Classic Eventing Nation

Sport Horse Nation Spotlight: 5 Kentucky Cuties

By on Apr 13, 2020 1:00 pm -

In the market for a new four-legged partner? You may find your unicorn on our sister site, Sport Horse Nation. To help with the search, we’re going to feature a selection of current listings here on EN. We include the ad copy provided; click the links for videos, pricing and contact information.

We are so bummed not to be making our annual pilgrimage to Kentucky at the end of this month 😭 but the horse capital of the world (plus the rest of the state) has plenty of options for you virtual horse shoppers. Here’s five horses listed for sale in the bluegrass state:

Fred. Photo via Sport Horse Nation.

Talented Event Prospect

This incredibly talented horse has successfully made his transition into the world of dressage competition. He easily qualified for USDF Regional Championships at his first two competitions early in the 2019 season. Image Ofa Prince aka Fred is showing an incredible knack for collection and has already begun schooling half steps. This horse has FEI potential stamped on him. Fred has a great attitude and incredible trainability. Fred is suitable for a Jr/Young Rider of Adult Amateur rider in a program, but has the talent to be a professionals horse. Fred is best suited for an intermediate/advanced rider.

Fred is jumping small courses and is ready to start showing over fences! (pending the end of the quarantine!)

Fred is a solid 1st level horse, Fred is ready to show 2nd level and is schooling 3rd. More photos and videos available.

Fred has also been xc schooling, including banks, ditches, and water.

Arbor Lane’s Celestial. Photo via Sport Horse Nation.

Schoolmaster Novice Level AA/Jr Event Horse

Arbor Lane’s Celestial (Celeste) is a beautiful 12 year old, 15.1h Connemara/TB mare, sired by Wildwych Eclipse. Celeste has extensive eventing experience at N and BN, both with an AA as well as a professional. She has won at both levels at sanctioned events; has competed in the end of year Area VIII Championships for the last two years; has represented Midsouth Pony Club and was 2018 Novice Champion Connemara Cross in North America.

Always in the ribbons and with multiple wins at local shows, Celeste has also competed in dressage shows at training level and first levels with scores consistently between 77-79.5. Celeste enjoys going on hacks both alone and in company. She has helped break and pony Thoroughbred yearlings in the Fall for the last three years. Easy to load and ship, catch, clip and shoe and wonderful both at home and away, she is a true ‘all-rounder’. With impeccable manners, Celeste is a joy to work with. Great feet, easy keeper, she possesses all the perks of the Connemara breed. Very sadly offered for sale due to young family commitments, Five star home only.

Date A Saint. Photo via Sport Horse Nation.

Date A Saint – “Saint” **Price Reduced**

Date A Saint (Saint) is an 11 year old, 16.3 hh TB gelding. Has competed at the preliminary level in eventing and has some miles in the jumpers at 1.10/1.15. Saint is brave and uncomplicated over fences with a great canter and scopey jump. He is currently being ridden by an amateur at the BN/Novice level. Best suited for a junior/young rider or adult amateur looking to learn the lower levels of eventing or continue his career in the jumpers.
Ties, loads, hacks out alone or in a group. Stands well for vet and farrier. Videos available upon request.

Little Brooke Cruise. Photo via Sport Horse Nation.

Little Brooke Cruise – Winning training level ISH

Little Brooke Cruise “Brooke” is a 2012, 17.1 hand, Irish Sport horse mare out of Cruising. She was imported from Ireland at the age of 3 and has been competing successfully ever since. Brooke is currently competing training level eventing with lots of potential to go further in any discipline.

Brooke is uncomplicated, safe and brave. She can take a joke and runs on auto piolet during cross-country. She is very consistent in the bridle for dressage and has three beautiful gates. She has a very professional attitude and acts the same at home as she does at shows.

Brooke exceeds in everything she does and would do wonderful in any direction you wish to take her. She self-loads, clips, and ties and would make the perfect addition to any family. Only selling because I am a college student and no longer have the time for two horses. More videos available upon request.

Brody Takes Charge. Photo via Sport Horse Nation.

Amateur Friendly Upper Level Eventing Prospect

Brody Takes Charge is a 4 yr old, 16h Thoroughbred gelding. He is extremely quiet on the ground, has an very easy going personality and is a pleasure to work with. He’s easy and uncomplicated to ride. Brody is quiet yet forward on the flat in three lovely gaits! He has schooled banks, ditches and water and just loves it! Brody has shipped off property often and stands on the trailer alone while another horse is schooled. He has schooled in an indoor arena along side multiple upper level dressage horses at once and is not bothered or intimidated with the other horses around him. He hacks out super quiet, alone or in a group. Brody has been ridden by a confident 10 yr old rider, meanwhile he possesses the scope and potential for the upper levels. He is 2020 RRP TB Makeover eligible and could be competitive in multiple disciplines. He has no known physical limitations. Brody Takes Charge is for sale with Rosie Napravnik Off-Track Sporthorses and priced in the upper four figures.

Listings included in this article are randomly selected and confirmed to be current and active before inclusion. Sport Horse Nation features user-generated content and therefore cannot verify or make any warranty as to the validity or reliability of information.

A Letter to Me — Katy Robinson

By on Apr 13, 2020 11:42 am -

If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would you say? That’s the topic of a new series by Equestrian Marketing Firm Athletux. Today Katy Robinson (né Groesbeck) shares her letter. Based in Parker, Colorado, at KG Eventing, Katy is a woman of many talents who has competed through four-star level eventing, Prix St. George in dressage, Level 5 jumpers, and completed several limited- and long-distance endurance rides. She has been named to Developing Rider Under 25 lists, was a Rebecca Broussard International Developing Rider Grant Recipient, and has had top  finishes at international events from coast to coast. 

Previous letters: Tamie Smith, Jennifer Wooten

Photo courtesy of Katy Robinson.

Dear Katy,

I can picture you now: still in your breeches, sitting on the couch at 11 p.m., studying hard for tomorrow’s AP World History exam. I know you feel overwhelmed; you are struggling to remember the significance of someone who lived centuries ago while simultaneously struggling to envision your own future and your own significance in the world. You don’t know what you want to wear to school tomorrow, let alone what you want to do with the rest of your life, and yet it feels like everyone expects you to know.

The fact is, it’s fine to be unsure. The things that you are most confident about are the things you will be most wrong about anyway, and this trend will become an ironic friend to you throughout your life. It will make you laugh … later.

And yes, I’m laughing at you now, because you think you will NEVER be a professional rider. You know that you love your horses and competing and living on a ranch, but you also watch your parents struggle every day to pay bills and keep food on the table and never, ever, EVER under any circumstances take a day off.  You know that you want to get a degree and make money and have a “real job” and ride for fun – like normal people.

I’m laughing at you now because you have no idea what’s coming, and you will never know what normal is.

Without giving away too many details, I can tell you now that you WILL move away from home and get your degree. You WILL have dozens of “real jobs,” usually simultaneously, and all the money you make will pay for your horse to be at school with you. The horse you wanted to ride for fun, well you will keep riding him for fun – but you will also get fairly good at what you do together. You will get good enough and train hard enough that you eventually won’t remember a time when you did anything but ride.

Graduation will become something that you casually look forward to as something that happens between Woodside and Rebecca Farm, and grad school applications will be replaced with FEI entries.

You will even eventually be able to help other people reach their dreams of riding at the upper levels, and that will feel as rewarding as doing it yourself. You will change your riding style more often than your underwear as your knowledge grows, and you will ride horses who challenge the limits of your skills in ways both agonizing and exhilarating. One day, you will even have the seedlings of a savings account!

You will find passion in developing young horses for people, and you’ll continue to be drawn to the horses whose enormous talent is hidden under even bigger personalities. You will never under any circumstance feel good enough, and this will drive your frustration and your passion; it will be the thing that makes you drive to the barn each day in the hopes of another chance to do it better.

You will become a working student. This is a chapter of your life that will have a bigger impact on you than you can possibly imagine. Every waking moment of every day for years you will be immersed in education. In hopes. In dreams. You will learn from some of the legends of eventing, people you have only so far read about in magazines. You will become hungrier to get to the top than you ever thought possible and awake in dreams you didn’t even know you had. You will feel invincible.

You will pack everything you own in your car and drive across the country with your horse on your last dime to take a shot at the Big Leagues.

Your life will be changed when people who are almost strangers to you decide to invest in your future because they believe in you and your little horse so much. You will meet some of the most influential people of your riding career and make lifelong friends.

But it’s not all roses. Just about the same time you are receiving unprecedented support, you will doubt yourself. You will feel like for every person who wants you to succeed, there are two who are waiting for you to fail. There will be major heartbreaks and losses. You will be on the top of your game one day, sights set on Kentucky or Europe, and the next day be starting in the round pen again.

The closer you get to thinking you’re “somebody,” the farther away it will feel. You will get so frustrated that for a time, you won’t care at all about being a somebody. You will struggle to keep horses, you will struggle with your personal relationships, and your priorities will look like you stood them in front of a Fun House mirror from time to time. You will feel lost and defeated and unworthy.

Rest assured, a few things will keep you going every time you think maybe you should walk away while no one would notice: your love of horses, your husband, and a strong tendency toward stubbornness.

Like you are now, overwhelmed by the uncertainty of your future, you will always keep trying your hardest to be the best at everything you do in the hopes that the way forward will unfurl itself at your feet. Your life will continue to be a series of exquisitely imperfect moments that collide into one another in ways that sometimes seem destined by fate and other times seem hopelessly random, and you’re just going to keep battling until something works out.

I would love to say, “Don’t worry, you make it in the end!” but I honestly don’t know yet; I’m a long, long way away from the person I want to be as a rider, as a coach, as a student, as a wife, as a friend (pro tip: spend as much time on your people skills as your horse skills). I haven’t been to Kentucky or Europe yet and it’s been years since my riding made headlines; I’d be lying to you if I said I was content being average or I didn’t yearn for another Fifteen Minutes in the limelight, so I’m still working on “making it.”

But – and this is important – every day you will make it to another day, another chance. No matter how hard it gets, you will keep working. You will find solutions and you will make opportunities for yourself. You will find joy in a weird little horse, and his trust in you will make you feel like taking on the world again (be patient, he WILL get better at dressage). You will learn to not worry about the rest of the world and run your own race.

Just keep kicking. Don’t give up. Train like you’ve never won and compete like you’ve never lost.

Love from 30,

Katy

Equestrian Marketing Firm Athletux has recently restructured its business model to focus on three main areas: equestrian brands, athletes and events. This is a particularly exciting development for brands, who will benefit from Athletux’s wealth of industry insight to help build their image, maximize use of social media platforms and email marketing campaigns, manage sponsored riders, assist with graphic design and more. Learn more by visiting the just-launched new Athletux website here.

Monday News & Notes from Fleeceworks

By on Apr 13, 2020 10:10 am -

Have you tuned into Virtual Eventing yet? Honestly, planning the form guide for it is the only thing I think about, if you’re wondering just how single I am in this lockdown. Turns out I need slightly mediocre dressage scores and a few time penalties to feel whole.

National Holiday: National Scrabble Day (also, you know, Easter Monday)

Your Monday reading list:

In incredibly sad news from the dressage world, the great Dr Bechtolsheimer has passed away. ‘Dr B’ was an enormously influential and well-loved figure, and was the springboard to superstardom for dressage legend Carl Hester. Dr B’s own daughter, Laura, has also been a prominent figure on British teams in her own right, and continues to carry on her father’s impressive legacy in the ring. Our most heartfelt condolences to all of Dr B’s family, friends, students, and connections – his loss is a profound one to the sport. [Statement: Dr Wilfried Bechtolsheimer]

Feeling a bit lonely without your lorry park pals? There’s an app for that. #RidersConnected is the latest brainchild of the EquiRatings/SAP super-conglomerate, and it’s designed to, well, connect riders. Featuring social media posts, videos, games, and challenges – including an Olympic lawn-mowing competition from Brazilian eventer Ruy Fonseca – it’s packed full of the half-bonkers, half-inspiring content we all need most right now. [#ridersconnected: Apart. Together.]

Some inner-city ponies are enjoying a luxury country retreat courtesy of a Hampshire-based hunt. When Riding for the Disabled stable Vauxhall City Farm had to find somewhere for its four-legged residents to weather the storm, the Countryside Alliance put out a call to arms amongst its members. Now, these hard-working and much-loved ponies are enjoying their summer homes free of charge, allowing the charity to focus its attention and its funding on staying afloat for the post-pandemic world. [Hunts step up to provide temporary home for inner-city horses]

Monday Video from Fleeceworks: Oliver Townend, Poet Laureate of Eventing

Well, he’s certainly a man of many surprises, anyway – and Oliver Townend showed one of them off in the Hidden Talents leg of the #EquestrianRelief fundraiser. Enjoy!

 

 

#EventerProblems Vol. 222, Presented by Haygain: Stir Crazy

By on Apr 12, 2020 1:30 pm -

Feeling a little stir crazy? You aren’t alone, as evidenced by your latest batch of #EventerProblems.

View this post on Instagram

Okay, so I didn't wait a couple weeks. I just waited until the afternoon. 😆 the weather got sunny and warm. The wind died down and the horses were all relaxed. You'll be able to see some anxious moments while the other horses are by the fence. My goal is to just redirect her back to what I'm asking. Focus on me, not the distractions. . . The second video is taken just after Lexi had a meltdown. The horses came running up behind us and Lexi wanted to bolt. As a very well bred and track trained thoroughbred her first instinct is to run, and she doesn't want any horse passing and getting ahead. 😏 it was a positive experience, and I'm pleased with how it went. . . I'm off to my riding lesson today so I should have lots of video! 😁

A post shared by Ashley Tuvera (@thepoorhorsegirl) on

 Haygain is a science driven company with the horse’s health as the primary focus.

We are committed to improving equine health through scientific research, product innovation and consumer education in respiratory and digestive health. Developed by riders, for riders, we understand the importance of clean forage and a healthy stable environment in maintaining the overall well-being of the horse.

Our Haygain hay steamers are recommended by the world’s leading riders, trainers and equine vets and ComfortStall® Sealed Orthopedic Flooring System is used and recommended by leading Veterinary Hospitals, including Cornell University.

ERM ‘SIM Season 2020’ Launches Today With Virtual ERM Leg 1 at Burnham Market

By on Apr 12, 2020 10:53 am -

Event Rider Masters classes were canceled due to COVID-19 last month … but now they’re making a big comeback, at least virtually. Equirating’s new Eventing Manager App was due to launch at ERM Leg 1, Burnham Market, which would have been taking place this weekend. The launch is still going forward — via the ERM SIM Season 2020.

The Simulated Event Rider Masters 2020 Season will be a live online video broadcast for each competition simulation. A field of 20 ERM Riders are chosen for each competition and taking their past form statistics into account, Equiratings runs a computer simulation. Using Equiratings models powered by SAP Predictive Analytics, they will create the likely results for the dressage, show jumping and cross country phases of the competition. Every competitor in the simulation has a chance of having a good or bad competition; they could have a Personal Best Dressage score, only to throw it all away with a 20 penalty refusal in the cross country phase. It really is eventing as we know it; as the exciting sport of a million variables.

Did we mention you have a budget of $10M?

The Equiratings Eventing Manager App (EM App) allows fans to play their own tactical game during each simulation, where a league table pits them up against all other EM App players around the world. Players “buy” a team of four riders and hope their team has success in all three phases. ERM will offer merchandise prizes to the leaders of each EM App fan league to add to the fans’ excitement.

The first ever Simulated Competition of the ERM 2020 SIM Season will be the Barefoots Retreat Burnham Market Simulation taking place today, Sunday April 12th, at 7:45 p.m.(BST)/2:45 p.m.(EST). As you’d expect from an ERM broadcast, you’ll be able to watch live on the ERM website and also on Facebook Live.

The Eventing Manager App is available to download for iOS and Android devices. Find out more about the Eventing Manager App by visiting the EquiRatings website.

The ERM SIM Season is part of the new #RidersConnected campaign, a joint effort between ERM, EquiRatings, Black Horse (the company behind spectator judging) and Willberry Wonder Pony Charity, brought together by SAP.

Easter Sunday Links from One K Helmets

By on Apr 12, 2020 12:01 am -

Some bunny loves you! Photo by Lisa Samoylenko.

Happy Easter, EN! While this holiday probably looks different from normal this year, we hope you get to enjoy it someway somehow. Eleazor Davis Farm was busy this weekend spreading some joy with an operation dubbed “Feed The Soul.” Let’s all try to do a little of that in our own homes and communities. Be kind and share the love.

Go eventing and this tiny pony dressed as a bunny:

Easter Bunny and sidekick, Bella Bunny on the way home to Eleazer Davis Farm after spreading smiles around Bedford. Suzanne Schmuhl Koller – Operation Feed the Soul!

Posted by Eleazer Davis Farm on Saturday, April 11, 2020

National Holiday: Happy Easter!

Sunday Links:

Daniel Stewart’s Tip of the Month: COVID or Go Big?

The March/April Issue of Eventing USA is Now Available!

New app allows eventing fans to play along with simulated Event Rider Masters on Easter Sunday

HITS Chicago Relocates To Lamplight Equestrian Center

The Gratitude List

‘Ten Foot Cops’: A Glimpse Inside New York City’s Mounted Police Unit

Exclusive Coverage: The Aberporth Horse TrAils 2020

By on Apr 11, 2020 9:00 am -

Our friends at Horse Nation offer an exclusive look at what is perhaps the ONLY live competition in all of the UK for April 2020: the Aberporth Horse TrAils. This is coverage you won’t want to miss!

When the world has gone mad, sometimes the absolute best way to cope is to go a bit bonkers yourself, especially if you’re a lifelong horsewoman who’s been grounded from riding temporarily because of this tiny little thing known as a global pandemic.

Thank God for cross country creativity, a grand prix-level wit and a delightfully accomplished rider!  Enter Faye Barry-Pavey and her soon-to-be internationally acclaimed three-day eventing mount, Mermaid!

Faye Barry-Pavey and her amazing mare, Mermaid. Photo by Anthony Pavey.

As with most great riders, Barry-Pavey has been so focused on her riding she didn’t quite realize she would soon become an internet sensation. I came across her extraordinary cross-country round via social media and knew right away she and Mermaid were destined to become The Next Big Thing. Check it out:

In an exclusive interview, Barry-Pavey took time out from her hectic training regime to give us a little more information about her training methods and riding success.

Barry-Pavey began riding at an early age and worked her way up through the ranks as a professional groomer. She groomed in several disciplines, including hunt, polo, and eventing. “Partied hard; worked even harder; partied harder even more.”

Her skills as a professional groom were extraordinary and let to her top job as Second Groom to Zara Phillips Tindall. “I figured that was about the tops I could do,” so a few years ago she left the grueling travel schedule of professional groom life and transitioned into a new career as a caregiver in a care center for special needs adults. At the same time, she became mum to the lovely Isla and began passing on her love of riding to her daughter.

Mum Faye and daughter Isla riding a favorite pony.

Barry-Pavey evented her own beloved mount, Sunny, to top awards.  Sunny was a homebred Connemara-Thoroughbred cross, and “a legend.”

Faye competing her beloved eventing partner, Sunny.

Tragically, she lost Sunny last year. Since then, she has been riding friends’ horses, focusing especially on a couple of young Connemara crosses to bring them along. That is, until the recent pandemic effectively grounded most equestrians in the UK, including Barry-Pavey. Sad to be grounded, and seeking to entertain herself and her family while self-quarantining in their home in Aberporth, Wales, UK (“the wet part,” she quips), Barry-Pavey came up with a wicked-good way to pass the time. “I saw the online competitions being posted, where you record a ride, send it in, and judges review and place them, and I thought – why not?”

Enter Mermaid, some household “jumps,” a tipple (or two) of gin* and a non-horsey husband who’s as game as they come.

*For the rider only; Mermaid was absolutely drug-free and FEI-compliant throughout the competition.

Like most eventers, Barry-Pavey prefers cross-country, yet she and Mermaid put in a very respectable “Prelim 7” dressage test at Aberporth:

Following the successful trot-up.

Mermaid was cleared for the stadium round!

Mermaid is a young mare, “feisty” and “quite testing on the course — it’s undulating ground.” As Barry-Pavey described the pair’s stadium round, “Mermaid doesn’t instinctively lock on to the fence; with Sunny, I could tell him which fence and he would just lock on and go.  Mermaid needed a lot of encouragement over several of the fences; I’m surprised I didn’t get called out for excessive use of the whip . . . She can be a bit marish and has her own opinion. I have to work hard to ride her.”

Asked about her riding style for this particular course, Barry-Pavey is frank. “I had nerves — dreadful nerves. But I think, if I don’t have those nerves, then I don’t respect the fences and you have to respect the fences.” She was “glad that last fence did come apart; it wasn’t a pretty round, but  – we’ve all got things to work on . . .”

Regarding Mermaid’s condition after the fall at the final fence, “I called my mum; we worked things out with homeopathy (no bute – FEI rules, you know), a lot of cold hosing, apples, carrots, coaxing and a bit of massage.”

When asked about what’s next for her and Mermaid, Barry-Pavey is optimistic. “Now that I have the videos of this competition, I’ll study them — I’ve got lots of homework to do. I’d like to show Mermaid’s versatility, so perhaps some polo, barrel racing and after that, maybe a bit of gymkhana. We’ll see how it goes.”

As with most equestrian events, sponsorship is a major key to success! Barry-Pavey wants to personally thank her sister Sarah’s company, NaturalAnimalShiP,** for sponsoring the Aberporth Horse TrAils 2020.

(** a correction to the sponsorship banner is noted, as it was originally posted as “NaturalAnimalShit”).

Aberporth Horse TrAils 2020 Sponsor, NaturalAnimalShiP.

No matter what’s next in store for this dynamic duo #TeamMermaid, we at HorseNation are so delighted they shared their fun and giggles with all of us, especially now when we need all the positivity we can find!

Faye Barry-Pavey with her daughter Isla and husband Anthony.

Check out the Aberporth Horse TrAils 2020. It’s perhaps the only live competition in all of the United Kingdom in April 2020.  #HistoryInTheMaking

Perhaps the only live competition in all of the UK during April 2020.

Surefire Farm Cancels September Event to Focus on June H.T.

By on Apr 11, 2020 6:15 am -

The Surefire Farm Horse Trials scheduled for September 25-27, 2020 in Purcellville, Virginia has been canceled.

The event released this statement:

“Surefire Eventing is looking forward to year 16 of our Spring Horse Trials, scheduled for June 19-21. Regretfully, however, we have made the decision to cancel our September event. Last year, with the Essex Horse Trials running the same weekend as our June Horse Trials, we were hurt financially to the point we were unable to carry our September event as we normally do. With so many events in Area II, as well as competition from Stable View in Area III, we’ve decided to focus on one event and put all our effort and resources into making the Surefire June Horse Trials as great as we can.”

[Surefire Farm to Cancel September Event]

 

Saturday Links from Nupafeed USA

By on Apr 11, 2020 12:01 am -

Photo via Pippa Funnell on Facebook.

Some folks are lucky enough to be able to use this extra time at home to spend with their families. (Or, if you’re not stuck with your family in-person, we’ve all become well-versed at Zoom by now!) William Fox Pitt is enjoying spending some time with his daughter, Alice, reading some of Tilly’s Pony Tails, Pippa Funnell’s children’s book series, with her. Oh, you didn’t know Pippa Funnell wrote a pony-centric series of children’s books? Well, check them on this blast from the past website!

National Holiday: National Day of Silence

Your Saturday Links:

The March/April Issue of Eventing USA is Now Available Online!

New app allows eventing fans to play along with simulated Event Rider Masters on Easter Sunday

Cathal Daniels: The Olympic Dream is Alive and Well

‘Ten Foot Cops’: A Glimpse Inside New York City’s Mounted Police Unit

The Gratitude List

National Sporting Library And Museum Offers Virtual Tour

Hot on Horse Nation: Standing Ovation by Ovation Riding: Classic Equine — Classic Equine is now making PPE masks for first responders.

Saturday Featured Video: Equestrians across all disciplines have been taking part in a charity effort known as Equestrian Relief, which benefits the UK’s National Health Service as they combat COVID-19 as teams of equestrians participate in challenges. Team Eventing took the lead in the Plankety Plank challenge, thanks largely in part to Oliver Townend who held a plank for THIRTEEN MINUTES. And you thought you had a strong core?

Friday Video from SmartPak: Socially Responsible Jumping Lessons

By on Apr 10, 2020 6:18 pm -

So our ‘new normal’ includes one-way systems and queues at the supermarket, McGyver-ed face masks and rubber gloves in situations that would normally never call for rubber gloves. It’s cool; we can cope with all this. But if you’re still able to ride, how do you deal with trying to maintain social distancing with your instructor? The German Instructor has a few ideas – although further testing may be needed, we suspect.