Doug golfing in public might be the only thing I fear more than public speaking
Good morning Eventing Nation! I’m so glad that Coren, Annie, Ali, and Abbie have finally let me do a news and notes post again. Fear of heights, fear of the dark, fear of failure, fear of spiders, fear of snakes, fear of commitment, fear of intimacy (that one is Coren’s), fear of intimacy with spiders (that one is Annie’s), and fear of abscesses that ruin your three-day season. All of these rank on the average scale of psychological fears lower than just one thing–fear of public speaking. Despite my best judgement, I have agreed to a short (if my audience is lucky) public speaking engagement in mid-November for The Eventing Association of Michigan, home of the first 5 years of my eventing career. So Eventing Nation, I present to you the challenge I am currently faced with: what should I speak about? EN Karma for funny or helpful answers, preferably a combination of the two.
And now for what some might call your news and notes…
I have been vocal with my mixed feelings about indoor eventing. But, whether you like it or not, the folks at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto from November 4th to the 13th have put together a great group of competitors for their indoor eventing competition. The entry list includes Mark Todd, Doug Payne, Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch, Penny Rowland, Kendal Lehari, Kelly List, Holly Payne, Diana Burnett, Michelle Mueller, Leahona Rowland, Ian and Waylon Roberts and gold medalist Jessica Phoenix. I’d expect great turnout considering there are not any alternative activities in Canada in November that do not involve frostbite. Indoor eventing takes place this Friday and continues Saturday at 6:45pm. Supposedly there will be live online video feed for free. [Video via UptownEventing]
If you haven’t already entered the Tipperary helmet head contest, please do so soon. We have an EN hat not spoken for and we are adding it as a prize for the contest, as if a brand new Tipperary T-Series helmet wasn’t prize enough! [Details]
Samantha has everything Galway coming your way today and throughout the weekend. Follow Samantha on Twitter @SamanthaLClark, check her blog, and of course Eventing Nation for the latest.
Galway, Rocking Horse, and Rubicon are all in action today:
Galway — [Times/Live Scores]
Rocking Horse — [Live Scores]
Rubicon — [Live Scores]
River Glen — [Website]
Please consider taking 3 minutes to fill out our EN census. The feedback–both positive and negative–has been a huge help and we really appreciate all of the comments. I remember when Visionaire posted the first EN census in the spring of 2010 and we were overjoyed to get 50 responses. This time we have over 1,000 and counting. [EN Census]
Check out SmartPak’s list of their Top 10 eventing products. SmartPak is a great friend and supporter of Eventing Nation and, as always, do your horse related shopping with SmartPak to support EN. [SmartPak]
Eventing Radio gets their Pan Am on. [ERS]
Save the date (and change for tolls) for Jersey Fresh — May 9-13, 2012
If you missed it over the past couple days, Blyth Tait has given up his comeback goal of competing at the 2012 Olympics due to injuries to his top horses. Instead, Blyth is focusing on 2016. [COTH]
Best of the Blogs: Kyle Carter thinks size doesn’t matter
Honorable mention: Courtney Cooper catches up
As always, wherever you might be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day. Stay classy and have a great Friday.
