On the road to Rolex...and Surprise #2: The Social Media Takeover!

And we are on the road! We left Montreal late this morning to get a head start on our 1472 km (915 miles) descent towards Rolex Kentucky... we normally make a few stops on the way, and right now, are somewhere near Syracuse.

Aaaargh! Let's pray for peace in the Middle East

So... today was not a great day at Badminton for most of our riders, but here's a video with some cross-country highlights... where you can see Hawley Bennett, Lucinda Fredericks, Gwendolen Fer (the water recovery) and William Fox-Pitt, riding in Ecogold Saddle pads.

So.. what's surprise #2? We already told you about our Ammie Blogger Experience where a team of amateur riders will  live and breathe the Rolex experience, not only as spectators looking in, but as active participants. We will send them on on private course walks, they will get to meet our riders, chat with grooms and they will be writing daily reports on our blog. 

Another cool thing some of our Ammie Bloggers will get to do is... be guests on the Horses in the Morning Radio Show! 

Horses in the Morning will be broadcasting live from Rolex, Thursday-Sunday 9 AM-10:30 and Glenn The Geek (who should be called Glenn The Nice) thought it would be a great idea to have one of our Ammie Bloggers every day during Rolex. Cool, eh?

But that's not the surprise... It's our Social Media Takeover!

In addition to our 8 bloggers, we have recruited a Social Media Crew who will simply take over our Facebook page and Twitter account during Rolex. They will tweet from different locations, upload photos, give up-to-the-second reports on what's happening where they are... with a focus on Ecogold-riders of course! Basically, our social media platforms will become a completely interactive space with updates from several sources. On Facebook, they will post as themselves but on Twitter, you will see  ECOGOLD posts but each poster will add their name in a #hashtag.

Let me introduce the first three members of our Social Media Crew (more tomorrow!).

Elyse

Elyse

"I have been riding since I was 8, and competing with my lovely TBx mare since I was 16 at the Training level...then I went to school, and University got in the way a little bit (A LOT being 4 hours away from my barn), but I have recently graduated at age 21 with a science degree, and am more than ready to get back into daily riding. I have been riding with Ecogold-rider Diana Burnett (Rolex competitor!) for almost 6 years now (when not at school), and being there has increased my passion for riding and eventing exponentially!

I've had several jobs during my summers with horses as well, from 'aversive conditioning' aka elk chasing on horseback for Parks Canada in Alberta, to a trail guide at a local barn, and now I'm going to try my hand at exercising racehorses, just for the fun of it! Regardless of my random horse-related jobs, eventing will always be my passion. Ideally, I would like to be competing at the Intermediate level in the next few years , and with the right partner, who knows from there? Can't wait for Rolex!" ~Elyse

Cathy

Cathy

“I am a professional photographer.  I have been crazy about horses since my first lessons when I was five years old.  I grew up riding Hunter Jumpers.  I did not even know that Eventing existed as a sport.  Currently I Fox Hunt and anything that I can with my 19 year old OTTB. 

I also have a miniature horse that I am learning to drive.  I hope to be able to event on another horse one day.

I introduced my daughter to horses and she has the love of equines, too.   

My daughter Ali is grooming at Rolex for Martha McDowell.  Martha is our Area IX Chairperson and I am the Area IX Treasurer. I volunteer at many events.  I am fortunate to photograph a few of them.” ~ Cathy


 Aislinn

Aislinn

“Hey everyone! My name is Aislinn and I’m from southern New Jersey. Ever since I was little I remember thinking that eventing was probably the coolest sport with some of the bravest riders and horses.

At age 14 I joined my local pony club and had the chance to try some eventing. My horse, Levi, is a 13 year Thoroughbred who I’ve had since he was 4 years old. We have competed up to Training level and successfully passed the “B” rating in Pony Club together. Recently we have been pursuing a career in jumpers.

 As a recent college graduate I’ve been trying to pursue my life long dream of a career in the horse industry, specializing in the communications field. Being a part of Ecogold’s social media crew is definitely great practice!

Although I have been to the Kentucky Horse Park before, this will be my first time for Rolex and I couldn’t be any more excited! I’ve been counting down the days since December when I bought my tickets!! I’m looking forward to great riding and an exciting weekend of eventing!” ~ Aislinn