Good Morning Eventing Nation, and welcome to Friday! The Friday before Thanksgiving means that for many, that this is the last day before the week long vacation begins! I was listening to the radio the other day and Ryan Seacrest said (so it must be true) that it is an urban myth that suicide rates increase around the holidays, but that psychiatric admissions actually do increase by as much as ten percent around the holidays. Being an only child with twenty seven cousins on just one side of the family, the holidays are always a family overload for me, so I can see where that statistic is coming from. I’ll keep you updated as to whether I make it through Thanksgiving without admitting myself anywhere.
Adelaide of course is this weekend, which ESJ will have a great many photographs along with some color commentary in his daily reports. The 2011 season is almost over, but not quite, there is still a handful of horse trials to go. This weekend, the events taking place are:
The Ocala HT [Live Scores]
Las Cruces HT [Live Scores]
Ram Tap Horse Trials [Live Scores]
Texas Rose Horse Park HT [Live Scores]
Adelaide [Live Scores]
Obviously the big news of the week is the purchase of Mr. Medicott for Karen O’Connor to ride. A high profile sale like this is big news for all the major Eventing nations (no pun intended), because it means that the United States is starting to build a formidable team for the London Games. There is no word yet on who will actually be buying the horse for Karen, but I imagine that news should emerge sometime over the weekend or into early next week. This horse oozes consistency, as John reported yesterday, In 31 career FEI starts, Mr. Medicott has an impressive 28 completions, 27 clear cross country rounds, 16 clean show jumping rounds, and 18 top ten finishes. Paired with the news that Phillip Dutton has purchased two new mounts in Australia, one for a student, and the other of which really looks to be a London contender, means this really is an exciting week for US Eventing.
In more international Eventing news, it was just announced yesterday that Austria has submitted an application to host the FEI World Equestrian Games 2018. Austria will join the ranks of the seven other countries vying to host the next WEG: Australia, Canada, Hungary, Morocco, Russia, Sweden and the United States of America. My knowledge of Austria extends about as far as The Sound of Music movie, and my knowledge of the Austrian eventing scene is even less, but here’s to them for making a bid. I’d bet one of the coolest parts of representing your country internationally (especially over a decade or two) are all the different and diverse countries you get to experience. [Horsetalk]
Oh, before I forget, this is your reminder that the live blog with Francis Whittington and Clark Montgomery will take place at 6 pm tonight. John will be hosting, along with Samantha I believe. Live blogs, if nothing else, usually work out to be pretty entertaining, albeit somewhat off topic discussions. Be there or be square.
Bobby Lovgren, the head horse trainer in the much anticipated and soon-to-be-released blockbuster War Horse, gave an interview about his experience working with the movie. Lovgren is no stranger to big screen movies involving equines, he has worked in dozens of movies including Seabiscuit, The Legend of Zorro, Racing Stripes, and the 2011 rendition of Cowboys and Aliens. Lovgren said, “For the main hero, a horse called Joey, there were ten horses that played the character. There were another four horses that played Topthorn, Joey’s companion in his adult life, in different sequences in the film,” he continued. “Then, all the background horses; there was anywhere from 100 to 150 horses in the cavalry charges that we had going at one time.” Equine Hollywood, as I have now dubbed it, is a really fascinating industry. If you thought that makeup was just human stars in the film, you thought wrong. According to Lovgren, “We had a huge department just doing equine makeup,” when it came to taking healthy, well cared for horses and transforming them into War survivors, “It took a lot of makeup,” Lovgren said. “Brushing their hair backwards and putting a little shaving cream in it so the hair sticks up [was one of the many tricks we used.” He explained that outlining the horses’ ribs with darker makeup gives the impression the bones protrude from the animals’ sides, giving the look of a skinny horse. Go War Horse. [TheHorse]
In some more sad news for the Canadian equestrian community, following the death of Hickstead a couple weekends ago, comes the news of one of Canada’s most successful show jumpers, Monopoly, passed away yesterday at the age of 33. Paired with Beth Underhill, Monopoly dominated the sport throughout the ninties, with multiple Nations Cup and World Cup titles, along with performances at two Pan Ams, one World Equestrian Games, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He officially retired in 2001, and up until his death, had been living in retirement at Beth’s farm. He was truly a personality in the sport and will be missed by many. [Horsetalk]
I’m sure this will not come as a big surprise for many, but the FEI, specifically the nineteen person Bureau responsible for the majority of FEI decision making, is coming under fire after many national federations expressed their displeasure over the way the FEI is being governed. The FEI Constitutional Task Force, set up in April with the purpose of consulting the national federations about their feelings towards the FEI, was at the center of the discussion. Taskforce chairman, Akash Maharaj, told the parties gathered at the FEI General Assembly (which took place last weekend) that “Virtually every National Federation feels the FEI is ‘other people’ not ‘us’.” There were many other issues presented and discussed by the Task Force, ranging from the need for better facilitating of emerging equestrian nations in joining the FEI ranks, to the need for Continental organizations to bridge the gap between national federations and the FEI. The Bureau, of course, will take this suggestions under advisement in the coming weeks and decide which of these suggestions can and should be put into action. [Horse and Hound]
If you’re looking for a good read, check out this Chronicle article titled ‘Half-Halts And Transitions: Dressage Terms For Life Lessons.’ There’s a lot of truth in what author, Kathie Mautner, has to say. [COTH]
Best of the Blogs: Course Brook Farm on their second annual USEA Horse Trial
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Have a great Friday!
