Tornadoes, fried cheesecake, the biggest horse theme park in the world and beautiful studs are an integral part of Kentucky
Sometimes it must feel to Stuart that the weather gods are against him. In 1999 he competed at one of the wettest Badminton events ever, in 2008 he returned to England to find snow on the ground in May! At the Australian International Three Day Event in Adelaide in 2009 (which he won) it was 43 degrees. When he left Australia for Kentucky recently, he was not expecting to encounter tornadoes and fallouts from volcanoes but he is getting used to dealing with all conditions!
Luckily, the Australian contingent travelling from Down Under were not affected by the volcano eruption in Iceland which grounded most air travel in northern Europe but it meant that UK based Australians Sam Griffiths and Graham Potts, due to meet the rest of the Australian crew in Kentucky, were unable to make it. The air travel problems affected many of the competitors, who tried to join their horses in Kentucky however they could - two of Great Britain's leading contenders for the Event had to take trains, planes and automobiles to reach Lexington. Oliver Townend took a train to Paris and then paid $3,000 to ride in a taxi from Paris to Madrid in order to catch a flight to Miami. William Fox-Pitt missed his train to Madrid but was able to persuade a neighbour to give him a ride in his private plane to reach Madrid in time for his U.S.-bound flight. The officials for the Event were also affected - the Ground Jury was depleted but luckily last minute replacements were found, enabling the competition to proceed.
Having overcome the travel problems, the weather forecast for the event started to look ominous. Bad weather had been causing havoc in Mississippi with 100 houses lost and 10 people dead from tornadoes and the twisters looked to be heading towards Kentucky. Trot-up day and the dressage days were pleasant but weather warnings were out for cross country day. The event normally allows for a two hour lunch break (very civilised!) but the cross country ran straight through so that all horses were through by 3pm. By 4pm the skies darkened and an emergency plan was put in place for the safety of horses and riders, which luckily was not required as the twisters missed Kentucky, although they were subjected to a fairly wild storm and heavy rain. They were equally blessed on showjumping day when heavy rain was forecast but it held off until after the presentation ceremony.
Despite the weather, Stuart was impressed by the layout and facilities of the Kentucky Horse Park. He describes it as a “huge horse theme park” with sophisticated and well run facilities for horses, riders and visitors. As you would expect from a venue which is the home of the US Equestrian Federation and where major events for various equestrian disciplines are frequently run, the general operation of the site seems to be very smooth and well organised. The cross country course is undulating – hardly any flat areas at all – but provides good viewing opportunities for the spectators, with many fences able to be viewed from vantage points. Mike Etherington-Smith, the course designer for both this event and the WEG, is obviously aiming for a very spectator friendly event – (maybe Americans don’t like walking too much!). Stuart also took advantage of invitations to visit some of the famous Kentucky studs in the area and some of his photos are on this blog and many more are on the Facebook page for An Eventful Life (just click on the Facebook link on this web site Home Page to get there). On the whole, Stuart was very impressed by the Kentucky Horse Park, the Rolex Three Day Event and the areas around Kentucky – and he’s looking forward to going back with a horse to tackle the course himself!
