Hello again. This will be a different blog! As I was lucky enough to ‘pop’ over to Tryon in America to watch the best riders in the world at WEG (the World Equestrian Games)! My dad is American and I have an amazing family in the States that I don’t get to visit anywhere near as much as I would like. My Uncle Jim and Aunt Pat live in Hendersonville, North Carolina, so, when it was announced that Tryon (a mere 30 minute drive away) would be holding WEG, it was the perfect opportunity to combine a holiday, visiting my family and seeing some world class riding! So here is my take on a somewhat controversial event.
Some of the challenges at Tryon have been widely reported. The main complaint was that the venue just simply wasn’t finished. True. It was an interesting contrast – by the many practice rings, it was simply gorgeous – amazing arenas, beautifully and regularly maintained, immaculate barns and stabling, smart decking and cabins with shops. Then moving nearer to the actual main arena, it became a building site, with areas cordoned off with building cones! It was seriously mucky with audible diggers. Yes, things could have been done differently and mistakes were made that could have been avoided, but they had a lot of work to do in not much time and on the whole I think they did a great job. For me the biggest issue was the heat – I have never been so hot in my life!! And the humidity was something else again. I can’t imagine riding and trying to do high level work in those conditions. Huge respect to the horses and riders, an achievement on its own!
Now on to the action! I loved each day. I saw all our riders ride; including the event riders doing their dressage tests (I only had the dressage tickets so I was a little sneaky…shhh). Eventer Tom McEwen did a gorgeous test and a tiny unlucky mistake kept him from the top few places. Ros thoroughly deserved to be in 3rd place with a stunning test!
I watched Spencer Wilton and Emile Faurie doing fantastic Grand Prix tests, especially the former. Charlotte did a super test with Freestyle; it was the hottest part of the day and they had some expensive blips but a gorgeous test nonetheless. My highlight was Carl’s test though – wow!! Just phenomenal and Carl rode masterfully, I had goosebumps. Unbelievable to get team Bronze with this young team of inexperienced horses! Amazing.
The dressage team did not disappoint with the Grand Prix Special the next day, although Emile was dissatisfied with his test – his horse just looked green and a bit flat. Carl pulled off another great test with Del, you can see there’s so much more to come when he puts the power in! Gorgeous. Then Charlotte did the most amazing job with Freestyle to correct the errors of yesterday and produce the test of their lives for Bronze!! The youngest horse at her first Championship against horses that have been competing internationally for years. She wasn’t the only one in tears as she left the arena!
One highlight though was actually watching our GB para team riding their horses ahead of their tests the following week! I was meandering around the practice rings and thought “oo that looks like Lee Pearson” and 2 minutes later they all emerged! I seated myself comfortably and had an inspiring hour watching them all work their horses and it was incredible to see how they do things with their differing disabilities and how impressive the horses are. Wow!
Unfortunately here my WEG ended. I had tickets for the Grand Prix Freestyle but, as everyone knows, it was cancelled. I was so disappointed. Selfishly, I was gutted not to see the best day up close. Fortunately, where I was staying, there was very little wind, just a lot of rain and water levels were scarily high. I doubt I would have risked driving on the Sunday, which leads neatly to driving in America – I hired a car for WEG and am seriously chuffed with myself (ok, I admit it – smug) as I survived my first time driving a hire car in a foreign country, on the wrong side of the road, in the wrong side of the car, plus first time in an automatic and all on my own!! Yep I’m pretty awesome.
Rejoining the British time zone has been a challenge but at least the yard and horses were beautifully looked after by Emma and my mum. I am so lucky to have such support, very much appreciated. Had the horses missed me? Some not at all and did not even acknowledge my reappearance, while others seemed aware that someone vaguely familiar has resurfaced. Nice little reality check! They have all been great though. For example, there’s never a good time to jump on your newly-backed 4 year old after a holiday (correction; summer would be a good time) but Friday’s been a real pro.
My other mare, G, has been ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ since my return, giving me our best session to date, swiftly followed by our worst, which actually involved me falling off! Wonderful. I’ve been ‘due’ a fall for a couple of years and have been waiting for it to happen…it’s definitely not through lack of horses trying!! Every time I rode somebody’s small horse/pony I hoped it might be them so it wasn’t as far to fall…instead it was my big girl G – the most powerful horse I’ve ever ridden! She worked out a chink in my armour…a combination of manoeuvres that put me off balance (I hoped she hadn’t noticed) and sure enough she used it to great effect. At least I managed to land on my feet! So that basically doesn’t count as a fall does it? Yeah I’m pretty sure that’s the rule. Hopefully that’s my ‘fall’ done for the year…
Entering October my holiday feels like a long time ago. I hope you enjoyed my WEG reflections! If you are ever local to a big event like this then I really do advise going. Yes it’s expensive but it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and you won’t regret it. Now we’re back to reality and facing Winter again…but it’s my birthday soon and Christmas so yay! We have a new addition on the yard as my young rider Jamie has a new horse so lots to get stuck in to. See you next time!
