LaurenGallops

Maybe it just seems as if they saved the best for last – the final rides in the Grand Prix Special today really made up for all the off-center, awkward happenings of yesterday and the Grand Prix – and they scored some ‘firsts,’ to boot .

It’s official – Edward Gal (NED) and Moorlands Totilas earned 85.708 for the gold medal. Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris claimed their second silver of the Games on 81.708, and Steffen Peters (USA) and Ravel earned the bronze medal with 78.542.

Laura Bechtolsheimer (GB) silver, Edward Gal (NED) gold, and Steffen Peters (USA) bronze - on the podium after the Grand Prix Special. Photo © Lauren R Giannini

With the playing of background music that suits each horse’s rhythm and gait during the test, dressage has come a long way. After all, if this is dancing on horseback, background music clearly adds more enjoyment to the spectator’s experience. Granted, the big show-stopping finale for everyone – horses and riders plus spectators – takes place on Friday night with the Freestyle, creatively choreographed routines that suit each horse to a tee.

But no one can take away the good feelings that linger from this day of outstanding competition. It had been a glorious day, blessed with sunny skies and cheerful weather, and while the same test was performed over and over again (31 times to be precise), each horse and rider stamped the movements distinctively. There was not one boring moment, not one. In fact, there was excitement at the incredible athleticism, grace and beauty of various breeds and bloodlines.

Today we saw some of the best horses and riders in the world piaffe and passage, pirouette and tempi their hearts out.It just doesn’t get much better than this. Of course, the Germans who won the last World Games aren’t here – a fact that has been mentioned several times, but the German riders who are here, including veterans Isabel Werth and Warum Nicht, all did well, albeit out of the medals.

Look at the the British – they have outdone themselves royally, so to speak, the team took silver yesterday and today Laura B (it’s a bloody challenging to spell as our last name) and “Alf” (also much easier than Mistral Hojris) today became the first British rider ever to win a silver medal. The last time GB medaled in dressage was 1978 when Jennie Loriston Clarke garnered individual bronze.

A very special day, more than making up for yesterday and the bad timing of a horse biting its tongue (ouch – we can’t protect them from everything) but the FEI rules of competition do look after the horses’ welfare. Hence, the elimination. Here’s the photo taken during the veterinary examination.

Bad timing for Parzival to bite his tongue but we've all done something similar. Stuff happens, and nicks seep until the body says enough. Fortunately, Parzival will live to dance brilliantly another day with Annelinde. Photo Courtesy of Alltech FEI Games

Oh, while we’re at it: try not to believe everything you read and hear on the internet. It is gossip central and not to be trusted. Edward Gal was asked in the press conference following his second gold medal of the Games if the rumor about Totilas being sold is true. Toto is not sold, nor is he staying in the US.

Well, we’re being hustled out of here (it’s our car, after all) to catch the 8 pm shuttle. Will post photo highlights of today’s Grand Prix Special later on.

Catch the action: www.alltechfeigames.com/results

Are they saving the best scores for last? Sure looks like it. The current leader (who went fifth) Anabel Balkenhol, coached no doubt by former US Dressage chef d’equipe Klaus Balkenhal, topped the morning scores on 72.625. Two of the three US riders in the GPS have gone. Tina Konyot and Calecto V earned 68.625 for sixth place, bested by .05 by Katherine Bateson-Chandler and Nartan who assumed fifth place.

Katherine Bateson-Chandler (USA) and Nartan, fifth for the moment, with 15 left to ride in the Grand Prix Special. (Photo © Lauren R Giannini)

BUT here’s the deal – it’s all going to change with 15 more riders to go, including Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas, etc etc – so the standing are gonna change drastically.

Michal Rapcewicz (POL) and Randon, last ride of the morning in the Grand Prix Special (Photo © Lauren R Giannini)

The last ride of the morning, from Poland, took over 3rd: Michal Rapcewicz and Randon – lovely rider and the horse took a bit of offense at the cheering people as they approached the out gate but Michal just sat tight – no fuss, no worry – good horsemanship beyond the control of collected gaits and why this dressage is a real eye-opener.

OOPS – gotta gallop, they’re about to start.

More anon…

Whoa – Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan are OUT of the Games, due to a flare-up of an infection in his leg that seemed to be responding well to treatment. Here’s Mark Phillips to explain about the loss of Kim and “Paddy” as the big Irish Draught Sporthorse is affectionately known (good thing, too, his real name can be a real tongue twister). Capt Phillips, US chef d’Equipe also comments on the XC and the Games in general.

Mark phillips preview 29-9

(Thanks again to Aly Rowell and LloydBell Productions!)

So, all the American 3-day horses passed although Neville Bardos needed to be jogged again on a “loose rein” by Boyd Martin, but he passed.

Karen O’Connor and Joan Goswell’s Mandiba move onto the team with Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM, Phillip Dutton and Woodburn, Boyd and Neville. Becky Holder and Courageous Comet will compete as individuals. Let’s hope that they wake up all three days and sharpen their competitive teeth. especially on Saturday – you heard what CPM said about the XC: “It’s big and you need to concentrate all the way.” He also said it’s fair – that there isn’t anything they haven’t come across before, but but but but – we’ve seen the Head of the Lake water complex… BIG is one way of describing the XC… more on that later: hoping to walk the whole thing start to finish and take pix of the more terrifying (repeat after me: Big & Fair) fences on this, Mike Etherington-Smith’s final hoorah before he retires from course design.

Okay – gotta check up on the Grand Prix Special – but had to tell you about Kim and “Paddy” – such a disappointment, but withrawing was totally in the best interests of her horse.

Stay tuned – we haven’t yet finished with Tuesday…

It’s a gorgeous day here at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Follow the action with live scoring on:

www.alltechfeigames.com/results

Well, it was one of those days, bittersweet, mixed emotions, surreal/unreal, just a bit out of focus.  That elimination of Adelinde Cornelissen (NED), ranked #2, early in her test, and although she’s out of the Games she still got to stand on the podium and accept team gold with top-scorer Edward Gal (Moorlands Totilas – 84.04). Respectable scores by Imke Schellekens-Bertels (Hunter Douglas Sunrise) and Hans Peter Minderhous (Exquis Nadine) – 73.44 and 72.25 respectively, ended up being keepers instead of the lowest one being dropped because Jerich Parzival and Adelinde were getting 80s right before that fateful halt and rein back. What a helluva way to win your first-ever team gold medal! But what we can’t figure out is how on earth Adelinde managed to stay so detached and unemotional?

Adelinde Cornelissen – Dressage

(Special thanks to Aly Rowell and LloydBell Productions for the sound bite)

Below is video the ride, the halt, the rein back, and the elimination, via Eventing Nation, via YouTube:

Okay, so we’ve had moments of near meltdown (remember that external hard drive – yeah, right). We’ve been moved profoundly at times by scenes at the Alltech World Equestrian Games, felt as if our emotions roiled like a volcano ready to erupt, but we’ve managed so far to contain the worst of it. But but but we are not on stage. We are behind the scenes, behind a camera, behind words on a page. We are not the show. The horses and the riders are the show – the pressure to perform is phenomenal.

With such a great horse as Parzival and scoring so well, Adelinde’s hopes had to be riding high. This is the Netherlands’ best shot at their first-ever team gold medal. That’s a biggie. They have two pairs of superstars – Adelinde and Parzival, Edward and Totilas. Their morning starts out with a tiny spot on the tongue of Parzival and wha-BAM – you’re out! Goodness gracious. This means there’s no room for error in Toto’s test and extreme pressure on Edward – the crowd gave him a standing ovation after his final halt and salute.

Edward Gal (NED) & Moorlands Totilas piaffed and passaged their way to the dressage team gold under considerable pressure. Photo © 2010 Lauren R Giannini

But we still can’t figure out how Adelinde managed to be so calm, cool and collected. Aly Rowell, who interviewed Adelinde, said maybe she was doing the proverbial “stiff upper lip.” Maybe – either that or she might consider a career on the stage. We think we might be absolutely shattered if something similar were to befall us. We know that our eyes would betray us – well up and glitter with unshed tears – a state we’ve experienced several times since arriving in Lexington last Thursday afternoon.

Steffen Peters – US dressage reaction 28-9

(Special thanks to Aly Rowell and LloydBell Productions for the sound clip)

Germany broke its 20 year WEG gold team streak – the best they could do was bronze. So, they had a bittersweet day, too.

For the US it was also a mixed emotions day. We ended up in fourth place, out of the medals by less than 3 penalty points -  daggnabbit!

(oops – fell asleep on laptop. press shuttles are far from horse park – must be there in time to shoot some of the Eventing Vet Inspection )

more anon – remember to visit www.alltechfeigames.com/results for living scoring and results

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games opened on Saturday night with a show of 40 acts that lasted almost three hours. The first-day crowd of 23,081 showed their appreciation with standing ovations throughout the evening as Dr. Pearse Lyons and a cast of hundreds of equines and humans celebrated THE HORSE Here’s a little sound bite, thanks to Aly Rowell, Lloyd Bell Production:

WEG opening ceremony

Here are a few photos:

Children donned horse head dresses for the opening number and charmed the crowd. (Photo © 2010 Lauren R Giannini)

One of the crowd-pleasers was the University Of Kentucky Cheerleading Team – they’ve won something like 18 national titles. Awesome airs above the ground – would be great fun to watch a game with all that going on the sidelines…

UK's Airs Above The Ground (photo © 2010 Lauren R Giannini)

And that was just for starters. Here’s another sound byte wherein Aly Rowell talks with Dr. Everett McCorvey, the executive producer of the show which had the full participation of title sponsor Alltech founder and director, Dr. Pearse Lyons…

Everett McCorvey 24-9

It was a feast for the senses and you didn’t have to be a horse-lover, but if you were, you noticed so many details that would escape the non-horsey person’s attention. Here’s another photo…

With each new act, the audience became more vocal in their approval of the entertainment. We especially enjoyed the Culver Academies Drill Teams – one rider in particular had a rather antsy mount, but never once tightened on the reins or pulled on its mouth. Instead we watched with fascination that one so young could be so steadying and calm in such an exciting atmosphere. We’re going to burn a CD of all the photos of the drill team and send them to the school  – both horses and cadets were absolutely fabulous, but then again we always got such a kick out of drill team.

We don’t know what the rider’s name, but they were doing all sorts of complicated patterns, and although the horse behaved as if it found the whole situation quite frankly frightening, there was no mayhem, no lost rider, no nothing. What a great group of horses and riders!

The United States Equestrian Team in the parade of athletes, and that's eventing great Karen O'Connor behind the American flag. Karen put as much into waving that flad as she does riding a four-star cross-country. Photo © 2010 Lauren R Giannini

That's para-equestrian Kim Decker with one of the Games' first winners - Tom McCutcheon. It looks as if he's taking his own picture with his cell phone - you go, Tom! Let's hope that some of his team gold with Shaun Flarida, Tim McQuay, and Greg Schmerza - and individual silver rub off on Kim - if not this WEG, then in 2012 for the Olympics. Photo © 2010 Lauren R Giannini

As if we’re not under enough pressure the day before the opening ceremonies of the Alltech World Equestrian Games, trying to finish up with deadlines, mostly photos with brief copy, still to deliver to Sidelines… and suddenly our external hard drive died early this afternoon.

Gotta admit – someone once told us, “Never speak of war in times of relative peace.” Gretchen B. Stephens was Master of Casanova Hunt at the time, and while many years have passed, we still think about that nugget of wisdom. For what it’s worth, on this Black Friday tech-wise, we recall how we’ve have been  thinking about getting another more sophisticated external hard drive to back up our photos. We try to keep them off our macbook’s hard drive, but now…

With that nice La Cie sitting at home, doing nothing, in Delaplane VA, we’re going to buy something that doesn’t require smelling salts just to get through WEG. We don’t know what else to do. Screaming and falling apart at the seams comes to mind, but everyone’s under so much pressure to deliver great stories and photos, they won’t appreciate hysterics in the Main Press Center, staffed by Marty Bauman’s Classic Communications team. It’s probably a good thing we know what sort of ship Marty runs. We behaved with great dignity, we didn’t tell everyone our tale of woe. We continued to pretend to function while we dealt with a severe case of shock.

We googled to find some reasonably priced data recovery services which kept us too busy to succumb to the urge to scream and fall apart emotionally, because years of work and recent events were lost. We learned that for a dear price several outfits will be happy to try to recover our jpegs…

The good news is that some photos are stashed in gmail archives that will do the trick – it’s just a matter of spending the time. Another bonus is that we did not delete the interviews so vital for the stories. We can piece together words. We are motivated to write fast and exercise economy in our wordage. This will make editor Cornelia Henderson very happy, because she’s always telling us to write short. That’s the only option open at this point.

As for the data recovery services, they must think that our middle initial R stands for Rockefeller – NOT!!! It’s for our mother’s name, but it might as well be Murphy, because we feel as if we’ve been pranked royally.

But somehow we’ll get through this, and perhaps data recovery won’t be horrendously expensive and maybe a reader will know someone who will give us a lovely discount or be a techie-DIYer who just happens to know how to build an external hard drive from scratch and can take these components and save our sanity…

Well, enough of that. Que sera, sera.

Here is a photo we snapped on the way through the Kentucky Horse Park to the press center, earlier today, when the sun was shining and our mood cheerful and the day still held so much promise.

The temporary stands have been gussied up with these lovely scenic drops that tell the story of what's happneing at Kentucky Horse Park from 25 September to October 10 during the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games. (photo by Lauren R Giannini)

And that really is a car floating on the water – Land Rover thought it up. They constructed the raft the other day. The fabric seems to breathe and it’s almost see through from a certain angle. They have side panels as well as the long back panels on the metal bleachers – really adds a lovely touch and dresses them up.

Oh, here’s a different point of view of state troopers – specifically, Kentucky state troopers. They were all sitting in golf carts outside the Press Center and we thought it was a terrific statement of some sort – well, at least a fun image.

WILD LIFE - just these two Bluegrass "smokies" or all of them? Actually, they've all been incredibly nice and helpful. (Photo by Lauren R Giannini)

It’s absolutely pouring – the roof over the Sidelines work station (taped names on many spaces at the long tables in the press center) leaks. We thought it was some annoying bug, but no – rain drops kept falling on my head, but not frequently enough that we made the connection until we noticed tiny drops of water after yet another assault of our hair by the “mystery bug.” Needless to say, the horse gods decreed that our day had been trying enough and the rain held off until we – that’s Selena Frederick (www.chevalphotos.com) and yours truly – managed to walk that testing distance to the parking area. In a few hours we take the shuttle from a nearby motel to the horse park. Hope it drops us off close to the press center. We get plenty of exercise as it is…

Stay tuned for more news and photos from the Alltech World Equestrian Games.

www.alltechfeigames.com

Okay, we’re tired, but happy in the Bluegrass State (truthfully, exhausted). The old baby-baru did fine, tires rode smooth as silk (road-surface permitting), and we’re relaxing with two other photographers over some of Alltech’s bourbon barrel Kentucky Ale. It’s also nearly 2 am. So what. We’ll sleep, we’ll get our deadlines delivered, and we are so so ready for these first ever equestrian games outside Europe – BRING ON THE ALLTECH GAMES!!!

Culver Academy drill team. (Photo by Lauren R Giannini)

Throughout the entire rehearsal, we heard Alltech’s Dr. Pearse Lyons’ voice but couldn’t pinpoint his location. Afterwards, dazzled by the opening show, we marched off, toting a very heavy backpack camera bag, thinking we might search him out to rave about his vision, but there were so many people, and it was so late. We decided to put our delight into words: Dr. Lyons has good reason to be pleased and he’s stamping the Games with his personal sigature. Class acts all the way, an incredible view of America via our performing arts, on horseback and on human foot.

Hello, World Equestrian Games – welcome to America!

Alltech Equestrian Games celebrate the horse. (Lauren R Giannini photo)

Stacy Westfall & her mare perform without bridle & saddle. (photo by Lauren R Giannini)

One of our favorites was part of the show – Stacey Westfall and her wonderful reining mare – saddle-less and no bridle. Too cool. Arabs, Friesians, the Culver School drill team, more than this mere mortal can contemplate at this hour.

OMG  – the Games are about to begin. Here’s to Alltech, Dr. Lyons and his team, to all the athletes – equine and humane – and to the people who have contributed to much to making the Games such a success on American soil. We’re just sorry we don’t have a good photo of the children from Haiti – they sing like angels. In fact, all the singers and musicians – from Bluegrass to symphony to opera to gospel – were simply outstanding. Two names spring to mind – Cherryholmes, Winona Judd – and the line-up of entertainment continues to dazzle during the Alltech Fortnight Festival, on-going in the city of Lexington (many local acts at “watering holes”) and state-wide. Some are ticketed concerts, to boot, but when it comes to a line-up of stars – it seems that they’re all in Kentucky. If you’re anywhere nearby, check it out.

Champion jockey Matt McCarron leads the charge. (photo by Lauren R Giannini)

Stay tuned for more…

Caveat: the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games are not for the faint of heart – you might have too much fun!

www.alltechfeigames.com

Whilst growing up in a brilliant yet dysfunctional family, we (as seventh child of eight total) recall that our mater had some wonderful Pennsylvania Dutch sayings. One in particular springs to mind:

The Hurrier I Go, The Behinder I Get.

Those eight words describe most aptly how we feel right now, Monday evening, 8:45 EST – with just tonight and Tuesday night to get ready to leave for Kentucky and the 2010 ALLTECH World Equestrian Games.

With the Virginia Thoroughbred Association’s special screening of Secretariat Wednesday evening, we decided that we could leave after the movie. um hmmm, yeah right – if, that is, we can find our way at night from Tyson’s Corner back to Warrenton and Rt 29 to Charlottesville. While it might seem madness, this afternoon we thought we wouldn’t be able to leave for Lexington (KY) until Thursday afternoon.

Now, we don’t know about you all, but if you ask us something about horses, we’re on familiar turf. When it comes to cars, we are out of our element – oh, we love to drive, and five-speed manual transmissions are IT, but today was like a punch in the solar plexus. Why? Because the need for new tires suddenly advanced from a vague – Oh, before winter sets in – to You need front tires NOW.

Oy very vey… thought we had this conversation in July over an oil change… Thought you all said by winter… Okay, two new tires – when? Order doesn’t come in until Thursday afternoon.

OMG – you’re kidding right? You’re not kidding, but but but we leave Wednesday night after the VTA’s reception and screening of the new Secretariat movie, which we’re covering with camera and pen – yada yada yada. THURSDAY?????? OMG – that means we won’t get to KY until sometime Friday… Panic sets in, big-time.

Do you know what “totally tizzed” means? Getting your knickers in an uproar is mild compared to being totally tizzed. Suddenly, we felt all our carefully gathered calm disintegrate. We still felt optimistic about all the items still on the “to do” list, such as: several weeks’ worth of laundry, then pack clothes and work-related items for more than two weeks on assignment, empty the car (in order to vacuum it),  re-pack the now clean and pristine car, get stories done for the November focus on foxhunting issue, sneak a few minutes with our wonderful purebred Connemara Lord Peter (who happens to be happy as a clam with his best new buddy, Rappy, Miniature Horse, chez  Catherine Mack, who stood Peter’s grandsire, Aladdin – more on all this after the Games…). Clean clothes AND work on stories… You get the picture.

Landgate Lord Peter & yours truly, Lauren G (hair NOT bursting into flames): sometimes we wish Lord Peter were going to WEG with the other representatives of this versatile Connemara breed, but we're going to be very busy and he's probably much happier staying on the farm... (Photo taken with our camera by Graham Alcock, equine dentist)

But the main stresser is now tires: how do we get new tread on the vehicle and still arrive in the BlueGrass state by Thursday???

We’re about to hit critical mass when we realize that at Jeff Evans’ Lenah Auto Service (with whom we have a long history of friendship and cars on the lift) nobody, especially Jeff, is paying much attention to our tizz…

Affirmative action: time to run east on Rt 50 to Chantilly and tackle the staff at Merchants. WHY ARE THE TIRES SO WORN? and WHY DID SOMEONE TELL US THAT THERE’S SOMETHING CAN’T BE FIXED THE LAST TIME WE GOT THE ALIGNMENT CHECKED? And so on and so forth…

We called Darlene Jacobson, because she is great at sighing sympathetically, who allowed us to get the angst out of our system. By the time we pulled up to Merchants, we no longer resembled a fire-breathing dragon. We had decided that, if we had to wait until Thursday for new tires, che sera sera and so be it. So, in a less maniacal frame of mind, we’re being helped by this one very pleasant fellow, who listens to our tale of tire woe.

When we tell him we’re courting a severe case of “agita” and he laughs out loud, well, that calms us down a few more clicks. Seems he’s very familiar with impending attacks of agita – special thanks to his wife who happens to warn him when he’s giving her “agita” which is Italian-American slang for existential heartburn, extreme aggravation, etc.

After that, we learned that our particular baby-subie (5-door AWD 5-speed Impreza) doesn’t have any way of correcting rear tire camber if it’s off a click: but it’s not a big deal.

ohhhhhhh

We hare back to Jeff’s – printout of April alignment details in hand, trying to figure out where/if we got the alignment in May after the original equipment (OEM) front struts finally croaked  – and learned that Trish (sp?) was fielding our calls between talking to the lads down in Martinsburg (did we just rename their hometown?) and because she raved about us – really good friend, on deadline, gotta get to KY by Thursday afternoon – AND we upped the order to FOUR tires, because the back ones were really worn, too, suddenly our luck changes. Trish announces that he promised to send the tires not on Wednesday, as she had finagled a half hour earlier while we were ‘agitating’ to the alignment guys, but on Tuesday – WOO HOO!!! So we’re set to get the tires mounted at 1:30, dash east immediately to get the alignment, and we’ll be good to go…

YES YES YES!!! We’re good to go to the first ever World Equestrian Games to be held outside of Europe, thanks to title sponsor ALLTECH & Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder, president & genuine visionary/entrepreneur !!!

Amen – Hallelujah – Thank you, fairies and angels!!!

Okay, so we still have a whole lot of stuff to accomplish, but here’s the deal: it’s all happening. The Alltech FEI Games are happening, and Kentucky Horse Park is going to be the stage on which the world’s best equestrians and horses perform.

So please send this link to your friends and subscribe to RSS feeds – we’ll be posting daily: pix, atmosphere, what’s happening, what’s cool, who’s leading what discipline – EIGHT, count ‘em, EIGHT FEI DISCIPLINES at one venue!!! It all kicks off with the opening ceremonies on Sept 25 and wraps up with the closing ceremonies on Oct. 10.

Special thanks to Jeff, Trish, James, Kelli, the tire guys (must find out their names), the lads at Merchant’s, and to the kindred spirits who put on their tin hats and duck when we get into one of our tizzes!

www.alltechfeigames.com

ps due to the inconvenience of not having any photos of yours truly with hair bursting into flames, we leave you to use your imagination…

Some people can’t contemplate missing WEG in Kentucky while others find it hard to spend that much money. Granted, it’s a challenging time economically, but how often do Americans get the opportunity to see all eight disciplines at one venue within their own country? Sure, you can watch NBC’s coverage, but it’s not the same as being there in person.

You don’t have to be horsey to attend. You don’t even have to buy an event ticket, because the $25 grounds pass (children under 12 are free) takes you into the world’s fair style celebration at the Kentucky Horse Park: an Equine Village with daily demonstrations by 100 top trainers and 400 horses, gardens, a beer garden, food and beverage samples, daily non-stop entertainment in three different locations, all sorts of attractions, plus shopping.

Dressage enthusiast Joyce Caudill lives 40 miles north of KHP on the dream farm her husband built: Summer Hill Training Center for hunter/jumpers, eventing and dressage. Taking advice from professionals who said ‘build an indoor, they will come’ soon after they built the indoor, the recession hit and too many stalls are empty. So when WEG organizers asked if the Caudills could host a combined driving competitor from Florida, the Caudills jumped at the opportunity to be involved.

“David Saunders from Black Prong – their six horses are spending September here, and we believe in [the Alltech Games] so much that we’re not charging David,” said Caudill. “We aren’t wealthy. The Games are a good thing for the US and good for this region of Kentucky.”

On top of offering her training center to Saunders and his team, Caudill bought two hospitality tickets for dressage and for eventing so that her husband (not horsey) and she (doesn’t get to travel) could enjoy “red carpet” treatment while watching the best in the world not far from home. She didn’t bat an eyelash at the cost, because it was all in support the Games.

Event rider/trainer Leslie Wylie, event rider/trainer and freelance writer (TN), blogs about trying to fulfill big dreams on a small budget. Her longterm goal is to jump clean around a four-star cross-country course. She wouldn’t miss WEG for the world.

Leslie Wylie certainly looks like a party animal ready to celebrate WEG, warpaint and all, aboard Mudcat: splashing through the water on the cross-country at 2010 Red HIlls International Horse Trials (FL). (Photo Courtesy of the Wylie Family)

“It’s two and a half hours away – how could I not go? A couple friends and I are going up to watch the eventing,” said Wylie. “We’ll probably blow our life savings at the trade fair. We’ll be wearing tee-shirts that say ‘I heart Boyd Martin’!”

Doug Payne (NJ), known as the ‘go to guy’ for problem horses, has the talent, tenacity and skills to make his mark internationally, but has yet to demonstrate what he can do with a topnotch equine partner. The event rider (featured in August) wants to go to the Games. He knows all the Americans short-listed for eventing, which is his sport.

Doug Payne (left) at Rolex with eventing pals Sinead Halpin, Sean Crocker, and Lynn Symansky: smile if you’re party animals and want to go to the Alltech Games… Photo (c) Lauren R Giannini

“I’ll probably go as a spectator – I have an in, being that my mother Marilyn [Payne] is president of the ground jury,” said Payne. “This really is the chance of a lifetime – stay and watch everything you can.”

Raise your hands if you want to be adopted temporarily by an FEI official… Whoa – not practical.  But getting up a party of friends to share the driving costs works. There are many reasonably priced motels and RV campgrounds within 60 miles of Kentucky Horse Park. Sharing the costs of gas, motel, and VIP parking means you can do grounds passes for the over-12s or splurge for event tickets.

If equestrian sports simply aren’t your passion, perhaps partying is. Put on your dancing shoes and join the celebration.

It’s called having your carrot cake and eating it too.

For updates and information: www.alltechfeigames.com

Honestly, where did summer go? Time has been a loose horse, careering out of control. We’re not ready for anything, not really. We still haven’t unpacked from the move and what time we spend at home is divided among three major activities – getting rid of stink-bugs, meeting deadlines and sleeping. That last one has been in short supply for far too long.

We’re also trying to get our gear up to snuff for the Alltech World Equestrian Games. We hope to leave for KY so we can pick up our credentials in the heart of Lexington on the 23rd. Opening ceremonies are on the 25th, but we’d like to scope out the whereabouts of the main press center and get a locker and all that jazz before the place goes bananas. It may already be bananas by the time we get there, who knows.

We’ve been in agonies about our camera gear. Just sent one camera body bck to Nikon for repair after two weeks of searching for a good deal in a gently used D300 – but the best we could do was around $1,000 – lower shutter actuations increase in price, higher shutter actuations cost around $900. We didn’t have it to spend, so we decided to get our handy D2H repaired. Even though it’s only 4.1 MP, it shoots 5 frames per second and the quality is outstanding. We figure we’ll put the 28-70 telephoto on the D2H for nearby candids etc and save the primary body for the long telephotos…

Konyot and Calecto V are on the US Dressage Team for the ALLTech World Equestrian Games: shown here, winning the Freestyle during The Kentucky Cup test event during Rolex in April. (Lauren R Giannini photo)

Honestly, we drove ourselves crazy with emotions – should we, shouldn’t we? – then we talked with two great voices of Nikon experience. Local Middleburg shutterbug Jim Poston and Pooch McClanahan, longtime guru at his shop in Warrenton. That D2H has only 66,000 shutter actuations, the body is pristine and while it developed some serious meter issues, etc – it’s a workhorse of a camera. It will return from Nikon like new and, honestly, the cost is pretty much what we allocated to spend on a used back-up body. Pooch told us that with the D300s costing $1600 new, to spend $1100 on even the most gently used D300 didn’t make a lot of sense with that D2H.

So, with any luck it got shipped and with any luck at all the note put in with the D2H by Cindy (nee McClanahan, but can’t remember her married name to save our life) about please try to get this back by Sept 20 – professional photographer,  will get that camera back in time. We believe in miracles, yes, we do.

Of course, since a year ago June we’ve had the paperwork to join Nikon Professional Services where Nikon expedites repairs AND sends you whatever you want on loan while your own equipment is gone. We are TERRIBLE about sending forms, because we put them in safe places that act like time capsules, so that paperwork is not our forte. Ask our CPA – she knows all too well…

But here’s the thing. We thought – well, maybe if we go ahead and put all that stuff together for NPS – application, list of pro bodies and Nikkor lenses, tear sheets of work – and send it priority on Tuesday that they’ll get it and make the connection, especially if we tell the good folks at McClanahan Camera what we did and the method behind our madness. That way, when Cindy fields the fax of the repair report, she can contact them and ask, “By the way, did you receive that D2H owner’s application for membership into NPS?” And perhaps that will grease the wheels, because we will have included our sincere and heartfelt plea to please please get our sturdy D2H back to us in time for the drive to the World Equestrian Game. We will also include a print-out of this post…

See, Nikon, we’ve been loyal for years, since our first FM that led us to those wonderful old film FAs – we still own two of them with motordrives, but only one is functional. Too bad our eyesight is so bad that we dare not risk manual focus on assignment – sigh… Such is the pressure of daily blogs with pix at the Alltech Games that we will need all the speed and convenience of digital technology.

With any luck at all we’ll get everything done in good order (repeat it like a mantra: we believe in miracles). Our trusty D2H will come back in time to got to KY for the Games, and we’ll meet all our interim deadlines in good time.

We believe in miracles.

We believe in miracles.

We believe in miracles.

PS Just got word that Alltech founder and president, Dr. Pearse Lyons’ has again stepped up to the plate and injected the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games with another 3.5 million. What a blessing this individual has been to the horse world and then some! In terms of “activating” its sponsorship, Dr. Lyons and his Alltech team has raised the bar and written reams about what sponsorship entails. The Alltech World Equestrian Games will show the US, Kentucky and the “new (horse) world” to the rest of the globe in an amazing spotlight – thanks to Alltech. Dr. Lyons is more than a savvy entrepreneur who doesn’t do “gloom and doom” – he defines the meaning of “class act.”

21 days and counting to the opening ceremonies of the ALLTECH FEI World Equestrian Games!!!

Dr. Pearse Lyons, financial angel of the ALLTECH World Equestrian Games, and one of his horse-craziest fans, Sidelines staff writer/photographer/author of LaurenGallops.