Meghan O'Donoghue & Pirate earlier this year, winner's of the Intermediate at Surefire
Good morning EN! This weekend there were nine events around the country, ranging from Oregon and Utah to New York. I want to give a shout out to Inavale Farm, which hosted a classic training three day event this weekend. I was lucky enough to do the classic three day at Midsouth in 2007 and it’s great to see farms still hosting the long format. Obviously it takes a lot of time and a lot of volunteers to put on, so major kudos to all the organizers, volunteers, and farm staff at Inavale who made the commitment to run it. Aimee Allen and Balou II took home first place, followed by Olivia Chandler and TGIF. Devin Robel and Manxome won the Intermediate division, and Maya Black had a great weekend, winning both Preliminary division with Don’t Play Fair and The Perfect Crime. [Inavale Farm]
At Shepherd Ranch HT, Pam Fisher also had a double win, taking home the blue in the Preliminary and Training divisions. Sydney Johnson won the Junior/YR Training division with Cruise Control. [Shepherd Ranch HT]
Katie Eckert and Sassaparilla Kid won OP-1 at Midsouth Pony Club, and Jesslyn Woodall on Thunderstruck the OP-2. In our third double whammy of the weekend, Marty Whitehouse won the Training and the Open Novice-1 divisions with Uliza Jane and Be Grateful. [Midsouth PC]
At Great Vista Farm HT Joa Sigsbee and Kestrel won the P/T, and Nancy Hathaway and Kings Knight won the Training. Julie Peterson and Totally Timothy won the Beginner Novice, and my award for best show name of the week. [Great Vista Farm]
At Surefire HT, Meghan O’Donoghue and Pirate won a large Intermediate division, besting 29 others with double clear stadium and cross country rounds. Buck Davidson and Copper Beach won the OP-A, and Jennifer Simmons and Lestaire the OP-B. Heather Johnson and The Manx Man won Junior Training-B, and both Jennie Brannigan and Lauren Kieffer one-two’ed their divisions, OT-A and OT-B. [Surefire]
Finally, at Abbe Ranch HT, Hailey Rich and Kingfisher II won the IP, Rochelle Costanza and Lionhart the OP, and Ella Algermussen and Balius the Training. [Abbe Ranch]
Other events:
Fox River Valley Pony Club H.T. (IL) [Website] [Live Scoring]
Golden Spike H.T. (UT) [Website]
Onto your links:
The top story of the morning involves a beautiful movie superstar and a new farm in LA, and no it’s not a new reality show. Gwyneth Paltrow is living out all of our dreams on her new farm located in Los Angeles’ Mandeville Canyon. She bought it together with her husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin for $10.5 million, and the property includes an 8000 square foot mansion, along with “lush landscaping, sprawling lawns, well-established trees, a stables and a pasture.” Hopefully more than one pasture. [Horsetalk]
Britain has announced its dressage team for London: Two veteran riders, Carl Hester and Richard Davison, and two younger riders: Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin. While the latter two are young, they are anything but inexperienced. Earlier this year Dujardin broke the British record in the Grand Prix Special test at Hagen in May, scoring 88.022%, and Bechtolsheimer also bettered her own British Grand Prix Freestyle record, scoring an impressive 87.60%. The team is looking for a strong showing, and Team GB Equestrian Team Leader Will Connell said it is as exciting a squad as Britain had ever taken to an Olympic Games. [Horsetalk]
Tiana wrote a blog about being named to the US short list, and it’s no surprise she’s excited. She has had Ringwood Magister, also known as “Finn,” for seven years, and after a year of competing in England, she is feeling more competitive than ever. While she is hoping for a strong performance at Barbury Castle to secure her ticket to London, as she writes, “All I can do at this time is keep Finn as safe and healthy as possible and trust in our preparation to this point. Of course it never hurts to cross your fingers, hope and pray, and be partial to a few superstitions!” [Tiana Courday Eventing]
Boyd has been providing regular updates from England, where the short list horses did conditioning on Saturday. From the looks of the photos, the rolling English countryside is a beautiful background to the riders’ final training days before Barbury. Boyd writes that all horses are feeling fine after traveling and looking good for their final outing next week. [Boyd’s blog]
Two famous Olympians are going to have a baby: two famous equine Olympians. Via embryo transfer, Tim Stockton’s Beijing mare Fresh Direct Corlato will be the mother of a foal by Peppermill. Peppermill was present at the Beijing games, but he missed the first round due to stiffness and was not eligible for the second. Fresh Direct Corlato had her first foal after being retired due to sustaining a tendon injury at Calgary in 2009. [Horsetalk]
Best of blogs: Blue Clover Eventing took part in a Ride for Life this weekend.
That’s all for now, EN, thanks for reading and happy Monday!
