Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope your week is going splendidly, but if not, at least it’s going. I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year; I love fall, the changing leaves, the brisk sweatshirt weather, you get the picture, but the love turns to hate when the leaves start falling and the branches become bare, when sweatshirts become jackets, and winter sets it’s claws into the lovely, pleasant fall season. I guess there’s nothing to do but enjoy these last bits of pleasant fall weather while we still can!
The biggest event this weekend would have to be the Boekelo Horse Trials in Holland, where a team of US riders including Boyd Martin, Michael Pollard, and Tamra Smith, have assembled to tackle the formidable CCI***.
The first day of Dressage begins at Boekelo today, or rather, began at three in the morning. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there is a live video feed for the Dressage according to our Dutch translator chinchilla, but it looks like there will be for the rest of the event here, so stay tuned on that. With that said, Boekelo.TV is the place to find interviews, photos, virtual course walks, and anything else you could possibly need for cyber stalking an event. Also, Uptown Eventing has so far done an excellent job of keeping all of us on the other side of the pond updated with the happenings at the event, so we’ll look to them quite a bit over the weekend for the scoop as to what’s going on.
Boyd is the only American doing a test today. That test will be on Remington and take place at 7:40 ET.
The Boekelo Links:
And now for the news:
The FEI has released the updates for the 2012 Prohibited Substances List, according to the press release from COTH, the updated prohibited substances include:
“Magnesium sulphate injections: used to calm horses when administered intravenously, can cause cardiac arrest in certain instances
ACTH (adrenocortcotropic hormone): a powerful anti-inflammatory drug that, with overuse, can cause breakdown in a horse’s joints
17-alpha-hydroxy progesterone: a hormone that is an anabolic steroid
Valerenic acid, a calming drug, has been moved to the Controlled Medications category on the list.”
These changes will have little-to-no effect on the ‘clean’ players in our sport, but hopefully they will help prevent (or at least make it more difficult) for cheaters to get around the rules when it comes to medicating/tranquilizing their horses. Dishonest horseman are a lot like gophers in that no matter how many times you fill the tunnels they burrow to get around the rules, they eventually weasel their way through, requiring new barriers to be enacted every so often.
We’ve been reporting all summer about how the drought in Texas has severely compromised the horse industry, the agriculture industry, and generally has made everything in Texas a little less ‘big’. The crops are dying, horses are starving, and many people have been fighting just to keep themselves afloat in these tough times. The ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Animals) just announced yesterday a new plan to aid the waining horse industry. The ASPCA has cleverly titled it the ‘Bale Out’ program, and will be distributing $250,000 to equine welfare organizations in the states of Texas and Oklahoma, funds which will be used for the sole purpose of buying hay to help the neglected horses suffering due to the drought. [NBC]
Leslie Wylie, funny as always, has written an ode to her lame horse.
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Enjoy this brisk fall day, wherever it finds you, and I’ll see you soon!
