From Abbie:
Happy New Year EN!! I hope you all had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve, and that everyone is starting out 2014 on the right foot. Up-and-coming hunter riders certainly are- the 2014 George Morris Horsemastership Training Sessions began yesterday in Wellington and will continue through Saturday. The USEF is broadcasting a live feed of the proceedings, and you can catch up on all you may have missed yesterday on the website. The Chronicle is also on grounds and providing written and visual coverage of the sessions. Click to check out their Day 1 writeup. [The Chronicle] [USEF Live Feed]
Several horses have tested positive for EHV-1 at a boarding facility in North Carolina. The state veterinary office released a statement saying that the horses at the farm had very little movement on and off the farm and that the premises have been quarantined since December 23. At this point the veterinarians believe that this is an isolated incident that poses little risk to outside horses, but they are still taking strict precautions. [The Horse]
It’s officially a WEG year! Are you thinking about going? Unfortunately multi-event passes are sold out for now, but single event tickets (ie, cross country only) will be put up for sale in March. Check out the official Normandy website for more information. [WEG 2014]
Jan Byyny’s former four-star mount Waterfront stepped out again last weekend at the Friends of the Animal Shelter benefit Hunter Pace in Aiken. The hunter pace was hosted by Jim and Sarah Wildasin at their Fox Nation farm and raised money to assist a new county animal shelter that will be opening in January. Avoca Equine’s Dr. Keelin Redmond rode the legendary Waterfront at the event, and from the looks of things he still going strong. Click for a photo and to read more information about the event. [Aiken Standard]
This week on the Eventing Radio Show: Wrapping up 2013 with Bobby Costello. Bobby joins Samantha and Jess to discuss 2013 from a High Performance perspective, and then Lynn Samansky stops by to offer a quick training tip. [Eventing Radio Show]
NYC mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has announced that one of his first acts in office will be to ban carriage horses from Central Park. For those who don’t know, the presence of the carriage horses has been a years-long ongoing drama between animal rights activists and those who argue the horses are well-treated and an important piece of the city. At a news conference on Monday, de Blasio said, “We are going to quickly and aggressively move to make horse carriages no longer a part of the landscape in New York City. They are not humane.” [New York Times Taking Note Blog]
Need some ideas for your New Years resolutions? Check out this week’s Idea of Order over on Horse Nation. Illustrator Morgane Schmidt lists her horse-related goals, such as spending at least 10% of her time in a relatively sanitary state without shavings and horse hair attached. [Horse Nation]
Rest in peace Lionel Dunning, accomplished British show jumper. Lionel was 75 when he died on Monday after suffering a fatal heart attack. He was still active in the horse world, and had been teaching on Monday morning before his death. Over the course of his career he was awarded FEI bronze, silver and gold medals of honor as a result of his international performances, as well as numerous national titles and Nations Cup wins. He returned to the highest levels of competition even after suffering a very serious fall and brain damage in the 1970s. The video below is of Lionel competing in 1981 aboard one of his most famous partners, Jungle Bunny. [Horsetalk]
