I had a real talent for hand painting turkeys back in Kindergarten
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope it’s warmer where you are, because it sure isn’t where I am! Whenever I visit home (in the upper Midwest) during the winter, I’m always reminded of how glad I am to now be living in a warmer climate. It was snowing when I arrived home two nights ago, and when I borrowed my parents’ car to go and visit some friends that evening, I wasn’t out of the driveway five minutes before I found myself in a ditch after hitting a snow covered patch of ice. Maybe I don’t have the best driving record in the world, but the snow certainly wasn’t helping my case; I guess I had better stick to being driven around for the rest of this trip rather than combating the tundra myself!
Anyway, moving on to the news of the morning:
The biggest news of the morning is the announcement of the 2012 A and B High Performance lists. Naming the High Performance list at this stage of the year is a necessary evil in the fact that it must be done for the purpose of holding winter training sessions, but knowing full well that there are a great many important elements that cannot even be anticipated at this time of the year. Like whether the horses coming out of a big fall three-day will return to fitness sound, or whether an injury that had its beginnings last season will emerge, putting a stop to any big spring plans. Another unforeseen element is how the riders on the list with new horses will meld as a partnership, something we still won’t know for quite a few months from now. And then there’s the variable that some rider, upon finding themselves completely omitted from any High Performance list, gets their ducks in a row and performs great at every test in the spring and ultimately ends up where someone from the original High Performance list should have been! There was at least one member of the 2008 Olympic Team who didn’t get added to any High Performance list, A or B, until just a couple of months before the Games.
So the bottom line is that the Winter Training list is a rough draft. Results speak volumes more than lists, I once read somewhere a quote from Jack Le Goff, saying the most surefire way of securing a place on an international team is to “Never give the selectors a reason not to take you.” With all that said, making the High Performance list, whether A or B, is a huge accomplishment, all the riders listed should be proud. The fact that Sinead Halpin made an A List shared only by two veteran riders is a credit to her and the consistency of her performances, and also to the selectors for being fair in their selections, and making decisions based on current performance rather than past merit. And for Jan Bynny’s remarkable return to competition this year to be capped off by being named to the High Performance list is really something special. It’s also nice to see fresh names added to the B list, Marilyn Little- Meredith, Julian Stiiller, and Jolie Wentworth all coming to mind.
A List:
Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice
Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carnville
Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos
Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere
B List:
Hannah Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot
Jan Byyny and Inmidair
Will Coleman and Twizzel
Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister
Buck Davidson and Absolute Liberty
Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM
Buck Davidson and The Apprentice
Phillip Dutton and William Penn
Phillip Dutton and Ben
Will Faudree and Pawlow
Will Faudree and Fernhill Gloster Rebel
Becky Holder and Can’t Fire Me
Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz
Marilyn Little-Meredith and RF Rovano Rex
Boyd Martin and Ying Yang Yo
Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen
Karen O’Connor and Mr. Medicott
Julian Stiller and Chapel Amble
Jolie Wentworth and Good Knight
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In some sad news, a race track in New Zealand has suffered significant damage after a fire broke out Saturday night, damaging the managerial sections of the track along with the 73 year old historic wooden grand stand. Then, less than 24 hours later, another fire began in a block of stabling at the race course. Thankfully, not a single horse was killed in the blaze, all the horses (and several goats) were rescued by a few trainers and stable hands around at that late hour, just before flames consumed the building. Arson is thought to be the cause of both fires, so strict security measures have been enacted until the person responsible is caught by authorities. Just the thought of a barn fire makes me queasy, but the thought of someone intentionally setting a fire in a place where animals are unable to escape is enough to make any horse person physically sick. Hopefully whoever is at fault will be caught soon and locked away for a long, long time. [NZ Herald]
A new method for identifying horses has been sweeping Europe over the past couple months, and is now making an entrance into the United States. The system is an iris scanner, cleverly named eyeD, and is one of the only completely non-invasive ways to identify horses. The system works by taking an infrared picture of the horse’s eye, and then assigning it to unique identification code. Evidently, the system has been tested to have 99.9% accuracy. What do you think about this one? Are we fans? Critics? Skeptics? [Horsetalk]
Ludger Beerbaum and Gotha won the fifth leg of the World Cup competition over the weekend, in Stuttgart, Germany. The German course designer, Crista Jung, tested the combinations from the first to the last, eight top riders in the competition retired during the first round, and it was the smallest jump off division there has been this year. They might beg to differ with the statement Ludger gave in a press release at the end of the competition, saying “It was not too technical but it was quite big – Christa did a very good job.” For his win, Ludger received a Rolex watch and a Mercedes four wheel drive. That’s a pretty nice way to end the weekend. [Horsetalk]
Equine Canada is excited to announce the addition of two new national awards for 2011, Canadian-bred Horse of the Year and Breeder of the Year. From the Press Release:
“The Canadian-bred Horse of the Year Award will be presented to the breeder or owner of a horse who has raised the profile of Canadian-bred horses with exceptional competition results. To be eligible, the horse must be foaled in Canada and registered with any of Equine Canada’s member breed associations. The award is also eligible to an outstanding sire whose offspring have accumulated national and international victories. The Breeder of the Year award will recognize a Canadian breeder for their contribution to the quality of Canadian-bred horses. Nominees must be members of an Equine Canada breed association.” The deadline to nominate for both these awards is December 16th, so start thinking about getting applications in! [Horse Canada]
If you only watch one video on Eventing Nation this year, it really should be this one. It is the story of a Australian champion Endurance rider, Meg Wade, who after an illustrious career including winning the world renowned 160 kilometer (100 mile) Tom Quilty Race a record four times, suffered a near fatal riding accident that left her severely impaired. But that didn’t stop her from riding in the Tom Quilty race once more, following months and months of tedious speech rehabilitation and painful physical therapy. Watch the video here.
Alexandra Slusher, the Californian with the wonderful mare Last Call, has announced her relocation to Paris, Kentucky, starting in December. Read her blog here.
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Have a great day on what is hopefully your Thanksgiving holiday, but if you one of the unlucky ones to be at the office today, at least take comfort in knowing we’ll be around later today to distract you, once again, from all the things you would probably be better off doing. But I digress…
