Are the winters getting worse or am I just getting old and crabby? I start out ok and then I get to a stage where I just look forward to getting through another cold day in the sure knowledge that Spring is coming…but when? I suppose I have to admit that last year was worse, but the year before that we were out riding in the sand ring on March 9th. We won’t be doing that this year unless there’s a tropical rainstorm followed by hot dry winds in the next few days…..
OK, whine over. Selena, of course, has been wintering in Florida since January 7th. Anne Marie has not been quite so fortunate. We have been waiting on the purchase of a new truck to haul the trailer. Finally thanks to Tallman International, we have a beautiful new beast and Anne Marie drove it to Ocala on Feb 28th, just in time for Redhills.
It has been a season of ups and downs so far with the horses all looking and going well, sometimes getting all three phases right on the same day, sometimes not. Everyone is looking forward to the first CIC of our season. Woody is running in the three star, Solo in the two star and Zephyr in the one star. It is Zephyr’s first FEI party.
We are a little emotional to announce that Eventing Canada and Selena made the terribly difficult decision to allow ‘Bellaney Rock’ to be sold to a young rider. We all feel this is the right future for Rocky, but his beautiful face and his joyous personality will be sorely missed at O’Hanlon Eventing. Rocky is not just a super star, he is a super personality and much beloved. We wish him a long and happy career with his new rider.
We are also looking to syndicate (or reluctantly sell) ‘A First Romance,’ a 12-year-old advanced horse and ‘Rather Boldly,’ a seven-year-old homebred by an advanced eventer out of an advanced eventer. We would certainly prefer to syndicate them rather than sell them, but the realities of the sport and it’s absence of prize money leaves us, like many other Canadian eventing barns, selling many of our best horses. Canadian eventing desperately needs more owners who want to get involved with both established and up and coming event riders and horses. We need to keep more good Canadian horses for our good Canadian riders, and not watch many of our best horses slip away across the border.
Redhills is this coming weekend. I always feel Redhills is the start of the ‘real’ season. This year will be all about the Pan Am Games and about whether or not we will qualify for the Olympics in Rio. The deal is either Canada OR America can qualify for Rio by winning at the Pan Am Games. Then, of course, there is the French team member whose horse was doped at WEG – my interpretation of the rules is that this means automatic disqualification for the French team, this would move the Canadian Team up into sixth place and the first six teams at WEG have Rio (Olympic) qualification. However……the FEI have deemed that they need a tribunal and here we are some six months later and absolutely nothing has been done. Since it most certainly influences which horses and riders both Canada and the USA will field at the PanAms….it seems to me that the FEI has a responsibility to come to a decision in the very near future. But as I write this I do not believe the date for the tribunal has been set. I was very much hoping that Equine Canada was going to come out swinging on our behalf to bring pressure on the FEI to resolve the issue.
So….if the FEI does not come to a decision then either Canada or America has to use the Pan Ams to qualify for Rio, it will be a ‘fight to the death.’ I would imagine both countries would field strong teams in Toronto. If the FEI disqualifies the French team at WEG and USA wins the Pan Ams, both teams get to go. If the FEI disqualifies the French team at WEG and Canada wins the Pan Ams, only Canada gets to go. The rules that govern individuals going when a team has not qualified are so complicated I can’t work them out, but it would seem that the two riders with the most FEI points (even if acquired with multiple mounts) are the eligible candidates. All in all, it’s SO complicated and it seems that the FEI can stall their decision for as long as they like.
The Fork is the first weekend in April as the horses head North, then all to soon it’s Rolex…..gulp!