Thursday News & Notes from Ecovet

Ringwood Magister still competing in dressage at age 20 with young rider Morgan Evenett. Photo courtesy of Tiana Coudray.

There’s nothing quite like jumping off a fence casually only to land on your ankle bent at a 90 degree angle to your leg. The crunching sound alone is enough to set your goosebumps off. Luckily for me, I have easy access to a stock of bandages, ice boots, a PEMF machine, and all kinds of topical anti-inflammatories. These, of course, are intended for my horse, but work great for bum ankles too! Don’t worry, I’m not at the point of taking bute just yet.

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Chattahoochee Hills H.T.: [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times]

Fair Hill International April H.T. and CCI-S: [Website] [Entry Status?] [Volunteer]

Twin Rivers Spring International: [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Stream] [Photographer] [Volunteer]

CDCTA H.T.: [Website] [Entry Status] [Volunteer]

Spring Bay H.T.: [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times] [Volunteer]

News From Around the Globe:

The age-old question: what is more important, physical skill or mental strength? We all watch upper level riders and see how flawlessly they execute very difficult tasks, and go home and try to replicate those skills we have seen. But what you can’t see is the work they’ve done on their mental game. From controlling emotions, to manufacturing relaxation in stressful situations, I’m inclined to say that’s the hardest part. [Mental vs Physical Game]

People from marginalized groups are often subjected to frequent micro-aggressions. These statements, actions, and instances make them uncomfortable or unwilling to remain and participate in horse related activities. In order to increase diversity in equestrian sports we need to educate people to understand and recognize these things as being a problem. One of the biggest problems in equestrian sports is we don’t talk often enough about what micro aggressions look like in our sport. Reading a definition is not always enough to understand what this looks like for minorities and under-represented communities. [Micro Aggressions in Horse Sport]

What, you didn’t see enough cool pictures from The Fork? It’s hard now that we don’t always have direct access as spectators to competitions, but we media folks know what you really want. Pretty pictures. [Scenes from The Fork]

Doug Payne brings one very experienced horse, and one newbie to Kentucky in a few weeks. Vandiver is 17 this year, and to say he knows the game is an understatement. Quantum Leap is a young first-timer at the 5* level, and was picked out by Doug as a weanling. With two very different rides, his goal is the same: finish on the dressage score. [Doug Payne Dishes on Vandiver and Quantum Leap]

Did you know that Ecovet believes in their product so much that if you don’t love it, they have a money back guarantee? Whenever I see a company that has that offer in place, I know they’ve got something good. I didn’t believe the hype until I tried it, after all, the bottle is so tiny compared to all the others! But the key is that you use much less, and it works much longer. Try it today or get your money back! [Ecovet is the Best]