Thursday News & Notes from Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS)

Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Everyone thinks that the most exciting part of the three-day event is the cross country phase, and it certainly gives me more heart palpitations than the most recent episode of Game of Thrones, but I also really enjoy the jogs. More ridiculous things can happen at the jogs than you think, and the first one is always the most exciting with very fit and spooky horses. Normal people would look at our five-star horses spooking at the flowers and leaping and rearing and wonder how they ever get through all three phases, but we just recognize it’s normal. Anyway, please enjoy Tim Price’s impersonation of a starfish.

National Holiday: National (Horse) Life Insurance Day

Major Weekend Events:

#MMBHT: WebsiteDrawn OrderScheduleDressage TimetableLive ScoresLive StreamEN’s CoverageEN’s Course PreviewEN’s Form GuideEN’s InstagramEN’s Twitter

U.S. Weekend Preview:

The Event at Skyline H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times/Live Scores]

MCTA H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Poplar Place H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

News From Around the Globe:

Speaking of jogs…You’ve seen EN’s Unofficial Jog Awards, but have you seen the ones from H&H? Can you tell I’m obsessed with jog photos? [Horse & Hound Badminton First Jog Photos]

Many riders in the US have been outspoken in their distaste for the new FEI flag rule, and now William Fox-Pitt is adding his voice. On Monday, he wrote to the FEI eventing committee to say he understands its position regarding the clarifications of the rule.“As I have repeatedly stated I do not feel that this deals with the central issue at stake and my additions, which are the result of extensive consultation with riders from around the world, have not been incorporated,” he said. “Regrettably, as the rider representative I am unable to support the statement regarding the clarification.” Unfortunately, a full change to an FEI rule is impossible mid-way through a season, but it remains a point of contention. [WFP versus FEI Flag Rule]

Would you bet against Oliver Townend at Badminton? Because Equiratings wouldn’t. According to their new predictive program, Ollie and Cillnabradden Evo have a 10% chance of winning, an 15% chance of landing in the top three, and a 22% chance of being in the top 10. Using the latest SAP predictive analytics technology, the EquiRatings team has designed a statistical model that calculates the likely outcomes of major events before and during every competition. After each phase, it simulates every combination’s score at that event 10,000 times, exploring every plausible outcome. MATH!! [Equiratings Predicts Badminton Results]

Unfortunately, Whidbey Island Horse Trials is cancelled for this year. While the organization of this event does lease 50 acres to run the event, they also use adjacent farmland for the stabling and cross country courses, but were not able to secure it for this year. They have plans to run an unrecognized on the same weekend, and hope to secure more permanent facilities for 2020. [Whidbey Island HT Cancelled]

What better way to celebrate National (Horse) Life Insurance Day than protecting your horse with THIS? Ok, so I made up the bit about horses, but honestly you were all thinking it anyway. In fact, I’m pretty sure our horses get more insurance than we do, so it seems right. You can get life insurance plus other custom additions to your policy through Taylor Harris Insurance Services, and best of all, you can request a quote while you sip on your morning coffee right now and watch Badminton dressage. [Request a Quote from THIS]