Best of Rolex: The Ammies rocked!

The Ammie Bloggers were THIS great!

Having the Ammie Blogger Experience at Rolex Kentucky (amateur riders blogging about their experience and posting updates and photos on ECOGOLD's Facebook and Twitter pages) brought another dimension to the event.

In my job, I deal with top riders on a daily basis, so I tend to forget that they are a big deal to a lot of people.

But seeing the Ammie Bloggers every day with eyes full of stars, so excited and grateful for the experience, brought another dimension to "my" Rolex. I felt like Santa every single day! Kind of a "fake Santa" though, because I didn't think I was doing all that much for the amount of gratitude I received in return. I was glad to help, in a very small way, bridge some of the gap between "the general public" and the "Rolex stars".

I knew those private moments and one-on-one course walks with Rolex riders and meetings with grooms, would be special but never, in a million years I thought the bloggers would be so amazing. I was really, really impressed with #1. how much fun they all were #2. how incredibly talented they are.

The photos and content created by the Amateur Bloggers compared favorably to a lot of the Rolex coverage out there, with a lot more emotion thrown in... There were at least one or two kleenex-worthy reads... So a BIG thank you to Cheryl, Calina, Carrie, Tracy, Jennifer, Sarah, Holly, Kate, Elyse, Becky, Krisy, Lori, Cathy and Aislinn! You made our Rolex really special. (I have a feeling the Ammies will be back....)
 

Our Amateur Bloggers were featured every day on the Horses in the Morning Radio Shows (big thanks to Glenn and Jamie!) Here are the links to the shows:

Rolex Show Day #1 - Cheryl and Calina's Interview at -56.00 minutes

Rolex Show Day #2 - Becky's Interview at -46.00 minutes

Rolex Show Day #3 - Holly's Interview at -36.50 minutes

Rolex Show Day #4 - Carrie's Interview at -33.75 minutes

Also, I want to feature some cool fan videos...(not by our Ammies but fun stuff nonetheless.) I love this kind of videos. Not professional in any way, but you can tell there's a lot of time, effort and passion behind each of them.  Enjoy!

Rolex 2011 from jumpingchicka96

2011 Rolex Kentucky from eventerbug2

2011 Rolex Kentucky from PretzellyPony

Kentucky Part 1 by ridergirl101

Rolex 2011 from ShoshanaSaysHi

Jennifer's Rolex Adventure - Goodbye Rolex, Hello Reality

Well, I’ve been putting off writing this because then it means that Rolex really truly is over and I have to return to the real world full time.  Rolex this year was such an amazing time.  Thank you Ecogold for making this year so great.  I got to meet so many people, finally being able to see and talk to Patricia in person after conversing with her for weeks on facebook.  Meeting my fellow ammie bloggers, you guys are great and I’m looking forward to keeping up on your adventures throughout the year.  The people I met randomly out on course or in the grandstands.  I didn’t catch you name, but thank you to the very nice gentleman at the sunken road on cross country who let me sneak into the media only section with him.  I got some great photos of Hannah because of that.  The super nice Nan from eventingday.com, she was so interesting to talk to.  And I can’t wait to try the Flair strips on my horse; I’ll let you know how it works for her.   All the riders who took time out of their very busy weekend for us.  Emma Ford, who was probably busier than anyone keeping Phillip’s horses looking and feeling their best, thank you for taking a few minutes to talk to us.  Every single one of you made this weekend special for me. 

It was also the best learning experience for me.  And not just the obvious things like how to ride that combination or such.  But learning about true horsemanship.  Diana Burnett, making the decision to withdraw Manny when he didn’t feel quite right.  That had to be such a difficult thing to do after working so hard to get there.  But it was the right thing to do for Manny and I applaud her for that.  The poise and confidence of Mary King.  Going into show jumping sitting in both 1^st and 2^nd place had to have been nerve-wracking for her.  She didn’t let it show though.  She looked cool as could be. 

And Sinead Halpin, she is my new hero after this weekend.  I want to be her!  Something she said during her Q&A Sunday morning has really stuck with me.  She was talking about getting to the horse park and during the first part of the week she was pushing Tate to get to the next level, for everything to be perfect.  And Tate wasn’t too happy with that.  But then on Thursday she had the chance to take him to the ring and she said everyone else was practicing the movements but she was just riding around (in her own words) like a 12 year old girl.  Telling Tate, “Just be happy.  I want you to be happy.”  That’s what I want to strive for.  I find myself doing that so often when I get in the dressage ring.  I focus so much on wanting everything to be perfect, that I forget we have a much better ride when we are just relaxed and happy.  That’s going to be my new mantra when I go to shows: Just be happy. 

As great as it was to see Mary make history at Rolex, I think the highlight of the weekend for me was watching Sinead after her double clear show jumping round.  As she and Tate canter around the ring, Sinead trying not to cry, I found myself wiping tears away.  It was getting a little hard to hold the camera steady.  She has worked so hard to get here and it paid off in a big way.  To finish in 3^rd place in her first 4*, that’s just amazing.  It’s the stuff of dreams.  To be standing in the company of Mary King and William Fox-Pitt and knowing that you deserve to be there, it had to have been such an incredible feeling.  I was proud to have been there to witness it.  And feel, just the tiniest bit, a part of it.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Sinead, I’m sure it’s going to be great.

Sinead Halpin wiping off the tears

Once again thank you to Patricia and Ecogold.  It was an unforgettable experience for me.  And I hope we can do something like this again next year.  Only I’ll make sure I get a hotel with better internet access.  Tracy, we’ll have to work on that together.  Congratulations to everyone who competed.  You all are an inspiration to me.  Now it’s time for my show season to start and I’ve got a lot to live up to.

A victorious Mary King

Carrie's Rolex Experience - What It's All About...

Really, what IS Rolex all about?

Is it about coming away with the coveted Rolex watch mid way through Sunday afternoon?  Is it about finishing on your dressage score?  Is it about having a completion?  Is it about making the right decision(s) for your horse and putting his welfare before any pipe dreams that you have?  Putting it into perspective, I think every rider over the Rolex Weekend would answer that question differently. 

I think about Mary King.  Did she go into it thinking she was going to finish 1-2?  I would bet probably not.  But she did.  She is incredible...the smile on her face was contagious. 

I think about Peter Barry.  He and his horse Kilrodan Abbot are a pair I have been rooting for for over a year.  They are the true definition of  'Adult Amateur'.  At 54 years young, Mr. Barry just completed his first 4*.  While I do not know Peter from a hole in the ground, I could not be more happy for him.  He is probably on Cloud 9...and he has every right to feel that way. Way to go Peter!!  I want to be you....badly.

I think about Clayton Fredericks' mount 'Be My Guest'...that pair was instantly one of my favourites when they started warming up in dressage...big floppy ears and all. (The horse's ears, not Clayton's.)  I mean, how could you NOT love a horse with big floppy donkey ears?!

I think about Jessica Phoenix - (who not only is a genuinely lovely individual), who had nothing but praise for Exponential after their brilliant xc round.  Not to mention her evident emotion when she literally flung her arms around his neck after their show jumping round on Sunday.  That gave me goosebumps.

I think about Diana Burnett - who has a machine of an xc horse, but who chose to withdraw before xc because something 'wasn't quite right with him'.  That made me respect her.  A lot.  You bet your ass I'll be cheering for them at Burghley from across the pond. 

I think about the man I was standing beside on Friday morning watching Susan Beebee's test on Prowler.  He was giving the play by play to whomever he was speaking to on the other end of his iPhone and the excitement he had in his voice as they cantered down the centre line for the 2nd time.  I felt his excitement!



Sinead and Tate over the Hammock



I think about Sinead Halpin and her weekend of a lifetime.  I could only imagine getting so close to coming to Rolex in 2010, having it go 'poof'' right in front of your eyes, then coming the year after..and finishing 3rd at your first 4*.  The emotion was evident after her clear SJ round as she covered her face to attempt and stop the tears.  I don't think it worked.  The crowd roared...and I am sure that didn't help her any either.  I think she had the biggest cheer...more then anyone else.  We were sitting in the South grandstand - and I think each and every person rode each and every stride of that SJ course with her.  I love it when the riders cry.  Sinead - you just allowed a lot of little girls out there to live out their dreams through you with the weekend you had.  Congratulations and I am so so so happy for you. 



I think about my goals as a rider.  Yes, I think the riders at that level are absolutely bonkers...That trakehner is the scariest thing I have ever seen...that said, it makes me want to achieve that level.  Badly.  Standing in front of that trakehner, I pictured myself galloping up to it, clearing it and then taking off for the next fence.  I now have absolutely zero reason to stand in front of any other xc jump on any of the xc courses I walk from now on and think to myself  'wow, that is BIG'...until we get to Rolex of course. 

I think about all the little girls and boys who got to meet their eventing idols (and yes, I include myself in that 'little girl' category when I met Peter Atkins), get an autograph and get a word in to their heros. 

I think about the majority of the people who I met in Kentucky - the riders, Patricia, Glenn the Geek and Jennifer from HRN, Bobbi the jump judge from Cincinnati who has been jump judging at Rolex since 1978, people from all over the World (I met someone from Germany on Saturday afternoon), the other ammie bloggers, the vendors in the trade fair who are all so passionate about their products, the volunteers...I have nothing to say but 'wow'...and thank you for all that you do, etc etc etc. So, whether it be your goal to win Rolex, ride at Rolex, better yourself as a rider because of Rolex, be part of the support crew for those riders at Rolex or be a part of the cheering crowd on Saturday...we all come together from very different walks of life for one very same common reason: we love the horses and the evident joy they bring to those around them.  To me, THAT, is what Rolex is all about.

Thank you Patricia and Ecogold for giving me a Rolex experience like no other and which will be hard to duplicate.  It was an incredible 3 days and I can't WAIT to get to the Horse Park again in 2012.

Jennifer's Rolex Adventure - What a Finish

Sunday at Rolex is always a day of mixed emotions for me.  On one hand, I’m excited for show jumping but on the other hand it’s the last day for Rolex and I have to head back to the real world.  I don’t ever look forward to that.  This year, the show jumping was highly anticipated.  Would Mary King hold onto her 1, 2 lead?  How would the up and coming young, American riders in the top 10 finish?  Plus I had some exciting activities with Ecogold to look forward to in the morning.

I had planned to get over to the Horse Park to watch the second horse inspection.  But when I work up to rain and thunder I decided to skip it and sleep in a little longer.  I made my way over shortly before 10 to meet up at the Ecogold booth in the trade fair.  First up, a Q&A session with the fabulous Sinead Halpin.  Sinead talked a lot about her horse Tate and also what a typical day is like on her farm.

Meg Kepferle and Sinead Halpin

Next a visit from Diana Burnett for a Q&A session.  Unfortunately Diana had to withdraw Manny before cross country on Saturday.  Diana spoke about why she chose to withdraw and what’s up next for her and Manny.

Diana Burnett

Then we got to head over to the stabling area and we got the chance to meet the incredible Emma Ford and see Fernhill Eagle up close and personal.  Shared with us a little of her own history, life on Phillip’s farm and how he manages to always have such great event horses.

Time for a last look around the trade fair and then into our seats for show jumping.  The course was very fair.  Time good, only the real slow pokes seemed to accrue any time penalties and the rails were pretty spread out over all the fences.  As I’m sure everyone has heard by now, there was not much suspense going into the end of show jumping. Mary King jumped out of order with Fernhill Urco.  A double clear round guaranteed that Mary would be taking home the Rolex watch, the only question was with which horse.

William Fox-Pitt jumped a perfect , clear round, moving him up 2 places to finish in 4th.

William Fox-Pitt and Neuf des Coeurs

Sinead Halpin, who was so nice and genuine when we met that morning, also had a double clear round.  She finished her both her and Tate’s first 4*by adding only a few time penalties to her dressage score.  It was also enough to move her up to 3rd place and make her the highest placing American rider.  Congrats Sinead, you deserve every bit of it!

Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville

Finally Mary King entered the ring on King Temptress.  Although she later admitted to being nervous, Mary looked cool as could be.  The mare’s unusual jumping style caused me at least to have a few gasps, sure that they would knock a rail.  But she finished with all the rails still firmly in the cups and no time penalties on the clock.  Mary had made history as the only rider to place 1st and 2nd at the Rolex Kentucky event.  It was an incredible end to a great weekend.  Hard to believe it all happened so quickly and once again it was time for me to start the 6 hour drive home.

Mary King and King Temptress

Sarah's Rolex Wrap up.

Emma Ford and Fernhill Eagle - photo by Tracy Porter

Well by now you all know the results of Sunday's thrilling show jumping. With Mary King placing 1 and 2 and Ecogold's on Sinead Halpin taking the 3rd place spot it was an exciting day to be sure. My favorite round (aside from the three mentioned above) were Kelly Prather's clean round to start the day and watching Snip cruise around the SJ in good style! 

I think the thing that myself and others love about Joe Meyer and Snip is their love for the sport. It really resonated with the crowd, the horse still loves his job at some 19 years of age and they received one of the loudest cheers of the day! With the exception of Wonderful Will (who did not present) all the horses passed the jog. There was a tense moment when Hamish Cargill and Sandhills Tiger were held, but luckily they passed on re inspection. Obviously Mark Todd decided not to jump his mount Grass Valley but when all was said and done it was a great end to a great weekend!

Phillip Dutton's Fernhill Eagle - photo by Tracy Porter

In addition to all the great jumping action Ecogold set up a pretty cool treat for some of the bloggers. We were able to meet and talk to Phillip Dutton's wonderful groom, Emma Ford. Thank you Emma for taking time out of a busy day to chat with us! (and also for letting us meet Fernhill Eagle...what a nice looking guy he is!) Emma told us a bit about how she came to work for Phillip, what they do to take care of Fernhill Eagle post XC (sounds like lots of icing and hand walking are involved!) among other things. She stays plenty busy taking care of a barn full of top class event horses!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from Sunday (I was afraid that Camera + Rain = No Good) but I believe some of my fellow bloggers were taking some and may have those to share.

Thank you for joining me and the wonderful Ecogold on this journey to Rolex 2011. I hope everyone enjoyed the event as much as I did! Best of luck recovering from the post-3 day doldrums (where we realize that we have to go back to work so that we can afford to come back to Rolex next year!) Thanks everyone!

~ Sarah

Jennifer's Rolex Adventure - Cross Country Day!

Well my time in Kentucky has ended.  As I write this I'm back home in Pittsburgh and what a let down it is to have to go back to work in the morning.  But first (since I finally have working internet again!) I've got two more exciting days at Rolex to talk about. 

Saturday, cross country day.  Undoubtedly the day we all look forward to the most.  The day turned out to be absolutely gorgeous, sunny and warm.  The footing seemed to be pretty decent, a little squishy in places but over all not too bad considering.  At promptly 10:00 Allison Springer headed out of the start box.  She looked great over the first fence, but it wasn't to be her weekend.  The course seemed to ride well.  And although there were a lot of problems on course, no single fence was the cause.  Some surprising pairs did not complete cross country, but the ones who did finished looking great. 

We saw Phillip Dutton early in the course.  Eagle was looking full of jump over the second fence.

Hannah Sue Burnett looked great through through the sunken road.  And still going strong a few fences later at the step table after the head of the lake. 

Luckily I didn't witness any of the falls this year, although I did catch a few of the run-outs, including Mark Todd's at the angled brushes.  After walking the entire course, I stayed at the covered bridge at the very end for a few riders, where I got to chat with a couple of very nice ladies for a bit.  And I got a couple free samples of Flair strips.  Score!  Can't wait to try those out on my mare.  I caught Hamish Cargill at the covered bridge, still looking great at the end of the course.

Eventually I moved on and parked by the farm yard for the remainder of the riders.  I had a great spot to photograph and saw Mary King navigate the combination beautifully.

Sadly Friday's leader had some problems on course, including a fall (everyone OK) but that left the door open for the incredible Mary King to sweep into both the 1 and 2 spots.

ECOGOLD's Sinead Halpin at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Sinead and Manoir de Carneville

Ecogold rider and our good friend Sinead Halpin spent some time in our stand at Rolex Kentucky before the show jumping round, with her groom / our fantastic interviewer Meg Kepferle.

Sinead talked about her first Rolex experience, sitting in 4th and the highest-placed American rider after cross-country. And also answered questions submitted by amateur riders.

ECOGOLD rider Sinead Halpin at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Doug Payne and Peter Atkins - Cross-country Recap from 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Peter Atkins gives his thoughts about the cross-country phase at 2011 Rolex Kentucky and answers a few questions from Doug Payne.

Cross-Country Videos - 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event by Holly

2011 Rolex Kentucky Cross Country Videos. Enjoy!

Mary King - Kings Temptress 

Rebecca Howard - Riddle Master - The Hollow

Karen O'Connor - Quintus 54 - at the corners

 

Mark Todd - Grass Valley - at the sunken road

Sinead Halpin - Manoir de Carneville - sunken road

Sinead Halpin - Manoir de Carneville

Mary King - Fernhill Urco

 

Mary King - Fernhill Urco, water and brushes

Michael Pollard - Wonderful Will, double brushes

Jennifer's Rolex Adventure-The Very Late Dressage Recap



Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Eagle



I feel like such a horrible blogger. But the internet at my hotel is practically non existent! Anyway onto the Rolex fun.

Well it's been a fun two days of some really great dressage. It's also been a long couple of days. We made it down to Kentucky very early Thursday morning so I was going into dressage day one with very little sleep. Unfortunately I didn't get to see as much dressage as I would have liked but I still was able to see some great rides. First thing Thursday morning I was able to hang out by the warm up and watch Allison Springer, Phillip Dutton, Mary King and Jessica Phoenix. During the morning break I headed over to the Ecogold booth to finally met Patricia in person.

We unfortunately got stuck in some traffic when we went to check into the hotel during the lunch break so I did miss Boyd's ride just after the break, but I was able to take my seat for the rest of the afternoon. There were some really nice rides in the afternoon, including Heather Morris with Slate River. All too soon the first day of Rolex came to an end.



Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister



Friday morning started with a trip to Keeneland to watch the morning workouts, something that has become a tradition in the last few years. It's pretty fun to stand at the rail and pick out the ones we'd like to turn into event horses. Then we headed over to the horse park in time to watch Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master. They were having a beautiful test, but a couple of bobbles at the canter hurt their score. Then in came Tiana Courday and Ringwood Magister and I could not take my eyes off of them. They had a perfect test and rightfully so took the lead from Allison Springer. The rest of the morning saw some great rides from Karen O'Connor, Mark Todd, and Clayton Fredericks.

Mary King and Fernhill Urco

After the lunch break came some riders that I was super excited to see: Hamish Cargill, Sinead Halpin, Missy Ransenhousen, Mary King and William Fox-Pitt. After following Hamish at the World Equestrian games last fall, I was looking forward to seeing him ride. And he really did have a lovely test. He scored at 51.3 to put him in 14^th place. Very respectable placing and he should be able to move up if he jumps clean. Missy Ransenhousen had a nice test as well. I always enjoy seeing them go, Critical Decision reminds me a lot of one of our horses. And then Mary King. I don't know what to say about her. I've wanted to see her ride for so long and I wasn't disappointed. Quite impressive to sit both 2^nd and 4^th at Rolex.

We finished up the day with a little bit of shopping in the trade fair and then headed over for a night of reining in the new Alltech Arena. So cool to watch something that seems like it would be totally different, but really it was dressage in a western saddle.

ECOGOLD's Phillip Dutton Q&A at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Phillip Dutton at the ECOGOLD Stand

ECOGOLD-rider Phillip Dutton was at our stand earlier today answering questions asked by US event rider Doug Payne . Boyd talked about how he finds top quality horses, how he plans a competition season for a horse, what he would change if he were "king of eventing", what he does to make his students successful and how it felt to win Rolex in 2008.

1/3 ECOGOLD Phillip Dutton at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

2/3 ECOGOLD Phillip Dutton at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

3/3 ECOGOLD Phillip Dutton at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Even

Sarah's Saturday XC Impressions

WOW! is all I can say about the course. It was seriously influential today. I would be interested to see how the stat's from previous years stack up against today because it felt like there were quite a number of issues. That said, there were also some really fabulous rides. Mary King is an obvious one! As a kid I had a Mary King's Eventing Stable computer game that my sister and I would spend hours playing. So, understandably, I was thrilled to see her go around in such great style!

Mary King on Cross Country.

Another ride I loved was Jessica Phoenix and Exponential. That horse has some serious hops. Not to mention she looked thrilled to be out there riding him around the course.

<- Jessica and Exponential getting ready to jump the double brush towards the end of the course!

I was worried for a little bit that we would be seriously missing out on horse Show Jumping tomorrow with all the R/W/E's. As it is I am looking forward to a great day of jumping tomorrow.

Best of luck to the competitors tomorrow. My condolences to those whose day's didn't go to plan and better luck next time out!

Tracy's Friday Rolex (just a little bit late!)

I feel like the M.I.A. blogger!! Due to a series of epic FAILS, I find myself sitting in a McDonald's writing my Friday blog on Saturday!
First and foremost, I hope that everyone has safe clean rides today and also a whole lot of fun!
Walking the course with Jessica Hampf yesterday I realized many things about the sport I love. Not only do you need to be incredibly fit to ride these horses but you need to be incredibly fit to walk a four star course! Jessica was FABULOUS about explaining the jumps, the quality of gallop she looked for between fences, and the canter she wants before her take-off point. Jessica made me feel like a friend, not a guest as she patiently answered all of my questions. I asked her what she thought of the course and she told me that it was a "Trevor" kind of course.

While my experience yesterday did not go the way I planned, I learned that it is impossible to have a bad time at Rolex and sometimes plan B is better than the best laid plan A. I did not see a single Dressage ride in it's entirety, but I spent a lot of time in the warm up. Spending time there gave me a better feel for what the riders are like as people, not just the well oiled machines we see in the arena. Some spent the entire time with lots of warm up, perfecting every movement that would be asked while some worked for a shorter time and let their horses relax. I watched grooms and coaches bustle around while horses patiently stood for the final preps. Sinead Halpin was especially nice, chatting with people and allowing a few to pet Tate before she finished her warm-up. The rest of my Friday experience was spent doing large amounts of shopping and helping to support our equestrian economy! Festin will be so happy when I come home with all of his new gear, especially his new ECOGOLD cross-country boots!

Sinead Halpin & Manoir De Carneville (Tate)
Oh and I almost forgot to mention one of my other highlights, a personal introduction to Peter Atkins and a nice chat about his riding & his amazing horse Henny.

I will add an album to Facebook once I stop at Wal-Mart for a new card reader, just another one of my epic FAILS yesterday!

Friday

A wild and crazy day. As of now I've been up too many hours to count, over 18. Here's photos and when I can see straight, more videos of the great course walk with Sinead.

Sarah's Dressage Day 2 recap and more!

Whew! As you can see from my fellow Ammy Blogger's posts it was an exciting day of dressage at Rolex 2011! It seems that the grey horses dominated! (which is fine by me, they need some compensation for all the extra time spent bathing!) I have taken over 400 pictures... yea excessive I know. But I will be posting those of the Ecogold riders on their facebook page so stay tuned for that later this evening!

I think my favorite ride of the day (and there were many great ones!) would have to be Joe Meyer (NZL) and Snip. I read an article about their relationship recently in the April 25 edition of The Chronicle (http://www.chronofhorse.com/) and just loved their story. Such a wonderful and long lasting partnership!

From Q&A sessions (see below for video footage) with a number of great riders to course walks there was definitely no shortage of things to do. I really enjoyed the course walk that I went on with riders Allison Springer, Sinead Halpin, and Rebecca Howard (I believe there were other riders but they were switching off and we bailed out a bit early to get to the Q&A session with the Canadian riders.)

Boyd at a Q&A session this afternoon

One thing I found interesting was that all the riders seemed to think the footing would play a major role in tomorrow's cross country. Obviously footing is important, but I would have thought that it is better to have some great footing and some bad than alot of mud. Apparently this is not always the case. A couple of the riders on the course walk mentioned that it is more difficult for the Horses to transition from one type of footing to another. All the riders were interesting and encouraged those of us on the course walk to ask questions. It was definitely fun to hear more about the riders, their horses and their background and to see the course before the start of XC competition tomorrow!

Is Sinead telling us how to ride the jump...or showing us her dance moves?

All in all a great day! Best wishes for clean, fast, and safe rides for everyone tomorrow!

Hey..That doesn't look like an event horse? Nope it is one of the competitors at the Kentucky Reining Cup!

ECOGOLD's Boyd Martin Q&A at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Popular ECOGOLD-rider Boyd Martin was at our stand earlier today answering questions and our Ammie Blogger Carrie did a great job hosting. Boyd talked about his support team, discussed riding position, how he prepares mentally for competition, secret to success for young riders, what he would change in his career and of course, his two cats.

Boyd and his fans

ECOGOLD's Boyd Martin Q&A at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

ECOGOLD's Hamish Cargill at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Australian rider Hamish Cargill stopped by the ECOGOLD stand at Rolex Kentucky for a Q&A with the fantastic Meg Kepferle, who also moonlights as Sinead Halpin's groom (when she is not working for ECOGOLD). Hamish talked about his horse Sandhills Tiger, who is in 14th place after dressage.

Sandhills Tiger getting ready for dressage with his new ECOGOLD Saddle Pad

ECOGOLD's Hamish Cargill Q&A at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event 

Calina & Cheryl's Friday Morning Dressage Recap - 2011 Rolex Kentucky

The clouds may look a little daunting in some of the photos but so far it has just been windy and a little chilly here for Friday morning dressage. The rain is thankfully holding off and hopefully the soggy cross country course is drying out. Although very few people were here yesterday morning to see Allison's test on Arthur, the stands were quite full this morning for dressage.

We got here around 9am and headed straight to dressage warmup to see Ecogold rider Hannah Sue Burnett warmup St Barths. She wasn't yet onand looked quite nervous, but her wonderful groom Shannon Kinsley made a few jokes and she relaxed. Her warmup was lovely and coach David O'Connor watched on.

I was so impressed with the horse - I am not sure I have seen him go in person before (at least on the flat). Her test was absolutely lovely and scored quite well despite a few bobbles in the canter work. I cannot wait to see them go cross country tomorrow!

Canadian rider Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master had incredible trot work and canter work until the last serpentine, where a few mistakes made. Despite the bobbles, this WEG combination had an excellent test and are currently the top placed Canadian pair, with just Jessica Phoenix and her WEG mount Exponential to go this afternoon.

The horse that most impressed me (and probably everyone else here) was Tiana Coudray's Ringwood Magister. As she is based on the west coast, this is the first time I have seen them go. He is absolutely stunning and I was thrilled to see them as the new leaders.

Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister.

Ecogold rider Karen O'Connor on Quintus 54 went next and put in a solid test. There is clearly room for improvement and it will be interesting to see how this horse looks this time next year.

Karen O'Connor and Quintus

As I sit here in the empty grandstands writing the blog, Rolex is kindly showing clips from the Royal wedding on the big screens. I will continue watching this as Calina finishes editing her pictures for the blog.

Our afternoon plans involve watching Sinead Halpin's warm up during lunch break and then watching the rest of the tests this afternoon.

Don't forget Boyd Martin will be at the Ecogold booth (#69 in the arena) at 1pm for a Q&A and the lovely Canadian riders are doing a Q&A at 5:30pm.

ECOGOLD's Karen O'Connor at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Our informative and entertaining video series continues, with the fantastic Meg Kep hosting a Q&A session with ECOGOLD rider and eventing icon Karen O'Connor. Karen tells us what she is going to do now that David has been appointed as US coach, talks candidly about her career , differences between the UK and US, what makes a successful rider, her training methods and a little tribute to the pony that could, Teddy O'Connor.

Part 1 - ECOGOLD's Karen O'Connor at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Part 2 - ECOGOLD's Karen O'Connor at 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event 

Who will be at our stand #69 in the Trade Fair Arena

- Friday at 1:00 Boyd Martin

- Friday at 5:30 Canadian Eventing Team

- Saturday at 12:00 Phillip Dutton

Stay tuned for more Rolex coverage from our Ammie Bloggers and our Video Q&A Sessions with ECOGOLD Riders.

Calina & Cheryl's Thursday Afternoon Recap - Dressage, Q&As & Course Walk with Jessica Phoenix

We didn’t get to see as many dressage tests as we would have liked this afternoon because we spent a lot of time at Ecogold’s booth listening to some very interesting Q&A sessions – first with Karen O’Connor (hosted by Sinead Halpin’s wonderful groom Meg) and then with Clayton Fredericks (hosted by Doug Payne). I’m sure Patricia will have the videos of those sessions, as well as Hamish’s Q&A, online later this evening. All three riders ride dressage tomorrow and we will make a point of being there to watch their tests.

We spent some time near the warm up ring this afternoon while Boyd Martin was warming up. His horse, Remington XXV, was sporting Ecogold boots and saddle pads:

Boyd Martin and Remington XXV

Boyd Martin and Remington

Late this afternoon we met up with Jessica Phoenix, who had generously agreed to walk the course with us. As of this afternoon, the footing is hit or miss – some parts are quite dry, while others vary from squishy to downright wet. Here are a few of the highlights from our walk with Jessie:

The course starts with several galloping fences and then you come around a corner to the first water. The direct route is a large log drop in followed by a skinny in the water and an angled hedge out. Jessie’s plan is to ride the direct route on both horses – but thinks Exploring will need to be ridden more aggressively in the last 3 strides.

The next complex was the coffin – and you can barely see the ditch as it is so full of water. Here is a picture of Jessie leaping over the first of many unintentional water obstacles on the course – we think she has excellent potential as an upper level horse.

Jessica Phoenix

We also got the opportunity to ask her several questions throughout the course walk. Being from Ontario, we see Jessie out on a lot of horses with names starting with “Ex”. Turns out after Exploring took her to her first advanced, a client suggested she start naming all her horses with names starting with “Ex”. As a result, it is very easy to figure out which of her rides she owns herself, as they are the ones with that naming scheme. It is clearly very lucky – they are all fantastic horses.

Thanks so much to Jessica for letting us tag along on the course walk (although we only made it as far as the Head of the Lake before heading back to the Ecogold booth). We hope she has a fantastic dressage test tomorrow and clean cross-country rounds on Saturday. We can’t wait to catch up with her when she comes to Ottawa to teach a clinic at Oakhurst Farm in June.