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Happy High Five Day ENers!✋Seriously, we couldn’t have asked for a more appropriate national day to celebrate the start of the 5* season.
Adelaide Equestrian Festival kicks off today, with the 5* dressage happening tomorrow. For those of us not Down Under and unable to make the trip, we can get our eventing fix via H&C+ (subscription required). Here are the times you need to know:
Friday 19th – 5* Dressage – 1:45pm local time / 12:15am ET / 6:15am CEST
Saturday 20th – 5* Cross Country – 1pm local time / (Fri 19th) 11:30pm ET / 5:30am CEST
Sunday 21st – 5* Show Jumping – 2:45pm local time / 1:15am ET / 7:15am CEST
If burning the midnight oil or waking up at the crack of dawn isn’t your jam (even for eventing), don’t fret as replays will be available for your perusal at more social hours.
The 5* Horse Inspection is happening today at 3:30pm local time / 2am ET / 7am BST. For those of you craving some hot trot up action, make sure you’re following @adleqfest for a glimpse of the fashion exploits on show. And it’s not just the riders who’ll be ‘fitting up and trotting on, oh no! Enter eventing’s swishest canines for the dog jog. Yes, really.
As ever we’ll be keeping up you up to date with all the eventing from around the globe – including the build up to the big one in Kentucky that’s happening so very soon (eek!) – so eyes peeled for our epic Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event Form Guide (watch this space), keep it locked onto EN and go eventing.
Adelaide Equestrian Festival [Website] [5* Entries] [Schedule] [Scoring] [Live Stream]
U.S. Weekend Preview
Fair Hill International April H.T. & CCI-S (Elkton, MD) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Masterson Equestrian Trust YEH/NEH Qualifier (Lexington, KY) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Meadowcreek Park – The Spring Social Event (Kosse, TX) [Website] [Entries][Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Ocala International Festival of Eventing (Ocala, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Sporting Days Farm April H.T. III (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer][Scoring]
Major International Events
Adelaide Equestrian Festival [Website] [5* Entries] [Schedule] [Scoring] [Live Stream]
UK International Events
Kelsall Hill International [Website] [Entries] [Scoring]
European International Events
Strzegom Spring Open II [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Scoring] [Live Stream]
Thursday News and Reading
We love to see what eventing superstars are getting up to once they’ve stepped away from top-level competition. Tim Price’s 5* specialist Ringwood Sky Boy made eighteen top-level starts over his eventing career, finishing top-20 in twelve of them. He won Burghley in 2018 and has been runner-up there too, with six other 5* top-10 finishes on his record. It’s great to see the now 21-year-old is still taking the podium by storm, wowing the judges on the British Dressage scene and giving Emma Duffy the ride of her life. Go Ozzie!
Meet the Young Event Horse graduates who are going for the big one at Kentucky. There are six alum of the YEH program on the 5* entry list for Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this year: Boyd Martin’s long-time campaigner Tsetserleg, Doug Payne’s 5* first-timer Camarillo and Kentucky third place finisher in 2022 Quantum Leap, Jennie Brannigan’s Thoroughbred Twilightslastgleam, Andrew McConnon’s YEH Reserve Champion as a 5-year-old Ferrie’s Cello, and our pathfinder for the competition, Sara Kozumplik’s 5* debutant Rock Phantom. Find out more about these star campaigners here.
Today’s interesting read – enjoy this romp through Olympic history and how it came to be that an event intended for ‘gentleman’ amateurs to show off their sporting prowess turned into the pinnacle of pro sportspeople’s careers.
Dressage has been on the receiving end of some pretty strong criticism lately. From undercover operations revealing serious horse welfare issues to online critics denouncing both the riding and the judging in top competitions, the sport seems to be treading a fine line at the minute. Enter veterinarian, 5* judge and IDOC president Hans-Christian Matthiesen, who’s shared his opinion on a number of progressive ways he believes dressage could be adapted to bring it firmly into the modern day in order to secure its future within horse sport. From judging the warm up to scaling back the requirements in terms of tack, here’s what he has to say about dressage today, and in the future.
Horses don’t speak human, they just don’t. So if we want to communicate with our equine pals it’s up to us to tap into horse-speak. Where to begin? With this helpful list of six things you need to know about horse communication, that’s where.
Sponsor Corner
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Ecogold will be at the Kentucky Three Day Event for the 14th year in a row! Stop by booth 167 to elevate your ride with some of their amazing Ecogold pads. They may even have a gorgeous EN pad, too!
Video Break
I talked a little bit yesterday about the safety measures horse sports are putting into place to make things as safe as possible for the stars of the show. On that note, here’s assistant course designer at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event Jay Hambly catching us up with how they’re prioritizing horse and rider safety at the Horse Park:
