Woodford Reserve Distillery Kentucky

Pictures

I've finally started to get some pics up.

First lot are at Red Hills

LAST DAY

Last full day in the USA

I have spent the last two days in Lexington Kentucky, the home of Rolex and WEG. You may also know it as the home of Thoroughbred Horse Breeding in the US.

Yestrday I spent leisurely morning cruising a couple of malls, mostly window shopping as I had already had a good crack at shopping. Walmart is cool, there is almost nothing you can't buy at Walmart.

I spent the afternoon with Joe visiting Woodlands Distillery and Keeneland Race Track. Both are beautiful places and definitely should be on the agenda of anybody planning to come to WEG.

Today however was a real treat, I spent a couple of hours tagging along with Mick Costello. Mick is the Rolex and WEG course builder. He know this place so well and I got to see a lot of both tracks being put together. I also got some great pics of a new fence in it's inception. It is a jumping fish and I got to see it come together, I will upload some pics later on.

I then had a good wander round the Horse Park and finished in the gift shop where I picked up the requisite caps.

I finished my visit to the Horse Park with a stop at the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), similar to EA. I met with Shealagh Costello, Director of Eventing, National Programs. Shealagh was very generous with her time and it was great to spend some time learning about US Eventing. Tonight is my last nightand then I begin the grueling trip back to Sydney including a nine hour stop at LAX.

I have had an amazing trip, met some wonderful people and have been absoloutely spoilt rotten, we are all involved in a great sport and are passionate about having a great time.

One promise that has been toroughly broken during this trip is that to write regualarly, it has been very tough. I have no excuse other than the fact that I have had a great time and enjoyed every minute, including going to dinner or a party almost EVERY night. I am looking forward to a quite time when I get home. I have missed my bozo and my boys terribly.

Wed 10 Mar 2010

Red Hills wrap up

Red Hill has been run and won, World Cup class was one by Mara Dean ahead of Phillip Dutton. Going to spend some time later today doing a proper wrap and will more detail then.

By from Tallahassee Airport!!!!

Off to Lexington Kentucky.

Red Hills is ready

Wow the week has gone fast, it is Friday morning and first horse starts dressage in less than 3 hours. I have had an amazing time so far. Everybody on the team is welcoming friendly and above all focused on making this event the best possible. There is no doubt that the Red Hills Team have an event that is world class and strive to exceed the high standard they have set in the past.

Unfortunately the ghost of Red Hills 2008 hangs vividly in the memory of the team and we all have worked to ensure that 2010 is a re-birth of this wonderful event. I have now moved to the Mistletoe Plantation which is about 20 mins north of Red Hills just across the Georgia State border. This vast property is very nice and Andy Griffiths and I are sharing a 2/3 bedroom cottage equipped with everything we could possibly need.

From a technical point of view this event is very similar to any other FEI event I have been to in Australia, but there are some major differences. For starters yesterday many of the riders were out hacking or doing flatwork. Perhaps 90% were wearing old school skullcaps, with no chinstrap. In Australia this just doesn't happen. The other one I struggle with is everybody has motorbikes and quads. They are being kept at the Stables, anyhow it is the differences that help us to learn.

I aCIC 1* class and have 22 starters to look after. My ground jury consists of Uli Schmidt who is an American born in Germany and Joe Dimmek a German judge. So anyhow my entire team including myself has German roots. There is certainly a plethora of overseas offficials with a judge each from Germany, Scotland and Hungary as well as myself and Andy Griffiths from the UK. It is great to have that level of experience on the team and I am learning a lot.

Every single night since I arrived has involved some sort of function and that continues right through. Last night was the Competitors, Officials and Volunteers Welcome. Tonight we back up with the sponsors party and tomorrow night is the competitors party. On Sunday we have a wrap up dinner back here at Mistletoe. And then I'm off to Lexington Kentucky with Joe Carr. Joe is here and just loves to stir everybody up, as I said we are having a ball.

The other day I went along with Andy and Hugh Lochore the Course Designer to do some radio interviews to drum up spectators for the event. Given our exotic accents in Florida we were told we very popular, if that helps get bums on seats great news.

Today we will do final checks on the XC course and meet to ensure all safety and response plans are in place.

I look forward to watching and meeting some of America's top riders over the next few days.

Bye for now.

5 March 2010

Red Hills Wow

What an amazing team here at Red Hills place looks great. Such a fun and organised team here, I am going on Radio today to help drum up crowds here with my exotic accent should be fun two different stations in 1/2 hour. Will do more later today bye all.