I’ve been a fan girl of Courtney Carson’s for a few years now, and her impeccable turnout of the Payne Equestrian horses is always something to be admired at events. Not only is she a star groom, she’s also been a champion for several important issues such as groom representation in FEI competition. Basically, she’s someone you want in your corner. Always willing to lend some advice, Courtney teamed up with US Equestrian to offer up her best practices for getting those perfect braids every time.
Take a look and take a practice spin on your horse before your next competition!
āBut I donāt want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you canāt help that,” said the Cat. “Weāre all mad here. Iām mad. Youāre mad.”
“How do you know Iām mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldnāt have come here.ā
ā Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
How do we know y’all are mad? Because you’re here! Here’s your latest batch of #EventerProblems:
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A racing legend needs a little help from his friends and fans to get by. 80-year-old Bill Turner — who trained the great Seattle Slew and is the oldest living Triple Crown-winning trainer — is currently in the hospital after suffering a neck injury while helping out at the Ocala Jockey Club. Event rider Rick Wallace, who has become friends with Bill and his wife Pat Turner, has organized a GoFundMe to helpĀ ameliorateĀ some of Bill’s growing medical expenses.
Consider contributing what you can to the GoFundMe and then take a peek at our three OTTB picks of the week:
Who doesn’t want a pretty filly with great hair gracing their barn? Now Thats All looks like she’s all that, really, and she’ll be a real flashy sport horse prospect. She didn’t make much of a racehorse with 6 career starts and no in-the-money finishes, but she’s got a lovely trot and spring in her step. Now Thats All has a sweet demeanor and is looking for a person to call her own.
Garey Park made his way to the Makerās Mark Secretariat Center directly from his owner and race trainer, who wanted to be sure their horse had only the best opportunity at a second career after his 21 races and $50,243 in winnings. Being a Tapit grandson, A.P. Indy is four generations back in his pedigree. This six-year-old is described as having a ābusy mind.ā He doesnāt have a lot of confidence in his new environment yet, but his caretakers can tell that eventually heāll thrive in an environment with lots of interesting new questions and challenges as heās naturally curious and loves learning.
Then again, why restart a horse off the track yourself when you can get your hands on a lovely RRP Makeover graduate? Ziggy Fortune competed in the 2018 Thoroughbred Makeover and has seen been trained through Training level eventing. Ziggy is a smart mare — the kind that if you gain her trust and become her person she’ll take you far. And she’s got the scope and speed to do so as well!
TheĀ 2020 USEF Eventing 25 Emerging Athlete ProgramĀ is filled with talented and determined upcoming professionals. Just like the rest of us, these young adults have continued to persist throughout the suspension of competitions. In this three-part series, you will get to find out how some of these riders spent their quarantine. In part two, we catch up with Hallie Coon and Kalli Core. You can read part one of the series with Alyssa Phillips, Megan Sykes, and Woodge FultonĀ here, and part two withĀ Zoe Crawford & Madison Temkin here.
Hallie Coon and Celien. Photo by Shelby Allen.
Hallie Coon
Hallie Coon, from Ocala, started a strong season with Celien and Cooley SOS before quarantine. Celien placed 3rd in the CCI 4*-S at Red Hills and was named the 2019 USEA Mare of the Year.
“This spring has been an interesting and uncertain time for all of us, but I think itās been a blessing in disguise for some, if not most of us event riders. I know that’s going to be an unpopular opinion but it’s given me time to really think things through, reevaluate my program and go back to the basics to fix the holes in the boat that I may not have been wanting to admit had temporary plugs.
“Iāve been able to take the time to go back to a simple loose ring snaffle on all my horses in their training and see what a bigger bit may have been covering up. This alone was a huge step for me in the way I think and getting back to the correct basics in producing these horses. Another focus has been working the horses on the ground, including regular line work and long lining which has made a huge difference in several of my more insecure young horses. With 10+ young horses in the barn, it’s been incredible to have the extra time to focus on producing them the slow, correct way.
“The frustration has come in more heavily with the more experienced horses that should have run long formats this spring, but all I can do now is hope that they have something in the fall to be aimed at. Celien and Cooley SOS have been in light work as they wonāt go out competing until August, they have a ways to go until their long formats (Cooley SOS is aimed at the Jockey Club CCI4-L and Celien will hopefully be returning to Pau CCI5*).
“Having purchased a farm in Ocala in late January, which had been abandoned for two years and in a serious state might I add, has also been an incredible motivating factor this spring. There has been an endless list of things to do around the farm and it’s finally coming together. We now have a cross country jump field complete with a water jump, 19 paddocks to mirror the number stalls, a beautiful show jump field, and two arenas in the works and scheduled to be finished in the next two weeks.”
Kalli Core and Cooley Master Courage competing in the Virginia Horse Trials CCI*. Photo by official photographer, Brant Gamma Photography.
Kalli Core
Kalli Core, from Orange, Texas, had a great go last season, winning the CCI3*-L at Rebecca Farm with Cooley Master Courage. The pair ended on their dressage score of 30.7 to dominate the division of 18 competitors.
“I never would have thought, that after our normal winter trip to Florida, it would have been my last competition for a while. For myself, and Iām sure the majority of riders, this pause in competitions was really disappointing. Plans were changed and goals were pushed back for everyone. When that happens, itās always hard. We love the sport and part of that love is the ability to compete with our horses. But during this time, there was also the opportunity for growth. You take a moment to reevaluate, set a new plan and then you get to work. For me, this time has turned out to be very impactful. Each day is a new day and one to focus on putting everything I have into bettering my riding and my horses.
“For my young horse, Dobby, I have been using this time to foster our relationship and build his trust. I recently purchased him in December and am thankful for this time we have had to spend with each other. It has been a really fun process learning together and having the ability and time to get creative. Angela, my coach, and I have been working hard to help Dobby become braver on cross country. He is great and extremely careful but just needs a bit more confidence. We have been lunging him over cross country jumps and the process has been really rewarding. I cannot wait to take him to his first event back as I think it will feel like a completely different horse underneath me.
“For my upper level horse, Courage, we have been working hard filling in all the gaps. I have been working on his softness and rideability both in the show jumping but more recently out cross country. We have been setting up some hard accuracy/turning questions out cross country to help teach him to look through the bridle better. We had worked through a lot at the beginning of the year and this break has been great for all of the little details. Courage has never felt better, and I truly feel like this time without competitions has helped us reach a whole new level of education. I am hoping to take him advanced in the fall and Angela and I have been working hard to prepare us both. He is such a special horse and I feel so blessed to be the one riding him. I canāt wait to compete at Virginia Horse Trials for our first competition back.”
“This time without competing has been different but I think in ways it has been super beneficial because it has pushed me to work even harder. I am taking the time to do things like riding a horse each day with no stirrups and one with a whip across my hands. I am grateful for the time Iāve had and cannot wait to get back competing very soon.”
Lainey Ashker is FULLY ready for the raining week in Virginia. Photo courtesy of LAE.
Rain rain rain all week and cool weather makes me think I’m living in Ireland instead of Virginia. However, I briefly complained to my coworker earlier this week about wearing a jacket, and he said “DON’T EVEN START!” so that put me in my place. Also, I’ll be regretting that complaint this weekend when it’s back in the 90’s.
Listening today: Major League Eventing interviews Meg Kep.Ā Meg shares her unique story of how she went from working in politics to becoming a world class groom, and then fulfilling her dream of becoming an Advanced level Event rider and trainer. She bares it all, and shares her own battle with “imposter syndrome”, which is something we can all identify with. [MLE with Meg Kep]
Looking for new ways to grow your equestrian business?Ā Don’t pass up this webinar tonight at 7 pm EST with STRIDER that focuses on digital tools for equestrians.Ā Need some help as you transition from paper to digital on how to navigate digital resources, platforms, web apps and payment tools? You know where to click. [STRIDER Digital Equestrian Webinar]
Ready yourself for some unicorn cheer.Ā If you happen to have been in Hampstead, New HampshireĀ in the past three months, you may have seen an actual unicorn.Ā Since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March, Karen Rudolph has been dressing up her Miniature Horses as festive unicorns and walking them through the mid-sized town on the Massachusetts border in order to spread a little good cheer. [Unicorns To Save Us All]
I don’t know about you guys, but by the time I hit the Wednesday hump, I need a solid bit of decent eventing TV time to see me through the evening and give me the extra spice I need to tackle the rest of the week. Fortunately for me (and, like, all of us) the Jon and Rick Show is serving up a plate full of the goods with extra Tabasco guaranteed.
Episode nine sees eventing legendĀ Karen O’Connor take to the sofa for an in-depth chat about her incredible career ā a must-see for anyone whoĀ fangirled from Biko through to Teddy with nary a pause for air. US Eventing’s esteemed CEOĀ Rob BurkĀ also pops on to provide an update on all things sport resumption, while Canada’sĀ Mike Winter checks in with all the news and views from across the pond in the UK. Consider my midweek slump truly abated.
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If you fancy yourself the eventing nerd to rule all nerds, this new charity quiz challenge will surely be right up your alley. Top eventers such as Piggy March, Chris Burton, Sam Griffiths, and Joseph Murphy are joining up with sponsors CrossCountry App, Backstage Pass and GVG Brooks Equine Veterinary Practice for a speed quiz benefitting UK-based nonprofit Ebony Horse Club.
The trivia night will be hosted virtually this Friday, June 19 from 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm BST / 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm EST / 11:30 am – 1:30 pm PST. Anyone can sign up to participate for a minimum donation of Ā£10/$12.55. Participants will be pitting their knowledge as well as their reaction time against one another in a fun and competitive format.
All proceeds generated from the quiz night will go directly to the Ebony Horse Club, a community riding centre based in Brixton, London. Their mission is to raise aspirations of local young people through access to horses, providing new opportunities and developing life skills. They run trips, youth work activities, community events as well as regular riding lessons and their work encourages young people to overcome challenges and be the best they can be. Many of their young members are facing adversity in their lives but they are proud to support them to thrive and have seen their riders go on to win races, gain places at equestrian colleges and work in the industry.
Photo of Madison Temkin by Sherry Stewart / Zoe Crawford by Lisa Madren
TheĀ 2020 USEF Eventing 25 Emerging Athlete ProgramĀ is filled with talented and determined upcoming professionals. Just like the rest of us, these young adults have continued to persist throughout the suspension of competitions. In this three-part series, you will get to find out how some of these riders spent their quarantine. In part one, we catch up with Zoe Crawford and Madison Temkin. You can read part one of the series with Alyssa Phillips, Megan Sykes, and Woodge Fulton here.
Zoe Crawford
Zoe Crawford, from Reddick, Florida, started this season out strong with K.B.S Quick Strike and K.E.C Zara picking up few penalties to add on to their dressage scores at Red Hills. Zoe and K.E.C Zara have been partners since 2015.
“Of course the cancellation of the spring season was very disappointing especially when I had my sights set on my first 5* at Kentucky. The first few weeks of quarantine I gave my horses a little downtime. They had a few weeks out in the field and then went on lots of hacks and trail rides. It is sometimes nice to not have the pressures of a competition calendar to enjoy just riding and being around horses.
“The funny thing about horses is they sort of train you for times like these. That is the unexpected and unplanned. Although there are no competitions to help stay motivated, I have found that I have really enjoyed having this time with my horses. There are so many training videos on the internet of different cavaletti, dressage, and showjump exercises that I usually wouldnāt have time to try because of competitions. Quarantine has been great for trying new exercises, training techniques, and approaches to improving the overall quality of my horsesā work.
“Along with online training videos to try I love watching old competition videos from Burghley, Badminton and Kentucky. You can find plenty of years’ worth of competition videos online. I want to be at those events competing one day. Watching the likes of Andrew Nicolson, Ros Cantor, and Michael Jung gallop around those enormous tracks effortlessly motivates me to work as hard as I can so that one day I will be riding around those tracks too!”
Madison Temkin
Madison Temkin is from Sebastopol, California and has been competing on Dr. Hart and MVP Madbum. Madison and both of her horses had a great run last season, ending in the top 15 at Stable View and Fresno County Horse Park.
“During these times of uncertainty this spring I have found different ways to keep myself and my horses motivated. Luckily for me, I live on my farm. As the world around us feels a bit like it is collapsing, I have been blessed in the fact that my life truly hasnāt changed that much. At the beginning of quarantine, I backed off of my upper level horses a bit and gave them an easy few weeks.
“As we begin to (hopefully) see a light at the end of the tunnel, I have begun training harder again. I have taken this time of no shows to really work on my flat work as well as some footwork and ride-ability exercises in the jumping, that really work on educating my horses and making them think. The horses have also been doing quite a bit of water fitness work which has been a great tool to get them fitter and stronger without the stress on their legs. Itās incredible to see how much they have changed over these last few weeks because of it. One of the most motivating things for me is that because we have had all this time off, I want to come out with stronger, more competitive, and fitter horses than I had in the beginning of the year.
“One of the other things that has helped me stay very motivated and focused is that this time off of traveling has been an incredible opportunity to work with the young horses and my students. As much as I strive to see change and improvement in my own riding and my competition horses, I love to see and feel the young horses develop as it gives me a bit of a glimpse into the future with them which in itself, is very motivating for me. Itās hard when we are traveling and competing to truly give them the time they need.
“I have been able to continue taking lessons and most recently had a great couple days of lessons with Tamie Smith, which just makes me even more eager to get back to it. This was definitely not my plan for 2020, but life tends to throw curveballs and at the end of the day, what matters most is how you react to them. I hope that we can get back to showing soon and finish off the year with a few great events.”
“With so much happening around me on the farm it’s been hard to lack motivation — we have a brilliant place to train now and Iām so incredibly grateful for that — the only thing that can dampen the positivity is the possibility that the remaining fall fixtures will cancel. In that case — we will come to guns blazing in 2021! Cheers to all, and hoping to see you all (distantly) soon!”
Emilee Libby and Jakobi, winners of the Galway Downs International Horse Trials CCI4*-S in March 2019. Photo by Sherry Stewart.
West coast eventers who’ve been starving for competition opportunities: Galway Downs has you covered! After some back and forth regarding new dates for their vacated spring events due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kellerhouse Eventing has announced a new Summer Horse Trials at Galway Downs to be held July 17-19 in Temecula, California.
Galway Downs continues to undergo massive ongoing upgrades and improvements to the facility, and competitors this summer will notice a new cross country warm-up, new temporary stabling from Fredericks International, and upgraded permanent barns. With five dressage rings running and divisions ranging from Advanced to Intro, it’s sure to be the summer festival we’ve all been dying to attend.
Kellerhouse Presents is excited to announce our new Summer Horse Trials July 17-19 at Galway Downs in Temecula, CA. Our…
Entries are now open, and COVID-19 precautions will be followed for this event. Events for the remainder of the year may look a bit different and perhaps a little fewer in frequency, but the opportunities continue to arise thanks to the hard work of organizers all over the country. Don’t forget to sign up for a volunteer shift or two. Happy eventing!
I wanted to start off this morning with a little anecdote about diversity. I am a Korean adoptee who came to the U.S. when I was three months old after I was given up for adoption. I grew up in the well-off suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri in a predominantly white, Jewish area. I went to a predominantly white high school where most people of color were either bussed in from the city or flown in from overseas for exchange programs. I grew up positively loathing my Asian-ness. I was endlessly ridiculed for my eye shape. My white boyfriend dealt with constant mockery of the “nasty ch*nk” he was dating.
And in truth, I didn’t have it that bad. I saw kids in the halls each day who were much worse off than I, who looked more haunted than I felt. I still remember them now and I wish I would have done more to help them and stop the bullying.
Yet, I felt solace at the barn. At the barn, it didn’t matter what I looked like, where I came from, or who I was. I found friends (in fact, they left such an impact on me that I wrote about them two decades later), and I found myself. I felt included.
This is not the problem with our sport.
It is undoubtedly true that many riders of color may feel similarly when they reflect on how horses and the barn have made them feel. It’s true that most barns feel like families, which is why many find themselves bewildered at the state of the world now, wondering how so many could possibly feel so excluded.
The issue is this: when I was 13 and had a school project due, I wanted to illustrate my love for horses. I held onto this daydream that perhaps my birth mother was a famous Korean equestrian, and perhaps that was where my horse bug had come from. So I searched on the beginnings of the internet for an Asian woman wearing riding clothes. Pages and pages and pages…and the closest I could find was a brunette woman with narrow eyes. I printed the photo and pasted it onto my poster, squinting to figure out if she could pass as Asian. From that moment on, I tore through every Dover catalog that came into my mailbox, looking for one person who looked like me. One person who I could hang up on my wall and say, “I want to be like her.“
This is the problem with our sport.
Or, at least it’s the problem with diversity in our sport. It’s true that many people of color feel included āĀ once they’re in the sport. But from the outside looking in? Have you ever been to a party full of people you don’t know? If you’re anything like me, you feel some trepidation before you open the door. You feel like a sore thumb sticking out. Once you’re in and you’re comfortable, it may feel better. But taking that first step and opening the door? That’s hard when no one is inviting you in.
I myself am guilty of not shedding enough light on more voices of color within our sport, and I’m undertaking a new intention to change this. I don’t want any other kids flipping through magazines or Instagram feeds and seeing no one that looks like them. I don’t want any other kids to feel they can’t get into something because they don’t see themselves represented. This will take an industry-wide change that involves brands, media outlets, and governing bodies. This is one small way in which we can effect change.
Nonprofit Spotlight: Literacy is a huge part of a young person’s education, and grabbing interest in reading early on can open doors for ideas and imaginations to thrive. Saddle Up and Read is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging youth to “achieve literary excellence through equine activities”. Based in Wendell, North Carolina, Saddle Up and Read has also created a library full of books featuring Black equestrians. You can get involved, donate, or contribute to the group’s Amazon Wish List here.
“I didn’t think Black or Asian people rode horses.” It’s a sentiment reflected on by Horse & Hound writer Eleanor Jones in a new think piece on the barriers to ethnic diversity in equestrian sports. How do we go about changing this notion that only a white majority participates in these sports? Take a look at Eleanor’s dive into the horse community and what can be done to effect change.
This may have been posted in a News & Notes before, but I feel it’s worth another read. I know I learned a lot from this, and it’s important to understand the big picture of what we’re working with and where we need to go from here. Read this breakdown of how diversity and inclusion differ, and why they’re so important, here.
As we return to competition in some areas, volunteers remain an integral part of every event’s success. But there’s a new normal in place for volunteers and competitors alike to adhere to. Take a look at how volunteers are adapting here.
Seattle Slew trainer Billy Turner, a racing legend and oldest living Triple Crown trainer, has had an accident and a GoFundMe has been started to assist with medical bills.Ā Billy was at Ocala Jockey Club International last November for the prize-giving of the Seattle Slew Award, and is much beloved by the equestrian community. Can you help? [Donate Now]
Wednesday Video Break:
Financial literacy matters when it comes to maintaining an equestrian lifestyle. Managing money isn’t fun or sexy, but it is important ā and it doesn’t have to be difficult or stressful! I stumbled upon this excellent podcast episode from Young Black Equestrians featuring money educator Jasmine Browne. Learn about things such as credit, budgeting, and misconceptions surrounding financing horses:
Ecovet is an entirely different type of fly spray … and you apply it to your horse in a different way, too. With fly season upon us, we’re sharing some tips for how to best apply Ecovet:
