The first jumps!
Good morning EN! Today Fair Hill officially kicks off with the trot-up at 1:00. Ride times will be available soon after the jogs, and dressage begins tomorrow morning. If you missed it, be sure to check out Jenni’s preview of the CCI*** that was posted yesterday. Unfortunately one anticipated entry, newest American-based rider Clayton Fredericks, scratched after Walterstown Don strained a muscle earlier this week. Clayton writes on his Twitter that he will give him a rest and aim for Rolex in the spring. Keep checking back for more updates from Fair Hill. You can also check out the official Fair Hill blog, where there are pictures and updates from set-up over the past few days. [Official Fair Hill Blog] [Schedule] [Scores]
Our second headline comes from the O’Connor Event Team: unfortunately, Karen has had a bit of a setback during her healing process and will be undergoing surgery tomorrow at John Hopkins to stabilize one of her vertebrae that has slipped since her fall. The OCET Facebook page writes: “She was admitted immediately yesterday for prep for surgery. She will go under the knife tomorrow afternoon – her surgeon is known as the best of the best in the field of thoracic surgery and the prognosis is excellent for a full recovery – Karen is humbled and touched by everyones notes and well wishes….” We are all sending lots of good thoughts and EN karma her way as she undergoes her procedure. [OCET Facebook]
Your weekend preview:
Hagyard Midsouth Team Challenge [Website] [Ride Times]
Ram Tap HT [Website]
Paradise Farm [Website] [Entry Status]
Event at Kelly’s Ford [Website] [Entry Status]
Onto your links:
Mike Etherington-Smith, British Eventing’s Chief Executive, will take part in the 2013 International Eventing Forum, entitled “Journey to the Top” in England in February. He will be joined by David O’Connor in a session called “Course Designer vs Coach,” in which Mike will pose questions to David as a course builder, and David will respond as a coach. Mike designed the courses at both the Beijing and Sydney Olympics and the 2010 WEGs, in addition to many others. Mark Todd will also present at the forum, specifically on key tools to improve your horse’s showjumping. [British Eventing]
The Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage series kicks off this weekend in Odense, Denmark. Riders will be collecting points at shows throughout the series, building up to the final next April in Gothenburg, Sweden. A star-studded lineup will be riding this weekend, including London individual silver medalist Adelinde Cornelissen and the legendary Anky van Grunsven, whom won nine out of 13 World Cup titles during a 13-year-period running up to 2008. It will be something of an Olympic reunion for many riders, as many countries’ representatives will be riding in the series. [Horsetalk]
Speaking of dressage, international riders are out on a quest to increase the number of dressage riders at the Rio Olympics in 2016. According to Horse and Hound, members of the FEI dressage committee have called for the number of riders at the games to be increased from 50 to 60. However, because IOC rules dictate that only 200 horses are allowed to be present at the games, in order to increase the number of dressage horses there would have to be a reduction in the number of show jumpers and/or eventers. Currently 75 horses compete in each discipline, and according to London Olympian Richard Davison, “it is totally illogical that at an Olympics you have 75 riders in both showjumping and eventing but only 50 in dressage.” FEI dressage director Trond Asmyr says that a change in the breakdown of numbers is “doubtful.” [Horse and Hound]
Equine charities and British authorities are warning against a coming equine disaster this winter. Six charities have released a crisis report called “Left On the Verge: the approaching Equine Crisis in England and Wales” that predicts another harsh winter and such a large increase in the number of horses abandoned or neglected that they will not be able to handle all of the cases. The organizations say that there are 6,000 potentially at-risk horses that they will be unable to care for, and that owners need to take responsibility for their animals instead of putting them off onto local governments. The report also calls upon the government to proactively prevent cases of abuse and neglect, and make several recommendations for how to control the growing horses population. Click for a link to the full text. [Horsetalk]
Best of Blogs:
Lara and Colleen are safely across the pond! Colleen and Shiraz will compete at the Pau CCI**** next weekend from October 24-28. Click to read about Lara’s adventures flying over the ocean, including getting to sit in the cockpit for takeoff. [Destination Pau]
An Eventful Life asked Australian “performance coach” Jon Pitts what it really means to be a “performance coach.” Basically a performance coach uses “research, analysis and technology in a multi-disciplined approach to help riders to optimize performance.” The post is the first in a series that will give more detail on what it takes to be a performance coach and the research behind the role. [An Eventful Life]
EN sends condolences to Calypso Farm on their loss of Impulsive, the AHSA 1997 Champion Zone Horse of the Year for Intermediate with Jane Brownlow. She was euthanized due to complications from old age on October 8 at the age of 22. [Rest in peace Impulsive]
Leaving you with a video detailing what it’s like to be a steeplechase horse…their life looks like more fun than mine. Thanks for reading, enjoy your Wednesday!
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