Who’s that tiny, smiley little rider on that very fancy little show pony? None other than a pint-sized (okay, even more pint-sized) Laura Collett, long before her eventing days when she was one of the star kiddos of the British showing scene. Though the two disciplines are very different, it’s actually kind of no surprise that Laura’s ended up being as versatile as she is now, able to ride a wide variety of types and school racehorses, too – when she was a kid, she’d be called in to sit on all sorts of ponies for different trainers, and so the ability to be a true horsewoman and adapt to whatever’s underneath you on the day was developed nice and early. More importantly, though, look at that hairdo! Laura, if you read this, can you bring the bows back for Boekelo? Thanks.
National Holiday: Happy National Name Your Car Day! Mine’s called Lucinda, and one time, I was merrily explaining why to a non-horsey friend in the passenger seat, when my phone’s Siri decided to kick in and thought my constant mention of Lucinda Green was probably me desperately seeking a phone call with her. And so she heard the whole thing. And that’s nice.
U.S. Weekend Action
Course Brook Farm Fall H.T. (Sherborn, MA) [Website] [Results]
ESDCTA New Jersey H.T. (Allentown, NJ) [Website] [Results]
Fleur de Leap H.T. (Folsom, LA) [Website] [Results]
Jump Start H.T. (Lexington, KY) [Website] [Results]
Ocala Fall Horse Trials (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Results]
Old Tavern Horse Trials (The Plains, VA) [Website] [Results]
Spokane Sport Horse 9th Annual Fall H.T. (Spokane, WA) [Website] [Results]
Stable View Oktoberfest 2/3/4* and H.T. (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Results]
Sundance Farm H.T. (Plymouth, WI) [Website] [Results]
Tomora Horse Trials (Greeley, CO) [Website] [Results]
UK Results:
Osberton International (Worksop, Notts.): [Results]
Kelsall Hill (2) (Kelsall, Cheshire): [Results]
Little Downham (4) (Ely, Cambs.): [Results]
Major International Events
2023 Asian Games (Hangzhou, China) [Equestrian Schedule and Info]
Your Monday Reading List:
The USEA Convention is one of the real treats of the off-season. Educational opportunities, great people, and the chance to help make a positive change, all in one place? Sign me UP – and sign yourself up, too, if that appeals to you as much as it does to me. Still need convincing? Here’s a taster of what’ll be going down in the show jumping building seminar, led by Chris Barnard and Marc Donovan. Ever wondered what goes into creating an appropriately tough jumping track, or fancy learning to make the magic happen yourself? You won’t want to miss it.
Our sport couldn’t run without volunteers. But when was the last time you made sure to say hello and thank you to them, particularly those hard-working fence judges, while wandering around an event? (This is a rhetorical question, really, because we know our EN fam is made up of some seriously kind and cool people!) This piece is worth a quick read, if only to discover the shocking truth about how few competitors seem to bother with the niceties — and how much a simple acknowledgement means. I don’t get many chances to volunteer these days, but my partner and I did a twelve hour day of fence judging this year at Tweseldown, and when I posted a silly photo of us on my Insta story, 5* eventer and all-around top babe Tom Rowland came and hand-delivered us a pack of Corona. Alex still talks about how great Tom is as a result. We might make a full-time volunteer of him yet. You don’t need to go that far, but definitely say hi and thank you.
As a former (admittedly reluctant) resident of the state of Maine, I always love seeing our small but passionate community in the news. This one’s a bit of a bittersweet one, but what a woman: Robyn Cuffey, who’s been a stalwart part of Maine’s equestrian scene, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, with no further treatment options. But the rider is determined to make each day with her horses count, and her partnership with her rescue, Dmitri, is an extraordinary showcase of that. Meet the pair and find out more about their story – and their recent, very pink freestyle demonstration, here. You’re a remarkable woman, Robyn — thank you for all you do.
How often do you moonlight in other disciplines? As eventers, this is a really valuable exercise — as this rider discovered recently when she decided to sign up for a hunter-jumper show. Frankly, I think you could even learn something to take back to the eventing world from slinging your leg over a western saddle, so I’m all for a bit of a switch-up.
Morning Viewing:
Go back in time to Badminton 2003 with this seriously good throwback video:
