On the Line

As I write this, the cross country is well underway at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell, Montana. Yesterday was a full day for competitors, volunteers and stewards, who kept five levels of 1* through 3* dressage running smoothly.

The turnout was impeccable, the day was bright and sunny, and Cheval Photos was ringside catching every moment. Photographer Selena Frederick is surely knee deep in lush grass next to a XC fence right now, and we’ll bring you the XC phase as seen through her lens tomorrow. For now, enjoy a few moments from the dressage phase.

After dressage, Allison Springer and Arthur led the CIC3*, Canadian Jessica Phoenix and Pvarotti led the CIC2*, and James Atkinson had the top spot in the CICI2* with Gustav. Live and complete scores are here.

Good luck for safe rides to everyone running XC today!

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Nearly all of the riders wore ribbons on their lapels in memory of Rebecca Farm founder, Rebecca Broussard.

Welcome back to this corner of the internet! As the summertime heats up, I know I’m not the only one wishing for a little vacation time and a time when temperatures wait until at least 9:30am before cracking the 90 degree mark.

If you’re an eventer, mid July is the perfect time to pack up for a little horse-cation to the heart stoppingly gorgeous state of Montana. Over the past 10 years, Rebecca Farm has become synonymous with the Big Sky state, and each year the event held in Kalispell, Montana takes on ever more importance. Last year, it was a critical pre-WEG stop, this year, an equally (if not more) important qualifier for the upcoming Pan American Games this October, which will lead to London in 2012.

The competitor list is a whos-who of 4* eventing, and many upper level riders are they with their going and up and coming horses. Captain Mark Phillips has designed the cross country course for the 10th year in a row, and you know that many riders will be thinking about London throughout the weekend.

Luckily for all of us not camping out at RF this weekend (39 degree mornings, hello!!) to compete or spectate, On the Line’s favorite photo connection is on site and providing us with eye-candy worthy images of the riders, jumps, and moments that make Rebecca Farm so special. Many thanks to Cheval Photos, and without further ado:

Captain Mark Phillips led a course walk yesterday and was sure to point out this 1.80 wide table, the widest jump on the course. Yes you read that right, 1.80m !!!!! Photo ©Cheval

. . . Speaking of big jumps, check this one out. Karen O'Conner undoubtedly contemplates how she's going to kick this keyhole jump's ass on Saturday. Photo ©Cheval

The 2nd best way to get around Rebecca Farm's 640 acres. Photo ©Cheval

Allison Springer and Arthur were one of the 18 pairs from the East Coast that flew to the event on a special "Horse Force One" flight on Wednesday. Photo ©Cheval

Hawley Bennett-Awad rides for Canada, and brought 6 horses to RF from her base on the West Coast. Gotta love those hot pink iPod earphones. Photo ©Cheval

. . . and yes, speaking of hot pink, I don't think a photo has ever begged for an Eventing Nation caption contest quite like this one. Buck Davidson's shirt . . . I have no words. Looks like the horse has plenty, though. Photo ©Cheval

Last December, the much loved founder of Rebecca Farm, who was a huge benefactor to US eventing, passed away. Rebecca Broussard is remembered in many places and in many people's minds and hearts this weekend. This volunteer's shirt says it all. Photo ©Cheval

Fence 15 sports a very picturesque bucket of dog bones for passing canines. Photo ©Cheval

Who wouldn't want to ride here? Photo ©Cheval

Check back here over the weekend for more images from The Event at Rebecca Farm. Over 500 competitors are entered in, well, a lot of levels and last year 20,000 people turned up to cheer them on. There are 20,000 people in Montana? Who knew?

While I ponder that, feel free to check out live scoring and rider lists, and if you absolutely require by the second, obsessively exhaustive wall-to-wall detailed event coverage from legitimate eventers, I give you Eventing Nation.

Cheval Photos is an official photographer this weekend, so bookmark the talented Selena Frederick’s website and facebook page for more from her!

On the Line just loves when things work out for the best, and few things beat a tale of a great partnership returning to the ring together after years away! Here is a great postscript to a compelling story (covered by yours truly for Sidelines and California Riding Magazine) from over two years ago.

You might remember Good Guinness, a California-based grand prix jumper that was the subject of a big cross-country horse mix up back in 2009.

…Good Guinness was a popular grand prix horse on the West Coast who gained many fans during a memorable win streak on the Northern California grand prix circuit in 2008 with his original trainer and rider, Patrick Seaton. Later that year Patrick sent the horse to Frank Madden as a sales prospect, with trainer and Olympic show jumper Ali Nilforushan acting as agent. While in transit from California to Madden’s barn, the hauler laid over at McLain Ward’s Castle Hill Farm in New York. On his way out the next day, the hauler grabbed the correct passport and halter, but mistakenly loaded the incorrect horse, which was then delivered to Frank Madden. Because the two horses were somewhat similar, and both were represented by busy, top trainers at both ends, the error wasn’t realized until Patrick went to see Guinness while on a trip to Florida, six months later.

Because the story involved a talented grand prix jumper and such big names in the industry, it attracted a lot of attention when Patrick discovered that the horse Frank Madden knew as Good Guinness, wasn’t actually his horse. “Stolen horse” rumors ran rampant at first, when no one knew where the real Good Guinness had disappeared to.

Luckily, everything worked out for the best, and this is On the Line’s favorite part of the story. As soon as he saw that the “imposter horse” wasn’t his, Patrick immediately spread the word that his horse was missing, and Good Guinness instantly became a hot topic among horse people all over the country.

In a testament to the power of the Internet, Guinness was found less than four days later due to a thread on The Chronicle of the Horse’s popular online forums. An anonymous poster saw the photos of Guinness that were being circulated and talked about on the forum, and identified Guinness’ whereabouts from jump shots taken from a show in Gulfport the month before. It turned out that Good Guinness had traveled to a New Jersey show barn and on to Gulfport as a low childrens jumper, leased for the winter from the Wards.

The horses were quickly returned to the correct homes once it was uncovered that the whole mix up had been due to an honest mistake back at the layover point. Good Guinness had a lot of fans in California, and after the whole ordeal, many hoped that they would see him return to the ring with Patrick.

That finally happened over the weekend, when Patrick returned to the ring with Good Guinness at The Sonoma Horse Park’s HMI June Classic.

Patrick explained that, “when he returned, he was injured and so we gave him a lot of time off and have been bringing him back slowly. He did two 1.10m classes (at Sonoma) and was in fine form. It was heartwarming the amount of people who were supporting his comeback and genuinely happy to see him. Good Guinness was incredibly excited to return back to the ring.”

Patrick Seaton and Good Guinness back in action, June 2011.

And with that, all’s well that ends well. On the Line congratulates Patrick for bringing this popular horse that is so near and dear to his heart back to competition. Here’s hoping that we see them together in the grand prix ring again soon.

With all the energy dedicated lately on such gloomy matters as FEI complacency and airborne diseases, On the Line gratefully turns to a much lighter subject this week.

If you somehow missed the New York Times interview, Amazon listing or the Today Show spot, let me be the first to make you aware that none other than show jumping’s favorite heiress, Georgina Bloomberg, recently became a novelist with the May 24^th release of The A Circuit.

Co-written by Catherine Hapka, the book focuses on the drama of three teenagers of various backgrounds who all ride at the same barn, and who inevitably draw strong references to pretty much every real-life A-circuit rider out there in one way or another. The book is written for the young adult audience, and as a former young adult who voraciously read everything and anything in her path, especially if the subject matter was even remotely related to horses, I can say that The A Circuit hits all its marks and keeps the pages turning.

Full Disclosure: On the Line has always felt equal parts admiration and insane jealousy towards Ms. Bloomberg. If you’re a rider born without the perks of an heiress, don’t try for one second to deny that you’ve heard a nagging little voice inside your head that insists; if only, if only, it could have been me, me-me-MEEEEEE.

You know what I’m talking about. A certain green monster has no closer a bedfellow than the girl who perpetually longs for six figure equines that will forever be woefully out of reach.  .  .  . in fact, this is a main plot point in The A Circuit.

I’ve been more successful than many in quieting the green monster, mostly because if given the chance, I’d have jumped quite comfortably into Georgina’s shoes without a moment’s hesitation. A private stable of top show jumpers? Yes please.  Thus, On the Line finds it unfair to hate on the girl for taking her god-given billions and living a fabulous life. And there’s no denying that staying with a 1,500 pound animal as it flings itself over large fences is the world’s best equalizer, and Georgina has spent years in the tack and countless hours training to be considered an equal.

But I digress. Georgina has been busy pounding the promotion path lately, and On the Line was lucky enough to be granted an interview with the 28-year-old rider/writer this week. It only took half a dozen emails and two reschedules via a press agent (ahem, it was easier to get interviews with Rodrigo and McLain…just sayin’)  to arrange a phone interview with Georgina and talk about the book.

“I was approached to do it,” said Georgina. “At first I thought, I can’t do this, I’ve always been a bad writer! I always hated doing it growing up.”

Whoa whoa whoa, back up there. The green monster inside On the Line’s head just came out of hiding and let out an incredulous shriek. HATES to write?!? Was approached?!? Raise your hand if one of your biggest, greatest, most deep-seated dreams is to one day find the time to write a novel, get it published and maybe even see it succeed.

Oh-oh-oh!! Me me me meeee!!

Sigh. But I digress, again. This interview was about Georgina’s book, not On the Line’s future dreams and goals.

“But I was going to have the opportunity to work with someone who had experience writing for this age group, and to write about something that I know and love,” continued Georgina. “After meeting Cathy Hapka and seeing everything she’d done, I wanted to give it a try.”

Cathy Hapka is a noted young adult writer and horse person who rides for pleasure from her home in Pennsylvania. She succeeded in cowriting a juicy book with Georgina, and it’s those juicy storylines (making out in stalls with grooms, smoking pot in the feed room, and drunken nighttime jumping escapades) that the general public will latch on to, thus growing show jumping’s overall exposure, thus contributing to another of On the Line’s dreams, of pushing horse sports into the public eye. “We really wanted to make this book something that anybody could enjoy,” added Georgina. “For me, growing up in the show world, I talk as a rider, and Kathy really helped me leave that language in, while making it clear to a non rider at the same time.”

Meanwhile, the jealous green monster turned tail, returning to its corner…..exposure for the sport and all that…

Georgina went on to say that when she was growing up, she didn’t read much horse stuff, because she didn’t feel that there were many horse books about the show circuit out there. On the Line must agree, as I vividly recall reading the  Thoroughbred series about racehorses, a teen novel about trotting horses, and John Steinbeck’s depressing account of horse ownership in The Red Pony. There was nary a juicy horse show circuit teen novel in sight. In fact, On the Line was deep into the Pony Club world at that point in life, with no inkling that the A-circuit show world even existed. If only The A Circuit had been placed into my hands. If only. My path to being a show jumping fan would have been much shorter.

But will The A Circuit do for horse showing what Twilight did for vampires? What Harry Potter did for wizards? Only time will tell. Should you read The A Circuit? If you are between the ages of 14-19, abso-freakin-lutely. And if you’re beyond those years, gift it to a teenager you know.

Grow horse sports. Enjoy a fun read. And try to keep your own green monster under control.

You know who you are.

Who are we to judge? Really? When a subjective video spins some not so pretty riding behavior one way, and thousands of viewers create an angry uproar, does it make the rider any more guilty, or just plain unlucky? The FEI has got to be pondering this and other questions after once again finding themselves in the hotseat for allowing questionable riding to occur right under their nose.

This time, it’s one of the United States’ most well known reiners that has come under major fire, due to a video by Epona tv (they’re the same guys who kicked off the rollkur blue tongue debacle last year) that has steadily gained a landslide of angry comments since it was posted on YouTube last Thursday.

The video in question is of Craig Schmersal, schooling in the warm up at the FEI World Reining Final in Malmo, Sweden on May 21:

He went on to win second place with Lil Miss Addy Tude, and like him or not, he is unquestionably one of the most successful reiners in the world.

It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see that sharply jerking a seemingly obedient horse in the mouth with a shanked bit is not so nice. Most horsemen human beings believe that’s no way to treat a horse.

But if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that while On the Line appreciates disciplines like reining, I don’t for one second pretend that my knowledge of reining takes up more space than a flea on an elephant’s back.  So who am I to judge the training techniques of a reiner? Who is anyone else, really, except those who are justifiable experts within that discipline?

One would think that the FEI would share the same sentiment. They are, after all, the experts. The practice session shown above was monitored and timed by FEI stewards. . . .  .who seemed to be either napping or reading their phones when the camera panned to them.

Therein lies the crux of the situation. The riding seen in the video is accepted in reining. I know this not because I know reining, but because no steward at this international Final stepped in to give Mr. Schmersal a visible warning or to eliminate him for abusive riding. With their non-action, the FEI condoned the warmup methods shown.

The FEI was created to enforce the rules and maintain ethical standards in the disciplines it governs. But with the blue tongue mess, the whipping mess at the WEG trials last year, and if you want to count it, Sapphire’s World Cup elimination mess last April, they continue to miss the mark.

I’m not one to support angry mobs, especially because I don’t believe that it should take one to get a governing body to react. But viral videos and furious, inflammatory comments are becoming today’s version of an angry mob and the rote catalyst to kick off an official investigation. And that’s just not right. So instead of supporting the tar and feathering of Mr. Schmersal, On the Line supports a review of stewardship by the FEI (By the way, FEI reaction to this incident so far has been. . . wait for it. .  .rather rote).

Call me an optimist, but here’s hoping that the FEI stewards become more proactive in the best interests of the horse. Because if one thing is certain, it’s that there will always be a need for the FEI. But it’s up to them to create a world with no need for a thing like Epona tv.

“If one of them have got it, then ten of them have got it now, and if one of them gets out . . . we have got a very interesting problem!” Dustin Hoffman, “Outbreak”, 1995

That very interesting problem was highly dramatized in Outbreak, a gem of a movie about an African monkey carrying a highly contagious flesh-eating disease that landed in the U.S. and caused an outbreak that threatened the existence of a small town, of the country, and of the very world we live in.

Did I already say highly dramatized?

Luckily, the recent EHV-1 outbreak that started at a cutting horse show in Utah has not reached such epic proportions. Veterinarians across the country have swooped in much like Dustin Hoffman and his co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. swooped in on their helicopter, to save the day at barns and vet hospitals nationwide.

The very serious Equine Herpes Virus 1, of which small outbreaks occur each year in the United States, became national news when a horse at the cutting show contracted the disease, but did not show signs early enough to prevent his handlers from limiting his contact with other horses.  The show ended, the 300 or so horses at the venue scattered to their home states, and “Outbreak”!

But before anyone can say hazmat suit, vets have been at work following the trail of the outbreak, no doubt making phone calls, tracking entries from the show, and generally doing what vets do best – staying calm and solving problems.

An official tally of confirmed cases is here, more information is here and here.

However. EHV outbreaks have happened before, and they will happen again. That’s not a sentence meant to stoke fear, but rather, to make us ask ourselves – how can we do better?

A contagious disease is as serious as the speed at which it spreads. In a perfect world, information on the Utah horses, their home states, owner contact information, competition history and even entries to their upcoming shows would have been instantly available to vets and officials.

As it is now, paper entry forms were all the vets had to work with. To complicate things, a horse sale was held during the show, and as those horses changed hands and left for new homes, contacting their new owners became more complicated.

Just saying...

It’s simply taken time for vets to know exactly where each horse at the cutting show ended up afterwards, and in the meantime the outbreak has spread. Social media, news sites and bloggers (guilty) took the story and ran with it. Horses in unaffected states clear across the country were suddenly restricted.  And if Dustin Hoffman learned anything in Outbreak, it was that it’s rather difficult to control fear.

When horse owners tell their farriers, chiropractors, and vets to put off scheduled appointments until the risk passes, the industry suffers. When trainers that are hundreds of miles away from an affected area make last minute, panicky decisions to pull out of a event that’s not necessarily affected by the outbreak, that show suffers. And when events are canceled to help stem the spread of a disease, the local economy suffers.

Could universal microchipping of our horses help control or prevent a similar outbreak? This blogger thinks so. It’s hard to believe that in a world where our smartphones can scan a QR Code on a billboard and send information straight to the palm of our hand, better record keeping isn’t already in place.

Modern technology at work.

In a perfect world, scanning horses when they arrive at shows or sales, instantly knowing their histories and having relevant contact information on hand would make a critical difference when every minute matters in tracking down horses and notifying owners.

Universal microchipping has many potential benefits, as noted by fellow Sidelines blogger, Dr. Alex Emerson in his recent post on the subject. Pooled data to help veterinarians see how certain footings effect performance over spans of several years…tracking the performance successes of famous breeding stallions. Knowing without a shadow of a doubt the complete medical history of that horse you’re thinking about buying. Dr. Emerson describes these and other ways that microchipping can help vets much more eloquently than I ever could, so click over and read his post here.

Is this all a little too Big Brother for your taste? So be it. In a world of smartphones and cars with gps chips, web-based records and yes, facebook, rest assured that Big Brother already knows exactly where you are. But it does not know where your horse is.

Maybe it’s time to change that?

It’s all about who you know. It’s all about working those connections.

On the Line watched the recent broadcast of the United States’ first-ever CRI5* reining competition with interest. While nothing will ever replace show jumping for this blogger, I appreciate reining’s appeal and excitement, and jealously covet (errrr, I mean admire) the spectator numbers that that discipline attracts.

But did I expect to ride with decorated reiner Shawn Flarida, just days after he won the Kentucky Cup CRI5*? Certainly not, but when the chance came up I jumped on it like a girl who’d suffered through a drought of Quarter Horses and cowboys~ which is to say – I took that chance!

Photo courtesy of Cheval Photos

Due to one excellent connection (thank you, Perfect Products, LLC), On the Line was welcomed to Shawn’s barn, set charmingly in the wilds of Ohio, on a chilly spring day.

Shawn Flarida is the National Reining Horse Association’s all-time leading money winner, and most recently won the Kentucky Cup CRI5*, the first-ever 5* reining event held in the U.S., which happened last weekend at the Kentucky Horse Park during Rolex weekend.  He won a reining gold medal at last year’s World Equestrian Games. He is, by definition, the best of the best.

So what does the best of the best look like in the reining world? Well, for one thing, this California girl noticed the efficient, sealed from the elements barn + indoor arena right away. The barn and interconnected arena facilitate year-long training without ever requiring the horse or rider to venture outdoors.

Welcome to the land of reining. . .

Second, the place was a riches in cowboys. Cowboys leading horses to the arena, cowboys spinning reiners, cowboys ground driving babies, cowboys wearing Wranglers and walking about with big ‘ol spurs hanging off their heels. . . cowboys generally creating an uber appealing landscape for a rider whose seen enough male riders in breeches to last a lifetime.

But enough about the cowboys. For all I know, they’d be offended by the label. After a short exhange (“ya’ll think there’s a reiner this girl could sit on?” “well, sure. . .”) Shawn’s number one rider, the very kind and talented Cienzo Santos, tacked up a pony-sized Quarter Horse and handed me the reins.

Which is when the fun really started. If you ever find yourself in my shoes, take it from me: don’t turn down the chance to ride a reiner. While one can’t directly compare peas to carrots, jumpers to reiners, as far as responsiveness goes, my little horse had most warmbloods beat. Speed, check. Balance, double check. Who knows how reiners avoid extreme dizziness while spinning, but after losing my stirrup several times during a spin, I had a whole new appreciation for the balance of a western rider.

Despite the fact the On the Line appears to be about 8 feet tall, and the extreme speed at which (I thought I was) going doesn’t really carry over here, I present to you this dyed in the wool hunter/jumper rider’s attempt to rein with the best of them. Literally. It was difficult to concentrate with Shawn and all his cowboys loping to and fro, but somehow, I managed:

Well yee-haw. One small regret – there wasn’t a helmet within 10 miles of Shawn’s place. And yes, I failed to practice what I preach by not being prepared with my own. All I’ve know is that my friends at Riders4Helmets will not be lacking in work for a long, long while. Cowboys in helmets? I give it five to ten years until we start seeing that, at least.

Many thanks to the generous Shawn Flarida, who was every bit the professional and as welcoming as could be. It feels good to have a standing invitation to come back and ride a reiner anytime I’m in the state of Ohio.

So after that one of a kind experience, is On the Line any closer to understanding all the buzz about reining? Let’s review; fast galloping, faster spinning, sliding stops, cowboys.

You bet your britches I am.

The interwebs are awash with photo galleries of this past weekend’s exciting events in Kentucky. How did we ever live without instant access everything? No matter where you were in the world over the weekend, you could almost instantly sift through endless photos of your favorite rider jumping through the Head of the Lake, relive every ride via the excellent www.USEFnetwork.com, or read detailed analysis of each phase by a herd of eventing-obsessed equestrian journalists the world over.

But only On the Line can bring you David O’Connor striking a pose, Gina Miles hysterically riding a reiner, and Phillip Dutton – as no one’s ever seen Phillip Dutton before.

It’s always a pleasure to work with photographer Selena Fredericks, and be sure to check out Cheval Photos’ 2011 Rolex gallery for some of the best images to come out of Kentucky during eventing’s biggest week of the year. Cheval captured jump shots that rival all others, but On the Line thinks it’s those “other” moments that bring out the soul of an event like Rolex just as much. Enjoy:

Chef de Equipe? Perhaps David should leave the horse world behind and take up modeling. He can strike a pose with the best of them!

Volunteer Pony Clubbers display the autographs they collected on their Rolex hats..... either that or they're collectively praying for their favorite rider to go clear.

Kate Brown and Mojito had the unwelcome distinction of being the only pair to part ways in a water complex. It was one of the more dramatic moments during XC day. Both horse and rider were uninjured.

Although she probably was marked down for knee flapping, Gina Miles has our vote for reining in a helmet. Eventers defined crossover by competing in the Kentucky Reining Cup on Saturday night.

On the Line wants to be Mary King when we grow up.

Now that's dedication. Phillip Dutton removes his shoes and socks before walking the strides through the Head of the Lake.

From one small apartment in South Florida, On the Line was able to witness the live events of three Olympic sports this weekend. It really was the next best thing to actually being there.  .  . really.

Being the devout show jumping fan that I am, I splurged on the fee to access FEItv, and it was money very well spent.  The 2011 FEI World Cup Final of show jumping was held in Leipzig, Germany, six hours and a military to 24-hour time zone conversion ahead of the East Coast. After managing to navigate through the FEItv site (it took a couple of tries) and calculate the time difference correctly (that took more than a couple of tries), there was the Leipzig arena, there was McLain, there was a claustrophobic indoor packed to the brim with somber German spectators!

The final rounds of the World Cup were held at 7:40am EST this morning, which would usually put me at the barn, doing morning chores. No worries, with an extra early start to get chores done and a little help from a good wifi connection, trainer Michael Hochstetler and I set up shop in the barn aisle and enjoyed one hell of a final.

Iconic, talented grand prix horse in his own right, checks out the competition while he dries after a bath.

Beezie Madden wore her most excellent patriotic helmet and did the U.S.A. proud by finishing as the top placed lady rider in a tie for 6^th. If it wasn’t for a heartbreaking rail at the very last jump of the final round, McLain would have finished much higher up in the standings than 10^th. The stunning Antares was jumping better than ever, and we all know how hungry McLain was/is for a World Cup win.  Margie Engle and Indigo were also jumping in top form, and also fell victim to just one rail in the final round. They finished 12^th. Eric Lamaze and Hickstead were a brilliant 2^nd place. I was especially excited to see Kiwi rider Katie McVean, whom I interviewed pre-WEG last year, finish in 6^th place.

Full, final results are here, and detailed on-scene reports are in from the FEI and other international sources here and here. Yesterday afternoon, my month-long FEItv subscription allowed me to also watch the Reem Acra World Cup Final of Dressage, the results of which are here.

Moving on, because as far as coverage goes, the really big news today was that NBC gave an hour of live air time to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. Sidelines writer and LaurenGallops blogger Lauren Giannini was lucky enough to be onsite at Rolex, and has been churning out the reports over on her blog all weekend. But homebound I was looking forward to NBC’s broadcast, especially after being very impressed by the USEFnetwork’s free online streaming coverage of the first two phases. I’ve never sat down and actually watched so much cross country, but with Bobby Costello’s great commentary and a revolving door of top riders sitting in with him all day to co-present, Saturday’s coverage was complete and informative for a non-eventer like me.

It was all very enjoyable, which meant that the moment when USEF’s livestream ended this afternoon was a more than a little painful; they broadcast the first hour of the stadium jumping phase, and then directed all to switch over to NBC to watch the rest. To their credit, NBC did a wonderful job of summing up the entire competition, for someone who hadn’t been following the events of the weekend. I hope that a very large audience around the country, that is not mad-dog horse crazy and had not been watching every single round over the Internet enjoyed it. But I learned a whole new definition of “captive viewer) as the commentators took us through the dressage and XC phases in a lengthy recap, while completely missing the stadium rounds of about five riders. For the avid reporter, not to mention the diehard horse-sport fan in me, this was extremely frustrating! If I hadn’t had Samantha Clark’s constant tweets to fall back on for updates, I would have been lost.

So, the fractured coverage from two different sources felt a little incomplete. Next year, I hope that USEFnetwork gets the right to keep their livestream going. Or for that matter, I hope that NBC decides to broadcast every single round of the stadium jumping. Anything is possible, right?

For complete Rolex Kentucky results, visit their site. Congratulations to Mary King, who placed 1^st and 2^nd with her horses King’s Temptress and Fernhill Urico. She is the first rider ever to achieve that historic result at Rolex. Mary didn’t quite know how to respond when the NBC commentator told her that “William and Kate have nothing on you this weekend!” At least they got that right!

And yes, I did take a photograph of my television. The occasion called for it! If On the Line is very lucky, Cheval Photos will send us more stellar images of the weekend, so check back soon. I feel a thrills and spills post coming on. . .

. . .but for now, enjoy this historic photo. The FIRST time ever that Rolex KY was broadcast live on national television. Go horse sports!

Here’a a few quick photos from the eveinings reining events at the Kentucky Horse Park last night. Karen O’Connor must not have been too tired after riding a 4* cross country track yesterday…. because she gave the Alltech Arena a hell of a show when she picked up the reins and rode a reining pattern.

And not to be outdone, David reined as well -bridleless-

Check out Cheval Photos’ online store for more shots and a growing library from the weekend. Stadium jumping begins today at 1pmEST – MUCH more to come!

Her breeches and tall boots are an excellent touch. Photo Cheval Photos

That David, he's such an over-acheiver! Photo Cheval Photos