WEG, Day 4: Homeward Bound
Since we’ve been staying in Louisville and had some time before our flight this morning, we decided to visit Churchill Downs. Again, it was one of those things. How can we be in Louisville without visiting the home of the Kentucky Derby? You just can’t. Especially since we were here for horse stuff!
Churchill Downs
Looking toward the finish line
Twin Spires
Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle
2010 Derby Winner, Super Savor’s jockey silks
The place does have an aura about it. The track was beautiful. The twin spires. Old grandstand. The whole view was just humbling. It left me speechless actually. The Derby is the oldest annual major stakes still running, apparently it’s never missed a year. We were fortunate enough to catch some morning workouts on the track, as we toured it.
2006 Derby winner, Barbaro
In front of the entrance gates, it has an amazing statue of Barbaro, covering his grave-site. The 2006 Derby winner, a fan-favorite, who went down with a leg injury during the Preakness Stakes. After months of treatment, he died of complications.
Derby Museum
Derby Trophy
Derby Winners
We didn’t leave enough time for a thorough visit, but will still skimmed through the museum. It was well done. It gave a good history of the Kentucky Derby and Oaks. It listed every Derby winner, gave a history of the US Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, with tributes to each Triple Crown winner. It replayed the best race ever run… Secretariat’s Derby win. Upstairs, they had a new exhibit about the 2010 movie, Secretariat.
Phantom-on-Tour
Winston
Outside, the museum is also home to one of Secretariat’s grandsons, Phantom-on-Tour. He’s there with his little buddy, Winston.
This morning’s Flickr set: racetrack pics
After that, we headed to the airport. It’s sad that it’s over. This trip is something I’ve been looking forward to for so long, and now it’s passed, But… it’s okay, but it was as fun as I had hope. We had a great time.
After arriving at the airport, we stopped for lunch and headed straight to the barn. We had big plans. We were extremely motivated to not only start working on some upper level dressage skills, but also getting back into jump training. Yeah, well, the barn manager messaged saying the horses were good and we slowly started to get a little tired. By the time we reach her town, we were down. I just dropped her off at her apartment and headed home, with a plan to pick up at the barn tomorrow. She’s taken two more days off, and I should be able to get to the barn by late afternoon the rest of the week.
What can I say, traveling wears on ya.
WEG, Day 3: Jumping
Stallion Division
Midway, KY
and
2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
Three-Day Cross Country
Lexington, KY
Today was definitely a fun-filled day, of the equine nature, once again. Unlike yesterday, we had some time to actually eat AT the hotel this morning, which was nice. The drive over to Lexington was actually pretty cool this morning, as the sun rose.
Three Chimneys
The day started with a tour of Three Chimneys. We met the Blue Grass Tours‘ bus at the Lexington Convention Center, and headed out of town from there. It had the added bonus of allow us a quick visual tour of Lexington. We were close to just skipping town without seeing the city at all. We passed the historic Kentucky Theater, where they were prepping for tonight’s big Secretariat movie premier. The International Equestrian Festival is being held in the Convention Center, which we passed through. All around, pretty cool.
The drive out to the farm was amazing. It’s definitely gorgeous country. Even the local prison looks like a beautiful horse farm. It’s weird. The tour guide said the local residents fought to have the prison concealed so as to not to be a big eye sore near their prestigious farms, and it definitely worked.
Farm
We toured the farm’s Stallion Division, which was, again, AMAZING. The farm was absolutely stunning. The barns were immaculate. The stall were a nice size, with every aspect designed to keep the horses comfortable and safe. They were bedded with straw. The barns were very open and spacious. Our farm representative said the horses actually spend most of their day outside, which is nice to know. They aren’t confined to their stalls, with only an hour or so out.
We walked through the mare receiving facility, which was rather small, but it served its purpose. We visited two horse barns, one had eight stalls, the other with only four. The final stop was the “business room” of the farm, which was extremely nice relative to its function. They have certainly thought of everything.
In the middle of the courtyard between barns is a small memorial to 1977 US Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winner & Horse of the Year, Seattle Slew. Slew stood at stud at the farm for years, really giving the farm its first major sire to build a reputation off of.
Stallions
Smarty Jones
Point Given
The farm has a pretty impressive stallion roster, including 2008 Kentucky Derby & Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown. Unfortunately for us, Big Brown was in the southern hemisphere for their breeding season. They pulled out two of their most popular studs for us to see, including fan-favorite, underdog Smarty Jones, the 2004 Derby & Preakness winner My friend laughed a bit and pointed out how Smarty resembles my horse, yet he’s a winner and mine barely made it out of race training. Turns out, the two are closely related. The other horse they brought out was the massive chestnut Point Given, a giant relatively unheard of outside of the Thoroughbred racing world, yet incredibly successful racer. The 2001 Horse of the Year easily won both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, unfortunately, he just did not win the Derby.
Dynaformer
In the second barn, we got to see the farm’s current big earners, although, one’s stud career is over. Dynaformer is their ‘headliner’ at the moment, with a reduced stud fee of $150,000 (which is only that low because the market is down). He didn’t have the most impressive racing career, but over the years as proved to be a great sire. He’s known for siring million-dollar winners, and general very versatile foals. He didn’t come out of his stall. Apparently, it’s not the most well manner horse and could be dangerous. The other resident of the small, higher “prestigious” barn is Rahy. Rahy is the complete opposite of Dynaformer. He’s very small and seems relatively calm, however, he proved himself as a successful sire. He’s now infertile, but the farm has decided to retire him there, considering the money he brought in during his career.
This morning’s Flickr set: farm photos
World Equestrian Games
Alltech Experience
The final piece of our World Equestrian Games trips was the last phase of the Eventing Championships – Jumping. We had gotten lost on the way between the Convention Center and the Horse Park, so we were a tad late, but not by much. We still had time to re-check the Official Merchandise warehouse (still practically empty) and grab a couple Bourbon Barrel Ales before finding our seats.
World Championship Eventing – Jumping
~Stadium Jumping~
Buck Davidson (USA) on BallyNoe Castle RM @ Jump 13
Hawley Bennett-Awad (CAN) on Gin & Juice @ Jump 9
Boyd Martin (USA) on Neville Bardos @ Jump 4
Karen O’Connor (USA) on Mandiba @ Jump 3
William Fox-Pitt (GBR) on Cool Mountain
Michael Jung (GER) on La Biosthetique-Sam FBW @ Jump 11
The jumping was exciting. We had pretty good seats, but we should have. We’ve had them for over a year now! The course was pretty neat, although our seats didn’t give us the best angle to see many of them.
It started pretty slowly. Most of the first horses to go struggled with either the jumps or time in the course (or both), however, that can be expected. The order for the day was based on their standing after cross country, so the top contenders were last.
It didn’t seem like there was much shuffling amongst the leaders, with the exception of the American team. Boyd Martin was the only US team-rider to have a clear round. The other two American team-riders had some problems. Phillip Dutton and Woodburn had a jump fault, while Karen O’Connor on Mandiba had two jump faults, one being a full out refusal, and four time faults. The misfortunes actually took the team out of medal contention, dropping them from a sturdy second to fourth. Bummer. In addition, Becky Holder pulled out Courageous Comet out of the competition because of leg swelling this morning. She was sitting at third.
The Canadian team stayed steady, with two of their top riders completely clear rounds. The British team also successfully finished the day holding onto their top stop, with three clear rounds. Britain’s William Fox-Pitt pulled out a clear round to remain in second, and leader Michael Jung, of Germany, also pulled through with a clear round to winning it all.
~Medal Ceremony~
Team Champions: Great Britain, Nicola Wilson (Opposition Buzz), Tina Cook (Minors Frolic), Mary King (Imperial Cavalier) & William Fox-Pitt (Cool Mountain)
We did stay for the Eventing medal ceremony, even though we were on the ‘wrong side.’ Everything happened facing the main grandstand, while we were on the temporary bleacher seating. Oh well, we could still see what happened, and the competitors did turn to wave our way.
Team Medals: New Zealand (Bronze), Great Britain (Gold) & Canada (Silver)
Final Standings:
Team:
1. Great Britain (W. Fox-Pitt, M. King, N. Wilson, K. Cook) – 139.40 penalties, Gold
2. Canada (S. Rhodes-Bosch, S. O’Hanlon, H. Bennett-Awad, K. Carter) – 151.50 penalties, Silver
3. New Zealand (A. Nicholson, M. Todd. C. Powell, C. Johnstone) – 154.80 penalties, Bronze
4. United States (B. Martin, P. Dutton, K. O’Connor, B. Davidson, Jr.) – 160.30 penalties
World Champion: Michael Jung (GER)
Individual:
1. Michael Jung/La Biosthetique-Sam FBW (GER) – 33.00 penalties, Gold
2. William Fox-Pitt/Cool Mountain (GBR) – 42.00 penalties, Silver
3. Andrew Nicholson/Nereo (NZL) – 43.50 penalties, Bronze
4. Karin Donckers/Gazelle de la Brasserie CH (BEL) – 44.40 penalties
WEG 2010 Lexington
Trade Show
Wanting to get our money’s worth, we stuck around the park until it closed. This was our last day at the Games, so we didn’t want to short change ourselves. And, as predicted the purse strings opened and the spending began. My friend bought a new double-bridle from Bit of Britain. We found a hidden stash of official merchandise in the Kentucky Horse Park visitor center, where we went nuts. We snatched up a couple t-shirts and souvenirs there, but still no sweatshirt.
We went back through the Trade Show, but didn’t really get anything there. It didn’t seem like there was much for sale. Most of the booths were just displays. Even the outfitters and stores, such as Dover, didn’t have much out.
Because it had been raining off and on all day, and was beginning to sprinkle again, we actual went in to tour some of the Horse Park’s buildings. You know, the permanent stuff.
~International Museum of the Horse~
We walked through the standard exhibits in the International Museum of the Horse, because those were free. It was interesting. I learned a lot of quick, random facts about horse breeds, in particular Thoroughbreds (because that’s what I’m interested in). The museum was well done.
As an added bonus, we found a clean bathroom!! After three days here, including yesterday of refusing to use any on the property, we found a clean, working restroom. What a great moment.
This afternoon’s Flickr set: jumping pictures
Great day. We ate at an AppleBee’s near the hotel and grabbed some sodas for the evening, and called it a night. I can’t believe the trip is almost over.
WEG, Day 2: Cross Country
Today was the big day… the cross country phase of the 2010 Eventing World Championships. After grabbing breakfast at the hotel’s complimentary buffet, we made it to the park in plenty of time. There was one “oops moment.” I almost forgot our tickets!! I can’t believe, I have everything so organized, and yet still almost left without the most important piece – our tickets. Fortunately, my friend asked, although, I think she was doing so jokingly.
World Championship Eventing – Cross Country
Before the competition actually started, we had a chance to watch some of the Grand Prix stadium jumpers work out and walked the course once. It gave us the opportunity to plan out our day, which worked really well. The idea was we’d make our way around the entire course, watching at least two riders at each, with the option of hanging out for a while at the big water complex.
The first rider through really blazed the trail, so to speak. Brit Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz finished the course in a blistering 11 minutes. It was crazy. We watched her at the first jump, then we watched the next couple go and turned around just in time to see her at the end of the course.
Front Half: Jumps 1-16
Paul Tapner (AUS) on Inonothing @ Jump 3, Kentucky Quilt Pattern Brush Oxer
Mark Todd (NZL) on Grass Valley @ Jump 7, Walnut Creek Center
Simone Deitermann (GER) on Free Easy NRW @ Jump 8, Welcoming Water Wishing Well
Susanna Bordone (ITA) on Carrera @ Jump 15, Red River Gorge
It was definitely an impressive course. Jump 5 was a small water, but Jump 7, Walnut Hall Center (A: 3’11″ high rail, B: 4′ wide ditch, and C: 4’9″ high brush corner) was probably the trickiest up front. It caused a few faults and took out a couple riders. The Fallen Dueling Tree that made up Jump 10, was something. Not only is it a massive log, but it’s over a ditch, that’s not obvious until your AT the jump. The furtherest point out was the Daniel Boone Forest Complex (Jumps 11-14). We didn’t stick around that area too long. It seemed like we were too far away from a lot of the action out there. The four part Red River Gorge, Jump 15, was another intimating complex along the course. It involved a 3’11″ rail, straight to a 3’6″ bank down and 3’6″ bank up, finishing with a 3’11″ high, 6′ wide logger cabin. It resulted in a number of refusals, including one for US team-rider Buck Davidson, Jr.
A number of noteable riders went through while we were trekking along the front half of the course, including US team-rider Boyd Martin on Neville Bardos. We caught six-time Olympian, New Zealand team-rider Mark Todd on Grass Valley at the tricky Jump 7. The current second place rider, three-time Olympian, British team-rider William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain, passed through while we were at John Deere’s Fallen Dueling Tree, on his way to a clear round.
Water Complex: Jumps 17-18
Caroline Powell (NZL) on Mac MacDonald @ Jump 18, Normandy bank
Pippa Funnell (GBR) on Redesigned @ Jump 17, Canadian Goose
Karen O’Connor (USA) on Mandiba @ Jump 17
Becky Holder (USA) on Courageous Comet @ Jump 17
We actually found some great spots right along the ‘fence line’ at the big water Rolex Land of the Lakes water, so we camped out there for a while. In fact, it seemed like we watched about half the competitors tackle that particular series of jumps.
The jump complex was impressive. It included a large Canadian Goose, as the final piece to Jump 17, and the Normandy Bank in Jump 18. It was pretty common for riders to choice the alternate A option for the first jump in 17. One pair did fall, as the horse leaped off the bank and rotated too far to land correctly. Both the horse and rider went head first into the water, but both quickly got up. The horse, Mavrick du Granit, was eventually taken by equine ambulance for a potential leg injury.
We watched three Americans race through the complex, including team-riders Buck Davidson and two-time Olympian Karen O’Connor. We also waited around to catch American Becky Holder, on thoroughbred Courageous Comet, before we started walking. The pair actually finished the day placed third going into tomorrow’s jumping phase. Brit Pippa Funnel on Redesigned also rode through while we were camped out. She’s probably one of the most accomplished eventers in the world. A two-time Olympian, in 2003 she became the only Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing winner, having taken the 4-star Badminton & Burghley Horse Trails and Lexington Rolex Three-Day Event.
We finally decided it was time to get moving, so we could see the back part of the course as well. It was hard giving up such prime real estate at the most popular jump, but we had seen enough there. It was time to get going. Plus, were getting hungry and thirsty, so we had hoped to find something to eat or drink.
Final Stretch: Jumps 19 – 28
Duarte Seabra (POL) on Fernhill Gloster Rebel @ Jump 20, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace
Mary King (GBR) on Imperial Cavalier @ Jump 22, McConnell Springs
Phillip Dutton (USA) on Woodburn @ Jump 26, Scalloped Brush
Michael Jung (GER) on La Biosthetique-Sam FRW @ Jump 27, Kentucky Covered Bridge
We moved through the final jumps fairly quickly. They were pretty straight forward for the most part, so we stuck around for two riders at each and that was about it. Fortunately, it worked out well, because that got us to the end, with no room to spare. Some of the problem was that a lot of falls started happening late in the day, so there were some larger gaps between riders and fewer of them to see further along in the course. On a positive note, we found a beverage stand near Jump 25, which sold sodas and Bourbon Barrel Ale. How appropriate for a sunny day walking around a cross country course… beer. Good times.
The back half of the course was challenging, but pretty straight forward. There was one water, Jump 22, McConnell Springs – Founding Site of Lexington, involving two almost 5-foot brushes on opposites sides of a small pond. Watching the competitors go through Jumps 23 & 24 was pretty impressive. They were 5’6″ wide spread sloped tables, which asked the riders to take a fairly sharp angle across them to keep a straight line through both. The final big question was Jump 26, Land Rover Scalloped Brush, two 4’9″ brushes with a 7-foot spread.
Considering it was the nearing the end of the day and each country’s team anchor came through, we caught most of the top contenders on this stretch of the course. We saw five-time Olympian and British team-rider Mary King and Irish Sport Horse Imperial Cavalier at Jump 22. US-team captain Phillip Dutton and his New-Zealand Thoroughbred Woodburn sprinted through Jump 26 on his way to a clear round. Current leader German Michael Jung on La Biosthetique-Sam FBW flew by as were at the second to last jump (27). We caught the final rider, five-time Olympian and New Zealand team-rider Andrew Nicholson, at the final jump, a large ramp, “Kentucky Proud” Harvest Table.
Jump 5, Salato Wildlife Center – Trout & Kingfisher
In the confusion after the competition ended, but did have a tense moment. Wanting to get back to the main area of the park, we decided to follow a small crowd near us. Well, I’m not sure who they were or what they were doing, but we both realized we were definitely heading in the wrong direction. We were actually walking to the guarded stable area!! We quickly turned around, only to wander into the competitor cool down area! Oops. We eventually found the correct way back to the spectator area, but we did wander around the empty course for a bit first.
World Equestrian Games – 2010 Lexington
To make the most of our time at the Games, we spent another three hours or so walking through the various sections of the attractions and touring the park.
We happened upon the Equine Village first, so that’s where we started. The village was really just a random bunch of vendor tents for different breed societies and clinicians, scattered with random horse activities, such as pony rides. They also had an exhibition ring, with continuously running events to showcase different horses and clinics. It wasn’t too busy today, but that could be due to the fact everyone was tired from walking the cross country course and/or because general ground passes were not available.
We stopped at the Clint Anderson Horsemanship tent to pick up a gift for a barn friend. As a thank you gesture for watching our horses while we were gone, we picked up a book for her. She’s a big fan of his techniques. We considered getting a DVD, but they only came in sets that were WAY to expensive.
We had a couple laughable moments in that tent. First, one of the associates, all decked out in his western attire, walked up to help us, as we started blankly at the DVD shelves. He started by asking if what had something specific we were looking forward, which was a no, then asked if we had been to any of Clint’s clinics and we both looked at each other and say “NO.” He got quiet, then my friend asked if it was possible to buy just one of the DVD’s separate because the set was too expensive, to which he said no as he turned and walked away from us. None of that was meant in a rude way on our part, but we were tired and cold. We just wanted a simple relatively inexpensive, but thoughtful gift and honestly weren’t interested in much of a conversation about it. So, we stood there debating with each other about what to get or do, shivering, the guy decided to try it again. This time he came up and asked if we were cold, as we were only in t-shirts as the sun was going down and it was cooling off fast. We explained we had hoped to just get a sweatshirt here, but they were all out. He prompted pointed us to the company’s nice heavy sweatshirts in the back of the tent and we once again quickly shut him down. This time he left for good. Oops, again, not meant as rude, it’s just were didn’t want to buy things we didn’t want – and what we wanted was a WEG sweatshirt, not just any sweatshirt. Eventually we settled on a training book and she got Clint to sign it. Then we moved on, giggling a little bit as we looked back at how those interactions must have some across.
Kentucky Horse Park
Secretariat
Man O’War
We also made quick stops by some of the Horse Park’s memorials and statues. The Thoroughbred racing great, Man O’War, is buried on the grounds, near a few of his relatives, including War Admiral. Man O’War won 20 of his 21 starts during his two year racing career, including the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Unfortunately, his owner did not enter him in the Kentucky Derby. To end his racing days, he easily beat Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner, in a match race. He was named 1920 Horse of the Year. He went on to have a successful breeding career as well, siring a number of stakes winners, including Triple Crown winner, War Admiral.
There’s also a statue of Triple Crown winner and 1938 Horse of the Year Secretariat, arguably the best racehorse of all time, after he won the Kentucky Derby.
Finally, we briefly walked through the Alltech Experience. It was a tad disappointing. I’m not sure what I expected, but apparently more than it was. The Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital pavilion was cool, but I guess that’s because it was just interesting to me. The courtyard was filled with horse art statues, but it seemed a little cluttered to me. The Newport Aquarium tent in-particular was a let down, maybe it was bad timing on our part, but the “special guests” promised were missing while we were there (at the end of the day). The Alltech Pavilion was interesting and visually interesting, but yet I still found myself bored in it. It was dedicated to showing what Alltech, as a company, does and the research they are involved in, which should have kept my attention. But, maybe it was because I was so far from ‘school-mode’ and there was so much else going on, I just didn’t want to stand still long enough to appreciate it.
We spent a little time wandering around the trade show again. We contributed to the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center for Thoroughbred adoption. How could we not, between the two of us, we have three off-the-track Thoroughbreds. All horses need a second chance and good home. My friend pre-ordered a copy of the full cross country DVD. But, other than that, we didn’t spend much. Still holding out… which means tomorrow we’ll probably go overboard.
Today’s Flickr set: event photos
WEG, Day 1: Dressage
Three-Day Dressage
&
Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle
Lexington, KY
Our travel went fairly smoothly. I ended up at my friend’s apartment about 45-minutes early than I had told her, but she was a good sport about it. She said she assumed I’d be early, she just wasn’t prepared for quite that early. Anyway, after a few minutes, she was ready and we headed to the airport. The flight went relatively well. It was short. The only hiccup was during take-off the cabin pressure (or something) was off, and I thought my head was going to explode. Oh well.
Our interaction with the Budget Car Rental representative was a bit odd. She wasn’t very friendly at all, but the weird part is she didn’t tell us anything but then assumed we knew and would go along with it. She was almost insulted when I refused to take the full-car insurance plan she automatically tacked on to my bill. She even got a little snooty with me when I dropped all extra coverage. She was also just plain rude when I told her we didn’t need to pre-pay for them for a gas fill up. Our intermediate Pontiac G6 was upgraded to a Mitsubishi Endeavor, which had its positives and negatives. Obviously the SUV gave us more room, but at the same time, considering we had a little bit of a commute, I wondered about the gas mileage.
We hit a little traffic just outside of Louisville due to construction, but once we were out of that, it was clear sailing to Lexington.
Main Stadium
The Games are being held at the Kentucky Horse Park, the home of the Rolex Kentucky Rolex Three-Day Event. The venue is awesome. I was very impressed, even outside of the current set up for the Games.
We slowly strolled over to the Main Stadium for our first event, trying to take in as much as possible. My friend admitted eventing dressage can get a tad dull after watching a few competitors. There are only so many times you can watch the same test over and over, which was a good call. It was neat being around all of those ‘horse-people’ surrounded by everything equestrian-related.
World Championship Eventing – Dressage
Sam Griffiths (AUS) on Happy Times
Geoff Curran (IRE) on The Jump Jet
Phillip Dutton (USA) on Woodburn
We only had tickets for the afternoon session, the fourth and final, of the eventing dressage. It was definitely more than enough too. Our seats were pretty decent, especially considering I only recently purchased them. Of course, we also could have easily moved. There was a lot of free space in the stands.
We watched half the group go, before striking out again to get the whole World Games experience at the park. We caught the US team captain, four-time Olympian & Team Gold Medalist, Phillip Dutton go, on his mount, Woodburn.
World Equestrian Games
Kentucky Wine Council Tasting Area in the Kentucky Experience
After leaving the main stadium, we shopped in the large Bit of Britain, walked through Kentucky Experience, watched a reining demonstration and browsed the Trade Show Village and Pavilion. Good stuff. We didn’t buy anything, with the idea we can come back later in the weekend. Although, we did want to buy WEG sweatshirts for our evening event, but we didn’t find any. The official merchandise was surprisingly depleted. I don’t know if they just put a certain amount out each day or what, but there was nothing. Hopefully tomorrow something new will show up.
This afternoon’s Flickr set: eventing dressage pictures
The only low point of the entire day was our much-needed bathroom break, turned nightmare. So, after traveling all day and eating both lunch and dinner, we both just needed to use the restroom. Normal. Well, the only facilities there were all port-a-pots!! Disgusting! But, I guess, how else could it work. We did find a small relatively ‘hidden’ group, in hopes they were in better condition then the large group by the main stadium.
World Championship Dressage – Freestyle
The Freestyle dressage was amazing! We grabbed some Derby Pies and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (a great beer!), sat back and just watched the show. Good times. Although, considering we didn’t find a sweatshirt, we were freezing by the end.
Laura Bechtolsheimer (GBR) on Mistral Hojris
Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz (ESP) on Fuego XII
Edward Gal (NED) on Moorland Totilas
Steffen Peters (USA) on Ravel
Freestyle dressage is exciting. Each competitor, the 15 best from the two previous days, designs up his or her own test and set it to music. So, each is a different combination of very high level dressage skills – like freestyle figure skating. There were some amazing performances. Spaniard Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz and his Andalusian stallion, Fuego XII, were a crowd favorite. In fact, he got a standing ovation and the crowd boo-ed his perceived low scores. The poor horse wasn’t sure how to take all the noise from the cheering crowd and almost threw his rider off. Edward Gal and Moorland Totilas gave another outstanding performances, taking another gold medal. The pair swept the golds this year! Of course, Ravel and American Steffen Peters were also exciting to watch.
Grand Prix Freestyle Results:
1. Edward Gal/Moorland Tortilas (91.80%) [NED] – Team, Special & Freestyle gold medal
2. Laura Bechtolsheimer/Mistral Hojris (85.35%) [GBR] – Team, Special & Freestyle silver medals
3. Steffen Peters/Ravel (84.90%) [USA] – Special & Freestyle bronze medals
Unfortunately, we chose not to stay for the medal ceremony, but we just had to leave. We both had t-shirts on, and it was very cold. It took a lot to just stick it out through the competition, let alone waiting around for them to present medals. We knew the results. Not to mention, it was late, we still had an hour to drive and had to check into our hotel. All with an early morning waiting around the corner.
This evening’s Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/justme_findingmyway/sets/72157624975279049/
The drive to the hotel went pretty fast. As expected, at 10:00pm, the road was fairly empty. Also, it’s just a straight shot from the Horse Park to our hotel, Holiday Inn Express.
Looking forward to tomorrow!
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