It’s Monday, there’s no way around that. All we can do is work together here on EN to make the best of the situation. There were 4 USEA events this weekend that each deserve a quick bite-sized recap, so let’s jump right in:
–Rocking Horse received some much needed rain this weekend to make the footing perfect for the cross-country. Katelyn Ziegler won the Intermediate Rider division with Peninsula Lion. Heather Morris won the Open Intermediate A division by 6 points, Jon Holling took first and fourth in the OI-B division and Buck won the Buck/Andrea Leatherman intermediate division with a 55.6. [Final Scores]
–Twin Rivers is an event that we should have been giving a lot more attention to this weekend. Almost all of the top west coast horses competed in the advanced division except for Leyland. Tiana and Ringwood Magister unsurprisingly won by 5 points on a 41.0 despite taking 13 time penalties. Finian’s steady march toward the event that will shall be named continues. Kelly Prather and Ballinakill Glory had a steady weekend, starting and finishing in 3rd place. Debbie Rosen and The Alchemyst retired on cross-country. The advanced cross-country cause two other stops out of 16 starters. [Final Scores]
–Speaking of Debbie Rosen and things we haven’t been giving enough attention to, here are the Rolex rider blogs, part 2 from a few days ago: Debbie Rosen, Phillip Dutton, Frankie Thieriot
–The veteran 4* pair of Kelly Sult and Hollywood made an appearance this weekend, winning the Intermediate/Preliminary at Sporting Days. I haven’t spoken with Kelly in a while, but I’m hoping that they are planning on Rolex again. Kelly was one of our very first live blog guests here on Eventing Nation. [Final Scores]
–In Texas, which is a bad state to mess with, Alyssa Phillips won the Open Prelim A division with Sundance Bay by seven points. The Open Prelim B division was much closer, and Sydney Conley-Elliott won with Pancho Villa. [Final Scores]
—9 of 12 advanced competitors withdrew from the Puhinui Horse Trials in New Zealand due to rain, and so did most of the other 400 competitors. All three advanced horses completed but with massive time penalties. One rider even had two horses complete the advanced. I’m not sure how bad the weather was, but my guess is that if 9 horses withdrew, there wasn’t much reason for 3 to go ahead and run. [Horsetalk]
–Aussie eventing team selector Seamus Marwood proved his credentials with two wins at the Berwick event [WeeklyTimes.com.au via M]
–Samantha from PRO told me that an on-deamand replay video of the Derby Cross will be availble online sometime this week. We will link to it when it becomes available for your viewing pleasure.
—‘Tis the week of Red Hills, and I can’t remember a more important Red Hills week. Between training session, the open forum with coaching candidates, and a huge CIC3* division, there’s going to be a lot going on in Tallahassee over the next 7 days.
–Tali is improving and Doug Payne had a good weekend at Sporting Days [DP Equestrian]
–Pablos Barrios jumped 7″ 3′ to win the Puissance on Saturday night. After the Puissance I went out and stood by the wall. It is truly incredible that horses can jump that high and I’m hoping that eventing jumps will now look smaller to me. When a horse jumps that big there is never a point when all of the horse is over the wall. [USEF]
—Team Fredericks needs a working student. I had occasion to spend an evening in downtown Atlanta with Clayton and his brother a few weeks ago and, while that is certainly not a story I could ever tell on Eventing Nation, let’s just say that I imagine Clayton’s working students know how to have a good time if they are anything like their boss. [TeamFredericks.com via KL]
–As a quick note from the Ocala Three-Day the Broussard Family is sponsoring the $10,000 CCI** and will present the “Indefatiguable Trophy” in memory of one of Becky Broussard. Maui Jim will donate sunglasses to top placers in both FEI divisions and $5,000 for the CCI* division
–Boyd was David’s guinea pig for the Derby Cross [From Wingman to Witching Hour]
–Shots were fired in a crowded horse fair in Ireland [Horsetalk]
–Today’s Tack of the Day item are dress boots for 50% off, only available until noon ET [TOTD]
—Best of the Blogs: Developing rider Jessica Pye is on the road again
For the record, this is what it looks like to jump 7′ 3″:
That’s all for now. Check back throughout the day for all of your eventing news. As always, wherever you may be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day. Go eventing.
