There’s a lot of talk about getting “the public” out to equestrian events. But let’s say you manage to get them right where you want them: ringside. Now what? What is going through the minds of these unsuspecting spectators?
Red Hills International H.T. has always done a bang-up job of luring big crowds out from the community, especially on cross country day. Although not everyone who comes out to watch is quite sure what they’ve signed up for.
Meet the Searle family. Your average all-American mom, dad, couple kiddos and their friends, just out for a day of fun and sport in the great outdoors.
I’ll walk you through it, starting in the ringside pavilion where the family has gathered to eat brownies and discuss the situation at hand.
“We are going to watch some horses jump. Welcome to Red Hills Tallahassee … something … Horse Trials … whatever.”
“The horse trials are today so we are enjoying the view of the arena, and also if we are lucky we might get to show you a few horses. I might yell and if I’m lucky I might scare one of the horses and buck them off. I am not deadly, OK, but it’s just a fact that I like to make mistakes.”
Once they get out to the cross country course, a lengthy discussion about where to eat dinner is had. Watch minutes 3:48-4:58 at your own peril.
“So Waffle House, you’re thinking?”
But at long last, five minutes into the seven-minute long video, we finally spot a horse. We’ll let the Searle family take it from here:
Go Eventing.
