Look, I’m an easygoing sort of gal about most things, but after spending most of the past week consistently soaking wet, and after hearing countless horror stories from friends who needed to be towed INTO events, I’m ready to put my foot down on behalf of Britain’s eventers. Dear, darling sun, please come back so that we can all get back to moaning about the ground being too hard. Many thanks in advance.
National Holiday: It’s Norway’s Constitution Day. Happy birthday, Norway. You don’t look a day over 21.
US Weekend Results:
Galway Downs Spring H.T. (Temecula, Ca.): [Website] [Results]
Fair Hill International H.T. (Elkton, Md.): [Website] [Results]
Hitching Post Farm H.T. (South Royalton, Vt.): [Website] [Results]
Hunt Club Farms H.T. (Berryville, Va.): [Website] [Results]
Majestic Oaks Ocala H.T. (Ocala, Fl.): [Website] [Results]
Mill Creek Pony Club H.T. (Kansas City, Mo.): [Website] [Results]
Spokane Sport Horse Spring H.T. (Spokane, Wa.): [Website] [Results]
Texas Rose Horse Park H.T. (Tyler, Tx.): [Website] [Results]
Winona H.T. (Winona, Oh.): [Website] [Results]
Woodland Stallion Station H.T. (Woodland, Ca.): [Website] [Results]
UK Weekend Results:
Aston-le-Walls International: [Results]
Firle Place Area Festival: [Results]
Llanymynech (1): [Results]
Moreton (X): [Results]
Global Eventing Round-Up:
Five internationals took place over the weekend: Tamborine and Barastoc Naracoorte Horse Trials in Australia each ran classes from CCI2*-S through CCI4*-S, while New Zealand hosted the Taupo International, running long format classes from CCI2*-L through CCI4*-L. Denmark’s Kalundborg ran from CCI1* to CCI3*-L, and Minsk in Belarus delivered classes from CCI2*-L to CCI4*-S.
While results from most of these events are still forthcoming, the New Zealand Three-Day Event at Taupo has wrapped up with some very worthy winners. The CCI4*-L went the way of Olympian and dairy farmer Matthew Grayling and Trudeau. Matthew has previously won championship titles here before in the two- and three-star classes, both aboard Parklane Hawk, later a five-star champion for William Fox-Pitt.
The CCI3*-L was taken by Shannon Galloway and the ex-racehorse Day Walker, both of whom have battled enormous obstacles to get to this point: Day Walker was struck down by a mystery illness after running the four-star at New Zealand’s Horse of the Year Show, and it was unclear whether he’d return to competition. He did, thanks to the enormous efforts of Shannon and the team around her, but as they got back into the swing of things, a brush with an electric fence resulted in the horse kicking Shannon in the head and necessitating 13 stitches. We suspect this big win will put the ups and downs of the last few months to bed for this pair.
Finally, the winner in the CCI2*-L championship was fourteen-year-old Scout Lodder and Money Shot, owned by her mum. This is the first year that Scout has been old enough to be eligible for the class, and Scout, who has only ridden the nine-year-old gelding for six months, was awed and emotional at the result — as was her mum, Dannie, who had to give up riding after a number of health complications. “He is quite special because he got me through when I had my brain haemorrhage – he was the first horse I rode after that. He helped me through my worst times,” she says of the gelding. Those who know Scout weren’t at all surprised by her victory — she first made waves on the circuit when she won a pre-novice (105cm) class full of adults at just ten years old. Undoubtedly a star of the future.
Your Monday Reading List:
It’s an odd Olympic year, but an Olympic year nonetheless — but what does that look like for team chef d’equipes? British Performance Manager Dicky Waygood shares his view, and his backstory, with British Eventing Life. [We Talk To…Richard Waygood]
Want to check out Practical Horseman’s podcast with Liz Halliday-Sharp, but can’t find your headphones? You can now read the full transcript. [Practical Horseman Podcast Transcript: Liz Halliday-Sharp]
Jess Day lives with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that put her in a wheelchair by the time she was 19. But it was rediscovering her love for riding — and one exceptionally special horse — that helped her see the light once again. [Rider who hit ‘rock bottom’ and was ready to give up found life and love thanks to her horse]
We all know the sport’s superstars — but how about the lower-level riders who dream every bit as hard? Like high school senior Isabel Lopez, who’s busy preparing for her first recognised event at Fair Hill with her OTTB, Emmie. They’ve got a great story, and we’ll certainly be rooting them on! [“If you don’t set the goal, you will never get there!”]
Waredaca has announced the return of their Road to the Three-Day Challenge series. If your bucket list includes ‘jump steeplechase fences and have the most fun EVER’, you’ll want to check this one out. [Waredaca Announces Their Classic Three-Day Challenge]
And finally, meet Hall of Fame showjumper Adolph Mogavero, whose sparkling career took him from the racetrack to the top of the jumping leaderboards in the mid-20th century. [The Stylish and Versatile Adolph Mogavero]
Hot on JumperNation: Experience, an Open Mind, and Purpose: What Horses Teach Us About People
What I’m Listening To:
Every episode of the Worldwide Tribe podcast is beautifully crafted, poignant, and enormously educational on the grim realities of the refugee crisis. Host Jaz O’Hara, whose family has expanded to include several young refugees, takes a person-first approach to looking at a complex topic, and gives marginalised people the space to tell their own stories. Sometimes, we all need a dose of perspective — and this will give you all that and more.
The FutureTrack Follow:
I’ve been dreaming of passport checks, duty-free browsing, and that wall of heat that hits you as you step off the plane somewhere temperate — and Yassine, who runs beach-riding experiences in Essaouira, Morocco, is guilty of fuelling most of those daydreams. My travel bucket list has a new entry.
Morning Viewing:
It’s not eventing, it’s eventing’s weird cousin who shows up to the family reunion, spikes the punch, and somehow fashions together a slip-n-slide from tarps, bricks, and washing up liquid. Never change, combined driving.
