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It’s not just the horses and their riders that receive major accolades at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials — there’s also a highly-coveted farriery prize up for grabs, and this year, we saw a little bit of history being made when a US horse was picked at the top of the pack for the first time. That was Tim and Nina Gardner’s FE Lifestyle, piloted by Jennie Brannigan and shod by British farrier Russell Deering, who’s been a major part of the US team effort in recent years, and whose efforts are obviously paying dividends — ‘Foxy’ came out on Sunday with a set of immaculate looking trotters, which is a big deal when you’ve run around miles of tough terrain the day prior.
Events Opening Today: Tryon Riding & Hunt Club “Morris the Horse” Trials, Windermere Run H.T., Ram Tap National H.T., Hagyard Midsouth Three-day Event
Events Closing Today: University of New Hampshire H.T., Meadowcreek Park H.T – Fall Social Event, Twin Rivers Fall International, Unionville H.T.
Tuesday News & Notes from Around the World:
Liz Halliday’s Advanced AECs win with Miks Master C was nothing short of spectacular. Don’t believe me? Head over to this link to watch video recaps of all three phases and see why this dynamic duo are one of the most exciting combinations in the US at the moment!
Kisa Kavass’s energetic, artistic photographs of wild horses are stunning to look at. But who’s the artist behind the camera? Find out more about her work and her journey in this piece, and start planning pride of place in your house for one of those stunning prints.
How can we make our horses’ bones stronger? That’s the question at the forefront of new research being done on racehorses, using methods such as dietary bio-silicon, observing bone density changes between stabled and turned-out horses, and much more. As usual, we’re seeing research of this depth and caliber start in the racing industry, where there’s big money on the table, but all the information that’s found can be easily applied to any kind of sport horse.
Speaking of research in the racing world, (and this one might be harder for us mere mortals to replicate!) there’s some evidence to suggest that working in a hypoxic chamber — that is, one with lower levels of oxygen — might reap some great rewards. It’s a concept that’s been around for human athletes for quite some time now, and horses, researchers suggest, might be even more uniquely suited to it. Find out more here.
And finally… if you’ve had to suffer through watching your non-horsey boyfriend attempt to trot, you need this read today.
Sponsor Corner:
Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class. Photo by Libby Law.
It’s so hard to decide between following all the action at the AECs or at Burghley. If you missed the grand finale to the Burghley Horse Trials, catch up on everything you missed with our final report. Surprise, surprise, Ballaghmor Class took the blue ribbon. Coverage sponsored by Kentucky Performance Products!
Watch This:
I’ve been really enjoying reliving the emotions of each of Burghley’s competition days with these video interviews by Beat Media. First up? One of my absolute faves, the ridiculously cool 21-year-old Alice Casburn, who talks about her homebred, Topspin, in this clip:
