Welcome to our first “News and Notes” posting. Lets jump right in!
Boyd Martin will be Co-Hosting the Eventing Radio Show starting after Fair Hill. Attention all Eventing Radio Show downloaders: you are in for a real treat. Boyd is one of my favorite Eventers, and a truly fantastic personality who can always make me laugh. Boyd, a native Aussie, is a top-notch rider who works closely with Phillip Dutton and recently started riding for the US. I guarantee that he will be both knowledgeable and funny, if sometimes PG-13 funny. But, the show is on time delay, so, as Boyd would say: “No worries mate!”
In an email sent out to all Long Listed Riders, Sarah Ike from the USEF explained that US Eventing Chef d’Equipe Mark Phillips will be leaving the position in 2013: “As some of you may know, Mark Phillips’ contract expires in 2013. He is not seeking to extend it.” Mark leaving is pretty old news, but this the first public acknowledgement from the USEF that I have seen. The email also mentioned that there will be an open rider forum at Fair Hill this coming Wednesday. I have several thoughts on Mark leaving and the future coach, but I will save them until after the forum. Stay tuned.
As we all know, the International Olympic Committee selected Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 2016 Games, in a controversial decision against Chicago. Rio is certainly less favorable than native soil, but Team USA Eventing’s last trip to Rio ended with a victory in the 2007 Pan American Games. Also, because Rio is in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are reversed, leading to some pretty decent average highs and lows during August. Wow, middle school geography, science, and math all wrapped into one sentence. Kinda makes me feel like riverdancing. As a final note, several members of the ’07 Pan Am contingent have talked about how they were struck by the poverty and squalor in Brazil. Hopefully the Olympics will be a good opprtunity to influence Brazil for the better.
Thanks for reading our very first News and Notes post!!!
