Like my fashion sense, this picture has nothing to do with anything but I like it
I’d like to wish a big EN ‘get well soon’ to Jennie Brannigan, who broke her collar bone on Tuesday. Jennie is as tough as they come and I’m sure she will be back in the saddle as soon as possible and much sooner than the doctors would like. I haven’t seen any data to confirm this, but my guess would be that collar bones are one of the most common broken bones for riders. It’s that classic situation of falling off and landing on the elbow or shoulder, and it seems like almost anyone who has been in this sport long enough breaks a collar bone.
Usually this time of the year we start keeping our fingers crossed for the High Performance horses to stay sound, but Jennie’s injury is a reminder that riding is a full contact sport for horses and riders. Jennie is definitely one of the top 3 most competitive people in all of eventing–which says a lot considering that there are a ton of competitive people in eventing–and I know she’ll be back and better than ever before we know it.
Now for your news and notes:
–The great Lucinda Green will be teaching 11 ‘XC the Safe Way‘ clinics around Great Britain in 2011. One of the things I liked most from Samantha’s interview with Francis on Tuesday was his emphasis on training as a top solution to improving safety. We need to improve the technology as much as possible, but ultimately it all comes back to good training of the horse and rider. Lucinda is one of the best and safest XC instructors on the planet and I envy anyone who gets to take a clinic with her. [Horse and Hound]
–Fran Jurga has written yet another article that is a very interesting discussion about equine genetic health. I wish I knew more science to understand the article better–curse you liberal arts degree. [TJR]
–On Tuesday, we wrote about the equestrian sport of tent pegging. What I didn’t know then is that Akaash Maharaj, the CEO of Equine Canada is an experienced tent pegger (is that even a noun?) with UNICEF Team Canada. In a world of messy equestrian politics, Akaash is a true friend to egalitarian and democratic equestrian governance and we are very fortunate to have him as a leader in the horse world, even if he does have a penchant for knocking over tents. An EN reader sent me the link to Akaash’s website which explains more: [Maharaj.org via SC]
–Horsetalk writes about the New Zealand plan to target 2012 with an organized plan starting this spring and staged in England. Samantha has covered the situation extensively, and there’s not much new in the Horsetalk report, but it is a good interview with head Kiwi Eric Duvander. [Horsetalk]
–In other news from New Zealand, the Ackland racecourse is donating proceeds from a day of racing to help a Christchurch, NZ earthquake fund. New Zealand is still digging out from the earthquake that rocked Christchurch. Hopefully life for our friends in New Zealand will soon return to normalcy enough that eventing will once again be a priority. [Horsetalk]
–Our third and final New Zealand note of the day is to point out that the Kihikihi event April 7th to 10th will be the first event in the 2011 FEI World Cup series. Notably Red Hills and the other former US World Cup events are missing from the series this year because, as we have reported, HSBC’s withdrawal from sponsorship put too much of a burden on organizers and venues who were already losing money from the series. [FEI Press Release]
–Most horses in England haven’t seen a ditch since September [Onward, Upward blog]
–A media furor about a media furor about gypsies and wild horses [H&C]
–Despite the lolcats photos on EN, I am actually very much a dog person.
–One blog that I stumbled across in my never-ending search for all cool things eventing the internet is written by an adult amateur and suggests that after the priority of having a good ride maybe it is about the ribbons…a little. I can definitely see that perspective, and I like winning blue more than any other color, but at the same time I think the great thing about eventing is that we can always focus on a goal down the road, whether it is a three-day or an area championship, or just another event. Each event is about preparing and training for the next one for me, so I don’t find myself caring a whole lot about the ribbons, which is fortunate for my sanity. [AA Event Rider blog]
—Best of the Blogs: Doug’s Pine Top report
Not the EN Chinchillas, but yet another EN service to get you 3 minutes closer to the end of work:
That’s all for now. We have had a quiet past few days around Eventing Nation so stay tuned today for a busy Wednesday. As always, wherever you may be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day. Go eventing.
