Some of the beautiful yellow Mums that are a signature of Fair Hill
Good Morning Eventing Nation! If Coren were writing this post, this subject of this entire paragraph would be about how exciting ‘hump day’ is, as it means we are halfway to the weekend. Wednesdays don’t thrill me quite as much as they do Coren, so we’ll move on to talking about something that is exciting: Fair Hill. [Entry Status]
Tuesday Blog Update from Fair Hill
The First Horse Inspection will take place today, for both the CCI2* and 3* divisions. Even with all the overseas trips this fall and the upcoming Pan Ams pulling some horses away from Fair Hill as a destination fall event, a quality field is assembling this weekend nevertheless. Will Coleman and Twizzel are back on the entry list in the CCI3* after their disappointment at Burghley earlier this fall, and they have as good a shot as any at winning this weekend. If he doesn’t manage to win the three star, Will also has four shots at winning the two star.
Phillip Dutton has two three star mounts in William Penn and Ben this weekend, I think he’ll be looking for good, competitive runs to set those horses up for big things next spring. Allison Springer and Arthur entered in the three star, they’ve been having a pretty good fall, and barring any horse statues in the show jumping ring on Sunday, I’d bet they will be really competitive this weekend. Becky Holder and her new grey partner Can’t Fire Me are in the three star, they’ve been having somewhat of a stealthy fall preparation, not making headlines but very consistent and competitive in all the Advanced and CIC’s they’ve run in; I think Becky could swoop in and end up in the top three this weekend.
Marilyn Little Meredith has made it to Fair Hill, not necessarily in the capacity she set out to twelve months ago (i.e with Udonna) but nevertheless she made it to the competition. I don’t think she’ll win this weekend, as there are far more seasoned and competitive riders in the field at least as far as the dressage goes, but she will probably still finish up the leader board. Also, Nate Chambers is back and business with his old partner in crime Rolling Stone, and entered in the CCI3* for this weekend. If you remember back to last year’s Fair Hill, Nate led the CCI3* into the show jumping, where something just short of a disaster ensued. Nate has proven he can play with the big boys the first two phases, and he has the horse and the potential to put it together in all three, so we’ll just have to wait and see if this will be his weekend.
Now, enough with Fair Hill, here’s what is going on in the rest of the horse world:
Mary King and William Fox Pitt are doing battle for the HSBC Classics Series Title which will be decided at the upcoming Pau CCI****. *Mary is only 13 points ahead of *William after overtaking her on the FEI rankings in early September, but I think he has a pretty good shot at the title. He is riding three mounts at Pau, making use of the organizer’s allowing riders to have three mounts at the competition, instead of the normal two. [Horse Talk]
Last week, I published a ‘Welcome to Eventing’ Profile featuring Nick Hinze, who just so happens to be the ever-brilliant creator of the CourseWalk app for iPhone and Android Smart Phones. Probably the most exciting thing about this app, is that it isn’t done yet. According to Hinze, there are plans in the many plans in the works. “Long-term, we’re going to launch a sharing website where anyone can post their course, and other people can download those to their own phones,” he continued. “The idea would be that shows could post official tracks, and people could download them. Short-term, we’re going to have new features like incorporating altitude. We’ll show you whether you’re going uphill, downhill or flat by using a different colored line, and you’ll have the ability to drag or change the minute markers because of terrain.” Awesome. [COTH]
Big news of the day: Madison Park is coming home
From Kyle’s blog: “He flies in tomorrow, and I just need to hook up with someone from Fair Hill to get him down my way. He’s been doing very well. I just want to clear up his prognosis. To my knowledge, only one horse has come back to event at any level with this injury; as it was mine, I hope to repeat the result. When I’m asked how he’s doing I say, “he’s doing great for a horse in this situation.” People have asked if he could be back by next year, but there is no way of that happening. If we are lucky, he will be under tack at some point next year.“
Buck wrote one of his best blog posts yesterday for the Chronicle, titled “It’s not about the coat, it’s about the boots.” He reflects on the fact that the first time he rode for the US at the 1999 Winnipeg Pan Am’s, he was a young kid, and now, twelve years later he will be representing the US at the same Championship but will be riding as the most experienced member of the team. He writes about the all important, often forgotten truth that without the volunteers, organizers, and just plain eventing enthusiasts that make our sport a reality, we would not have a US Eventing Team. [COTH]
Runner Up: Perfect Weather at Loch Moy Horse Trials
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Have a great Wednesday, wherever it finds you, and I will see you soon!
