I’m glad to say that the Horse Park is no longer covered in snow, but it is very wet, and looking rather how I feel – tired, anaemic, fed up with fighting the elements during a long, hard winter, coming on the back of the WEG.
Spring cannot come soon enough.Of course, nothing goes
down at the Park with
out Mick Costello
knowing about it, & it wasn’t long before he found us – dog, bikes, kids and all!
Sadly we didn’t have time to check out the Home Improvement Show, because Mick told us there was a chance to win a ball if you could shoot a basket, (Harry was positive he could have done it!), and also free samples of barbecue!
We did bike around a bit, and saw the Head of the Lake, up close and personal, (it’s deep right now!)
Also, the second fence on the cross country at WEG has moved up the hill a bit.
Derek di Grazia has just completed a visit, and I hope to catch up with him next time he’s here to talk to him about his plans for his first Rolex.
By complete chance, we happened upon Indoor Polo, so stayed to watch for a while.
The Covered Arena (old Indoor) is used for Snowbird Dressage, Mounted Games, Indoor Polo and more during the winter. Knowing nothing about it, we found Shelby who explained the basics, thanks Shelby.
There were more grooms than riders, despite the fact that polo ponies seem to be amazingly adept at sharing handlers and will tie anywhere patiently, and the spectators seemed to be mainly friends and family.
There was a nice energy though, and if the kids hadn’t been so impatient to get on their bikes, I would have loved to have stayed longer to watch. We did have a quick chat with Timothy though, whose 20 year old younger brother, Gates was playing while we talked so he was somewhat distracted. His father played, and his 12 year old sister currently rides hunter/jumpers in Florida but he’s hoping to get her hooked on polo soon too.
It may not be Wellington, and polo at sunset, (Erin @sidelines got that gig, jammy beggar!) but according to the Lexington Convention and Visitor’s Bureau we are lucky to see this here, and will enjoy our polo in the sun too soon enough,
“Bluegrass Note: The Lexington Polo Club plays its matches at the Kentucky Horse Park on most Sunday afternoons in summer — a great excuse to take a picnic or to tailgate. In the winter, matches are played at the indoor arena, making Lexington one of the few places in the United States where you can watch indoor polo.”
You can’t forget you’re in UK country!
Perhaps the best news of all though was the sight of these little flowers poking their heads up at the entrance to the Park.
Even though we’re dealing with thunderstorms tonight, and you never know what you’re going to get next here in Kentucky, I venture to say we may be over the worst, and I’m beginning to get quietly excited about Spring – Rolex, High Hopes, May Daze, hacking at Masterson, short sleeves, Keeneland and so much more.
Also, I nearly forgot. I was too embarrassed to take pictures, but there was a group of about four tourists out at the Park today taking their picture on the Bruce Davidson Statue – literally ON the statue. Taking it in turns to get on Eagle Lion behind Bruce and then taking each others photos. For some reason it made me a bit uncomfortable, but I’m not sure why. What do you think?
