Packing to travel away to a major event is always a chore but for Megan Jones this trip could be a long one. She is leaving her lovely base in the Adelaide hills to take her horses, Kirby Park Irish Jester (Jester) and Kirby Park Allofasudden (Floyd) to compete at the Sydney International Three Day Event from August 26th – 29th and, if all goes to plan, she may not be back (apart from a flying visit) for nearly nine weeks. She is of course aiming to be part of the Australian eventing team to compete at the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Kentucky – most probably on her Olympic silver medal winning horse, Jester. First they have travel to Sydney to compete at the last selection event – an 18 hour drive which will take them a couple of days. Normally Megan’s partner Steve shares the driving and they drive through but work commitments are keeping Steve at home so with only one driver, the Kirby Park team will be having a stopover en route. Steve will be flying over later and he will drive one of the horses home whilst the other is prepared for the long flight to Kentucky. It will be a long flight. The company which runs direct horse transport flight from Australia to LA is no longer operational meaning that the horses, along with the Australian team vets, will embark on a journey from Sydney to Lexington via Hong Kong, Alaska, LA and Cincinnati. From there they will be trucked the last leg to the Kentucky Horse Park, home of the 2010 WEG and hopefully, despite the long journey, they will arrive as fit and well as they leave. There is no doubt though that it is a long flight for these equine athletes who will be required to compete at peak fitness around the Kentucky course about two weeks after the flight. Megan was a part of the Australian party that visited Kentucky for the test event in April. At that point the weather was very hot and humid and Megan noted that the cross-country course took a lot out of the horses at that event. The weather should be milder in October when their competition is on, but Megan thinks that horse fitness levels are still going to play a major role. When I ask who she considers the main competition to be for the Australian team, she laughs and says she isn’t much of an expert in that area – her mum and dad follow the competition more closely – however she is quick to point out that the American team should be pretty strong “especially if half of it is made up of Australians!”. She is of course referring to Phillip Dutton and Boyd Martin, two excellent Australian eventing riders who now ride for the US and are currently in contention for US team berths. She also mentions England (“If they can afford to leave Olly Townend out, they must have a strong team”), Germany and Canada (who apparently had five riders in the top ten at the test event). Megan may not follow the competition but she seems pretty knowledgeable to me! No doubt, many of these teams are waiting with interest to see who will be their adversaries on the Australian team. The announcement of the team should be in the first couple of days in September. Megan plans to stay in Sydney after the Sydney 3DE to await the decision and, if selected, attend the squad camp before flying out. There is also the Cantering Towards Kentucky fundraising dinner on September 3rd in support of the six riders selected to travel to Kentucky (tickets already sold out) and then she flies back to Adelaide the next day for a send-off dinner which Leigh Beissel, Megan’s marketing and sponsorship manager has organised before starting squad camp in Sydney. On top of all of this there is a slight clash with the prize-giving ceremony for 2010 HSBC FEI World Cup ranking. Megan is currently in second place and anticipates maintaining her placing – which could earn her $US 32,000. However, one of the provisions for eligibility is attendance at the prize-giving ceremony, which will be held at the Burghley Horse Trials from 2nd-5th September. Logistically this is a slight problem, however she is in discussion with the organisers of the HSBC FEI World Cup and hopes there will be a solution to the problem which, as she points out, is a very nice problem to have! Assuming that she is in Kentucky, Megan intends to stay on after the eventing to help her pupil and friend Grace Bowman who is part of the Australian para-equestrian team riding Kirby Park Joy. Then the fun begins for the hard working girls! They will be visiting Washington DC where Megan will host a clinic followed by a few days R&R (and shopping!) in New York. If all goes to plan, Megan will be away for nearly nine weeks but intends to be competing at the Adelaide International Three Day Event on her return. Luckily she has the talented Floyd in the wings who will be kept “ticking over” along with several other horses at home whilst Megan is away. But first things first and Megan’s first goal is to go well at the Sydney 3DE. From there, it’s onwards and upwards for a great ride over the next few months. You can follow Megan at the Sydney 3DE and (hopefully) at the WEG on our blog at An Eventful Life. Megan’s story from her early days of riding through to winning a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics is tole in An Eventful Life – Life Stories of Eventing Champions. Buy it now and find out what it takes to be Megan Jones
