My name is Emily Daily and I recently joined the staff here at the USEA as Communications Assistant, so I'm constantly hearing all sorts of new comings and goings in the event community. Recently we ran a press release, though just about everyone in the eventing world already knew, about the retirement of the Radnor Hunt Three-Day Event. "The board of the Radnor Hunt Three-Day Event voted last night not to hold the Radnor Hunt Three-Day again due to lack of sponsorship and the difficulty in finding sufficient volunteers to put on the event. This is a very sad day for the sport but it is understandable that after more than 30 years of hosting one of the country's best competitions the organizing committee has decided to call it a day." It saddens me to think that one of the most prestigious and long-standing events in our country has to close its doors because of the lack of support and funding. What does that say about us as eventers that we cannot come up with enough volunteers to support this event? Some of us, including me, may not have known it was in trouble and though it's too late to "save Radnor" perhaps if we'd have known ahead of time would we have done something to help. I think we would have. Perhaps I don't know the whole story, but I know I, along with many many other people, have enjoyed the Radnor event and appreciated the hard work of everyone involved to help make it such a memorable event. Any thoughts on perhaps the future of eventing if we cannot come up with volunteers and sponsors? Should Radnor's retirement be a "wake-up call" to the rest of us? ~Emily Daily
Riders in both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L are sharing similar sentiments about this year's cross-country courses: course designer Derek di Grazia didn't play around this year. Here is what some of the riders across both divisions had to say about the tracks they will aim to conquer on Saturday.
Off The Record decided not to let Michael Jung be the only record-breaking entry at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this week and delivered a career-best score in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S on Friday morning. He and Will Coleman delivered a test that received a score of 21.8, not only marking a personal best for the horse but also securing their position at the top of the leaderboard going into cross-country tomorrow.
Boyd Martin and the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 were the last pair to go in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L field on Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted to the bluegrass with an impressive downpour that outshined anything the other horse and rider pairs had to combat throughout the day. But that didn’t stop this pair from putting their best foot forward and impressing the judges enough to earn them a score of 26.0, just 0.2 points ahead of second-place pair Tom McEwen (GBR) and Brookfield Quality.
Please always remain vigilant when it comes to sending any personal communications via email or text. Every year we receive reports of members and leaders of our sport receiving phishing attempts both online and by phone. These are often communications disguised as being sent from USEA staff or other leaders. As the years go on, the phishing attempts appear to be more directed and tailored.