Dressage at WEG

Each day of dressage was more spectacular than the day before. This was largely because the second tier team members from each country rode their Grand Prix test on the first day with the top two ranked riding on the second day. Day three saw the top 30 of those riders riding the Grand Prix Special test for individual placings. The last day of dressage, Friday evening, the top 15 riders from the Grand Prix Special competed in the Musical Freestyle.

It was wonderful to watch such talented horses and riders, but I was disturbed by a few things. A horse is supposed to have its poll as the highest point and its nose in front of the vertical at all times. I saw very few horses who achieved that very often, if at all. The most classical riders who seemed to have the most relaxed and happiest horses... and achieved that ideal the most... were the Brits and the Americans, particularly Steffen Peters on Ravel. The commentator was very politically correct, but did use terms for the Dutch and Australian riders (the worst offenders, in my opinion) indicating that their horses were "submissive, obedient," while for the horses of Steffen (who won the bronze medal) and Laura Bechtolsheimer (silver medal winner from Great Britain), the commentator said "the FEI wants a happy athlete... this horse certainly is".

The gold medal winner from the Netherlands, Moorlands Totilas, ridden by Edward Gal, is a supremely talented athlete. Only ten years old, he is almost unbelievably gifted. Gal and Totilas have broken dressage records everywhere they've gone. I just hope that beautiful, submissive horse holds up with the type of riding I saw Edward do in warm-up. The FEI has said that hyperflexion can only be used for ten minutes at a time... Edward rode that way the entire time I watched his early warm-up with his team mates and/or WEG personnel lined up on the fence blocking the view from spectators as much as possible. Here he is on the left with a rider from Belgium on the right.



On a happier note, there were horses who obviously were having a wonderful time and loving the enthusiastic crowd. Fuego XII, a Spanish horse, was one. What a showoff! Fuego, with Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz from Spain, placed fourth, just out of the medals in the freestyle, but I think the crowd would have put him first. However, he did have enough errors to drop him down in the standings.

For the most part, I and others thought the judging quite good and fair. There were a few riders who probably earned a few points on reputation, but that is unavoidable in subjective contests like dressage and figure skating. I don't think it's deliberate on the part of judges; I think it's the way our brains work. When we have seen someone excel over and over, those pathways in our brain are programmed to assume excellence. Isabel Werth had something like 28 medals coming into this competition and her scores were higher than I suspect they would have been otherwise.

Totilas, the phenomenon, earned his gold medals in both the Special and the Freestyle. There really are no words to describe the talent of this horse.



The silver medal winner from Great Britain, Mistral Hojris with Laura Bechtolsheimer, was an elegant, happy athlete with a lovely freestyle. I was so busy enjoying her rides, I only took a photo of her exiting the ring with a big smile on Laura's face.



But, of course, my favorite was Ravel and his partner Steffen Peters, the hope of the American team who came through with two bronze medals. Theirs is a true and beautiful partnership. I am so glad daughter-in-law Jessica is solidly in Steffen's camp. Her Grand Prix mare Elisienne, with rider Nicki Grandia, will spend three months this winter and spring in training with Steffen. It will be exciting to see them progress under Steffen's tutelage, where, as at Traumhof, the welfare of the horse always comes first.

WEG Photos and Wildlife Stories

Since I am having difficulty finding time to write about the World Equestrian Games, anyone who would like to see photos can go to my facebook WEG album. (You don't have to belong to facebook to see the photos). I am putting more pictures into that album daily. Eventually, I'll have gone through all 800 that I took and posted the best. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063191&id=1370703779&l=5e9282530c

In time, I'll put some photos on my blog entries, whenever I get around to writing them... life at home keeps getting in the way. Today's distraction, other than freezing the garden produce I picked yesterday, was the otter. Last night, it was the bear.

Yesterday, I had the brilliant idea of turning Polly out in the yard to eat the apples since, with the pears gone, the bear has been coming to the apple tree right outside our back door. I'm really getting a bit tired of this bear stuff. Polly, who is 31 and the only one of my four horses who can eat all the grass and apples she wants without getting too fat or foundering, did a good job. But my brilliant plan backfired.

Last night, with fewer apples in easy reach, the bear dismantled the barrel I keep the dog food in, ripped open the sack, and ate half of it. That is very expensive bear food. Johnny has now put two bungie cords holding down the lid in hopes that will deter the bear. I plan to leave a light on in Johnny's shop (the barrel is just outside) so if I see the varmint, I can bang pans together or something and scare it off. From inside the house.

Before I left for Kentucky and WEG, I took this photo of wet bear tracks crossing the road. We now know how he gets here.... through the wetlands by the creek that runs alongside our driveway.



The otter that was feeding in our pond today is not a problem, just a distraction. I'm glad, though, he isn't as big as a bear because he's quite unafraid and spent a good deal of time scolding me. You can hear him in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVmtbF0ZIes

I returned from the civilized bluegrass country of Kentucky, where I saw a lot of horses but very few birds, a couple squirrels, and no other wildlife, to the wildlife mecca of our farm. It is good to be home where the wild creatures roam, although I would prefer some of them roam a little farther from my back door.

Home from WEG

Wow. What a week. I left Sunday morning, early, for Lexington, Kentucky, via Chicago, and returned the following Sunday evening (day before yesterday), late. In between the two full days of travel were six days packed with The World Equestrian Games, the Kentucky Horse Park, a Thoroughbred farm tour and more. Every day was jam packed with horse-related activities surrounded by horse nuts from all over the world. Our hotel was full of people in Lexington for the Games. Everywhere we went, whether on a bus to and from the hotel, in Lexington, in a restaurant, wherever, people were talking horses, mostly in English but also in every other language on the planet.

There is too much to tell so I will start with photos and a few impressions: Kentucky folks are warm and friendly and courteous and have the most wonderful, soft, slow drawl. I wanted to take that courtesy and drawl home with me, but it disappeared as soon as we hit Chicago's O'Hare airport.

The Kentucky horse park is enormous. We must have walked at least ten miles every day, just getting from the entrance to a massive stadium where the dressage events were held to a food booth (food was the low light of the week... thank God and Faiza for Larabars) to wherever else we were going in the Park. But what a gorgeous place.

After walking a mile or two from the gate, we approached the main stadium via the road you can see on the left of this photo. A huge lake was on our right, with the stadium beyond. An enormous mural covered the back of one side of the stadium, which held 30,000 people and was completely full the night of the dressage musical freestyles.
















There is so much to tell, but it will have to wait for another time. I hit a wall this afternoon after picking garden produce that has been waiting for me for a week... tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, beans, peas, broccoli, even a melon! Oh what I would have given for some of that fresh food last week! ...I will have to continue when I am more rested. I left home still sick with a cold, recovered gradually over the week, but am still running a little slow... with a ton of catching up to do... the freezing of the veggies will have to wait until tomorrow... along with more WEG photos and stories. Tonight I will cook corn from our garden.

It was a spectacular week, but it's very good to be home.