For the second week running, your Monday News & Notes hasn’t just been brought to you by FutureTrack — it’s also been brought to you by Shane Rose’s contentious undercarriage, which has had a particularly exciting and silly few days.
Last week, we shared the images of Shane’s foray into Borat-style mankini-donning, which the Aussie rider undertook in a fancy dress class at the Wallaby Hill Extravaganza. Many laughs ensued! We all giggled at that man’s buttcrack! Over the last couple of days, though, it’s all unraveled a bit — after receiving an anonymous complaint about the mankini, Equestrian Australia chose to step Shane down from competition while they undertook a review of the incident. That prompted a tidal wave of global support, a petition, lots of half-nakey solidarity poses, and, quite remarkably, a hell of a lot of mainstream news coverage around the world, too, including pieces in the New York Times, on the BBC, The Guardian, and plenty more besides.
Now, EA has seen sense, concluded their review, and reinstated Shane, who can get on with the important business of aiming for another Olympics, and there’s been some positive benefits to the silliness, too — Wallaby Hill sponsors Bowrals Kubota have announced they’ll be providing free mankinis to spectators at next year’s event and will donate $100 to men’s health charities for every person brave enough to wear them. Plus, the comments sections of many mainstream media outlets would suggest that Shane has won eventing some new spectators this year, who’ll tune in to the sport in Paris just to cheer on — fingers crossed, anyway! — their new sporting hero.
National Holiday: It’s Tug of War Day, a holiday I celebrate every time my horse has had a few days off and needs to be steered to the field.
US Weekend Action:
Jumping Branch Farm H.T. (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Results]
Ocala Winter I (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Results]
Ram Tap H.T. (Fresno, CA) [Website] [Results]
Your Monday Reading List:
I love a Chronicle throwback, and I love a spotty botty on a horse. Here’s a nice meeting of those two passions that tells the story of a horse named Crocodile, a diminutive rider, and plenty of gentle 60s-style chaos.
Even if you’ve never ridden a horse, you can be a Horse Girl™️. That’s exactly how writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s foray into horses came about: she spent her childhood devouring pony novels and learning the ins and outs and politics of the horse world, but only made her own steps into it once she’d moved to London and been plunged into — and escaped again — the depths of the lockdown. This piece for The Guardian shares her experiences as she puts all that book-learning into practise.
How important is rider position, really? This interesting and salient thinkpiece from trainer Jeremy Steinberg is well worth a read if you’ve ever found yourself on either side of the form v function debate, and while it’s focused on dressage, a lot of his points apply across the disciplines. Give it a read here.
Morning Viewing:
Let’s go eventing with Elisa!
