Jan and "Wyatt" earlier this year in the Aiken Training Sessions w/ Lauren Hough
Sunday nights: time to stare forlornly at the pile of dirty stuff in your trailer waiting to be unpacked & cleaned, and sit on a tack trunk drinking a well-deserved beverage. To all of you who gritted your teeth and competed in the sweltering heat this weekend, I applaud you, and I sincerely hope you drank at least two gallons of water today. In case you’re wondering what became of all the events this weekend, I’m here with the exclusive “EN Low-down“:
Maryland HT: Jan Byyny was the only one to wrest a blue ribbon from Sally Cousins all weekend, winning one division of Intermediate with Why Not, while Sally settled for second there with Troy and took two firsts in the other divisions of Intermediate on The Robber Baron and Kestral Key. The JYOP was won by Sara Vitkus and Season O’ Reason, and Prelim A, B, & C were won by Wendy Lewis, Lauren Kieffer and Sara Lieser, respectively.
Chattahoochee Hills HT: Pollard Eventing had a good weekend back with some old partners and some new. DV8 won a division of Intermediate, with his stablemate Jos Calfun coming 2nd in Intermediate B (despite a stop) to winners Emily Renfroe and Walk the Line. Michael also won Preliminary A on his new mount, Ballingowan Pizazz (Mango), and came second on Cheyenne Blue in Preliminary B to Leslie Law and Zoe.
Michael with Mango and Cheyenne (photo courtesy of Pollard Eventing FB)
Coconino Summer HT: Barbara Crabo on her horse Over Easy topped Stephanie Callihan on Compelling Chris in the Intermediate CT, while Tristen Hooks on Learning to Fly beat out James Atkinson twice, with his two mounts Gustav & Debbie Rosen’s The Alchemyst coming 2nd and 3rd. Divisions of Training were won by Bailey Moran on Loughnatousa Caislean (try saying that five times fast!), Frederic Bouland on Kodiak, and Kelsey Carlisle on Madalay Bay.
Whidbey Island HT: Kate Peterson on Whakaari topped the Open Intermediate division over Caitlin Woodward on Out of the Blue, while Open Preliminary was won by Nayla Charbonneau and Chances R. The Preliminary CT was won by the Rolex-famous Jordan Linstedt on Revitavet Capato. I should also mention that Whidbey HT had a team competition, which I must applaud and encourage, because I think the team experience is something that we Eventers sorely miss in our athletic endeavors.
Genesee Valley HT: Barbara Allen won the Open Preliminary on My Main Man over Kelly Sult and Queen of Hearts. Divisions of Training were won by Jack Walnes & The Country Gentleman, Carolyn Wehle & Foghorn J. Leghorn as well as Carol Connors and Behrometer.
Canadians packing up! (courtesy of Hawley Bennett-Awad's FB)
In other news, the Canadians packed up from O’Connor Land today, to go into quarantine and subsequently to ENGLAND!! They will be waiting for the word tomorrow about the possible cancellation of Gatcombe, which is supposed to be their last outing before the Olympics. Boyd and Neville are also slated to compete there in an effort to redeem themselves after their mishap at Barbury last weekend. My ideal outcome of the meeting tomorrow would be that the officials decide to send the rain to the US, and keep it the heck away from Gatcombe, because frankly, I’m not sure even the British can handle this much rain.
And I’ll leave you with a lovely Willy Wonka meme that is floating around amongst the Olympic riders as a bit of a laugh:
