Great day for xc at Rolex 2013. Perfect weather. Buck Davidson smokin’ xc. Go Buck go!
Jump just before the first water, fence 6.
Some of the crowd on xc day. Infield of the steeplechase track
With MFH Laura and MFH John in the tailgating section at lunch
Cross country day was fantastic! The weather was great, the footing was perfect and the riding was stellar. Very few falls and no horse injuries that I am aware of. What a great day!
Dressage Day at Rolex had us arriving at the park at 7:30 a.m., in the hope that the trade fair would be open before dressage started at 10. This is how the head of the lake looked at 7:30 in the morning on our walk in. How cool.
How the trade fair actually looks at 7:30 in the morning.
Not to worry, the bar is open at 7:30 a.m. Go Kentucky Horse Park! Big John fixed the wanna-be shoppers up with consolation bloody marys.
The trade fair opened at 9. Anything you want is available at the trade fair, including these ridiculously adorable Pony Pals. They are rideable!
Mary King leaving the ring after a beautiful test. Sally O’Connor said she had the best shoulder in of the event so far in the competition.
I loved this horse’s outline, though I don’t remember who it was!
Bit of Britain on site store. Seriously excellent. Scored 2 pairs of gloves, 2 saddle pads and more…
William Fox-Pitt. What fun to watch him ride a dressage test. He and Mary King make it look joyful.
More WFP
During a dressage break. Had to do the Bruce Davidson statue picture. With the Stones.
In the evening, we went to Thoroughbreds for All where hall of farm jockey Chris McCarron blithely rode a pretty fresh chestnut tb who was a little intimidated by the crowd. He spoke while he did it. He was wonderful! We wished we could have stayed for the whole program, but we had dinner plans
…with the Boyle’s. These lovely people are Maddie and Lilly. Ricky and Julie were busy inside so, sadly, I didn’t get a decent picture of them as night was falling.
This is our magic bus. Can you see what is wrong with this picture?
Could be the bottle of wine that determinedly stayed on the roof for the drive from the hotel, to Thoroughbreds for All and back to the Boyle campsite at Rolex. Jay is a very smooth driver!
Jeff, Jon and Margaret hanging out. Ricky is grilling delicious things in the background.
Jay relaxing.
On to xc tomorrow!
Hey kids!
I’m in a minivan full of friends and we’re heading to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event in beautiful Lexington, KY. Despite the fact that it will actually be warmer this weekend in the Land Of No Spring – Iowa, our dear home – than in Kentucky, it doesn’t even tweak the party because the galloping and jumping horses and equestrian super heroes are cranking it up in Lexington this weekend. Yessir.
The dressage phase started today and, thanks to Jon Chester loaning me his wonderful Mifi and Jay the OTR driver, I watched every ride while blazing east toward KHP. Tomorrow is another day of dressage and you can watch while you are supposed to be working on Friday, by clicking here.
The Rolex leader board is here and all I can say is Go Becky Holder, midwestern girl, foxhunter goddess and all around good person. Get ’em, girl. Go OTTBs. They’re everywhere this year. I guess the short format didn’t phase them.
Finally, I stumbled across this blog this week and I bet every eventer rocking the four star this weekend subscribes to most of the 6 truths. The blog is a bit harsh at times, but then, we all need an intellectual half halt now and then.
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Tune in tomorrow when I’ll share some insights about our day watching world class eventing dressage, shopping at one of the biggest tack markets in the world and going to “Thoroughbreds for All” where Phillip Dutton and Chris McCarron will be speaking. Seriously, yo. 😉
Until tomorrow.
Horsitivity 