Good Morning Eventing Nation! Well, we are officially halfway through the week and its already looking like it will be a great Wednesday. Jersey Fresh is, of course, this weekend so we will have more on the First Horse Inspection to follow. John will be at Jersey, so here’s to another weekend to look forward to filled with great live eventing coverage.
As for the other seven horse trials to look forward to this weekend: Maybe one day we can hope to have enough EN mobilization to send one writer to each of the many events taking place on coinciding weekends, but until that happens, its up to you, Eventing Nation. If you are competing at one of these events and you have your own blog or publishing platform, feel free to send either John ([email protected]) or I ([email protected]) a link to a recap of those event and we’ll post a few of them early next week.
And as long as we are on the subject of events, the Flora Lea Horse Trials in New Jersey, scheduled for May 22, is still accepting entries. [USEA]
If you are in the mood to do a little shopping in the housing market, feel free to check out this farm in Temecula, California. The farm is owned by actor Jack Klugman (from the Odd Couple sitcom) and has a current asking price of 8,229,000. That price, of course, includes the golf course along with the 8902 square-foot main home, four guest homes and one apartment. And don’t worry, there’s space for the horses too.
The words ‘exciting’ and ‘FEI’ are rarely paired together, especially when it comes to news about the latter, but it seems today is the exception. According to a Chronicle press release, “The FEI has signed a new four-year contract with IMG Media that will ensure global distribution of the FEI’s major equestrian events to television audiences worldwide. The contract runs through to the end of 2014.” In eventing terms, this coverage will take the form of the HSBC FEI Classics Series, but it will also include World Cup and Nations Cup show jumping and European League Dressage. One of the issues that has gained a lot of attention over the past couple years is the lack of competition coverage on main stream media. It’s no secret that the sports that carry the largest fan bases almost always have the biggest prizes and highest player salaries. With the NBC coverage of the show jumping at Kentucky a couple weekends ago and now this announcement, I think we can be hopeful that progress is being made to better market our sport to a greater audience. [COTH]
In a recent interview, Mark Todd said that he’s riding better than ever. And we can’t really argue with him after his awe-inspiring performance at Badminton last month. He said in the article, “I think I’m riding better than ever now, probably better than when I was a young man. I’m not riding as dare-devil or with the drive as I did when I was younger but age and experience count in this sport – and in life too!” Many would argue that a person’s athleticism, mental acuity, and sharpness as a competitor are at a prime in their younger years, but as Mark shows, a great deal can be said for experience. [Horsetalk]
For those of you interested in British Royals, you might find this article about Zara Phillips very appealing. With the recent announcement of her engagement to Mike Tindall, Zara was asked to pose in the posh Country Life magazine. Funnily enough, her mother was asked to pose in a photo shoot for the same magazine some 40 years ago. Her outfit for the shoot consisting of jeans and a polar fleece jacket probably wasn’t the trendiest choice for a high profile fashion magazine, but then again Zara isn’t one much for conformity.
Escapado, the well known international Dressage horse, is retiring. Escapado progressed through the ranks of British Dressage and placed 13th in the Athens Olympics under British rider Carl Hester before being sold to the Netherlands where he continued his career with Hans Peter Minderhoud. Escapado is now back in Britain, where he will live out retirement in comfort at Hester’s farm. [Horse and Hound]
I thought I’d save this news for last as it has to do with endings anyway. According to an article by The Telegraph, “The Bakewell show in Derbyshire, England intends to run the first-ever national horse-drawn hearse driving championship at its annual event in August.” Evidently, horse-drawn funerals are becoming increasingly popular; I guess that means there needs to be some sort of competition to test them out at. From the sounds of it, the competition will take form similar to that of a Driving Dressage competition where accuracy, smoothness, and appearance are the qualities contested for. Maybe its just me, but I think I’ll stick with aspirations of international Eventing over aspirations of international hearse driving. [The Telegraph]
Win 5 lessons with Stephen Bradley to support his trip to Bromont with In The Fog, more info
Our wonderful sponsor, Horse Quencher, held a drawing a couple of weeks ago and the winning names are coming in now. Congratulations to this week’s winners, and don’t worry if you missed entering the drawing this time around, there will be a few more coming up that we will announce in advance. In no particular order, the winners of this drawing are:
Joanie Morris, from KY – won a 20 pound of Horse Quencher
Barbra Sario, from FL – won a 3.5 pound of Horse Quencher
Michelle Carlson, from AZ – won a Cheers! T-shirt
That’s all for now, Eventing Nation. Be sure to check back, today and every day, with the coolest site in Eventing!
