Friends, a few days ago we banded together here on Eventing Nation and propelled Sinead Halpin to the top of the USOC Femal Athlete of the Month polling for April. Sinead received fully half of the votes in a 16 athlete field. Admittedly, the polling results were only going to count for 10% of the overall result and I have yet to find an explanation of what contributes to the other 90% of the vote, but my guess from the final results is that it has something to do with bureaucrats sitting in a room and making bad decisions with complete disregard of public opinion. I know how hard it is for all of us to imagine that a governing body ignored the will of us, the lawless masses.
The USOC released the results of the Athlete of the Month as follows: 1. Hilary Knight, Ice Hockey, 2. Desiree Davila, Track & Field, 3. Nzingha Prescod, Fencing. Ok, congratulations to the winners, I am sure they must have been right up there in the voting as well, right? Oh, wait, in fact the winner received a stunning 12 votes, the runner up received just 209, and the third placed finisher 55, meaning that three athletes who beat Sinead received a grand total of 276 votes, a full 6 times fewer votes than Sinead. True, the womens Ice Hockey team did win gold at a world championship event in April, but there is also a Team of the Month award, where the womens Hockey team was already honored. Come on USOC, show some respect to equestrian sports, especially when our fans show our athletes so much love. [Article, Poll Results]
Now for a few eventing news and notes…
–With the CIC3* competing this morning and the CCI2* competing in the afternoon at Jersey Fresh, we have an action packed day of dressage coming your way. Here are a few links to help you enjoy all of the action until I’m back around lunch time with a CIC3* dressage report:
[Jersey Live Scores, Ride Times, Jersey Homepage, Weather, Schedule PDF]
–Glancing at the CIC3* dressage entries, a couple of things are clear. First, this is a stronger field than the CCI3*. Second, this is Will Faudree’s division to lose. Pawlow and Andromaque are two of the best horses in the world, particularly Andromaque and since Will is riding them both, you have to like his odds. Cambalda, Otis Barbotiere–Boyd’s new French horse, Phillip’s two just because he is riding them, and Master Hill all jump off the entry list as horses with a good shot to win as well, especially Cambalda.
–Alexandra Slusher told the chronicle that Last Call is much more fit this year. “Fergie” tied up after several stops and retiring on course last year here at Jersey but she is in much better shape this year and looked a cut above the rest of the competition on Thursday. [COTH]
–Turning away from Jersey, there are six other USEA events this weekend. Most of them start on Saturday, but the Galway Downs spring horse trials starts today in California. [Galway Live Scores]
—Tiana wrote a quick Rolex recap on her blog on Thursday. Tiana had a really tough day on Saturday at Rolex, giving away the 4* lead with two stops and a fall, but her blog post shows exactly why she’s going to be back and finishing well at four-stars soon. For all of the riders out there who make excuses for mistakes or blame their horses, here’s a good example of how to own a bad day and look ahead to the future. From Tiana:
“…Cross country had some really good parts and some other parts that just weren’t quite good enough. Unfortunately at the 4* level, not quite good enough is not something you get away with and eventually we had a fall at the farmyard table at the very end of the course. I take complete blame for all of our mistakes that day, and especially the fall. I think Finian really stepped up to the plate and gave me his all, and ultimately my inexperience let us down. I feel like we’re both better for the experience but it is of course hugely disappointing to feel like I let him and so many people down. I came away from the weekend with more belief than ever in just how special my horse really is, and feeling an even deeper responsibility to make the right choices for his future.”
–In some sad news, Julia Kelly passed away on Sunday at the age of 67. Mrs. Kelly and her husband Ed were regular sponsors of the beautiful glass awards presented to competitors at The Event at Rebecca Farm. Ms. Kelly was also a regular volunteer and the “Volunteer of the Year” award is named after her for Ladder Up, which was an aid program for the poor in Chicago, her hometown. The family requests that in lieu of flowers or gifts, donations be made to ALS research in Mrs. Kelly’s name at http://www.lesturnerals.org. [USEA]
—ERS Episode 141 with Bonnie Mosser
–I detest cooking shows. There is something about watching other people cook food and eat it that captures with absolute certainty the uselessness of television. A Canadian version of the highly rated cooking show Top Chef isn’t helping my opinion of the genre. An upcoming episode about French cuisine will feature the cooking and eating of horse meat. The show has responded by claiming the ‘different cultures’ defense, but that hasn’t stopped a boycott of the show. [Horsetalk]
–The Central Scotland horse trials is ‘raising the stakes’, a headline eerily similar to reports about the Scottish military hundreds of years ago. [BE]
—Looking ahead to Chattahoochee Hills next weekend
–We always look for chances to show some love to Pony Club on EN. This year, Pony Club is trying to encourage prelim riders to come to championships and is offering prize money for the winning team. Each rider on the prelim eventing winning team and the stable manager get $1,000 to be put towards educational riding activities. Championships are being held this year at the Kentucky Horse Park from July 19-22. [More Info PDF]
—Best of the Blogs: Valarie V is glad she went to MCTA last weekend
–EN sponsors are out and about here at Jersey. I know for sure that there are Horse Quencher, Cavalor, and Devoucoux booths set up in the vendor area. Be sure to stop by and thank them for keeping the Chinchillas well fed. They will either know exactly what you mean or it will be the most awkward moment ever and they will later call me asking why their sponsorship dollars go to feeding an army of small furry creatures.
The Eventing Equestriad Australia event at Camden is just a week away, here’s last year’s promotional video:
That’s all for now. I’ll be back throughout the day with more dressage reports, interviews, and a XC preview. As always, wherever you might be, thanks for making Eventing Nation part of your day. Stay classy Eventing Nation.
