We take a look back at some of the highs and lows, best interviews, event highlights and top training tips of 2015 from the world of international eventing, month by month, in our series of articles. Click on the highlighted text to take you to any of the articles mentioned to read in full
We kicked off the year talking to Sam Griffiths' Head Girl - the very lovely Imogen Mercer
Interviews
“2014 was a whirlwind year – we’ve been all over the place” said Imogen Mercer when we caught up with her as she holidayed in Australia after a year that had seen a Badminton win for her boss Sam Griffiths. The 22 year old who went to work for Sam, supposedly only during her gap year, is now one of the top eventing grooms in the world and she told us more about what life as the Griffiths Eventing Team Head Girl is all about
We also talked to Tim Boland about his overseas campaign in 2014 and the team of horses he has ready for 2015, including the great GV Billy Elliot, the ‘proper event horse’ Napoleon and the well bred Wild Duchess and find out why Lord Limmerick is back with Oliver Townend
In New Zealand we had to find out how did Lydia Beales, a girl from West Yorkshire, end up grooming for a New Zealander at some of the biggest events in the world? A bit of luck and a lot of passion it seems and while over the Tasman we also caught up with Kiwi Olympic rider Joe Meyer and his wife Ruthie to find out more about what they are up to at their home base in Ocala, Florida. Although the focus may be on producing and selling talented young eventing horses, Joe still manages to hang on to a few for himself
Closer to home we had two burning questions for Olympic medallist Sonja Johnson; what are her tips for leaving the starter box and how has the sport of eventing become so strong in Western Australia? This is what she said .....
Vet matters
Equine vet Christopher Elliott joined our team of bloggers and writers in January and his first articles explained the veterinary Pre Purchase Exam. This series of articles is a ‘must read’ for anyone looking to purchase a horse you will have a better understanding of the “vetting” process and be better prepared to make more informed decisions about your potential purchase
On the technology front, we finally found an app that is useful! This device that we saw used at a local event, combined with a downloadable app, provides a mobile and wireless veterinary heart monitor that can produce ECGs in the palm of your vet’s hand via an iPhone
Emily King had a great season with Brookleigh in 2015 and added another Australian horse to her stable
News and happenings
The start of the year often brings a few re-shuffles and the young British rider Emily King, who was to have a very successful year, added Australian horse to her stable – Loxley while Andrew Hoy took over the reins on the popular little Australian eventing horse Algebra, previously ridden by Natalie Blundell
There were a couple of coaching announcements too; the Belgian eventing team, previously coached by Captain Mark Phillips, was now to be led by Marc Rigouts and America’s Karen O'Connor was appointed the new Coach of the Mexican Eventing Team
Equestrian Sports New Zealand appointed Sarah Dalziell, a lawyer and eventing rider, as their new high performance director while in the on-going Andrew Nicholson saga ESNZ Chair Chris Hodson hoped that Andrew Nicholson will be back on the High Performance squad in the near future (still not looking likely) and explained why Andrew could not ride for another country at Rio 2016
Despite some rumblings in the ranks for Team New Zealand, their riders were still having great success with Jonelle Price going into 2015 as the top ranked female rider in the number two spot overall. However it was Britain’s William Fox-Pitt who finished the year on top of the FEI Eventing World Rankings and there were a few meteoric rises further down the leader board with late season placings in the southern hemisphere
The top 50 saw seven New Zealand riders, 10 British riders, nine Australian riders, six German riders, eight USA, three French, two Belgian, one Canadian, two Dutch and two Irish riders
Britain farewelled one of its heroes of the sport when Richard Meade OBE, the triple Olympic gold medallist and father of eventing rider Harry, died at the age of 76. Having been diagnosed with cancer in October, he sadly died soon after Christmas
Events
Of course, it was pretty quiet on the competition front with everyone too hot in the southern hemisphere, everyone too cold in the northern hemisphere and many people baring their bronzed toes in beach selfies on Twitter and Facebook as the holiday season continued
Plenty of pink and palominos at Cockatoo Jump Trials in Victoria, Australia
We did manage to make it to one small event and it is always a tonic to visit local events where the grass roots riders of all ages have great fun. Dispense with the dressage and you get a day of great fun cross country and show jumping at the Cockatoo Jump Trials held on Little Wandin where ditches were definitely the downfall of many!
However there was an announcement regarding one of Australia’s biggest (and one of the world’s oldest) events when Equestrian Victoria advising that they would be taking back the running of the Melbourne International 3 Day Event in 2015 from the private company Nodding Horse
John and Jane Pittard's Pluto Mio, ridden by Stuart Tinney, won our Horse of the Year accolade for 2014
To finish off the end of the month we celebrated Australia Day with our own eventing accolades. We looked at who or what really made Australian eventing stand out in 2014 and handed out a few accolades of our own on Australia Day
Makayla Wood Photo courtesy Redfoto
Top blog
Makayla Wood had a five month hiatus from blogging but started the year with a bang producing the most read blog of January 2015
Top photo gallery
As the only event of the month, the Cockatoo Jump Trials stole the show as the top hit photo gallery of January!
