The 2014 eventing year review – April

We take a look back at some of the highs and lows, best interviews, event highlights and top training tips of 2014 from the world of international eventing, month by month, in our series of articles. Click on any highlighted text to take you to any of the articles mentioned to read in full

April began with some sad news as the eventing world lost three horses. Lucinda Fredericks farewelled Headley Britannia, the little mare that was one of only two horses to have won three of the top four-star events (Badminton, Burghley, and Kentucky Rolex), and is possibly the best ever eventing mare in history. Only days later two horses died at The Fork Horse Trials in North Carolina, USA. Conair ridden by Will Coleman and Powderhound owned and ridden by Andrew McConnon, both collapsed and died on different days of the event.

Grooms were also in eventing news with a survey in UK discovering that a large number of grooms are being paid £2 below the current national minimum wage and we took a look at the report

Interviews

In our interviews we caught up with Fiona Gruen. Fiona has been involved with horses throughout her life but these days she combines her love of horses with another important role when it comes to eventing – that of ‘Person in charge of Media’ at Canberra Horse Trials and New Zealand eventer Lizzie Brown told us how she was preparing for a big year ahead by improving her fitness, helped by a man usually associated with horsepower of a different kind - racing car star Mark Webber

Libby Law caught up with another Kiwi star, Jock Paget, for a video interview to talk about his coaching in NZ and UK, how he was managing to stay positive in the situation he found himself and where he draws inspiration from in his own riding and at Albury International Horse Trials Alison Duthie found out more about the unusual big horse, Linbil White Russian, that caught her eye in the CIC*

Events

Albury International 3 Day Event was just one of many events we covered in April and with wins in the CIC3*, CIC2* and CIC* Shane Rose had to admit it had been quite a good weekend! Shane was very philosophical about having three rails down with Taurus in the Crowe Horwath CIC3* saying “he actually jumped quite well, but he got a scare when a bird flew out as I came up to one fence and I then rode him on a bit too strongly … never mind. The one I want to win is in a few weeks time (Sydney 3DE) so I’m not too worried about this weekend.”

Ironically Shane didn’t have to worry about Taurus not winning that weekend because he ended up taking home winners rugs for the all the international classes. In the CIC3* his home bred Shanghai Joe produced the goods winning the class nearly 11 marks ahead of stable mate Taurus. “This little horse is really starting to come on,” said Shane of Shanghai Joe. “He’s getting stronger all the time and just answers the questions I ask him.”

Other Australian events covered were Yeringberg Horse Trials, where the 'oh so scary' ditch caused grief for a number of riders at Yeringberg Horse Trials but not the CNC 1* winner Will Enzinger, Quirindi and Camperdown where a blonde moment on the show jumping course for Amanda Ross meant that Nat Davies and El Grado clinched the 3* win at Camperdown CIC over Easter

The Quirindi district has an extensive eventing history, with the first event in the region held at Bundella in 1958, and supported by riders such as Bud and Bill Hyem, Brien Cobcroft and Neal Lavis. Since the 1980s, Quirindi Pony Club has conducted events at the present site and in 2006 the course underwent a significant upgrade enabling the first EA events to run shortly thereafter. These days, Quirindi is well known for its well built and inviting cross country courses, covering all levels from EvA45 up to CNC**

The inaugural Racing Victoria Triequithon at Mornington Racecourse proved a winner for Wendy Whiting, a well-known and popular rider on the Victorian eventing scene who was delighted with her first ever win on her off the track thoroughbred, Ripley Lodge Gator. 50 year old Wendy only made it into the event due to a scratching but she and Gator walked away with the top prize money of $5,000.

Did the new Triequithon concept work? We found out what the riders, organisers and even horses thought of the new eventing format when we talked to two of the most experienced riders of the group, Kate Beadel and Nat Davies, and caught up with Cara Kavanagh from Racing Victoria who explained how the whole thing had been conceived and put together.

In New Zealand only six of the 11 starters in the Kihikihi CIC3* finished John Nicholson's tough course but Clarke Johnstone and his new ride Balmoral Sensation jumped into the lead. Clarke had three rails in hand going in to the show jumping but didn’t need them, winning in style with a clear round on a score of 62.6, well ahead of Kelsey Rothery riding The Felon. Another trophy won by Clarke was The Bounce Trophy; Bounce, a horse that had huge success internationally with New Zealand Olympian and world champion Vaughn Jefferis, died in 2013 at the age of 31, but his spirit now lives on in the Trophy.

From New Zealand to the UK where our video crew headed to film the cross country at three popular Spring events where Emily Penney joined them at Belton International Horse Trials. Emily reported from the event where a touch of excitement could be felt in the air that can only be generated by the final few weeks leading up to Badminton.

With such a sensational selection of riders from across the globe, the final day of the Belton International Horse Trials was destined to be full of first class performances. The grounds were flooded with eager spectators who witnessed the best of the best battle their way around Captain Mark Phillips’ challenging course. The Lycetts Grantham Cup CIC*** was the top class of the event and the placings were still very much undecided as the final few riders left the starting box. However it was the Knight himself, Sir Mark Todd riding Leonidas II who skilfully negotiated the cross country course to win the Cup – you can watch their full cross country round here

Chris Burton and his new ride TS Jamaimo were the best placed Australian combination. Chris and Jamaimo, the CCI 4* winners at the Australian International 3 Day Event, added nothing to their dressage score of 44.10 to finish in fifth place and seemed to be cementing their relationship nicely after a little hiccup at the beginning of their season, as Chris explained

We then moved south to the South of England Horse Trials where Chris Burton had Something to Talk About (and we show it on video), Pippa Funnell told Tails and an eventing Lloyd Webber jazzed along (and almost off).This is a well run, really enjoyable event and we were delighted to make the acquaintance of the family that give that ‘friendly’ feel; Mum and son, Jenny and Tim Nolan run the event (‘everyone loves Jenny’) while daughter Pippa (better known as Pippa Funnell) competed and no doubt helped out as well.

There were no hot cross bunnies at the Burnham Market International Horse Trials on Good Friday – in fact it was pretty damn cold, but still a great day of eventing. The final day here brought our 2014 filming trip in the UK to an end and saw Badminton bound Oliver Townend on a roll in the CIC3*. A Thursday to Saturday competition may be unusual in Australia but at least it gave some eventers a chance to enjoy their Easter eggs in peace on Sunday.

In 2015 we will be filming the cross country at events in the UK throughout the year and we’re really looking forward to bringing you some more great footage! In the meantime you can view videos from Belton, Burnham Market and South of England 2014 here

On the major event front, Britain was the only team to have four cross country clear rounds helping them to secure Nations Cup victory in Ireland, narrowly beating the French at Ballendenisk and Libby Law was off and running at Rolex Kentucky for what was turning out to be a dramatic start to the season. Andrew Nicholson’s pathway to eventing’s biggest prize, the Rolex Grand Slam, was cleared just ahead of Rolex Kentucky following an important decision by the FEI Tribunal after an intervention by Jock Paget.

However at the end of the day, it wasn’t Andrew but his old rival William Fox-Pitt who won at Rolex Kentucky on Catherine Witt's Bay My Hero despite almost bottling out of the show jumping!

On the same weekend in Australia, Shane Rose took out the Sydney International Horse Trials CCI3* title for the second year in a row riding his own and Elizabeth Wischer’s CP Qualified. It was a win tinged with sadness as Shane Rose said goodbye to his groom of many years, Michelle Robson, at her last event with the team from Bimbadeen Park