The Mainstream Cowboy?
Thursday, April 07 2011
There is an amazing video making its way throughout the interwebs. And no, I’m not talking about the %$@^&*# jumping cow from Germany, which has gone viral faster than you can say springreiten . I’d heard about “Buck”, a new documentary about the life of trainer Buck Brannaman, but until I saw the trailer yesterday, I hadn’t paid much attention to the fuss being made over it. Honestly, not until one magic word was attached to it: Mainstream. That’s right, mainstream. I live for the day when horse sports get their own “mainstream” TV channel, a lá Golf TV.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
End of Days.
Tuesday, April 05 2011
The sun is shining, the champion is here... Just one more reason that we all wish we were Laura Kraut….. above, Laura walks Cedric out of the ring after being awarded the Oliver O’Toole Perpetual Memorial Trophy during Saturday’s Parade of Champions on the second to last day of the 2011 Winter Equestrian Festival. Laura and Cedric were the top money winners over the 2011 WEF season. Who can guess how much they won? Anyone? Let’s see, they won three big classes this season: $75,000 Adequan CSI2* $150,000 FEI World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale CSI5* Grand Prix And placed in a slew of other classes.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Peters Sweeps Small Tour and Ebeling Prepares for World Cup at Festival of the Horse CDI-W/Y/J
Tuesday, April 05 2011
By Yellow Horse Marketing for Cornerstone Event Management Steffen Peters and "Weltino's Magic" sweep the small tour in Burbank. BURBANK, CA – In sunny California, the competition for a coveted spot on the U.S. and Canadian Pan American Games teams heated up during the Festival of the Horse CDI-W/Y/J, held March 31 – April 3, 2011 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank. Despite a large and talented group of international competitors, there was no stopping Steffen Peters with what the judges deemed his new “super horse”, “Weltino’s Magic”. Peters and Jen Hlavacek’s nine-year-old Westfalen gelding (Weltino x Diva by Diamond Boy) swept the small tour with impressive scores of 75.395% in the Prix St. Georges and 77.237% for the Intermediaire I, and debuted their new freestyle to a score of 79.417%. ”The first word that comes to mind is ‘fun’,” says Peters in describing the weekend’s rides. ”He’s really a pleasure to ride, so supple and forward now, it’s like that feeling that I get from Ravel.” On Peters’ heels throughout the competition were Guenter Seidel and “Sundayboy” (Dutch Warmblood gelding by Kennedy, owned by Richard and Jane Brown), who earned second-place finishes in both the Prix St
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
NBC Sports to Feature Live Telecast of Rolex Equestrian Championships Presented by Land Rover
Tuesday, April 05 2011
Lexington, KY – Mark your calendar, plan the party and get the big screen ready! For the first time in its history, the Rolex Equestrian Championships presented by Land Rover will air LIVE on NBC Sports, Sunday, May 1, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EDT. With the support of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and Equestrian Events, Inc., organizer of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone, NBC Sports will broadcast the final show jumping rounds LIVE, alongside taped highlights of the dressage and cross-country phases. One of the world’s most prestigious equestrian competitions and America’s only CCI4*, Rolex Kentucky returns to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, April 28-May 1. The event attracts tens of thousands of spectators and millions of viewers on telecasts worldwide. “Those final rounds during show jumping are full of suspense and excitement - you just never know when rails will fall,” said Lisa Ball, President of Equestrian Events, Inc
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
Riders4Helmets Campaign to be Promoted at IOC International Federations’ Medical Commission Meeting
Monday, April 04 2011
Lexington, KY (April 3rd, 2011)-US Equestrian Team Physician and Chair of the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) Medical Council, Craig Ferrell M.D, will be attending the International Olympic Committee International Federations’ Medical Commission Chairpersons Meeting in Monaco April 6, 2011. The meeting is for international sport federation national chairmen, and is sponsored by the IOC. Dr. Ferrell intends to provide updates during the meeting on the recent USEF helmet rule changes and progress of the riders4helmets campaign in educating equestrians on the benefits of wearing helmets. Dr Ferrell was the co-host of the Riders4Helmets Helmet Safety Symposium held January 8th, 2011 in Wellington, FL. “I think that one of the responsibilities of International Federation medical committees is to advocate for changes that make sports safer.
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
Their Moment to Shine.
Wednesday, March 30 2011
Semi well-behaved polo stallion. There’s never a dull moment in Wellington. Even though the show jumping season is winding down, polo season is still in full swing, with the U.S. Open brackets being fought out during most of April. And last night the 2nd Annual National Polo Pony Show was held over at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center, which normally hosts CDI dressage shows, and of course, the recent Masters. But with nary a dressage horse in sight, polo ponies had their night in the spotlight with this event, dreamed up by one of polo’s most talented female players, Sunny Hale
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Cream of the Crop.
Monday, March 28 2011
And the hooooome of the, braaaave...... Photo ©Kym Ketcham Because if a skydiver trailing an American flag hadn’t touched down in the International Arena just as Ki-Juan Minors sang the final, pitch perfect note of the National Anthem, the night would have seemed incomplete, somehow. Fortunately, that is how the 2011 WEF season’s finale class opened, and the 7,000 show jumping fans filling every available space in the International Arena (a sight that warms On the Line’s heart) were thoroughly impressed.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
If Louboutins Were Saddles, They Would Be Called Voltaire.
Thursday, March 24 2011
Va-Va-Voltaire! When was the last time a saddle was likened to Sex and the City, or designer shoes? I would venture to say, um, never ! Until now, that is. If you hang around horse shows, chances are you’ve already met Brice Goguet. The tall, 32-year-old Frenchman is on quite the mission to tell the world about his Voltaire saddles. With a prime vendor booth at WEF that is right on the path where all the warm ups intersect, Voltaire has been impossible to miss all season
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Notes From a Polo Staycation.
Tuesday, March 22 2011
Photo ©David Lominska My fondness for polo has been well documented, and for me, going to watch a game on a Sunday afternoon is a little like a stay-cation. After spending the week immersed in the horse show world, even the most dedicated show jumping fan/reporter/industry buff (which happens to sum up On the Line perfectly) needs a break from that scene.
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs