[via AM]
Greetings Eventing Nation! If you haven’t already, be sure to scroll down and vote in our Mark photo caption contest–the finalists were posted Monday night. NCAA basketball is on a break until Thursday as the players pretend to go to class, so we might actually write about horses a bit. Here are your news and notes:
–The US eventing calendar is packed from now until the summer. Southern Pines, Poplar, Galway, The Fork, all loom on the calendar before the event that shall not be named. The Fork entries are availible online and the event is absolutely packed with great horses and riders from prelim up through CIC3*. [Fork Entries]
–The PRO Derby Cross video has finally been posted online on demand. Click the link for an hour of viewing pleasure courtesy of the USEF Network and Catch Ride. The Derby X video is available for selection in the scrolling sidebar. [USEF Network]
–The machinations of the US coaching search continue to grind on at the USEF. I know that I and probably you would like this to be resolved fairly and quickly tomorrow, but it takes time to get committees together, to schedule interviews, for the committees to reach decisions, and for everything else to happen. Representative governance takes time. The active athletes are working to schedule their meeting following the open forum at Red Hills and they are in the process of signing confidentiality agreements, which is a pretty standard thing for processes like this. What we hear about the process from here on out will depend a lot on how the USEF decides to handle PR.
—Denny Emerson says don’t jump ahead of the horse
–A zoo in Auckland, New Zealand is training a horse, named Cherry, to be a companion for its elephant, named Burma. The elephant’s companion passed away in 2009 and the zoo has been working hard to keep her happy since. As a Horsetalk article explains “The introduction is being carefully managed through a gradual integration to minimise any potential risks to the horse, Burma, or her keepers.” Both horses and elephants are very smart and social animals and I hope the zoo keeps us updated as they try to unite the animals. [Horsetalk]
–Sidelines gives a shout-out to the Heart of the Carolina’s three-day which is located on the border between North and South Carolina at Southern Eighths farm. As Sidelines writes:
“The Farm is specially designed to accommodate and maximize the Long Format experience, from its centrally located “holds” and “starts,” two steeplechase tracks and groomed “roads and tracks” to the special derby course used for show jumping. The site also includes a cross-country course that was created by well-known course designer Tremaine Cooper.“
The long format, a Tremaine Cooper course, steeplechase–that’s an EN dream. As an aside, Sidelines has really ramped up their blogs over the past few months and in general I enjoy reading them.
–Speaking of which, you can read about microchips in horses here.
Best of the Blogs: Pure Vida eventing writes about the Event at 3-Day Ranch last weekend
That’s all for now. Keep it locked here all day for your news and ridiculousness. Wherever you might be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day.
