Honestly, I don’t know how riders who compete in both Kentucky and Badminton are even remotely alive. I didn’t do anything except absorb the action from last weekend and I’m still reeling. I honestly can’t imagine being able to set aside all your worries about Badminton and focus on performing at Kentucky, much less the physical demands of riding at that level competently two weeks in a row. I need a nap just thinking about it.
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U.S. Weekend Preview
Catalpa Corner May Madness H.T. (Iowa City, Ia.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Volunteer]
The Event at Skyline (Mt. Pleasant, Ut.): [Website] [Ride Times / Scores] [Volunteer]
Miami Valley H.T. at Twin Towers (Yellow Springs, Oh.): [Website] [Ride Times / Scores] [Volunteer]
Poplar Place May H.T. (Thomson, Ga.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Photography Sign-up] [Volunteer] [Scores]
Waredaca H.T. (Gaithersburg, Md.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Photographer] [Scores] [Volunteer]
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Nine months after several incidents and accidents marred the equestrian disciplines of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, a study group from the French National Assembly (the lower house of the French Parliament), makes 46 recommendations for making Paris 2024 the Olympic Games of Equine Welfare. There is a long section on equipment, which includes banning combination bits, draw reins and the use of elevator bits in conjunction with martingales. They want standardised checks of noseband tightness using the ISES taper gauge at the nasal plane, and they call for a ban of hyperflexion anywhere on the Games grounds, acknowledging it refers to any head and neck posture where the nose is behind the vertical. [French Parliament Recommendations on Horse Welfare for Paris 2024]
Best of Blogs: Dom Schramm’s Badminton — I Drove The Lorry Here Myself
It was a bittersweet weekend at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event for Canadian eventer Lisa Marie Fergusson. Riding Honor Me, the pair were the top Canadian entry in the CCI5*-L, finishing 19th. But it had been a difficult road to this event, a testament to this rider’s grit and determination. In December her mother, Bonnie, had a heart attack and Lisa had to be with her in the hospital for a month. Leslie Law took over keeping Tali going, and when her mother passed on Good Friday, she was able to ride him a handful of times before going to Kentucky. [Love, Loss, and Honor]