Buckle up for another entertaining episode of Athletux’s Behind the Barn video series! This one takes us behind the curtain with last year’s 5* winner and third place finishers, Tamie Smith and Liz Halliday. Find out what a book written about each rider would be called, how they first met, what they do to get in the zone for cross country, and much more in the episode above, sponsored by Mane n’Tail Equine. Enjoy — and don’t miss the rest of the episodes, dropping more each day this week on the Kentucky YouTube channel here. Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event: [Website] [Tickets] [Entries/Draw ..read more

Tom Jackson and Farndon. Photo by Tilly Berendt. The drawn order for the MARS Badminton Horse Trials has been released, meaning we now know what order we’ll see each competing pair in just over two weeks’ time. Badminton runs from May 8-12. First to go for the third CCI5* of the season this year will be British rider Tom Jackson, bringing forward the 14-year-old Farndon (Hemingway – Silvanda, by Marlon), owned by Anne and Iain Slater, for the horse’s third appearance at the level and first shot at Badminton. The pair debuted at the level at Luhmühlen last year, where they finished sixth. The ..read more

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Liz Halliday (@lizhallidaysharp) Want to make your own mark on tomorrow’s first horse inspection at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event? Then make sure you give Liz Halliday’s latest reel a watch and make your vote count in the comments, because this stylish gal needs some help narrowing down her outfit choices. (I’d like to raise my hand and ask very nicely if she’ll be discarding the second, third, and fourth-place options, but I guess being blocked by Liz for solicitation before the competition has even begun probably isn’t my wisest move ..read more

There’s a running joke here at EN (and amongst the greater eventing community, really) about Will Coleman and his love of sunscreen. If you’ve ever seen the man at a competition – or in the sun, anywhere – you’re likely to notice a layer or two from a mile away. Luckily for us, the team at Athletux took it upon themselves to find out what Will’s peers thought of his sunscreen habits (as well as a few other things about, you know, his career) in the latest edition of Behind the Barn. This episode was sponsored by Parker Equine Insurance. Enjoy — and don’t miss the rest of the episodes, droppin ..read more

Bring on that beautiful chaos, because it is finally time to sit back and read up on the horses and riders of the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event! I’m sure, like us, many of you have been waiting all year for this pivotal weekend, and we can’t wait to see who emerges victorious come Sunday — but first, let’s take a peek at what each pair is bringing to the Kentucky table! Our new format for form guides features some special trading cards on each horse and rider combination, where you will see some stats on each horse in the running at each 5* going forward, courtesy of our friends at Eq ..read more

We had a packed weekend of Eventing, and we saw all riders out competing! From the Starter divisions at Meadowcreek to the YEH at Masterson to the 5* test runs at Fair Hill, it is such a pleasure to congratulate all of our Weekend Winners here! Shout out to all on successful weekends, with a special shout out to the winner of our Unofficial Low Score Award, Arden Wildasin and Southern Sun, who won the Open Beginner Novice at Sporting Days on a 20.0! Fair Hill International April H.T. & CCI-S (Elkton, MD) [Website][Scoring] View this post on Instagram A post shared by Victoria Miller (@pa ..read more

Kentucky week has started, and while we’re so ready to jump into all of the excitement that that brings, we’ve been following along with some of our Kentucky-bound pairs as they make their final outings and preparations for the week ahead. Ocala International Festival of Eventing and Fair Hill International offered two major stages to wrap up final preparations for horse and rider combinations making the trek to Kentucky this week, as well as offered opportunities including a 4*S, 3*L, and even a 5* CT. Ocala’s 4* saw a strong showing from Caroline Pamukcu, who finished first with the rider an ..read more

Christopher Burton and Clever Louis. Photo by Leszek Wójcik. Christopher Burton riding Clever Louis triumphed in the CCI4*-L, the most demanding class held during the second leg of Strzegom Spring Open. Christopher Burton took the lead after the dressage test, kept it with overtime points in the cross country and sealed the victory with a clear performance in the showjumping – 35.4. Second place went to Pontus Hugosson with Zin Fire – 47.2. The best ride in the cross-country ensured the Swede’s jump from fifth to second position, and even with one knockdown and being four seconds late in the ..read more

Tamie Smith and Mai Baum. Photo by Tilly Berendt. We’re very sad to share the news that Tamie Smith and hot favorite Mai Baum, 2023 CCI5* winners at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, will not be contesting this week’s CCI4*-S competition as planned, following an unfortunate incident at home that slightly derailed the gelding’s preparation for the competition. “We arrived in the amazing state of Kentucky and [are] excited for a great week ahead with the Young Guns!” writes Tamie in a post on her social media channels. “Sadly, Mai Baum will be sitting out this Kentucky 4S and resting up f ..read more

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Tom McEwen (@tommceweneventing) Last week, we shared news that the European contingent of horses had all cleared quarantine en route to the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event – and now, they’re not only in situ at the Horse Park, their riders have all arrived, too! I fly in yesterday from London and was surprised to bump into Germany’s Christoph Wahler at the gate – but because eventers are truly bonkers, he explained to me that he’d ended up coming via Heathrow because he wanted to squeeze in a last-minute show with his young horse ..read more