Samantha Clark photo
Happy Monday and welcome to the start of another week. This past weekend has been an exciting one. And this week? The excitement continues. At Richland Park, many riders were searching for top performances across all the divisions. But Michael Pollard has out done any expectations. He was sure to be on the selectors mind with a second place finish in the PAG division on Hanni. But, one great finish wasn’t enough for Michael. He also took first in the Advanced section on DV8. And wait… a second place in the CIC** aboard Jude’s Law. Sounds to me like Michael has some good karma to take over the pond.
Last I heard, Michael was successfully dropped off at the Detroit airport to fly to the UK. Michael should be feeling really good about his weekends- past and upcoming.
Well, Monday only means one thing. At least this Monday only means one thing. Burghley is upon us. Bring on the added attitudes and barf bags for all those partaking! With good America crowd competing at Burghley, there should be a lot of Americans on edge for the excitement ahead of us.
And in case you completely forgot to check on EN this past weekend and missed out on all the live scores…
Richland Park HT [Scores]
The Georgetown HT [Scores]
Genesee Valley Riding and Driving Club HT [Scores]
Loudon Hunt PC HT [Scores]
Valinor Farm HT [Scores]
Willowbrook PC Back to School Blast [Scores]
Sheperd Ranch HT [Scores]
Stanton Farms HT [Scores]
Heritage Park HT [Scores]
Europeans: [Individual Results, Team Results]
The Germans were on fine form on their home base at the Europeans. Michael Jung sure is laying down some fierce competition and giving the rest of the world something to fear. But the Germans in general? Strong. Great Britain lost the gold for the first time since 1993. Hopefully this weekend will fire them back up for London. The French finished in the silver position and are continuing to grow into a really competitive country. However, it is the Germans we must fear. A team gold and a 1,2,3 in the individual standings? Holy cow. [Run, the Germans are coming!]
And in case you didn’t check the live scores, or any of John’s Richland coverage, Buck Davidson won the CIC*** on the well known, Ballynoe Castle RM. Despite Jennie jumping last, Buck left the ring knowing he was a winner. Jennie and Buck sat tied for first place. But with Buck finishing closer to the optimum time on the XC, he came out the winner. It is really nice to see ‘Reggie’ out this fall in fantastic form. [Reggie does it]
DPEquestrian: A weekend to forget
So EN, how many of you were effected by Irene? Here in central VA, I only saw high winds and a lot of rain. Move an hour east? Richmond looked to be a wreck. Move another hour east? Even worse. As I avidly stalked The Weather Channel, I had to laugh at some seriously crazy people. As one news reporter was reporting live from VA Beach, there were cars driving by, people out boarding their houses up, and some leaving seeming to be town. While these all seem like normal activities, they are probably best accomplished BEFORE the hurricane hits. Just saying. Hope everyone is safe and not too much damage has been done.
In true eventer form, hurricanes don’t stop the competition from happening. A lot of people braved the weather and headed out to compete this weekend. One competitor shares her weekend at Loudon with us. The weather held fairly well and this pair is AEC bound. [Braving the storm]
Did anyone see this? What are your thoughts, EN? [Frequently Feline]
Katherine Rizzo gives a fantastic review of August eventing at Fair Hill and Waredaca. Well done to so many riders for their top finished. Shout out to Steph Butts for having great competitions and many, many ribbons! [Recap]
At Loudon Ht, Sally Cousins was out for the blue. She took the top spot in both Intermediate sections and Prelim A. Lauren Kieffer also had a win in the Novice. I give these riders a lot of credit for braving the weather and heading out.
I also want to give a shout out to Dehlia McAfee and Whispered Notion for winning the Open Preliminary at Heritage Park HT. This is my former local hometown event and I love seeing all the great results my friends put up. Also, thank you to my totally awesome, coolest, sweetest mother who spent her Saturday jump judging all levels.
According to Facebook, Patricia from ECOGOLD is Burghley bound (and I believe safely in the UK). If you are in the UK, please be sure to stop by and chat with her about all the fantastic products ECOGOLD has to offer.
And for your Burghley Preview:
I hope every has a great Monday. Get your work done so you can spend all Saturday watching Burghley! Stay tuned. Go Eventing.
