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If, like me, you’re still not quite over the Olympics, then may I suggest you go and take a look at our own Tilly Berendt’s Instagram grid, where she has been sharing SO many of the photographs she took whilst over in Paris, including some that almost never saw the light of day, like this one.
Make sure to read the captions below each photograph, too, as they often provide a little background on the shot, a tribute to the horses and riders, or even just an affecting dissection of the Olympic journey and what it takes to get there. And if you’re missing your daily Olympic fix of everyone’s favourite Frenchman, Karim Laghouag, then this should sort you out on that front too.
U.S. Weekend Preview
Applewood Farm YEH & Mini Event (Califon, NJ) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times]
Bromont CCI-S Horse Trials (Bromont, Quebec) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [XC Preview]
Caber Farm H.T. (Onalaska, WA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Full Gallop Farm August HT (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring]
Genesee Valley Riding & Driving Club H.T. (Pending USEF Approval) (Geneseo, NY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring]
Hunter’s Run H.T. (Metamora, MI) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring]
Ocala Summer H.T. II (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
The Event at Archer (Cheyenne, WY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Waredaca Farm H.T. (Laytonsville, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
UK International Events
Frickley Park International and Regional Championships (South Yorkshire) [Info] [Entries] [Scoring]
European International Events
FEI Nations Cup (Arville, Belgium) [Website] [Entries] [Scoring] [XC Preview]
Friday News and Reading
Another chance to relive the Paris memories, this time in audio form. The marvellous EquiRatings Eventing podcast have clipped up the best bits of all of their Paris podcasts, to create a delightful montage of the whole weekend. One to enjoy now, and perhaps in the long, dark, event-less winter days to come.
Another super sterling great podcast; I can’t quite fathom why I haven’t shared this before now! But, here we are, all good things come to those who wait and all that. Anyway, wrap your ears around this week’s Eventing Weekly Podcast with special guest Alice Casburn, for an hour of lighthearted eventing chat. If you enjoy this one, then why not delve into their previous episodes too? For two none eventing guys – the hosts, Mitch and Brayden are husbands of Kiwi eventers, Ginny Thomasen and Sam Lissington – they manage to get some great guests, not least of all Noor Slaoui, form last week’s episode. Always fun, and sure to bring a smile to your face!
More Paris content! I promise I will stop soon….maybe. But seriously, this is a really fascinating insight into a side of the Olympics that doesn’t really get that much coverage – the role of the vets and farriers. With added perspective from this year’s FEI foreign veterinary delegate, Emily Sandler-Burtness from Coast Equine Veterinary Services in California, this offers a further look at all the behind the scenes action from a veterinary point of view – including the trot up and hold box procedure. The level of organisation is mind blowing, and really hammers home just how much planning goes into every single aspect of an Olympics, in order to pull it all off so seamlessly, as Paris most certainly did.
Ever wondered what a Gold Medal winning horse gets up to when the cameras stop rolling? Well wonder no more, as FEI Global visited Michael Jung and Chipmunk at home in Germany, where he reflected on their partnership and expressed his gratitude to his amazing Championship horse: ‘Without horses, we riders are nothing.’ Cheers to that, Michi!
Another Paris retrospective, this time from Australian eventing legend Heath Ryan. In the latest edition of his column, “Ryan’s Rave,” Heath takes a look at the dressage and eventing competitions as a whole, before zooming in a little closer on the Australian team’s performance, and how the current High Performance programme has affected their Championship results since the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Heath is certainly not backwards in coming forwards with his opinions on how the High Performance programme in Australia – and Equestrian Australia as a whole – needs to have a rethink and a restructure before the next Championships, and certainly before the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, in order for their teams to improve on their recent results. An unashamedly honest analysis, it will certainly be interesting to see what happens next in terms of the Australian Teams’ management and training programmes.
Moving on now, to Burghley! Hands down one of my favourite UK events, and it is rapidly approaching! As such, it is all hands on deck, and they have been sharing a sneaky peek of the first week of the course build over on their social media channels. Derek di Grazia is once again setting the challenge – keep your eyes peeled on Burghley TV for the upcoming course preview – a written version of which will also be provided here on Eventing Nation by the afore mentioned Tilly Berendt. At last, a tonic for that Olympic hangover…
What are you doing with your spare time when the eventing season is over? If you’re anything like recently crowned British National Champion, Emily King, you’ll be lacing up your running shoes and doing a marathon.Or not….! If you can’t quite summon the energy for such things (I mean, we have just had an Olympics, that takes time to recover from, right?!) then why not sponsor Emily instead? She’s running for the incredible British Eventing Support Trust, who provide support for riders at all levels whammy be struggling in some way. A brilliant cause, let’s help make Emily’s energetic efforts worthwhile!
And finally, before you skip off into the sunset to enjoy your weekends and whatever equestrian adventures lay in store… Do you know anyone that may have future Olympic podium potential? Or perhaps you may be a prospective medal contender yourself. Either way, time is running out for you – or your talented family member/friend/neighbour – to apply for the British Equestrian World Class Performance Programme. Applications close on 30th August, so act fast! Who knows, it could be the start of another own Olympic journey – only four years to go to LA, after all!
Sponsor Corner
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Allison Springer and No May Moon. Photo by Shelby Allen.
Weekend Watching
Quick fire questions are always fun – and even more so when they’re with a Burghley winner!
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