Here’s the horse-world news you may have missed this week while watching the Rolex live feed.
- The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event! Okay, you wouldn’t have missed this because you were watching it, but in case you were doing something else this week, you should know that this is, in fact, Rolex week. North America’s only four-star event takes place just a few miles from Horse Illustrated Headquarters, so we always get excited about it around here. Check out our live coverage of both Rolex and it’s western friend, the Kentucky Reining Cup, at horseillustrated.com/Rolex2014. And find out more about that live feed here.
- The Grand Slam of Eventing. Rolex is one of three legs of the Grand Slam, and if last year’s winner Andrew Nicholson has a repeat victory, he’ll have two down and one to go. But that’s only because the winner of the 2013 Burghley Horse Trials, Nicholson’s countryman Jock Paget, was finally officially disqualified from that event because his horse tested positive for a banned substance. Why did it take seven months for that decision to come out? Who knows, but Nicholson had a lot of choice words on the topic. (Warning: strong language at that last link. It’s all censored, but the meaning is pretty clear, so be advised.)
- Kaley Cuoco. That girl can ride, it turns out. It’s no secret that the Big Bang Theory actress is an avid equestrian, but thanks to this collection of Instagram photos compiled by The Daily Mail, we learned this week that she’s not just posing up there in the saddle. Check out the video on her Instagram account.
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New York City carriage horses. Again. Nothing has really changed in that old battle, but carriage horses are the subject of an interesting cover for the April 28 issue of The New Yorker magazine. Check out the compilation of past equine covers over at newyorker.com. - Virginia Intermont College. VI has a long and successful history in the intercollegiate equestrian world. In fact, the school’s dressage team just won its most recent national championship this year. But due to serious financial troubles, all of VI’s athletic teams will be shut down at the end of the current school year, and it sounds like the school itself will follow. I honestly don’t know much about VI except that theirs was one of the names that constantly popped up back when I was an aspiring college equestrian back in the 90s, and its IHSA/IDA record speaks for itself. Sad to think it might no longer exist. According to VI Equine’s facebook page, the school’s horses have plenty of potential adopters. They may also transfer the entire equine program to a different school in the area.
- It’s a girl! The great Zenyatta foaled a beautiful, healthy filly just after midnight on Easter Sunday. It’s Z’s third foal and first filly. No name yet; she’s just 14Z for now. Congrats to Zenyatta and co.!
- The Boston Marathon. No, no horses ran the big (human) race, which took place on Monday, but one horse named in honor of Bostonians will be in next weekend’s Derby. Wicked Strong was given his name after last year’s Boston Marathon attacks. (Boston Strong, the popular slogan/hashtag, was already taken.) Wicked Strong’s owner, Don Little Jr. of Centennial Farms, donates a percentage of the horse’s earnings to The One Fund Boston, a fund set up to assist victims of the 2013 attack and their families.
That’s it for this week. We’ll be at Rolex/Kentucky Reining all weekend, so be sure to visit horseillustrated.com/Rolex2014 and watch our Facebook page for exclusive news and photos.
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