Classic Eventing Nation

How to Follow the Galway Downs International Three-Day This Weekend

By on Nov 3, 2022 9:00 am -

Auburn Excell Brady and BSP Tuxedo. Photo by Sally Spickard.

We’re looking forward to following along with the Galway Downs International Three-Day this weekend, happening in Temecula, CA as an international season send-off for West coast eventers.

This weekend, we’re treated to a free live stream provided by the always-generous Ride On Video (competing at Galway this weekend? Ride On Video also films all competitors, and you can show your support by ordering your video here). All FEI divisions will be broadcast, as well as all phases for Open Preliminary and jumping phases for Open Modified.

The broadcast schedule (which is subject to change — keep an eye on ride times and scheduling here) is as follows:

Thursday, November 3
DRESSAGE

8:00 am — CCI2*-L Test Ride
8:20 am — 11:45am CCI2*-L
12:30 pm — CCI3*-L Test Ride
12:50 pm – 2:15 pm — CCI3*-L
2:30 pm – 3:15 pm — CCI4*-L
3:30 pm – 5:35 pm — Open Preliminary

Friday, November 4
CROSS COUNTRY
9:30 am – 10:25 am — CCI3*-L
10:50 am – 11:40 am — CCI4*-L
12:00 pm – 1:50 pm — CCI2*-L
2:15 pm – 2:55 pm — Open Preliminary
3:20 pm – 4:10 pm — Open Modified

Saturday, November 5
SHOW JUMPING
9:30 am – 10:25 am — CCI2*-L
11:00 am – 11:25 am — CCI3*-L
12:00 pm – 12:25 pm — CCI4*-L
1:00 pm – 1:40 pm — Open Preliminary
2:15 pm – 3:00 pm — Open Modified

[Click here to access the Ride On Video live stream]

Galway Downs International Three-Day Event (Temecula, CA): [Website] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Live Stream] [Volunteer]

Thursday News & Notes Presented by Stable View

By on Nov 3, 2022 12:03 am -

Just a baby horse learning to jump. Photo by Emily Zhang.

I think my favorite part of training horses is the baby parts, and when they start to figure out the pieces and put them together. Above you’ll see my most recent project, an eight-year-old OTTB named Beep, who raced successfully through his 7 year old year and retired without a blemish on him. For the first few months he was definitely convinced that the racetrack was somewhere around, but this fall he has finally realized that his life seems to be a bit different, and a lot slower. I’m having so much fun introducing him to eventing. Plus, he’s a plain brown horse, which is my favorite!

U.S. Weekend Preview

Galway Downs International Three-Day Event (Temecula, CA): [Website] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

The VHT International & H.T. (Lexington, VA): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Full Gallop Farm November H.T. (Aiken, SC): [Website] [Volunteer]

Rocking Horse Fall H.T. (Altoona, FL): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Texas Rose Horse Park Fall H.T. (Tyler, TX): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

News From Around the Globe:

The 2022 Eventing Nation Blogger Contest is underway and we’re pleased to welcome 8 finalists forward to the third and final round of competition.Here’s where you, our readers, come into account! You’ll be helping us select the winner of the 2022 EN Blogger Contest, who will earn eternal EN karma as well as some cold hard cash to pay a vet bill or something equally unsexy. The ask is simple: use the scoring widget below each entry to share your opinion. We’ll factor in this popular vote when making the final decision — but let’s face it, Chinch gets the final call. [EN’s Big Bad Blogger Contest!]

Horses, submarines, ROTC, oh my! Perhaps not a combination you might expect, but for college student Helen Lohr it’s just perfect. Attending Auburn University, Helen combines riding on the equestrian team with her duties in the naval ROTC. In fact, she finds the lessons you learn on horseback as excellent training to become a leader in the military. [Naval ROTC Equestrian]

Piggy March returned from Le Lion D’Angers with some thoughts. Between the disorganized travel issues in France, and irregularities in the dressage judging that had competitors chatting in the barns, the young horse championships were not without their drama. Before she retires for the season, Piggy lends her opinion on this as well as other international events this fall. [Opinion: Piggy March]

Learning Opportunity of the Day: Improving The Crest Release

With the 2022 Breeder’s Cup right around the corner, it’s a good time to take a look at the one, the only, the queen — Zenyatta. Foaled April 1, 2004, Zenyatta is no April Fool’s joke. In fact, this champion, standing at 17.2, was the first filly to win the Breeder’s Cup Classic when she bested a field of 12 other horses in 2009 and was named Horse of the Year in 2010. Now, 13 years later, we look back at Queen Z with an incredible video. [Hot on Horse Nation]

 

 

 

Wednesday Video from Kentucky Performance Products: Every Horse Movie Ever, in Four Minutes

By on Nov 2, 2022 6:05 pm -

No matter how old we get here at EN, we’re always going to be suckers for the most basic of horse movie tropes — the rogue mare who won’t be tamed but turns to putty in the hands of a stroppy teenager; the mustang or racehorse who displays such an aptitude for jumping fences that within a year, he’s at five-star; the unfeeling parent or farm owner who wants nothing more than to keep the main character and the horse apart, often for no real reason. It’s the blood in our veins, this stuff, but even we are willing to admit it’s all just a touch ridiculous — and that’s why we’re suckers, too, for a jolly good parody of the whole silly business.

Simple Solutions, Scientifically Proven®

Our horse supplements provide solutions to the everyday challenges facing your horse.

They are affordable, guaranteed, and research-proven.

The horse that matters to you matters to us®. KPPusa.com

There is still time to grab your 2022 fall sticker – KPPusa.com/fall22.

Who Jumped It Best? The Big, Bad Pau CCI5* Water Drop Edition

By on Nov 2, 2022 3:38 pm -

Who Jumped It Best?

Last week’s coverage of Pau on EN is brought to you with the support of Kentucky Performance Products. We couldn’t do much of what we’ve done these last few years without the support of sponsors such as KPP — which, by the way, is a horses-first, women owned and operated company based in, you guessed it, Kentucky — and without you, our readers! So as we head into this final hurrah of our season, too, we thank each and every one of you.

We couldn’t exactly let the final five-star of 2022 go by without our favourite game of all, could we? For this week’s edition of Who Jumped It Best, we journey back to Les 5 Etoiles de Pau in the south-west of France and, more specifically, to the second water complex, which ended up being one of the most influential sections of the course. It featured an A and a B element, and it was the B element — a yellow MIM-clipped open corner on a right-handed four-stride turn — that ended up being a particularly busy segment of this year’s track, as the clip was activated nine times throughout the day, including by the first-phase leaders, Felix Vogg and Colero.

But our focus today goes to the A element instead, which was a beefy hanging log drop on a wide right-handed turn. Riders needed to land tidily to catch the reasonably tight four strides to the B element, and they needed to get it very right, or risk that clip being activated. Have a look at each effort and then scroll down to cast your vote on who you think made the best job of it.

Hector Payne and Dynasty (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Fiona Kashel and WSF Carthago (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Emily King and Valmy Biats (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed (GBR). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Anna-Katharina Vogel and DSP Quintana P (GER). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Alex Donohoe and Guidam Roller (IRE). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine (FRA). Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Les 5 Etoiles de Pau: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [H&C+ Live Stream *Use code PAU2022 for 15% of H&C+ Annual!*] [EN’s Coverage] [EN’s Ultimate Guide to Pau] [EN’s Instagram]

History-Making Embryo Sells to US in Innovative Auction

By on Nov 2, 2022 1:00 pm -

Lordships Graffalo made his five-star at Badminton this spring, finishing second. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The team at The Sovereign Auction house successfully sold an embryo which is full sibling to Team GBR’s Lordships Graffalo (Grafenstolz x Cornish Queen) ridden by Ros Canter in their Supreme Sale on Friday 28 October. The embryo was part of an exclusive collection of just 10 lots all with either CCI5* eventing or 1.60m jumping genetics, and in selling this embryo the Sovereign Auction also became history-makers for being the first auction house in the UK or Ireland ever to sell an eventing embryo to the USA.

The embryo was sold after a fierce round of bidding between two buyers in the UK and a third one from the USA. Such was the competitive demand for the embryo that the auction clock over-ran and continued on into what is known as the bid-up process to allow extra time for bidders to conclude their final few bids.  The embryo was ultimately sold to the buyer in the USA for an eventual hammer price of £21,500.

The embryo’s breeder and now former owner is Pennie Wallace, who also bred the CCI5* mare Pencos Crown Jewel, 11th at Burghley this year with Ros Canter and the maternal sister to Lordships Graffalo.  Pennie commented on her engagement with the team at The Sovereign Auction who hosted the Supreme Sale:  “You have provided a new and very much needed fresh approach for breeders in the UK to market the top quality foals and embryos that we produce. A huge step forwards for British breeders.”

Georgie Belton, Auction Director at The Sovereign Auction, says: “I cannot thank Pennie above all else for her investment in trust in The Sovereign Team and for allowing what we believe will be the first of many similar such as this in the future.

“Pennie can also take a huge degree of pride in the fact that her embryo was sold to an established breeder in the USA.  This is a huge credit to Pennie and represents the much welcomed appreciation of the of world’s best eventing bloodlines at CCI5* on the world stage.

“I would personally like to thank Pennie for selecting The Sovereign Auction Team as her partner for this record-breaking sale price of an international eventing embryo and for allowing us to leverage our significant investment in technology and marketing platforms, which ultimately resulted in her embryo being purchased by one of the world’s wealthiest nations as buyers of sports horses – the USA.

“The Sovereign Team’s skills are unique in the global sports horse sales and marketing arena given our investment in data and technology, and we cannot thank Dr Geoffrey Guy and his team at Chedington Equestrian for their recent involvement with The Sovereign Auction.

“When we were first fortunate enough to speak to Pennie we gave her a guide price for her embryo, and we are thrilled for Pennie that the eventual winning bid was just £500 out on this figure….and thankfully £500 more!  Lordships Graffalo’s CCI5* debut this spring was simply breathtaking and I felt very fortunate to witness this in person at Badminton this year. Based upon the performance metrics and breeding data that we have compiled on Lordships Graffalo, we believe that he is one of the most exciting International Eventing Championship horses in modern times.”

By selling embryos now for more than foals on the global market British breeders can now monetise their investments in sports horse breeding far earlier in the breeding cycle, which then allows them to re-invest more quickly in both the very best equine reproductive techniques and coverings from the best sires around the world.

It is fitting in writing this that the current Olympic Team Eventing Gold medal holders are Team GBR and now “Team GBR” have also become history makers in the production and sales of International Eventing embryos in global auction markets.

 

British-Piloted Five-Star Winner Oslo Dies at Age 20

By on Nov 2, 2022 11:00 am -

William Fox-Pitt and Oslo.

We’re sad to report that Oslo, the Pau-winning French-bred ride of William Fox-Pitt, has died at the age of 20 after a busy, happy retirement, leaving behind a multifaceted legacy in the sport of eventing.

The Selle Français gelding (Lando x Aurelie du Prieure, by Hadj A X)  was bred at Ferme de Biats France, which has made headlines at Pau again last week for the success of Emily King’s mount Valmy Biats, who was also bred by Ferme de Biats’s Philippe Brivois. Though Brivois has bred a number of top-level eventing horses, including Kitty King’s excellent Vendredi Biats and Tom Crisp’s Vendome Biats, it was Oslo who would be his first foray into breeding for this discipline, and the lynchpin of a sea change that has had a huge impact on the sport.

“When I sold Oslo Biats when he was two years old and they told me it was to do eventing, I immediately replied that it was out of the question because I didn’t want hurt my horse,” says Brivois in an interview with French magazine l’Eperon. “I bred show horses and only used champion stallions in this discipline. It was Jean-Luc Dufour who convinced me to take a full interest by explaining to me that eventing is no longer what it was. In the end, I did well to embark on this adventure.”

Oslo was best known for winning the CCI5* at Les Etoiles de Pau in 2011 as a nine-year-old, on his debut at the level, but his sixteen-run international record featured a number of highlights, with five total FEI victories and a further four top-three finishes to his name. He became the Six-Year-Old World Champion at Le Lion d’Angers in 2008 and followed that victory up with a silver at the Seven-Year-Old World Championships the following year, and in 2011, he won both the CCI4*-L at Tattersalls and the Blenheim Eight- and Nine-Year-Old CCI4*-S before tackling that fateful Pau.

 

William Fox-Pitt and Oslo at Badminton in 2013.

He was officially retired from competition in mid-2017 at the age of fifteen, after a spate of niggling injuries and setbacks, which included a foreleg suspensory injury that had knocked him out of contention for the 2012 London Olympics and some hock issues, which had crept in in the year of his retirement. After an initial period of downtime, in which he enjoyed time out in the field with two of his stablemates, he re-entered light work, first as a happy hacker, and then was given to William’s goddaughter, Daisy Dollar, who gained experience at BE100 (US Training) and stepped up to Novice (Preliminary) with the gelding in 2018, enjoying a competitive season of Novice classes in 2019 before Oslo’s official retirement. Since then, he’s enjoyed a relaxed life with Spencer Sturmey, partner Freddie Ellams, and Lucinda de Mauley, and was finally laid to rest in mid-October.

William Fox-Pitt and Oslo.

Oslo’s impact on the industry stretched further than his own excellent competitive record: he was also one of the first horses to be piloted under a successful syndicate, bringing the concept in from the world of racing, in which William’s wife Alice has such a wealth of experience. Though he was cut at five, he also has a significant breeding legacy: one of the sixty straws of semen taken at West Kington Stud was used to produce William’s current five-star mount, Oratorio II.

William Fox-Pitt and Oratorio II at Kentucky. Photo by Shelby Allen.

All of us at EN send our sympathies and condolences to William, Alice, Philippe, and all those connected with the horse through his extensive syndicated family.

From the Ground Up: Remembering Your Why

By on Nov 2, 2022 9:00 am -

Ever since I was little, I dreamed of riding professionally. Since before I can remember, all I wanted to do was spend the day with the animals I loved most — caring for them, helping them, and learning about them.

Twenty years later, I might not have the same red cowgirl boots, but I’m still the happiest when I’m with horses.

Nothing has changed over the last twenty years of my time with horses. But at the same time, somehow everything has changed.

I’m not the first to say that making a career out of working with horses is challenging. The hours are long, the weather is variable, and you pour blood, sweat, and tears into physically and emotionally demanding work. I’m always on the clock, receiving late night and early morning texts. I strive to be accessible, flexible, and patient. I love the clients I have and the work that I do, but there are days where I am just absolutely worn out. Some days I miss the love, joy, awe, and wonder that came so naturally to me as a kid simply looking at a horse.

Today was one of those days. I was driving home in the dark — hungry, cranky, and overwhelmed with the amount of work I still had to do. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself, honestly. And then I came across some construction blocking my typical route. I grumbled as I rerouted.

My reroute then took me past the house that had belonged to my childhood best friend and an entire wave of flashbacks hit me… In this house, we spent countless hours setting up courses, galloping around on our two legs and leaping into the air. We mapped out our dream barns in notebooks, and played online games like HorseIsle, Howrse, or Lucinda Green’s Equestrian Challenge. We spent every minute of every day daydreaming about the position I’m in now.

Remembering the absolute certainty I had of my love, my path, and my vision as a kid gave me a fresh boost of energy. I might not have the exact ‘dream barn’ I had crafted for myself years ago (which had me sleeping in a stall) but I have days filled with people and horses that I care about in a beautiful location with a supportive team who encourage my openminded approach.

The days are long, but the work, the people, and the horses are good.

The days are still long; there are still moments where I just want some additional sleep. I still hate working in the freezing Pennsylvania winters. But keeping in mind why we do this — for the love, joy, awe, and wonder that I felt as a kid, and still hold to this day, motivates me to roll out of bed early and add an additional layer to trek out to embrace a new day and new challenges, all for the opportunity to live out my why.

Wednesday News & Notes from Haygain

By on Nov 2, 2022 12:01 am -

I just canNOT with baby photos of eventual five-star winners. The latest winner, Jonelle Price’s Pau partner, the 11-year-old KWPN mare Grappa Nera, is the latest to grace the Instagram feed thanks to Jet Hoekstra’s epic photo archives. (Can’t see the embedded Instagram post above? Click here.)

And in case you wanted more Grappa Nera content (who doesn’t?), here’s a peek at her winning the 5 Year Old British Championship with Alex Postolowsky.

U.S. Weekend Preview

Galway Downs International Three-Day Event (Temecula, CA): [Website] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

The VHT International & H.T. (Lexington, VA): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Full Gallop Farm November H.T. (Aiken, SC): [Website] [Volunteer]

Rocking Horse Fall H.T. (Altoona, FL): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Texas Rose Horse Park Fall H.T. (Tyler, TX): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Wednesday News & Reading

The Nation Media Holiday Gift Guide, 12 Days of Giveaways, and Give Back Week are coming soon! If you’ve got a brand that would be a great fit for our Holiday Gift Guide (which will be produced in downloadable format this year with sections for both eventers as well as horse enthusiasts of all types), you’ll definitely want to sign up here for the full information drop on November 7.

SmartPak’s 15% off holiday sale ends today! You can shop with code Holiday22 to save 15% on your order. [Click here to visit SmartPak]

Galway Downs beckons! There are two more 4*-L events on the calendar before the season is fully up, and Galway’s is the first this weekend. Learn more about the field and what else is going on in southern California here.

Elisa Wallace was the inspiration for now-15-year-old Tayah Fuller to compete in the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover. “I would watch all of her YouTube videos, and she was going to RRP constantly with different horses,” Tayah told Paulick Report‘s Natalie Voss. “That looked so cool, bringing racehorses to an event. I’d study her videos and I’d go in my yard and set up hurdles and gymnastics and doing them on foot. I looked a little insane. I’d have my grandmother announce, ‘Tayah Fuller at RRP!’” Relatable, am I right? Read the full story of Tayah’s fulfilled dreams here.

After nine riders activated the front or back (or both) MIM-clipped rails at an open corner late on the Pau cross country last weekend, many are sharing opinions and renewing calls for the instatement of an appeal system. Indeed, an 11-point pin penalty would take away the lead and a potential win for Swiss rider Felix Vogg. Read the full recap here.

Tack Facts with Sterling Essentials: Did you know Sterling Essentials helps you care for your bits, too? And you wouldn’t want to put just any bit cleaner to use – after all, that bit has to go in your horse’s mouth, which means nasty, harsh chemicals are out. The pure. Bit Wipes from Sterling Essentials might be just the ticket – and they come in a peppermint or a cinnamon option. Learn more here.

Sponsor Corner

Wednesday Video Break

Because there is no such thing as too much Shetland Steeplechase content, let’s be honest:

#TrainingTipTuesday Video Break: Beat the Long Approach with Rhythm

By on Nov 1, 2022 4:00 pm -

We love a good training tidbit here at EN, and Sharon White has posted a few short videos in recent weeks explaining various nuances of walking, planning, and riding a cross country course.

The most recent tip is all about the dreaded long approach. Coming from hunter-land as myself and most of my American friends have, I think I’ve given myself perpetual first-jump-itis. There is simply too much time to change my mind, second-guess myself changing my mind, and change my mind again before I end up ruining my distance anyway because I, you guessed it, changed my mind.

But as Sharon puts it, rhythm should already be something in your arsenal when you leave the start box. So a longer approach simply means a longer amount of time to maintain a rhythm. Easier said than done, for sure, but sometimes hearing these concepts put simply goes a long way.

Can’t see the Instagram post embedded above? Click here.

Go for Gold Graduates: Karl Slezak’s Hot Tips for Online Horse Shopping

By on Nov 1, 2022 2:00 pm -

Online shopping became a typical way to shop during the Covid-19 pandemic, but most people stuck to basic items like groceries and toilet paper. But with international travel restrictions in place, some people also turned to online shopping to buy big ticket items –- like horses.

In 2021, Covid restrictions had been lifted, Canadian riders Karl and Katlyn Slezak had green cards that were still pending, rendering them unable to travel to Ireland to shop for young horses as they had originally planned. That’s when they went online and purchased Hashtag Verified, (Dignified Van’t Zorgflietout – Miss Nick Nack, by Don Juan de la Bouverie), then five years old, from the Goresbridge “Go for Gold” sale.

All horses at the sale, which is held every November at Barnadown and the Amber Springs Hotel in Wexford, just south of the Dublin airport, is heading into its 13th year in 2022. This year, the Go For Gold sale will take place November 14-16. It typically features 60-70 horses from the age of three that have been pre-selected by a panel of qualified experts as having the potential to be successful event horses.

While a number of top professionals have purchased horses from the sale, amateurs are also welcome to purchase horses. According to the Goresbridge website, “In 2021 the November edition produced a record-breaking turnover of just shy of 1.5million Euros and a top price of 82,000 Euros.”

Hashtag Verified, now six, had competed successfully in Young Event Horse competitions in Ireland. The Slezaks brought him over last November using Equijet (buyers at the Go For Gold sale have access to connections for transport options, making the sale process easier than some may think). Karl said, “I liked his type, he looked like a big, solid horse with a good jump. I had a few friends over there who thought he had a good brain and the quality to be my next upper level horse.”

While Karl considered selling Hashtag Verified and has shown him to a few people as a sales horse, he said the the efforts were half-hearted — what he’d really like to do is put together a syndicate to keep the horse in his barn. For now he plans to produce him and bring him up the levels for a while and see what he comes up with. Consistency has been the key to develop the stunning gray gelding, and Karl will be the first to admit that his busy schedule this year — several trips overseas with top horse Fernhill Wishes, including a trip to FEI World Championships, tend to put other horses on the back burner! — has put the gelding somewhat behind in terms of development. But, he says, more time never hurt anyone and he hopes that the extra practice will pay off as the horse continues to move up the levels. Hashtag Verified finished fourth in his first state-side event in August of this year, ending on his dressage score in the Open Novice at Ocala.

“This was the first one I bought from Go for Gold,” said Karl. “I wouldn’t necessarily buy a horse privately [online], but going through a sale I have people who are there and can sit on it for me, it’s already got a vetting, and it’s been selected by a panel of people that think it’s good enough. It’s not a typical Goresbridge sale even, it’s a select sale, so I feel like I’m minimizing my risk by buying from this sale. I wouldn’t buy sight-unseen from just anybody.”

Considering what advice he might give someone thinking about attending the Go for Gold sale, Slezak said, “I’d advise that anyone horse shopping in Ireland have someone there that they trust, to give them advice, and be able to sit on the horse. Whether online or in person, you always want to have someone you trust to help you. It helps to have an Irish agent – we’ve gone over so many times, we’ve built our connections. Your best option is to go with someone that you know and trust.”

While he wouldn’t be the first to buy a horse after downing a couple of pints, Karl said he prefers to do his horse dealing stone cold sober, or Katlyn will have something to say about it! “I have to admit we’ve done deals at the pub as well, and I almost bought one at the pub last time we were over in Ireland, but Caitlin wouldn’t let me shake his hand – to this day I think it was a good deal, but I’ll say that she was the voice of reason. It can seem like a good idea to buy a horse in the moment!”

Karl and Katlyn have plans to travel back to Ireland this year for the Go For Gold sale. “We are going over this year in person and I’m looking forward to it either way. We always like to pick up new connections. The sale is a base, and we’ve bought probably just as many outside the sale as in the sale. Whether you purchase a horse there or not, it’s a good opportunity to meet people and connect.”