Competition Photos

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I wanted to share some of the photos I took while working as a member of the media at the Rolex KY 3 Day Event last weekend.

Rolex is a 4 start event. . . the only 4 star in the US.  It's the highest level of 3 Day Eventing and it's often part of the Olympic selections, as it was this year.   I'll try to explain Eventing briefly as I post the photos.

 The first phase is Dressage.  The horse/rider pair will ride a dressage test on either Thursday or Friday (there are too many horses for them to get done in one day). Dressage is the discipline I ride.  It's "dancing" with your horse.  You must complete a certain pattern with certain movements at certain points in the arena.  (similar to figure skating)  Each movement is scored give up to 10 points and then there are overall collective points at the end.  A good score is say 70+ . .  and that is reversed to 30 for eventing.  In eventing the lowest score wins.  So you want your dressage test to be the best that it can be because you won't be able to reduce your score after the first day.

This is Michael Jung and Ficsherrocana.  They led after dressage and proceeded to win the whole competition.

Saturday is the second phase of the event.  Cross Country!!  It's the heart of eventing and probably the reason these crazy people actual do this discipline.  The horse/rider combos gallop a course that is approx 4 miles with many obstacles to jump and water to go through. Some jumps are combinations of 2-3 jumps, so there are even more jumping efforts than the amount of numbered jumps.  There is an optimal time to complete the course and if you go over you get points added to your score from dressage.  If you have a refusal or another jumping penalty (broken pin, etc) you get points added.  If you fall you are eliminated.   It rained all day on Saturday and was pretty miserable.  The course got muddier and harder on the horses as the day went on. 

Again this is the winning horse/rider - Michael Jung and Fischerrocana 

On Sunday the riders have to present their horses in what is called a "jog".  The riders are not on the horses, but they lead them in a trot away and back from a panel of vets.  If they pass (at this level they most always do) they proceed to the last phase of the competition.  This is Show Jumping. . . it's a course inside an arena.  There is a time limit just like in cross country.  Time over adds to your score. Rails down and refusals also add to your score.  Remember lowest score wins.  These riders are riding horses that are pretty tired at this point and the rails can fall very easily!

The winning pair

That's a wrap!  I hope you liked the photos.   It's always a fun weekend with a lot of perks being a member of the media.  I enjoy every moment and some years I count down to Rolex like a child counts down to Christmas.

TGIF - 3 day weekend ahead. . .

It's Friday!  It's a 3 day weekend.  It doesn't get much better than this :)  

It's been a long week.  Days have moved slowly.  Stress has been involved.  I wrote a blog and took it down cause I felt it was too personal.  So that brings me today and I'm feeling the urge to write. 

Last weekend was drop dead gorgeous.  Especially Saturday.  When you see this you know it's a wonderfully nice day.  (none of those are Eli)

I had a good ride on Saturday and took Eli for a walk in a grassy lot afterwards.  It was just too beautiful - we had to go out and soak up the sunshine. 

I went for a run Saturday morning and finally had a pretty good pace.  The kitty selfie is Mr Puddin'.  We call him Puddin' Pops, Pudding McPoppers, Puddy.  .  . he's an amazing kitty.  He lives outside in the shop with his brother. 

My pace was purposefully fast because I want to keep up with my husband during the 5K we are running tomorrow.    The thing about tomorrow is. .  

It's going to be REALLY cold!  Look at the "feel like" temp.  I'm not sure we should actually run this race, but I'm sure we will.  It's paid for.  My husband is going to pick up the packets today. 

So while last weekend was gorgeous, come Monday the temps were 30 degrees lower and we had a couple days of light snow this week. 

I love snow!!!!  I want more than we ever get unfortunately. 

Today is February 12 and it's the release date of Vince Gill's new CD. 

I was really excited about this, but I'm kind of pissed right now.  I pre-ordered this CD.   The website said it would ship a few days ahead of the release date.  The tracking appeared in my USPS dashboard this morning.  There is a tracking number but it doesn't appear that the package has actually been accepted by the post office.  I assumed I would receive this *on* release day.  I could have pre-ordered from Amazon and I know I would have received it.  I could go to the store and buy it.  Yes my pre-order included a t-shirt, but I don't need that shirt.  I just ordered it in advance so that it would show up in my mailbox on release day.  When will it arrive now? Monday is a holiday and so I'm guessing I don't see it till Tues or Wed.  I'm really bummed about this. 

This morning was rather interesting.  We got light snow overnight. .  . *maybe* a 1/2 inch.  As I was driving out of my drive and onto my road I saw tire tracks with some snow over them. . . and some foot prints with some snow over them.  I thought to myself "who was walking on the road".  My road is a dead end.  You are either coming to my house or my neighbors house.  Once I got to the end (which is a very short drive) I see this. 

Oops!  Someone had some problems.  I called my husband.  He walked down from the house (again this is really not far) and looked at the truck and the plates.  I headed to work.  My husband called me. . .the foot prints didn't go anywhere.  They never came onto our property.  They walked past our drive and then walked in a circle.  We assume the person was calling for help.  My neighbor said no one knocked on his door.  My husband called this into the police.  They took 1 hour to arrive.  They talked to my husband, called a wrecker and another truck showed up (presumably the owner or someone connected to the owner) and that's about the last I heard.  The roads weren't slick.  Based on the snow in the tracks/prints this had to happen sometime after midnight but likely before 4 am.  There was a small window of snow last night.  Maybe the drive slid.  Maybe he was drinking.  Maybe he fell asleep.  My husband did say it appeared the driver broke the window of the passenger side with a hammer to get out.  The driver's side of the truck is facing the photo and that's pretty flat as you can see.   What an interesting morning!

So three day weekend coming up!  Valentine's day (I'm having cake!) and a 5K.  Hopefully some sleeping in will be included during the weekend.   Have a great one!