Classic Eventing Nation

USEA Suspension of Recognized Events Extended Through May 3

By on Mar 27, 2020 6:38 pm -

Photo courtesy of the USEA.

Following the lead of US Equestrian, The U.S. Eventing Association has suspended all recognized events through May 3, 2020.

This applies to all events with divisions that fall under USEA jurisdiction (Training level and below) as well as USEA recognized educational activities, Young Event Horse, Future Event Horse, and New Event Horse competitions.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a historic and unprecedented impact on all aspects of lives around the world and the U.S. eventing community is no different. The USEA is closely monitoring the recommendations of the CDC as well as federal, state, and local guidelines and will continue to communicate with our members throughout this trying time.

“The USEA strongly recommends competitors NOT attend events before May 3 and that organizers NOT offer any type of competitions or activities at this time. Competitions that choose to run before May 3 will do so without USEA recognition or liability insurance coverage. Competitors attending those events will not be able to earn year-end or leaderboard points, USEA Classic Series qualifications, or USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) qualifications.”

Read the complete statement here.

The USEA Board of Governors is monitoring the situation and will continue to assess as the May 3 deadline approaches. A formal process is also in the works to reschedule competitions affected, and organizers will be notified when that process becomes available.

The USEA will refund organizers’ registration fees to all organizers that were already paid to the USEA for events that were scheduled to take place between March 16 and May 3. USEA starter fees are to be refunded to entered competitors by competition organizers.

[USEA Extends Suspension of Recognizing Events]

 

Back to BASICs with J. Michael Plumb, Brought to You by Banixx Horse Care

By on Mar 27, 2020 6:24 pm -
JMP,Michael Plumb,Banixx,Horse Care,Training

J. Michael Plumb. Photo courtesy of Banixx.

With usual competition schedules we can easily get in the mode of ‘training for the next event/show’ rather than training our horse. With the current COVID-19 concerns riders are sharing their exercises – jumping and flat alike. But what comes before those exercises? I asked J. Michael Plumb (JMP) what he likes to work on when not preparing for a competition (a little background — he is ASPCA Maclay Champion 1957, the only U.S. athlete to compete in eight Olympic games, the first equestrian to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame,  U.S. Combined Training Association’s “Leading Rider of the Year” 10 different times, and many more accomplishments).

His answer was rather blunt – “What we always work on around here: the B-A-S-I-Cs!”.

What are the basics? We have the dressage pyramid – Rhythm, Relaxation, Connection, Impulsion, Straightness, Collection. A great starting point! Can you walk, trot canter with rhythm? If not, start where you can, is it the walk? or the trot? that is easiest for you and your horse? Start with your horse’s most comfortable/best gait.

How is your connection — leg/seat to rein? Is he bouncing off the contact? Over-flexing? Encourage your horse to take contact with just the outside rein and work with a counter-bend to help strengthen the correct connection. Then go straight, and slowly slide into a shoulder-in, then work your way back to the counter bend. Play with those exercises until your horse takes a feel of that outside rein while you can push him with your seat and legs. Once you have the connection established with the outside rein, you can begin to work on a connection with the inside rein as well. Don’t hesitate to go back to just the outside rein at any time – that is the starting point.

When riding straight – is your horse really straight, and, with a solid connection? Back to the above exercises, those will help you achieve straightness.

Geometry, geometry, geometry! Circles are not eggs. Straight is not a squiggle. Practice geometry every time you ride, and it will become second nature.

And, very importantly, work on the relationship between you and your horse (horse and rider).

If you are wondering where you need to start with your horse, look at the comments on your last few dressage tests? Any repeated comments? Scores that seem to repeat (that you want to improve)? For each movement read the “Directive Area” on the dressage test … How are you scoring? And what are the comments? That information should tell you what to work on.

Jumping – a ground rail, raised rail, pile of rails, whatever … can you walk, trot and canter the element straight (really straight), on a bend (as in a circle)? Sharpen the pencil here! Work on yourself to ensure you give your horse the correct aides. Are you using your leg to straighten or bend, or your hands? Getting it right with a ground rail or small obstacle prepares us for correctness over larger obstacles.

For your horse’s mental health, and yours, be sure to get out of the ring and hack your horse if you have the location to do so safely!

And, was your ride a ‘deposit in the bank’ or a ‘withdrawal’? Did your horse settle more and more through the ride and become more settled, and quiet in his mind?

Of special note: JMP rides five to eight horses and works with multiple riders EVERY DAY. He will be 80 on March 28, 2020 – so stop making excuses for not riding your horse! As the expression goes … “Just Do It!”

Brought to you by Banixx – the #1 trusted solution for equine and pet owners! Learn more about Banixx  by clicking here.

An Eventer’s Survival Guide to Staying Home: Fun Stuff Online

By on Mar 27, 2020 10:00 am -

No Kentucky for Us this year:( Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

If it hasn’t gotten to a neighborhood near you yet, it will — the shutdown of everything. Maybe not everything, and far enough away to be safe, but still. You’re stuck inside or at home, and the season has just started — but now it’s not. What to do?

Oh, your trainer probably has a lot of ideas — not all of them probably charitable, me thinks. And your horse also has some ideas — along the lines of more carrots and less work. His ideas are probably going to work out for him if you’re in a lockdown area.

So here’s a little help.

First of all, Miss Eventer Princess, download or get out your rulebook, and read that sucker! Why? Why not? Know what you are doing. USEF Rules For Eventing — if everyone read it, we wouldn’t need TDs — right? (Insert really big smiley face here). And the recently controversial Eventing Annex 1 (bits, read the whole thing please). Another important read for eventers: the USEA Cross Country Course Design Guidelines. (Know what you are jumping).

Are you in envy of riders who get those grants? Did you know you might be eligible for one, too? Read through the USEA Foundation’s website and check out the rules for the grants they administer here. Are you a high schooler? Did you know you can get a letter in riding as a sport,  for school? Yes, the information is here. And you may be eligible for a USEF grant, here. More scholarships and grants: The Plaid Horse, Michael Nyuis Scholarship. Take a look at the American Horse Trials Foundation page to learn about putting together you own account for fundraising. Southern California Equestrian Sports here is a similar organization.

Want to relive some back-when-it-was-Rolex videos? How about some of the older ones on YouTube, check these out: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011.

Oh and let’s include Fair Hill! Here’s something from 1993: one of the nine shows that USEV produced for cable television in the early ’90s. RNS Video saved them and uploaded them to YouTube, in several pieces to get around the 10-minute limit — the show runs somewhere in the 54 minute range. “I shot, directed, did the editing and graphics and co-hosted the show. Since it had such limited airtime in the ’90s, and the horse sport television industry is more or less non-present, I’m going to upload these here for those who want to enjoy them. Keep in mind this is ’93 and it’s the rules for that time when three-day was really three-day long form. Enjoy!”

Fair Hill 3 Star CCI: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 with Dr. Kent Allen in there and a view of the vet box, part 5, part 6 with Karen O’Connor, part 7 with Bruce Davidson and part 8.

And Buzzter Brown has a Fair Hill 2009 cross-country set here: 2010 part 1 and part 2, 2010 is a single video here, and 2011 is also one video, here.

Past history of the USEA? Here’s a pdf with some early history.

How about you? Let’s talk riding fitness: apps, articles, and how to do it at home by yourself. Laura Crump Anderson’s blogs are right here on EN: Obliques, Strength Training, Partner Up, The Plank, 20-Minute Fitness, Mounting Block Calves, Mindfulness, Rest and Recovery (a particularly good one, I think).

So that’s good for a start! And you know I’ll have more!

Friday News & Notes from World Equestrian Brands

By on Mar 27, 2020 12:03 am -

Just a little cute Tsetserleg face to cheer you up. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Now is a really good time to finally get into those stretching and strengthening exercises you’ve been putting off forever because nobody really wants to do at-home workouts. But guess what, those things help your riding a lot! Especially if you don’t ride several horses a day, get you some online pilates classes and open those hip flexors! Thank me later.

National Holiday: National Spanish Paella Day

News From Around the Globe:

A new task-force has been established to deal with the daunting mission of rescheduling the Olympic Games for next year. The first goal is to establish dates available, and it has been mentioned that spring is a possibility. Along with that, they need to find facilities for the athlete village, and reorganize contracts with all of the collaborating forces. [Rescheduling the Olympic Games]

In honor of Brain Injury Awareness Month, Horse Nation writer Ashley shares her account of how a major concussion affected her life.  If you haven’t had a concussion due to riding, you almost certainly know somebody who has. Some are minor, some are fairly severe, but all of them affect your overall health for the future. [A Fish Called Dory: A Concussion Story]

The UK is taking steps to offer financial relief to self employed individuals, including equestrians. Economic effects of the Coronavirus are ranging far and wide, but self employed equestrians have been largely left to hunker down and hope they can keep feeding the horses. UK government has proposed a relief bill that will offer up to £2,500 per month for at least three months. [British Equestrians Get Financial Relief]

 

Canceled/Postponed Events: Sporting Days, St. Johns, River Glen, Holly Hill, Loudon Hunt PC, MCTA

By on Mar 26, 2020 5:27 pm -

Six more USEA recognized events were canceled or postponed today, following US Equestrian’s extension of their recommended competition suspension period through May 3rd yesterday.

April 18: Sporting Days Farm April H.T. III – Postponed

“We honor the USEF ruling and therefore we will not be holding our April 18 HT. Please stay tuned for more updates.”

April 18-19: St. Johns H.T. – Canceled

April 18-19: River Glen Spring H.T. – Canceled

“Due to the announcement by USEF to extend their suspension of USEF events our Spring HT April 18-19 has been cancelled. We are looking at the possibility of rescheduling or having a schooling show in May. We will let you know a date as soon as we can as this is an evolving situation.”

April 18-19: Holly Hill H.T. – Postponed

“Due to the recent extension of the cancellation of all USEF horse shows to May 3 we have to postpone our horse trials and plan on rescheduling for the weekend of May 23-24. Willow Draw has graciously offered their HT date to us for that weekend. Hope to see you all then!”

April 25-26: Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Horse Trials – Canceled

“Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Spring Horse Trials have been canceled! More details about our Summer Horse Trials will be posted soon.”

May 2-3: MCTA Horse Trials – Canceled

‘The MCTA has decided to cancel its recognized horse trials at Shawan Downs scheduled for May 2-3, 2020. This is based on the suspension of all USEF-owned events extended through May 3rd and in the interest of safety for our participants and spectators. Our two unrecognized events are still on the calendar at this time.”

You can view an updated list of event cancellations and postponements here.

 

Thursday Video from FLAIR: Isolation Olympics?

By on Mar 26, 2020 5:00 pm -

When life gives you lemons, sometimes you just need to get creative to entertain yourself. At least that’s what British hockey player Sam Ward did when faced with a sudden and large amount of free time.

Sam decided to take one for the team and create some entertaining content for us, and in the wake of the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics, we could all use a bit of fun. The “Isolation Olympics” were born, in which Sam tackles various Olympic sports…in the comfort of his living room. And you guessed it: he decided to throw some “riding” into the mix.

As voted for by our Twitter followers, here’s Sam Ward’s latest #IsolationOlympics video… 🤣🤣Honestly, we have no words 🤷‍♂️🙈

Posted by Great Britain Hockey on Sunday, March 22, 2020

Here are a few other of Sam’s attempts:

Thanks for the laughs, Sam! If you ever want to try out this Olympic sport for real, for real…you know who to call.

Product Review: SmartPak Piper Sun Shirt

By on Mar 26, 2020 3:00 pm -

Photo by Jimmie Schramm.

Believe it or not, the first day of spring has come and gone. This means we need to start planning for warmer weather and sunshine! And there is nothing to better to boost the COVID-19 blues than online shopping.

I am a particularly fair skinned person who spent way too much time in the sun and the tanning bed in my adolescent years. Naturally, I am paying for it now by being covered in freckles and moles and getting something cut off every time I go to the dermatologist. Needless to say, I live in long sleeve shirts now, so I know a thing or two about “sun shirts”. I have tried every brand, all the different materials, and have ridden in them during all kinds of weather.

The first thing I noticed when opening the package from SmartPak that included the Piper Long Sleeve Crew Neck Sun Shirt was the beautiful color. I have a thing for spring/pastel colors and the Coastline color was right up my alley. Taking a look at the design, it has a simple crew neck, which is a nice change from traditional quarter zip of polo type neck lines. The underside of the sleeves is meshed for plenty of air flow. There is some different stitching on the back of the shirt that helps give it more of a feminine shape.

I am currently in Ocala, Florida (so sorry to everyone who has to endure an actual winter) and it has already started to heat up down here so I was excited to try this shirt out. When I first put it on I could not believe how light weight it was. The material is cool to the touch and not clingy and the sleeves weren’t skin tight, but have more of a lightweight open concept. As I expected, the seams down the back give it something a bit more than just a plain shirt. The back of the shirt does go a bit longer than the front, so it is a good shirt for those who do not care to tuck their shirts in. I live with my shirts tucked in and did not find the back bulky at all to tuck in even though it is a little bit longer than the front.

All in all I think this shirt is a win! It felt cool the whole time I wore it. The colors it comes in are beautiful and they are out just in time for the Spring and Summer. Lucky for all of you readers we joined up with SmartPak to do a contest that could include one of these awesome shirts! Stay tuned to EN for more info on the contest. In the meantime, you can pick up your own Piper Sun Shirt here.

Grateful In the Midst of Crisis

By on Mar 26, 2020 1:30 pm -

“In this crazy world, THIS is where I find my peace.” Photo courtesy of Michelle Wadley.

In one fell swoop and in less time than it takes my pony to scarf down his breakfast, I became unemployed and a homeschool mom. Such are the crazy times in which we live. Businesses and schools are closing indefinitely, toilet paper is worth more than my jumping saddle, and suddenly giving someone a hug could potentially kill them. Phrases like “the new normal” are becoming a reality. Well, I’m a horse person, an eventer and a server/bartender who is in her fifties with a seven-year-old son. “Normal” has never really applied to me.

What does apply to me, and to all of us, really, is learning to navigate the craziness while still keeping our wits about us. Never in a million years did I ever imagine I would be filling out unemployment forms, as I did this morning.  Never in a million years did I think Land Rover would be cancelled (Dang it! That’s my vacation destination each year!). And never in a million years did I think I would not only be educating my second grader, but also trying to find activities that can run out some of his energy (Self lunging is rapidly becoming an option).

Yes, it’s a new world, and yes, it can be frustrating. And while I am by no means trying to make light of the fact that this virus should be taken seriously because it can be lethal (I have parents in their 70s who are immunocompromised), I also think that we have to discover new ways to be kind to each other.

We have to continue to laugh at ourselves and our situation because laughter really is the best medicine, especially when you’re stuck at home with a vibrating child (Who ever thought he’d be tired of watching a screen?!). And most importantly, we need to find a way to be grateful for what we do have — make some lemonade from that huge lemon life handed us all.

I have read repeatedly that starting each day thinking of five things you are grateful for can change your overall attitude and help drive away depression. I need that even when I’m NOT facing the coronapocalypse! So here are five things I am thankful for in the midst of this crisis:

  1. Time

  2. Time

  3. Time

  4. Time

  5. And finally, TIME!

Seriously, though. The one thing that this incredible situation has given us more of is time. Suddenly I have more free time than I ever believed possible. And isn’t it amazing how quickly it disappears! I told my mom on the phone yesterday that the more free time I have, the less I have. Seems silly but it’s true.

In spite of that weird fact, I had time yesterday to have that rather lengthy phone conversation with my mom. I have also had time to work on the  neverending “Honey D0” list hanging on my fridge (Just please don’t ask me to actually CLEAN my house. Now my tack…that’s another story). And exercise! I live in a large, family-oriented neighborhood. It has been nothing short of amazing how many people are out walking and riding their bikes. And the dogs are definitely winning. So many people are walking their dogs.

I’m reconnecting with my family, my husband and my son. Which is the single most important thing I’m grateful for. And with so many restaurants closed, I have probably cooked dinner more this past week than I have all year!

I’m actually reading actual books again, and naps are a reality I NEVER thought I’d see again. All because I have been given the blessing of time.

Finally, as a horse person, and an eventer, I am SO grateful for time with my horse. Lots of time. Time to just enjoy him…hand grazing and grooming, lots of grooming (it IS shedding season after all) And yes, time to train. To work on those things I sometimes put off because there isn’t enough time. Well, now there is…and with more and more shows being cancelled each day, and the spring season coming to a screeching halt, even more time to fix those nagging little issues and simply just enjoy my horse.

So I am learning to be grateful in the midst of the crisis. A habit I hope to continue even after things return to their original version of normal. And if they don’t, and we’re faced with yet another new normal, I hope I’ll still find time to be grateful. Because gratitude is a good thing, and don’t we all need more of those?

Stay safe.

Stay grateful.

Go eventing.

Road to the Makeover: The Dappir Ridge Eventing Team Checks In

By on Mar 26, 2020 12:00 pm -

For 616 accepted trainers, the journey to the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, has begun! The 2020 event will take place at Oct. 7-10 at the Kentucky Horse Park. Between now and then, three trainers plus one team of four trainers will be blogging their journeys, including their triumphs and their heartbreaks, successes and failures, for Eventing Nation readers.

Last month, we met a team of four trainers from Dappir Ridge Eventing in Charlottesville, Virginia. Any journey is more fun when you’ve got buddies by your side! We’ll lead with Adriana Nannini’s update — be sure to check out her website here.

Dappir Ridge OTTBs have been coming along nicely! From left to right: Alex Austin on “Prince Attack”, Kiki Osbourne, Adriana Nannini on “Hunter’s Dream”. Photo courtesy of Dale Dealtrey.

Adriana Nannini

Amidst all of this Coronavirus craziness, both of my places of employment have closed their doors; the high school that I work at as well as the restaurant. Kiki, knowing that I would be needing some way to occupy my time, invited me to come ride sets with her and Alex in the mornings.

Bringing along this group of baby OTTBs really feels like a team effort, and I’m proud to be a part of it. I have very much enjoyed experiencing each of their unique personalities and figuring out how to adapt my riding to each one! Call Triple A aka “Buddy” and Baltic Art aka “Thor”, for example, are true steady eddies. They take a decent amount of leg, are willing to please, and are both nearly bombproof. Hunter’s Dream aka “Fox” is a dreamboat and I’m in love with him. He is super sensitive, but naturally balanced, athletic, and is going to be very fancy. It took me a hot minute to figure out how to ride him, because of how sensitive he is to the leg, but once I did, I fell in love with him. Alex has done such a nice job with that one.

And then there’s Sevennotrump, aka “Tricks” or “Trixie”. He is really living up to his name; he’s like a mischievous little boy! At first, his biggest struggle was steering. He would bulge his outside shoulder and run sideways with all 4 legs flailing in 4 different directions, mouth wide open and tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Really attractive, as you can imagine. Now, at long last, it appears we have overcome that unbecoming phase of life and have figured out how to steer and go [mostly] straight.

Tricks is actually quite soft and light in the bridle, and loves to stretch down, which is quite nice. The canter is simply divine. It is so rhythmic and naturally balanced, you could sit on it all day long. He is not your “typical” hyper-sensitive OTTB. Quite the contrary- he actually takes quite a bit of leg! While Tricks still occasionally has little baby temper tantrums, he is overall such a pleasure to ride; he is comfortable, willing, and has no shortage of personality!

When we first started Tricks over little jumps, he had no idea what to do with his long spidery legs, and was basically a hot mess. So Kiki and I decided to take him on his very first field trip, to a jump chute clinic with Martin Douzant. That clinic was a real lightbulb moment for his little brain.

Now, he trots around little courses of crossrails and small verticals happily and in a [mostly] coordinated fashion! Tricks has also been on two field trips down the road to Dappir Ridge’s other facility. He has been relaxed and well-behaved on his outings, where he has worked both in the ring and hacked out on the trails there. He even navigated his very first water crossing out on the trail!

Sevennotrump (“Tricks”) with Adriana Nannini and Hunter’s Dream (“Fox”) with Alex Austin navigating a water crossing. Photo courtesy of Kiki Osbourne

Kelly Giunta

Robbie Jones is a remarkable horse. He is sensible, smart and willing but like any young, green horse we have faced a few challenges these past couple months. The first and only “bad” thing Robbie did was bolt. He did this a few times when he was feeling fresh in the ring at Midway farm but since there was a fence around the ring I was able to stop him pretty quickly.

We moved him to Chapel Springs Farm (Dappir Ridge’s other facility) where the ring is in a large field with no fence around it. One day, I was riding Robbie there while Kiki was teaching a riding lesson. When the horse in the lesson trotted over a crossrail, we went from 0 to 60 in about three seconds and I had no steering or brakes and we were in the middle of a muddy field headed down a hill. Concerned that we were going to fall down I attempted a pulley rein and a one rein stop but Robbie locked his jaw and neck and did not want to stop or turn. Finally I took the left rein both hands and pulled with all my might and we came to a screeching halt!

After that day we spent a lot of time stopping, backing, turning and making sure I had tools to stop him if that happened again. He rarely does it now, but when I feel him start to take off I can now quickly turn him in a circle. The other issue we have sometimes is that I often come to ride after work when Robbie’s pasture buddies are turned out in the field next to the ring.

Robbie has told me several times that he really feels like he should be out playing with them and not working. Sometimes we have little tantrums which involve a lot of whinnying, prancing and generally ignoring everything I ask him to do. If he’s really not into it he will occasionally throw in a bolt or a little hop but thankfully he never rears or bucks! I try to think of this as a good training opportunity and not get frustrated with him. Most evenings I am able to work through the tantrums and get Robbie to focus and give me some good work. 

So far Robbie has only been on one field trip- to the Farmington Hunt Club Combined Test at Millington Stables. He was a total rockstar! He went in the dressage ring for the first time ever, cantered his first whole jump course and came home with a blue ribbon!

Robbie seems to enjoy jumping and appears to be quite talented! I am looking forward to the future with him.

“Robbie Jones” and Kelly Giunta showing stylish jumping form! Photo courtesy of Kiki Osbourne.

Alex Austin

While I ride all of the baby OTTBs in the barn, my main project is Hunter’s Dream, aka “Fox”. Fox is sweet, willing, and very much an “old soul”. He is clever (like a fox!) over the little fences he’s starting to jump. He seems to really enjoy jumping as he bravely hops over most new obstacles he encounters. Fox is an absolute gem to hack out and trail ride, quietly handling all of the bikers and runners that share the road with him.

I took Fox on his first cross country school a week ago and was so pleased with his reaction to a large new environment. He encountered many scary jumps, including his first water complex! It took a long time to convince him the water was safe, and that there were no gators, but once he jumped in (literally) he splashed about in it the rest of the afternoon. 

As willing as Fox is, he has his struggles too. He can be very tense and nervous, making it difficult to create and maintain a steady connection with him, especially when distractions are present. So we have been planning many field trips for him in order to expose him to new environments and experiences, and encourage him to relax. 

Fox went to his first combined test this past weekend, and saw his first dressage ring! While we didn’t place, he did stay inside the dressage ring for his whole test!  He kept most of his wits about him even though he was very nervous, and jumped all of the jumps in his show jump round.  

I am thrilled to be a part of this special guy’s growth, and excited to see what else he can do!

Alex Austin schooling Baltic Art (“Thor”) over fences. Photo courtesy of Kiki Osbourne.

Kiki Osbourne

Since I have a hand in several of these OTTBs I’ll give a quick recap on a few of the others in our group!

Hands down, the most settled in his mind and self-confident is Baltic Art (“Thor”), but a close second is Call Triple A (“Buddy”). Both of these smart guys are not easily influenced by other horses’ behavior or attitude. I can easily hop on either one and go for a ride alongside a more excited, reactive friend, and they just stay their course and get down to business. Thor has been on a couple of field trips off the farm, and is always the same horse.

While he thinks it’s fun and interesting, he still demonstrates maturity and focus off the farm. His attitude makes it easier to teach him new things, like jumping! New gate? New plank? No problem! Although he still has a long way to go, his canter is beginning to get stronger in the sense that he is able to be somewhat more adjustable. Hills, Thor, hills….

Buddy also has a lovely brain, and I can’t stress enough how important that is! He too excels in his trot work, but struggles a bit in the canter. His left lead is much harder than the right, but slowly we are starting to even out the left and the right side. Because his canter still needs to develop more, we are holding off on starting him over fences for another month or so. He has done a bit of pole work, which I also hope will strengthen his back and hindquarters. But, like Thor- hills, hills and more hills!

Now to discuss Prince Attack (“Prince”), who is literally “the Prince”. He is the most juvenile of the bunch, (he won’t officially turn 4 until the end of May!) and is pretty much always out for a good time. He has recently started to show up for work more days than not, and he’s a pretty fancy boy with 3 lovely gaits and a good jump. Prince has gone on a field trip to the jump chute clinic, and definitely enjoyed himself.

He was a quick study on how to get himself out of the way of the rails. He also went on an adventure around the corner to a local farm. It took him quite a while to settle in with the excitement of several other horses being in the ring, but with the amazing Alex in the irons, he eventually took a breath and got to work. Our biggest challenge with Prince is channeling his mental energy, especially outside of the ring. I am so thankful to Alex and her patient and relaxed attitude with him. He gets better every day!

I’d say this crew is almost ready to go to a show and start to experience life with even more horse friends around. However, it looks like we are all going to spend our early spring practicing and traveling to local farms. This is never a bad thing to do with a group of youngsters!

Kiki Osbourne with Call Triple A (“Buddy”). Photo courtesy of Adriana Nannini

Tattersalls International H.T. is Canceled

By on Mar 26, 2020 11:00 am -

Tattersalls International Horse Trials, scheduled for May 27-31, 2020, will not run this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release sent out this morning:

Following on from the Government’s increasing COVID-19 public health restrictions we are sorry to announce that it is no longer possible to stage the Tattersalls International Horse Trials in any capacity between 27 and 31 May 2020.

These are extraordinary and demanding times for everyone and the health and safety of all those that attend and are involved with Tattersalls remains our overriding priority. Please be assured that the Tattersalls International Horse Trials operates a refund policy and we will be in contact in due course with more information on how these will be processed accordingly.

This decision has not been taken lightly and we are conscious at all times of our dual responsibility to the requirements of the many stakeholders involved in the Tattersalls International Horse Trials and the wider public health issues which have overtaken normal daily life throughout the world.

Tattersalls International Horse Trials would like to take this opportunity to thank and wish all of our regular participants, sponsors, exhibitors, supporters and volunteers well through this challenging time.

The Event Team is now operating remotely. Please therefore direct all further enquiries via e-mail to:

Event Coordinator: [email protected]
Event Director: [email protected]
Event Secretary: [email protected]
Tickets/Village: [email protected]

We will continue to provide the most recent updates on event postponements and cancellations. Please reference this list for the most current updates to horse shows and events around the world.