[Via Kate Samuels]
Our hearts go out to the family and many friends of Jim Lewis, husband of dressage judge Linda Zang, who has passed away from an apparent heart attack. After retiring from a successful career as a racehorse trainer in Maryland, his friendly presence and genuine interest in the sport made him a welcome figure at dressage shows around the world. [Dressage News]
Applications for the Rebecca Farm Travel Portion of the 2012 Rebecca Broussard International Developing Rider Grant are now available. The grant awards over $50,000 annually to event riders competing at the Advanced level to help compensate for training, travel and competition costs. The application deadline is June 1. [US Eventing]
Mainstream media is abuzz with speculation about Zara Phillips’ Olympic prospects, or lack thereof. The Telegraph reports that the royal eventer was left “burnt” after bad luck kept her out of the last two games, and thus isn’t getting her hopes up. Fox News describes her Greenwich ambitions as “a big ‘if’,” noting that with Badminton cancelled, Zara’s window of opportunity for impressing selectors is fast shrinking. Haters gonna hate, Zara–don’t listen to them. And just to be contrary, we’re sending a big batch of EN karma your way.
The great show-jumping mare Sapphire has been retired. Her rider McClain Ward wrote on his Facebook page, “While it is the end of her incredible career, I refuse to be sad. Sara is retiring healthy, happy and at her best.” We’re counting on you now, Sapphire, to find yourself a nice, handsome stallion and get knocked up. [COTH]
Canadian Olympic hopeful Rebecca Howard along with her mount Riddle Master and groom Dana Cooke are having a bang-up season and may soon be packing their bags for a trip across the pond. They welcome financial support to offset expenses and lost income and have set up a fundraiser campaign toward that end. Donate here, or take part in the “A Day at the Farm” on June 2. According to its Facebook page, the event will include “shooting, guided trail rides (with your own horse), lessons with Rebecca, x-country schooling, lunch and more!”
Found on Facebook: Will Coleman recounts the horrific story of how his CIC3* mount Cool Connection was impaled on a wooden flag at Jersey. The horse is going to be OK, but as Will explains, “Something like this should never, ever happen, especially when you consider that a similar incident, with almost the exact same sequence of events, killed a horse at Badminton six years ago. I don’t know why the FEI didn’t make the appropriate changes to insure the flags on skinnies or accuracy questions don’t pose any risks to either horses or riders then, but the fact is, this clearly can happen again, and we barely escaped a real tragedy this weekend.”
Best of the Blogs: Britain-based U.S. rider Colleen Rutledge has had it with the rain, which at one point she describes as “the crapola… falling from the sky.” At least, in lieu of Badminton, she got to squeeze in a little sight-seeing. “The more I’m here,” she writes, “the more I love the history you see around every corner.” [Enough already.]
Hot on Horse Nation: In pursuit of the perfect 20-meter circle; dressage judges with a sense of humor; and a criminal horse-show mom.
Video: A tribute to Old Road, the Irish four-star veteran ridden by Michael Ryan that helped clinch Ireland’s invitation to the Olympics with a second-place finish at the Ballindenisk CIC*** earlier this year.
—-
From Horse Quencher: Anytime a horse moves to a new barn – whether to live there or just stay a few days to compete – the natural order of things is upset. And that’s enough to slow or stop water intake, especially for the new kid on the block. So get him a welcoming drink, with Horse Quencher.
As Denis O’Brien, Assistant Manager Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Stud, Norfolk, says, “We use Horse Quencher when new horses arrive at the farm, or when horses have undergone surgery and return to us from hospital. At these times the horses can be unsettled for a few days, often going off their food and water. Horse Quencher has been excellent in helping to reduce the risk of impaction colic, a very costly and distressing condition. The hydration of horses when traveling can be overlooked and Horse Quencher will assist those who reduce their fluid intake while being transported nationally and internationally. In a nutshell Horse Quencher has helped whenever the horses have a change of routine, or environment, when moving from trainers to the farm, for pre-and-post sales, for traveling and while recovering from injury and confined to the box.”
