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Sometime between now and the end of time, most likely later today, we will make a very special announcement here on Eventing Nation.  Two and a half years ago I started on this crazy journey known as Eventing Nation with nothing more than a stalled riding career, a lot of time on my hands, and a mild personality disorder.  Somehow--I still have no idea how--we built a community of eventers that celebrates and unites our sport as I think only ridiculousness, insanity, and videos of Nat VC dancing can.  A year ago almost to this day I started putting the pieces in place to create a website that reaches out beyond the borders of Eventing Nation and spreads our insanity throughout the entire horse world.  I'm not sure the horse world is ready for us, but that invasion starts today.  Let's pretend for a moment that I don't want to ruin Leslie's day by spoiling the surprise, so I just want to thank you our readers and friends in advance for your support and help spreading the word, and ask for your grace as we learn and figure things out.  Stay tuned.  Now, more than ever, go eventing.

Merry Christmas Eventing Nation and happy holidays!  I hope Santa brought you and your horse lots of loot today.  Wherever you might be this holiday season, thanks for spending part of it here with us.  I want to especially wish a Merry Christmas to the entire EN Team, our sponsors who keep the lights on and the heat running in the EN compound all winter, the chinchillas, and most of all to you.  You make Eventing Nation your home for eventing news and ridiculousness and in so doing you give us all an eventing community and me a home for expressing what most muggles believe is a significant personality disorder but what we all know is just a mild personality disorder combined with an obsessive love for horses.  I know I speak for my therapists as well when I say "thank you."  Give your ponies an extra carrot and hug today, remember our service men and women who have to be away from their families on Christmas, and, most of all, have a merry Christmas.  Now, more than ever, go eventing.

Emma Scott and Mustang at Adelaide

Hey EN, as the year draws to a close we all start to reflect on what we have and have not achieved this year I have to say I have had an amazing year in Eventing. This is also my first year as part of the EN team which has been great fun and despite my physical isolation from everyone else I feel very much part of the team that is Eventing Nation.

I started my year visiting the USA to the Red Hills Horse Trials in Tallahassee Florida, this is a lovely event and returning for my second year I really felt like I was returning home to my big old southern family. This is remarkable as at many events TDs are often treated as a necessary evil.

While on the subject of Red Hills I hear from Director Jane Barron they will definitely be running next year, with a mammoth fundraising effort and little trimming of the fat from the budget it will happen. Unfortunately some of the fat includes overseas officials, so I won't be back to Red Hills in 2012.
So here is the SHAMELESS plug, any FEI events that are looking for a hardworking and dedicated FEI 1 & 2 Star TD for 2012 drop me an email ESJ@eventingnation.com, I know that was shameless but I love my Eventing and want to do more around the world.

After Red Hills I spent a day in LA with my mate Susan and saw this Bugatti

Still on Red Hills, Marvin Mayer is Jane's partner in crime when it comes to event organisation, Marvin is the logistics man that turns the greenfield site into the wonderful horse trials venue that it is. Marvin had a fall in his bathroom back in September and fractured his C6 vertebra, he has spent the last few months in rehab in Atlanta and only returned home to Tally a couple of weeks ago, talk about interesting times. As a rider or a spectator I urge you to support this fantastic early season event and come to Red Hills in March.

While at Red Hills this year I got to meet my mate Samantha Clark and catch up with the big EN Kahuna, John. Both Sam and JT are completely mad, spend way too many waking hours (I say as I write this at 4am) bringing the very best in Eventing from around the globe to you the EN audience. While I saw Samantha running around taking pics and interviewing countless people, the only time I could catch her standing or sitting still was at the local Starbucks uploading video or photos on their free wifi, usually til all hours of the night or any time after 5am.

EN John is even harder to catch and the only time I remember spending more than 3 mins in his presence was when we sat down at the competitors party and had a few beers. Apparently, when you work for EN, sleep is optional, I don't recall that in my employment contract..... while on that subject, just over a year ago when I agreed to contribute to EN, I committed to one story a fortnight. Since I started I have published almost 100 stories which is more like two a week than two a month.

I have to say while I love covering events, especially when they are big ones like Blenheim or Adelaide, I do love my random ramblings like this one, my favourite is uncovering a big story. For me the pinnacle so far has to be A good place NOT to leave your car keys! the story of Italian WEG horse Iman du Golfe and the Aussie team vest that got stuffed into his gaping wound by Krysten Lituri that saved his life. That story still marvels me and still brings a tear to the eye.

In May I headed off to my favourite Aussie event for the Sydney World Cup round, again I was there as a TD, so I juggled my roles and managed to bring some of this fun event to the EN audience. What I enjoyed most was watching young Clarke Johnstone, win his second World Cup in four weeks (which secured his win of the overall series) on the same horse, with his mate Chris Burton hot on his heals. Both Clarke and Chris are young rising talent that will probably grace their respective national teams as London rolls around next year.

Personally while I would love to see the Aussies win gold next year my head tells me the Kiwis are the ones to beat and they will pip the Poms at the post and come home with gold, the home team will have to settle for silver, who will join those two teams on the podium will be anyones guess.

As the year rolled on I managed to get the scope on Prue Barrett as the Australian Performance Director of Eventing thanks to a chance meeting in the supermarket. Catching Prue so early was great but being quoted by Horse and Hound was almost as thrilling, I mean its H&H, the magazine made famous by Notting Hill (you know I'm kidding don't you?).

 

To be honest as the year rolled on I had one thing on my mind, Burghley. Every Eventer dreams of making it to Burghley and Badminton, I was pretty stoked to be heading to the UK for two weeks of Eventing first at Burghley and then Blenheim, man I have a cool job sometimes. My bucket list now includes doing Rolex and Badminton back to back in two weeks! Anyone?

The talented and ever so generous Nico Morgan

The Burghley estate is something to behold, the XC was enormous and huge and bloody big! But the fences were only part of the equation, the rolling hills and natural terrain make it the toughest cross country course in the world. If you haven't been there it is hard to imagine. To be on the back of a horse that completes Burghley must be the most amazing feeling.

Seeing the class of the world's best run up close and personal was a privilege, William Fox-Pitt's win was brilliant and for his sixth Burghley win was a stunning achievement. I had a little cry when I saw Neville, I didn't ever think he would make it there let alone finish in seventh place, yes SEVENTH, just three months after the fire. That is one tough horse, must be the Aussie thoroughbred breeding.


Neville Bardos and his girls, my favorite moment of the year

During the week at Burghley, I got to catch up with Samantha again, she had taken over a corner of the press tent and again was working all hours of the night and day, good thing the press tent had 24 hour security.

Following Burghley, I walked the cross country course at Greenwich park. I must say I wasn't expecting much, the worlds press had done such a good job of talking down the park as a venue, I guess I wasn't sure what to expect. Having spoken to a couple of riders after the test event I was expecting it to be tight, Adelaide here is tight with narrow lanes. Well, Greenwich will be very tight, narrow lanes, crowds 20 deep the whole way round and twists, turns and LOTS of terrain. Nippy little horses that don't mind some atmosphere will be the choice on XC day for London, big horses will find the course hard work. I can't wait to watch it on TV. Cue :( sad face, unless someone pays for my airfare I won't be at London.

Blenheim was brilliant fun, this was my first event overseas where I was there purely as a journalist. The press at Blenheim were great fun and there was lots of banter both inside the tent and out and about. Let me tell you, covering a big international event on your own is tough. Most teams have two or three people, one shooting pics or videos, one writing and another covering things like social media. To do all that as one person is tough and I dip my hat to Samantha and John who do it regularly and do it well.


Piggy French and her beautiful smile

The highlight of my Blenheim experience was the Puissance, great fun and a nice distraction from the otherwise very serious business of the event.
As the year rolled to a close I headed down to South Australia for the Adelaide event, this is a unique event in our calendar and it was great to be there for the second year covering it for EN. Having the changes in the venue meant that the press room was right in the thick of the action.

Adelaide is particularly dear to Aussie Eventers and is probably the only event in Australia that gets people hopping on a plane to be part of the action. Apart from accidentally insulting Clayton Fredericks and the Southern Star team on day one (I was in a sleep deprived, stupor), the rest of the weekend was great fun and ran to plan.


My second favorite moment of the year, the return of Festy

Christmas is fast approaching and this week Santa delivered an early present to Australia's top home based Eventers. Mike ES is returning to Sydney, 12 years after he designed the original Sydney Olympic track on the very same course he will be back in Sydney to design the Sydney CCI course. I have more on this and don't want to spoil it yet, you will have to wait until the new year.

In the meantime I am starting to build a 'To Do' list of events for 2012, Sydney CCI, Eventing Equestriad (this is the unique event run by Shane & Nikki Rose and their team) congratulations also to Shane and Nikki who are expecting their first child just a couple of weeks before their event, London (who wants to pay for my airfare???), another event in the USA and finally Adelaide. In between that I hope to TD at some local events at home next year as I neglected local events this year.


Blenheim's press room fuel source

One final note, to all the Organising Committees in the big wide world, you know what makes a pleasant event for the journos, photographers, bloggers and everyone else covering your event great? Surprisingly, it isn't the chocolate or soft drink you provide to help fuel the corps (although this rates a close second), it is the internet speed! Slow internet is almost as universal as Eventers drinking beer, I am yet to hear a journo or photographer claim that the internet was too fast, only that they spent endless extra hours trying to upload on slow internet!

Have a great festive season EN, I can't wait for next year and the possibilities it will bring. Be good to your ponies, your parents and partners (someone has to pay the bills).

Yours in Eventing,

ESJ

The lone chinchilla who isn't currently embroidering new EN hats has worked through a bit of the EN Census results.  It is slow going, but interesting.  Here are a few numbers for all you statisticians...

 

-Out of 1200 responders, 48 states (plus DC) were represented.  Are there no eventers with internet access in Hawaii and Nebraska?  Virginia was the most common response (106), followed by Maryland (69), Pennsylvania (66), Kentucky, and North Carolina (both 61).  Even Wyoming, Alaska, and both Dakotas showed up.  I'm looking at you, Nebraska; Hawaii, I know you're too busy sunbathing on the beach.

 

-International presence was pretty impressive.  117 readers from Canada, mostly from Ontario or BC, but in six other provinces as well.  Around the globe, we saw 12 from the UK, 11 from Australia, 5 from Ireland, and a few from New Zealand, Mexico, Italy, and France.  Compare this to last year's Census, with 5 Canadians and a lone Australian...we are taking over the world, folks!   

 

-Nearly 50% of responders have competed up to Training or Preliminary level, plus about 20% at the lower levels.  We have plenty of upper level competitors too, with 6% having gone Advanced.  We strive to make the site appealing to riders of every level, because we all have something to bring to the table.  And there are also many readers who've never competed, but still enjoy following the sport as volunteer, organizer, parent, or spectator.

 

-The average age of our reader is somewhere in the low 30s.  It's a pretty even dispersal, though, among age groups. 

 

 -The average eventing experience is 12 years (the same as a year ago).  Many readers, though, are just getting into the sport.  Almost 9% have been eventing since before I was born; I feel like a young pup with so much more to learn!  There were plenty of eventing enthusiasts who don't event at all...so here's a shout-out to all you hunter/jumper and dressage rebels indulging in your guilty pleasure.  We're happy to have you; now, come join in the insanity! 

 

-Also from the Experience category, we found many supportive parents of eventers.  Which made us think: we would love to hear from you!  We certainly wouldn't be where we are today without our wonderful moms and dads.  It would be great to share the Parent's Perspective here on Eventing Nation.  If you have thoughts or experiences to share, please send them to eventingnationteam@gmail.com with "Parent" in the title.

 

Thanks for reading and contributing. 

Go eventing!

 

 

 

 

 

Wow... the chinchillas are overwhelmed.  Our second ever EN Census ended with over 1200 entries.  We are humbled!  Thank you so much to all who participated; it has been so inspiring and educational reading your responses.  We're still sorting through the piles of data, and it may take a couple weeks to crunch all the exact numbers, but here's what we've learned so far:

 

-There is a huge diversity among readers; it truly is a Nation.  From all over the country, from all over the globe.  It's almost a perfect bell curve representing the sport of eventing, at all levels.  Most riders are in the training/prelim area, but there are an equal number of readers competing at BN or Advanced... and plenty who don't even compete at all, but just enjoy following the sport.  It's awesome that one little website can mean something to so many people.

 

-The vast majority of those who responded are very pleased with the site as it is.  Event coverage was one of the most popular highlights, as well as rider profiles and interviews.  Many people said they enjoyed the diversity of the site; a place to get news and entertainment all in one place.  That is our goal, so we are proud to keep going in that direction.  We want to encourage readers to think and smile all at the same time. 

 

-There was a loud plea for Sunday Jog-Up to return.  I admit I loved doing it, but it consumed a massive amount of time and labor to produce it every week.  Jog-Up will be back, but perhaps on a monthly basis.

 

-Lots of love for Samantha's posts and wonderful photos.  However, many expressed concern that the high-volume media makes the site difficult to load.  We are aware of this, and working on solutions.  We may be structuring photo-loaded posts a bit differently, linking them to an additional page instead of on the home site.

 

-There were other technical suggestions for the site, which were very helpful.  We are looking into a major/minor site overhaul in the near future, to help the site run more smoothly and be easier to navigate.  We promise the bones of the site will stay intact -- everything you know and love will stay the same, but better.

 

-Grammar Police:  we hear you.  I'm doing my best to personally proofread each post before it is published.  Several commented that it's (<-- notice! Proper usage!) getting better, so I hope you will notice continued improvement.  However, I admit I don't get to read the nightly post until about 8am, so late-night induced errors may go uncorrected for a time.  We're all guilty of occasional typos, so we hope you will forgive us of our errors.  We will correct them as promptly as possible.

 

-And hats.  Lots of requests for more hats.  John is currently teaching the chinchillas the finer points of embroidery, so we hope to get the assembly line in full production soon.  Also, there is a rumor about EN shirts...when they become available you'll be the first to know!  

 

There were many other warm-fuzzy feelings and productive comments (more Canada!).  We greatly appreciate your kind words, and take all your suggestions and criticism to heart.  We want the site to be the best it can possibly be, and your guidance helps us get there.  In a few weeks, we'll have the total Census breakdown and road map to insanity. 

Thanks for reading, and Go Eventing!

 

 

 

 

Good day, my dear anonymous friends.  We here at Eventing Nation strive to bring you our very best in eventing news, views, and overall ridiculousness.  Please help us continue in the proper red-on-right direction to insanity by completing our brief Census.  Knowing our readers helps us feel better about ourselves provide better content for the site overall.  This exercise was quite informative last time, and it is great to see how the site has grown since then.  Remember when we could do this little gig in the comments section?  Now we have an extra special official Survey, to allow everyone to participate (including all your schizophrenic personalities, if you wish).  We know your time is valuable, but we'd really appreciate it if you'd take 10 seconds of your coffee/study/antique basket-weaving break to fill out our census.  I promise John won't send the FBI after you if you choose to skip it, but I can offer 10000 bonus EN karma points at your next event if you answer properly.

Thanks to all who participate!  Results will be compiled at the end of the month, and the poor chinchilla with horn-rimmed glasses and a pocket protector will receive an extra ration of scooby snacks if he gets the stats completed by Christmas.  Go Eventing.

As a quick Friday afternoon note, I'm very excited to welcome a new sponsor to Eventing Nation.  Kentucky Horsewear Products is a European brand that makes the very highest quality cross-country and show jumping boots on the market.  I have seen a few threads on the forums and we have even gotten a few emails from eventers in the United States asking how they could purchase the boots.  Purchasing Kentucky products in the US has been impossible--until now.  Thomas at Kentucky tells me that they plan to make the boots available at a variety of retailers soon, but for now they are only available for purchase in the US from Legacy Equestrian Outfitters.

[www.LegacyEquestrianOutfitters.com] 

Thomas sent me a couple of sample boots to try and from the moment I saw the eventing boots and show jumping boots I knew that our readers and more importantly their horses would love the Kentucky products.  Please help us to welcome Kentucky boots to the US and go eventing.

Round 3 is where things get exciting, photo via Rennett Stowe

Nine EN blogger candidates are moving onto the penultimate round of our EN blogger contest.  Yesterday we published the successful round 2 posts from Leslie, Lacy, Chesna, and Elyse, and today we will publish the other 5 successful posts.  The candidates don't have any time to rest on their laurels because the deadline for the next round of submissions is looming early next week, when we will cut the field of contestants in half.  It's a survival game and everyone is going to have to step their game up if they want to move on to the final round.  For the the next round we have asked everyone to write about their most embarrassing moment with horses.  This will dovetail nicely with a series of posts ESJ is putting together for next week, so stay tuned.  For now, here are the rest of the contestants' round two entries, where they responded to a prompt about the most important development in eventing over the past 10 years.  Without further ado, and again in no particular order:

Amy Goodusky:

Bio: I'm not an eventer; I just play one on EN! Actually, I am a Connecticut lawyer who rides and writes every day to make sure I don't take life too seriously.

Entry: The most important development in eventing over the last ten years is the addition of the Beginner Novice division to recognized competitions. I am probably wrong about the dates, and this momentous development occurred more than ten years ago; but if certain politicians can get away with revisionist history (uh, wasn't Paul Revere really the first eventer?) I can, too. Even if I am talking completely out of my riding helmet, (the words "riding helmet" replaced the phrase "a bodily cavity which shall remain unmentioned") the creation of the division which one of my former trainers condescendingly refers to as "baby novice" is of tremendous value because, in my narcissistic and monomaniacal view, it opened the doors of competition to people like me.

This begs the question: who the %^^$$#% are you? Okay, you asked. I am a rider. I had one summer of Pony Club which hooked me on eventing forty years ago. Since then, lack of funds, time, skill, competent training and all of the attendant misfortunes of horse ownership, lessorship, rental, bailment, and borrowing kept me from getting to an actual event. I dreamed about it, though, and once I thought I was ready, I was confronted by one choice of division: Novice. This was daunting.

Consider this: two feet nine inches of solid fence looks to some of us, especially when it is hurtling toward us in the lurching fashion depicted by a helmet cam on a backyard horse of uncertain description, breeding and temperament, like five feet eleven inches. The idea of going over, say, fifteen of these fences in sequence was an effective deterrent from entering an event recognized by any legitimate organization, governing body or international cabal. Other similarly situated feeble but determined riders out there, I know, would rather spend a sunny Sunday cleaning their bathroom bowls than debut at Novice level, and thus devoted themselves to carrying the camera and the manure fork for those less severely affected.

Beginner novice made it possible for us to start somewhere. Two three is manageable. I could avoid vomiting green bile all over my nice new breeches. It is a gentle introduction to the rigors of combining three disciplines in one day, allowing riders to taste a thrill whilst dispensing with some of the agony. It gave me, as a friend says, "access to excess." That excess whetted my appetite for more. It got me going and kept me there. This was the kind of riding I wanted to do in real life, wearing grown up clothes. The promulgation and promotion of the Beginner Novice division has wooed a few hunter jumper types and attracted others to the discipline who would otherwise have stayed home cleaning tack.

As a division, Beginner Novice assures the future of eventing in two ways. It's the place for children to start, in a manner that any parent would cheerfully endorse. Those children will grow up to be the Boyd Martins and Sinead Halpins of their generation. More people will compete and be turned on by the sport. Then there's the other end of the spectrum: older riders, who are finally at a point in their lives where owning a horse doesn't mean having to eat generic macaroni and cheese to afford board and training. They are competing, too, and having a good time doing it. Their participation keeps eventing going every bit as effectively as the professional riders flying off to Burghley. The Beginner Novice Division is an invitation issued to riders of all stripes. It's one I'm delighted to accept.

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Dana:

Bio: My name is Dana and I enjoy entering contests, eventing, humor and happy hour. Not necessarily in that order.

Entry:  Frangible pins, long versus short format, elimination if you fall off..... important topics but I'd rather write about people.  One who got me started in eventing and one who keeps me going.
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Jessica Keating:

Bio: My name is Jessica Keating - I'm a 28 year old living, working and riding in the DC metropolitan area. I am currently unsuccessfully competing Training, but have high hopes for a number vs. a letter score here in my immediate future.

Entry: The Internets: a Love Story

Ten years ago I was aimlessly riding my chestnut TB mare - or more accurately - riding on eggshells, trying not to get in her way and addressing multiple abscesses. I had no real concept of eventing, and certainly no firsthand experience of the culture and community that goes along with it. It is difficult for me to pinpoint a development that has been important in the last decade of eventing because I just don't know - and if stalking the chronicle forums has taught me anything, it's that if you don't know...don't pretend otherwise. Three years in, I am starting to get a feel for the rhythm and reason of eventing, and it is due - in large part - to the extensive online community that is available to me. I do not know what it was like before (in the olden days), but I imagine you had to buy the whinny widgets for your dressage tests, ask your trainer or friends how a particular event ran, talk to people on the phone and in general wander about hoping that information would filter its way to you organically. Not that those aren't all wonderful things, but we just have so many additional options now. Options that might come in handy if you happen to forget an event closes until 15 minutes before the online entry expires and have to register online through your Smartphone. Not that I have ever done that. Hypotheticals.

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Right at this second I could post a thread on the Chronicle Forums and reach 91 people who are somehow connected to eventing and may have advice or experience that could help me. 91 people who have probably evented longer, stronger and tougher than me who can either point me in the right direction, or maybe help me avoid the potholes that they barreled into when they were starting out. I can visit the blogs and websites of other riders, enthusiasts, product providers and fans to supplement the information I obtain through: eavesdropping, gossiping, reading magazines and repeatedly tapping my forward to my horses in the hopes that osmosis will make me a better rider. On the United States Eventing website I can access an online omnibus showing me listed events in my area as well as links to register electronically. There are live scoring platforms - a double edged sword, when you want your results to be hidden, but a definite bonus when you are sitting outside an Italian restaurant in Poughkeepsie, NY waiting to see how your horse did at the event you had to miss. Many events are allowing you to register electronically (credit card, yes!), view your times and entry status online and overall aid in simplifying and streamlining a process, which I can imagine may have been laborious a decade ago. I can even direct my little web browser over to YouTube and watch a helmet cam video of a training rider at Waredaca last weekend and see the approach I SHOULD have taken to the half coffin. Also, why doesn't that rider sound as tired as I felt? But I digress.

The availability of easy, online resources for eventing is something that I do understand, appreciate and support. Anything that allows me to wait until the last minute, do extensive research while sitting on my rear and facilitates my obsessive compulsion with online product reviews is worth writing about after all.

Disclaimer: Jessica Keating lives with a man who reconfigures routers for fun; internet pandering completely unsolicited.

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Becca Gershowitz:

Bio: Okay, the two sentences that I came up with to describe me: Little pony. Big pasture.

Entry: Eventing Exposed!

Eventing is definitely a sport that has gone through many changes over the years. It's hard to pick what is the most important or what has had the biggest impact on our sport. Between safety measures, the transition from long to short format, and the increasing popularity of one-day horse trials among other things, our sport has transformed greatly from what it was a decade ago.

One of the things that strikes me the most is how accessible and exposed eventing has become due simply to technology, social media, and online access. For example, the entire show process has been streamlined! Well, not the actual showing itself, but the paperwork part at least! It really wasn't that long ago that we were sent copies of the USEA Omnibus throughout the year and selected our shows from there. Now, it's as easy as hopping on the computer or grabbing a smartphone to plan out the season. And once plans are made, you can enter and pay online- either through the USEA's XEntry service or evententries.com for example! No paper, no stamps, no worrying if your entry was lost in the mail and will make it in on time- much more "green" and efficient now! While getting ready for the show, you can use your handy-dandy smartphone app to learn your dressage tests instead of having to refer to a book or print out a test. And, as the show gets closer, you can check the venue's website to see the posted ride times- not only to plan your day with your mounts, but also to plan to watch other riders go throughout the day. So, if your favorite upper level rider is competing, you can plan your time to be able to watch their rounds and learn from the best! And, once your show day is over, you often find that the scores are posted online before they make it to the scoreboard on show grounds! And no more waiting for the next issue of USEA magazine to see how everyone has done in Florida or Aiken over the winter: it's all online for your viewing pleasure. Ahh, nothing like a little instant gratification.

Even beyond the horse show aspect of it all, technology has allowed for greater rider exposure. What professional rider do you know that doesn't have his or her own blog for us to pour over every time they post something new? YouTube gives us unlimited supply of videos- both traditional videos and the increasingly popular helmet-cams that we all love! Facebook allows us to have even more of a connection with our favorite riders, and Twitter lets us follow any updates they give in real-time. Posters, pictures and videos are great, but having more of a "relationship" with our favorite riders- being able to follow their regular activities, share in their victories or pitch in when things get rough . . . that accessibility really seems to bring eventers together and make for a more tight-knit group of riders. There are tons of different online magazines, blogs, and bulletin boards to keep up with all of the latest news, events and gossip about riders and competitions all over the world. We have live streams of major events as they're happening and tons of archives to access at any time. So, even when we're not in the saddle or at a show, we can be surrounded by eventing any time we want!

As awesome as the technology is, nothing beats the real thing, so get out there and Go Eventing!

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Karen McCollom:

Bio: I live in a constant state of suppressed road-rage , I think Eddie Izzard should be the Emperor of the World, and I am easily delighted by just about anything: beautiful countryside, rice pudding, my one-year-old grandson discovering his own nostrils at the dinner table . I color my hair but rarely brush it, pay little attention to what I'm wearing, much to the entertainment of friends and family, I read incessantly, am a little lazy, though somehow fairly fit, I hate to cook, I love dogs, all dogs, any dogs, but am fiercely addicted to horses in a demented sort of a way.

Entry: A couple of weeks ago, I was warming up my mare for her dressage at the UNH horse trials. As I dragged my gaze away from the back of her neck, I was suddenly struck by the quality of the horses around me. These were the usual motley crew of lower level horses : fancy young horses on the way up, old schoolmasters , steady draft crosses, or feisty little Morgans. What was striking was how well and correctly they were all working.

Years ago, if you happened to be the one who managed to keep your horse's head down that day, you could win. Now, I noticed, with some worry, that everyone seemed to know what they were doing. The horses had rhythm, lightness and engagement. Where were the horses who stuck their noses out one end and their hocks out the other and propped around the ring? When did everyone learn to ride and train their horses so well?

Later, while walking my cross-country course, I was impressed again by the consistent rhythm and easy adjustability of these same horses as they galloped by. What has happened to the old scenes of horses fighting for their heads, racing along frighteningly on their forehands? What has been going on out here while I was apparently not paying attention?

On the drive home, I came to a startling conclusion: the trickle down effect of the short format. As one whose small moment of upper level international competition was strictly long format , including Rolex and the now gone but fabulous Checkmate in Canada, I will mourn the loss of the long format forever. However, my observations at UNH gave me food for thought.

When the long format died its long and convoluted death between 2000 and 2005, the new short format had only just begun its evolution. In the first few years, there were worries and squabbles; about fitness and warm up routines, about the possible demise of the thoroughbred sporthorse, about cross-country becoming an afterthought in the shadow of the more demanding dressage and showjumping phases. The courses were awkward - clusters of complicated technical combinations were connected by sprints like some sort of high speed treasure hunt. This new version of our sport was undergoing growing pains and an identity crisis.

Now, in 2011, the sport has aged out of this awkward phase and has become a more graceful and predictable beast. The courses are more fluid yet still testing, requiring the same speed, and boldness as the long format courses, but also tremendous maneuverability. Thoroughbred or part-bred, the horses must be superbly trained for these more complex tests. Whatever our opinions, the short format with its somewhat different requirements has created more technically proficient upper level riders.

Through observation and lessons, the lower level riders are exposed to this quality of riding. The expectations and goals of these lower level riders have been changed as a result. Improved dressage means more adjustability for jumping at all levels. Excellence is not only a possibility now at the lower levels, it is a requirement, whether the rider is happy staying forever at beginner novice or is on the way up through the levels.

By the end of my drive home from UNH, I found myself reluctantly deciding that the coming of age of the short format, rather than simply causing the feared "dumbing down" of eventing, has, among its many effects, actually improved the quality of our riding at all the levels and thus our sport. Now if I can only keep up.
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The only easy day was yesterday.  Go eventing.

The secret glamorous life of an EN blogger

After hours of meticulous scoring, counts, recounts that would do Florida proud, and maybe even a few hanging chads, 9 would be EN bloggers are moving onto round three of the EN blogger contest.  Four EN writers and all of the chinchillas contributed to the judging for this round and I read all of the entries once before and once after reading their reviews.  It was incredibly difficult having to write emails to the finalists who were eliminated in this round and, as I honestly told them, all of the round two submissions were better than anything I could have written for my second ever EN submission.  This is the first half of the 9 round two survivors.  We asked the contestants to include two short sentences about themselves along with their submission about the most important development in eventing over the past 10 years.  There are just two more rounds left before we pick the next member of the EN Team, and I will post much more on that along with the final half of the round two submissions tomorrow.

Take it away guys, in no particular order:

Leslie Wylie:

Bio: Leslie Wylie was a newspaper editor until she quit her respectable, well-paying job to become an impoverished horse professional. She's been eventing for 20 years and is currently pursuing her lifelong dream of interviewing Boyd Martin in his underpants.

Entry: The past decade of eventing has been a crazy roller coaster ride, no doubt. But whether we were laughing or screaming or getting puked on by the person beside us, we were all in it together thanks to the Internet. From blogs and MyTwitFace to COTH forums and a ridiculous website called EN, the mainstreaming of the web has changed the way we talk, think and participate in the sport.

Remember life before eventing "in the cloud"? A little over a decade ago, I was a working student for Julie Richards as she prepared to compete in the 2000 Olympic Games. We finally got horse and rider shipped off to Sydney and then... crickets. For weeks, crickets. NBC obviously considered synchronized swimming coverage to be WAY more important than eventing, and my web-surfing abilities were limited to checking email and downloading '80s hair metal from Napster. So here I've gotten to know this horse down to his favorite corner of the stall to take a crap in, but I have no way of knowing how he's doing in the Olympic Games. (Julie's mom eventually called to say they placed ninth individually--no big deal!)

These days you can watch the action as it unfolds, be it cross-country day at Rolex or a keynote speaker's address at the Annual Convention. Even at small-fry events, a smart-phone saves you from having to leave the beer cooler to go check your score. I'm looking forward to the day when we don't even have to walk our cross-country course. There will just be pictures of every jump online, maybe accompanied by an interview from a top rider on how he or she is going to ride the fence. Wait, EN already does that? Never mind.

But real-time event coverage is but a single grass tip in the giant stud kit that is the Internet. The web has changed the way we do business, from buying and selling horses to sharing information and swapping opinions. Before the Internet we even had to, like, go to the post office to mail show entries and stuff.

The web makes every aspect of our sport more accessible. Blogs by top riders provide a glimpse into the less-than-glamorous process of making a superstar event horse, which helps bridge the gap between the upper and lower levels. It's like, if all we ever saw Hannah Montana do was coast around four-stars, we'd probably want to grab that shiny blond ponytail and yank her off her horse. But if we read about Miley getting up at 4 a.m. to muck stalls and her horse is lame and everything is falling apart but she keeps fighting then it's like, OK, this is someone I want to cheer for.

Of course, eventing is not always the magic kingdom we'd like it to be. We've experienced some dark nights of the soul over the past decade, moments that have forced us to ask hard questions about ourselves and the future of the sport. Through it all, the web has played a major role in helping us sort out our differences via a combination of diplomacy and virtual hair-pulling. Innovations in safety and policy have emerged thanks in large part to a silent ruckus raised online. We don't always get our way, but at least the Internet gives us the feeling that we all have a hand in molding the sport into the shape we want it to be.

It's a shame we missed our opportunity to put a helmet cam on Murphy Himself, but it's exciting to imagine what the next decade of cyber-eventing holds. Now close your laptop and Go Eventing.

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Lacy Cotton:

Bio: Lacy Cotton is a 27 year old Prelim level Eventer who has been involved in equestrian sports her entire life (and yet still manages to remain completely horse crazy!). She competes in Area Five with her off-track Thoroughbred gelding named Prophet, and considers eventing to be her second home, a place of sincere friendships and of hard-won accomplishments.

Entry: Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn

Over the years, there has been an innumerable amount of changes made to the sport of eventing, some more memorable than others. I'd like to focus on one that has managed to span the decade and remains extremely relevant today. That change is the Instructor Certification Program offered by USEA.

Originally developed in 2002, the ICP seeks to educate and promote a network of capable, effective, and (most importantly) safe riding instructors spanning all levels of eventing. The program includes workshops, mentorships, and assessments that prepare candidates for levels of certification ranging from I to IV. It's a veritable Shangri-La of proven riding techniques, drawn from the assembled hivemind of the most successful riders our sport has ever known, and it's only grown in the nine years since its conception. The current all-star ICP faculty includes Karen and David O'Connor, Mark Phillips, and Darren Chiacchia - just to name a few! And while that's all very impressive, the most amazing aspect of the ICP process is the quality instructors it produces by sharing time-tested concepts for teaching and competing.

Login to the USEA website and look at the directory of available certified teachers found there, all able to verify their experience at any given level and in every phase of our sport. How great is it that we have such an amazing resource?! It doesn't matter whether you're a newbie showing GAG on an overweight 22-year old pony or an advanced level competitor on a $90K Irish Sporthorse with Olympic dreams. There is a certified instructor out there who is a perfect fit for your aspirations! (And wow, I've made the USEA website sound like a online dating service. eHarmony for Horseriding!)

With ICP, inexperienced eventers can feel assured that they will never have to "roll the proverbial dice" when choosing an instructor. It wasn't so long ago that trying out new trainers was a painful trial and error process, wherein the unsuspecting rider followed instruction with vague hopes that this person wasn't leading them down the road to ruin. You all know what I'm talking about. We are, admittedly, all crazy horse people... but some of us are just crazier than others. Within five years of its birth, the ICP produced 96 certified instructors, and now numbers well into the two hundreds. Each area can proudly claim ten or more certified trainers as resources for developing strong, successful competitors.

I have always been a believer that knowledge is perhaps the greatest powers a rider can wield in eventing. The ICP process has proven itself to be one of the most successful ways to spread that host of valuable knowledge from eventing champions, to trainers, to aspiring students. It takes into account new technology and regulations within the sport, incorporating relevant information into an already solid foundation. And you don't even have to be an ICP candidate to benefit from the program! Workshops are open to auditors and (even better) invite riders to participate as the student body the candidates must practice teaching. There is no limit to what you could learn, no matter what your goal!

Ok... Slow your roll, Lacy. I'm starting to sound like a spokesperson for the ICP.

Perhaps the Instructor Certification Program isn't perfect, but its continued growth and adaptation is incredibly promising. I find myself more excited over what the future might bring for this system, how much more we might learn through it. And if I am ever accomplished enough to pursue a certification through ICP, I know it'll be a rewarding experience that will stay with me throughout my career in the sport.

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Chesna Klimek:

Bio: Hi EN! I'm Chesna, a psychology grad student and horse junkie who hails from the Pacific Northwest (Area VII). I dabble in most anything equine, but carry a special kind of love for eventing, ponies, and long rides on the beach.

Entry: The long and the short of it "What's the most important eventing development in the past ten years?" I can't help but wonder, is this a trick question? Did EN intentionally pick this so all 12 of us write about the same thing? Isn't there one particular development that stands high above the rest (that's not a reference to William Fox Pitt's stature). To risk pointing out the obvious... obviously the most important eventing development has been the shift from the long format to short format.

It's not every day an Olympic sport gets a major makeover... You don't hear about marathons getting shortened by 6 miles, for example. To some this may sound like an over-told history lesson, but traditionally phase two of eventing was a four part "endurance" day, not just the "cross-country" of today's short format. This transition didn't happen overnight, but history books--and wikipedia--will probably point to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece as the catalyst for the long-to-short format transition. The Olympic Committee took one look at our noble sport and bemoaned "too much space, too much cost, not enough popularity!" In an effort to keep eventing on the Olympic roster, the short format was born--a brainchild of the FEI (if applicable, insert FEI joke of choice here).

Many of the younger generation, myself included, might not have had the chance to experience a long format event. In a nutshell, phase two under the long format had four parts:

A: Roads and Tracks - Think of this as your warmup at medium speed--a time to psych yourself up (or down!) and get the blood flowing without any solid objects in your way.

B: Steeplechase - Like a scene right out of National Velvet! Well, minus the stampeding herd of horses. But still, this was a fast-paced assault on gallop-friendly steeplechase jumps.

C: Roads and Tracks - Here pairs took advantage of a cool down trot leading up to a 10 minute vet box... A moment to make sure you were rubber side down and still breathing!

D: Cross Country - This is the same hair-raising adrenaline rush that keeps all of us coming back to the sport--but not quite as we know it today under the short format. Courses tended to feature more galloping fences and less technical stadium-esque combos.

The moral of the long format is that you and your horse had to be fit, and there was no way around it. You can take a peek at the old Burghley videos EN recently posted to see the differences between the long format and short formats. FYI, Burghley 2005 was the last four star event to offer the long format.

The shift to short format eventing has undoubtedly changed the face of our sport. It's influenced the way we train and condition our horses, and even what type of horses we compete (WB breeders rejoiced!). It impacted cross-country course design, more facilities are able to offer upper level events, and it set the stage for other important happenings, like a 14.2 hand pony making it around a **** in style and the creation of those someday-I-hope-I-can-afford inflatable air vests.

Of course, a change like this hasn't come without controversy. Even still we eventers like to hash it out on this topic, it's almost as heated as our national politics or sports team preferences. But no matter which side of the fence you fall on--or better yet, land on--I hope we can all agree that the transition from long to short format is the biggest eventing news of the decade.

Happy riding!

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Elyse Gonyo:

Bio: Elyse Gonyo is a 27-year-old eventer from northern Virginia who is currently horseless and living in Boulder, Colorado with her two dogs. She's excited about the possibility of blogging for Eventing Nation because it will mean she can finally tell people she's using her college degree.

Entry: This past summer, I spent several weeks volunteering at a beginner riding camp. My first week, since I was new, I was placed with the arts and crafts group for half of the day. Once the kids got started making their collages, I ended up looking through old issues of Practical Horseman circa 2000, having saved the eventing issue from their scissor-happy little hands. While many things remained the same (George Morris still thought eventers' "garb" was detracting from the natural beauty of the horse), one of the most surprising aspects was how positively quaint the advertising was. They were still mostly in black-and-white, for heaven's sake.

To be fair, horses in general, and eventing in particular, have always been a business. But over the past 10 years, we've truly started to look and act like one. 2001 and prior was a different sort of eventing - it was a time when the long format was still the norm, USEA was still called USCTA, Philip Dutton still rode for Australia, and there was no such thing as a half-coffin on a Novice level cross-country course. Back then, when my pony dumped me in front of a fence, it was at a nice, plain stone wall - not a hand-carved sea serpent sponsored by Bit of Britain.

It's now uncommon to see professional riders, events, and event series without multiple sponsorships. The United States Eventing Association's website currently lists 32 corporate sponsors (back in 2001, there were three), and other countries' eventing associations and teams are no different. Saddle pads, horse trailers, jumps and jump complexes, stadium arenas, and clothing are all fair game for equine corporate logos of some form or another. Events have followed suit, particularly the larger ones, and for good reason. No one who knows anything about eventing will ever say that there is anything inexpensive about this sport and "sponsorship" has always existed in some way, though primarily through ownership of top-level horses. While these corporate sponsors have allowed us to keep events going, supported our programs, and allowed us to expand our sport dramatically over the past 10 years, it has also changed the landscape of eventing forever.

Now, obviously the expansion of sponsorship isn't limited to eventing - one needs only go to any professional sporting event to see its prevalence. When done well, sponsorships provide a win-win between the corporations and the organization or event they support - the event gets necessary funding support, and the corporation receives exposure to an already-interested group of people attending the event. There are obviously some great examples of this (SmartPak and Bit of Britain) and some not-so-great examples (I still am not quite sure what Alltech does. Sorry, Alltech).

That said, eventing today has a very different look than it did 10 years ago. We're a little shinier, and a little less rough-and-ready than we used to be. A little more camera-ready. But, then, George Morris never approved of our attire anyway, so what exactly does a logo on our breeches change? Maybe nothing.

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Is this the most important development in eventing over the past 10 years?

We received over 50 entries to our EN Blogger Contest and after much debate and hard decisions, we have picked 12 finalists this afternoon.  Our goal was to have 10 finalists, but I just couldn't cut any more once we got down to 12.  The quality of the entries was incredibly high and I am deeply appreciative to all of the applicants for their support and desire to contribute to EN.  This is our first blogger contest, but certainly not the last, and I encouraged all of the contestants who didn't make the cut to send in their applications next time.  Visionaire served as the second judge in this round and we both read through every single entry at least once and many twice. 

For the next round of the contest, the finalists have been asked to write a post on something that has been important to the development of eventing over the past 10 years in their view.  These submissions will be posted on EN for your viewing pleasure.  This topic is a bit on the serious side, but we want them to keep it interesting and fun, and you can rest assured that the round after this will be guaranteed to have a healthy dose of ridiculousness.  In a few weeks we will have a new member of the EN Team so stay tuned.  Go eventing.

Photo via Jade Cooling

Raise your hand if you want a new EN series.  Annie, put your hand down.  Last week I mistakenly posted a photo taken and owned by the wonderful eventing photographer Amy Dragoo.  EN readers will remember that we wrote about Amy and her business as part of the True Prospect Farm recovery for donating a portion of her proceeds to the recovery.  Our policy on Eventing Nation is to never use photos by eventing photographers without their permission, and I simply screwed up.  This is especially dumb since we have thousands of fantastic rider photos from Samantha and tens of thousands of terrible photos from me in the EN archives.  Photographers own their work and it's not enough for us to correct mistakes and apologize once they are made, so we are revising our policy to be more proactive.

We love eventing photographers here on Eventing Nation.  We stand out in the scorching sun and sleeting rain together covering events and I'm glad to consider many of the east coast and national photographers friends.  Making a living as an eventing photographer is incredibly hard, and we have enjoyed promoting the websites and businesses of numerous photographers over the years.  As part of some cross-occupational love, we'd like to open that process to all professional and semi-professional eventing photographers in a way that will be fun and educational for all of us.  For once we'll try to use the reach of Eventing Nation to do something more than make fun of Coren.  So, here's the new series, and it is open to all professional and semi-professional photographers:

Fill out the short form below and please send it along with any other special requests with the subject line "Eventing Photographer Series" to annieyeageren@gmail.com.

1) Include the following in the email--

a) Your name:
b) The name of your business:
c) The geographical area where you generally photograph:
d) Years of experience as a photographer:
e) Why you decided to become a photographer:
f) A short funny/interesting/ridiculous story about an experience you have had while photographing at an event:
g) One piece of advice, whether technical or general for a developing photographer:
h) Links to your website, blog, Facebook, etc.:

2) Send either a .jpeg or a link to several of your photos that you would like to be featured and include a description of the photos.  To make sure that the photos are protected, they can be watermarked as much as you like and we will only publish them once and only in the post promoting your business.

The better the stories and photos, the more likely it is that we will publish your profile. 

Also, we get emails from time to time about readers wondering what photographers are at which events.  So, if you are selling photographs from an event and want us to include your website along with our score links, please just shoot us an email to eventingnation@gmail.com when the photos are posted.

Go eventing.