Mark at Badminton last year- read about his interview with the Evening Standard below. Photo from Samantha.
With Rolex just around the corner, the FLAIR is offering a chance to win a pair of four days passes. Want to enter? All you have to do is post your answer to the question “How will FLAIR strips protect your horse?” on this FLAIR blog post and your name will be put into the pool. Winners will be chosen using a random number generator. Increase your chances to win by posting about the contest on Facebook or Twitter (or both), then add another comment to the blog post letting them know you shared the contest with your followers and friends. The contest runs until April 16 and there are already 53 comments so start sharing! [FLAIR Blog] [USEA]
This is a big weekend with six events, so I’m jump starting the competition links this week:
Ocala Horse Properties International CCI**/* [Ride Times] [Website]
Full Gallop [Entry Status] [Website]
Ram Tap [Website]
St. Johns Horse Trials [Entry Status] [Website]
Pine Hill [Website]
Plantation Field [Entry Status] [Website]
GMHA will offer its first Future Event Horse, Young Event Horse and New Event Horse Test on June 1. Fun facts about GMAH: It was founded in 1926, it is a nonprofit association with approximately 1,500 members, and it contributes $4 million to the local economy every season. Opening date for entries is April 17. [USEA]
Mark Todd did an interview with the London Evening Standard and gave his thoughts on a range of topics, from the Olympics to his family and his own impressive comeback. According to Todd, this year’s man to beat is Michael Jung and the Greenwich cross country will be tough. “It’ll be quite twisty, a rider’s course. Because of the terrain, the cross country is going to pose a unique test.” Todd doesn’t believe his two horses, Grass Valley and Major Milestone, will be winners- but maybe in the top ten. While a lot of up-and-coming stars will be filling the barns in England, it’s hard to discount the man who has won Badminton four times over 31 years as a serious contender. Todd acknowledges this: “There’s a lot to be said about the beauty of youth but age and experience counts for a lot, doesn’t it? The fact is that, at 56, I’m still competitive at the very top. There are not many riders of my age competing at the top level.” [Evening Standard]
Another Kiwi, Clarke Johnstone, is looking towards London and picking up press coverage. Johnstone has three horses qualified for the games, but two (Incognito and KS Secrets) have been recently sidelined with injuries, leaving him with only his top ride, Orient Express, as a team prospect. Luckily, he’s not too worried. “I’d be more comfortable if I had three, but Orient Express is a very, very good horse and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be good to go in July. He’d be the one I want to take anyway.” Rather than head to one of the big four stars this spring, Johnstone will be giving Orient Express a lighter preparation, saying that the horse performs better when a bit fresher. Currently based in England, last year Johnstone impressed his homeland by winning the FEI World Cup series at age 24, on top of the WEG team bronze medal he assisted in bringing home from Kentucky in 2010. Johnstone knows the Olympics are still a ways off, but from the looks of things he’s in a pretty good position. “As I’m discovering, there’s a long way to go, so I’m certainly not getting too excited yet. But if it all comes off it would certainly be pretty awesome.” [Stuff NZ]
The University of Virginia now has a school-sponsored Virginia Eventing and Dressage Team. Approved by the university last September, the club has monthly training sessions and expects riders to train on their own between meetings. While UVA has another riding club, Virginia Riding, that competes in the Inter-Collegiate Horse Show circuit, the Eventing and Dressage Team focuses on said disciplines and hopes to one day compete against over colleges. Go collegiate eventing. [Cavalier Daily]
British comedian and actress Jennifer Saunders is taking lessons from Tim Stockdale and Piggy French as part of a new documentary series she is filming for British station ITV. Saunders has ridden since she was a child and is looking forward to getting back into competitive shape. In the series, which will air in August, she follows British Olympic hopefuls, including French and Lauren Shannon. Mike Etherington-Smith, British Eventing’s chief executive, applauds her return to riding. ““Many women challenge the perception that growing older means you have to slow down — eventing allows them take up that challenge.” [Horse and Hound]
In a new issue of Equine Disease Quarterly, parasitologist Martin Nielsen draws attention to the horse world’s slow response to the increasing number of drug resistant equine parasites. Nielsen cites several studies that document growing resistance to commercially available drug classes and as a solution recommends moving away from the traditional, calendar-based treatment of all horses in favor of testing fecal samples before administering drugs. Based on surveys, Nielsen goes onto claim that despite this advice horse owners have failed to change their worming habits and still rely on the frequent, regular anthelmintic (de-worming) treatments without giving thought to the particular type of parasites being targeted or drug efficacy. Even so, there has been an increase of resistance awareness in the past few years and veterinarians are more routinely testing fecal samples. Nielson attributes this change to new drug regulations adopted by some European countries that require testing, education, and the internet. Over the past decade as more information has been made easily accessible to the average horse owner, awareness of health concerns has increased. Nielson concludes that more research is necessary to better understand parasite resistance and how to fight it, but for now the solution begins with the owner. [Horsetalk]
A rare, three-volume 19th century text on Arabian horses will be published after an agreement was signed between the Qatar Museums Authority and the National Library of Poland. [Horsetalk]
Jane Forbes Clark, Gabor Foltenyi, Hap Hansen and Larry Langer were inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame on April 7. [COTH]
Best of blogs:
Road to the Olympics: Margie Engle, Part 2
I leave you with a video from Horse Nation. Summer is just around the corner! Happy Wednesday, EN, thanks for reading!
From Cavalor:
From Horse Quencher: Serious dehydration is a common side effect of trailering. But does it have to be? Horse Quencher gives you peace of mind that their body is ready to perform (outbound) and nicely recovering (homebound). As Sarah Jane Prew, editor of Just Dressage Magazine, says, “I tried five horses on Horse Quencher and all of them loved it. They are drinking whenever Horse Quencher is offered which is brilliant in hot weather, or when traveling as before it has always been difficult to ensure that they are rehydrated at the end of a long day. Two of my dressage horses loved all of the flavors but my husband’s horse, Major, definitely preferred the butterscotch to all the others and as he is about to go to a big competition, we were keen to stock up on this flavor for him as he rarely drinks when traveling or at shows. It has made a big difference to them all.”?
