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.

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

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.