There’s exciting news from leading Ocala farm realtors, event horse owners, and partners of EN Ocala Horse Properties – they’ve been named as title sponsor for the upcoming USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Symposium.
As well as selling some of the dreamiest equestrian properties out there, the team are total horse guys, and although they’ve personally hung up their competition boots, they remain huge eventing supporters with stakes in a number of US speed merchant Liz Halliday’s rides, such as Luhmuhlen 5* fifth place finisher Cooley Quicksilver (above), who they own alongside The Monster Partnership.
The Ocala Horse Properties USEA YEH Symposium will take place on February 20th at Majestic Oaks Ocala and Redtail Ridge Farm South and will feature a top-class panel of experts and international competitors.
Chris Desino, one third of Ocala Horse Properties, told USEA what being title sponsor of the YEH Symposium means to them: “Our horse program was built upon bringing along young horses to the top levels. With U.S. Eventing on the cusp of international acclaim, we recognize the vital role that programs like this play in shaping a bright future for the sport, and we are more than thrilled to support it.”
Go eventing!
National Holiday of Note: Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. We’re honored to be involved in a sport where competitors of any gender are able to compete as equals, so let’s give a huge shout out to all those who have inspired us, motivated us, and paved the way for us, and who continue to do so. There are so many examples of inspirational women in eventing, and we salute you all.
U.S. Weekend Preview
Pine Top Intermediate H.T. (Thomson, GA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Rocking Horse Winter II H.T. (Altoona, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Wednesday News and Reading
Maxime Livio pays tribute to Boleybawn Prince, who bows out of the sport aged 20. A truly international horse, having been campaigned by Austrian, Japanese, German, Thai and French riders, Boleybawn Prince represented Thailand at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2018 Asian Games with Arinadtha Chavatanont in the irons and has more recently been wowing the indoor crowd going arena eventing with Maxime, regularly topping the podium. He’ll now enjoy his retirement with his owner in Thailand.
Looking for something to listen to as you go about your barn chores? Catch up with Bubby Upton as she talks about her rehabilitation following a serious accident last season and find out what her plans are for 2024, and hear from 2023 winner of the British Eventing Newcomers League, thirteen-year-old Ollie Rowlands, about his goals for the year ahead – all brought to you by Nicole Brown and The British Eventing Show.
Spotted prepping for Paris..? Ros Canter has been working with four-time Olympian and dressage trainer Richard Davison on some tweaks to her tests with her top horses, Badminton and European champ Lordships Graffalo and 5* winner on his debut at the level at Pau Izilot DHI.
Training young horses can be a bit of a bumpy ride. You need a bucketload of resilience and a whole heap of patience just for starters. It’s tough to stay motivated when the going gets, well tough, so here’s some handy strategies to do just that. They may be geared towards working with young horses, but let’s be honest, all horse work can be tricky at times, so there’s something here for most of us, I’m sure.
Meet the very cool OTTBs honored at last week’s Retraining of Racehorses Awards. From having an impact in their community to going on to win in a variety of disciplines, the winners really highlight the potential of ex-racehorses to go on to live fulfilled and happy lives post-track. Find out more and watch the winners’ videos here.
Horses can do ballet. It’s World Ballet Day today so what better day to share this inspiring kids’ book? Jade Leahy aims to promote inclusivity through her stories, raising funds for the Riding for the Disabled Association in the process. Inspired by her real-life horses and her own experiences of disability, Jade’s latest book ‘Horses Can Do Ballet’ is available via her website.
Sponsor Corner
That chandelier! That geometric fireplace! The black and gold oven! Someone get the fainting couch, I’m about to swoon. Join me in drooling over this Golden Ocala Luxury home.
Video Break
OK, so as mentioned above, it’s World Ballet Day today and the easy option for today’s Video Break would surely be to share a dressage test. But this is EN. Instead, I’ve hunted down this throwback nail polish commercial that features dancers, a dance battle, a horse, and some amusing video editing. Don’t say we don’t give you anything. Enjoy.
