Massive flooding in Vermont. Photo courtesy of Huntington Farms.
While competitors enjoyed beautiful weather last weekend at Huntington Farms HT, Vermont was hit with massive rainfall this week, which has caused a pretty massive change of scenery for a lot of farms. Aggressive flooding has been reported at GMHA as well, with pretty decent damage to several of their competition areas. Huntington was offering a schooling show this weekend, but it has been cancelled as they struggle to deal with the remaining flooded areas and assess damage. To all my friends up in Area I, I hope you’re doing okay!
US Weekend Preview:
Champagne Run at the Park H.T. (Lexington, KY): Website | Scoring | Entry Status & Ride Times
The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm (Adamstown, MD): Website | Scoring | Ride Times | Entry Status
Larkin Hill H.T. (NY): Website | Scoring
News From Around the Globe:
Following that whole Rich Fellers situation, maybe it’s time that equestrian sports need to look into prevention for the future. In the last eight months, eight arrests of coaches related to sexual misconduct in the equestrian community. More and more headlines are exposing this systemic issue to the world, as sports coaches from youth, college and elite levels across the globe are being investigated for sexual misconduct with athletes. Almost all of these cases involve minors, and their participation in our sport isn’t going away. So how do we move forward to prevent this from happening to future young riders? [Let’s Start Talking Prevention]
We were sad to hear of the loss of Dick Owen this week, who practically defined the VIP Volunteer. After attending one horse show, Dick decided to buy a horse and learn to ride in his 50s. Soon after, he joined an internet chat group about horses and saw a post about the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event needing volunteers, so he got in touch and made his first trip in 1999. He also started volunteering at Fair Hill (Elkton, Maryland) close to home. After a few years, he became the chief steward of competitor and owner shuttles and the cross-country jump videographers’ chief steward at Kentucky. Dick was named Area III’s top volunteer of 2022, and he also won the U.S Eventing Association’s Volunteer Incentive Program Volunteer of the Year for 2022 with 489.5 hours of service. [RIP Dick Owen]
Charlotte DuJardin ain’t no one-hit-wonder, and Imhotep might be stepping into some very blueberry shoes. The 10-year-old chestnut finished second in the CHIO Aachen CDI5* Grand Prix Special and third in the Grand Prix and freestyle just a few weeks ago. He celebrated by getting home and going out in his field all night, which is in fact how he lives his life with his turnout buddy Jaguar. In a world where more and more sport horses are not enjoying more than a few hours of turnout, I’m a big fan of this. [Imhotep’s Outdoor Life]
Things I did not know about Boyd Martin, which, let’s be honest, seems impossible because the man is not in want of any interviews and honestly it feels like the entire US knows all of the names of his cats. However, color me surprised as I learn that Boyd has been to seven major championships since 2008 – no other rider has been to more than that. He has 49 runs at CCI5* (including five-star championships) since 2008, putting him equal second in the highest number of a runs from a US rider. He joins Piggy March, Tim & Jonelle Price, and Andrew Hoy as Burghley Ambassadors this year, and between them they sport a mere 16 five-star victories. Check out the video below:
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