Zara Tindall as a wee babe at Badminton. Photo courtesy of Badminton HT FB.
Congratulations to Badminton rider Zara Tindall and husband Mike on the birth of their baby boy Lucas! Zara and Mike welcomed their third child this week in a quick birth at home. Born into royalty but always a horse girl at heart, Zara has long been a valued member of the British eventing squad. I absolutely love this photo that Badminton Horse Trials shared of Zara as a little girl patting
Mike Tucker’s horse General Bugle in the stables at Badminton.
U.S. Weekend Preview:
Galway Downs International H.T.: [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Stable View Spring 1*/2*/3*/4*: [Website]
[Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Full Gallop Farm March II H.T.: [Website] [Entry Status] [Volunteer]
March H.T. at Majestic Oaks: [Website] [Volunteer]
Morven Park H.T.: [Website] [Volunteer]
Poplar Place Farm March H.T.: [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Texas Rose Spring H.T.: [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
News From Around the Globe:
With 199 entries this weekend at Stable View, it’s a packed event with horses of all levels. Stable View has been running FEI levels since 2018 at their Oktoberfest event at the end of September. This year is the first year they will also offer FEI levels in the spring – this week, Stable View will run CCI1*-S, CCI2*-S, and CCI3*-S, and CCI4*-S divisions and host the first Adequan/USEF Youth Team Challenge of the year. Ready for some fast facts? [Stable View Fast Facts]
A sunken road may include as many as four jumping components at the upper level. For instance, it could be a vertical, then a stride to a considerable drop into a pit, a one-stride distance to a bank going out of the pit, and beyond the bank, another vertical or even a bounce. But a sunken road is more than just a combination of cross-country elements. It tests your horse’s power, balance and agility to jump down, then rock back and rebalance within a short distance to jump up again. Learn how to train your horse for sunken roads with Boyd Martin in this article. [The Downs and Ups of Sunken Roads]
Chris Bartle knows a thing or two about what makes a winner. He should know – he’s won at the highest level of both eventing and dressage himself, and trained gold medal teams for two different nations. “It’s the third element that is critical to a champion, they are not worried about making a mistake. The first quality is will to win, the second is attention to detail, and third, not afraid of making mistakes – the willingness to take a risk. Fourth is mental toughness. I always say in every sport, life goes in waves, up and down, keep rowing the boat and you’ll meet the next wave coming up, but don’t jump out of the boat!” [What Makes a Winner?]
Looking to get in on ownership of a top talent from the beginning? Stephen Bradley has an amazing mare in Erika Louvo who he believes is a horse with potential for the upper levels of eventing, and he is looking for owners to form a partnership to keep her in his barn. Learn more and watch some videos of Erika here.
Ecovet is still having their spring sale! Don’t forget to stock up on the best ever fly spray that will last you all day by using the code SPRING2021 to get 30% off on everything from their site. [Ecovet Spring Sale]
