New names

So, now that we are finished with the WEG, this blog needs a new name. You have been warned...

Home again, home again...

  Mom and I arrived back in Utah last night after a marathon 2 day drive. The first day was a 1000 mile haul from Lexington to Colby, Kansas (which is nearly to Colorado). For the record, Kansas is a much nicer drive than Nebraska, although you do have to go thru Kansas City, where road signs are evidently optional, a problem that is not even compensated for by the presence of the Boulevard Brewing Company. Of course we got lost, and then we couldn't find a freeway again, despite the fact that there are about six interstates that pass thru Kansas City. Meanwhile, the Subaru started to sputter and jump and threaten die right there in middle of somewhere Kansas City. Finally, we found a street and gasp, a sign, that directed us to the freeway, and we beat it right on out of town.
  After 14 hours driving a somewhat questionable car, we finally stopped at a hotel in Colby. Mom wanted soup for dinner and I wanted a beer. On a Sunday. In Kansas. Damn it. The nice man at the gas station was very apologetic and somewhat embarrassed until I explained to him that I was from Utah and was intimately acquainted with weird liquor laws...
  Mom and I had planned to drive I-70 straight thru the mountains into Utah to enjoy the fall scenery, but we decided that the additional hour plus of drive time as well as the ever present check engine light in the car warranted hopping on I-25 in Denver and heading up to I-80 for the familiar drive thru Wyoming. After nearly 1700 miles of driving, I nearly got hit by some silly girl in a Mercedes right at the bottom of Parley's canyon, less than 10 miles from home- typical, and welcome back to Utah...
  So, today I caught up with some emails, cleaned out bags, put general stuff away, and visited my horses, who have turned into shaggy beasts while I've been gone. My car is still running (I sort of expected to wheels to fall off in true cartoon fashion as soon as I parked in front of the house last night), my bikes, which spent the entire ride on the top of the car, have a collection of bugs from across the country, and tomorrow, I'm headed back to work. Its nice to be home.

The Ups and Downs of Being a Tourist

  Mom and I have been having a wonderful time here in Kentucky this week! We took the two Alli's back to the horse park on Monday morning for some shopping/trade fair time. William Fox-Pit was in the Bit of Britain tent and nearly ran into one of the Alli's, who managed to gasp "He's so tall!"- no kidding! She wasn't the only one, however- one of the employees managed to stutter a request/demand for a signature before she helped him find what he needed... The brushes with fame are frequent, and usually amusing- Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum nearly ran me over with her bike, riding in the "pedestrians only" corridor of the road, and I have nearly been backed over by self styled "important people" in golf carts more times than I can recall.
  Mom and I had show jumping team final tickets on Wednesday night, so we spent most of the day at the horse park. We were both shopped out, so we ventured off to see some of the demo's put on in the equine village. Chris has been working with the American Connemara Pony Society and the Irish Draught folks and they are doing one demo a day, which might include jumping, dressage, or driving. One day, the demo included a "trick pony" who managed to jump the arena fence and gallop off around the warm-up rings, completely evading capture. We have also been introduced to the sport of tent pegging, where competitors spear little pieces of rubber with a lance, sword, and skewer, all while traveling at 800 meters per minute. Exciting doesn't even begin to cover it! Chris has, of course, made friends with the tent peggers, who have traveled from India. They are evidently giving her a sword, so if you live near Chesterfield, this is your warning- there will be a tent pegging team coming your way! Start practicing your war cry- this is, after all, a horse martial art...
  Day after day of the horse park is quite draining, especially if you don't have event tickets. Mom and I have been playing tourist. We have been to the art college at Berea, which is really neat. I have now Christmas shopped for the two hardest people on my list- thank god for local artisans... On monday we had an unexpected detour to Bardstown- we didn't get to any distilleries, but we did drive the Blue Grass Parkway- it is gorgeous as the leaves are just changing. Yesterday we went to Mammoth Cave and did the 4 mile "strenuous" tour, where we ambled along at the world's most leisurely pace. The cave is amazing- so unlike the caves at home. It is mostly a huge, dry canyon with some narrows- it looks surprisingly like Southern Utah- only with a roof. The final quarter mile had some gorgeous draperies and other formations. Oh, and there is a dining room in the cave. And toilets. Weird.
   Today, Mom and I are off to the Woodford Reserve distillery, and then we go to driving marathon tomorrow. We are headed home on Sunday in the Subaru- Mom has a concert rehearsal to get to, and I'm anxious to get back to my own horses- who knows where they will be in four years time when the next WEG comes around in Normandy, France!

Everybody's Canadian today

   So, in case you haven't already heard, Great Britain won the team gold, Canada the team silver, and New Zealand the team bronze, with Michael Jung from Germany winning individual gold, William Fox-Pitt individual silver, and Andrew Nicholson individual bronze.
   The Brits were unbelievable- Tina Cook had a technical refusal with Miner's Frolic, which was really a shame, because she jumped everything brilliantly. Opposition Buzz is probably my favorite event horse in the world- I kicked everybody out of bed REALLY early Saturday morning so we could get to the horse park in plenty of time to watch Nicola Wilson, who was the first rider out on course. We staked out a spot at the sunken road (ironically called the Red River Gorge- that will be as close as I get to rock climbing this trip), and aside from being a bit scared by some of the early rides, things went very well.  Pippa Funnel came to the WEG on a 9yr old doing his first 4-star, gave away absolutely NOTHING in dressage, and rode her horse around cross country double clear- that horse knows a whole lot more now than he did yesterday, and may well be unbeatable by the London Olympics.
  The team from South Africa got several riders around (their first ever riders in an international championship), Brazil had some major attrition, with only two riders completing the course, Italy and France both had some good goes (and some not so good goes).
  The Americans were a bit of a mixed bag... Boyd Martin is an unbelievable cross country rider, and led the team off with a double clear. Buck Davidson had a stop at the sunken road, after nearly having a stop at the coffin- probably not how he was imagining his weekend. Karen O'Connor rode the hair right off Mandiba and had a super round. Becky Holder looked very poised with Courageous Comet, who threw a shoe at the 7th fence and was just outside the time. Phillip Dutton looked, well, as only Philip can look on cross country.
  The Kiwis had better strategy than anyone else and really rode for the team, although having Mark Todd as your pathfinder and Andrew Nicholson as your anchor must be nice. They have some nice horses and a very good group of riders.
  Australia batted just about zero- bummer.
  The Germans went into cross country in first place, and their lead off rider managed to flip his horse over the second to last fence- bet he wants just one more chance at that one. THEN, their first individual rider fell at the last! So, the Germans did what Germans do- they started to drink. Then they started to all gather in one place. Then they started to cheer. Then they started to sing. They made the American's look really boring...
  The famed "Luck of the Irish" seemed to have fled to hang out with the drunk, singing Germans, and the Irish had a hell of a day. One horse ran away- full out- toward the crowd- kicking. Luckily his rider steered him to an open spot where she could try to circle and got him back under control. Ireland's anchor rider, Geoff Curan  got held on course for over 20 minutes while the vets attended to an Italian horse that cut its shoulder. The weather got colder and windier, the beer line got longer, the Germans got louder, and the hold went on and on. Finally the course was restarted, and Geoff Curan did an amazing job getting things going again.
  And then there was Canada. All 6 riders in clear. All 6! The Canadians had the best jumping horses in the field, and have a plan for their team that forms a cohesive group who all work well with each other, with their support crew, and with the coaches. GO CANADA, and if anyone knows of any single Canadian men, I'm looking to change my citizenship.
   Which brings us to show jumping day. WOW! Great Britain deserved their win, and the US deserved their fourth place. Michael Jung's horse looked so supple and so through and forward in the show jumping- instant riding lesson. And, GO CANADA!! They have worked harder and looked farther into the future than the US, and they deserved that silver medal. Hopefully we can learn something from them, but I'm not holding my breath.
   Otherwise, things have been crazy at the horse park. I keep running into friends in random places, and making new friend from random places, like Possum Trot, KY. They are still making us park "where God left his overshoes," although the shuttle service is very efficient. There was a tent pegging demo today that included an unscheduled ambulance- more on that when I find out that story. I'm just about shopped out, and I've only bought a Christmas present for my brother. Tomorrow we go back to the horse park in the morning with Alli and Allison before taking them to Louisville and putting them on a plane back home, and then mom and I are hoping to do some sight seeing and maybe a bourbon tour. I'm sure it will be an adventure...

Dressage, and other happeningse

     Greetings from the Horse Park!! I  have managed to find wifi, so hopefully I will be more consistent with updates! Yesterday, mom and I had tickets for the eventing dressage. We arrived at Spy Coast Farm to park (which is very efficient), took a shuttle to the horse park, and I promptly got lost. The ENTRY is huge, with "security" people checking bags for such dangerous contraband as peanut butter sandwiches and camera lenses (this is another story). You can pet a shark and a penguin at the Alltech Experience tent, buy any variety of tack, luggage, jewelry, artwork, clothing, and home furnishings imaginable, and ride a mechanical cutting horse here!
    The dressage had been really neat to watch- there have been some AMAZING rides and some abysmal rides. The Germans dominate in the dressage phase- predictably, and they don't make silly mistakes. They ride their horses well up into the bridle and keep their horses active and connected all the time, not just when they need something (I say this like I can do it, myself). The Canadians are much improved in the dressage, and although some of the horses aren't the quality of the British and German horses, they are doing a great job. The rumors that the Americans have been working their tail ends off must be true- all the horses look much more uphill and much less broken at the poll. Now if someone could PLEASE teach the US team how to do a reinback!! The current dressage leader is an Italian who put in a lovely test, earning his mark of 9 for rider. His horse was elastic and rhythmic, and even got a quick pat on the neck from his human after a particularly good change. The team anchors all go this afternoon, so the very best may be yet to come.
    If you walk down the road here you can, at any time, see some of the top event horses in the world lunging, a schooling ring packed with jumpers, or the paraequestrians schooling. Its amazing, and such a wonderful experience... but, my computer is running out of juice, so more later!