Photo by Jamie Gornall.
Morven Park this weekend will feel a little emptier without the usual sight of Tremaine Cooper zooming around the cross country course. Tremaine designed the courses at one of our oldest eventing venues in Area II for over 30 years, until we lost him tragically earlier this year. He was also frequently seen mentoring fellow course designers, always nodding to those who came before him and spent the time teaching him the craft. He was also a staunch supporter of safety, putting his experience behind emerging concepts such as frangible technology and the Modified level as a stepping-stone between Training and Preliminary. Indeed, a true list of every accomplishment, accolade, kind word, and time spent from a person who was a true integral part of the eventing community would take up hundreds of pages. A plaque to remember him by is now by the infamous Leaf Pit at Morven.
U.S. Weekend Preview
Morven Park International CCI4*-L (Leesburg, Va.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Schedule] [Volunteer]
Woodside International H.T. (Woodside, Ca.): [Website] [Volunteer] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Heritage Park H.T. (Olathe, Ks.): [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Hitching Post Farm H.T. (South Royalton, Vt.): [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times]
Poplar Place Farm H.T. (Hamilton, Ga.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Volunteer]
Radnor Hunt H.T. (Malvern, Pa.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
WindRidge Farm H.T. (Mooresboro, Nc.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Major International Events
Military Boekelo Enschede CCIO4*-L & FEI Nations Cup of Eventing: [Website] [Info Hub] [Entries] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]
News From Around the Globe:
Maryland 5* might be Ian Stark’s first five-star design, but he’s no stranger to the level. Ian hardly needs an introduction, but I’ll just leave this here: over the years, he rode 18 horses at the five-star level, winning Badminton three times—twice on Sir Wattie and once on Jaybee, and in 1988 performed a feat that has yet to be replicated by finishing 1st and 2nd at Badminton. He also made appearances at five Olympic Games resulting in three team silver medals and one individual silver; a team gold, team silver and individual silver in world championship competitions; and six team golds plus an individual gold, silver and bronze medal at European Championships. So, he takes this 5* stuff pretty seriously, you could say. [Five-Star Winner to Five-Star Designer]
The FEI has announced the opening of the voting period for the 2021 FEI Awards, and we want to congratulate the members of the American equestrian community who have been named finalists, including Boyd Martin’s groom Stephanie Simpson, The Compton Cowboys, and Beatrice Delavalette. In the Best Groom category, Stephanie Simpson has been nominated for her role as groom for Boyd. Paralympian Beatrice de Lavalette is a finalist in the Against All Odds category, in recognition of her journey from losing her legs in the March 2016 terrorist attack at the Zaventem Airport in Brussels, Belgium, to becoming a world-class athlete in the sport of para dressage. The Compton Cowboys are a collective of lifelong friends who have made it their mission to uplift their community through horses while drawing on the rich legacy of African American cowboy culture. [Vote Now for 2021 FEI Awards]
Do you ever read Day In The Life articles about famous riders and wonder how they seem so organized and hardcore? Yeah, you’re not alone. Basically any day in my life could look like an absolute crap show, or possibly like a gang of squirrels with ADD got together and made my schedule. Blogger Allison Kavey takes us on a much, much more relatable day in her chaotic life. [ADITL: An Inferior White Board]
We want your spooky halloween horse stories! From the haunted steed of the Headless Horseman to the ghost riders in the sky, horses have always figured prominently in our favorite hair-raising tales we love to tell this time of year. Horses have the power to invoke our deepest emotions, and when you take a horse with mane and tail a-blowing in a chill October breeze as the sun dips down beneath the horizon and the air grows suddenly cool, the shadows playing tricks on your eyes, you have the perfect recipe for a ghost story for the ages. And we want to hear yours! Whether you have an old tale that’s been passed down in your barn family or you conjure up the best spooky story in your mind and put it down on paper, we’re calling for your best horsey Halloween tales for our second annual short story contest. We’ll publish the best around Halloween. [Fifth Annual Horse Nation Halloween Short Story Contest]
