It’s easy to allow yourself to become numb. I did some research last month on the number of fatalities, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries that have occurred to eventers in the last few decades, and it was rather depressing, to say the least. My muggle job is at a physical medicine and rehabilitation hospital, where all of our patients are learning how to live again after surviving life-changing injuries or hospitalizations. My own (very minor) injury after a fall last month brought some of the sports medicine physicians I work with to ask lots of questions about equestrian sport, as it’s not very prevalent in our area. Between explaining the range of injuries caused from our sport to these doctors — from a fractured scapula to death — and the research I was doing to help explain these numbers to them, it became easy for me to say that people die in our sport — that not too long ago, eventing saw more fatal accidents than base jumping, bull riding, or motocross.
It’s easy to become numb to it, the reason we wear body protectors, why we shell out the money to get refill cartridges for our air vests, why we make the investment to purchase a new helmet after every fall — however begrudgingly. My barnmates and I always chuckle when our regular clinician reminds us of the number one rule in eventing: the thousand-pound animal traveling at speed towards a solid object must be able to see the jump — but despite the laughs, we understand its truth, and it’s the reason we make the investments: because it’s too easy to become numb to the dangers in our sport, and someone needs to be there reminding us.
It’s been a hard week for us all, but I just wanted to take this moment to remind ourselves that despite the numbness creeping in as the week comes to a close, as we stop seeing the Facebook posts and our social media moratorium lifts and we return to our worlds, to keep climbing fences to meet pretty horses. Keep remembering why we do this sport, and keep remembering why safety is paramount to our survival — as athletes and as little horse girls.
💜🤍🕊️ Go Eventing.
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U.S. Weekend Action
Carriage House Farm Combined Test (Hugo, MN) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring]
Equestrians’ Institute H.T. (Cle Elum, WA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Essex H.T. (Gladstone, NJ) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Genesee Valley Riding & Driving Club Spring H.T. (Geneseo, NY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
GMHA June H.T. (South Woodstock, VT) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
IEA Horse Trials (Edinburgh, IN) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
MCTA H.T. at Shawan Downs (Cockeysville, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Ocala Summer H.T. I (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Poplar Place June H.T. (Hamilton, GA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
The Spring Event at Archer (Cheyenne, WY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
European International Events
Millstreet International Horse Trials (Nations Cup) (Co. Cork, Ireland) [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Scoring] [Free Live Stream NC Dressage 1] [Free Live Stream NC Dressage 2] [Free Live Stream NC Show Jumping] [Free Live Stream NC Cross Country] [Complete Live Stream – CMH]
Outdoor Horst (Kronenberg, The Netherlands) [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Scoring] [Live Stream]
Links to Start Your Sunday:
Audit Clinics With The Best, Even If You’re A Beginner — And Especially If You’re Not
Allison Springer is looking for a working student
What Being Horseless For Many Years Taught Me
AMA: My Horse Gets Tense In The Warm-Up At Shows. How Do I Help Him?
Sponsor Corner: It’s giveaway time! EcoVet is giving away a bottle of their amazing fly spray. The first fatty-acid fly repellent for horses, this unique fly spray is Veterinarian-approved and used by 5* eventers across the USA.
Winning is easy! Simply fill out the form in our June 10th ICYMI newsletter. Sign up for our weekly newsletter [here] because free is every equestrian’s favorite price.
Morning Viewing: Hang out with Samantha Clark as they chat with Liz Halliday and take a stroll through her barns! Figure out exactly what Liz wanted for her farm’s design and how it came to life here:
