Recently in Chelan Kozak Category

I have mixed feelings about indoor eventing.  To some extent I feel like it makes about as much sense as indoor NASCAR or indoor golf, but on the other hand it definitely presents a simpler and more convenient environment for spectators--you can sit in one seat for three hours and watch the entire competition from start to finish.  Long time EN contributor and by now EN legend Chelan Kozak was kind enough to write a story for us about bringing indoor eventing to the west coast.  As always, thanks for writing this Chelan and thank you for reading.
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From Chelan:

Chelan Kozak was kind enough to interview Jonathan Elliot, who, along with his wife Suzy, owns and operates Aspen Farms in Washington.  Aspen Farms hosts several USEA events each year and next year they will be hosting what I believe is the first ever advanced horse trials in Washington--a big deal for Area VII.  Jonathan and Suzy are both former 4* riders and they are all around two of the coolest people in eventing.  Thanks for the interview Jonathan and Chelan and thank you for reading.
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Marking the big date

1) HOW LONG HAVE YOU OWNED THE PROPERTY?

We bought the property in 2005. 240 acres with timber, no power, or improvements.

2) WHAT YEAR WAS YOUR FIRST YEAR OF COMPETITION?

We ran our first competition in October 2007. The 3rd week in October, it rained for 6 straight days, I never thought we would see the end of the rain, but Sunday for xc the sun finally came out! By Tuesday after the show, I was fishing for trout in shorts and a tee shirt with Matt Langliers one of our course builders.

3) WHAT DREW YOU BACK TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST?

Both Suzy and I decided we did not want to live in Florida for ever. Both of our Families are here in the northwest. Suzy's in BC Kelowna and Vancouver and mine in Gig Harbor and Seattle. It made sense to come back. Washington is a beautiful area, great for eventing horses and after 1.5 years of looking we found a property that we fell in love with. Aside from our good friends in Florida, the Carters and Hollings, we have not looked back.


Refreshments anyone?

4) WHO'S IDEA WAS THE JUMP WITH THE ICE COLD BEVERAGES?

Greg Schlappi Designed all of the courses the first year. BN-P. He had the idea for the cooler fence. Always a popular one with the competitors.


Aspen Farms' namesake

5) WHAT LEVEL DID YOU RIDE ASPEN, THE FARM'S NAMESAKE? HOW OLD IS ASPEN NOW?

Aspen is 25 years young. I first rode Aspen in 1994 for the fall events on the west coast, he finished up the year with a Win at the Fritz Cup CCI*. In the spring of 1995 We bought Aspen for $1. Subsequently sold my own Latour for a $1 who went on to do Advanced with Maren Foster. In total I rode Aspen fpr 6 years, with 1 CCI*, 3 CCI**, and 3 CCI***. Highlights include 4th Rolex Kentucky CCI***, 1st Essex CCI** 2nd NAJYRC CCI**, and 1st Fritz Cup CCI*. Suzy rode aspen in 2001 at the Foxhall CCI***, following that he had a little break and in 2004 Scottie Reeves rode Aspen (age 18) for the year doing her first CCI* and OI HT. after the move to Washington, we thought the old man would like to compete on his own farm, so in 2008 (age 22) with Anne Rowland (Aspen Farms working student) Aspen competed junior Novice, at the Aspen Farms HT. Then did his final competition at Caber Farm with Charlamagne Paasche placing 3rd in the Novice. All told he competed for 14 years and 9 FEI competitions.

6) HAS TREMAINE COOPER BEEN THE DESIGNER FROM THE START? WHAT IS IT ABOUT HIS DESIGN STYLE THAT LED YOU TO CHOOSE HIM?

Greg Schlappi designed the original courses. Tremaine Cooper came in 2008 when we wanted to add the Intermediate course. I thought back to my favorite Advance tracks back east and Morven Park always came to the top of the list. It rode as a bold course, with good use of the terrain and I always felt when the horses were prepared properly they came off the course always for the better. Something I wanted here at Aspen.

7) WHEN IS THE ADVANCED PLANNED FOR AND WHY ARE YOU BUILDING IT?

The Advanced Course is planned for the fall of 2012. Sometimes I wonder why I plan to build it! But I think it will be a great addition to eventing in the NW. As with all of our shows I try to pick out the best from all the events we have competed at over the years, making it as competitor friendly as possible. Looking to raise the bar and help our upper level competitors prepare their horses for the Galway CCI*** and heading back east to gain more experience at the upper levels.

8) ANY PLANS FOR FEI COMPETITIONS?

Not at the moment, with Woodside running the CIC events 1 month after us, there is not a need, and with Rebecca and Galway on either side of us it does not make sense for a CCI at the moment.

9) WHAT OTHER PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR THE PROPERTY/EVENT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

This fall we plan on a 2nd full water jump, located near the big rock and the mushroom fence. Combined with the Advanced track for 2012 that should keep us busy!

10) ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE EN READERS?

They should come check us out! I think things like the "Kerrits Leader Jersey" identifying the first place horse on XC, our Team competition: one rider from every level and having to compete at the Saturday night party for team games, our competitor party and dancing, the atmosphere of people camping and socializing at the end of the day, our Zeit Challenge offering prize money for the lower levels BN-T, and this fall Natural Migrations offering $3,000 in the Open Intermediate class this September 2-4th. Also Travers Schick, head builder, Joe Stylos, and Josh Sylce put in hard work to create and prep the fabulous course that everyone is able to run over. Our tremendous sponsors: Gallops Saddlery, Toklat, Kerrits, Olson's Tack Shop, APF, Ice Horse, and Cavalor to name a few allow us to give away over $15,000 each show in product as prizes. And our numerous volunteers deserve a big Thank You for all of their hard work.

From Chelan:

So this post will be brief. Linda Paine has made 600 gin jello shots to raise money to send Gin & Juice to Badminton. The Paine's have always shown me tremendous hospitality over the years so I feel I should do my part in supporting their horse's efforts! Plus I had a bit of a rough day on my XC today so since I'm not burdened with show jumping tomorrow, and don't have to drive.... The lovely intermediate horse I ride got a little flustered and wasn't himself and so I pulled up. He is a really nice pony and will see another day.

The 3 star was over before we knew it. Ian Stark again has made a fantastic job of the courses here--just enough trouble but not too much if you know what I mean. At one point during the day I was on the back of his golf cart and let me just say he goes even faster without a blindfold! EN readers may recall the Golf cart madness of last Falls CCI3* here...

The moat had a couple of glance off's. This year there was no 'guide' at the second element to help the riders get straight. So it had a few problems. John Michael Durr from the stallion Warrick had a fall at the second water at the skinny out. Let me just say that the stallion originally is from my neck of the woods. It is a very challenging ride, and John Michael is exactly the right rider for the horse. There was a brief hold on course, but both horse and rider walked away okay. Wishing for one more stride, I am sure, but okay nevertheless.

John referenced the scoring drama. How it actually unfolded was after zipping to the office and speaking to Trish Gilbert (how many THOUSAND rules are there in this sport...) I'm then on the phone to John and Hawley zips by. I had just sent Hawley a text saying, "Who's winning this thing?" She had no idea what was actually going on either! As John reported they are both great friends, and, as Hawley said, she didn't want to win on a technicality. For the record before I came to send this post I bought Ali a jello shot. Not her first of the night...I suspect not the last. Ali rode great but did have a fantastic save at the same skinny where John Michael had his spill. Velcro butt, everyone deserves a little luck sometimes and all of that!

The weather was SPECTACULAR. I was actually a little chilly this morning. Sure beats the heck out of 90 plus degrees for XC!



By the way I stand corrected. The reptile(?) That was sunning itself earlier this week on my Ecogold pad is apparently a LIZARD not a Gekko. Since I am not a biology nerd, I had no idea. I just know that he and many of his cousins live in the wood pile next to my horse trailer at Kingsway Farm and I have had to work hard not to step on them on several occasions over the past several weeks.

For the record, I did not name Sue Church's horse Five O'clock Somewhere, but do tend to buy Sue gifts with that motif if I see them out and about...

Enjoy the video and GO EVENTING!!

Chelan Kozak, Eventing Nation's Canadian Olympian and guest writer extraordinaire, is on scene at Galway and she will be generously sending us a few reports throughout the weekend. Check out Chelan's website here for more about Chelan. As usual, Chelan speaks her mind, and as usual I will get one or two uptight texts about it, and as usual I won't care.  Thanks for writing this Chelan and thank you for reading.
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[video via Chelan]

From Chelan:

Galway day one was pretty busy. They do the CIC's over two days here--Friday is dressage and SJ and Saturday is XC in reverse order to add excitement to the thing. Like 3 star XC isn't exciting enough??  Apparently this is the format in Europe. Personally, I think it is weird. Seems a bit horse trials-ish. Further, it doesn't help the riders get a feel for what sort of horse they will have in a few weeks time at the big CCI's they are preparing for, which obviously have the SJ at the end of the weekend. Nobody asked me, of course, so there you have it.

Ali Slusher on 'Last Call' started the day winning and kept it up, despite a rail in SJ. Ali had this to say about Friday's performance, "I thought 'Fergie' jumped great. She tried hard and the rail was my fault. My dressage was the best she and I had done as a pair. I'm very excited about XC."

The most influential part of the big SJ track was the middle of the course. A somewhat airy vertical bending line to the triple combination proved to cause a stop, rails and one fall. Debbie Rosen landed on her feet, but I have a feeling that she is seriously rethinking her trip to Rolex. Again, this sport is cruel and we are all a little insane to play it!

I did not get to watch all of the dressage because I am riding and coaching this weekend, but there were several people in the 2 and 3 star CIC whose marks were 8+ marks apart from different judges, which is too many!

I chatted with one of the many volunteers that one encounters at an event. Denay Lane was in charge of opening and closing both FEI dressage rings at the same time. I asked her approximately the numbers of top hats to helmet ratio in the FEI. She felt that it was about 3/4 top hat--1/4 helmet. I consider her probably the most reliable source since she stood there all day. She did have a chair set up in the shade, but she rarely sat down. Shade was a good thing today as it was in the low 90's. Last week down here in Southern California it was mid 40's and rainy... Suddenly the flies are out. Isn't Mother Nature divine?

Speaking of hard workers (and Mother nature), I chatted with Bert Wood briefly this morning. My horse trailer is parked across the road from Galway at Kingsway Farm. I told Bert that we hear the boys in the water trucks and on the tractors at 10 PM when we go to bed and at 6 AM when we get up. So Bert says, "Yup, we go all night, it's the only way". Um, actually Bert, there are plenty of other options. It's just that none of them get the job done to your high standard. Here in Southern California, there is no point watering days early because the sun simply dries the ground out again. I can tell you personally that the footing down here is fantastic. God help you if you leave the prepared track--ground hog holes, ant hills, etc. await. But without exception, the path that has been laid for us is second to none. A huge shout out to the course builders, who are normally also the ones who prepare the ground that we gallop Hell bent for leather on. Thank you so much for taking such meticulous care of our horse's welfare. We appreciate it.

David O'Connor told me last night on a course walk that Bert was one of the hardest workers he knows, which is saying something because David is not exactly a slouch himself. We all had some laughs as well as serious learning on the walk. I asked if I could print a few gems and I got 'the look'. I speak 'DOC' fairly well, so I guess that means what happens in 'Vegas' stays in Vegas, so to speak. he he he...


Don't you think that this Ecogold gecko could kick the snapping turtle at the Badminton Lake's ass?!?

The 3 star XC looks good. Ian Stark has added a few changes since last autumn's CCI, and of course this course is shorter. The biggest change (which John posted my photo of Thursday) is the uphill log to brush chevron. I told Ian Stark and Robert Kellerhouse that I tripped near the fence and the camera in my iPhone accidentally went off. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Anyhow, log to chevron sounds pretty average on paper, but the uphill is steep, then you gallop through the trade fair to get to the next jump, the water. I'm sorry, I LOVE THAT. Galloping through the trade fair?!? Excellent, love it!! I'll have video of that later tonight for everyone.

The weather for XC is supposed to be a little more reasonable mid 70's which should be nice for the horses to Rock and Roll. It's pouring rain back home in BC right now, so I'm not whining, but it has just been a pretty quick acceleration into HOT temperatures. More later after the XC.

Jennie's CCI3* winning round

From Chelan:

So, apparently there was CCI3* show jumping going on today...

You wouldn't know it because the REAL thing that everyone showed up to watch was the first annual golf cart races at Galway Downs. I am absolutely certain that the 3 star will continue next year and for many years after that. The golf cart races? Toss up! Frankly, I'm not sure that Robert has enough insurance for such activities. How that event wrapped up with no casualties or deaths I have no earthly idea.

What do you get when you take over a dozen type A competitive, fearless event riders, add blindfolded drivers in golf carts, and a track designed by Ian Stark? INTENSE CHAOS!! The video clearly speaks for itself. East vs West, and although our west coast team 'won,' Ian, the blindfolded DRIVER of the last West Coast cart actually crossed the finish line upside down in the cart of Marilyn Payne and Sandy Phillips. So, it was declared a draw. You'll notice that those sissy dressage judges wore rain ponchos-HA!

Enjoy...



Now, onto the show jumping.

Ali Slusher won the two star on Juicy Couture. Ali was clearly well warmed up by the golf cart races preceding the 2 star!

Then, in the 3 star there were 4 double clears- Casey McKissock (that's her getting literally RUN OVER in a golf cart) never let it be said that eventers aren't tough as nails. Frankie, who might have had the smoothest round of the day, Ali, who put the pressure on Jennie, and of course Jennie who was the overnight leader and ended up the leader on day 3. Other lovely rounds were Martha and Andrea. I also forgot to mention Kristin Bachman's fabulous XC round yesterday.

One nail biter moment came at the CWD jump. Jennie's horse tapped it and it jumped UP out of the cups and rested comfortably on top of the cup edge, as they sometimes do. It never fell down, so clear round it was.

Again, my heartfelt appreciation to Robert and the entire crew at Galway. What an incredible weekend!

Go (West Coast) Eventing.

The Galway three-day and horse trials is just a few days away and Chelan Kozac, Eventing Nation's Canadian Olympian and guest writer extraordinaire, is already on scene and we are all looking forward to a great weekend of coverage. Click here for the Galway entries and check out Chelan's website for more about Chelan. Thanks for writing this Chelan and thank you for reading.
 

"I'll be the one hiding in the corner, sweating all day," said Stark with a laugh. "To be honest, you feel pretty ill with anxiety the entire day, until the last horse is home safe."

From Chelan:

WEG wrap up--aye carumba-slightly delayed for obvious reasons!  Okay so is anyone else still in shock?? I imagine I am not the only one. But let's begin at the beginning Sunday--

The jog-please allow me to cut to the chase (as I am inclined to do) with regard to Becky and Comet. I don't know Becky, but, as John said, she has a reputation as an excellent horse woman. We know for sure that the horse lost a shoe early on course Saturday. These horses are worth far more than money. No rider in thier right mind would jog a horse and jump it if there was some sort of soft tissue or other injury that might cause further harm to the horse. Generally speaking, if a horse loses a shoe XC especially early on, the Sunday morning issue is foot soreness. This is a concussion issue, accentuated by jogging on asphalt. In many cases, the horse appears and feels good on soft footing, which is what they have to jump on. No one can make the decision to jog or not except the rider, in consultation with what are exemplary vets. I will say that if I was in a medal position at a Major Games with a horse who had lost a shoe and was only foot sore on hard and happy on the soft, I'd give the jog a whirl and hope for good luck the same as Becky did. Me and everyone else is sorry it didn't work out for her. 

Boyd's horse looked pretty good, but cantered 1/2 way back down the lane, and they never asked him to jog again before passing him. Phillip got lucky as Woodburn had some dodgy steps, but he was passed. Maybe that's what you get for hosting a Major Games... We Canadians had our own heart stopping moment when Kyle's horse Parker was held and then passed upon re-inspection, but after minutes of deliberation. Maybe Kyle should have asked Boyd or Phillip to jog for him? 

When the jumping began, it became very clear that the time was going to be an issue. Inside turns and/or no adding strides was the requirement for a double clear round.  With the team placings so tight, double clear was on everyone's minds. 

The first of the top three British team riders whose scores counted, laid down the gauntlet early on, as did the Kiwis. In the 'Martha Stewart turn out' department, the Italian rider Suzanna Bordone rode well but continued her weekend sans hairnet (cringe) and the lovely horse First Lady was NOT BRAIDED. Insert European women-are-hairy-joke here...

Boyd was the first of the three necessary score US riders to jump. He and Neville showed up for work and did a lovely double clear, keeping the heat on the Kiwis, Canadians and the Brits. Our first Canadian score to count was Hawley, who went clear, ditto the heat comment. Selena, double clear, Phillip, one rail, one time. At that point, it was so close that Canada moved into silver medal contention, provided that Steph jumped well.

Meanwhile, down under, the Kiwis kept coming. The calculators were flying at this point.

Karen came in the ring and everyone was silent. She absolutely had to lay down a trademark stellar show jump round to keep the US alive in the medals. She did not, as we all now know. The rest is history. Steph had a rail, but Canada had it in hand for the silver. It's hard to describe what happened next as a Canadian event rider. We screamed, we cried, we waved our flags, and of course, we immediately began making plans for a party at the Veuve Clicquot tent! David, our fearless Canadian leader, with his USEF president 'hat on' was supposed to hand out the bronze medals to the winners. He switched it up so he could hand out the silver to his Canadian team. As happy as he was, I noticed he stopped short of giving Kyle a big kiss. Thank God for small miracles. Speaking of Kyle, you'll notice his horse was not an attendee at the ceremony. Parker does not cope well with that sort of crowd, which meant that he did not get to participate in the victory gallop. My later suggestion was that Kyle could have borrowed a few vaulting moves and stood on the back of one of the Canuck horses, just to keep things interesting. Maybe next time? Hmmm next time--she says with absolute certainty that there WILL be a next time. Before Saturday night, our Canadian goal for the Games was 4th or 5th. Of course there were whispers of a possible (bronze) medal, but we knew there were strong teams in contention. By Saturday night, our riders had their games faces on and were not going home without hardware. Silver is far and away so much more than we hoped for five days ago.

But back to the US and their troubles for a moment. I'm sure that the shredding of the rider's performances has already begun in earnest. As an educated observer, I will echo John's sentiment that while the final straw for the US medal loss was Karen's round, it is a team result and as such the other mistakes came in to play.

There will be volumes written about why the US failed to win a medal on home turf, and what needs to happen next as a result. I just hope that as a Nation, the US thinks to ask the riders for input on why things did not materialize. That may be a far less popular thought than publicly stoning them. However, at the end of the day it is the riders who have to walk the walk not just talk the talk. Believe me, no one, not even the most vicious critic out there, will be harder on those riders than themselves. I'd love to wax poetic about how to fix the US system, or even if the 'system' is broken to begin with. But, I don't know the system well enough to take a stab at it.

What I am familiar with is the Canadian system, which by the way, used to be really broken! It is quite ironic today to hear the murmurs of 'shouldn't the US do it like the Canadians?' HA! No one would have thought to say that last week. Our system is not rocket science, there are no big secrets. I'll lay it all out there for you--

Start with good riders who are hard working, determined and tenacious, and add their talented horses. Then a coach who is competitive and bossy, with a clear idea of how to win medals, sets the bar higher than we ever imagined, and who won't take no for an answer. Mix in management who is unfailing dedicated, listens carefully to said coach, as well as riders, and never stops believing. Flash forward five plus years and here we are. We are small enough to keep our program tailored to the top horses and riders as individuals. Our team still has that feel of family. A tough, competitive, brutally honest family, but family nonetheless. 

This medal changes EVERYTHING for us. I see three big changes. First, finances--we immediately get more funding as a result of this medal. More government funding, and the possibility of being more attractive to corporate sponsors. Second, we have breathing room before the Olympics. Our still tipsy riders hadn't even showered and changed Sunday night, and there was already talk of London. That's what winning teams do--they look forward. Normally at the Pan Am's Canada is sweating bullets and stacking the deck with overqualified horse because we need to a good result to get to the Olympics the next year. We now have the possibility of sending greener horses and riders to the 2 star Pan Ams next year to give them exposure. Third change--our coach. In the beginning, David made no secret of the fact that he took on the Canadians on as a stepping stone to what he really wanted, which was to coach the US team. He has a commitment to our country until 2012. Now I know from asking him the question directly this spring, that any move away from our team after 2012 would be pretty much a financial one. By that I don't refer to his salary, but to the team as a whole having enough money to do things right. David likes to win, and it takes money to win. I have no idea when he will make a final decision to stay or not after the Olympics, but if I had to guess right now, I'd guess that he's having a good time winning and will continue with us. David leaving the Canadians after London would be a little like David the rider stopping riding Giltedge and Custom Made when they were 10 or 11 year olds. But he didn't do that, he kept on until they were teenagers and did plenty more with them. That's my prediction, sure hope I'm right.

In the meantime, I'm flying back out west and able to press 'send' on this article because of the wonders of modern technology--WIFI while 30,000 feet in the air. Unless something crazy happens, the kind EN fans who appreciate my posts will have to wait until Galway, the West coast's FIRST CCI3* to hear from me. Like I say to my non horsy husband Jason, "How can you miss me if I'm always around?"

Still a great photo

From Chelan:

So-What a DAY!!!! John pretty much covered the key points--the Germans are bummed (stops at the second last, last fence and two stops at a ditch?!?!), the poor Aussies are bummed, the Americans pulled up their socks today, and the Canadians were fantastic. More later on my impressive countrymen, but first a few little housekeeping items.

I was on my soapbox yesterday about the tongue biting resulting in a French horse's elimination. I spouted off about the FEI needing to use common sense and discretion in such a case. Someone responded in the comments with an excerpt from the FEI rule which seemed to indicate that the FEI judges DO have discretion in such cases. I can't actually find the rule tonight. However, at the press conference Friday night Marilyn Payne stated that once they saw blood they had not choice but to eliminate the rider. I am going to scour the rules and try to get a straight answer.

Regardless, today I saw three horses bleeding from their stifles to such and extent that there was blood on the white birch rails. FEI stewards washed the blood off. In addition, there was a horse with its mouth bleeding. So, my question is if the horse is eliminated for biting its tongue in dressage, but not for stifles bleeding cross country, there is a problem. These are not pretty pictures for our sport.

'Willy' FP and Stuart Tinney gave a clinic on masterful XC riding, as did Phillip and Andrew Nicholson. Karen Donkers, Mary King and Karen O'Connor are not spring chickens either and showed us that like a fine wine, cross country riders often get better with age. What a pleasure to watch so much skill and equine artistry. Will the Karen doubters please clam up after today's ride? 

I do wonder where the Japanese get their horses! Although the scoreboard told the tale of a sketchy day for that Nation, I saw several glimpses of really class horses. Let's watch and see what happens there in two years. As well the Italians had flashes of brilliance today. But the question BEGS to be asked... what the bleep is up with the arm bands on the legs? Is this Pony Club Rally?  Honest to God, polish your boots, put on a hair net and put the arm band on your arm! 

Scoring--the WEG web site is appalling! One results sheet posted the rider individual results in order of closest to optimum time! It took me awhile to figure that one out. I think this is a not so gentle reminder that our penalty points system beginning with giving riders a good mark score out of 10, then converting that into penalties with the winner having the least points, is confusing at best.

Video--my video camera DIED before the day began. I had planned a video montage a-la Rebecca Farm, but it was not to be. Instead I spent the day frantically sweating for the riders, watching the jumbo-tron, and eating a hot dog. I probably eat one or two hot dogs a year. Today my stomach reminded me why that is the case. I'm certain that the $9 raspberry vodka lemonade helped though.

About the cross country course, I figured the head of the lake would prove more influential than it did. Two things prevented this from happening-first, the stuff BEFORE fence 17 sorted out the wheat from the chaff. Many people didn't even get that far. Second, Mike E-S had the slant of that bounce rail at 18 A/B just right. There were a considerable number of combinations that caused Mother's to gasp there, but the horses and riders got away with a multitude of sins. Normally I am like the 'gasp-police'. For example, if there is a dodgy moment XC, and someone gasps, I am the first one to shut that down in a hurry. I have to confess to an audible peep or two from yours truly at those damn rails at the bounce bank. I nearly had a heart attack on more than one occasion. We all thought this course would cause a great deal of problems and it did. Mike E-S can sleep well tonight. He got it right, that is for sure.

The other thing I went on about yesterday was that our Canucks were going to wipe the floor with that course, and that is exactly what happened. Allow me a moment of bragging that is uncharacteristic for myself personally and our country as a whole. Case in point, few of us had FLAGS out there. No self respecting patriotic American would go to something like this without a bunch of giant flags. We were amazing and I am so excited. In my heady unabashed boasting, may I also point out that three of the riders are from the West coast. Go BC... I am going to take it upon myself to research when I get home and determine if history was made today by the Canadians, with SIX for SIX riders going clear cross country. I have been involved in the sport at the team level since 1988, and I do not actually recall that happening before. I think it may be a first, but don't quote me. If someone else knows for sure, speak up, Otherwise, I am going to find out. The Canadians raced around the course like they were on FIRE. 

The only big scary moment for us was when Jessie Phoenix thought for a moment that she was competing at the World Diving Championships. I'm no diving expert, but it is my understanding that as little splash as possible is the desired scenario. That was not the case when Jessica clung to the saddle for all she was worth, while frantically trying to keep Tucker's head above water. High marks for stickability, crappy diving score due to excessive splash. Jess, stick to eventing-please! John already posted a link to a video of the impressive save.

Today for my country was not an accident, nor a coincidence. Our entire management team, and our coach David O'Connor have been preparing for this day for over 5 years. We all know that tomorrow is another day, etc. I always like to say, 'it's horses, what could possibly go wrong?' For today though we celebrate hard work, determination, and a vision of success shaped by our fearless leader. Thanks guys. Whatever they are paying David, it is not enough. To be in the company of the Brits and the US and ahead of the Kiwis at a Major Games is a warm fuzzy feeling. Let's hope the sound horse Gods are with us, and that the cups are sticky tomorrow.

I have discovered this weekend that I am a terrible spectator.  Watching is far more stressful than riding-somebody get me a horse, STAT!! Tomorrow will be a nail biter, from the jog to the very last show jump round. 

Go eventing, Go Canada!

Photocred: Drew Windhorst

From Chelan:

So I realized that I had not yet commented on my Canadian buddies in the dressage. Yesterday Selena and Columbo went and I think they got a little robbed. I imagine Jessica, Hawley, and Rebecca each hoped to have scores a little lower than they did. Steph had the test of her young life (44.2) and I had a lump in my throat. Go Ollie, go Steph. Kyle had a disappointing day, enough said.

The blood in the mouth issue is a bit ridiculous as far as I'm concerned. How absurdly heart breaking. I do believe that horse welfare is of paramount importance and I myself try to walk that walk as well as talk that talk. However, could there not be a way to incorporate common sense here? I won't waste a whole lot of time on the topic because the FEI won't let us give our equine athletes any aspirin after cross country. So asking them to consider a horse being allowed to continue during competition after sustaining a vicious hangnail, oops, I mean biting his tongue, is unlikely to happen.

Chelan Kozak, a four-star rider, former Canadian Olympic and WEG rider, Eventing Nation guest writer, and generally one of the coolest people in eventing is kind enough to share her thoughts on all things WEG from Wednesday and Thursday with EN.  Thanks for writing this Chelan and thank you for reading.

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Chelan with Hamish and Dave

By Chelan:

The Jog: So where to begin! Wednesday was such a whirlwind, it's hard to know where to start. Obviously, everyone's heart goes out to Kim. Such a vicious twist of fate. I sincerely hope that Paddy is good as gold as soon as possible.

Speaking of upside, and mind you only a tiny, slender one, but Kim and either Amy or Alison didn't have to wear the cowboy hats at the jog. John is on the fence about the look, I think they were an odd choice. Also, if you are GOING to wear a cowboy hat, gentlemen, (for future reference) it is not with a suit, but with jeans, suit jacket and a big belt buckle. Further, straw as opposed to felt hat this time of year is flirting with the similar 'white shoes after labour day' rule. I'm just sayin'... 

In additional fashion news, I was loving the Canadian ladies look at the jog--see John's pictures. Right down to the perrrrfect shade of red lipstick for everyone. Hawley Bennet grabbed those reins and ran with them. Nicely done, fashionista, nicely done! Although, that shade of lipstick on Kyle clashed with his tie a little, don't you think? Better luck with  another shade on Sunday morning.

The Adequan plane: The plane circling overhead 24/7 with the Adequan banner has a funny story behind it. John referenced this airplane in the Boyd video yesterday. Apparently the Adequan people wanted to sponsor the horses at the event. Alltech said no, presumably because they have a similar product? I don't know that for sure, but I drank a $7 thimble full of  Alltech bourbon flavoured beer yesterday, so they seem to make just about everything. Which, by the way, is just a teensy bit big brother-ish and creepy, but that is another story. So, clearly the Adequan people decided that Alltech might make everything from beer to horse injectables, but they don't own the airspace above the horse park. Pretty clever if you ask me (not that anybody ever does, I just tend to spout off regardless). The plane seriously flies overhead constantly!

Trade fair: The trade fair is pretty much as you would expect-everything you could imagine horse related, and a great deal of overpriced food and beer. Good food though--plenty of healthy choices. A highlight I neglected to check out thus far was the champagne bar. I'll get there, I assure you. I was pleasantly surprised, and truthfully shocked to see THREE different bins for garbage (you yankees call it 'trash'). Anyhow, a nice lady in latex gloves sits beside a row of three bins and takes your trash, separates it into compost, recycle, and trash. WOW, as a Canadian recycle freak who takes all of her cans and bottles back home from events to recycle them, I was suitably impressed. And yes, we are really into this stuff in the Pacific northwest.

The other cool thing that happened Wednesday was that after the course walk with David,  I was able to watch the last 8 or so rides of the Grand Prix dressage special. I am in awe of the level of training and incredible amount of detailed knowledge that those horses and riders have. Seeing Totilas do his winning ride was fantastic. Having said that, I bet many of those horses can't jump a stick. Our event horses score up pretty high on the cool-o-meter. Go eventing! 

The course: Ladies and gentlemen this is NOT, I repeat NOT a dressage show... Okay, for some riders on fatter fancier horses it is, but not for the eventers! The course is comprised of 45 jumping efforts, with an optimum time of 11:14. It is completely different from Rolex this spring, different track, and all but two of the jumps are different. The long route hedge into the water, and a ditch and wall are the only two jumps the same. What is the same, and what we locals (aka the Americans and the Canadians) like to refer to as home field advantage, is the terrain. Most of the riders all of the riders on those teams except one has ridden on these rolling hills on at least one occasion. Then you have the likes of Karen O'Connor who would need a calculator to figure out the number of times that she has ridden here! Regardless, knowing the lay of the land and what it does to the horses, is definitely an advantage. To add a little more fun history, the stone jump corner is the only original remaining jump from the original World's in 1978. It was fence two back then. One of our Canadian selectors, Juliette Graham was a part of the Gold medal team in 1978, so we feel like maybe there is a bit of god karma there. Many of us have jumped it over the years since then, myself included, but it has not been used for several years now.

The footing... I have not actually been to Lexington and seen brown grass before. However, it has been terribly dry here for two months. Not to worry-the good people of the WEG have thought of every detail. Not only has the job of watering the track been religiously carried out, the mowing has been a special project as well. There has been no heavy equipment on that track. No tractors for mowing, it has been done by a RIDE ON mower! For almost a year this footing has been nurtured, protected and cared for. Thank you to both the people who thought of going to these great lengths, and for the guy on the ride on mower who surely has a fantastic iPod playlist!! Not to mention, the riders and event organizers of area 8 who have had to work around the ropes all summer.

The course itself is of course masterfully designed and built, as one would expect from Mike E-S. Adding to the beauty and artistry of the jumps, is a marker at each fence with a story about how the theme of the fence is either tied into a Kentucky historical fact, or simply stating a historical fact about the State. Nice touch. Now, let's get down to business- this is not 'just a four star'. This is every inch a championship track. Let discuss fence two, for example. A max table and very imposing. That fence and every other 'galloping-here's-where-you-get-your-confidence' fence are similarly built. Big, and badass! Like every proper big time four star track, the combinations come thick and fast and never let up. A child of 5 could determine where the most influential spot on the course will be, but I'll say it anyway. The head of the lake will separate the 'men from the boys' to be sure. I predict that a number will opt for the option roll top in, as it is not that much slower (one of the only alternate routes that won't take an age), and that much safer. Either way in, there is not time for coffee breaks and hesitation. Fortune favours the brave and all of that jazz, so keep kicking! One of the first rules we are taught as a beginner rider is that horses slow down on a turn. There are two significant turning places in that fence, between the water entries, and after the birch rails, where a 90' turn to a bounce bank up means keep the pace, my friends!

This is a course for good jumping horses, and the time will be challenging to make. The footing will be fantastic, but anytime you add more combinations on a course, which is the norm for Championships, it is tougher to make time. Time gets made on these courses a little bit at a time, thinking about shaving off one second here and there. Luckily, the Americans have ten or so who go out before their first rider--Boyd. Our Canadians have our first rider Selena two later so we will have some information about the course before they go out.

Predictions: John made predictions about medals, but I am not sure I am quite that brave. I will say this, I have never been more excited about my Canadians than at this moment right now. We have all been saying for some time that the course would be big and technical, and we are not disappointed. This will suit our great Canadian jumping horses. Go eventing, and Go Canada! 

Concerning the dressage: John has pretty much covered much of what I would cover. I would add a couple of observations. First, I forget how much I like the look of the Military outfits. It just is patriotic and polished looking. Second, what the heck is up with the fly bonnets? I understand that permission was given to the event riders to wear them as the Grand Prix dressage had permission to wear them so precedent had been set. The fly bonnet rule is below...

"However, under exceptional circumstances, fly hoods or shields may be permitted by the Ground Jury for all competitors, solely in order to protect horses from insects."  From FEI eventing rules (p. 40)