Is it eventing season yet?! I’ve travelled out to the Middle East this week to work on the press team for a major showjumping competition, which is great and all, but all I want is to find myself traipsing across an expansive field with a heavy camera in tow on a bustling cross-country day. I think the riders are feeling the same, too, judging by the sharp uptick in cross-country videos on my feed at the moment (and helped by the news that Badminton entries are officially open!)
Events Opening Today: CDCTA Spring H.T., Pine Hill Spring H.T., Rocking Horse Spring H.T., Stable View Spring 2/3/4* and H.T.
Events Closing Today: Full Gallop Farm March I H.T., SAzEA Spring H.T., Southern Pines H.T., Chattahoochee Hills H.T.
Tuesday News & Notes from Around the World:
The Eventers’ Challenge class at Blenheim has long been a goal event for grassroots eventers all over the UK. Now, with a new organising team taking the helm, could this much-loved class make a welcome return? H&H spoke to the brains behind one of Britain’s most prestigious events to find out. [Exciting things in the pipeline]
High-flying ponies are a common sight here in the UK, but in the US, they’re a rarer sight. Donna Miller, though, is working hard to change that — and the exceptional stallion Coud’Poker, who won the USEA’s 2022 Pony of the Year prize, is certainly helping her to that end. [Read about him here]
Personality, it turns out, is partly genetic. Researchers who’ve been looking into these genes in horses have also found that many of them are the same as the ones humans have – so if you’ve ever felt like your horse really just gets you, it turns out you might not actually have been too far off. [What makes a personality?]
‘Horsemanship’ is a word we all toss around a lot, but its meaning is nebulous. What does it actually take to be a true horseman? Can anyone learn to do it? And will it make you a better rider in the long run? [All this and more, here]
Sponsor Corner: Do you envy those folks whose horses always gleam, even when they’ve just come in from the field? It’s not actually really down to endless grooming, silky silicone sprays, or even genetics (although good genes do help!) — instead, a deep bloom and an unvanquishable shine come down to great nutrition. Learning about the macronutrients that encourage this will help you to feed your horse accordingly — and the great news is that it’s an early indicator that you’ve finally nailed the balance in your horse’s diet. [KPP cracks the code]
Watch This:
Follow along as amateur eventer Lucy Robinson takes a jumping lesson with her ex-racehorse, Ember:
