This is a very nicely edited video of Fuego's unforgettable freestyle at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. There was a ghost in the huge stadium that night, and her name was Blue Hors Matine. Was rider Juan Manuel Munoz conscious of channeling her spirit, her jaw-dropping performance from WEG 2006? Another gray horse, another crowd favorite, another not-quite-winner. . .
In Kentucky, the crowd booed the judges when they saw the scores. They thought surely the Spanish horse had won the gold medal. But he hadn't. Dressage is still dressage, after all. Theater and emotion are supposed to be set aside in the judges' huts, but that's much harder to regulate in the hearts of the ticket-holders and television viewers.
Fuego and the winning horse, Totilas, are opposites of each other in color, and they are the two primary horses that people will remember from the dressage portion of the 2010 World Equestrian Games. It will be fascinating to see where each goes from here, up or down on the scoring ladder, up or down in the hearts of the public. For that one night in Lexington, between the two of them, they had it all.
I guess the honeymoon is over. So much for my analogy of the happy island archipelago of the World Equestrian Games tents floating in the sea of green Horse Park fields. Just as WEG is set to wind down to its last day, we're forgetting that this major horse event has been rather blissfully devoid of the tragedies and controversies that have lately swirled around equestrian competitions like a black tornado.
Quick! Run for the cellar, there's a twister coming!
We haven’t had riders killed in rotational falls. No medical helicopters interrupt the pastoral splendor out on the marathon course today. No horses seriously injured, much less dead because of heart attacks, bad falls or even, as far as we know, bad colic. No political protests. No animal rights demonstrators. So far, no horses have been disqualified for medication violations. No riders, either.
Everyone has had plenty of leisure time to complain about things like directional signs, sore feet and where the monitors were (or weren't). When you hear those complaints for two weeks, you know there's not much else going on.
The worst thing that happened, in my book, was Parzival's pink mouth dressage. A cut on the tongue is nothing compared to what McLain Ward went through in Geneva or a Le Samurai Rolex finish or a Courtney King-Dye tragedy. Complain all you want about the price of a sandwich: that means nothing really bad is on your mind.
Until today. And once again, the Dutch team is at the center of the controversy.
Today we received bits and pieces of news about a bizarre discovery in the Dutch driving barn. I heard about it from the Dutch team farrier, who was also crewing for Chardon today. From his account, I graduated to the Dutch press and the Kentucky State Police. Here's what might have happened:
In preparation for today's marathon phase of the FEI World Championship in Driving, Dutch driver IJsbrand Chardon brought his team of four horses out to hitch them to his marathon vehicle. When the team went to get it from its storage place, they discovered that it had been vandalized--and the vehicle next to it, belonging to another Dutch driver, was left untouched.
Not much is being said about the extent of the vandalism; interviews with Chardon in the Dutch press made it sound much worse than it is being reported in the US press, so you can choose your news source.
What is being reported by the Kentucky State Police tonight is that there was a marked discrepancy between the reported time of the discovery and the time when anyone from the Chardon camp apparently actually notified security of the breach.
The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games issued a statement on Saturday
night that is devoid of a.m. or p.m. designations for times listed in the statement.
According to this statement, if read logically, the Dutch reported a problem in the parking lot of their stable around 1 p.m. Saturday. A detective with the Kentucky State Police was dispatched at 12:57 p.m. to go to the Dutch barn; he or she arrived there at 1:20 p.m.
This means that the Chardon team or the Dutch chef d'equipe may have waited almost two hours before notifying the Horse Park and Games security forces that a breach had taken place.
"The Dutch team reported to us that they had discovered the damage to the carriage at 11 o'clock this morning," Lieutenant Jade of the Kentucky State Police said.
The lack of a.m. and p.m. designations in the statement is confusing because it might also mean that a previous security call had been made around 1 a.m., but I don't think that is the case.
Chardon's carriage had padding slashed and damage to the brake lines that caused the fluid to leak, according to Dutch reports. An offer of a loan vehicle from another driver was refused; the Dutch intead petitioned for Chardon to go later in the day than his scheduled time. Damage to the padding is clearly visible in the photos I took of the vehicle.
Chardon's statement today included this quote:
“It was a truly bizarre marathon for me. Before we started the last phase of the marathon I tested the carriage once more. The brakes worked different than usual, but I felt I had to continue. As soon as we started I cleared my mind and I focused on the obstacles. Luckily it went well from the first obstacle and I had a good feeling. Just before the last obstacle I noticed my horses got a little tired and told my son Bram and my wife Paulien who are my grooms that I wanted to take the long route. Bram however told me not to give it away now and to take the short route. I am happy he told me this otherwise I would not have been able to win the marathon and to come so close to Boyd.”
Chardon is also quoted in the Dutch press as saying that he has no enemies in America and believes he is well-liked in the international driving community. He attributed the incident to "some idiot", although the idiot would have to know quite a bit to discern his vehicle from the other Dutch vehicle and how to locate the brake lines.
Chardon is quoted in the Dutch press as saying that stable area security cameras did not cover the area where the carriages were stored.
In spite of his stressful day, Chardon won the marathon phase of the competition and pulled closer to the overall leader, Australia's Boyd Exell.
Driving continues Sunday with the obstacle course and presentation of team and individual medals.
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Greetings from the island. An island of horses and people and peaked-roof tents floats in a sea of fields, somewhere in Kentucky. Some days it feels like a television reality show here, some days it just feels like reality. It feels like we're just getting started, but it looks like we are nearly at the end.
We are rolling through Week Two here at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and we're starting to know our way around. And the event is becoming more entertaining than any of us ever imagined it would. First of all, it's longer than most events, which gives things a chance to sink in for those of us who are in it for the duration. People and horses come and go every few days as the disciplines turn over, and there's a relationship developing almost like a summer camp, where the older kids watch the younger ones and predict what will happen. I feel like a veteran giving the newbies directions and advice.
There's also the dynamic of the Games itself--the management, the volunteers, the security and the commercial exhibitors, not to mention the Teams and Crews. Rules change from one day to the next, as do travel patterns and the access that a given credential signifies. I have no doubt that the last weekend will be perfect.
But I still keep my ear to the ground. Every morning I walk into the Starbucks in Georgetown, Kentucky and sit among the Australians, Brits, Swiss and other Euro-types and I eavesdrop on their conversations. Where are they going? What are they doing? Mostly they are complaining about the food. We're all pretty sick of fast food and fatty food and fried food after twelve days. We were complaining about high prices in the beginning, but most of us would pay anything for some clean crisp non-overcooked vegetables. I've eaten so many burgers, I'm ready to moo.
The other thing I do at Starbucks is read the Lexington newspaper, which generally has a few articles about what went on at the Horse Park the day before, what will go on that day, and then something about WEG's economic impact on the community or on tourism. The paper tries to be upbeat--they are a major sponsor of WEG, after all--but there is a repeated undertone of disappointment in the local economic sector. People in Lexington are disappointed that the WEG tourists are looking for bargains and not buying big ticket items.
That's right. The Euros who should be downtown buying paintings or in Paris (Kentucky, that is) buying expensive antiques are strolling through the Walmart across the street from Starbucks. They're finding out that the WEG official clothing and souvenirs are quite a bit cheaper if you buy them at Walmart. They're intrigued with the guns and ammo department. They're shocked at the low prices of everything. My guess is that there will be a major shopping spree on the last day of WEG like Walmart in Georgetown has never seen.
The trade show vendors tell the newspaper that the foreigners are not buying their custom-designer jewelry for hundreds of dollars. What they don't know is what I observed that they are buying: Walmart's University of Kentucky logo workout pants for $12.99, for instance. Once again, Walmart and McDonalds have thrown a monkey wrench in the economic formula of local businesses. The WEG supporters and teams are eating at McDonalds because they can't find anything but fast food. As one British team support crew member said as we drove past an endless line of fast food restaurants, "No one in Kentucky will ever go hungry." True.
Another problem we're having here is the feeling that we are on an island that has been cast adrift. Most of us are busy night and day working, whether as journalists or volunteers or with the tradeshows or with the horses. The spectators are determined to get their money's worth for their investments in parking and passes and seats and hotels, so they walk into the Horse Park early in the day and walk out in darkness.
Ask any of us what's gone on in the world since September 25th and we'd be stumped. If you hear of a hurricane headed this way, please let us know!
Which brings up the subject of media. We have four types of media here: the horse press (that's my tribe), the mainstream press (newspapers and magazines not specific to horses), the foreign press of all types, and the broadcasters, which also includes a fair number of people who seem to have taken the "no video" rule as an invitation to become radio producers.
And why is WEG not the media's darling? Perhaps there are reporters from The New Yorker working quietly undercover. Perhaps Google just isn't reporting all the news stories that are being published online and in print. We were off to a a great start: Endurance and dressage were covered by the New York Times and then the coverage disappeared, before eventing started. Was that only because the Sheikh was here? There was a lovely New York Times slide show of the endurance race, with silhouetted riders cantering across Kentucky landscapes by photographer Luke Sharrett. Times sports writer Katie Thomas penned an article a day for several days; was it a slow sports news week? Eventing and show jumping haven't been so lucky.
The last article featuring the Games in USA Today was printed on October 1.
WEG has been eclipsed in the news by the Ryder Cup, college and pro football, the coming of the World Series, and the opening of the pro hockey and basketball seasons. Last week there was room in the papers and on the web sites for horses; this week, apparently, things are crowded. And what a shame: the amazing stories of Para Dressage are a journalist's dream. The driving is great fun for photographers, with always spectacular results. And vaulting and show jumping have enough action to liven up any web page or sports section.
WEG received 12 minutes and 51 seconds of coverage, of a sort, from National Public Radio yesterday on Neal Conan's Talk of the Nation show. He interviewed NPR Health Policy Correspondent Julie Rovner about her trip to the World Equestrian Games, and they took some calls about horse sports and the Games. NPR didn't send Julie to Kentucky to report on the Games, but they thought she could make an interesting segment of TOTN by talking about what it was like to have been there. and they were right.
We're left with Aussie video bloggers Hamish and Dave getting scolded by Kentucky State Police and a media center full of slightly jealous journos hissing through clenched teeth, "Who ARE those guys?"
I don't know who they are, either, but I know they had the right idea, although their notoriety here at the Games is probably a bit of a surprise to them. They probably planned to report on the Games and hoped they'd develop a loyal following. My guess is that by next Sunday when the Games end, Hamish and Dave will be better known than any of the medal winners. Americans found them more interesting than the people they were interviewing. They even made Anky giggle. And you can play them on your iPhone.
When The Carrot Blog shows an ExtraNormal.com cartoon of Hamish and Dave, I will know it is time to go home.
So here we sit on WEG Island. The crowds keep coming, the horses keep amazing us, the beat goes on. Somewhere in the distance, the clock is counting down to the end but no one's paying much attention to that countdown the way they did to the countdown for the start of the Games.
Let the last days pass slowly: We're just getting the hang of this place. And just when we have it all figured out, it will be time to pull the plugs and go home.
Isn't that always the way?
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On a Sunday afternoon when the rest of the horse world was still at the Kentucky Horse Park cheering the medal winners in the three-day eventing, I slipped away and zipped off down a back road toward downtown Lexington. As much as I would have liked to have cheered for the winners, I had to beat the traffic and I had to claim my space on th edge of a very special red carpet. Even in the car I was beginning to question how cold it might be among the tall buildings.
I was headed to the Lexington premiere of the new Disney film Secretariat, which opens nationwide in theaters on October 8. I couldn't believe my good fortune in being invited to the premiere. Fellow journalist Erin Gilmore and I had been working on this night for weeks. Finally, just the day before, we had received word from the studio publicists that we were "on the list"--we were in!
By 5:30, the spotlights came on, the grand old Lexington Theater marquee was starting to glow in the fading light and I was so cold I had lost all feeling in my fingers, but I thought I could see limousines in the distance. Soon people were sauntering down the aisle.
As the procession went on, the faces became more and more familiar, and the most familiar were led up to me for photographs (such as my fingers could manage) and interviews. Nick Nicholson of Keeneland, one of the evening's sponsors, stopped nearby, as did Anne Buchanan and Kim Brown of the International Equestrian Festival, who also sponsored the event. The Scandinavian equestrian clothing company Horze supplied a lineup of models in cool euro riding gear (they looked very warm in down vests and tall winter boots).
Celebrity jockeys included Steve Cauthen, who rode Affirmed, the most recent Triple Crown winner. Along came Pat Day and finally Calvin Borel and fiance Lisa Funk, who were both happy to pose in front of the marquee.
There were politicians and film executives, and finally, the central core of the film. Secretariat's exercise rider Charlie Davis was resplendent in a lavender suit as he pushed Secretariat's jockey, Ron Turcotte, in his wheelchair. Director Randall Wallace stopped to chat, as did Governor and Mrs Beshear.
Then, we were down to actress Diane Lane, who not only stopped to talk, but stayed because of the "reporter" next to me. She represented Scholastic Publications, and was an eighth grader having the absolute time of her life on a dream assignment from the student-run magazine. Diane Lane took extra time with her, which was very endearing.
The guest of honor was the subject of the film, Mrs Penny Chenery. I had seen her on television the night before; she'd been in the winner's circle at Hollywood Park with Zenyatta when the supermare had won the Lady's Secret for the third time, and chalked up her 19th straight victory. Mrs. Chenery looked terrific.
Once inside the beautiful old theater, a few speeches by the Disney executive in charge of production, the mayor of Lexington, the governor, Diane Lane and Randall Wallace went by in quick succession. Then there was a blowing of the horn, the playing of "My Old Kentucky Home" and the film began to roll.
You can take it from there, because you must see this film when it comes out in theaters later this week. I won't tell you anything about it except to say that the staid crowd sitting around me clapped and cheered for the big red colt as if he was running for the first time...and as if they didn't know the outcome of each and every race.
Of course we all know that Secretariat won the Triple Crown but this film is more about the people who rode the trail with him, and there are many details here that will leave us wondering whether they were manufactured by Hollywood or if they actually happened.
I'm sure that Penny Chenery is a much more complex person than the script allowed Diane Lane to explore but I was also relieved that Mrs Chenery's privacy was respected. She comes out of the movie looking just as much a champion as her beloved horse.
And I think that's something that Hollywood didn't embellish; I believe that is the truth, and one more reason to cheer for Secretariat.
It's as if they are playing a game of rotating horse stalls: the dressage horses exit, the jumpers enter. One van pulls out, another pulls in. They appear to be choreographed.
The barns at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are constantly circled by horse vans that load and unload horses according to a schedule that has been masterminded somewhere by someone who is probably an air traffic controller in his or her day job. Which horses go where? And when? Someone is on top of it.
This weekend the last wave of the international superstars are pulling in. While everyone’s attention is riveted over at the main arena this afternoon on the eventing finals, the show jumpers are settling into their stalls. We’ve seen them doing flat work the past few days as the international horses work the kinks out after their flights, and now, as you can see from this USEF video clip, the US horses are arriving.
The gray horse coming off this van is Cedric, one of the stars of the US team. He is ridden by Laura Kraut and has been in Europe competing on the super-glamorous Global Champions Tour. Cedric is a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood. They just came from Spain, where they finished sixth in the Madrid Grand Prix Trophy Volvo and fourth in the SM King's Cup Trophy. Laura and Cedric were part of the USA’s Gold Medal Team at the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong.
Jumping begins at 10 a.m. on Monday with the speed trials and continues right up to the end. One of the very last events determines the individual medal winner with what is probably the single most interesting and exciting event at all of WEG--and there are so many! That’s what is called the “Rolex Top Four”.
In WEG showjumping, the Rolex Top Four showjumpers are required to ride each other’s horses, and the scores count! This is a very tense competition. Throughout the week, you will see the riders scrutinizing the top horses, in the event that they may be required to ride a particular horse. It’s a challenge, to be sure, and one you won’t want to miss! All the warmup must be done in full view of the audience. That will be next Saturday night, if I am reading the program correctly.
If the Rolex Top Four night is not sold out, that would be the night to come to WEG! (See you there!)
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Are you ready to DiscoverWEG? Let us transport you to Kentucky, right here in this blog!
Watch this information-saturated WEG blog unfold as the Games approach: Blogger Fran Jurga has been investigating all the sorts of things that she would want to know and what “real people” would find interesting about the event, the place, the people and the horses. You’ll find facts, fun, ideas, maps, suggestions and a stream of consciousness that will make you almost able to smell the Horse Park roses and hear the Kentucky bluegrass music.
DiscoverWEG is, like all blogs, a two-way conversation. Use the comment form to leave your thoughts and ask questions. Let DiscoverWEG know your questions and what is on your mind, whether you are attending the Games or not.
Most importantly, connect with the blog by bookmarking this page, grabbing the RSS feed for your reader or iGoogle/Yahoo home page, and feel free to post about the blog on Twitter and Facebook. Tell your friends that you’ve “discovered” DiscoverWEG with Fran Jurga, and they should, too!
We haven’t had riders killed in rotational falls. No medical helicopters interrupt the pastoral splendor out on the marathon course today. No horses seriously injured, much less dead because of heart attacks, bad falls or even, as far as we know, bad colic. No political protests. No animal rights demonstrators. So far, no horses have been disqualified for medication violations. No riders, either.
A cut on the tongue is nothing compared to what McLain Ward went through in Geneva or a Le Samurai Rolex finish or a Courtney King-Dye tragedy. Complain all you want about the price of a sandwich: that means nothing really bad is on your mind.
In preparation for today's marathon phase of the FEI World Championship in Driving, Dutch driver IJsbrand Chardon brought his team of four horses out to hitch them to his marathon vehicle. When the team went to get it from its storage place, they discovered that it had been vandalized--and the vehicle next to it, belonging to another Dutch driver, was left untouched.
that is devoid of a.m. or p.m. designations for times listed in the statement.
Chardon's carriage had padding slashed and damage to the brake lines that caused the fluid to leak, according to Dutch reports. An offer of a loan vehicle from another driver was refused; the Dutch intead petitioned for Chardon to go later in the day than his scheduled time. Damage to the padding is clearly visible in the photos I took of the vehicle.
By 5:30, the spotlights came on, the grand old Lexington Theater marquee was starting to glow in the fading light and I was so cold I had lost all feeling in my fingers, but I thought I could see limousines in the distance. Soon people were sauntering down the aisle.
