Be the cover of the calendar! Photo courtesy of MD Horse Trials.
Want to be the cover photo for the next Maryland Horse Trials Loch Moy Farm Calendar? You can be the star of the show — just submit a jumping photo of yourself and your horse competing at Maryland Horse Trials (bonus points for a logo banner) to this post on their Facebook page. Brb, searching to see if I have any cool ones from last year.
National Holiday: National Toast Day
U.S. Weekend Preview:
Twin River Winter H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times/Live Scores]
Rocking Horse III H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Chattahoochee Hills H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Sporting Days Farm March H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
News From Around the Globe:
Tune in at 6 p.m. tonight for The Jon and Rick Show, this week joined by USEF Developing Athlete Alex O’Neal. It’s sure to be an entertaining evening! [Jon and Rick Show]
One of the beautiful things about dressage is your ability to manipulate gaits with good training. Take it from somebody who rode a horse with a pony trot for many years, there are wonders to be achieved by training different things in the trot, and it can be modified from a rather plain pony gait into something more useful for the upper levels. International dressage judge Stephen Clarke gives advice on how to approach different types and improve their gaits with exercises. [How To Get the Most Out of Your Trot]
How do you compete in jumpers with little to no central vision? Wren Blae Zimmerman started suffering eyesight loss at just 17, learning soon after that she had Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy, which destroys your central vision, leaving you with some peripheral vision intact. Not only this, but she started riding after college, and was immediately determined to try jumping. [The Horse Lends Me His Eyes]
A relaxed horse is a good partner, and relaxation is sometimes elusive. Tik Maynard thinks of relaxation and tension on a 1-10 scale, and believes when your horse is above a 3 on that scale, they’re not in a learning mindset. Figuring out what the physical signs of relaxation and tension are for your horse could be integral to improving your performances together. [How To Determine If Your Horse is Relaxed]
You can now register for the 9th edition of the FEI Sports Forum, which will take place April 6-7 at the IMD business school in Lausanne (SUI) and is open to all members of the equestrian industry and interested individuals. Since being launched in 2012, the Forum has become an essential tool in the FEI’s decision making process and an important platform for dialogue and consultation with the community. The deadline to register online is March 23. [Register]
Best of the Blogs: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Doesn’t Deter Pearce-Dean
Featured Video: Intro spotlight! Randi Koehn and Wall Street won the Introductory B division at Fresno County Horse Park (Feb. 14-16), leading from start to finish on a score of 29.2. Here they are cross country, courtesy of Ride On Video.
