Coming soon to a TV near you
Good Morning Eventing Nation! I hope your week has been going well so far, whatever it may have entailed! Well, with Memorial Day now past us, we can all finally put on our white shorts and get the summer of 2012 started! It feels like this spring has already gone by so quickly, before we know it, it’ll be time for the Olympics! With all the talk, excitement, and speculation surrounding the Olympics in our sport, we can’t forget about all the other sports coming together at the Summer Games. My favorites to watch have always been Synchronized Swimming and Diving, and then of course all the Gymnastics. What are your favorite Olympic sports to watch? It’s always fun to cheer on your own players in your sport of choice, but it’s also fun and patriotic to catch a glimpse of what the rest of the world is cheering for!
So let’s get started with the news this morning, the most important of which being the ‘Saving UNH’ article on the USEA website written by Suzanne Adams. So if you are even the slightest bit involved in the horsey blogosphere, you’ll know that in the past month or so, there has been a pretty substantial outcry from the horse community regarding the Agricultural part of the University of New Hampshire and a potential plan of the school to sell some of the land designated for equine use. The loss of the land would be a huge hit to the equestrian community in New Hampshire and greater New England, as the school hosts two yearly horse trials and a variety of other equine events. It’s a complicated situation and I’m not doing a great job of describing it in the best of detail but Suzanne wrote a very good Cliff’s Notes version which I have quoted below:
“The Problem – NH State budget cuts reduced funding to the University by $48 million. UNH developed a Campus Master Plan (CMP) which originally planned to lease out lands used by the Agriculture/Equine/Life Sciences programs for commercial development to bridge some of the shortfall. That means RETAIL stores – think Big Box Stores.
The Outcry – Two public meetings were held. Over 600 people attended and the support against this development was astounding. As a result of this outcry, the Master Plan Steering Committee changed the language to “limit” potential development in these areas. “Limit” does not mean no commercial development
More of the Problem – The public meetings were contentious and the Master Plan Steering Committee along with the Consultants were caught unprepared for such a reaction from the community. Now, they meet quietly until the next public release. There are Plans to move the Equine program in order to make way for commercial/business development eliminating the current facilities (parts of the cross-country course, stabling, paddocks, farm buildings, indoor and stadium jumping course).”
So in short, if you have a few minutes in your day and the kindness in your heart to help out the New Hampshire event community, Suzanne has listed the names of several key people to email, asking them kindly to revise their plans of Big Box Store-dom. [SAVING UNH]
The Tattersall Horse Trials in Ireland are set to begin today, with some key names of European eventing to take part. Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson, William Fox-Pitt, and a whole host of British heavy hitters will be making the trip to contest the CIC*** course. The article uses the term ‘Fringe riders’, saying they will be in plentiful supply this weekend and meaning those riders that are at the brink of selection for the Olympics should something go wrong with one of the more veteran pairs, with the idea being that they need to keep impressing the selectors with good results during this crucial time. [Stuff NZ]
Speaking of Olympic Dreams, sadly young British phenomenon Laura Collett is realizing hers probably won’t come true this year. After a dissapointing weekend at Saumur two weekends ago with a stop and fall at the 25th fence with veteran Rayef, Collett conceded on hr blog that the timing for this year’s Games just hasn’t been quite right and she will now look towards the 2016 Games in Rio as the goal. [Wiltshire Times]
British Event rider Ruth Edge, is saying goodbye to her home and stable of eleven years and moving 200 miles south to her own yard. She’s been based with long standing owners Ann and Hugh Lawson, but feels it’s now time to venture off on her own. Congratulations to Ruth on her new purchase, but I certainly don’t envy the amount of heavy labor they will be doing to fix up the yard and add a few additions before being able to truly call it home! [Horse and Hound]
The Chronicle is celebrating it’s 75th Anniversary this year, so each week staffers will take a look back in history to remember some of the key highlights of each decade. This week looked back at the Fifties, where the big subjects of interest and debate were things like the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki– it was to be the first Games where the US sent a Civilian team instead of a Military one, which was a subject that came under much debate and criticism and debate. [COTH]
It’s time to check in with USEA blogger Katie Wherley! She has a great weekend at Jersey Fresh and is looking forward to the rest of what the season may bring. [Katie Blog]
Colleen Rutledge is back in England after a brief hiatus in the States!
This is the latest blog post from the fabulous team at SmartPak, called ‘Two Sides of the Same Coin’. [Smartpak]
Check out some of the footage from Boyd’s Clinic in New York last weekend:
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation! Have a great Thursday, I’ll see you soon!
