This about sums up the weather across the pond! More cancellations have been made for Chatsworth and Aston Le Walls Horse Trials, photo courtesy of Samantha
Good Morning Eventing Nation, and welcome to Friday! This weekend is going to be all about Jersey Fresh, but we can’t forget about the other handful of events going on across the country. Here are the live scores/website links in no particular order:
Jersey Fresh CCI and CIC Three Day Event
Galway Downs Spring Horse Trials
Mill Creek Pony Club Horse Trials
Speaking of Jersey Fresh, as Abby reported yesterday, Karen is currently leading and sitting in third in the CIC** with Mandiba and RF Amber Eyes. Boyd is leading the CCI** with Crackerjack, and EN’s very own Abbie Golden is having a great event so far to sit eighth in a very competitive division after the dressage. The second day of dressage will pick up today at 8:30 AM, starting with the CCI3* Division.
Abby mentioned Thursday that Phillip is catch riding at Jersey for our good friend Jennie Brannigan. I’m sad to report that Jennie has told us she injured her knee on Tuesday in a riding accident. She said that although she hasn’t had an MRI yet it is believed she tore her ACL and MCL. Jennie will miss riding this weekend more than anyone could, but she has a great jockey filling in for her. Get well soon Jennie!
Now let’s check out the news:
Unfortunately across the pond, the dismal weather forcing last weekend’s Badminton cancellation is sadly not drawing to any sort of a close. Yet another big event has had to be cancelled due to the alarming amount of rain the country has had over the past few weeks, this time the Chatsworth Horse Trials. Chatsworth is considered to be one of the big destination three star events of the spring over in England, so canceling the Horse Trials has got to be a major disappointment for everyone involved. [Chatsworth]
The Olympic Flame has begun it’s journey to London! The torch was light at it’s ancient birthplace in Greece yesterday; 490 torchbearers are set to carry the flame across 1,800 miles of Greek soil before the flame is handed to London organizers on May 17th in Athens. Once in London, the torch will continue it’s tour of the country, but unlike the last two Olympic Games where the torch was carried across the globe, this year it will remain solely in Britain. [NYT]
British lady rider, Tina Fletcher, is looking to take her second consecutive title at the Hickstead Derby next month. Tina made history last year when she became the first woman to win the Derby in a record 38 years. Her horse is the seventeen year old Promised Land, with whom she came painstakingly close to winning with in 2010 had it not been for Guy Williams and Skip Two Ramiro completing the course 1/10th of a second faster. Hickstead is always the third weekend in June, so be sure to mark it on your calendar to catch the live broadcast! [Horsetalk]
The famous Windsor Horse Show at Windsor Castle in England is an iconic event, partly because it is the oldest running Horse Show is England. However, Windsor has been quite the soggy affair this year after all the rain they’ve been having. To give you an idea, there is some talk about cancelling the last two days of the show if the rain continues any more. From the sounds of it, the rain has caused the car park to close, lorries are having to be towed in and out, and the whole thing is just a real mess. [Horsetalk]
A new website has been launched, called Clean Horse Racing. It’s a website where you can study the drug rules, get news and updates, and any more information from the two governing bodies of horse racing, The Jockey Club and The American Riders Association. It’s actually kind of a neat idea, I’m not sure how many trainers and owners will consult the list before racing their horses, but it is nice to see those programs and people that take the initiative to fix a problem of drug abuse that is still very much a problem today. [Clean Racing]
Zara and Mike Tindall have announced they would like to have kids and a family at some point during these next couple years. According to an interview from the Daily Mail, Mike seemed pretty forward thinking about the idea but Zara wants to hold off for at least the next two years because it’s the Olympics this year and the European Championships the following. Our favorite Royal and her husband must be pretty good sports to put up with the poking, prodding and elbow bumping they do with the press and photographers on a daily basis, and this article was no exception! [The Mirror]
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great day, if you are at Jersey Fresh, good luck, otherwise keep having fun!
