Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope your week thus far gone by smoothly and that this weekend will be no different. Millbrook is in it’s second day of dressage competition today, most exciting of which will be the Advanced and Intermediate B divisions, full of horses going abroad this fall. I know I’m not alone in saying that Boyd’s performances yesterday were certainly impressive and a little unexpected. Even if he wasn’t making a comeback from a tragic fire, topping a division with horses in it like Loughan Glen and Rehy Lux (who’ve been winning the flat at nearly every competition this year) is really astounding. Boyd’s certainly got his head in the right place and is wasting no time getting back out there.
Millbrook H.T. [Live Scores] [Ride Times]
Now here’s the news:
What would you do if you had a billion dollars? My list would be to buy as many nice horses as I could plausibly ride in a day, then to buy a really big barn, and finally to buy a really big house. Billionaire Madeline Pickens is using some of her fortune, albeit a relatively ‘small’ amount, to create a wild horse sanctuary, which she has so aptly named ‘Mustang Monument’. Her gracious efforts have been unappreciated by the ranchers close by, who feel that the wild horses are a nuisance to their livelihood of ranching. According to the TIME article, “The ranchers are trying, so far unsuccessfully, to push through a bill that would bar wild horses from having access to water — condemning them to die of thirst.” [TIME]
I’m sure will come as welcome news to many Eventing fans out there– but things are starting to look optimistic for Miner’s Frolic, Tina Cook’s top Olympic horse. Miner’s Frolic has been battling a serious case of colitis- poisoning of the gut- for some time now, and for awhile it didn’t look as if he would pull through. But pull through he did, and Tina now even thinks they might still have a shot at next year’s Games. She said,
“I would say that I am on the outskirts of the British team, but I’m hoping the fact that I’m the reigning European individual champion means, if I can pull out some good results, I can be back on track again.But I am not about to think I am set to go because I have been before, and I will make sure I am doing my best week in, week out, right up until the team is announced.”
Miner’s Frolic is a great horse, and Tina a great jockey, so I’m certainly going to be rooting for them as they ascend on their climb back to the top. [Little Hampton Gazette]
A local Canadian newspaper wrote a nice article about Selena O’Hanlon, and her journey to the Pan Am Games this fall. It sounds like the Pan Am’s will only be more fuel to the fire in Selena’s quest for eventing greatness. At the end of the article, she said, “The Canadians are a force to be reckoned with. I’ve always wanted to be one of the greats. I want to be remembered as a Mark Todd or a Bruce Davidson.” [Kingston Sports]
Be sure to check out the Eventing Radio Episode for this week starring Bobby Costello, Will Faudree, and a couple NAJYRC’ers.
British Eventing mastermind, Yogi Breisner, recently wrote a blog recapping the summer highlights of the British squad members, and previewing their plans for the autumn. [BE]
Abby Gibbon wrote a great article for the Chronicle recently, reminiscing on her time as a Pony Clubber, losing her father to cancer, and the experience recently of reporting on the USPC Championships in Kentucky held just a couple weeks ago. The article contains much wisdom and is written about something I think many of us can relate to. [COTH]
Zara Phillips (and it’s still Phillips by the way) has added a line of clothing for children to her apparel line from Musto. The range is called the ‘ZP 176′ and consists of a 2-in-1 jacket, zip neck fleece, zip-through hoody, zip-neck sweat, kids’ polos, and accessories. The line will debut this weekend at the Gatcombe Horse Trials. [Horse and Hound]
Best of the Blogs: You know you are a working student when…
Take a walk around the British Open course at Gatcombe with Daisy Berkeley
This video was produced by Nina Glover
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Stay tuned for more coverage of Millbrook later on today and have a great Friday!
