The FEI’s Thursday News and Notes from Devoucoux

Hello again EN, I feel so lucky to have the pleasure of gracing your morning twice in a row this week. Today’s top story is from the FEI, who has announced that a new Nations Cup Eventing team competition series will launch next month at Fontainebleau in France. The series has six legs and will be open to all countries that field a three star team of three or four riders at each competition. Riders will accumulate points under a new system created just for the series, which will run from March until October when it culminates at Montelibretti in Italy. Mike Etherington-Smith, Chief Executive of British Eventing, said this has been in the works for a while and it is  “also seen as an exciting opportunity for riders to gain valuable team experience, and for National Federations to use it to improve performance as well as adding an interesting dimension to the sport.” That it will. [Horsetalk]

The Telegraph wrote a nice blog about Britain’s Olympic contenders and the quickly approaching (or already upon us) Olympic countdown. Those who are not yet qualified will head to Ireland at the end of February to compete at the Ballindenisk three-day. 2008 individual and team bronze medalists Tina Cook and Miner’s Frolic are back in competition form and will be doing their first show there since Miner’s Frolic’s nearly lethal colitis episode in spring 2010. While Tina admits going straight to a CCI isn’t ideal, the two “need to get qualified as soon as possible; then it’s for me to work out next what I have to do to get on the squad.” [The Telegraph]

Rest in peace Flintlock II, Piggy French’s young rider mount and first four star horse. She did her first Burghley with Flintlock in 2002 and followed that up with her first Badminton in 2003. According to Piggy “it is always so sad to lost a horse and it was a shock to us all but I know he had enjoyed a lovely retirement and a very good quality of life. I will always have very fond memories of him.” [Eventing Worldwide]

While on the subject of sadder tidings, Jody Jaffe has written her latest column for the Chronicle about how horses help us through hard times. I think it would be difficult to find a reader on this site that hasn’t gone out to the barn after a hard day and felt everything lighten. Jody writes about her husband’s sudden and very serious illness this fall and how her horses gave her the comfort she needed to get through it. [The Chronicle]

Burghley Horse Trials will host the final qualifier of the 2012 Racehorse to Riding Horse Show Championships on September 2. The British program is growing in popularity with both competitors and spectators alike. The series offers six qualifiers throughout the season, and winners will go on to compete at a championship at the Horse of the Year Show. Go OTTBs. [Horsetalk]

Horseshow.com has found a way to fuse the internet and horse shows, and no I’m not talking about a live stream that freezes every 35 seconds. They are offering a virtual “show” where competitors send in a video of themselves riding a round in a variety of hunter classes (from walk-trot to 3-foot and up) and receive feedback from USEF “R” judge Beth Nielsen. After the March 15 closing date each rider will get an email with comments and training tips from the judge, and top performers from each class will win Dover gift cards. For every entry received, Horseshow.com will donate $1 to the Equestrian Aid Foundation, which provides aid to equestrians suffering from life-threatening illness or catastrophic injuries. [The Chronicle]

The British Museum has a new exhibit entirely dedicated to horses! “The Horse: Ancient Arabia to the Modern World” opens on May 24 and runs until September 30. A spokesman for the museum said the exhibit will “explore the influence of the horse in Middle Eastern history, the emergence of the Arabian horse and the importance of its introduction to Europe.” [Horse and Hound]

British soccer player Wayne Rooney has named his new race horse “Switcharooney.” The horse also has his own Twitter account. And an internet poser who has made a fake one. All of this is true, I swear. [Horsetalk] [Real Twitter] [Fake Twitter]

I can’t bring myself to post anymore news stories after that last one, so onto blogs:

DPEquestrian had a good weekend at Pine Top

Bruce should have been a cowboy

Karin Donckers for Kentucky Horsewear:

Happy riding!