The Near Side: This Week in Horses – August 28, 2015

Hello and happy Friday, everyone! Here’s what’s been happening in the horse world this week.

• My favorite story of the week? This profile of a 75-year-old dressage rider. We’ve talked about the very awesome Century Club here on HorseChannel before. Not only is Elizabeth C. Gathright a member, but she’s also a veteran polo player and an expert marksman. Basically, you want her to be on your team.
• The Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration is underway this week, which means the protests against it—or more specifically, the “Big Lick” way of going seen in the most popular classes there—are underway, too.
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• A less-controversial show is wrapping up this weekend. The Hampton Classic, a heritage competition where upper class New Yorkers go to see and be seen (or so I’m told) runs through Sunday. You can see without being seen by tuning in to the free live stream.
• This horrific story of three horses left neglected for years in Maryland has been all over the place this week, due in no small part to the shocking video footage of one horse’s three-foot-long hooves. One horse had to be euthanized, but the other two are being nursed back to health at Day’s End Farm Horse Rescue.
BREAKING NEWS: Worst case of hoof neglect DEFHR, Vet and Farrier have ever seen! Horses had over 3 foot long overgrown…

Posted by Days End Farm Horse Rescue on Friday, August 21, 2015

• More controversy, this time as the result of a member of the jump crew in Aachen who accidentally got in the way of Irish rider Cian O’Connor. The crew member jumped out of the way, but O’Connor claims it threw off his line, causing him to drop a rail at the following fence. This wouldn’t be such a huge deal, except that the rail was enough to cause Ireland’s show jumping team to lose a spot in the 2016 Olympics. Wow.
The moment in question occurs around the 0:10 mark.

• Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide, now a resident of the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions, is taking some time to greet fans in Saratoga. He made the trip to New York with none other than American Pharoah’s bestie, Smokey the Pony.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

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Leslie Potter is Sr. Associate Web Editor of horseillustrated.com. Follow her on Twitter: @LeslieInLex.