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The last time we saw Tom McEwen, he was closing out Pau and getting a start on his stag do in fine style — by wearing a naughty nurse’s outfit to the final press conference, of course. We’re delighted to report that he appears to have survived his trip to Benidorm with a frankly frightening collection of lads, and made it home to the UK to be married, on Friday, to partner Harriet Fettes. Congratulations to the happy couple — and good luck on recovering from the hangovers.
National Holiday: It’s National Nachos Day. I can get behind that; some of my favourite memories with the EN team involve bowls of queso and endless eventing chat in some strip mall Mexican. As a British resident, and, as such, someone who can’t actually get queso in my home country, believe me when I tell you that at night, I dream of cheese.
U.S. Weekend Action
The Eventing Championships at Galway Downs (Temecula, CA) [Website] [Results]
Rocking Horse Fall H.T. (Altoona, FL) [Website] [Results]
Texas Rose Horse Park H.T. (Tyler, TX) [Website] [Results]
Virginia Horse Center Eventing Fall (Lexington, VA) [Website] [Results]
Your Monday Reading List:
One of the major talking points of the tail end of the 2023 season in the US is the introduction of the Starter level. But, as is always the case when a new level is added to the recognised roster, not everyone’s happy about it. US Eventing’s Rob Burk chatted to organisers to find out their thoughts on the addition and explain why Starter is a worthy add-on to the extant levels in the USEA book.
Speaking of contentious decisions (though this is much, much more contentious): one of the draft rules being voted on at this month’s FEI General Assembly is one that would allow the FEI to demand access to emails, messages, and so on while investigating potential doping violations. A number of governing bodies are firmly against this, suggesting it represents a violation of the human right to privacy. Read more about it here.
Ever struggled through life with a head shaker? I have — and it’s not much fun. My first horse, a rescue called Danny that I bought off a sandlot with a Folgers can full of money I’d saved raking blueberries (yes, really) was an idiopathic head shaker, and it was so hard to predict his triggers — and to stay secure in the saddle when he was struck by a really bad bout of head shaking. It’s something I avoid like the plague nowadays, but the truth is, head shaking can find you at any point, because there are so many causes, so many types, and so little solid information about what actually causes it all. But in positive news? A recent study suggests that the use of cannabinoids could help to manage this tricky condition. Check out why and how in this piece.
Fancy a morning podcast listen while you muck stables? Have an entrepreneurial side you’d like to explore in the horse world? Or simply just wondering what the ‘Mad Barn’ that sponsored the Indoor Eventing at the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair is? Then this episode of Hitting Your Stride, with Scott Cieslar of Mad Barn, is for you.
Morning Viewing:
It’s high-flying Mustang time! Check out Elisa Wallace and Wyeth in action in the Open Training at the Majestic Oaks schooling show.
