John Lechner aka EventingSafety John did a fabulous job covering the Adelaide CCI4* for Eventing Nation this weekend. I can’t thank John enough for the hard work he put in all weekend to help bring our readers across the World closer than we have ever been to Adelaide.  As always, be sure to check out John Lechner’s website, the Eventing Safety blog, and follow him @JohnVacy.  Here is John’s final Adelaide recap–thanks for writing this John and thank you for reading.
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A very focused Emma Mason before her fateful jumping round

It is a little over 24 hours since the end of my first ever experience as a journalist working on the ground at an Event.  I had an amazing time, was able to chat with some mates on camera and bring some of the sport as well as behind the scenes.  Overall, I am really happy with what I produced in the three days, especially given I have never interviewed anyone on camera before, let alone done seven or eight on short timelines.  With each interview I aimed to have it online ASAP. 

Looking at my interviews, some I love, others are not so good, but all were great fun.  Yesterday, at the end of the Four Star, I had ran round to Wendy Schaeffer before Emma Mason was finished as I knew she had won.  Instead of jumping in and getting the first interview, I hung back not feeling really legitimate amongst the real TV crews (from three networks).  I won’t do that again, first in best dressed and bugger the rest. 

About now, some of the teams will have begun arriving home and while others continue to cross the country for the next couple of days.  For some, that long drive home will be extremely painful, having suffered the disappointment of not finishing or getting so close and losing out in the last moment like Emma Mason.  I really like Emma, after spending many years under the tutelage of Heath Ryan she has stepped out on her own, running a yard. 

Emma is a hard worker and is quite often in the money but she doesn’t shine in the winners circle nearly often enough.  Emma like many of the other riders in all three classes will have learnt one really huge lesson this weekend.  If you are going to be in the money, you need to be “double clear” on the final day.   

In the Four Star, the only 3 clear rounds finished 1, 2 & 3.  Likewise in the CCI2* first and second were “double clear” and in the CIC2* the top seven were also “double clear”.   

Both Wendy Schaeffer and Chris Burton are showjumping machines, they both compete in pure showjumping regularly and win.  In fact, Wendy has just returned from a few months in Europe showjumping and it shows.   

Last year Wendy managed to compete horses in both the Adelaide Royal and the Sydney Three Day Event on the same weekend, hopping planes and doing amazingly well.  You only need to see the pure jumping results that both Koyuna Sun Dancer (1^st) and Koyuna Sun Shine (3^rd) have, to know that Wendy is not the rider to have on your tail on day three. 

The cross country was spectacular with only two clear rounds in the Four Star coming from second placed and 2008 Champion combination Chris Burton on Newsprint and the fifth placed Stuart Tinney on Watermark Grayson. 

While Stuart did not take away any of the top prize money this weekend he did walk away with two very big honors.  Stuart’s WEG mount and 2009 Adelaide Champion Vettori was recognized with the ‘Peppermint Grove Memorial Trophy’ for the most outstanding Event horse of the year.  Peppermint Grove was the mount of Adelaide Director and dual Olympic Gold Medalist Gillian Rolton, both medals were won with Peppermint Grove. 

Stuart also won for the fourth time the Anna Savage Memorial Award, which recognizes the “Best & Fairest” at Australia’s top Three Day Events.  Anna Savage was a young elite rider who tragically lost her life on the cross country course in 1997.  The award is given to the rider who most displays the characteristics that Anna demonstrated as a rider. 

Of all of the horses competing on the weekend one sticks in my mind as one to watch, Chris Burton’s mount Haruzac who took out the CCI2*.  This is a young horse to watch.   

Thank you all for joining me on this amazing ride the last few days and hopefully we can do it all again soon.

The show jumping has just concluded Sunday afternoon in Adelaide and here is a recap from the amazing John Lechner of the Eventing Safety blog.  Like all of us, John is already headed home for work bright and early on Monday.  We will have much more from John soon including a full recap and his interview with the incredible Hamish and Dave.  John uses his video camera to interview the riders with a great deal of success, but click here for a quick video to get a feel for the show jumping arena and crowd.  Thanks for writing this John and thank you for reading.
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From John Lechner:

Wow, what an exciting finish, only two riders had a double clear–Wendy Schaeffer and Chris Burton.  Wendy was victorious taking away the southern hemisphere’s only Four Star Event, Adelaide.  Wendy finished just 0.4 penalties above her dressage score completing the event on Koyuna Sun Dancer with 57.2 penalties.  Close behind Wendy on his 2008 Adelaide Champion mount was Chris Burton and Newsprint on 57.7, Chris also took out the CCI2* event on Haruzac. 

Wendy rounded out the top three with her second mount Koyuna Sun Shine on 63.2.  I talked with the TD Andy Griffiths before showjumping and he said he expected only three or so ‘double clear’ rounds and he was sure Wendy would be one of those.  Wendy has actually only just returned for a stint in Europe hoping to vie for a place on the Australian Jumping Team for WEG.  Her skill as a jumper certainly paid off. 

1. Wendy Schaeffer and Koyuna Sun Dancer +0  57.2
2. Christopher Burton and Newsprint +0  57.7
3. Wendy Schaeffer and Koyuna Sun Shine +0  63.2
4. Heath Ryan and Mystery Whisper +4  65.5
5. Stuart Tinney and Watermark Grayson +13  69.7
6. Emma Mason and F1 Pharinelli +20  72.8

Link: Full Adelaide Results

Unfortunately overnight leader Emma Mason who started her round only one rail ahead of Wendy took out the first fence and then proceeded to drop another 4 finishing with 20 jumping penalties after her round, dropping her to 6^th place on 72.8.  Heath Ryan moved up a place to fourth place finishing on 65.5 after an almost perfect jumping round.  Stuart Tinney who entered the ring in second place dropped three rails to move Watermark Grayson back to 5^th place on 69.7 penalties. 

In the CCI 2* Chris Burton narrowly beat Young Rider Tegan Lush who travelled nearly 1700 miles from Western Australia to take out second place and the 2010 Bates Young Rider Championship.  Third place was secured by veteran rider Sandy Lucas, owned by a very proud Meredith & Peter Tillett.  Katie Redmond and the very fit looking True Blue Toozac finished in 10^th place in the field of 41.

Chris after his CCI2* ride:

Olympian Shane Rose won the CIC2* on his Stratford Neo with a score of 47.9, ahead of Robert Palm on Koko Black with 50.8 and Tim Boland on Mercator Du Ry with 54.3.

It’s Sunday morning in Australia and the jogs have completed.  John Lechner is on the home stretch of his Adelaide coverage for Eventing Nation with the CCI4* show jumping just a few hours away.  Thanks for writing this John and thank you for reading.
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The Joey (baby Kangaroo) is an orphan and his carer carries him in her backpack

From John Lechner:

When was the last time you went to a trot up (jog) as a spectator?  How about sat down with a fresh bacon and egg roll, cappuccino, at a table with a table cloth and rose.  NEVER, me too, it is the little things that make Adelaide special and the trot is one of those little things. 

This morning as I walked through the park, I was reflecting on the beauty of the Adelaide Parklands and how lucky we are to have this Event in such amazing surroundings.  The crowd was building in anticipation of seeing how these amazing horses look after yesterday’s tough run.   

To be honest I thought that I would be surprised if there weren’t a few riders that made it into the hold box, yes I do mean riders.  I dropped in to the after party in the Parklands last night and there were plenty of our top riders, partying hard and having a great time to the music of DJ Wolfman. 

First up at the trot up was the CIC2* and John Twomey – Highly Recommended was sent to hold early, they represented and were accepted.  All horses in both the CIC2* and CCI2* were accepted by the ground jury.  The horses looked fantastic, full of beans and ready for jumping later today. 

All sixteen four star horses were presented and passed by the Ground Jury.  There was a long pause before overnight leader Emma Mason was accepted.  Stuart Tinney’s mount Watermark Grayson looks race horse fit, lean and powerful.  The final pair to trot up were Heath Ryan and Mystery Whisper were accepted by the Ground Jury. 

After the trot up I managed to catch up with Course Designer Wayne Copping and asked him to reflect on yesterday’s cross country.

As always, you can find more from John at his website, the Eventing Safety blog and follow him @JohnVacy. 

The timezone conversions from Australia to North America confuse me as much as anyone but let’s just say that the Saturday XC at Adelaide has miraculously already concluded.  Either that or we have fantastic predictive powers here at Eventing Nation.  Here is John Lechner’s XC recap.  As always, you can find more from John at his website, the Eventing Safety blog and follow him @JohnVacy.  Thanks for writing this John and thank you for reading.
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A relieved Heath Ryan after the finish

From John Lechner:

Overnight leader Heath Ryan dropped to fifth place after a gutsy but sometimes scrappy cross country round where he had notable ‘moments’ at fences 15 & 22.  Heath started very well and strong around the course but nearly came unseated when Mystery Whisper left a leg behind on element ‘a’, of the angled brush on the Equestrian Australia Ditch and Brush. Heath landed on Whispers neck before recovering over the ditch and climbing over the third element. 

Later on, at the Steps, Whisper put in a third stride before the frangible skinny, the clips broke and helped avoid a nastier situation.

Heath spent the rest of the time managing Whisper around the course so they completed clear of jumping penalties but picked up 19.2 time penalties which moved him back to 5th on 61.5.

This opened up the opportunity for Emma Mason, who came home clear but with 0.8 time penalties, to move into first place on 52.8 and Stuart Tinney, who was double clear, moved into second on 56.7.  This gives Emma less than a rail clearance moving into the jumping phase tomorrow. 

Rounding up the top three places is the tough Wendy Schaeffer who looked blazingly fast on course and picked up only 0.4 time penalties.

1. Emma Mason and F1 Pharinelli +0.8  52.8
2. Stuart Tinney and Watermark Brayson +0  56.7
3. Wendy Schaeffer and Koyuna Sun Dancer +0.4  57.2
4. Christopher Burton and Newsprint +0  57.7
5. Heath Ryan and Mystery Whisper +19.2  61.5

Link: Full CCI4* XC Results 

Chris Burton also came home double clear to finish fourth on 57.7 and was very pleased with his result.  I caught up with Chris after his XC.

Three of the nineteen riders didn’t make it home, with Sophie Warren having a spectacular fall at the ‘b’ element of Fence 10 when Let’s Impress failed to take off cleanly.  After an initial scare Sophie stood up, bowed to the crowd and power-walked back to the stables.  Let’s impress was fine.  Philippa Dunstan unfortunately after two stops at the Corner fence 6 had a third stop later.  Emily Anker had an embarrassing soft fall in front of the crowds at the water complex after hitting a tree branch.  Both Emily and her horse are fine, if a little embarrassed.

Robyn Brown & I’m Charles Too

From John Lechner:

Saturday at Adelaide has started well with the CCI2 Star class just coming to completion.  Conditions are perfect for XC and I caught up with Vet Delegate Dr. Nigel Nichols before XC to get his thoughts.

Overnight leader and recent WEG veteran Chris Burton on Under Discussion looked fantastic early on, blazing through the upright double, in fine style.  Unfortunately, mid way round the course, Chris had a slip from the saddle and was eliminated.  The provisional results show four of the top 10 riders are Young Riders including Katie Redmond on True Blue Toozac who has moved up from 16th to 10th position.

Dressage leaders Christopher Burton and Under Discussion

It was also great to see Rebel Morrow on Hillgrove Enviable returning to the elite levels of Eventing after a long break, she started XC in 28th place and looked amazing throughout the course, she was focused and on song, wonderful.

So at the end of XC the CCI2* Leaderboard looks like this

1. Luke Jones – Charlatan 50.0
2. Christopher Burton – Haruzac 52.2
3. Claudia Graham – Park Street Vision 53.3
4T. Christine Bates – Adelaide Hill 55.0 
4T. Sandy Lucas – Ever So Clever tied 55.0

Catch you after the 4 Star…

There must be something about people named John and a passion for eventing coverage.  Our good friend John Lechner was awake for nearly 20 hours yesterday traveling to Adelaide and writing about the dressage for us and he was still up before dawn in Australia preparing this preview of the Adelaide XC and videos for Eventing Nation.  As always, you can find John at his website www.eventingsafety.wordpress.com or follow him @JohnVacy.  Thanks for writing this John and thank you for reading.
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This is a new frangible wall, it uses the Mim NewEra clip and folds in half

From John Lechner:

It is early Saturday morning here in Adelaide and we all know that XC day is the day us Eventers all live for, the adrenalin, the nervousness, the plain downright frightened, it all plays a part in making our sport what it is. 

Yesterday I had the privilege to interview three of Australia’s world class Riders, these guys – Heath Ryan, Stuart Tinney and Wendy Schaeffer.  Have each been in the Eventing business for 20 plus years.

All of these top riders will tell you that they respect the course, from beginning to end, you must not let your guard down between the start flags and the finish flags. 

But when you talk to some of the less experienced riders, they are just plain scared.  Personally, I think this is good as fear will help you to respect this course, it is BIG!!, 11 minutes of unrelenting gallops, narrow lanes and today, about 20,000 spectators lining the course.  Many of these horses and riders have never seen crowds at an event and today there will be crowds lining the lanes. 

TD Andry Griffiths:

Back to the pros for a second, I think this course has a hidden trick up its sleeve.  Last year the track was tight, little room for galloping and very tough to make time.  This year, the course is definitely more open, more galloping, herein I think some may relax and think it is easier to make time.  I don’t think so, with a full 11 minutes managing speed and horsepower to the last fence will be critical, those who let their guard down just a tiny bit, will get bitten. 

I won’t be surprised to see very few, if any, make time. And I think a few surprise stops in the last third of the course may be the order of the day.  I wish all horses and riders the very best of days and hope that everybody comes home safe and sound. 

I promise to do and interview with Hamish and Dave who are here producing another extravaganza sometime soon.  

On a final note, Young Rider Katie Redmond is sitting equal 16^th overall and fourth in the Young Rider Class in the CCI2* after dressage on Boyd Martin’s former four star champion horse True Blue Toozac.  A great start for Katie. 

Catch you all later today. 

–EventingSafety John

It seems strange posting a morning dressage recap at night here in North America, but the time difference creates such a circumstance for our Adelaide CCI4* coverage.  Here are the Friday morning dressage notes from Adelaide, sent from Australian John Lechner, aka Eventing Safety John, of the Eventing Safety blog.  I feel like one of us should pick a name other than ‘John’ to go by this weekend, but I haven’t had any great ideas so far.  From one John to another, thanks for writing this.
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Bounce of Ducks with one stride and drop into the water

From Eventing Safety John:

Today marked the start of the 2010 Australian International Three Day Event and from now on I will simply be calling it Adelaide.  23 combinations will start the 4* competition in amazing surroundings.  Entries this year may have suffered given the proximity to WEG, however there is a very strong field and the competition will be fierce.

One of the few criticisms able to be leveled at Adelaide is the field is very small for a four star, well is it?  Personally I don’t think so.

There are perhaps 30-35 four star combinations in Australia at the moment. Four of those went to WEG, another 5 were prepped for WEG and for various reasons are not running this weekend. So by my calculations that makes at least 32 four star combinations currently in Australia.

So yes, this year’s Adelaide may be missing most of our best combinations but the same could be said for Burghley, Pau & Luhmuhlen this year.

The real question – Is winning Adelaide less of an achievement than winning any of the other four stars.

Well, yes and no.

Lets start with the yes, Adelaide for the most part usually has only Aussie and a couple of Kiwi horses running.  So why does the USEA/USEF, or any other federation, not offer grants to send some combinations to run? You need to ask that question.

Yes, it is a long way, tough on the horse and rider, however Adelaide is a world class competition, there should be more international combinations here.

Can you compare it to Badminton or Burghley, no, but even Rolex comes in at number 3 after the big two.  Don’t get me wrong I love Rolex and it does attract a variety of world class combinations but I think many riders would honestly say they with prefer to win Badminton or Burghley over WEG or the Olympics.

So what does Adelaide have that brings it onto a level playing field with the other four stars.  For starters there isn’t an antipodean pony club dressage judges in sight.  The Ground Jury is headed by Frenchman Michel Asseray and asssisted by Sandy Phillips of the UK and Jutta Koivula of Finland.  In addition, the TD is Andy Griffiths from the UK.

So in the end you need to judge for yourself.  Do what many of Australia’s Eventers do, hop on a plane come to Adelaide and Enjoy the “Party in the Park” it is fun, exciting and attracts, Australia’s best combinations.

A quick video interview with Wendy Schaeffer, 2nd after the morning dressage

A few years ago, Course Designer Mike Etherington-Smith handed over the reigns to local Course Designer Wayne Copping.  Even today you can still see remnants of Mike ES on the course in his famous “Ducks”.  But the reality is, this is now a Wayne Copping Course.  Wayne, himself a showjumper is a real student of course design and I know now already has begun plans for 2011 in his mind.

His courses are never tricky but instead reward those combinations who can hold a correct line through a complex, can be trusted over skinnies and have the endurance to make it through the tough windy track that is a consequence of holding the event in a public park.

Most important, you need juice in the tank to make it to the end.  Last year the fence that caused most issues was the second to last, two big corners on a slight curve, some riders either didn’t have the juice or failed to respect the distance and had a stop.

The four star track looks great and this morning’s rain will help to soften any hard spots.  The double duck bounce into the water is sure to sharpen them up and then it is followed a  few fences later by the bounce stairs up to the skinny which is also quite a good drop down the hill.  Much more of the course to look at, it is 6300m long and just over 11 minutes so there is no doubt that XC will be a test.

Dressage has started well with the first session just completed and the early leader is Emma Mason on F1 Pharinelli sitting on 52.0 with Wendy Schaeffer following on 56.8.  The remaining two thirds of the combinations start later today.

LEC, who is an EN guest writer and our UK connection has written some of her thoughts about creating, pursuing, and then evaluating our goals.  Thanks for writing this LEC and thank you for reading.
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From LEC:

If you are anything like me the best way of getting through the winter is to plan for the new season even though your bank manager and family might protest that you are already thinking so far ahead!  I have always struggled with my confidence–especially riding.  John wrote a piece a while ago about enjoying the journey which strongly resonated with me as this has often been forgotten in my quest to reach a goal, and as soon as that goal is reached, I felt no satisfaction and had already moved on to the next goal.  I often put so much pressure on myself to do well that I would struggle to hold it all together, especially during weaker phases at events. These weak areas would then become giant obstacles in my mind that I would then chronically beat myself up about when things went wrong.  By enjoying the journey more I have been able to smile at the small successes and take pleasure in the changes. So I thought I would write briefly about goals and some ways that might help us achieve them in a positive way.

Making Goals: In order to make a success of 2011 there needs to be a clear outcome or goal, otherwise you will continue to do what you have always done.  Writing down your goals is a clear way to start planning and working out a way for you to achieve those goals.  Once you have written down your goals, the next stage is to see if they fit in with your life–the majority of us are amateurs and there are lots of other pressures in life!  You may realize that due to other commitments your equestrian goal might be extremely hard.  We must consider how horses, home/family and friends, personal development, and work/finance will each impact our goals. We might decide to adjust our goals if we know that finances will impinge, or your family is more important than a given goal.
 
In her book Simple Steps to Riding Success, Liz Morrison says that by placing your goal in context will help you move forward.  Liz Morrison suggests you make a chart where you write up your:

·         Strengths

·         Weaknesses

·         Opportunities – external factors in your favor

·         Threat – external factors which weight against you.

Try and restrict yourself to say 5 or 6 in each box and make sure each box is fairly even as its too easy to focus on the negatives.  This will help you focus your efforts and also make you realize the detail that goes into getting to your goal.
 
Execution: Writing goals down is the easy part!  The next step is to actually accomplish them. I think one reason that professionals are so good is that they leave as little as possible to chance–all their work is done at home. Over the last two years I have spent some time helping a friend who is a pro by grooming for her at events, and riding some of her horses at home.  I had the biggest wake up when I realized how much work goes on at home and how concentrated the training is.  A weekly preparation plan is written up for each horse keeping in mind the goals for the month ahead.  In contrast, I often find myself working on one aspect and then drifting into doing something different.  In the end, none of the training goals end up fully completed.

Another reason professionals have so much success is that they get more practice than us amateurs.  All of my professional friend’s horses will jump roughly once a week at home, and in the two weeks running up to a competition they will go out to a schooling show, and jump either in a competition or just a practice round.  By the time her horses get to an event they are not phased by the atmosphere or height because it had all been covered at home.
 
Tracking Progress: Once we set goals and then focus on achieving each one, the next step is to keep track of your goals.  I find that ticking them off from a list helps keep me motivated. Even when things are not going as planned, try to look for positives and write down what you have learned.  It is important to remember that these are your goals and not to get side tracked by the success of others.  It is far too easy to look at the pros and feel that you are letting your horse down if you are not competing equally at the same level.  But if you think about it, horses don’t have the same ambitions that we do so doing things as slowly as you wish will not bother your horse.  One of the best quotes I have read in a long time is ‘those that mind do not matter and those that matter do not mind’ so make sure you listen to those that you respect and know have your best interests at heart, because these are the people that will help you when the going is tough and be thrilled for you when you have success.
 
As long as you enjoy the journey and plan successfully then your goals are there to be grasped no matter how big or small.
 
So EN readers – Do you plan your goals?  Do you struggle with placing too much pressure on yourself?  Are you reluctant to make plans with horses?  Do you feel pressure from other people?  Do you have any top tips that have worked for you in achieving your goals?

Aside from FEI rules, Australian time conversions are one of the most complicated things on Earth–the minutes don’t even match up.  At 12:10pm Thursday on the East coast of the US it is 3:40am Friday morning in Adelaide.  John Lechner of the Eventing Safety Blog is traveling to Adelaide soon and sent us this quick report before his departure.  Be sure to follow John Lechner on Twitter @JohnVacy.  Thanks for writing this John and thank you for reading. 
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From Eventing Safety John

There is no Air Horse One in Australia and the Adelaide Four Star is 870 miles from Sydney, 1680 miles from Perth, 450 miles from Melbourne and 1305 miles from Brisbane so last weekend instead of competing those riders heading to Adelaide packed their trucks, and set off to drive the long way to Adelaide.

I know the riders from Sydney traveled in a convoy of 2-3 trucks at a time and dd the 19 hour trip with one main break in Hay.  Hay is really in the middle of nowhere and is about ½ way. They will let the horses off the truck at the showgrounds and crash for 5-6 hours sleep and drive on, aiming to basically complete the travel in about 24 hours.  It was grueling so the aim was to arrive early Monday or Tuesday so that the horses can recover and get in back into final preparation.

One saving grace for the 2010 Event is the weather will be much kinder.  Last year, I was in Adelaide as Assistant Technical Delegate (TD).  During the 6 days I was in town, the daytime temperature didn’t dip below 102 deg F.  On XC day it was 102 and on stadium jumping it was 106. It was hot and very dry, thankfully no humidity as we were almost at the safe limit for competing.  The XC course was shortened to 8 minutes and some very serious veterinary procedures were put in place including some brilliant cooling at the finish.

10 tonnes of ice was used to cool the 80 odd horses, the team of vets, helpers, grooms and anyone with a spare hand was charged with cooling the horses and riders as rapidly as possible, I know only one horse took more than 10-12 minutes to cool which is astounding but a great demonstration on how well we know how to manage our horses.

In that extreme heat, both Stuart Tinney and Wendy Schaeffer started three horses on the four star track with Stuart bringing all three home safely, Wendy had a couple of incidents but all horses were fit and well.  Some of the riders, Wendy and Stuart included were instructed to undergo similar rapid cooling after each ride.

I know that the grooms took real pleasure in pouring buckets of ice water all over the boss’ head, all in the name of cooling, of course.

The Jog (we call it the Trot Up) was held here today and it looks like all 23 horses passed and the horses will begin Dressage at 10.40am Friday local time.  I will catch a quick flight to Adelaide (only 90 mins) Friday morning and I will be ready and waiting for the first horse – Balmoral Cavalier with Emily Anker on board.

I know that Hamish and Dave will be in town filming so I plan to turn the tables on them and interview them.  Any questions you want me to throw at them email me at [email protected]  or tweet me @johnvacy.  Catch you all tomorrow.

–John Lechner

Tonight we bring you part 6 of Jenny’s adventure as a working student and EN guest blogger. Jenny has ambitiously decided to spend the next year as a working student in Lexington, Kentucky. Anyone from Lexington will notice some familiar names, such as Megan Moore, a rider and coach, and the amazing Dr. Chris Newton.  Thanks for writing this Jenny and thank you for reading.

Mick Costello is the Rolex and WEG course builder, a leading expert on eventing safety, and one of the coolest people in eventing. From the very first time I met Mick, I was struck by the combination of his intelligence and calm demeanor that instantly let me know he was the right kind of leader in our sport.  The lovely Samantha Clark was kind enough to interview Mick for Eventing Nation using a series of videos. It is a privilege that Samantha will be contributing to EN on a regular basis over the coming weeks. If you are a Twitterer (as the old people call it) then follow Samantha @samanthalclark–she is one of the top people in the horse world to follow on Twitter. Thanks for writing this Samantha and thank you for reading.

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From Samantha:

One would think that I would have had my fill of WEG 2010 by now, but I can’t quite let it go. Neither it seems, can the Kentucky Horse Park. The temporary stands are still there, the driving stadium is pristine, apparently there are six people total to dismantle everything; sadly the media centre is a thing of the past, and absolutely no one seems to know where the big blue fibre-glass horse with all the medalists’ signatures on it has disappeared to.  The Horse Park sent me to the Lexington Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, who swore it was back at the Horse Park: no dice.

However, if you need something done properly at the Kentucky Horse Park, then Mick Costello, Course Builder for Rolex for the last 12 years, and for the Eventing XC and Driving Marathon at WEG 2010, is your man.  I caught up with him filling holes in the infield by the water jump, unfailingly polite to his crew and  surprisingly soft-spoken.

Spotless, peaceful and unspoilt, you could barely imagine a group of sunday riders taking a hack around the parkland it looks so well-recovered, let alone the 50 thousand plus crowds on two consecutive weekends who thronged to watch the world class competition take place over his obstacles just shy of a month earlier, and two more events since then.

Video #1

As I started my interview, Mick was perhaps disappointed at my lack of sophisticated equipment, (flip & iphone!)  but we did discuss the merits of the iphone, as appreciated by silver medal winning driver Tucker Johnson. The driving was incredibly popular during the WEG and will be making a comeback at the Horse Park next autumn.

Tucker Johnson Video

Mick would also like to see some indoor driving, and gave some clues to a Legacy Event, and what may or may not be on the Rolex course next spring.

[Link: Legacy Video]

Grabbing headlines at Rolex this spring was Oli Townend’s crashing fall at the Hollow which sparked much debate about safety and course design, and this is something that of course Mick takes extremely seriously.  Mick is a man who has spent his whole life amassing experience, literally, in the field. Thoughtful, smart, a real horse-lover and old-fashioned cross country enthusiast, Mick  can casually drop names like Jack Le Goff into conversation about the good old days, but is bang up to date about what’s happening here & now, and where the sport is headed, and how to get the balance right.

Rotational Falls Video

I have to admit that when I first met Mick it was perhaps not under the best circumstances as he “busted” me for gaily hacking around the Horse Park one rainy day, a couple of weeks before Rolex, as if I owned the place, and actually he could not have been nicer about it.  There can’t be anyone who knows an inch of the Park better or cares for it more.  What does Mick want see and where would he like to go next?

[Link: Opinions Video]

There’s a lighter side to Mick though, a definitely dry and a bit naughty sense of humour, as well as some great vision – one of my favourite jumps on the course this year, the enormous tree trunk, was his idea entirely, and the subsequent relocation of which he enjoyed explaining!

[Link: Log Video]

The eye-catching frog, kingfisher and goose that were features of the WEG course have been moved to the entrance of the Museum of the Horse, by the Giant’s Chairs, where they look very Alice in Wonderland, but will be appreciated by thousands of visitors for years to come.

I’d like to thank Mick for talking to me, and thank you for reading/watching. It’s definitely a treat to talk to people who love what they do, and are at the top of their game. I’m open to suggestions, and all comments are welcome.  I’d like to thank John for the opportunity, and of course for the fabulous job he does every day on Eventing Nation – Go Eventing!