The final US Equestrian Open event of the inaugural year comes to a close this eventing at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, CA. After qualifying through the Grand Prix yesterday afternoon, the top competitors will proceed to tonight’s Freestyle to crown the Open champion. The action includes 5* eventer Laine Ashker, who earned a 65.935% in their first CDI5* together and will compete later on today. The series leaderboard winner, Anna Marek, is the one to beat after riding Fayvel to a score of 70.804%. Raise your hand if you were watching and converting scores to eventing penalties without realizing it.
Like its eventing counterpart, the Dressage US Open also has a $200,000 prize pot on offer this weekend, so it’ll be an exciting evening to see who will come away with the spoils and have their name carved onto the US Open trophy alongside Christian Kukuk (show jumping) and Boyd Martin (eventing).
You can tune in live (free for USEF members) starting at 7:45 p.m. EST / 4:45 p.m. local time (PST) here. Scores and orders of go can be found here.
U.S. Weekend Events
The Event at TerraNova (FL): [Website] [Entries/Times] [Scores] [Live Stream] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]
Ram Tap Classic Three-Day & H.T. (CA): [Website] [Entries/Times/Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]
Links & Reading
At 60, Laura Kraut’s Love Of Horses Never Gets Old
What Does It Take to Make Your Horse Truly Fit?
Heels Down Happy Hour Podcast Episode 142: A Life Without USEF?
Atlanta BEST Academy Polo Team Makes a Winning Debut (and Some Serious History)
Sponsor Corner: World Equestrian Brands
Effective December 1, new regulations around safety stirrups will be in place as dictated by US Equestrian. The regulations mostly center around preventing riders’ apparel from getting caught up parts of a stirrup that are intended to be safer but can cause other dangers. You can read more specifics here. The good news is, World Equestrian Brands has you covered — both Amerigo and Equipe stirrups, both of which are available via World Equestrian Brands, will be legal under these new rules. You can shop for your pair here.
Video Break
Laura Collett reflects on a real banger of a year with London 52 on the latest episode of the Eventing Podcast, which is out now on your favorite platform.
