A photo of my model dog for no reason other than he’s the best. Photo by Kate Samuels.
The one thing that unites horse people (other than horses) is our faithful and usually kinda stinky barn dogs. I magically lucked upon the one dog who is NOT a poop-eater, which is basically a unicorn in the barn dog world. He also loves making out with everybody he meets, and horse people assume there is a slight flavor of poo associated with the love of a dog, but fear not with Lyle! He’s a particular fellow, and he won’t even eat a lot of human food, so horse poo is just like, so beneath him. Thank god, honestly, there is nothing like the surprise of the familiar scent in a close proximity to your face.
U.S. Weekend Preview
Millbrook H.T. (Millbrook, NY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Hunt Club Farms H.T. (Berryville, VA) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Major International Events
FEI Eventing European Championships for Ponies (Le Mans, France): [Definite Entries]
Burgham International (United Kingdom): [Website] [Entries/Timing/Scoring] [Live Stream]
News From Around the Globe:
Massive amounts of rain has wreaked havoc on Vermont this year, and sadly GMHA has had to cancel their Festival of Eventing. Reeling in the wake of two major storms that flooded the grounds of Vermont’s nonprofit Green Mountain Horse Association, the nearly century-old organization has been forced to cancel multiple events, including three of the four major shows that form the backbone of its summer season.GMHA announced that it will have to cancel the biggest horse trials of its year, the Festival of Eventing, scheduled for Aug. 11-13, and its annual combined driving event, scheduled for Aug. 25-27. That comes in the wake of a series of thunderstorms Friday, July 21, that dumped 5” of rain on South Woodstock, Vermont, and caused significant localized flash flooding. [GMHA Cancelled]
72-year-old racing enthusiast and recently qualified jockey Caroline Miller says she’s looking of speed, not safety, as she tackles the Market Magnolia Cup. Miller refers to her story as “like a fairytale in a children’s book” and jumped at the chance to compete in the unique five-and-a-half-furlong dash on Friday this week. “You have very attractive girls, ex-Olympians and celebrities riding in it usually and I’m just an ordinary person, but they asked me and I said okay,” she said. “I’ve been riding out at Gary Moore’s for two years because I’m obsessed and I want to keep fit. “Because you’re older, you cannot be deemed to be useless and I passed the jockey test on May 4. I do exercise classes, cardio and weights every day. I’m riding out three times a week and doing two lots.” [Age Is But A Number for Caroline Miller]
The Onion or Real Life? Camp Counselor Assigning Kids To Horses Like Wise Town Matchmaker Presiding Over Marriage
For several years USEF ‘S’ dressage judge Natalie Lamping has advocated for permitting rising trot beyond training and first level dressage tests. On July 13, she went to Facebook to ask for support in making a proposal to test writers that would permit rising trot during medium and extended trots through fourth level. Although her suggestion was met with pushback from some, saying that it will lower standards in the sport, many others supported it. Lamping eventually would like to see rising permitted for all trot work at those levels. Here, she lays out her case for such a change. [Permission to Post]
