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A little Monday morning motivation for us all comes, today, from Polly Holbrook, groom for British Olympian Laura Collett. She’s got in the habit of creating these bonkers, brilliant whiteboards for her horses’ competition outings — and this was her masterpiece for Dacapo, who headed to CHIO Aachen last week and finished third. We can’t wait to see what she comes up with for Paris.
National Holiday: It’s National Video Game Day. Anyone want to come over and drink margs and play Equestriad 2001 with me?
U.S. Weekend Action:
Arrowhead H.T. (Billings, MT): [Website] [Results]
Bouckaert Equestrian H.T. (Fairburn, GA): [Website] [Results]
Huntington Farm H.T. (South Strafford, VT): [Website]
Mile High Horse Ranch H.T. (Parker, CO): [Website] [Results]
Summer Coconino HT and Western Underground, Inc. TR,N,BN 3 Day Event (Flagstaff, AZ): [Website] [Results]
The Maryland International + Horse Trials (Adamstown, MD): [Website] [Results]
UK International Events:
Aston-le-Walls International (2) (Northamptonshire): [Website] [Results]
European International Events:
World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen (Germany): [Website] [Results – All Disciplines] [Results – Eventing] [EN’s Coverage]
Your Monday Reading List:
Equestrian sport is in a constant state of improvement and finessing. And while there may still be issues on the table that need resolving, a glance back at the earlier iterations of the disciplines shows just how far we’ve come. Take a look back at Olympic courses and questions from history and meet a whole new level of “oh, HELL no” here.
Keen on some more Olympic history? Join COTH in looking back at the last Paris Games, which took place exactly 100 years ago and actually heralded the first-ever ‘modern’ long format Olympic eventing competition. Read all about those Games here.
We’ve all got our own Olympics to tackle. For some of us, simply nailing down each phase at our local event is the gold-medal aim, and that’s great. For one Heels Down reader, learning to memorise courses and analyse them for the best possible ride is that fundamental focus point. Here’s some great advice to help them, and you, too, if you struggle with this as well.
And finally: stay hydrated. And make sure your horse does, too. Did you know that water intake is one of the keystones of equine nutrition? It’s not just about making sure they have a bucket available — the science of water goes deep. Learn more here.
Morning Viewing:
