If you’re at Red Hills this weekend make sure to check out the coupon for a free, on-site FLAIR strip application before XC, found in your competitor’s packet.
While maybe not the biggest story of the day, Zara Phillips certainly gets the top spot for sheer volume of news coverage. No fewer than four mainstream news outlets carried the story of Zara’s win on Silver Lining V in the Open Intermediate D at Tweseldown Horse Trials (and the Herald Sun posted it twice). According to the articles, the win means that Zara has an “outside chance” of taking Great Britain’s fifth spot at the games. The first four are widely assumed to be going to William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Piggy French, and Nicola Wilson, but the fifth is still up for contention. Other big names like Tina Cook and Pippa Funnell are in the running so it’s by no means a cinched deal. Something tells me that Zara’s royal pedigree might have had something to do with all of the hullabaloo. No matter the reasoning, EN wishes best of luck to all those in the running. Go (British) Eventing.
Back home it’s a big weekend: down in Florida, as Red Hills kicks off today and it’s going to be a weekend of fierce competition. John and Samantha are on location and will bring you updates from the front lines so make sure to keep checking back for more posts. Visionaire did a comprehensive preview post yesterday and made the point that Olympic selectors will be watching this weekend. Good luck to all competitors! [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
Red Hills isn’t the only competition going down this weekend: Full Gallop and Southern Pines will also be hosting events that begin tomorrow morning. Ride times are posted on their websites and live scores will be posted on Event Entries once the competition begins.[Southern Pines] [Full Gallop]
As you have probably seen on the news, large tornadoes carved a path of destruction across the south and midwest last week. The USEF has put out a call for donations to the Equine Disaster Relief Fund, which was formed after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and aims to ensure horses are not overlooked or abandoned during trying times, not to mention relieve some of the financial burdens on their owners. It’s important to note that this fund is “a dollar in, a dollar out” and the USEF takes no cuts from donations. [COTH] [Donate]
Hagyard Equine Medical Institute is collecting donations too- they are specifically asking for hay, fencing, and building materials. [Lex18] [Hagyard Facebook]
I’m not sure if it’s because it’s an Olympic year or if I’m just hypersensitive to equine-themed news from doing these posts, but it seems to me that the mainstream media is picking up a lot more horse stories lately (you see what Zara Phillips gets- even though she is famous and the British journalists tend to write about horse sports more than others do anyway, four stories in one day for a nominal piece of news is a bit much). Whatever the reason, several newspapers have eventing-specific stories this morning.Let’s hope the coverage continues to grow.
-Metro spoke with Mark Todd about his potential Olympic mount, NZB Land Vision, who is according to Mark “as good as any horse in the world.” London would be Mark’s seventh Olympics. [Metro]
-The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald did a write up about the Moreton Horse Trials, where Andrew Nicholson won a “Novice” (that’s English for Preliminary) division. [Wiltshire]
-Canada’s Scugog Standard writes about the phenomenon of Durham Region’s impressive record in producing equestrian talent: short-listed Kendal Lehari, Diana Burnett, and Jessica Phoenix all hail from the area, along with long-listed Michele Mueller and Waylon Roberts. [The Scugog Standard]
If you happen to be in Wellington this weekend, drop by the EQUUS Foundation Fete Cheval Games tonight at the Palm Beach Equestrian Center. Admission is free and you will see riders from a variety of disciplines compete in mounted games like musical stalls. Think Pony Club, but chic because it’s happening at WEF. Eventer Marcia Kulak will be representing the good old USEA, along side the likes of Rodrigo Pessoa and Jessica Springsteen. [COTH]
Last month in Britain the Saddle Research Trust held its first international conference to discuss how research and scientific techniques can be used to benefit ridden horses. The conference brought together international experts in order to discuss ways for research in areas such as horse-saddle-rider interaction to move forward, and according to attendees new technologies are opening doors for innovation. Though there is still a lot of hard work to be done before conclusions are drawn, the conference is considered to be an important first step. [Horsetalk]
Ken Borden Jr. writes about the naming process for foals in his newest column for The Chronicle. According to Ken, the most difficult question a breeder faces isn’t about breeding itself, but rather “‘What should I name this thing?'” Worth a click. [COTH]
Today on HN: Wylie posted about West Philadelphia’s very own high school polo team that will be competing at the National Interscholastic Polo Championship. The team practices inside the city at Fairmont Park and is sponsored by “Work to Ride,” an organization that uses horses to help out at-risk youth (and I will add as my own aside- the newly revived UPenn Polo Team practices with them at their Fairmont stable on a weekly basis. These guys are the real deal, and it’s great to see them getting such attention for their efforts). Click to see a CNN interview with some of the players. EN and HN wish them the best of luck at championships! [Horse Nation]
After collecting a survey that asked readers who were thinking of breeding their mares about their horse’s basic health and soundness, Horse and Hound sport horse editor Alice Collins writes a blog imploring the general public not to breed “for the sake of it.” She was shocked by the number of responses that came in detailing problems like kissing spines, sarcoids, navicular, vision problems, and more. Her advice is to start with the right mare: no exceptions. She writes, “breeding is a gamble, even with world-class bloodlines, but starting with a healthy, happy, proven mare certainly improves your odds.” [Horse and Hound]
Michael Pollard did the Eventing Radio Show. [Eventing Radio]
Best of Blogs:
Lauren Billys has a new spicy mare
Gaby Cook is doing a Badminton Diary for Horse and Hound
Kristen Schmolze and “Rox” did Advanced at Pine Top
As you may have read earlier today, the Equine Social Media Award recipients were named yesterday- the award for best YouTube channel went to the Burghley Horse Trials team. Deputy Director Buster gave a riveting acceptance speech, watch it below.
That’s all for now EN, enjoy your weekend and good luck to all competitors!
