Badminton Gallops Into Its 60th Year

"Feet fail me not", originally uploaded by Jibbo.

Today was cross-county at the 60th Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials at the Duke of Beaufort's estate in Gloucestershire, west of London. And it didn't rain.

This wonderful photo of the World and European champion team of Zara Phillips and her Toytown by Jibbo really struck me. It's a great composition and captures them both well enough that we can see a lot of details, right down to the Flair-type nostril patch and that Zara has adopted the new super high-tech (and almost weightless) irons.

Yes, they look the part, but sadly had to retire shortly after this great photo was snapped. Thanks to Jibbo for sharing this photo, and let's hope Toytown and Zara have better luck next time.

The live webcast of Badminton today on the event's web site was excellent, and the best streaming I have seen. It even worked on my Mac! The showjumping starts Sunday morning (USA time) and we'll find out if Oli Townend holds onto his micro-lead over Lucy Wiegersma, William Fox-Pitt comes from behind or if the Dark Horse Italian first-timer Roberto Rotatori steals the show! Will they all make it through the vet check? Tune in at http://www.badminton-horse.co.uk for streaming scores, at least.

Maybe someone is Twittering from Badminton...(if so, let me know).

Are You My Mother? Surrogatehood Surges in Sport Horse Scene

Lucinda Fredericks (human on right) hopes to ride her mare Headley Britannia (center) in the Olympics this summer. The other two mares, Bear and Pippa, will be carrying the star event horse's foals, sired by French show jumper Jaguar Mail.

It was a wry chuckle heard round the horse world: On April 1, the venerable British horse sports weekly Horse and Hound stuck its tongue in its veddy Briddish cheek and announced that an exclusive new four-star three-day event would be held in England. What's the hitch? All entrants must prove that record-setting Badminton and Burghley winner Headley Britannia is their mother. April Fool!

Or was it?

In reality, both Headley Britannia and her semen-provider-by-courier, the top French show-jumping stallion Jaguar Mail, could both be competing in Hong Kong at the Olympics this summer, while their offspring are in utero back home in England, thanks to receiver mares. Their first foal was born to the surrogate dam this spring and is already being syndicated by Headley Brittania's owner, Australian team rider Lucinda Fredericks.

One can joke about the popularity of embryo transfer in performance horses, but the reality is that more and more owners of valuable mares--regardless of age--are opting to use their horses as cash cows while the market is strong for sport or performance horses of fashionable bloodlines.

Embryo transfer calls for the breeding of the mare, usually by artificial insemination, when she comes into her normal cycle. The developing embryo is then flushed from her uterus and implanted in a receiver or "surrogate" mare whose cycle coincides with the genetic mother's. The surrogate is often a less valuable horse who might not normally be reproducing. The genetic mother mare is back in training within a few weeks of the breeding and never suffers any of the risks or hardships of pregnancy or motherhood.

Embryo transfer can be done any number of times and there seems to be no limit to the embryos a mare can produce (hence the jokes about Headley Britannia), other than that only one embryo per cycle can be harvested.

The new technology means that mare owners can potentially receive some financial rewards from the mare, just as performance stallion owners harvest semen during a break from showing.

Embryo transfer in the USA took off in Texas and Oklahoma about ten years ago with the reining and cutting horse mares and now owners of show jumpers and dressage mares are lining up for the breeding stocks. Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, Florida recently acquired a reproduction-specialty facility in Aiken, South Carolina where 90 receiver mares are stabled and undergo the inbound transfer. The embryos travel by Federal Express from Wellington.

Mare owners can breed a young mare a couple of times a year, with potential for more than 15 years of multiple offspring without losing performance time. Mares as young as two may be bred.

There are ethical concerns, of course. In this age of unwanted horses and uncertain finances, do we really need to mushroom the foal crop of warmbloods? Should the ethical decision of "to breed or not to breed" be based on the perceived monetary value of a horse? Is it ok to keep flushing embryos out of an unsound mare if the owner happens to be able to acquire some semen from a fashionable European sire? Are mare owners shrinking the gene pool?

Many mares in training have been on hormones or Regumate-type steroid compounds to control their cycles, and now the trend is to revert to encouraging cycling again, when and if it is convenient, of course.

Many people opted out of breeding this year because they have believed the information fed to them that there is an over-population of horses in this country. Many people are opting for expensive surgery and special shoes and rehab programs for injured horses rather than engaging in the "throw away" economy of horse ownership in which trainers pressure owners to always have a number of horses in training for different divisions or of different ages.

There are no regulations on embryo transfer. If you think your mare is wonderful, and you can afford it, you can keep breeding her and keep flushing her, regardless of whether there is a potential market for her offspring.

The potential benefits of embryo transfer are huge for mares with good breeding value who should not or cannot task the risks of pregnancy or motherhood, particularly mares with laminitis, for whom full-term pregnancy can be painful or life-threatening.

Perhaps mare owners should go through ethical counseling before they make the decision to cash out their mares. Are they simply maximizing a cash investment or are they consciously breeding for the future of the American horse industry?

A demand has been created on the producer side and the veterinary profession is happy to oblige. Whether the demand exists on the buyer end of things remains to be seen. It's a matter of dollars and sense.

To learn more: Read an article in today's Palm Beach Post about the new embryo transfer services offered at Palm Beach Equine Clinic. The article includes a very good explanation of the process and how Palm Beach Equine is managing this new service.

Sport horse mares are better investments than ever, thanks to breeding technology. Palm Beach Post photo.

Colorful Badminton Dressage: A Real Gypsy Horse Goes for Glory

The sun shone on the Badminton Horse Trial in Gloucestershire, England on Thursday, the first of two days of dressage. Australian Clayton Fredericks is in the lead after the first day, but this horse caught my eye.

Here you see Olivia Haddow riding Patris Filius. If I remember my Latin, that means "Son of the Father". Olivia calls him "her naughty little coloured cob". The 15.1hh horse was sold by gypsies as a three-year-old at Abergavenny Market in South Wales. Now 14, he is said to be by a gypsy stallion and out of a "flapper" mare, which is a derogatory Brit dismissal for a low-end racehorse. Horse and Hound describes him as "clever coloured with the brain of a pony and the stride of a horse".

But look at the marking on that horse's hind end; it looks like an artist stroked him with a pen.

The front end looks like it enhances his movement, at least at the trot. I'd like to see this horse gallop!

Some gypsy horse breeder knew what he (or she) was doing!

Photo courtesy of Kit Houghton and Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

Royalty Rides On: Badminton Horse Trials Begin Today

How do you like my horse? Zara Phillips, grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth, presented her horse Wednesday to the veterinary inspection committee for clearance to ride in the 2008 Badminton Horse Trials in Gloucestershire, England. The first phase of the three-day, three-phase competition, the dressage test, begins today and will be televised (although not quite "live" except for cross-country on Saturday) on the Internet, thanks to HorseTV. Zara hopes to qualify for the British team for the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Games in Hong Kong this August. The horse is Ardfield Magic Star. He looks Irish. Photo by Kit Houghton, courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

International Eventing Kicks On Toward Badminton This Weekend in Wake of Rolex-Kentucky Tragedies

Jump, originally uploaded by billybofh.

If you are interested in the crisis level of human and horse fatalities in the sport of eventing lately, you might like to follow a few of these links for more information.

The US News and World Report blog by Bonnie Erbe has lots of interesting comments here.

A joint letter to the public from USEF President David O'Connor and US Eventing President Kevin Baumgardner was published today and can be read here.

Meanwhile, in England tonight the horse vans are rolling onto the Badminton estate in Gloucestershire where the horses will be going through the first vet check tomorrow for the world's greatest three-day event, the Badminton Horse Trials. Two horses died there last year.

I guess that's the way to keep score in eventing, of late.

Mares Win Top Places at Badminton--Embryo Transfer Next

Congratulations to Australian rider Lucinda Fredericks, who has won the 2007 Badminton Horse Trials with her mare Headley Britannica. The pair also won the grueling Burghley event in the fall of 2006, and Lucinda's husband, Clayton, won the Rolex (Kentucky) Three Day Event in the USA last week. Lucinda led throughout the event, and basically won on her dressage score.

"Brit" is the first mare to win Badminton since Bambi in 1954.

Sadly (for us), American rider Kim Severson incurred a few faults in show jumping today and slipped to third place. German rider Andreas Dibowski and the mare FRH Serve Well, fourth after a clear round cross-country, had a clear round in show jumping and moved up to second place to produce another unique Badminton result – never before have mares taken the one-two. Serve Well is the daughter of Hanoverian sire Sherlock Holmes.

Once Headley Britannica cools down, she's off to the ET station. She'll be bred and the embryo will be flushed and implanted in a surrogate mare so Brit can stay in training. This will be her first foal.

British eventing star The Wexford Lady has six foals on the ground, thanks to ET technology.

Phoebe Buckley's 15-hand mare Little Tiger has a foal by Catherston Liberator due in July, from a surrogate mare. She also will be bred next week, this time to the eventing stallion Mill Law. Phoebe fell on cross-country but remounted and finished.

Harald Ambros, who was the first rider ever to represent Austria at Badminton, rode the Irish-bred mare, Miss Ferrari.

Six mares made it through Badminton this year; nine started.

To learn more about Badminton Horse Trails, visit the EquiSearch.com Badminton 2006 slide show by Fran Jurga.

Archival photo of trot-up preparations in the Badminton stable area provided by Badminton Horse Trials. It looks like a still from an old movie that would have to star Cary Grant. Still, things haven't changed much in 50 or so years.

Two Horses Dead After XC at Badminton

Sadly, two horses have died during cross-country day at The Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in Gloucestershire, England.

The first, Skwal, ridden by Andrew Downes (GBR) jumped the course and finished. He collapsed after leaving the main arena with a probable heart attack.

The second horse, Icare D’Auzay, ridden by the experienced French rider Jean-Lou Bigot, had a freak accident. The horse broke a flag which severed an artery. Despite emergency treatment on course and transport to a veterinary hospital, he could not be saved.

Contrary to anxiety before the cross-country about the ground, the great effort put in by the Badminton management produced an excellent track with 43 completions and 33 clear rounds, of which 18 were within the time.

Australia's Lucinda Fredericks on the mare Headley Britannica remains in the lead, one point ahead of American Kim Severson and Winsome Adante. Three German riders fill the next three places.

The papparazzi have left the Cotswolds: Zara Phillips did decide to withdraw Toytown this morning. Several other horses did not go forward.

One of my equestrian journalist heroes, Simon Barnes, wrote about the agony of Zara's decision in London's The Times:

"I’d be damned if I’d gallop a horse of mine round there, even if they let me off jumping those frightful fences. It was hard as the hob of hell, hasn’t rained within living memory, and if you gallop a horse too far and too hard on hard ground, you are going to get injuries."

Zara Phillips missed a chance to qualify for the Olympics in 2004 because Toytown was laid up for a year with a soft tissue injury.

Read Simon's full article (commentary, really) here.

Photo of Nicola Wilson on course by Kit Houghton, courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors

Badminton Cross-Country Footing Will Be Safe, Course Designer Says

Zara Phillips, above, has decided to remain in contention at the Badminton Horse Trials. The weather in Britain this spring has been exceptionally hot and dry, apparently, and the normally forgiving footing on tomorrow's cross-country course is very hard. Zara hopes to qualify for the British eventing team for the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong...but not at the expense of her horse, Toytown. Photo by Kit Houghton, courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors and Badminton Horse Trials.

From the world-famous Badminton Horse Trials in Gloucestershire, England:

Over the last two days concerns about the condition of the ground and firmness of the going have caused riders to worry about the possible effects on their horses.

“We could not begin to do the remedial work until we were sure it was not going to rain and we have started this morning,” said Director and Course Designer Hugh Thomas yesterday. “It won’t be perfect but I think we will produce ground that is acceptable.”

While the team of groundsmen have been working on the course they are presently setting to work to make the conditions the best they can.

“There was a riders meeting at lunchtime and they requested that every part of the course was treated and the management is happy to implement their requests,” said Press Officer Julian Seaman. "Every part of the rideable course – where any horse might go, is currently being treated and the team of groundsmen will work though the night if that is what it takes. Riders will be walking the course late tonight and early tomorrow morning. The riders at this evening’s press conference were very positive about their intentions to run their horses tomorrow.”

Blogger's note: Leading rider William Fox-Pitt withdrew his horse from competition because he feared that the hard ground would be detrimental to his horse's soundness or that he might risk injury. Many of the riders entered in order to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong. However, too-hard or too-soft footing means that the risk of injury is increased, so riders were forced to make a choice between qualifying and possibly shortening their horses' careers.

Tradition Continues at Badminton Horse Trials in England

What, no wellies? Badminton House is not dripping, the audience that showed up Wednesday to watch the trotup was in shirt sleeves, and riders are obsessing about the dry, hard footing for Saturday's cross-country. All in a day's eventing at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in the fairytale Cotswolds village of Badminton in Gloucestershire, west of London. In this photo, Rolex Kentucky champion Clayton Fredericks of Australia trots up WP in Limbo for the vets on Wednesday. Thanks to Kit Houghton and Mitsubishi Motors for this classic photo.

This report comes directly from the event office:

The quest for the 2007 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton trophy began this afternoon with the first horse inspection held in front of Badminton House.

Riders presented 77 horses in front of the ground jury of Christoph Hess (GER), Barry Rycroft (AUS) and Jane Tolley (GBR). All the horses passed and now go forward to dressage on Thursday and Friday.

Sixty nine riders representing 12 countries are vying for the £55,000 (over $100,000US) first prize. Twelve riders have two horses entered including British riders Daisy Dick, Mary King, Ruth Edge, Oliver Townend, Harry Meade, Sarah Cohen and British first-timer Dominic Ruane.

Among the entries, 21 riders are making their Badminton debut including reigning World and European Champion and local rider Zara Phillips; American team member Kim Severson, who has won the Kentucky Rolex four-star event three times and brings the British-bred Winsome Adante; 2006 Luhmuhlen winner and German team members Frank Ostholt and Air Jordan and former European Champion Nicolas Touzaint and Hildago De L’ile.

Reigning 2006 Badminton champion Andrew Hoy will be unable to defend his title because of his horses' health problems (see related story). The competition at the top is lightened with 2005 and 2003 winner Pippa Funnell missing, as well as 2004 winner William Fox-Pitt, who withdrew Balincoola prior to the horse inspection today. A new name could be engraved on the silver trophy on Monday morning.

As the Meteorological Office is forecasting high temperatures and cloudless skies for the duration of the event, work is continuing on preparing the ground conditions on the course. Five hundred tons of top soil are currently being spread around the course; take-offs and landings are being watered and parts of the course are being aerated with the equi-vator.