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!