the Holidays]

 

Wednesday Videos from KPP: Lucinda Green on Three Types of Fences and How to Approach Them

By on Nov 23, 2022 5:00 pm -

As the competition season winds to a close, we love turning an eye to education here at EN. Educational content has become easier to find as time passes, and today we have no shortage of advice from reputable riders and coaches. If anything, it can turn into information overload — quite the opposite issue to what we used to experience!

Lucinda Green is one rider whose knowledge base extends well beyond our own, and she’s started to share more tidbits gleaned from her popular XC Academy virtual program as well as clinics taught globally on her social media. I’ve collected three for your library today, all centering around approaches to various types of cross country fences. Watch and learn!

Can’t view the embedded Instagram posts below? Click here, here, and here to view them directly on Instagram.

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First Four-Star Is a Charm: Dan Kreitl and Carmango Receive USET Foundation’s 2022 Gladstone Challenge Trophy

By on Nov 23, 2022 3:30 pm -

Dan Kreitl and Carmango were presented with the USET Foundation’s 2022 Gladstone Challenge Trophy by Christina Vaughn, Director of Eventing Development and Emerging Programs at USEF; Cassie Holmes, Import/Export Director for The Dutta Corp.; Karin Ahlqvist, Vice President of Global Operations for The Dutta Corp.; and Sharon Decker, President, Carolinas Operations, Tryon Equestrian Partners. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

On November 13, 2022, amateur eventing athlete Dan Kreitl of Muncie, Indiana, received the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation’s 2022 Gladstone Challenge Trophy for his win in the Dutta Corp. USEF CCI4*-L Eventing National Championship at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina. The Gladstone Challenge Trophy was established in 1963 and is awarded to the winner of the fall four-star long national championship event. The trophy is inscribed annually with the winner’s name and permanently displayed at the USET Foundation’s headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey.

Not only had Kreitl never competed in a four-star event prior to his win, it was also a first for his mount Carmango, a nine-year-old Westphalian gelding owned by Kay Dixon, known as ‘Fritz’ in the barn.

“I’ve never been prouder of the effort my horse put out,” said Kreitl of Fritz’s performance over the three days. “I pushed him for all he had on the cross-country course, and he gave 110%. There were a few jumps where I didn’t have a good ride, and he totally bailed me out. The thing I love most about this sport is the bond that’s formed with the horse and, with Fritz, the level of trust I have in him. It’s really fun. That bond between us got even stronger through this competition.”

Kreitl, a husband, father of two, and owner of a student housing business near Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, always considered his riding a hobby. In middle school, he began riding dressage at a farm near his family’s home and progressed up the ranks to ultimately compete at the 2008 CN FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAYC) in dressage before going to college. It wasn’t until he was 22 that Krietl first tried eventing and, around that time, he became acquainted with Kay Dixon who offered to sponsor Krietl’s eventing pursuits. As Kreitl and Dixon began to build a small string of horses, Kreitl’s dreams of competing at higher levels started to come into focus.

“Kay [Dixon] made this opportunity possible for me,” explained Kreitl. “I knew my goal [was to compete at the highest levels] but I often wondered if I could actually do it. Kay and I took steps [to acquire and develop young horses], and we thought maybe this isn’t just a pipe dream.”

With his dreams in reach, the 35-year-old rider began adjusting his work schedule to better accommodate his riding. While a majority of his time is still dedicated to his day job, he’s been able to concretely map out his long-term goals. As part of the prize for winning the CCI4*-L National Championship, Kreitl scored a ticket to transport a horse to Europe and back courtesy of The Dutta Corp., so he has just begun to think about what other dreams could become a reality.

“For sure the long-term goal is getting to do five-star events [with Fritz],” he stated. “Kay and I have talked about how fun it would be to compete at [CHIO Aachen in Aachen, Germany]. We didn’t really think it would happen but now with this prize, we’d like to go to Aachen to compete in the four-star if it works out.”

Dan Kreitl and Carmango in the cross-country phase of the Dutta Corp. USEF CCI4*-L Eventing National Championship at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

With his name now etched onto the prestigious USET Foundation trophy alongside Olympians and some of the world’s best athletes such as David O’Connor, Bruce O. Davidson, Phillip Dutton, and Boyd Martin, Kreitl has a new aspiration beginning to take shape. “Riding for the [U.S. equestrian] team is a dream, and one I thought wouldn’t happen,” he commented modestly. “But now that we’re getting closer, I’ve had a couple of people encouraging me to go that path. Long story short, if it could be [a realistic] opportunity I’d go for it!”

Kreitl is quick to point out that his eventing journey is made possible by a tremendous team effort from his barn team and coaches. “Liz Carter has been helping me with the horses at home and has been grooming, and I definitely couldn’t do it without her,” he noted. “Julie Miller first introduced me to the sport of eventing, and she comes to different shows and grooms for me, so we’ve been on this journey together. My coaches have helped me dramatically, especially my eventing coach Sharon White and Bonna McCuiston who has been my dressage instructor for 12 years. In the past couple of years, I have also been working with Richard Rinehart for show jumping.”

In addition to his team at the barn, Kreitl spoke to an equally supportive team at home. “I’m married to a non-horse person who is going through stage 4 cancer treatments,” he shared. “My wife Alyssa is super supportive, especially with the trials she’s going through and [being home with our two young children]; it’s incredibly impressive. She’s really the heart and soul.

“Between running our own business, doing the horses as a hobby, and my wife with her health issues, we really could not do this without the help of our extended family,” he continued. “It’s been great that everyone is very excited [about the eventing] and wants to do it.”

Krietl is realistic about the highs and lows of the sport but is taking the time to enjoy his milestone achievement. “It’s been a really fun journey, a lot of days of hard work, and disappointments along the way and thinking [winning at the top level would] never happen. So, it’s sure fun when it all comes together, and to get a big win was totally awesome.”

His advice for other aspiring athletes? “I’d say 100% chase the dream,” he concluded. “You just don’t know [what can happen]. I had no idea when I met Kay that it was a dream of hers to own upper-level horses. Work really hard, and don’t give up on the dream. When I think things aren’t going to come together and I get discouraged, [I keep going and] after a while something good happens.”

 

Save the Date for Galway Downs’ Annual Fundraising Clinic

By on Nov 23, 2022 11:30 am -

Graphic courtesy of Galway Downs.

It’s time to mark your calendars for the annual Galway Downs Fundraising Clinic and schooling weekend, held each year at the popular Temecula, CA venue to boost revenues for facility improvements and other facets of hosting eventing competition.

Riders have the option to sign up for lessons — dressage, cross country, and/or show jumping — with a variety of both local and international professionals. You can typically expect most California-based riders — Tamie Smith, Hawley Bennett-Awad, Chloe Smyth, Erin Kellerhouse, Kaylawna Smith-Cook are some local examples — to participate as clinicians, and this year organizer Robert Kellerhouse has added New Zealand Olympian Jock Paget as well as British 5* rider and course designer Ian Stark to the roster.

The clinic will be hosted at Galway Downs January 20-22, 2023, and entries will be available soon on the Galway Downs website.