Tiana & Finn with HP fearless leader Joanie Morris (photo courtesy of Nick & Amanda Gauntlett)
I barely had time to recover from my Rolex hangover before getting all riled up about Badminton this week, only to have my hopes for Andrew Nicholson’s Grand Slam victory thrown in the dump by the dashing Jock Paget….who I foresee becoming the next silver fox of Eventing. Be still my beating heart. A bricklayer until 18, and now New Zealand’s best up and coming star, with both a WEG and an Olympic top 10 placing and now a Badminton victory under his belt, what is this kid eating?? How in the world does one go from bricklayer to international Eventing superstar in such a short period of time?! Goodness me.
Events Opening Today: 
Shepherd Ranch SYVPC H.T. I (California, A-6) Great Vista Horse Trials (New York, A-1) Encore H.T. (Michigan, A-8) Fox River Valley Pony Club H.T. CIC1* and CCI1*(Illinois, A-4) Midsouth Pony Club H.T. (Kentucky, A-8) Abbe Ranch H.T. (Colorado, A-9) Surefire H.T. (Virginia, A-2)
Events Closing Today: Mystic Valley Hunt Club H.T. (Connecticut, A-1) The Event at Galisteo (New Mexico, A-10) Paradise Farm HT (South Carolina, A-3) Flora Lea Spring H.T. (New Jersey, A-2) The Spring Event at Woodside (California, A-6) May-Daze at the Park H.T.(Kentucky, A-8) Virginia Horse CIC2*, CCI1* & Horse Trials (Virginia, A-2) Corona del Sol Spring H.T. (Texas, A-5)
News:
Did you hear? Jock Paget won Badminton on Clifton Promise. Jock is only the second rider to ever win Badminton on his first attempt at the event, the first being of course Mark Todd in 1980 on Southern Comfort. Jock said he “felt like he was dreaming” and was extra complimentary about his horse, in the quiet and humble way that he has. While Clifton Promise has never finished on his dressage score before at a 3-day, he certainly chose a good day to try it on for size! [Jock Wins Badminton]
Unsurprisingly, Jock worked for Michael a bit last year after the Olympics. Michael is notoriously private about his training secrets, so it is even more of a compliment that he accepted Jock into his stable for education. Samantha did a super article on Jock last year that helps explain how he went from never sitting on a horse to his first Olympics in 10 years flat. [The Rise & Rise of Jock Paget]
Need a cat-sized galloping robot? You’re in luck. A four-legged robot has been programmed to walk, trot and gallop based on special motion-capture data of horse movement.The robot, known as Cheetah-Cub, is under development at the Biorobotics Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. [Cheetah Cub Galloping Robot]
Extra photos of Badminton Monday including the jog? [Yes Please]
You just can’t keep a good Boyd down…as evidenced by the man himself hobbling around MCTA this past weekend instructing, observing, and generally heckling his riders Caitlin Silliman and Domm Schramm. [I Spy Boyd @ MCTA]
Thrills & Spills from Badminton, all organized into categories according to what fences were problems and who had issues with them. Nicely for us, Horse & Country did all the work, and I don’t have to organize the list for you. Despite the fact that Mark Todd called the course “a three-star track with some four-star elements”, I don’t think we can deny that it still caused problems for some of the top pairs in the international scene. [Badders Thrills ‘N Spills]
