FINALLY! Finally. I don’t know long I’ve been waiting for this moment, but the rain here in the UK has, after about a solid year, stopped. Okay, yes, it’s now so cold we can all barely function; okay, sure, we’ve now got intermittent snowfall to deal with — but it’s dry. And man, I’ve not been hit with such a burst of motivation in a hot minute. I think we all feel like we can crawl out of our caves and actually start planning the year ahead now, and that’s a really great feeling.
Events Opening Today: Three Lakes Winter II H.T. at Caudle Ranch, Pine Top Advanced, Full Gallop Farm Mid February H.T.
Events Closing Today: Full Gallop Farm January H.T, Rocking Horse Winter I H.T.
News & Notes from Around the World:
You might have seen the Landmark prefix out and about at events. But where do all these talented eventers come from? Go behind the brand at Jacqueline Mars’s breeding program with the USEA and find out more about how the team is hoping to create a source for super horses at home in the USA.
In the mood for just, like, a lot of reading today? Thoroughbred news hotspot The Paulick Report has been going back through their most-read stories of 2023, and there’s some real doozies in there. Dive on in and remember the year that was.
Lunging at shows can be a pretty fraught sort of venture. The solution? Everyone committing to getting a little bit better at doing it properly and understanding the actual benefits and risks of it (and no, the benefits don’t really include ‘tiring him out so he behaves in the ring’). Tune up your skills with this video tutorial.
Alas, we won’t get to see India’s Fouaad Mirza and his incredible Seigneur Medicott in Paris. The former Bettina Hoy mount, with whom Fouaad shot into the spotlight at Tokyo, has been retired from competition at the age of 18 after contributing so much to building the profile of equestrian sport in India. Relive his sparkling career here.
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Sponsor Corner: A New Year means new stickers from Kentucky Performance Products! Check out the gorgeous sparkly horse you can collect for Winter 2024. Plus, get a free infographic on winter horse care.
Watch This:
If anyone needs me this week, you can probably just find me watching the FEI Vaulting World Cup Final: a sport I do not understand in any way, but am deeply, deeply fascinated by. Probably because I’ve never even managed to do a cartwheel successfully, let alone any of this.
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