MayDaze – Friday

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Is that a sun in the picture? It certainly didn’t feel like the end of May this morning, with a fine drizzle and temps hovering in the fifties, as some 400 horses and riders embarked upon their dressage and then, show jumping.  Maggie Wright, who runs the event, as well as local riding stables, Champagne Run, told me they’d originally received about 500 entries, but with the weather over the last few weeks, and then again over the last few days (rain, rain, storms and more rain, in a nutshell) lots of people had either withdrawn, or requested to move down a level, and they’d tried to accommodate as many people as possible. 


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Three dressage rings laid out side by side for today’s action. It’s tempting to complain, and some did, but I think it’s all good practice in the end! C’mon, it is! Also, I was shocked at how rude some of the riders were to the volunteers, both at bit check and at the warm up. Nerves are no excuse. Lots of competitors were very pleasant, chatty even, but some didn’t even say please or thank you, to my horror. Please, please, please be extra especially nice to the volunteers at all the events you go to, say hello, absolutely say please and thank you, and try and appreciate how much they do. Dressage started at 8am this morning; cross country runs from 7:30 tomorrow morning until about 6 o clock at night – that is a looong day that the volunteers are sacrificing, on a holiday weekend, for nothing but the joy of seeing your smiling face galloping around the course! Vent over and done with now, but please be polite!

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MayDaze shares the venue with the KDA Dressage show, and the eventers were easily distinguished by their helmets. Most wore plain helmets for dressage, but here’s Eric Dierks on his preliminary ride, Power Lion in a snazzy number, 
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and here’s Alyson Schwartz, pretty in pink. A last minute panic about the rules the night before was not a problem, because Alyson’s sister Leigh-Anne works right here in the Horse Park at the USEF, so she put in a quick call to USEF Eventing Safety Officer Malcolm Hook, who confirmed that as long as the helmet is “predominantly” dark coloured, you may fly your fashion flag, or words to that effect! 
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Here’s Alyson jumping later in the day, and also Eric,
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who told me he’s about to sign on a farm in North Carolina, so will be leaving Lexington shortly.  I was thrilled to bump into Elissa Gibbs, (nee Estes) who’s riding Predestined in the Open Novice, while her lovely, springy little chestnut Medici waits at home, gearing up for Bromont. 
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Elissa said Medici is super fit; she told me he’s extremely easy to condition which is great because it means less wear and tear on his feet and legs, and that because he has such great heart and lung capacity he just gets really fit really easily. I’m looking forward to seeing them go in Canada in a couple of weeks time – Good Luck! 
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Fashion and Friendship at Maydaze!
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This horse caught my eye, he’s a lot nicer than my photo, it was still misty at this point, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Anyway, wouldn’t you know he happens to be an english TB, he’s called Trooper Tobin, he’s ridden by Molly Jayes who leases him from his regular rider who’s at college. Trooper Tobin is about sixteen or seventeen years old, according to Molly’s trainer, Carrie Barrick, but he looks fabulous, and he jumped a super clear in the show-jumping.
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Carrie was not only training a number of riders, but also juggling competing in the Beginner Novice with looking after her almost two year old son – amazing! Plus, I bumped into her several more times during the day, and she was still smiling and waved at me – what a trooper, eventers/mothers are made of some strong stuff! Wishing Carrie a fantastic ride, and apologies for adding to the distractions earlier, as I bombarded her with questions! 
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Here is Tracey Corey, not only Kentucky’s famous Chief Medical Examiner (think autopsies and CSI) but also 2009 Amateur Adult Training Champion on Supernova. Looks like she’s got another nice young horse to add to the string. 
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Leo and I sat and watched some of the preliminary show-jumping, and saw this wandering up the aisle from warm-up to the collecting ring,
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Aren’t there rules against this? 
I later found out that the High School Rodeo is taking place in the old indoor so I think they happened upon us by accident, but that’s exactly what crossed my mind when I saw them.
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My favourite 2010 Radio Show co-host (ha ha!), the Horse Radio Network’s Glenn the Geek, doesn’t event, he likes carriage driving. I think I might have spotted his identical twin today at Maydaze, unless Glenn is hatching another one of his diabolical schemes! 
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It’s a man-bag! I think he wears it well, a cute couple. This post is fast deteriorating, John can officially file it under ridiculousness now. With that I’m off to bed, because it’s an early start in the morning. Looking forward to bringing you some slightly more serious stuff tomorrow from the Horse park, hopefully some cross country video, and who knows what else we’ll find. Get a good night’s sleep, and go eventing!
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