Friday News & Notes Presented by Zoetis

That I-Just-Finished-My-First-Kentucky-Dressage feeling. Photo by Mary Pat Stone.

The dressage judges were holding everyone to a very high standard yesterday, and we are all on tenterhooks to see if they carry that forward to today. Will it be the curse of Thursday? Or will we simply see only the very best of the best get into the 20’s? Certainly today we have some heavy hitters, with most of the predicted best scoring horses competing this afternoon. Michi, I’m looking at you, sir. Seeking that low twenties score to blow us out of the water!

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event (KY): WebsiteCCI5* EntriesCCI4*-S EntriesLive ScoringLive Stream (North America)Live Stream (Outside of North America) TicketsEN’s CoverageEN’s Ultimate GuideEN’s TwitterEN’s Instagram

Ram Tap H.T. (CA): Website, Scoring

Stable View Spring H.T. (SC): WebsiteScoring

University of New Hampshire Spring H.T. (NH): Website

Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Spring H.T. (VA): WebsiteScoring

Horse Park of New Jersey Spring H.T. (NJ): Website

News & Notes: 

Want to stay in the know for all things revolving around the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event and Badminton Horse Trials? We’ll be sending out our Daily Digest email now through Tuesday, May 3 for Badminton. It’s the best place to keep up with our coverage and all of the latest news from the big spring 5* events — and, it’s free! We’ll also be giving out prizes (think exclusive EN merch and sponsor goodies!) throughout each event, so you definitely don’t want to miss out. Sign up here.

With 41 starts and horses earning over $300,000 in prize money, Connor Hankin walked away from his success as an amateur steeplechase jockey to join the U.S. Marine Corps in 2016. This weekend he’ll be back in the tack, racing at The Maryland Hunt Cup. Learn more about Hankin in today’s Amateur Showcase. [Marine Swaps Uniform for Silks]

Best of Blogs: Nobody Makes it to Kentucky Alone

If you’ve never competed in an FEI event, horse inspections can be a scary mystery. Honestly, even if you are competing at the FEI level, jogs can be intimidating. At all FEI sanctioned events the veterinary delegate and the ground jury (cumulatively called the panel) evaluate each horse twice — once prior to the competition and once prior to the show jumping phase — to ensure he is fit to compete. But what goes on in the minds of the panel? What happens if you’re sent to the holding box? [Three Day Eventing Horse Inspections]

Riding at the highest levels in any discipline is not for the faint of heart. Some riders take it further than others, doing intense and extreme workouts for both mind and body outside of the barn. Adrienne Sternlicht is a World Equestrian Games team gold medalist in show jumping, and Brown University graduate. She’s the kind of driven individual who wakes at sunrise and adheres to an intense performance maximizing, mind-sharpening morning routine designed for super humans. One adventurous blogger tried her morning routine, and lived to tell the tale. [Intense Morning Rider Workout]