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

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

Jennifer's Rolex Experience - Is it Rolex time yet?

Mom!  Take me with you!

I just have two long (11.5 hour long to be exact) work days till it's time for Rolex!  Thanks to that I pretty much had to pack this weekend.  Even with this being my 5th trip to Rolex, trying to decide what to pack doesn't get any easier.  Currently weather.com is telling me that we should have good weather, mid 60s to high 70s, windy on Thursday but then partly sunny/sunny the rest of the weekend.  Of course knowing Kentucky that could change 10 times between now and then.  So I pack for every possibility and keep praying to the weather gods! 

Wednesday, I will hopefully have time to keep some last rides in on the various ponies before starting the trek to Kentucky that evening.  We'll be driving through the night so don't be surprised if I'm a little bit punchy come Thursday. 

Like everyone else in the eventing world not lucky enough to head over to England, I spent the weekend compulsively searching for any and all Badminton news.  After immersing myself in the virtual world of Badminton I’m even more excited to arrive at Rolex.  The prospect of getting to see Mark Todd fresh of his Badders win is just icing on the cake.

Rolex has always been the high point of my spring.  It’s such an opportunity to learn from the best riders in our sport.  Like always I will be furiously snapping photos all weekend and we’ll be taking videos, including at least one rider at every fence on cross country.  So lots for me to study after we come home.  And thanks to Ecogold I’m going to get to have an insiders view.  There are lots of great things planned and I can’t wait to take part.  Before we get caught up in all the Rolex excitement I just want to say thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to Patricia and Ecogold for letting me be a part of this.  I plan to make the most of it and report back to all my fellow ammies both here on Ecogold and my own blog.  Expect picture overload on my blog, last year I had thousands to go through and I don’t expect this year to be any different. 

I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the next few days, I’m dying to see that Kentucky bluegrass and finally meet Patricia and my fellow bloggers in person.  See you Thursday!