Bug is ready for Italy! Photo by Lauren Nicholson.
Well folks, I returned from my great Irish adventure in one piece and had a hell of a time. Even if you’re not going to look at pretty Irish ponies, I highly recommend a summer getaway to the Emerald Isle, even if it’s just for a reprieve from the sweltering summer heat. I enjoyed ten days of delightful 65° with a breeze, and in the 50’s at night. Coming home, however, has been an adjustment that my body is not happy about. Literally walking out of the airport in the afternoon, I immediately regretted my decision to live in Virginia. Electrolyte pills and cold showers are my friends right now.
U.S. Weekend Preview
Area VII Young Rider Benefit H.T. (Centralia, WA): [Website] [Volunteer]
Catalpa Corner Charity H.T. (Iowa City, IA): [Website] [Scoring]
Cobblestone Farms H.T. II (Dexter, MI): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring]
Early Bird Summer Event at Galway Downs (Temecula, CA): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Flora Lea Farm Mini Event (Medford, NJ): [Website]
Hoosier H.T. (Edinburgh, IN): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
Olney Farm H.T. (Joppa, MD): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring]
River Glen Summer H.T. (New Market, TN): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
Spring Gulch H.T. (Littleton, CO): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring]
Major International Events
ECCO FEI World Championships – Herning 2022: [Website] [Schedule & Scoring] [Live Stream]
FEI European Championships for Ponies (Strzegom, Poland): [Website] [Schedule & Entries] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream]
News From Around the Globe:
This year’s Mongol Derby winners are USA’s Deidre Griffith and South Africa’s Willemien Jooste. Our own staff writer Gillian Warner was lucky enough to catch up with them after they crossed the finish line. Deirdre and Willemiencrossed the finish line of the 2022 Mongol Derby four days ago as unplanned partners. The two riders hadn’t anticipated riding together, but had unexpectedly met up to ride out to camp on Day 2 of the race, and never turned back. [Conversations at the Mongol Derby Finish Line]
Even though we literally just learned the roster of our team for the World Championships, horses and riders have already arrived in Herning for the beginning of the event on Saturday. This year, the World Championships has a different setup, with dressage, showjumping, para-dressage, and vaulting being held separately from the eventing, and in an entirely different country. The competition in Denmark begins on August 6th and concludes on the 14th. [Herning 2022 World Championships]
Lucinda Green is killing it with the online master classes, and naturally her specialty is cross country. You can sign up for XC Week through her website, and it will reframe how you train cross-country and most importantly make it fun! There are many misconceptions of how we should cross-country school. In this week Lucinda will unpack these and show you that less is more when it comes to developing the crucial trust between you and your cross-country horse. [Lucinda’s XC Week]
Michael Pollard might be the only five-star eventer to say that he’s been “ostrichized”. No, I didn’t misspell ostracized, I mean literal ostriches. How do horses and ostriches coincide? Best listen to this interview on Major League Eventing to find out, plus learn what he’s up to these days since he gave up his professional riding career. [Michael Pollard vs Ostriches]
