I thought I would be posting this yesterday, but due to some mysterious British logic, Badminton’s show jumping round was today and not on the ‘traditional’ Day of the Sun. And I certainly didn’t want to jinx Rebecca and Rupert by gushing about how awesome they had done until the last rail on the last fence of […]

The Dressage Summit, that is. No, I didn’t go. I wasn’t even invited, which doesn’t surprise me THAT much, given my muckraking ways. Believe it or not, though, no one is more keen to write good news about Canadian dressage than yours truly. Truly. But I broke my rose-tinted glasses back in elementary school  (actually […]

Given that I’ve kept you all in the dark these past couple of weeks, I thought I ought to let you know what you can look forward to here on Straight-Up over the spring and summer. I plan on catching all the Badminton action the first weekend of May (thanks to the miracle of FEI […]

Today’s post is only peripherally connected to actual horses, but I feel compelled both to explain and garner your sympathy for my failure to keep you entertained over the past couple of weeks. Two days ago, I performed one of the strangest duties I have ever been asked to do – correction: THE strangest duty […]

OVER MY DEAD BODY Wills and Horses by Catherine Willson and Bhavin Bilimoria   A will is a document prepared during your lifetime that directs the distribution of your assets and possessions on your death. It enables you to divide your estate as you wish (subject to certain limitations), make gifts to specific individuals, provide […]

(SPRUCE MEADOWS, Calgary, AB): History was made today when six Spruce Meadows horses became the first ever Canadian horses to be sold and exported to China. The six Spruce Meadows bred Hannoverian horses were chosen by a delegation of Chinese horsemen after a meticulous inspection and trial earlier this year. The horses have since been […]

Canadian Eventing Committee is pleased to announce the 2013 Canadian National Eventing Team. SHORT LIST The 2013 Short List is comprised of horse/rider combinations which, have proven through their results at CCI/CCIO/CH 3 star and 4 star competitions within the time period designated under general regulations, they are successfully representing Canada in international competition as […]

For those of you who will accept nothing less than a weekly post, here is today’s, which is really just a glorified auto-reply that I’m out of my kitchen office for Easter. I’m off to recharge my batteries on a sunny little corner of BC’s Gulf Islands, where there are no DQs, no EC politics, […]

You know that old cliché, “kicking someone when they’re down”? Or how about “adding insult to injury”? Or “flogging a dead horse”? Well, just roll them all together and you have something that approximates what came down the FEI communications chute this week and landed with a stinky thud in my inbox. I thought the […]

What, you ask? Countdown to Normandy, which is still – according to the Normandy 2014 website – 525 days away? Why of course! Preparing for the second most important championship after the Olympics starts a long, long time before the competition, unless you are a Saudi show jumper. Canada’s WEG hopefuls are already busily training, […]