On the Line

McLain Ward’s stable is unmarked and I got lost on my way there. If his name hadn’t been painted on the side of his trailer I would have been driving up and down the road all afternoon, wondering which barn to wander into first.

That distraction effectively quashed any nerves I might have had, but it had already been a long day. I’d sat on the rail of the warm up at WEF, surreptiously trying (and failing) to take pictures of Rodrigo, Ian, Eric. I’d met up with Tuny Page at her farm and lucked into watching Robert Dover coach one of the Canadian WEG hopefuls. I’d talked to Missy Clark about coaching, and made final preparations (read: agonized over questions) for the big interview.

So by the time 3:00 rolled around, I was ready. McLain was polite, charming and, well, relatively airtight. The hardest part about interviewing someone like him is that he’s pretty much been asked all the questions before. The challenge is being original and finding a new angle. Accomplishing that with a man well versed in the delivery of soundbites was – interesting. But no matter, I plunged in, and may have even scrounged up enough material to write a powerful story.

Oh, and I got to hang out with Sapphire. Day, made. Now it’s time to buckle down and write about the man behind the mirror. Prince Harry is on the horizon.