Wednesday News & Notes from Attwood Equestrian Surfaces

Nicolette Merle-Smith and fiancé Joel Scholz. Photo courtesy of the Mongol Derby.

EN would like to wish a warm congratulations to U.S. eventer Nicolette Merle-Smith and Joel Scholz who married at the 2018 Mongol Derby finish camp. The pair completed the Mongol Derby in eight days, and their engagement was clearly no worse for the wear after a 1,000 kilometer trek across the steppe, traversing mountains and flooded rivers on 28 semi-feral ponies. Their family greeted them to celebrate at the finish. Having survived the Derby together, a lifetime of matrimony should be a piece of cake! A stateside wedding is in the works for October — visit their Facebook page Married to the Mongol Derby.

National Holiday: National Tooth Fairy Day

Major Events This Week: 

FEI Eventing Nations Cup at Millstreet International Horse Trials [Website] [Schedule] [Start List & Results]

Blair Castle Horse Trials [Website] [ERM Website] [Schedule] [Live Stream]

U.S. Weekend Preview: 

Town Hill Farm H.T. [Website] [Live Scores]

Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Fall H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times/Live Scores]

Shepherd Ranch SYVPC H.T. II [Website]

Caber Farm Horse Trial  [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times/Live Scores]

The Event at Archer [Website] [Live Scoring]

Stone Gate Farm H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Ride Times/Live Scores]

Wednesday News: 

Did you know many women used to ride with lead packets in their saddle pad on endurance day? That’s right. A weight requirement of 165 lbs. had to be met for all competitors, and that meant those on the lighter side had to carry extra weight. Those were in the traditional format days where you had a four-phase endurance day and you could fall and continue competition. [Memories from the Vet Box with Cathy Wieschhoff]

While the World Equestrian Games is hot on everyone’s mind now, we mustn’t forget the Asian Games! It started Monday, August 20, and continues through Aug. 30. It stands as the largest sporting event in the world with 12,000 athletes, which is a great show of equestrianism around the world. [Going For Gold At The 2018 Asian Games]

Starting a young horse is delicate business, according to Piggy French. Her philosophy for training can vary from horse to horse, and she begins to evaluate them as 3-year-olds where she decides when, what and how much. [What To Ask For, And When: Piggy French’s Guide To Breaking And Training Your Three-Year-Old]

Hot on Horse Nation: Dressage Apocalypse

Attwood Wednesday Words of Wisdom:

There are many compelling reasons why Attwood only uses premium raw materials in its footing formulas.  If you love to cook or bake, this will all make perfect sense to you. But if you are kind of hack in the kitchen, just follow along.

All of our raw materials are accompanied with a SDS (Safety Data Sheet). This important information provides the makeup of material components, safe use, and safety of handling and storage for a particular material or product. So we know exactly what we are working with.

Knowing that our ingredients are consistent means we can produce consistent footing every time. By comparison, if you were baking bread, you wouldn’t throw in any old flour from the back of the cupboard into the mix and expect a great result? Of course not.

But what of recycled products such as carpet scraps and ground up tennis shoes? The real concern with adding recycled products into your footing is that you have no idea what’s really in there. And there is the concern of chemicals leaching out into paddocks and waterways. As for rubber, not only does it have a terrible odor, it breaks down easily creating a dusty and unhealthy environment for all.

It’s difficult to know the long-term effects recycled additives will have on your horse, you and the environment… while an Attwood footing will be safe and consistent ride after ride.

Good footing is an investment in the health and well being of your horse. Have a question? Shoot us an email at [email protected] or call 888-461-7788.