Can you believe it’s already time to talk about Red Hills? In our latest edition of the ‘local media writes about eventing’ series, WCTV, the local Tallahassee, FL CBS affiliate actually makes a pretty good point. 5 of the 6 US WEG riders (Karen, Becky, Boyd, Phillip, and Buck) are entered to compete at Red Hills (March 11-13th) as well as 3 of the WEG horses (Reggie, Mandiba, and Neville). Most of the Canadian team riders are holding out for The Fork CIC3*, but Kyle and Selena are entered on Madison Park and Colombo respectively.
Mara DePuoy nee Dean won the CIC3* last year on Nicki Henley and returns this year in the advanced with Fun Maker. Phillip, Will Coleman, and Allison–the second, fourth, and fifth placed riders from last year–are also returning. Of course, what would a local media report be without a statement like “Becky Holder, ranked 12th in the nation in 1999, was discovered by Karen and David O’Connor.” [WCTV article, Red Hills Entries]
The question “Red Hills or The Fork for my CIC3*?” is always an interesting one for riders to think about. Some play it safe and shoot for Red Hills with the idea that The Fork is a good backup, and some just prefer Red Hills. Personally, I like The Fork footing and courses better, although the Red Hills cross-country course is much improved since the course designer changed, ahem. The Red Hills show jumping is deceptively challenging because it is built on the side of a grass hill. That hill left me sitting in the middle of a vertical my last trip to Red Hills, so perhaps I still hold a grudge.
One big difference at Red Hills this year is that it will not be an FEI World Cup event. We reported from the USEA Convention in December that HSBC has withdrawn its sponsorship of the World Cup and the FEI asked the events to carry more of the prize money burden. The US WC events were already losing money from the division, so the USEF decided along with top riders and organizers that, while everyone would like a meaningful World Cup system, as long as there is no finals and no major financial prize, the US won’t continue to host FEI WC events. [WC post]
The good news is that ESJ will be making the flight over from Australia to help with the officiating so we will get to meet him for the first time in person. As always, Red Hills is going to be a great event with a fantastic list of entries, as I already mentioned. One of the coolest things about Red Hills is that they do a great job rallying the local population with a great trade show and spectator experience at the event. It’s one of the top 5 events in the US (along with Rolex, Fair Hill, The Fork, and Galway) in terms of getting great turnout from local fans, and that makes it a lot of fun for the riders. The rumor is that there might be an open forum with the short list coaching candidates at Red Hills so stay tuned for more on that.
And yes, there is a Youtube video, thanks for asking:
Go eventing.
