Following the overwhelmingly milquetoast reception of my Bob Ross-led Barbury Intermediate course walk a couple weeks back, I’ve decided to double down and launch an ongoing series of celebrity course walks that nobody asked for and probably nobody wants.
Leading the troops this week: Leslie Knope, the unflappably positive ringleader from Parks and Rec. She might not know a dang thing about horses, but she knows what it takes to win at LIFE.
This week we’re traveling to Bicton Arena in Budleigh Salterton, UK, where Helen West has designed a challenging Advanced Intermediate track. From the looks of it, amidst some happy-go-lucky gallopy things and maybe one too many cheerful blue-roofed heart-shape-shutter cabins, there are plenty of technical questions mixed in as well. Keep an eye on the two extra skinny triple brushes that will test accuracy after the Cottages and the Step.
Leslie’s pep talk to your horse pre-cross country:
And away we go!
Phew! It got a lil hairy there at the end, but you made it! Leslie to your horse at the finish:
You can check out the full course at CrossCountryApp. View event details, competitor info and scores here.
You know that here on EN we absolutely love a pocket rocket who can jump the moon! This week we were lucky enough to find three good-looking OTTBs under 16-hands. One is still racing right now, one is fresh off the track, and one has already shown some serious hops. You know you want ’em!
Forty Fathoms. Photo via Retired Racehorse Project Horse Listings.
Forty Fathoms is racing fit and still leaving the starting gate at Tampa Bay Downs right now, but his connections know he’s really ready for a new career. This colt may be on the smaller side, but he’s beautifully built and should be well-suited to any second career. Being a colt he is still in tact, obviously, so you may prefer to get a little snip-snip done when you bring him home, but after that you’ll have a lovely prospect!
Ever dream of having the heart and athletic ability of a Thoroughbred in a pony-sized package? Here’s your chance! “Cici” is a sweet but petite mare who may be short of stature but certainly makes up for it in personality. Cici is actually missing her right eye, but that’s not stopping her from anything. She is is easy to handle and confident on the ground. Under saddle she is a forgiving ride, but has an all-business attitude.
Lil Bunny Foo Foo hopping through the jump course! That’s how to song goes, right? This little mare is pretty appropriately named, judging by the way she pops over these little jumps. Bunny is a really cute mover and dare I see an even cuter jumper and who ever gets their hands on this one is very lucky! Bunny is unraced and was used as a broodmare in Kentucky before coming into training for a third career through CANTER California. She’s still very green but is coming along nicely and has has made her first field trip to school cross country.
Especially since its designation as new host of the CCI4*-L National Championships, the Ocala Jockey Club International 3-Day Event (Nov. 14-15, 2020) was considered a hugely important fixture on the U.S. fall eventing calendar. Early this morning the event announced its cancellation and released the following statement.
Lauren Kieffer and Landmark’s Monte Carlo. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.
The health of our competitors, spectators, officials, volunteers and everyone else involved in the Ocala Jockey Club 3-Day Event production is very important to us. We announced on May 24th that we felt confident in OJC’s ability to run the 2020 Event and the accompanying CCI4*-L National Championships as scheduled. We have continued to feel confident in our ability to implement ample and strict social distancing, sanitization, mask and health screening protocols on site. It was clear in March that Covid-19 would not make it possible for OJC to conduct the 2020 Event as the high-profile community and spectator-friendly event of the past four years that has created over $1 million of annual economic impact to the community. Still, OJC heard the desire of competitors and USEF to run the Event as a spectator-free competition-only event.
The 2020 Ocala Jockey Club International 3-Day Event was set to run from November 12th to 15th at the picturesque 950-acre Ocala Jockey Club farm in Reddick, Florida. It was designated as the CCI4*-L National Championships. Additionally, due to the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games set to occur in the summer of 2021, the OJC Event was to serve as an important Olympic qualifier. As a number of 4* and 5* events have cancelled across the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, OJC has recognized the importance of the OJC Event to Team USA and USEF High Performance program and worked diligently to plan the Event. However, with less than four months remaining for the planning of the Event, OJC’s Covid-19 concerns have become significant enough that the hard decision to cancel needed to be made. Ocala Jockey Club wishes to provide competitors sufficient notice in the hope that they will be able to re-route to other events for their qualification requirements.
“We have wished to serve our part in the economic recovery of the community and the competition needs of the eventing sport, however there has been increased concern on OJC’s part regarding the significant increase in community transmission of Covid-19, and a corresponding concern regarding current and continuing insufficient availability of local and national tools to combat such community transmission of this virus,” said Pavla Nygaard, President of the Ocala Jockey Club. “Hope is not a success strategy. We felt responsible to define a strategy that would provide the economic and community benefits to Marion County, the 3-Day Eventing sport and the Thoroughbred Eventing Champion program we have been proud to advance at our Event, but only if we could reliably minimize public health risks.
“While there are current and upcoming equestrian competitions on the calendar at this time, our responsibility is to study trends and project likely impacts on a competition four months in the future. I have read hundreds of articles and scientific studies about the virus’ behavior, transmission, prevention, available therapeutics, screening apps, wearable technology, mitigation effectiveness and otherwise. In addition to USEF and FEI guidelines, I have followed the design, effectiveness and limitations of protocols of major sports such as NFL, NBA, MLB and horse racing. I have spoken to organizers and competitors of other equestrian competitions regarding protocols, compliance and factors affecting decisions of when and how to run. OJC has worked on designing protocols including health and other feasibility metrics that would assist us with pre-event and onsite decisions and processes.
“While most 5* and 4* Eventing competitions around the world have cancelled months ago, until recently we have felt that our strategies were feasible to continue even in a very uncertain environment. However, with recent spikes in infections and changes in the demographics affected, available public health metrics no longer give us the same comfort that the strategies within our control would reliably overcome the elements outside of OJC’s control.”
Some of OJC’s concerns include:
While the end of May showed positive trends in declines of new cases, this trend has now reversed for much worse both nationally (almost two million increase in cases) and locally (almost a 12-fold increase in cases). Barring significant changes in mitigation strategies, this trend is expect to continue into fall and winter of 2020 and has prompted many cancellations of in-person college programs, professional sports and even the full remainder of the 2020 Broadway season. While hospitalizations and deaths were trending lower for some time even as cases increased, this trend is also beginning to reverse to concerning levels.
The recent changes in the demographic affected by Covid-19 to affect younger adults, including increased hospitalizations, are more likely to impact our multi-day gathering of 700 or more competitors and related staff than we anticipated, even with mostly less risky outdoor activities and the already planned ban on attendance by anyone other than competitors and event staff.
Unlike at the end of May when public compliance with public health directives was high, current personal and political divisions regarding basic infection mitigation strategies have been laid bare and are likely to affect our guests’ health and safety during travel or while in the community, aside from our onsite protocols. As the Event is scheduled just 8 days after the upcoming presidential election, which now experts believe could take a week to gather results for, we expect these politically driven divisions to continue to impact health risk mitigation outside of the Event’s control.
While major sports leagues and workplaces with significant financial and human resources have designed valuable protocols to mitigate against the effects of the virus, they have still experienced case positives and illness in otherwise healthy athletes.
Testing strategies, among other valuable tools available to sports leagues to combat the pandemic, have proven a limitation for other organizations due to lack of availability of diagnostic tests, or key components such as reagents and swabs. Some tests are unreliable or results too late to be useful. There is significant variability of testing availability by state or country, becoming exceedingly challenging to employ as a reliable mitigation tool for the OJC 2020 Event.
Our competitors and officials typically arrive not just from Marion County or Florida, but from every corner of the United States as well as internationally from at least three continents. Therefore, some of the Event’s key international delegates would be more vulnerable to travel health risks, travel restrictions or mandatory 14-day quarantines, such as those currently restricting travel for Canadians or Europeans needing to enter the US or return back home.
Most competitors are in the less risky young, healthy and fit category. However, they are not an island and a sizeable share of officials, volunteers and OJC employees fall into higher risk categories for COVID-19 health complications. With high community transmission, even strict onsite protocols may not be sufficiently protective.
While the scientific community continues to work tirelessly on vaccine candidates and therapeutic options to mitigate against Covid-19, it is now clear that even early vaccine candidates, with expected limited availability in October, would not be available in time to be useful to our stakeholders. While current treatments such as remdesivir and dexamethasone provide some relief to some of the hardest hit patients, there are no therapeutics available yet to rely on as a prevention or mitigation strategy.
Our typical staff team is lean and mean, and there is little room to losing key members to illness, travel quarantine or exposure-related isolation. It would be necessary for us to establish a long list of Plan B options for all key personnel, necessitating increased funding. Similarly, there would be increased resources needed for increased sanitation protocols, masks and other PPE, pre-event and at-event testing and/or health screening, any needed contact tracing or isolation if indicated onsite, stabling configurations to allow social distancing, and protocol enforcement personnel.
Unlike lower-level competitions which are structured to be compensated solely or mainly from competitor entry fees, FEI level competitions are much heavier on event production expenses. Competitor entries cover a smaller share of the event budget. The OJC event, as other FEI level competitions, relies on non-competition income such as sponsorships, VIP hospitality, spectator and tailgating ticket sales, vendors, and advertising to offset event expenses. Due to social distancing requirements, these non-competition aspects are currently not allowed under USEF Covid-19 mitigation rules. Our conversations with select sponsors and other event organizers point to a clear need to understand supporters’ economic challenges to their support in these times. We understand that everyone has been affected differently in this pandemic, and feel it necessary for our supporters to be able to regroup their own lives and operations. However important this Event may be, we feel that this is not the year to ask people for increased support.
The Ocala Jockey Club has heard from many participants over the years about the importance of this Event. Jennie Jarnstrom, an eventing rider who has competed at OJC Events, wrote to OJC in May: “Just can’t thank you enough for keeping the hope up and motivate us to work towards one of the Greatest Events in the country.” It was for the benefit of tireless and committed competitors like Jennie that we continued to search for ways to produce a safe high-quality level even with restrictions on many activities.
However, as more of us now know those who have been affected by severe illness or death due to Covid-19, the more important it is to recognize our responsibility to take care of each other, even if it means that it is wiser to cancel this Event than to keep pressing on this year. Updates and information about the 2021 Ocala Jockey Club International 3-Day Event will be available in due course at the Event website at www.OJC3de.com. For more information on the Ocala Jockey Club, visit www.ocalajc.com. Best of luck to all staying safe, happy, healthy and successful in 2020. See you in November 2021!
Nothing to see here, just a ridiculously fluffy pony. Photo by Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine, Maryland.
Nothing is quite as exciting as rain in July, and if you don’t know what I mean, please move to Virginia and hang out for the summer. The “feels like” temperature on Monday was 116. One hundred and sixteen degrees. The grass gets crispy, the heat radiates from the sky and the ground, and the footing feels like concrete. So, two afternoons of thunderstorms and overnight rain are my idea of a midsummer gift, and I’ll take it.
The USEA Events A-Z series rolls on with with War Horse Event Series. In 2020 this series of horse trials, which takes place at the Carolina Horse Park in Raeford, NC, offered USEA recognized divisions for Beginner Novice through Preliminary along with their unrecognized schooling show offering, which includes “Maiden” and “Green as Grass” levels and combined tests. [USEA Events A-Z: War Horse Event Series]
A team of scientists in England are working on an artificial intelligence program to analyze expressions of pain in horses. The team from Nottingham Trent University is working on the project which, it is hoped, will provide better understanding of how painful certain conditions are for horses. It is also hoped the information gained will lead to better treatments and monitoring of equine recovery. [AI Analyzing Facial Expressions of Pain]
In 1968, Bill Steinkraus became the first American to win an individual Olympic gold medal in equestrian sports. The horse? The immortal Snowbound, of course. An ex-racehorse who struggled for three years to win his first race, he was then popping around the hunter courses in California before John Galvin found him, and sent him to Bill. The rest is history. [Remembering Snowbound]
In 2010, a series of tragic earthquakes struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti, killing 200,000 people and leaving millions more with lifelong wounds and scars. In the midst of the ongoing healing process for the country, throughout which still remain visible marks of lingering devastation, is Les Chevaux Qui Pansent Les Plaies (Horses That Heal Wounds, in English), founded by Anne-Rose Schoen.
Les Chevaux Qui Pansent Les Plaies was the recipient of the FEI Solidarity Award in 2015 for the organization’s work, which focuses its attention on children, particularly amputees, who were affected by the earthquakes.
This short video takes an inside look at this program and the mission of the passionate team involved in it.
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Maryville Sir Henry, winners of the CCI2*-S. Photo by Brant Gamma Photography.
It was a good day at the office for Liz Halliday-Sharp, who won the CCI2*-S and holds the top two placings after cross country in the CCI2*-L at the Virginia Horse Trials (VHT) International.
A weather delay on Wednesday pushed the show jumping phase of the CCI2*-S to this morning, so competitors completed show jumping and cross country back-to-back. Halliday-Sharp and Maryville Sir Henry were second after dressage on a 26.1. They lowered one rail in show jumping but moved into the lead. A fault-free cross country round secured their win.
“He was first to go in dressage and did a really smart test considering he is still quite green,” Halliday-Sharp said. “I heard them announce we were in the lead as we were going into the startbox. He was brilliant cross country. He’s come a long way.”
Maryville Sir Henry is a new partner for Halliday-Sharp, who has competed him now just three times.
“He’s a very nice horse and he’s this incredible jumper and amazing athlete,” she said. “I’d like to do a long format on him this year. If he’s ready for Intermediate at the end of the year, great, but he’s very careful and we’re not in a hurry. He will tell us what he’s ready for. I think a lot of him and he gave me a great feel on the cross country.”
Katarina Midgley and Ditch finished second in the CCI2*-S, moving up from seventh after dressage thanks to two double-clear jumping phases. Candace Elizabeth Bell and Fernhill Philm Star placed third.
Halliday-Sharp’s success continued in the CCI2*-L division. After dressage and cross country, she sits first and second with half-brothers Cooley Be Cool, owned by The Monster Partnership and Ocala Horse Properties, and Cooley Seeking Fortune, owned by Ocala Horse Properties. Neither horse added cross country jumping or time penalties to their dressage scores of 24.7 and 28.6.
“Both of them did very good tests and put up scores that would have them up there [on the leaderboard] at any long format. They were super today and finished well,” Halliday-Sharp said. “They found the course good and made the time easy. I’m hoping they will both jump clear tomorrow. They are good jumpers and have a bit in hand which is a nice place to be in.
“They are both seven but started eventing last year. They needed a long format. I’m hoping to get some horses qualified for [the Eventing Championships for Young Horses at] Le Lion and this is part of the path to get there.”
It’s been a busy week for Halliday-Sharp, who recently moved to Kentucky to permanently base herself in the United States instead of splitting time in the United Kingdom. “My girls have been awesome. There are five horses here, it’s been busy enough. I have a good team.”
Andrew McConnon leads the way in the CCI1*-L with D’Luxe Steel on a two phase score of 29.6.
McConnon and Wakita 54 are third before the final phase in the CCI2*-L.
Boyd Martin and Luke 140, winners of the CCI3*-S. Photo by Brant Gamma Photography.
Boyd Martin came to Virginia Horse Trials (VHT) International to get himself and his horses back into the swing of competing, and he picked up an international win along the way. Leading from start to finish, Martin and the 9-year-old Holsteiner gelding Luke 140, owned by the Luke 140 Syndicate, won the CCI3*-S on a final score of 35.5.
Starting off with a dressage score of 23.9, they show jumped double clear on Tuesday. They entered today’s cross country test with plenty of breathing room, allowing for the addition of 11.6 time penalties.
“Luke was brilliant in all three phases. I wanted to set him up for an assault on the second half of the year,” Martin said. “It was fantastic doing all the dressage in the shade of the indoor arenas, and the new jumping ring was brilliant to ride on.”
With the majority of the spring season being cancelled due to COVID-19, many competitors are just getting going with their competition season this summer. Martin commented that designer Andy Bowles’ cross country course was appropriate for horses who haven’t been out in a while, but there were “a couple of combinations that really tested the horses, and it’s a true test of fitness with a big, long gallop up the hill in the middle of the course.”
Having finished up his competition on Wednesday afternoon, Martin was already on his way home to prepare for another outing this weekend. “I love the idea of the midweek eventing, especially for the pro riders looking to get horses out,” Martin said. “I’m slowly getting better from surgery a couple months ago, and it was great just getting the horses out and seeing my eventing buddies I haven’t seen in months.”
Coming second in the CCI3*-S was Joe Meyer and his longtime partner Clip Clop. They added only 2.0 time penalties to their initial score, moving up from 11th after dressage. Benjamin Noonan and Keep Kitty rounded out the top three.
CCI3*-S Final Top 10:
In the CCI1*-L division, Andrew McConnon leads the way with D’Luxe Steel followed by Joanie Morris riding Betterthanexpected.
Elizabeth Halliday-Sharp holds the top two spots in the CCI2*-L with Cooley Be Cool and Cooley Seeking Fortune, respectively, with show jumping still to go. Halliday-Sharp won the CCI2*-S with Marysville Sir Henry – here’s the final top 10 from that division:
VHT’s original date had been postponed due to COVID-19 and this week the event is strictly adhering to necessary protocols, including paperless entries, mandatory face coverings, and social distancing. Martin offered this sentiment: “Everyone is keen to get back to normal life, and everyone is understanding it’s a huge privilege to do this sport [right now]. We are grateful to the organizers who have had to jump through many hoops to get events going.”
The competition continues Thursday with all three phases running concurrently at the Virginia Horse Center.
It’s the time of year where we’re ordinarily gearing up for an epic on the ground weekend at Rebecca Farm. We’d also be eagerly looking ahead to the Olympics in Tokyo. But alas, the year has been much, much different than we ever could have anticipated. I know it’s a bit broken record sounding of me, but I’m not sure it will ever stop feeling so weird. Nonetheless, eventers soldier on and events have been able to run with proper precautionary measures.
Rebecca Farm is sure to look a bit different this year, which is why this and every other event this weekend needs the help of those competing more than ever. Without spectators and unnecessary personnel on the premises, finding last minute help becomes a bit more challenging. Signing up for a volunteer shift ahead of time helps the coordinator plan better — all of which leads to a more pleasant experience for all involved!
We’ve compiled some resources on volunteering with COVID-19 regulations in mind. We’ll reference this list each week in Volunteer Nation, so take a few moments to familiarize yourself with what’s new and different.
As always, you can earn merit points when you donate your time through the USEA’s Volunteer Incentive Program. Registering to volunteer through EventingVolunteers.com makes it easy and seamless to both find a job and shift as well as learn what your role will entail.
Event: Virginia Horse Trials & CCI
Dates: Today through Friday, July 24
Address: 487 Maury River Rd., Lexington, VA, 24435
Position(s) Available: XC Finish Timer, XC Jump Judge, XC Score Runner, XC Start Timer, XC Warn-up, Dressage Bit Check, Dressage In-Gate, Dressage Score Runner, Dressage Scribe, Jog Steward, SJ In-Gate, SJ Jump Crew, SJ Warm-up, Vet In Barn Assistant, Floater
Event: The Event at Rebecca Farm
Dates: Today through Sunday, July 26
Address: 1385 Farm to Table Road, Kalispell MT, 59901
Position(s) Available: Dressage Set-up, Dressage Score Runner, Dressage Volunteer, XC Jump Judge, Show Jumping General Help
Event: Hunt Club Farms HT
Dates: Saturday, July 25
Address: 294 Longmarsh Rd, Berryville, VA, 22611
Position(s) Available: XC Jump Judge, XC Starter, Dressage Warm-up, Parking, Score Runner, SJ Warm-up
This writing was inspired by an interaction with a friend years ago. And in the development, I realized how that interaction has come full circle in many respects. At that time, I was showing a friend the progress a young horse of mine was making. I quickly got to the trot, canter and jumping to show off our ‘progress.’ “What do you think?” I asked. His response, “But does he walk?”
That question has stuck with me through the years, and working with J. Michael Plumb and his emphasis on using the walk to achieve more with training and preparing horses this writing is meant to be a reminder of where we all start. Also, it is okay to return to the start, which is not necessarily starting over.
For most of us, the summer brings on the higher temperatures, and in many areas, increased humidity. What can you do to keep progressing in your horse’s training without over-exerting in the heat? There are 3 benefits of walking that come immediately to mind:
Exercise
Relaxation and bonding
Training
Walking for exercise is not only good for your horse, but good for you too. Go find some hills, even little inclines/declines as they can help build muscle and balance. Pay careful attention to your horse’s shape while doing this to ensure he is not inverted; he should not be curled up either.
Walking for relaxation is a great time to bonding with your horse and get to know him (under tack and hand walking). This can help the rider relax too. Taking the time to walk your horse under tack can help you find out what he needs to be prepared to go to work. Are you struggling with getting the relaxation you need from your horse to prepare for your dressage test? Spend time learning how to get him relaxed and tuned into you, with a quiet mind – walking for relaxation. If he does not stay settled, do a little trotting or another exercise, then come back to the walk and grow the amount of time you can spend at the walk with him.
Working in the walk is easily overlooked in training, yet so much can be taught and accomplished at the walk. Just about everything can be taught at the walk. We have all probably heard about teaching ‘footwork,’ whether in human only sports or equine sports. Teaching footwork is easier at a slower pace; that is the walk in most situations.
Value:
Everything comes up slower
Less likely to be pulling (on the reins) and more likely to be pushing (with seat and legs)
Starting your session at the walk, on a long rein and stretching down – if possible, is a great way to let your horse start to warm up his back. If he cannot do that, no worries, just get what you can and then get him on the rail (fence). You can use the rail to help teach him where to be and what you want. If you do not have access to the rail you can do the same exercises around an object, like a jump.
If you are doing this around an object your primary rein contact will be in the outside rein, and your primary pushing/activating leg will be your inside leg. Still you want a fairly straight horse.
Using your seat and legs ride beside the rail pushing his hips a little to the inside and tip his nose a bit on the rail with your outside rein; however, keep your horse as straight as possible, not bent. Straightness is achieved by forward, so as difficult as it can be sometimes, push with your seat and legs to get your horse straight (the back-end needs to get straight first before the front end can get straight). The rail will slow your horse without you pulling on the reins, so you can keep pushing and not pull. Be conscious of his foot falls – are they quick? If so, use that rail to slow the speed of the feet. This is a time for slow feet. In early stages your horse might carry his head a bit high, that is okay if his hind feet are moving. Allow him to find his balance behind, then the shoulders and neck will ‘fall into place’ with the benefit of him using his back. After he finds his balance behind and can carry it you can allow him to drop his neck and head.
Once your horse finds his balance and starts to maintain contact from the back-end to the reins, your horse will hint at dropping his neck, allow him that reward for a bit.
The next step is to continue at the walk and just bump him with your calf or ankle while he keeps the contact you have with your reins. You want to feel him step up a bit with his hind legs; feel a surge from the back-end, not the front end. If he does not respond, then bump a bit harder. If still no response, then revisit your ‘go forward’ aides. If he steps up with his hind legs but gets wiggly in the bridle, go back to the rail to use the rail to help keep him straight (then you only have the other side to keep straight) and repeat the exercise. You want to feel him step up with his hind feet and get steady and straight contact in the bridle.
Always remember to Push for Straightness!
Once you can ride him fairly straight at the walk without him speeding off, start to take more of a feel – back to front – work toward as steady of a connection as you can get. You may need to take this part back to the rail if you are using more hand than leg, or if your horse speeds up Hold that for only a few steps, then allow him to stretch back down on a softer rein (his reward). Repeating this exercise and building on the amount of time he can maintain the proper contact can take some time; however, it will pay dividends!
Spending more time at the walk helps in many ways
Low impact/less stress
Teach it at the walk, then the trot & canter
Perfect it at the walk, then the trot & canter
Work on rhythm as the walk is a 4-beat gait with regularity and quality
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We love seeing riders catch the eventing bug! A warm welcome to the club, Amber Young of Bergen, NY, and Emmerich (“Henry”), a 17.2 Hanoverian who gets an “A” for effort but could probably step over most of the obstacles in their first cross country school together. No hope no scope, as they say. Poor Amber nearly got rocket-blasted out of the tack a time or two but held fast and laughed it off in hindsight, so we think she’ll fit right in around these parts!
“We had our first cross country schooling event today,” Amber told EN. “We are both greenies — we’ve never done solid jumps, ditches, water or banks before, but we trust each other and we’ve been working hard with our trainer (Carrie Wehle of Wehle Farm). We had a blast and are looking forward to doing our first intro event this year!”
The USEA Young Event Horse class of 2007 went on to do big things. Its 5-year-old graduate horses that went on to reach the highest levels of eventing include All The Buzz, Java, Vidalia, Gin Fizz, Peabody, Fantasy Impromptu, Normandy Soldier, and Parfait. [The YEH Yearbook: Class of 2007]
Worth the Trust … it will be worth the wait. The 2021 Worth The Trust Scholarship, which was slated to be awarded at the 2020 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention in December, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Information will be released next year about applying for the 2022 scholarship, which will be awarded in December of 2021 for use during the 2022 calendar year. [Worth The Trust Scholarship Postponed to 2022]
Whether you want to advertise your business or organization, or spotlight your OTTB for sale, the Retired Racehorse Project can connect you with clients. Opportunities are available for both the Fall 2020 issue of Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine and the ASPCA Makeover Marketplace catalog. [Ad specs and pricing]
Listen: In the latest episode of the Major League Eventing podcast, Karen and Rob get to know Cindy Anderson Blank. Cindy is not only a top event rider she is team Windchase and Olympian Phyllis Dawson’s competition rider, trainer and instructor. Cindy came from a western background until the eventing bug bit her and the rest is history. [Episode #120]
Watch: Ponies, bless ’em. When they’re good they’re good, and when they’re naughty (see pony #1 here) … you just love them even harder. View Leg 2 Strzegom Summer Tour results here.
Social: Just be a friend.
“When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands.”
