The Windurra Riding Academy for tiny feral children and tiny not-at-all-feral ponies is back in action, and today, it’s cross-country day! This one goes out to everyone who has ever been personally victimised by their horse stopping to graze midway through a schooling session. I know there’s more of us out there than any of us would like to admit to. It’s okay, it’s fine – just let the splishsplishsplish of tiny hooves in a water jump soothe what ails you.
National Holiday: It’s National Napping Day. The most sacred of days, I think.
U.S. Weekend Action:
Bouckaert Equestrian H.T. International (Fairburn, GA) [Website] [Results]
Full Gallop Farm March I H.T. (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Results]
SAzEA Spring H.T. (Tucson, AZ) [Website] [Results]
Southern Pines H.T. I (Raeford, NC)[Website] [Results]
UK Weekend Results:
Tweseldown (1) (Church Crookham, Hants.): [Results]
Oasby (1) (Grantham, Lincs.): [Results]
Your Monday Reading List:
What does your post-ride care routine look like? Maybe you give your horse a hose-off to get rid of sweat and sand; maybe it’s a full groom to check for any lumps and bumps. But how hands-on are you with his legs after a ride? Checking and caring for them properly can help you to spot any issues well before they blossom into big problems — so it’s definitely worth giving this guide a read to find out how how much icing, hosing, wrapping, and treating you should really be doing.
Following a spate of welfare abuses in dressage, a forum has been proposed for after Paris to tackle the root of the issue. But, it’s been pointed out, it would be a grave error to assume that the issues that we’ve seen in dressage are exclusive to that discipline – and any abuse of horses in any part of the industry should certainly be an issue of great importance to the industry at large. Find out more about it here.
Alexa Thompson is steadily ticking off big goals on her bucket list – and she’s doing it with two homebred. The Lexington-based rider’s foray into breeding happened almost by chance, but now, her two nine-year-olds are delivering big-time, with form at three-star and a half-season in Europe under their belts. Dive deeper into the story in this profile.
And finally, if you’ve not given this one a read yet, you’re missing out. Dr Anastasia Curwood’s thoroughly researched overview of the history of all-Black horse shows in the US during World War II is a fascinating insight into the social magnetism of showing and how an enterprising group of people carved out their own space in an often hugely exclusive world. Dive on in.
Morning Viewing:
Think you need a certain type of sport horse to enjoy success out eventing? Think again – because cobs are having their moment! Check out episode seven of Horse&Country TV’s new series, Cobs Can Go Eventing, and get the low down on how to get the most out of these cool characters with advice from 5* eventer Simon Grieve.
