I was speaking with Buck Sunday afternoon and I asked him what he thought of his weekend. He made the point that even though he had a tough day Saturday, it wasn’t that bad of a day when you put things in perspective and consider something like the tragedy in Japan. This viewpoint was refreshing and it reminded me that, as intense as we get about eventing, we should never forget to keep things in perspective.
If you have been watching any sort of news over the weekend, you know that Japan was hit with a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people and crippled the country’s infrastructure. I know that money is tight for a lot of people these days, but if you have a little extra cash this week, please consider making a donation to the Red Cross. Just visit redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10.00 to relief efforts (it will be added on to your phone bill at the end of the month.) Please keep Japan in your thoughts and prayers. Eventing Nation is powerful and the great thing is that our passion extends beyond eventing. Now for your news and notes:
–Perhaps you have seen it briefly mentioned on EN that there was an event this weekend called ‘Red Hills.’ As the story goes, Allison Springer won the CIC3*, Jessica Phoenix and Exploring won the advanced, a Canadian pair survived a tough fall, and the weather was nice. In other news, Buzzterbrown was out and about at Red Hills so get excited. You can scroll down for about 30 posts on Red Hills, but I promise that I won’t mention hills of any color in this post after these links:
[Sunday Trot Up Photos, the local media is really excited Allison won’t be driving a Honda anymore, the Chronicle’s show jumping recap, Samantha’s SJ report, USEA’s show jumping photo gallery]
–Susan Beebee and Wolf narrowly edged out Jan Byyny and Why Not for the win in the Open Prelim at Southern Pines over the weekend. Susan finished on an impressive 22.5, and Jan on a 24.3. With 32 pairs in the division, it was going to take a low score to win. Jules Ennis and Walstraed won the prelim rider division by 12 points against 26 competitors. [Southern Pines Results]
—Full Gallop had its own assortment of top riders attending over the weekend. Kelly Sult and Hollywood won the Intermediate-A, ahead of Kelli Temple, Laine, Kim, and Sarah Cousins. Nina Ligon won the Intermediate-B ahead of Sarah Cousins and Sarah Cousins. Some familiar horses won divisions with their new riders including Fleeceworks Mystere Du Val in the prelim and Waterfront in the training. [Full Gallop Results]
–Jennifer Wooten won the 4 pair advanced combined test at Flintridge in California. EN’s good friend Chelan Kozak won the open preliminary by 5 points. Badminton entrants Amy Tryon and Leyland scored a 35 in the intermediate combined test before withdrawing. [Flint Ridge Results]
–Over the weekend the Rolex entry list got a lot more interesting. William Fox-Pitt entered on 4 horses (Navigator, Seacookie, Neuf des Coeurs, and Idalgo), Mary King entered on 2 (Kings Temptress, Fernhill Urco), Oliver Townend entered on ODT Sonas Rovatio, and Polly Stockton on Westwood Mariner. My guess is that William won’t bring all 4 horses to Rolex, and he probably just entered 4 to give himself some options. It’s great to see so many international entries at Rolex so far. [Rolex Entries]
Michael Pollard and crew fixing their trailer on the way home from Tallahassee after a blowout
–A #2 seed for Florida and a #4 seed for Kentucky? After Kentucky soundly beat Florida 2 times this year? Really NCAA? You’ll have to excuse me over the next few weeks. As our long-time readers know, I love college basketball and especially UK.
—Best of the Blogs: Sometimes it is the little things
—Doug Payne wore his helmet cam
–Today’s TOTD item are Tredstep boots $100 off retail–only until noon ET [TOTD]
That’s all for now. Stay tuned throughout the day for more Red Hills videos, Abbie’s next post, and whatever ridiculousness we can find. As always, wherever you might be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day.
