One of the joys of travelling to a World Equestrian Games, wherever it may be in the world, is to arrive at your final destination to discover that it is delightful. In our case, this is Crockett House, just outside of Frankfort, Kentucky. Frankfort, to my surprise as I have done very little research, turns out to be the capital of Kentucky but I have yet to explore it as the journey so far has taken me to Auckland, Los Angeles, Dallas and Lexington. Some quick notes on the journey so far. Don’t bother to buy Duty Free in Australia or New Zealand on the way to the US – it invariably gets taken away from you by some airline official and it turns out to be cheaper here anyway (at the Pharmacy where you buy alcohol here and maybe pick up a hangover remedy at the same time). My flights were generally good a one-night stopover in LA included a side-trip to Venice Beach with the ‘crew’ (Julie, Anna, Vaughan, Roz and Toni-anne) and a very enjoyable dinner – great fun before we all took separate flights to arrive in Kentucky (see the Horse Deals WEG blog for their scary adventures in Louisville!) I finally arrived in Lexington at 11:30pm after a few hours delay on the flight from Dallas due to a malfunctioning toilet. There were several Aussies on this leg who cheerfully suggested to the airline official that we would all go to the loo in advance and could manage without an on-board toilet – let’s just go! Another plane was finally brought and we eventually landed on the famous Kentucky ground. 
Except at the moment the famous blue grass is not quite at its best, as the very friendly locals are quick to point out. After a few hot weeks (uncharacteristic for this time of year) it is, to them, parched and burned. To us, coming from Melbourne, it doesn’t seem too bad but it is obvious that the friendly people of Kentucky want everything to be perfect for their WEG and it is a bit of a blow for them that their lovely countryside is not quite at its best. Personally, I’m just glad that there are no tornadoes; especially last night when, after the spectacular (and spectacularly long) Opening Ceremony we had to queue for 45 minutes for a shuttle bus to return to the car park. If they need to apologise for anything in Kentucky it is not their lovely countryside but their poor transport options. Unlike the previous two WEGs I’ve attended in Aachen and Jerez where public transport for WEG spectators was free, plentiful and well planned, Kentucky is charging $20 per day to park your car and take a shuttle to the Kentucky Horse Park. Hopefully, it will improve but the poor management of the crowd trying to get out of the WEG venue and then out of the car park last night doesn’t bode well. It may be a blessing in disguise that not as many tickets as expected have been sold! 
The size of the main arena is certainly a lot smaller than recent WEGs, which makes all seating options seem pretty good and we had an excellent view of the opening ceremony (although $120 for an Opening Ceremony ticket which provided a steel bench with no seat back seemed a touch overpriced!). Flag bearer Stuart Tinney did a great job of bringing the large Aussie team in and the evening’s entertainment – including high-stepping saddle bred horses, cheer leading squads, marching bands, opera singers, Spanish horses dancing with ballerinas, Friesian dressage quadrilles (very good), cowboy dressage (not quite so good), cowboy girls (why not cowgirls, we wondered?), and a fantastic Mardi Gras display of circus type caravans to name but a few. The highlight for me was the free work shown by Tommie Turvey with his two coloured horses – entering the arena on one and calling the other in to join him on command – and the young rider Stacy Westfall who demonstrated speed, agility and a wonderful partnership with her horse which she rode bareback and bridle-less to the wonderful voice and music of Sarah Lee Guthrie. Muhammed Ali put in an appearance (I was a bit bemused until it was explained to me that he was born in Kentucky) driven around in a wonderful old American convertible. The beautiful and regal FEI President, HRH Princess Haya contributed a certain style to the proceedings and, all in all, it was a very enjoyable night. This morning the air is crisp at Crockett House and it feels autumnal although it will warm up as the day goes on. We have a free day to retrieve my luggage (no, I can’t blame the airline – I forgot to transfer my bags from a friend’s car when I was dropped off to pick up my hire car! I’ll blame jet lag!) and explore a bit around the countryside. For now, enjoy the fantastic photos taken by Toni-anne at the Opening Ceremony – we’ll load lots more on the Facebook WEG photo album shortly and we’ll keep the blogs coming now we’re settled in! Stay tuned – eventually we’ll get around to the horses at WEG as well! Photos: Toni-anne Collins
