At Bromont, I spent some time talking with riders about the WEGs. One theme that kept coming up is the poor state of XC riding. The reality is that right now the US only has 3-5 riders that we can count on every time for clean 4* XC rounds, and two of those riders were imported from Australia. If you want to be really scared, close your eyes and imagine the US team without Phillip and Boyd–we would lose 5 of our top 10 horses and we would barely be able to field a 6 horse WEG roster.
This isn’t just an issue at the upper levels–veterans talk often about a general decline in XC riding at all levels, and we all to turn away in fear from time to time when we watch at local events. Eventing has changes a lot for the good over the years, but I wonder if we have thus far missed the opportunity to improve cross-country riding. With that said, let’s discuss:
What can be done to produce better XC riders at all eventing levels?
—-
Bromont Omega Alpha challenge: congratulations to Annie for winning our Bromont challenge! Annie guessed Will Coleman and Nevada Bay would win on a score of 56.0 (they won with a 59.0). Annie is a big fan of EN, and I gave her a shout-out during our coverage of The Fork. I hope you enjoy your new supplements from Omega Alpha Annie, or rather I hope your horse enjoys them.
More prizes: In continuation of Omega Alpha’s confident belief that eventers who try their products will become repeat customers, we will give 500ml bottles of Chill, Sinew-X, and Respi-Free to the best comment on this Tuesday discussion thread, as determined by the Brickland Farm puppy, Theo. Be sure to include your email address in the form when you submit your comment or else your comment will not be eligible. I will announce the winner as a comment in this post around noon Wednesday.
