It’s a … future Olympic eventing champion – probably.
In case you hadn’t guessed, the mama-to-be is reigning Olympic champion Amande De B’Neville, who made history with Julia Krajewski in Tokyo when they became the first women to win individual eventing gold (as far as we’re able to tell from available records, we believe ‘Mandy’ was the first mare to take the title).
Julia shared the happy announcement on her Instagram account, and it’s fair to say, it’s pretty exciting news for the future of eventing:
“I am DELIGHTED to share the news that Mandy is in foal by Cascadello 🥰 it’s been safely confirmed but obviously early days, so fingers crossed 🤞🏼 I wanted to let you know because it made me VERY happy and some people have been asking 🤗
As to the father to be, Cascadello was a bit of the obvious choice for her first foal. As some might know, he is owned (and possibly one of his absolute favorites) by Professor Bernd Heicke (@gestuet_fohlenhof) who also owns Mandy with me. To have a foal by your own stallion out of your own Olympic Gold medalist mare is probably something every breeder/horse owner dreams of, so that was a no-brainer ❤️
If it will be an eventer time will tell but pretty sure it can jump 😂💥 for now I hope for no complications and that Mandy can enjoy the time with her mare crew on the field 🥰”
Congrats to Mandy and the team!
In other eventing news, the fourth leg of the FEI Nations Cup kicks off in Poland this week. Switzerland and Italy are currently tied at the top of the leaderboard after racking up valuable series points in Avenches, with Australia on their heels in third. Check out the current standings here. Ordinarily, Nations Cup events are free to watch via the FEI YouTube Channel – the links weren’t up at time of writing, but we’ll share them once they’re available. The whole event from Strzegom is available to watch on ClipMyHorse (subscription required).
Go eventing!
U.S. Weekend Preview
Fox River Valley Pony Club H.T. (Barrington Hills, IL) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Summer H.T. (Leesburg, VA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Midsouth Pony Club H.T. (Lexington, KY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Round Top H.T. (Castle Rock, CO) [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Stable View Summer H.T. (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Valinor Farm H.T. (Plymouth, MA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
UK International Events
Alnwick Ford International (Northumberland) [Website] [Entries] [Scoring]
International Events
Strzegom Horse Trials & FEI Nations Cup (Poland) [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [FEI YouTube Channel – NC Free Live Stream] [Whole Event Live Stream via CMH] [Scoring]
SemaLease Kilguilkey House International 1 (Ireland) [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Scoring]
Thursday News and Reading
A discussion hosted by World Horse Welfare last week raised some salient points about social license. WHW Chief Executive Roly Owers, racing broadcaster Nick Luck, and British eventer Tina Cook (who also has links to racing), were amongst the expert panel, which was brought together to discuss the latest research into the public’s perception of equestrian sports, which, worryingly, found there to have been little change in attitudes towards horse sports, despite a number of initiatives employed across a range of equestrian disciplines specifically designed to address the public’s concerns. There was a suggestion that live feeds should be available of warm up areas, in order to improve transparency and help avoid damaging photos or short video clips (often shared online) which take the true situation out of context, however not everyone on the panel agreed that this would generate positive change, in terms of public understanding or improved welfare. Transparency was also discussed regarding horses’ lives post-retirement, particularly in racing. The focus on presenting the harmony between horse and rider is an area where we’ve seen real change recently, and is still high on the agenda. One thing’s for sure, we can’t dismiss the opinions of the public, whether we consider them knowledgeable about horses or not. Animal welfare is an emotive topic, and we’ve seen how change can be enforced through social license in the removal of the show jumping element of Modern Pentathlon (which comes into play following the Paris Olympics). Welfare is everyone’s business.
Olympic teams are incoming (!!!) and Japan’s hopeful for Paris success. It’s almost a century since Takeichi Nishi and Uranus carried their gold medal on the long trip home from LA in 1932, and after impressing in Tokyo with Kazuma Tomoto tantalizingly close to the individual podium, coming in fourth with Vinci De La Vigne, hopes are high in the Japanese camp as we near this summer’s Games. Kazu and Vinci head to Paris with Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street and Ryuzo Kitajima and Be My Daisy or Cekatinka, with Toshiyuki Tanaka and Jefferson in reserve. Read more about Japan’s Olympic bid, and how they’re drawing inspiration from history.
And while we’re on the topic of the Olympics… Check out this cool photo gallery which merges sporting disciplines with Parisian historical sites. Eventing didn’t make the cut, sadly, but show jumping stepped up for the horse world with France’s Pénélope Leprevost bringing a bit of horse girl chic to La Galerie des Glaces in the Palace of Versailles.
You may remember the news story from a few weeks ago about the Household Cavalry horses which were involved in a series of accidents as they bolted through the city of London. Well, whilst the two horses who sustained the most series injuries continue to recuperate at The Horse Trust, the others are back up to speed, and one had a pretty special job to do on his return to work – escorting the King of England during His birthday parade. In further celebrations of the day, this rider took a hot minute out of his royal duties to pop the question. Huzzahs all round!
And finally, I’m not altogether sure whether beloved equestrian broadcaster Claire Balding is aware that she’s been created in biscuit form on national TV, but indeed she has, in The Great British Baking Show’s Stand Up to Cancer celebrity special. Contestants were asked to make cookies representing their celebrity doppelganger, and well, all I can say is that you really need to see the result for yourself… Click here for funsies.
Sponsor Corner
Big congratulations to Kailyn and Sophie on a successful prelim competition at Middleburg Horse Trials. Check out the Ecogold saddle pad Kailyn is using! Looking for a saddle pad that’s designed to withstand the test of cross country? Shop now.
Video Break
Safe to say, I am just a smidge jealous of Andrew Hoy’s little girl. What a lucky young lady to have access to all that eventing excellence 24/7. And as if that isn’t enough, she’s taking after her dad and having riding lessons with eventing royalty Captain Mark Phillips. My eyes couldn’t get any greener, and I couldn’t be more excited for the future of eventing with this kind of star quality coming up through the ranks. You go girl!
