From HorseNation's FB page
Good morning Eventing Nation!
So it’s January 4. Have you kept your resolutions thus far? You can do it! Can you believe the first event of the year is already here? A super huge thank you to Equiventures for hosting the Ocala Winter Series. Hannah Burnett, The Carters, Buck, The Hollings, Lesley Grant-Law, and Joe Meyer, to name a few are polishing their boots, and dusting off their pinny holders today in preparation for the event. It’s so very exciting that the event season is underway!
The First Event of the Year is this weekend:
Ocala Horse Properties Winter I HT [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times]
On to the News and Notes: (so happy to be able to write this again since we have shows to separate now!)
It’s the Nate and Joe show! We’re definitely missing Samantha Clark this week on the Eventing Radio Show, but Nate Chambers and Joe Meyer do a wonderful job trying to fill Samantha’s big shoes. They are chatting with Bruce Haskill of the Event Riders Association and Number One Eventer, Andrew Nicholson. Bruce helps to clarify the new eventing rules, and why the change. They want to “shift responsibility” to the riders for qualifications rather than just checking all the boxes. He quotes Mark Phillips, “Just because you’re qualified, doesn’t mean you’re capable.” Bruce did a good job at explaining WHY the rule change. Then Andrew Nicholson chats about his exciting Christmas foray, and the horses’ winter plans. He also touches a bit on how his business has evolved over the years. [Eventing Radio Show]
The Historical High Scores of the USEA have been calculated and updated! Windsome Adante is still the top horse with 1355 points. The changes for this year? Courageous Comet has moved into 3rd place and Ballynoe Castle RM to 8th. Newcomers to the list, Arthur debuted in 20th place, while Manoir de Carneville debuted in 32nd. Congratulations to all these fabulous horses, as well as the rest of the USEA Top 50 of all time. [Congratulations]
There is a very cool year end wrap up video from Michael and Trish Ryan of Donegan Ryan Eventing. The terrific event they where they competed in Italy looks like absolutely fantastic going. They had a great event at Tattersalls followed by the Olympics. I love the honesty of his response to his Olympic ride. Very refreshing. They wrapped up a wonderful year at Boekelo. Good luck in 2013! [Go Donegan Ryan Eventing]
The 2013 George Morris Horsemanship Clinics in Wellington are underway. Day 1 for the 12 participants started very early as they had to be impeccably turned out and ready at 8 am without the help of grooms or assistants. Flat work was the game of the day with emphasis on perfect positions as always can be expected from George. Also expected, his fabulous zingers, “You’re very beautiful, my dear, I hope you have a brain.” Ironically, tactfulness was the main point of the flat work backed by gong forward. This will carry to their gymnastics session later in the series. The day finished with a demonstration by Anne Kursinski of her flat work which included haunches-in, leg-yielding, and the poor man’s canter pirouettes that would not have impressed Robert Dover. [COTH]
HBO’s series “Luck” was canceled last March after three horses died on set. HBO and Stewart Productions are being sued by Barbara Casey, a former American Humane Association employee, for allegedly mistreating the horses and covering up the abuse. HBO and the American Humane Association are also being sued by Casey for wrongful termination, although she was not technically employed by HBO, according to HBO. [LA Times]
Hot on HN: There’s no denying that Wylie’s horse is talented. It’s unfortunate for Wylie, but fortunately for us, she documented it. And I thought my horse was hard on blankets. Mostly, I love Wylie’s sense of humor and the videos chronicling how we’ve all felt. [HN]
Best of the Blogs: Andrea Leatherman has written a new blog entry to start off 2013. It is a must read, because We Are Lucky. We’ve all felt like this one time or another, and it’s all about keeping it in perspective. Andrea shows us all why not only is she a terrific horseman, she’s a terrific person as well. [Go Andrea]
Honorable Mention: Kyle Carter is awesome. Enough said. Just read the introduction to his latest blog. This is his Real Road to the Olympics. You know, the road where you don’t buy a made horse. We’re being introduced to his first homebred Finn, who is owned by his daughter Riley. He’s scored 22 and 23.5 at preliminary as just a six year old. [Go Five Ring]
Found on Facebook: There’s lots going on Facebook these days from people heading south, to arriving south, New Year’s resolutions, contemplations, etc etc. I’ll bring you some of the most note-worthy of the last day.
Tamarack Hill Farm: (an excerpt) ““Not Good Enough”—-That’s an American reality about most of our dressage, compared to much of Europe, which is steeped in a dressage culture. Some years ago, when my friend Volker Bromman was heading back to Germany to ride with Klaus Balkenhal, Volker phrased it in these words: “I need to get reinfected with the dressage virus.”“
Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event: “We hope 2013 is off to a great start for you! Watch for trivia, Throwback Thursday fun and more starting next week!”
Kim Severson Eventing: “Tick, tick, tick… here comes the 2013 Spring season!!! Starting to get ready to head South to Aiken in a few weeks but still getting organized at our new farm here in Charlottesville. Happy New Year!!”
Event Riders Association: “ERA members, we need your votes! On the ERA website under ERA Awards 2012 on the left, please vote on the options, we hope you’ll like the choices of category and the photos to help you decide! Also, you can submit your choice of the Most Rider-Friendly Event of 2012. Please vote! www.eventridersassociation.org.uk“
“What are you doing?” What are you doing if you’re not following EventionTv’s guide to getting in shape? Following Kate’s program? You’re doing both? So you are keeping your New Year’s Resolutions. Over-achiever you.. Step into Schrammo’s Gym:
That’s all EN! Go Eventing.
