All 67 horses presented at first horse inspection at Galway Downs International on Wednesday will move on to dressage at the final FEI event in Area VI for 2021. The event’s headline FEI division is its CCI4*-L, which will be contested by 11 pairs. The event also includes a CCI3*-L, CCI2*-L, Modified/Training Challenge, Training/Novice Challenge, and Novice/Beginner Novice Challenge, and Beginner Novice, Novice, Training, and Preliminary horse trial divisions.
Taren Hoffos & Regalia. Photo by Kim Miller.
Kim Miller was on the grounds snapping gorgeous pics of the FEI pairs as they took to the runway. Here’s a gallery:
The 3* ground jury. Photo by Kim Miller.
Hilary Burker & Undercover. Photo by Kim Miller.
Tamie Smith & Elliot V. Photo by Kim Miller.
Sophie Click & Quidproquo. Photo by Kim Miller.
Mia Edsall & True Story. Photo by Kim Miller.
Maddy Temkin & MVP Madbum. Photo by Kim Miller.
Jordan Lindstedt & FE Friday. Photo by Kim Miller.
Dana Cooke & FE Mississippi. Photo by Kim Miller.
James Alliston & Czechers. Photo by Kim Miller.
Megan Sykes & Classic’s Mojah. Photo by Kim Miller.
Bec Braitling & Caravaggio II. Photo by Kim Miller.
Ride on Video is live streaming the event and EN will be bringing you reports from each day of the competition. Best of luck to all competitors!
This week, while the fall colors were at their peak, I did a photo shoot with my friend and her magical unicorn, Huey. He was the perfect model with maximum snuggling and a lot of posing and gazing into the distance. His sparkling white coat, while something I do not envy on a daily basis, looked amazing for the photos and I truly had such a good time creating some fun images for her to look back on for years to come. Look at that photo, can’t you just feel the pony love??
The final FEI event in Area VI gets underway this week in Temecula, California. For the 11th year, Galway Downs International is offering their CCI4*-L in addition to a CCI3*-L, CCI2*-L, a Modified/Training Challenge, Training/Novice Challenge, and Novice/Beginner Novice Challenge, and Beginner Novice, Novice, Training, and Preliminary horse trial divisions. [Galway Downs Fast Facts]
Icabad Crane is on to his third career at the age of 16. After a 33-race career on the track for Graham Motion, Icabad went to Phillip Dutton, won America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred in 2014 at RRP, competed through CCI2*, gave Olivia Dutton a few years of training, and even became Evie’s at home schoolmaster. However, after a pasture accident in 2018, his career as an event horse was winding down, and now he’s loving life as a pony horse for Graham himself. [Icabad Crane Starts New Career]
Debbie Adams is the woman behind the many successful “DA” horses out on the eventing circuit, but you may not know her. Debbie has done just about everything in the sport from riding at the advanced level, Event organizer, judge, trainer, & more. Listen in to hear all about Debbie and the many hats she wears in the equestrian world. [Podcast with Debbie Adams]
Eventing Nation’s coverage of Les 5 Etoiles de Pau was brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, our go-to source for the best support your horse can get. With a full line of proven supplements designed to help your horse feel his or her best, you can have peace of mind knowing that Kentucky Performance Products has your horse’s top health in mind. Learn more about KPP by visiting kppusa.com.
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver on course at Pau. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver now has two five-stars under his belt, following up on a Kentucky completion earlier this year with a 21st place finish at Pau. Now Liz has posted a video from their cross country round, where they jumped around clear with just 8.4 time penalties — well done to this exciting pair!
You can catch up on EN’s coverage of Pau here and view final scores here.
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It’s quickly approaching Goresbridge “Go for Gold” season and as we do each year we’re busy window-shopping for who we’d most like to buy at the popular Irish event horse sale. In fact, our wishlist helped connect Florida-based Crissa Gillette and EPA Wildfire during the 2020 sale.
This year’s Go for Gold sale will return with in-person attendance after being held fully online in 2020. On November 15 and 16, a select catalog of 81 horses that have been specially selected by an experienced panel of horsemen and women will be made available via both in-person and online bidding. The best part about the Goresbridge sale format is that the full catalog, along with x-rays and videos of each horse, is available online in the weeks leading up to the actual event. Then, the day before the sale commences each horse is ridden before the attendees as a full preview.
You can learn more about the Goresbridge Go for Gold sale, preview the catalog, and sign up to place your bid here.
This year’s lot is just teeming with quality horses — truth be told I could probably write four more wishlists to include all of the delightful young horses I’ve seen. I’ve included a few of our initial favorites in the list below.
The horses selected for this wishlist were picked by the EN team and are in no way reflective of any preference on the part of the sale or selectors.
Mark your calendars for the 3rd annual Tom Bass Seminar on Diversity in Equestrian Sports, to be held Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021! This year’s seminar will be presented via Zoom webinar beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET. Eventing Nation is proud to once again partner with this important event, which launched and is dedicated to continuing an industry-wide discussion about issues of race in equestrian sport.
Launched in 2019 as part of the annual Day of the African Equestrian (DOTAE) celebrations, the 2021 seminar takes place in a time of political, commercial and societal disruption highlighted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, never-ending cultural wars, ramifications of the MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements and a widening gap between ‘the haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in the United States and other countries.
This year’s edition will feature the following panels: Domestic Sport, Youth, Media and International. The seminar will pay tribute to equestrians of color participating in the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo as riders, coaches, officials and members of supporting delegations. This year’s roster will be a mix of returning panelists as well as some very exciting new voices, to be announced soon. The event will be moderated by Melvin Cox, Managing Director of SportsQuest International, LLC and a Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Free online registration for the seminar is now open here.
The seminar’s namesake is an homage to legendary American Saddlebred trainer Tom Bass (1859 – 1934), who was born a slave in Missouri. After the Civil War he found work as a stable boy and eventually became a world champion competitor, esteemed trainer and founder of the American Royal Horse Show in Kansas City. For many years he was the only African-American permitted to compete at the American Royal. He invented the Tom Bass bit, a benchmark for humane bitting that is still in use today, and performed for five different U.S. presidents. His clients included President Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill Cody, Anheuser-Busch executives Adolphus and August Busch, and Will Rogers.
Tom Bass riding his famous Saddlebred mare Belle Beach. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Topics to be explored by panelists include:
Demystifying horse sport — not for rich kids only … reviving equestrian heritage in lower and middle income communities
Developing broad-based community support for equestrian activities at all levels
Building sustainable programs that support diversity in the horse industry
Incorporating the lessons gleaned from social activism into the ways in which we do business
Leveraging (new and traditional) media in horse focused education and promotion
Developing stories that more accurately reflect the life experiences of equestrians of color
Incorporating the rich equestrian heritages of non-white, non-European communities (including African, African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Native-American, Romani, South Asian and others) into our shared equestrian narrative
Celebrating participants in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games
Supporting entrepreneurship within the equestrian marketplace
In addition to showcasing top international eventing talent, the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by MARS Equestrian is committed to showing love to charities that support equine organizations and serve the local community. The event names a different official charity to benefit each year, and we are pleased to share that Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has been named the official charity of the 2022 event.
As the official charity, Grayson-Jockey Club Research will receive a portion of the proceeds from a special farm-to-table charity dinner on Thursday, April 28, in the Big Barn at the Kentucky Horse Park. A reception will be followed by a three-course dinner by local chefs Jeremy Ashby and Janey Thompson and an auction.A limited number of tickets ($90 per person) to the dinner are available here.
“We are deeply honored to be selected as the official charity of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event,” said Dell Hancock, chairman of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. “EEI’s commitment to helping non-profit organizations should be commended, especially given the financial challenges of the past year. Their generosity will help improve the lives of all horses, from three-day eventers to horses in your backyard.”
Since 1983, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has provided more than $27.5 million to fund 366 projects at 44 universities in North America and overseas. Through the years, research funded by Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and its predecessor (the Grayson Foundation) has uncovered solutions to critical problems affecting horse health as well as clues to numerous other solutions of equine health issues.
“Over the years, EEI has maintained a strong commitment to supporting charities that serve the local community and support the equine industry,” said EEI president Mike Cooper. “This year, after so many individuals and organizations stood by us during the challenges presented by COVID-19, we are redoubling our commitment to giving back and we are thrilled to partner with the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation as our official charity.”
The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by MARS Equestrian returns to the Kentucky Horse Park April 28-May 1, 2022. Visit the website for more information and to purchase tickets, and we hope to see you there!
In this excerpt from her book 55 Corrective Exercises for Horses, trainer Jec Ballou shows how creative use of our environment can provide all we need to counter a horse’s problematic posture or movement patterns.
Photo courtesy of Jec Aristotle Ballou.
Skilled riding is often all it takes to improve a horse’s athleticism, performance, and overall well-being. But just as often, even good dressage-based training programs fail to fully root out the habits and patterns that prevent many horses from reaching optimal movement and correctness of their gaits. Anything from a poorly fitting saddle to inconsistent exercise schedules to an injury or stress, or past postural imbalances can create compromises. These quickly become deeper impediments to a horse’s movement mechanics that persist even with good, regular riding schedules.
The body’s way of taking care of itself during physical imbalances is to put up defenses. These defenses take the form of muscular spasms, adhesions, tightened muscles, restricted joint motions, and signals to and from the central nervous system to move differently.
Curing these defenses is not as simple as giving the horse a period of rest, though that can seem like a sensible solution. Adhesions and spasms, for instance, do not go away on their own after aggravating sources have been eliminated. They require outside manipulation as well as correct signals from the body to clear out. Putting a horse out in the field for a few months with the hope that everything will clear up rarely fixes the underlying problems.
Therapies like chiropractic care and massage are generally successful in releasing areas of immobility so the horse is able to move optimally. They free up areas of tension and compromised mobility that the body will not release by itself. However, they only set the stage; they do not by themselves create healthy movement. For that, the horse must be taken through exercises that habituate correct new patterns. Physical motions are governed by an underlying wiring that will still store faulty signals until these signals are reprogrammed.
This is where corrective exercises like the one I’ll share here, Serpentine Across the Ditch, come in. When a horse has developed more strength in—or favors use of—one front limb, it causes him to travel crookedly. This comes about by one of his shoulder blades developing tighter soft-tissue connection with his torso. Because of this, he will commonly be seen or felt leaning to one side or “bulging” one direction with his shoulders or rib cage when in motion.
A helpful technique to partially remedy this is to stimulate his shoulder-girdle muscles with varying effort and coordination. Constantly changing slopes and surfaces help prevent him from traveling habitually with the forelimbs.
1. Find a ditch or canal that slopes downward approximately 5–10 feet, and then rises up the other side. Be sure the banks of this ditch are stable enough to ride on and not crumbly or dangerous.
2. Begin by standing in the swale, with the horse’s body parallel to the banks or sides.
3. Now proceed to ride a shallow serpentine that keeps crossing the ditch.
4. With each loop of your serpentine, move just two or three steps up the side of the bank and then return back down. The loops should be tight and swift.
5. Remember to change your horse’s poll flexion and bend for each loop, the same way you would in the arena. Be sure to not let him “fall” down the slopes with quicker strides. His rhythm should remain measured throughout.
Yes, I’m still Halloween-stalking and no, I’m not sorry. As we get closer to “giving season” (honestly, I have feelings about this sort of notion, but that’s a different tangent — shouldn’t we be generous and giving at all times of year, though?), I wanted to provide some resources on nonprofits, access programs and other organizations that are working to improve the lives of others using horses. I envision this hub living somewhere here on EN, maybe as a standing page with a list of organizations you can help, donate to, or otherwise support. Strides for Equality Equestrians has begun a directory of sorts along the same lines, so it’s definitely worth checking out, but there could always be more visibility for programs (think of all the therapeutic riding/equine assisted therapy programs, youth programs and others) all working to make our little world a better place! Stay tuned for more on this — and if you have ideas or programs we should know more about, please tip us by emailing [email protected].
Congratulations to Will Coleman and Chin Tonic HS, who won the eventing portion of the Notting Hill Stables Invitational in Ocala yesterday! Justine Dutton and Chris Barnard have become an integral part of the Ocala community, often hosting schooling shows at their home facility or putting on larger productions such as this Invitational. This event featured a $10,000 Eventing Show Jumping Invitational yesterday and will host show jumpers for the Fall Jumper Invitational today.
A massive congratulations to Will Coleman Equestrian and Chin Tonic for winning the Eventing day of The 2021 Notting…
Specially featured on course for the Notting Hill Stables Invitational was a just-finished jump for Jessica Halliday in her well-known Buck Off Cancer colors. “I wanted Jessica Halliday to be a part of the The 2021 Notting Hill Stables Invitational at The Florida Horse Park and I couldn’t think of a better way,” Chris Barnard wrote on Facebook. “A couple of weeks ago Jess texted and asked me to send photos, so here you go Jess! I hope she can see it and likes it.”
Jessica’s jump. Photo courtesy of Chris Barnard.
To make a donation to Buck Off Cancer in honor of Jessica, click here for more on how to do so.
William Fox-Pitt has never been shy about sharing his opinion, and his stance on the future of the sport is one he’s always willing to share. In this piece from Horse & Hound, William reflects on his weekend at Pau and the influence that the second phase of competition should have.*
Heels Down Mag writer Justine Griffin competed her off-track Thoroughbred, Magic Mike, at the inaugural Event at TerraNova in Myakkka City, Fl. last month. How did it go? She shares her review here.
Also, a throwback from Heels Down: are you pro- or anti-No Stirrup November? I’ve found myself erring more on the side of anti these days, though I can definitely say I’ve benefitted from some quality no-stirrup work in the past. Correctly done, you can get a lot out of this work, but maybe it’s time to rethink the notion of an entire month of, let’s be honest, not great riding. More on the anti-No Stirrup November stance here.
Riding will no longer be a part of the modern pentathlon after a vote by the International Modern Pentathlon Union this week, Inside the Games reports. The sport had come under intense scrutiny following public abuse and poor riding on display at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. The International Modern Pentathlon Union has not officially confirmed nor denied this report, and had said it will issue a formal statement on Thursday, November 4. It is believed that the riding portion would be replaced by cycling.
Do you want to place a spot in our upcoming Holiday Gift Guide? We’ll be opening spots later this week — click here to get on the list!
I almost love catching up on helmet cams after a 5* even more than I do rewatching the live stream. I don’t know what it is — maybe it just feels like I’m riding the course, and I can really see the lines and choices the rider is making and how the horse responds. At any rate, Irish rider Cathal Daniels posted his helmet cam from his romp around the Pau 5* with Rioghan Rua, and it’s definitely worth a tune-in!
Cathal and Rioghan Rua (Jack of Diamonds – Highland Destiny) added just one second of time around Pierre Michelet’s track and would eventually wind up in 13th overall on a finishing score of 37.3. Want to relive more Pau? Click here to catch up on Tilly’s reports.
It’s time to cast your vote for our latest Who Jumped It Best? poll. This edition comes to you fresh from the West coast — Fresno County Horse Park, to be exact — and behind the lens of Sherry Stewart. Many thanks to Sherry for sending these shots in! You’ll find a poll at the bottom of this post to vote for the pair you feel presents the best overall picture. Good luck and happy voting!
Kelly Pugh Goodman and Fanlehane Valentino. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Madison Lerner and Win Photos. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Jolie Wentworth and KF Klosterbrau. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Leah Forquar and Oakleys Hunt SE. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Natalie Barton and Storm Watch. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Sarah Cullum and Rebels Lancelot. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Kate Miller and Josephine. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Kristin Terris and Rathcash Olympia. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
Kim Goto Miner and Milagro NBS. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
