Thursday News & Notes from Virginia Horse Center Foundation

There are a couple of very cool clinic opportunities coming your way this month, starting with New Zealand Olympian Jonelle Price in Lexington, KY at Altorac Farm for a clinic October 10-11. All levels are welcome for this clinic, and there is also an opportunity to come for a Q&A with Jonelle over pizza. Click here for more information.

Next up, Irish Olympian and CCI5* winner Austin O’Connor, who’s teaching October 11-13 at Cairn O’Mount Stables in Malvern, PA. All levels are welcome for this clinic, and you’ll have the opportunity to ride on Windurra’s cross country course as well. Click here for more information and to register.

Major International Events

LOTTO Strzegom October Festival CCI4*-L (Poland): [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream]

U.S. Events This Weekend

The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm / Area II Championships (MD): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]

Woodside Fall International (CA): [Website] [Entries/Times/Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]

Apple Knoll Farm H.T. (MA): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scores] [Volunteer]

WindRidge Farm Fall H.T. (NC): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scores] [Volunteer]

Ocala Fall H.T. (FL): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Volunteer]

Middle Tennessee Pony Club H.T. (TN): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps]

News & Reading

We’re teaming up with Sentinel Horse Nutrition to give away a year’s worth of Sentinel Horse Feeds! This sweepstakes is accepting entries until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 6. You can full the full terms and conditions + enter for your chance to win a big break for your bank account here.

Registration is now open for the 2025 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, which will be held in New Orleans, LA at the Sheraton New Orleans hotel December 11-14. You’ll get to participate in meetings and seminars, hear from keynote speaker Natalie Hummel, and be a part of the broader conversation surrounding the sport of eventing in the U.S. Plus, you never know who you’ll spot and strike up a conversation with! You can learn more about Convention here.

The panel who ruled on the case of horse abuser Cesar Parra was “amazed to see how creative [he] has been in trying to find techniques and practices that would hurt horses, in perfect indifference to their suffering,” Horse & Hound reports this week. Following the publication of a full Tribunal report from the FEI, new details and assessments have emerged surrounding the horrific case that saw the dressage rider and trainer suspended for 15 years. You can read H&H’s breakdown here.

There’s a new podcast on the airwaves, and you won’t want to miss it! The first episode of the Horse Woman’s Almanac, featuring hosts Beth Behrs and Caroline Culbertson with guest Anna Buffini, is now live on your favorite podcast platform. You’ll hear from Anna on her decision to lighten her competitive load with the warm humor and authenticity of Beth and Caroline. Check out the show’s YouTube channel for a sneak peek here.

Sponsor Corner: Virginia Horse Center Foundation

Katherine Maroko and Redfield Champion. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott.

Have you gotten your entries in yet for the fall edition of VHC Eventing at Virginia Horse Center? It’s a great fall goal for both National and FEI riders, with both amateurs and professionals targeting this event as a season move-up or a cap off before the off-season holidays begin. Entries close on October 14, so don’t wait and get them in soon! Click here for more information.

Video Break

A real blast from the past/cool nugget of history from Burghley circa 1977, when Nationwide’s Bill Kerr-Elliot went behind the scenes of Bryan Forbes’ ‘horsey-extravaganza’ International Velvet, chatting with the director himself and a young Tatum O’Neal. The clip below was originally broadcast on BBC One, September 30, 1977.