Good Morning Eventing Nation! Today marks the official start of the 2011 season with the kickoff of the Ocala Winter I Horse Trials. [Live Scores, Weather forecast] The weather’s supposed to be pretty warm this year; I remember being at this event last year where it was so cold they had to break the layer of ice that had formed on the water jump.
Here’s the news:
Update: Neville Bardos syndicate report from Boyd including VIDEO of Neville training [Boyd’s Blog]
The Selangor Turf Club in Malaysia has a program designed to rehabilitate ex-racehorses and turn them over into careers in the sport horse world. This is welcome news especially with the realization of just how many unwanted horses there are across the world. Read more here.
Cool Mountain, William Fox-Pitt’s mount at both last year’s Rolex and WEG, has landed the cool prize of leading this year’s BE Horse Rankings. Andrew Nicholson’s mount Nereo was a close second, and Lenamore came third.
The director of Rutgers Equine Science Center, Karyn Malinowski, has just made a personal donation of $100,000.00 to the program. She said, “I am extremely pleased to be able to make a gift and commitment to the Equine Science Centre in recognition of research-based educational programming in the area of horse health and well-being,” Malinowski has had a long-standing relationship with the Center since she first arrived as a faculty member in 1978. [Horsetalk]
A racetrack in Queensland, Australia is submerged in floodwater from the Fitzroy river, experts say it could be weeks before the full damage is known, let alone rectified. The director of the track, Bob Bentley said about the flooding, “This is a real blow, as the new Rockhampton track was fast gaining recognition as a premium racing facility able to cope with major rainfall events while still providing an optimum racing surface.” He went on to state that, “It could be many months before the massive clean-up is finalised and things return to normal for Rockhampton’s racing community.”
Allison Springer has kicked off her Florida season, read her blog here.
Horse Sport Ireland has confirmed that Robert Splaine, the manager of the Show Jumping team, will remain at his post for the next two years. Splaine signed a four-year contract in 2009, but the terms of the contract gave him an option to take a break at the two-year mark. Read more here.
Our good friend, JER, sent us this slideshow link about a wild horse trek in the Tusheti Mountains. It’s a story by travel columnist Kevin Rushby and his traveling partner, 3-time champion jockey, 2-time Grand National winner and current extreme adventurer Richard Dunwoody through the beautiful mountains of Tusheti Georgia (the country, not the state) that takes an interesting turn.
This week’s Eventing Radio Show is dedicated to Rebecca Broussard, with guests Karen O’Connor and Jo Whitehouse.
Horse and Hound has written an article about the truth regarding fitness in riders. The article states that the vital importance of fitness for riding, especially in older riders, is to combat fatigue. Andy Thomas is an expert in human sports science and says, “There is a distinct relationship between making mistakes on the first or the last horse you ride in a day — the last horse is when mistakes are made.”
Boyd Martin has written a blog entry about a group field trip with a few promising young horses.
Friday at the George Morris Clinic [COTH]
And as a final note, the Irish show jumper Shane Breen is recovering from a fractured jaw and skull after falling from a twelve-foot balcony just before Christmas. [Horse and Hound]
Pennfield has added its first dealer in Tennessee, called Saddleridge Farms in Shelbyville. Check it out if you are in the area and visit Pennfield for more information on their grain and dealers.
Good luck to the Ocala competitors, hopefully it will be a safe and successful weekend for everyone. Go eventing.
