The Slower Road

I did make it out into the sunshine and onto the marathon course this afternoon!

Here’s what I saw …

there’s water in the Head of the Lake now, which makes this … a bridge to an island

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an unnaturally large snail …

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… and an acorn at the Squirrel Grove

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the Mud Wagon at the Wagon Yard, with a cross-country jump in the background

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… and all the wagons, including the Freight Wagon, which was moved over yesterday from its spot on the cross-country course

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there’s been some artistic hedge trimming going on at the Kentucky Horses obstacle

I promised to post some photos of all the work going into “finishing off” the obstacles for Saturday’s marathon …

To recap: the word was that Mick and his crew needed to “put the moveable elements” into place in the marathon obstacles, once the Eventing riders were finished with the cross-country course. He called me on Sunday to say they were working at the Head of the Lake, putting the “island” in place. But we were busy here in the office (and I wasn’t quite dressed for the sudden cold weather), and I never made it out there to document the proceedings. Then I heard they were at it again yesterday morning. I finally made it out there yesterday (Monday) afternoon, and the island was indeed in place. And several more parts of the obstacle had been built from scratch … posts dug, rails up, the whole bit. The dirt surface of the island was being rolled, the bridge to the island had been built, and all sorts of work was going on around me.

And work was going at a fever pitch at other obstacles as well. Mick’s regular crew of about five people seems to have grown overnight to two or three times that size.

So, without further ado, the current progress … (I am cheating slightly because I didn’t get photos on Sunday or yesterday morning; these photos of the island being put in place are from the test run back in July … you may notice that only one section of temporary grandstands was under construction at that point, and the grass was still green!)

the island is pulled into place on a flatbed trailer

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the big machinery (one on this side and one on the far side) moves into place …

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… and begins to lift the island off its trailer

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while the island is held up, the trailer is pulled out from underneath

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… ooohhhh … levitating …

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… and then adjustments are made

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Once the island’s structure was in place, the footing had to be added and rolled to make it an actual island …

the “before” (this shot is still from back in July)

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… and the “after” (this shot is from yesterday)

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the bridge to the island is new as of, well, yesterday …

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… as is all of this (in case you’re wondering, the grass is so green here because this area was part of the Eventing cross-country track, which had been watered)

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work continued yesterday afternoon

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During the same span of about a day and a half, at the Kentucky Horses obstacle (#1), we’ve gone from this …

snow!? not to worry, it didn’t get THAT cold … this was taken back in January

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… to this …

branches are being stuffed in the allotted spaces and then trimmed to mimic hedges

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and there are one …

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… two … horses as well

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If I manage to get out to the marathon course this afternoon, I have no doubt that I will be amazed (again) by the sheer amount of work completed since yesterday. In passing yesterday, I also saw a small army of decorators doing their thing. I can’t wait to see the finished products … Can you?

1) Even though this event is all about horses, there are still any number of other ways to get around (we all knew this already, I know, but the alternate modes of transport seem to be getting more plentiful as the days go by):

an impromptu bike parking area, with flags declaring national loyalties

part of this (former) field has turned into a huge golf cart parking lot; most of these are decorated with the ubiquitous national flags, and the one on the right has some divided loyalties: I counted five different national flags

traffic jam! … that’s a pair being driven out to the practice arena, a car, a delivery truck, a golf cart, and a tractor … and a single going the other way!

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2) Perhaps most significantly, I (finally!) learned that our red accreditation badges (which we got for working here at the KHP) allow us to enter the Main Stadium. We need a ticket to get a seat, but we can go into the stadium regardless and stand where everyone else (team members, other accredited people, etc.) stand and watch whatever’s going on. What an unexpected treat!

So I stood behind the TV cameraman and watched a few jumper riders go in this afternoon’s speed competition. To demonstrate how truly international this event is, in the space of just a few minutes, I saw riders representing Egypt, Ireland, Japan, Great Britain, and Poland.

3) I’ve concentrated so long on taking pictures of horses that stay on or near the ground (dressage and driving, etc.) that the few times I’ve tried photographing jumpers have not turned out very well. But I think that with a bit of practice (and perhaps a faster lens), this might work.

Britain’s Michael Whittaker

a rider from Ireland (I didn’t catch his name)

a Japanese rider (he’s been in several Olympics) about to go through the start …

… and going over a jump; for height reference, that blue bit is on the ground

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4) I kept hearing that, after Eventing was over, the “moveable elements need to be put in place” at the obstacles that the Driving marathon was “sharing” with the Eventing cross-country. Wellll, let me tell you, there’s a lot more to that task than one would think.

I’ll post photos of all that hard work tomorrow.

Because of the craziness surounding the World Equestrian Games, yesterday was my one day off in three weeks (two weeks down, one to go). And where did I spend it? Why, here at the Horse Park, enjoying the WEG all day with my husband, instead of working!

In case you weren’t one of the nearly 51,000 people here at the park yesterday for the Eventing cross country, here’s how our day of playing tourists unfolded, in snapshots:

before heading out to the park, we stopped for breakfast at one of our fave local restaurants; two women sitting next to us (one from New York) praised the bagels and lox and they both said what a wonderful time they’ve been having at WEG all week

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Welcome to the WEG! these posts at the main spectator entrance have information on each of the eight world championships being contested

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a closer look at the Driving information and the crowds beginning to form at the entrance

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to get to the cross country course, we walked toward the Main Stadium and were met with hordes of people everywhere we looked

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taking a peek in the Main Stadium, we saw jumpers warming up and some clever people, way up in the stands, watching the Head of the Lake jump from above

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a jumper crossing the road in front of us

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our first stop was the Head of the Lake, which was packed with spectators

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everywhere we looked and walked: more people

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the Prairie Schooner at marathon obstacle #7, with a cross-country jump on the left …

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… and that same jump (a fallen tree with its roots still visible on the right) from the vantage point where we tried to take a few photos with our “little” cameras

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a rider approaching the tree jump …

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… and A.J.’s attempt with the camera on his phone (I don’t think its shutter speed is quite fast enough!)

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While walking the course and watching the eventers, we also stopped to admire several of the marathon obstacles (they will be decorated this week):

a portion of marathon obstacle #3

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a portion of obstacle #4

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a portion of obstacle #5

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and a portion of obstacle #8, with the largemouth bass in its new home in the water

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We also had to stop to watch part of the Land Rover “cross country course,” which had a long line of people waiting for the chance to drive through mud, over hills, along the side of a slope, and over this contraption:

approaching the log teeter totter thingy …

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… and inching up, up, up …

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… and over

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One of our favorite things to do at equestrian world championships is to admire the fans and their enthusiasm for their riders/drivers and for their national colors …

Canadian fans

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Japanese fans

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a lone demonstrative U.S. fan held up the flag as Buck Davidson passed by

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But in my opinion, no other group of fans can beat the always-inventive (and colorful) Dutch:

… whether on the course …

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… or even while eating lunch

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Speaking of lunch, we stopped for a late one ourselves, before venturing into the Kentucky Experience, trade fair, Alltech Experience, etc. On our way back to the Main Stadium area from the cross-country course, we saw drivers out hand-walking their horses, jumpers lunging their horses, and para-equestrians training under the watchful eyes of their coaches … this mix of horse people has got to be one of the most enjoyable and fascinating aspects of a WEG.

near the pizza, and around the corner from the burgers and burritos and salads, there’s a beer garden where one can get, well, beer … and bourbon

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if you’re feeling flush, or need to do some celebrating, there’s also a champagne bar

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on our way from lunch to the trade fair area, we stopped in the booth hosted by the French city of Normandy (site of the 2014 WEG), where they offer free cooking classes every hour (which apparently involves wearing a tall chef’s hat!)

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near the John Deere exhibit is a small arena where spectators can become participants; these two women and one other were about to get a reining lesson

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Our second stop in the trade fair area was the Kentucky Experience pavilion, which offers a look at various tourism areas in the state and aspects of life in Kentucky:

various displays show the beauty and variety of Kentucky, including our own Bluegrass region’s horses …

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… Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill …

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… and Keeneland race track

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photo opportunities abound … here: A.J. chatting with Colonel Sanders

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in another section of the Kentucky Experience, you can sample a multitude of bourbons or buy a commemorative bottle of Makers Mark and dip the top in the signature red wax

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on we went, into the trade fair … passing the Breyer tent, which had models of the world-championship sports on display, including this one

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how about some fancy cowboy boots?

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… or some equally fancy custom English riding boots?

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… or an enormous mosaic for your (very large) wall?

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… or perhaps just a pretty commemorative WEG scarf?

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we stopped to say hello to two CAA members with trade fair booths: Hats by Katie …

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… and Freedman Harness (which also has beautiful bags, belts, etc.)

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After finishing our tour through the trade fair, we decided to go back to my office to pick up our jackets, as the weather had turned quite windy and chilly all of a sudden, after having been warm and sunny all day. To get there, we walked through the Alltech Experience and part of the Horse Park’s main visitor area.

people on the Alltech Experience’s promenade, and rain clouds gathering in the distance

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in an Alltech Experience garden: a bit of sunshine on what had by now become a blustery, gray afternoon

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one of the KY Horse Park’s permanent statues: Secretariat; the new movie about him has its world premiere today, at our own downtown Kentucky Theater

I caught up yesterday with the WEG Driving technical delegate, Phillip Bateman (GBR), and got the scoop on a few Driving details.

The A and D sections of the Driving marathon have been flagged (i.e., the trail’s been marked), but nothing can be done with the obstacles in Section E until after today’s Eventing cross-country is finished, as both courses share several obstacles.

Most of the Driving horses are now on the grounds. The U.S. team and alternate horses will check in on Monday, and the Canadian, Australian, and Polish drivers’ horses have not yet arrived. But everyone else is here. Most of the European horses (forty-five in all) came on the same flight from Amsterdam, which was turned back to Schiphol shortly after taking off (mechanical trouble, I’ve heard) and then arrived here eight hours later than planned.

Now that the Endurance horses are finished, the four-in-hand teams are allowed to drive on the Horse Park’s “back road” from the stables to the polo fields waayyyy in the back, where practice arenas have been set up.

Phillip himself is doing lots of paperwork at the moment, and is getting everything ready for Wednesday afternoon’s Presentation Competition, which is sponsored by the Carriage Association. Through the generosity of a number of “Friends of CAA,” we are able to offer ribbons and cash prizes to tenth place, plus a few other wonderful prizes. And every driver who participates will receive an equally wonderful bottle of champagne.

Today is actually my one day off during WEG, but my husband and I will be right back out there, playing WEG tourists: watching the Eventing cross-country, visiting the trade fair, etc. There’s no driving allowed today because of the cross-country competition, so perhaps we’ll see a few drivers out watching the eventers with the rest of us.