The Slower Road

July 13, 2010

Americans in France … and Germany

Posted by Jennifer under competitions
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Three American drivers have traveled abroad to compete in European driving events this weekend.

Katie Whaley (along with fellow CAA member Mia Allo, representing Belgium) is competing at Le Pin au Haras in France.

The competition hasn’t started yet, but Katie sent this brief report today:

“Mia and I arrived at about 3 p.m. today; it took us eight hours to get here from Belgium. The show is in the Normandy region of France, at a French National Stud Farm southeast of Paris. Competitors are still arriving, as the first horse inspection is not until late tomorrow afternoon. They also have a private driving competition going on this weekend. Mia and I both do dressage on Friday.”

Katie promises to send photos, in addition to daily reports, so we’ll post those to the blog as well.

Meanwhile, in Germany, all the American horses (those of Jim Fairclough and Tucker Johnson) have passed the first horse inspection at the Aachen CHIO.

Sadly (or not, depending on your national persuasion), one of the best horses in Ysbrand Chardon’s team did not pass the inspection and will not compete this weekend.

According to a press release on www.hoefnet.com:

Four-time World Champion and eleven-time Aachen winner Ysbrand Chardon has had a bad start at the world’s largest four-in-hand competition in Aachen. His fifteen-year-old KWPN gelding Argus turned up lame just before the horse inspection and was declared not fit to compete by the veterinarians.

“This is very disappointing,” says Chardon. “I lunged him this morning and he was fine. Just before the inspection he got lame; I think he twisted his foot. But I still have four good horses left and I am going for it,” adds a combative Chardon. “I will continue and I want to win here in Aachen!”

Argus was Chardon’s trump in all three phases of the combined competition, and in order to prepare his horses for the official dressage test on Thursday, Chardon will not start in tomorrow’s warm-up dressage test. One of the horses of German competitor

Dirk Gerkens also did not pass the horse inspection.

We will post reports and photos from Aachen here on the blog as we receive them.

For the first time, you can also watch all the competitions (dressage, driving, eventing, jumping, and vaulting) online. To see the broadcast schedule and access the video feeds, click here: http://www.chioaachen.de/default_e.asp and click on “LiveVideo 2010” on the right side of the page. (Note: there will be no live video from the driving marathon competition.)

July 9, 2010

a week’s worth of horse shows, part 2

Posted by Jennifer under competitions, Lexington & KHP
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Hoping to see a bit of driving, I walked over to the covered arena briefly yesterday morning to check out the Bluegrass Morgan Classic horse show. I arrived just as class 35 was ending and so saw the tail end of that and the beginning of class 36.

the winner of the "saddle seat equitation, 13 and under" class

the eventual winner (sadly, the only entry) in the "classic pleasure driving, open" class

Yesterday evening, Kathy went with a group of friends to the Lex. Junior League Horse Show, taking the CAA’s “little” camera with her to get some photos for us. Kathy duly handed the camera to Wendy Ying, whom we thank for the following photos:

Charlie Poppe drove his pair of Hackney ponies in the concours d'elegance (photo by Wendy Ying)

also in the concours d'elegance: Misdee Miller driving a unicorn (photo by Wendy Ying)

and the final entry in the concours d'elegance: a troupe of circus vehicles owned by Michele Macfarlane (photo by Wendy Ying)

circus vehicle #1: a swan carriage pulled by three Minis (photo by Wendy Ying)

circus vehichle #2: a stallion being driven by a "rider" on a lion ... confused yet? (photo by Wendy Ying)

circus vehcile #3: a calliope, with a poodle on top ... we have it on good authority that the calliope was being played, as well ... Charlie's and Misdee's horses remained remarkably calm through all the commotion (photo by Wendy Ying)

Later in the evening, under the lights:

the winner in the coaching class, Marilyn Macfarlane, with her team of Friesians (photo by Wendy Ying)

July 7, 2010

a week’s worth of horse shows, part 1

Posted by Jennifer under competitions, Lexington & KHP
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Last Saturday, Kate and Katie Whaley welcomed members of the Lexington-area driving club, Spokes and Spurs, to their farm in Paris, Kentucky. On tap for the day: an informal schooling show (dressage test and cones course), followed by a delicious lunch in their spacious stable.

Jessica and her Mini had the best combined dressage / cones score of the day

Chloe went along for the ride with her person, Maggie Garrison

navigating the cones course

according to Colonel Davis, these two (Jack Goodman on the left and Maggie Garrison on the right) are illustrating the "best part of club drives: sitting and visiting with friends"

Next: driving classes at the Bluegrass Morgan Classic (in the covered arena at the Kentucky Horse Park) and, with luck and good scheduling, coaching at the Lex. Junior League Horse Show (at the Red Mile on Thursday evening). Stay tuned!

July 2, 2010

goings-on (again) at the Horse Park

Posted by Jennifer under Lexington & KHP, WEG 2010
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Believe it or not, we’re down to fewer than 90 days till the World Equestrian Games begin here at the Kentucky Horse Park. It seems as though the park’s been under construction forever, with additions to the International Museum of the Horse, an addition to the Saddlebred Museum, new office buildings, the new indoor arena, new stabling, the new outdoor arena, new roads, new parking areas, and repaving of existing roads and parking lots. Well, there’s still more to come! Now that all the permanent construction is (mostly) finished, we have to actually get ready for WEG. The main parking lot is being repaved to accommodate the “Alltech Experience,” the “Kentucky Experience,” the Trade Fair, and who knows what else. Temporary grandstands are being built on three sides of the outdoor arena, entire temporary stadiums will be built for driving and endurance, and loads of temporary buildings must go up.

As of July 1, here’s where some of that stands:

not a "normal" view of the KY Horse Park, thank goodness! Where'd all the grass go?

another view of the same area, from a different angle; all of this ground is being prepped to house the VIP hospitality tents and the media center, across the street from the outdoor arena

the outdoor arena from the side; that's the permanent grandstand on the left, the announcer's stand in the middle (behind the tree), and the first of three temporary grandstands on the right

... and ... hooray! ... a few of the many new bushes, perennials, and trees that have recently been planted on either side of the creek that runs along Arena Road

July 1, 2010

Italian countryside at a trot

Posted by Jennifer under coaching, travel / destinations
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Have you ever read about or seen photos of Andreas Nemitz’s “Coaching in Bavaria” trips and wondered just how fabulous they must be? I know I have.

CAA members Roger & Sue Murray sent us a link to this video, showing a portion of their recent trip with Mr. Nemitz: twelve days on a Mail Coach, across the Alps, from Lindau, Germany, to Como, Italy. The narration is in Italian, but even if you don’t understand what’s being said, I promise you’ll enjoy the gorgeous scenery, the views of the friendly locals, and the glimpses of the five well-behaved, hard-working horses and the beautiful old coach they’re pulling.