[RC] Penny Toft's Kentucky experience - Jay Randle
Off to Kentucky. A long Journey.
Brisbane-Sydney-San Francisco-Chicargo-Louisville and then an hour 10min drive to Lexington, Kentucky. Wow what scenery. Like nothing that I have ever seen before. Every property magnificently manicured with miles of black, four railed fences. Mansions and paddocks of magnificent thoroughbreds and the occasional pleasure Horse. We even came across a couple of Appaloosas. Long driveways with statues of Horses and plaques of famous race Horses. Not a blade of grass out of place anywhere. Every property was the same, not a weed in sight anywhere and so green and lush. Horse Heaven.
We drove to where the Horses were stabled which was about a ten minute drive from the Ride base which was the Kentucky Horse Park. Here the Horses had been kept in work since thay had arrived from Germany. Both Horses were in very good shape and very happy to see us. At this stage the weather was just about perfect however the long range forecast was not looking so good. Keep positive and hope that they are wrong.
The stable complex had a very nice indoor arena and some great turnout yards. The riding trails were limited to paddocks, just what the Horses needed really.
We drove over to have a look at the Venue for the ride. Wow, how unbelievable is this. The most magnificent facilities that I have ever seen.
Alot of construction going on. Our stables were I think, temporary as they resembled a construction site. Actually all through the Event work was still being done.
We ride back at our stables and pack gear for the 10minute float trip to ride base tomorrow am.
Horses settle in well. The stables have canvas partitions which were annoying Justice as he could not see Zalman next door. He does like his mates. Alexandra and I head out for a ride, to have a bit of a look at the start of the first loop. The first loop goes onto the magnificent Eventing course and after a couple of loops at the 5 km marker goes out into private property. I am riding Justice and he is extremely fresh. Zalman is his usual very sensible self.
Tuesday am, Vet inspections and Trot ups. We are all a bit cranky because , we never seem to know what is going on. Communication has not been a strong point.
We take Justice and Zalman out early for some training. Today I am riding Zalman and Alexandra is having fun with Justice. We give them a good workout as they seem to be very full of their own importance. Justice is behaving for Alexandra, I think that he really does like her very much. Today we basically decide that she will ride him as she has to carry a 10kg weight pad. Zalman has a bit of a rub on his back and probably wouldn't suit to carry the extra dead weight.
Quarantine Horses are first off the rank to Vet (The UAE and Spanish Horses.) Whilst this process is happening we are all locked either in the stable area or locked out. This is infuriating as everybody has jobs to do with the Horses at this time.
Also confusion as to attire for Vetting. There seems to be two standards. We were all made to toe the line, whereas other were allowed to basically wear Jeans and joggers.
Trot upe were held adjacent to stable in a brand new massive, magnificent stadium. All went smoothly and I do not think that there were any eliminations pre-ride.
Back to the Hotel. There is a barbecue this evening. Peter and Maxine attend, Alexandra and I have an early night.
The clouds are building up. Oh know, surely not. Not another wet ride. Sure enough Wednesday am, the rain begins.
As we approach the Venue, the rain gets heavier. It is absolutely freezing cold and I am thinking not so good for this course as it will bog up very quickly.
We saddle up with the help of Maxine and Madonna Harris. Madonna Harris is the NZ High Performance Coach. She was a great help to us throughout the Event. We head out and up to where we think we should be going. It is very dark, raining and the roadway is very busy with traffic. We really have no idea where we are going, nobody to guide us. We seem to be the only two out and about at this time.
Justice and Zalman are very well behaved and not minding the cold rain too much at this stage. I have not yet seen Matthew Sample as yet. He is riding a very nice Horse owned by Darilyn Butler. Simone is also riding one of her Horses but has opted to ride in the 160km Event. The rides start 15 minutes apart. Both Matthew and Simone's Horses are barefoot.
We are milling around at the start line, getting colder and wetter. With 15minutes to start we are now soaking wet and barely able to feel the reins. So much for Waterproof gear.
Ian Williams welcomes everybody to SUNNY Lexington and counts down to start.
It is just breaking daylight, so no helmet lights are needed. Everybody is very sensible leaving the ride base, almost as nobody really wants to lead off first. All Horses are very sensible. Some Riders are very well prepared for the weather, wearing snow suits and plastic ponchos.
Out on course within the first few km, Riders off Horses already, saddle cloths gone out the back and a couple of Foreign Riders having trouble controlling their excited Steeds.
Justice and Zalman are very professional about their business and tuck their heads down and try to get on with the job at hand the best they can. Justice is wanting to go alot faster than he should be. The track has deteriated badly and the Horses are having trouble ploughing through the deep paddocks. Where oh where are our nice hard gravel roads. I dont think that i shall ever complain about hard gravel roads again.
The first loop is orange and it takes us through private land, mostly around the edges of Corn fields. There are alot of twists and tight turns, all very manageable if it had not been for the rain. It was very hard to get up any speed as the footing was too unstable,
Alexandra does very well but we both decide that we will seriously think about stopping after the first loop. I think that it is one of the most dangerous first loops that i have ever ridden. We were very worried for our Horses. Plenty more rides, another day.
Back at ride base. Both Horses Vet through very well. Trot ups fantastic. I tell Pete that we think it best to withdraw and he is thinking the same way.
A very tough call to make, one that I will never regret. The weather was getting worse. Alexandra was taken by Madonna to the medical tent where she was thawed out, suffering from mild hyperthermia.
Matthew Sample was off the first leg and preparing for the second. Shortly into the second loop his Horse had a bit of a fall and was brought back to base. Matthew also suffering from hyperthermia.
As the day progressed, the weather was not letting up. The 160km event was shortened to 120km, which really was the best thing to do. Horses and riders were not coping in the conditions and if it was to continue, it would be hard to see too many Horses completing.
We took on the job of helping Simone to complete the 120km. She and her Horse did a great job, looking fantastic at the end.
Peter, Alexandra and I, in between strapping went out and checked out the crew points. We learnt how to get to them. Lucky for the GPS. We sat in the car and observed Horses coming through. Some very keen and forward going, however mostly very sad and tired Horses. Not a good image to convey to the general public. Luckily there seemed not too many outsiders there to watch. I am sure that if the track had been good there would not have been these issues.
The track was very well marked. It was not entirely flat. I suppose you could say, small rolling hills with alot of turns and fence lines to follow. Probably definately a championship course, however not in wet weather.
Our Horses were happy to go back to the stables, warm and dry and fit to continue another day, another place, any where just away from this weather.
Despite the weather, we very much enjoyed our Kentucky Test Event experience. We gained alot of knowledge which will be invaluable to share with others pusing their Dreams to compete in 2010.
We were lucky to be able to source, Tack shops, feed barns, learn the layout of the venue and the District. Peter visited Jo Pagan of Kentucky Equine Research where the Australian Team may be based prior to the WEG next year.
Alot of mess to clean up after the Event. Justice and Zalman go back to where they were prior to the Event and we quite smartly head on back to HOME!
