One of the rather more confusing moments on course at Burghley on Saturday was the pulling up and subsequent elimination of Will Rawlin and Ballycoog Breaker Boy. While we absolutely agree with the new tendency to be overcautious in the protection of horses, and of our sport, it’s also always nice to get some further clarity on the situation. Will’s Instagram post doesn’t get to the bottom of why they were pulled up, but it does offer some reassurance that all’s well and we’ll see this smart horse back out after his winter holidays. Onwards!
Events Opening Today: Hitching Post Farm H.T., Waredaca Classic Three Day Event & H.T.
Events Closing Today: University of New Hampshire H.T., Jump Start H.T., Spokane Sport Horse 10th Annual Fall H.T., Stable View Oktoberfest 2/3/4* and H.T., Sundance Farm H.T., Tomora Horse Trials, Course Brook Farm Fall H.T., ESDCTA New Jersey H.T., Old Tavern Horse Trials, Fleur de Leap H.T.
News & Notes from Around the World:
Hey Bostonians, here’s a cool thing for you to get involved in! Phillip Dutton: Leap of Faith is a new documentary spanning the career of the original Aussiemerican competitor, and it’s premiering at the Boston Film Festival this month. While Phillip won’t be there himself — he’ll be joining virtually from Blenheim for the post-film panel — it’ll be a pretty fascinating film and a great way to be a part of it. You can get yourself on the list and check out the trailer right here.
The last few days have been absolutely chock-full of grim news for eventing. One of those bombshells? The news that Kazuma Tomoto, the stalwart of the Japanese eventing team, is being sent back home with no option to stay in the UK with his string of horses. Instead, he has to leave them behind, hand the reins to another rider, and go back to Japan to become a riding instructor — and none of these things reflect his own desires. You can read H&H’s news piece on the story here, and we’ll be bringing you a story on it very soon too.
Speaking of horrendous news: Andrew McConnon. Rest assured that we’re working around the clock to bring you a comprehensive story on what’s going on there, and have been doing so from the moment the first Facebook post dropped, so I won’t go into the nitty-gritty of the situation here, but in case you missed it, here’s the latest statement to be released on it, from US Eventing.
Right, let’s do something more fun now. Like, say, a roll in the hay from the Dame of Dirty Horse Books, Jilly Cooper. If you’ve not read Riders, in all its filthy and wildly problematic glory, you ought to, purely so we can discuss. If you have, you’ll be very aware of the forthcoming televisation of Rivals. And you’ll want to ask Jilly lots of questions. Some of them may pertain to butter. Here’s your chance.
Sponsor Corner: What makes some hay higher in sugar than others? If you work with a horse with metabolic issues, you know how frustrating it can be to find low sugar hay. Kentucky Performance Products has some answers that might help you in your torturous hunt for low sugar hay. Get the full scoop here.
Watch This:
I’m crying, you’re crying, Pippa Funnell’s crying for William Fox-Pitt’s retirement from the sport. It won’t be quite the same without him.
