I was prompted to write this post after a prominent member of the equestrian media became probably the 100th person to ask me "John, are you The Carrot?" I'll get to that in a second, but first I should explain that The Carrot is a blog that splits its time between humorously tearing down the FEI and writing about other funny horse topics. While I by no means expect Eventing Nation to agree with everything that The Carrot writes, we link to it a lot because I am a big believer that an aggressive, independent, and irreverent media is an important part of keeping the "powers that be" honest. If we get 100% of our news from governing bodies or sites that just republish press releases from governing bodies, then we can only blame ourselves when things start going wrong with eventing.
The Carrot has been mentioning Eventing Nation a lot recently, which has only led to more questions about whether I am indeed The Carrot. First of all, it's a bit of a technicality, but I should clarify that "The Carrot" is a website, not a person. The person who writes regularly for The Carrot is known as "Sprout." Now, for the record, (*cue drumroll*) I am not Sprout, I don't know who Sprout is, and I have noting to do with The Carrot other than occasionally linking to it on EN, so stop asking me. Some reader, probably a lawyer, is reading this and saying "prove it", and it's true that if I was Sprout I probably wouldn't tell anyone, but let's consider the facts. Would I shamelessly self promote one site on another site? Not unless I'm suggesting that you visit www.hahahorses.com for weird/interesting horse photos and funny captions. Furthermore, do you honestly think I have time to be responsible for 4 websites? Not a chance. I'd love to take credit for the brilliance that is The Carrot, but it's someone else's work.
The Carrot has definitely caught the attention of the "powers that be" and I have heard some pretty interesting theories about the true identity of Sprout. Does Sprout get all of the FEI inside info because he/she is a FEI employee? Is Sprout Princess Haya's estranged stepsister/stepbrother? Is Sprout Bruce Davidson? Like I said, I have no idea, but I would be interested to hear Eventing Nation's thoughts. Post your wild and crazy theories about the identity of Sprout in the comment section, and if you happen to actually know then keep it quiet and don't spoil our fun. Go eventing.
I'm not 100% convinced despite your eloquent denial, John. He/she/it whatever knows too much ............