Good morning Eventing Nation! Do you usually enjoy a nice cup of Starbucks to start the day? Personally, I can’t stand to spend $5 on a cup of anything. As my accounting professor always told us–if you took the money you spend each day on Starbucks and put it in a savings account with 5% interest, in 20 years you would have enough money to still go broke paying for a horse. You probably already guessed this, but the photo was taken in Texas. Two EN tipsters sent us the photo, so thanks to LB and KM. As usual, I’m running late getting this posted and I have an early morning so here are your quick news and notes:
–Samantha posted an absolutely fabulous interview with David Wednesday afternoon. I have no idea who the USEF will ultimately pick to be the next coach, but you can tell from David’s interview and from speaking with him in person that no one cares about the US job more. David will be absolutely obsessed with leading the US back to greatness if he becomes the coach, and I think that is a big plus. Our goal is to get interviews with all of the coaching candidates that have been made public over the next few weeks. Remember that there are 3 to 4 candidates who have not been made public–it’s a bit like watching the NFL draft and only knowing half the players. For our one reader just returning from a month in Siberia, here is the list of 5 public applicants:
Leslie Law
Phillip Dutton and Bobby Costello
David O’Connor
Andrew Hoy
Jimmy Wofford
–There are three USEA events this weekend. I’ll be at Rocking Horse in Florida assuming I don’t get murdered driving through the Ocala National Forest. Paradise Farm is the Aiken event, and Ram Tap is being held in California.
–Sinead asked on her blog ‘what is another axle actually worth?‘ The smart aleck answer is that I suppose if you don’t need another axle, it would be pretty worthless, but if you do need one it would be as valuable as the vehicle. [Sinead’s blog]
–I want to give a quick shout-out for a Ralph Hill clinic in March, hosted by Kim Meier. The clinic is March 12-13 at Blue Merle Eventing, Kim’s farm in Worton, MD. I have never ridden with Ralph, but people who do so consistently speak highly of him, and it should be a great time. It’s not only a great way to clear the winter cobwebs off, but it’s also a wonderful way to support two individuals who have given much to the sport, Ralph and Kim. Interested individuals should contact Kelly Morani ([email protected]). [via MS]
–A horse story from Montana is gaining international attention, and it thankfully does not involve an ex-professional wrestler governing millions of people. In late January, Montana authorities airlifted massive bales of hay into a remote and abandoned cattle ranch where 700 horses were starving to death. The owner of the ranch, James H. Leachman, filed for bankruptcy and abandoned the horses to die. Leachman has been charged with animal cruelty and over $10,000 was raised to feed the horse until a permanent solution can be found. On Tuesday, authorities repeated the airlift to sustain the horses. [Horsetalk, photos]
–Two British shetlands have found an ideal rescue home [Horsetalk]
–US House of Representative amendment cuts BLM budget by $2 million [TJR]
–I wrote about Red Hills on Wednesday, and as a quick note from Nunn Finer, Dorothy Crowell–one of my former coaches–will be hosting a Nunn Finer course walk at Red Hills. We’ll have more details as the event approaches.
—Best of the Blogs: Valerie V’s season started with a bang at Pine Top
—Check out Omega Alpha on Facebook
–Equisearch has redesigned it’s website and blog, and to celebrate, our good friend Fran Jurga has posted a dramatic report about a horse rescued from a frozen swimming pool in Germany. The horse was sedated and the pool was emptied before a crane arrived to unceremoniously hoist the horse out of the pool. As Fran mentioned, it would have been much nicer for them to have used a sling, but the horse’s life was saved and, in the end, that is what counts. [TJR]
That’s all for now. Keep your radio dial tuned to Eventing Nation all day for your eventing ridiculousness and maybe some news. Wherever you may be, thanks for making eventing nation part of your day. Go eventing.
