R-Star’s victory gallop in the OI at Aspen Farms HT in WA. Photo via Action Taken Photography
Good morning Eventing Nation!!
How are your US Fantasy Eventing Teams coming now that you’ve been given 11 choices? I’m sure your boss understands why you’re not getting any work done… Seriously though, thanks to GB and Canada for taking all of the fun out of their selection process by just naming their respective teams. We’ll have talked ‘the US Team’ 12 ways to Sunday, and then we’ll need new material before someone takes things too far and chucks a laptop out the window. Thank goodness we can put the Jon Holling streaking video on repeat. This is going downhill fast, so we’re interrupting this terrible intro to bring you to your regularly scheduled news and notes.
The Talking Horse has written a few notes about GB’s Olympic Eventing Team, the Aussies, Kiwis, US and even a shout out to EN! I have to agree, Britain’s team is definitely made of riders who can withstand pressure. Pressure to ride at the Olympics is huge enough, but compound that with pressure on home turf, and we’re talking the weight of several worlds here. Monty goes on to admire the Kiwis’ and Aussies’ grace and superb results under pressure as well. And, like many, he’s wondering at the reason the US is running all 11 shortlisted horses at Barbury. Aren’t we all? It’s the place to be in a few short weeks! [Talking Horse]
If you’ve been in horses for more than a day, you know it’s a roller-coaster ride of emotions and plans. Hawley Bennett-Awad broke in to tears while telling owners that she and Ginny made Canada’s London squad. Of course, Hawley and Ginny are one of our favorite pairs! I mean what’s not to love? A cute, talented blonde with a cuter, feistier mare. Love. Calling the nomination to the team “a big relief”, she’s hoping for at least a top ten finish, now that she’s more experienced since her first Olympic Games in Athens. In order to make the squad, she missed out on her brother’s wedding as it was the same weekend as Bromont, making it one of the toughest competitions mentally for her. She’s in California until July when she and Ginny head to Virginia for training camp then the plane to London. [Langley Times]
Lucy Wiegersma and Nicola Wilson chat with the Telegraph about not making the British Eventing Squad. It’s a very competitive squad to make and both ladies and their horses are certainly top-notch. Wilson was very diplomatic saying the selectors have done a superb job in the past, acknowledging that Opposition Buzz is a fabulous horse and made dreams come true. Wiegersma has been an alternate on the lists for the last seven years, but getting to run at the 2009 Europeans. “Beyond a joke” is her response to more than likely being on the reserve list yet again. She’s “beyond frustrated” because she knows Simon Porloe “will be a gold medal winning horse in the future”. Even with being on the reserve list for the last several years, she still wouldn’t trade him for “any other horse in the world”. [Telegraph]
As you would likely expect, those that made the unofficial GB Team are delighted! You can read their quotes of honor and excitement on Horse&Country’s website. [H&C]
Details have been released about London’s Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games. It’s a picturesque idyllic British countryside theme titled “Green and Pleasant” that will feature an abundance of farmyard animals including 12 horses and 70 sheep among others. The horses will be plowing and grazing helping to set the scene, and not in the Ceremony itself. The Creative Director is Slumdog Millionaire‘s director, Danny Boyle, and there have already been 157 rehearsals with the more than 10,000 volunteers. [Horsetalk]
In more Olympics news, the Dressage Para-Equestrian Championships are ongoing at Gladstone. Rebecca Hart and Lord Ludger lead after Tuesday’s competition. These Championships are also the selection trials for the USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage Paralympic Team. Hart has ridden in both the 2008 Beijing Games and 2010 WEG in Lexington. She’s also after her fifth national title as well. Not too shabby for a 26 year old. She’s also in fourth place in the competition on Carlingford Taldi and like most other hardcore athletes in equestrian sport, realizes the benefits of riding multiple horses because “each horse is a little different and has more strength than others.” [Blue Hill Farm]
In the Blogosphere:
Ryan Wood took two horses to Bromont and finished both in the top 20 in the CCI*. He calls Bromont a great place to introduce horses to international eventing, and it’s one of his favorite events. [Woodstock Eventing]
Doug Payne also recaps his Bromont experience in his latest podcast. He rode Tribute to 2nd place in the CCI*. [DPEquestrian]
Jessica Pye had a successful, but not ideal run at Texas Rose over the weekend. Bounder was full of go, but that’s not really necessary in the first phase… She’s still pleased with him especially his rideability on the cross country. So, if you’ve been keeping up, Millbrook Advanced is ON and now it’s a question of Chatt Hills or no Chatt Hills. [Pye Equestrian]
Hot on HN: Learning how to Canter. I’m pretty sure I learned it in a round pen. [HN]
I leave you with Stuff PonyClubbers say brought to you by the awesome DelMarVA region. “It worked yesterday…” “What time is it?” “Loose horse!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNILx09L5Ug
That’s all for now. Be sure to check out one of Hawley’s other rides: Chunky’s memoirs of the last year below. Go eventing.
“Chunky” or Five O’Clock Somewhere has written a Facebook Note on how much he loves his root beer flavored Horse Quencher water! He recaps just over a year from Jersey Fresh 2011 to Bromont last weekend. He really loves the taste of the root beer Horse Quencher added to his water, and makes it a point to make sure it’s all stirred up (read: sloshing his nose in it) to his liking before he drinks a bucketful. With all the trailer rides, plane rides, and Hawley rides, he is really happy to have something to drink. His name is Five O’Clock somewhere. But, don’t just take his word for it: his siblings Gin & Juice and Spy really like it too. He “NOLs” (neighs out loud) a lot too. He’s quite a cheeky fellow. [Chunky’s blog]
