Good morning EN! On Monday several of the great names in our sports convened across the pond at Hartpury College to take part in the 2013 International Eventing Forum. Among the speakers were Mark Todd, David O’Connor, Eric Smiley, Mike Etherington-Smith, and Ian Woodhead. The Horse and Hound was on hand for the proceedings and posted nice recaps of the talks made by each. The links to their full coverage of the sessions are below:
H&H Editor Pippa Roome’s overall recap
David and Mike’s cross country tips
This Week’s Event Preview:
Full Gallop (beginning tomorrow) [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Pine Top Farm [Website] [Entry Status/Times]
Ocala Horse Properties [Website] [Times]
As we sadly reported earlier this week, Brian and Colleen Rutledge unexpectedly lost their eight-year-old son Connor on Sunday. Connor’s obituary has been posted online with information about services to celebrate his life. Brian has been posting further updates on Colleen’s Facebook page, where many have been leaving messages for the family. Everyone at EN is sending our deepest condolences to the Rutledge family, and will be keeping them in our thoughts and prayers in the coming weeks as they begin to move forward from this tragic loss. [Connor Rutledge]
Copper Meadows Eventing has been approved by the USEA to host an Advanced horse trials during its March 15-17 event. [USEA]
The Durham Region newspaper gave a nice shout-out to Canadian eventers in the area that were named to the country’s national training list. [Durham Region]
A rare Grevy Zebra colt was born last week at the Phoneix Zoo in Arizona. There are fewer than 2,500 Grevy Zebras left in the wild due to poaching, habitat loss, and competition from livestock. Only found in Kenya and Ethiopia, they are the largest species of zebra. The new colt will be named Pembe, Akili, or Bakari. Click for photos of the new addition. [Horsetalk]
Show jumper Laura Chapot is recovering from a broken collar bone and pelvis after a horse she was schooling in Wellington fell earlier this week. Still in the hospital, she will hopefully begin rehab soon. [COTH]
The equestrian world is making a pivot towards Asia: H&H reports that in 2012, 2,000 horses (mostly imported from France, Germany, Ireland, and Holland) entered China for use by riders and equestrian clubs. According to the publisher of China’s main equestrian magazine, Li Yanyang, the industry is growing by 15-20% a year. The Chinese have an affinity for western disciplines, especially barrel racing. However, “because China has no culture of leisure riding and suffers from harsh winters, westernized activity is based round club-style resorts with multiple indoor schools.” [Horse and Hound]
Raw-material imported from Poland for use in Irish hamburgers has been found to be 75% horse meat. According to Ireland’s Agriculture Minister, none of the product entered the food chain before the horse meat was detected and production has been shut down since. [Horsetalk]
Today I leave you with a video I found through Horsetalk of a very talented Swedish horse who can play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on a recorder with the help of a two-legged assistant. Thanks for reading, have a great Wednesday!
