In a brief aside from the Olympic fever that has well and truly taken hold at EN (seriously, we are chinchilla-ing away behind the scenes getting ready to bring you all the Paris content you can possibly handle), today we’d like to bring your attention to a cool schooling opportunity in Area II.
Entries are open for the Windchase Derby, which is happening on August 24th. It’s a fun, informal kind of day where you get to to gallop (or trot) over the gorgeous rolling hills of Loudoun County, at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. What’s more, you can bring a friend to compete with as a pair, or if you prefer to go it alone, enter as an individual. And yes, there are prizes!
Find out more – and enter – here.
Go eventing!
U.S. Weekend Preview
Applewood Farm YEH & Mini Event (Califon, NJ) [Website] [Ride Times]
Course Brook Farm Summer H.T. (Sherborn, MA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Full Gallop Farm July H.T. (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Horse Park of New Jersey Horse Trials II (Allentown, NJ) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Silverwood Farm Summer H.T. (Trevor, WI) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring]
The Event at Rebecca Farm (Kalispell, MT) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Wednesday News and Reading
Our very own boss lady, Sally Spickard, caught up with Paris-bound Boyd Martin to talk about the sad circumstances that saw him take the ride on his Olympic mount, Fedarman B. Boyd’s no stranger to Olympic teams and knows a thing or two about prepping horses to peak at the right time. He’s taken a bit of a different approach this time around, with both ‘Bruno’ and his reserve horse Commando 3. It’s not always been plain sailing with Bruno, a ride he acquired after his owner was sadly fatally injured in a fall. But the pair have got it together and booked their flight to France, and Boyd will be riding Bruno in Versailles with Annie Goodwin in his heart. Read more about their journey, from a devastating start and some sticky moments along the way, to getting it together in time for the biggest ride of Bruno’s career.
Call out to artists from the Work to Ride initiative. Submissions are open for art work in a range of mediums to be considered for the 2024 Philadelphia Polo Classic official poster. Entries close on August 1st and the winner will be announced on the 15th. Find out more.
BreyerFest took over Kentucky Horse Park last weekend and to celebrate this year’s event, they made some special additions to their collection. Enter Alan, the jumping mule, who’s been instrumental in the rule changes allowing mules to compete in the hunter ring, and who has been immortalized by Breyer for his efforts. In other Breyer news, submissions are open for the ‘Why My Favorite Horse Would Love to Be a Breyer Model” essay competition, and, you guessed it, the prize is your very own Breyer horse. Entries close on July 31st, so get scribbling.
“She’s a great female jockey, but the way I see it, she’s a great jockey, period.” Emma-Jayne Wilson has become the highest-earning female jockey, surpassing the $90,126,584 record previously set by Julie Krone. Wilson acknowledged Krone after the win that bumped her into first place: “This is to show how well the industry has come since she started to show what equality and sportsmanship is and what it means”.
In non-horsey Olympic news (although dressage and show jumping do get a brief mention), Paris is on a mission to deliver the greenest Olympics yet – here’s how they’re doing it. And ICYMI, here’s a look at how things are shaping up in Versailles as they get ready for all the equestrian action. Eek!
Video Break
It can’t be easy wrangling Boyd Martin but Steph Simpson is a woman on a mission, getting not one but two horses ready for their trip to Paris. In a #packwithme offering, here’s how to do it like an Olympic #Supergroom:
