Do I need a Donkey or a shot gun? Now that is the question. Photo courtesy of Victory Sport Horses
Good Morning Eventing Nation and welcome to Monday. I hope everyone had a great weekend and that the commute to the office hasn’t gone too slowly this morning. Whether you were at the Ocala Horse Trials, the Area 8 Annual Meeting, or were just reading about them from home, I hope this weekend allowed you at least a little time to indulge in some horse time.
Here is the news you need to know this morning:
The big news in horse breeding circles is the intent of at least a couple breeders to sue Colorado State University for damages over lost breeding materials after a fire in the University’s Reproduction Laboratory back in July caused $12 million in damages and a total loss of equine sperm, embryo and egg straws that were stored on behalf of 175 clients in the Laboratory. Although the University did have a contract in place to absolve them of disputes of the sort and alerting all clients for the need to have their own insurance, still many breeders will be filing suit. However, several breeders are saying differently. Charlie Cox, a client of CSU’s Equine Reproduction Unit stated that “he was never asked to sign a contract, and just paid the invoices when they came in the mail.” One breeder, although her estimated losses are thought to be around $200,000, stated that the financial losses were almost meaningless when you consider that much of that breeding material was irreplaceable: semen collected from stallions since deceased or gelded and embryos collected from mares no longer viable for transplant. If one thing’s for sure, there are some very big losses to be argued over, this will certainly be a case to watch in the following months. [Denver Post]
In more courtroom news, the upcoming trial date of January 19th has been set for Jaci Rae Jackson, the woman charged over the theft of five horses from the University of Arkansas Rodeo Team on November 2nd. The theft of the five horses, a truck and trailer, and several thousand dollars worth of equipment made national headlines, especially as four horses were later found tied to a few adjacent trees in an Oklahoma forest, and the fifth was found to have been shot and dismembered. The verdict regarding the nineteen year old student of Arkansas State charged as an accomplice in the theft will also be decided at the upcoming trial. The trial has garnered a great deal of support since November, there is a Facebook page to show support of the horses and students involved, and as of recent it looks like more than 200 people will be coming out to the Oklahoma court house on January 19th. Thankfully not more of the horses were harmed in the theft, but it is a real tragedy that Credit Card, the horse killed, was so brutally mistreated. [Horsetalk]
Last night was the premiere of the film War Horse in Europe, and who could have made their red carpet appearance more talked about than Kate and William themselves. In total British style, it was sprinkling as Kate and William left the limo for the red carpet, so William handily whisked out a posh little umbrella as he to protect his bride’s styled locks as he and Kate made their way indoors. What a chivalrous prince. [The Daily Mail]
In some great news for the show jumping world, the veteran Sapphire is back in action and looking as good as ever. ‘Sara’ as she’s known personally, injured a check ligament last March, sidelining her for the next nine months. She had her first jump school mid-October and will start competing in Wellington very shortly. McLain Ward has been campaigning Sapphire the past nine years, and the pair has seen many victories and few defeats, although a couple disqualifications (in 2010 McLain was disqualified at the World Cup Finals after veterinarians detected hypersensitivity in one of Sapphire’s legs). That conflict has since been resolved to find neither horse nor rider at fault, and so McLain and Sara now are looking forward to what will most likely be Sapphire’s last year of International competition, at the ripe age of 17. [COTH]
Fancy restaurants, moonlight beaches, Rolex stadiums, and now even the hunt field is the setting for marriage proposals. In front of more than 500 onlookers at the highly attended Boxing Day hunt at the Aberford meet, a man named Wayne Glover trotted up to his unsuspecting girlfriend Tracey Hudson aboard his trusty stead, Minnie, to pop the question. In front of that large an audience, it’s a good thing she said yes! [The Courier]
Best of the Blogs: Jennifer Berol Bliss- One Day, Three Saddles
Runner up: Courtney Cooper writes about the new year
We Love Dubarry:
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Have a great day, I’ll catch up with you soon!
