Sadly for us all here in Kentucky though, Jim is en route to Virginia now, 

“I say I’m from North Carolina but I haven’t been there for a while. I’ve been a bit of a gypsy for the past few years. I’m going to Middleburg for the summer, and then back to Germany in the fall.”

Jim spent his grant money training with Michael Klimke in Germany,  where he said he discovered EventingNation.com. 

“EventingNation was my lifeline to all that was happy and good and American, while I was in Germany where everything was quite serious and intense. I just loved it and became addicted! Now I read it all the time.”

This isn’t as random as it sounds because Jim has a not quite so secret eventing past. I’d assumed that he was an eventer turned dressage rider but not at all…

“I’ve always been stronger in the dressage than any other phase, but I did a bit of everything.  After college I was living in Northern Virginia and working for Equus magazine, and doing a bunch of serious, professional jobs while doing dressage on the side. At some point I decided I wanted to give horses a go, so I took a sabbatical from work. With dressage you spend your life in a 20 x 60 m box, and I went to Badminton to watch on vacation, and then I went on one of those cross country training holidays, and I thought, this is what is missing in my life!  So I came home and bought a horse from Peter Green and got on with it!  At that point I’d been working in Washington DC for ten years and I was ready for something completely different. My whole eventing career was so ill-advised really, I didn’t have a coach, it was just something I did for fun. Back then ( late 90’s, hardly the Stone Ages!) you didn’t really need to qualify  I was just an arrogant dressage rider who would put up a couple of  rickety standards at the back of the barn and go over them back and forth a few times and think that was great. It wasn’t like I took lessons, or thought perhaps I should get some advice:  I did one preliminary, a couple of intermediates and then moved up to advanced. I had no idea about how to get a horse properly fit, I just did everything I’d been taught in pony club!”

Jim has a great sense of humour and is a very funny story-teller, happily poking fun at himself, (unusual for an american, and even more so for a dressage rider?! ) he’s very laid back and gregarious, but mostly it’s obvious, he really enjoys horses, all horses and all aspects of his life with them. But back to the eventing.. how on earth did he get on at Rolex…

“I was pretty psyched! I only fell off once! Otherwise I made it around the course. Then I had to retire that horse because of a stupid injury in the pasture, and I got another funny little horse from Elizabeth Iorio, that didn’t work out for her, so she suggested I give it a go  because I was bitten by the bug. I kept on and took him advanced and did the long format 4* at Rolex with him, but before that I had done a 2* and several 3*’s, and this time I made it round Rolex and didn’t fall off!” 

I wondered if people tried to offer Jim advice on his eventing career choices,

“No, because I didn’t really tell anyone what I was doing! I just snuck out on weekends. I’m still a mild-mannered dressage professional during the day, and then I would sneak out when no one was looking and run an event on the weekend, and for me I didn’t really care how I did, I mean I tried to keep my penalties under 100, that was like a big thing for me!  I didn’t really have any problems jumping, and I figured I could always fix the dressage, except I never could fix the dressage, they were complete nutters, it was hideous! I think I probably put in the worst rides at Rolex ever performed, honestly! I was riding at Grand Prix dressage though, literally the weekend after Rolex I was going out riding Grand Prix dressage.

I’m busy all the time with students and horses literally all day long in my dressage job, with things that have to be done, so my poor event horse got put on the back burner a bit, he wasn’t such a serious thing for me. I wasn’t trying out for any teams, I wasn’t trying to impress anybody. On cross country, I’d come round the corner, if I wanted to swing wide and take an extra tug to make sure it was right, I was going to do it, because once again, it was all about a good time, it wasn’t about me needing to be Bruce Davidson!”

Plans were tentatively to go to Burghley after Rolex, but horses being horses

“My horse was in a trailer accident on the way home from Kentucky in 2000. I’d ended up bringing another person’s horse home from Rolex because we were going to train together, and I was going to fix the dressage, once again, (!) but he never recovered from the trailer accident.”

…and Jim hasn’t evented since,

“I do miss it, but when I look back I shudder to think of the things I did! I had wonderful, funny good times though, and wonderful, funny, good horses, and every weekend was like a great adventure because I had no clients; I didn’t have to impress anybody, dress up or be on my best behaviour, it was was more about getting together with my friends for the weekend and it was a giant, funny good time, and you got to go cross country, and it was a really magic time in my life, and it felt like nothing bad could happen, and fortunately it didn’t! (Jim laughs!) I zipped around the courses, grinning ear to ear, and hung on. I was on super-talented horses that luckily saved the day for me. The horse that I got from Peter (Bank on It) is now 30, and when I ran Rolex, I ran down to the biggest jump I’d ever seen and just missed badly, so so so badly. I grabbed the mane, let him do it and landed on the other side; he didn’t touch wood and he almost bucked me off on the other side and I told him, ‘you have a home for life’. That’s one of the things I miss about eventing: I can go into a line of pirouettes, or a line of tempi changes, and if I don’t give the exact right cues it’s not going to happen. In eventing you go to that fence and it’s not something you do together, that horse has to say, ‘gotcha, got you covered’, they do it FOR you. It’s the most amazing, humbling thing to ride these horses that give you so much. You try to prepare them and train them, but when the rubber hits the road, it’s the horse doing the job and you’re just there with them, letting them do their job well. I do miss that.” 

 

I asked Jim if he would ever consider eventing again?

“I could definitely do it better, and faster, but it was totally a fun thing for me. I was never planning to go professional. It was my avocation, not my vocation. To do it again wouldn’t be the same. The horses sort of came to me, they kind of fell into my lap. I wouldn’t do it unless it was on a very special horse. When I was on a magic, special horse like I was then, I felt like I could jump anything so I was up for it, let’s do it!”

Jim still enjoys teaching the eventers though, and even some jumpers,

“When I lived in Southern Pines that’s what I spent all day doing, riding event horses, helping event riders get ready for their dressage, and I think there’s so many unbelievable horses and unbelievable riders that are really gifted, and to help them find their way a bit in the dressage is great. One of my first students was John Williams, and I couldn’t believe anyone would take me seriously when I had just been so appalling at the events!  I do love teaching event riders because I look at the physical talent of the horses and the riders, and it’s really impressive, and the thing is they’re not always polished, but they’re always effective. It’s interesting how many event riders compartmentalise the riding; for instance they’re so capable of getting a horse balanced up, like if they came around the corner and had to jump a big vertical they’d be sitting, balanced and straight and then give it a good ride to that jump, yet they’ll go in a dressage ring and for some reason they’ll often leave their effective riding in the show-jumping ring. We’ll be in the dressage ring, and say half-halt and they don’t know what to do! As a dressage coach I just try and make them take what they’re already doing and just put it in their dressage test; then they can get their horses straight and balanced, uphill and active – for me it’s easy to just shape them up a little bit, they already know how to do it. It’s making eventers re-think and re-focus on how to ride just as effectively in the dressage ring as they do over jumps. It’s a completely different standard now too, especially shortening the format, the type of horse that can be used many times can focus and handle the pressure of collection, and the demands of the dressage test. The sport has become so serious that there’s fortunately less people like me in it that do it ( I disagree !), the level of professionalism is really astonishing to see, the growth, and just how good these horses and riders are.”

Jim is rather good at the dressage game himself, and is making a serious bid for London next year, but I have to drag that out of him!

“I have a super horse, Rhett, bred right here in Kentucky, I think he’s the only US bred horse in years to have done anything. Again, he sort of fell into my lap, I got a phone call from a friend to say she had a horse that wasn’t really working out, and I happened to be in the area, had a slot open in my trailer, so I told her if he loaded, I’d take him.  He did load, and we got on like a house on fire; we moved him up to Grand Prix in Germany last year. He’s 11 this year, and bigger and larger than life – huge movement, huge power, huge personality, when we focus it, amazing things happen! Our challenge is keeping everything stuffed in the box so that we can channel all that energy.” 

Jim also seems lost for words when I ask him why he thinks he seems to find the keys to horses other people tend to give up on,

“I don’t know…I get bored easily? I don’t know? People shop for the perfect horse but I sort of let the universe provide what I needed..I had had a super Grand Prix horse before this that was like My Friend Flicka, my favourite horse ever, and he was doing super and then life unraveled and he got EPM. He was small and black, this little ferarri, so I had said to myself I wanted big – big head, big feet, hybrid bigger, everything completely the opposite of this horse, and my friend gave me a call about this other horse, and I was like, alright, this is exactly what I ordered! Really though, I’m just grateful for all the opportunities I get.”

Jim will take 14 horses to Virginia with him, “they have a way of multiplying”, as well as “the best young rider in the country: she’s dynamite – focused, hungry, wants it badly.” That would be Holly Shook, Jim’s new assistant, “she’s my assistant, she can help warm up, cool down, unbelievable rider, and unbelievable to have her as my eyes on the ground, and hopefully she’ll bring her horse and come with me to Germany in the fall to compete in the Young Rider World Cup.” When he returns to Europe Jim will take Rhett, as well as hopefully another up-and-coming Grand Prix horse, “don’t get me started, he’s just the coolest thing ever!” and this time they’ll be based with Edward Gal.  Don’t expect Jim to settle down anytime soon, but you can cross your fingers to watch him ride in London next summer. Thanks for talking to us, Jim, safe travels! Thanks for reading, go have fun and go eventing! 

After temperatures near 90 degrees last week, a cold rain on sunday with the mercury hovering around fifty, and a couple of hundred horses schooling cross-country at the Kentucky Horse Park  was a recipe for some friskiness! It was important to stay alert to avoid accidents, which may have helped to add some adrenalin to the schooling sessions, which I always used to find hard: difficult to replicate a competition atmosphere, hard to not want to “protect” your horse.

There were some large groups schooling, some individuals, and some small lessons.  Everyone who rode needed to sign in to get a pinny for insurance and safety purposes, and there was medical staff on site, as well as stewards to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

I was thrilled to bump into Dorothy Crowell who’d ridden two horses earlier and was now busy schooling, and very kindly let me tag along for a while. Dorothy was helping a rider hoping to move up to Prelim at Maydaze in a couple of weeks time. I was relieved when she told me she also found xc schooling a bit of a conundrum, and found teaching it just as tricky,

“I really like to try and put at least six or seven fences together, rather than stopping and starting and stopping which makes it hard to get a rhythm going. The riders might get over the fences and they might do the right things with their bodies to get over the fences but it’s still a little bit different when you’re out there galloping. For instance, the adjustment you have to make is probably bigger than you think: If you’re galloping at 600m per minute, which is fast, and you have to jump a fence at 350mpm, that’s a huge change, so you might go from 600mpm to 400mpm, and think you’ve got it, because that’s still a huge change, but it’s still not good enough to jump the fence, and that’s one of the main things we have to work on when you’re moving from training to preliminary.”

Dorothy’s husband had rigged up a couple of walkie-talkies so that she could speak to her rider via earbud while she rode, and after a quick talk about the basics they started with some simple fences, before moving on to the water and coffin complexes. 

Dorothy stressed keeping the rider’s eye up and concentrating if not on the next jump, then on a focal point, be it a tree or telegraph pole in the near distance straight ahead and after the jump, and this really helped, especially jumping skinnies out of coffins. She also talked about adjusting your position as you get closer to the jump,

“From about 15 to 10 strides out, you’re using the motion of the horse galloping underneath you, but you’re still out of the tack. From 10 to 5 strides out you’re moving into the tack, so that the move for cross country is: unlock your back, then in that rhythm, you’re moving your seat under your shoulders, but you’re still out of the tack, then over the next five strides you move the weight into the tack, and then the next two or three strides you look up at your next destination, and you move the saddle as needed. Now, during that period when you’re going from 3-point to actually in the tack, you maintain the canter we created 15 strides out, or you can create a better one. If it’s just a matter of straightforward fences then it’s all about maintenance. My more experienced horses now have got to the point now where when I go to make that first move with my back, then that’s their half-halt and that’s all they need”

Dorothy compared riding your horse cross-country to driving your car, especially where gears and speeds were concerned in relation to approaches to different types of fences,

“I relate it to gears: if fifth gear is a gear you would never jump from, it’s just flat out gallop, then fourth gear you would only ever do a true steeplechase course with, something that has a really generous ground line and nothing hard in it. Third gear is where you would do most of your straightforward, with a sloping face, galloping fences. Second gear is where we spend our lives. Second gear is all about anything vertical or anything with a combination. Within second gear you can do a hard second gear or a soft second gear, depending on what you need.”

The earbud system was a godsend, it meant that Dorothy could give instructions, compliments and a running commentary, all without shouting, and we joked that it would be wonderful if we could have her riders compete with Dorothy in their ears at the same time! Dorothy is unfailingly genuine and positive, and really gives her all to the lessons; it was a horrible, cold rainy day to be honest, but nothing dampened her enthusiasm, her obvious delight in making a difference, and just still enjoying what she does.  When things didn’t go perfectly, she remained calm and drew on her vast experience to fix the problem, and the schooling session ended with a confident horse and rider who’d tackled some fairly meaty problems in trying conditions, and who I think should quietly be looking forward to their first prelim.

@

I’d like to thank Dorothy and her student for letting me tag along; but especially all the volunteers who gave up their sunday to spend it it in the cold and the rain so that everyone could enjoy the wonderful facilities. Also, big up to the eventing community, I had to drive through the jumper show to get the schooling, and stopped several times to let riders, grooms trainers etc cross the road, but did not get a single thank you, or even acknowledgment. The very first person I stopped for at the cross country session gave me a huge smile and a wave, from under her raincoat, a lovely girl, she’s lucky I didn’t jump out of the car and hug her right there and then, and I discovered later she’s Juliette, Dorothy’s daughter! 

Incidentally, Juliette saw this jump by the trailer park and calmly told her mother, “No, I won’t be doing anything like that!”; she has dressage dreams after seeing Totilas at WEG last year.

Good luck to her with that, and to everyone who rode yesterday, and indeed all eventers. Thank you for reading, and thank you for waving and smiling. Go schooling and go eventing! 

Pimms!

Despite the genteel surroundings, dress code, manners and traditions that are upheld within the hunt,

the Iroquois is innovative and on the cutting edge in a number of ways. I’m surprised and proud to discover that that the Iroquois is one of very few hunts that has an active Hound Welfare Program. As Huntsman for 8 seasons, Lilla Mason explained to me, 

“If we can get more people involved with the hounds, and to love the hounds then that’s great. If they come on the summer hound walk, and there was Hamlet, for instance, and then next year we culled him or shot him and Hamlet’s not there…they know.”

The fact that the Iroquois Hunt keeps the hounds for their entire lives, (Master Miller has 13 retirees living in his house, Lilla told me!) also provides a unique research opportunity.

Scientists at the University of Tennessee and the University of Wisconsin are using the Iroquois hounds to support a study on the effectiveness of a newly developed vaccine for Blastomycosis.

Small children who have cancer and need bone marrow transplants can get Blasto and it is fatal. The fungus is indigenous to the Ohio Valley area.

Hounds can also contract the disease but survive it with treatment, and because the Iroquois maintain detailed health records on generations of dogs, the kennel is uniquely positioned to aid their efforts. 

My daughter Lily was thrilled to be asked to help with the special class for retired hounds, and Lilla wanted to assure me it’s a complete myth that hounds do not make good pets once they’ve finished hunting.  Lily and Glog, made a beautiful couple, and we can now add Glog to the list of things, “please please please can I have…”!

It’s love!: Lily and Glog!

The Iroquois Hunt encourages involvement from it’s members who were out in force at the puppy show, and I was impressed how many of them knew so many of the hounds’ names and characteristics, as well as breeding. Lilla told me,

“At our hunt we really try to encourage members, once they enjoy riding with us, to expand their knowledge and get an interest in hounds as well because it just enhances your enjoyment of the sport.”

Many of them join them out on exercise during the summer months, as Cecilia explained to me,

The Iroquois Hunt is also active in protecting the habitat, and has won awards for it’s conservation efforts. The Hunt was founded in 1880, and named after the first American horse to win the English Derby. It now has 52 and a half couple of hounds, and hunts three days a week during the season which runs from September to March.

However for Lilla the hunt season really begins at the end of March,

“That’s when we beginning training the new entries, so from the end of March until the first day of Hunt season we walk the hounds every day. We start the first two months on foot; that’s when the hounds learn commands, get individual attention, and we address their individual personalities. By the beginning of september, when hunting starts they need to not be individuals anymore but need to work as a pack and to be in symphony, so it’s sort like an orchestra – you tweak the horn players and the violin players, so that when hunt season opens it’s a symphony, they’re all on the same page, everybody’s together and when you go out it looks seamless. It’s just like anything else, if it looks easy it was really hard to get there”

Lilla talks from experience, because she’s also an accomplished eventer and more recently pure dressage rider, she says in her spare time, but as she combines her huntsman duties with a full-time office job in public relations, I’m not sure how she has any!

Although I’m beginning to feel right at home, there are some key differences between the hunting here in Kentucky and in back home in England.

“We hunt mostly coyotes, so the hounds don’t get as much learning time as hunts that just hunt foxes. For instance the hounds could find a coyote the first day of hunt season and they run very fast so puppies have to know to keep up, the first day of hunt season we could have a six mile point, it’s not like English hunting where you have cubbing. The coyotes are a different quarry to foxes; I enjoy hunting coyotes because they don’t go to ground, they’re very clever, and they’re really fun to chase. They do a lot of things foxes do but the points are longer because they stay above ground.”

Timing is also different here because the Iroquois hunt on Sunday afternoons, which my daughter and I did last year for her birthday present, and it struck me as quite civilised! 

 

“Well, here in America we couldn’t hunt during church time, many people go to church in the morning on sundays and you know how hounds are, we’d probably end up with hounds in fully cry by a church and offend a lot of people! It offers more for the members too though, especially for those with children; at 2 o clock it’s a bit warmer by then,  those aren’t usually are hardest days because it gets darker sooner, but it’s easier on families that way.”

Lilla has fond memories of hunting in England and Ireland,

“I was blessed to be able to hunt with some of the best hunts in England because when the coyotes came into our hunt country in the late ’80’s we had the wrong kind of hound to chase them, we had a low sitting, trailing fox-hound pack and it wasn’t working, the coyotes would get our hounds at bay and they weren’t doing the job.  Master Miller decided to go all over England, Ireland and France looking for just the right kind of hound that would suit our country. Fortunately I needed to go to organise his horses. We spent many, many hours in kennels with kennelmen and huntsmen, talking to them and watching the hounds. Some of my best memories are of sitting in the valeting rooms in the kennels with the cigarette smoke and the coffee smell and talking to those guys for hours because I learned so much that way. It’s just fabulous to have had that opportunity.”

I’d like to thank Lilla Mason, and all the members of the Iroquois Hunt Club for talking to me yesterday, and for being so kind, welcoming, and knowledgable about their hounds and heritage. Please click on the link to find out more about the Hound Welfare Programme, or check out the Iroquois Hunt. Thank you for reading, and go out in the countryside and go eventing! 

Sadly for the Sayre School Horse Show, an annual event at Masterson Station Park here in Lexington, Ky, it hasn’t stopped raining all day. Of course this wasn’t enough to deter most of the hardy eventers who like to use it as a schooling show, coming as it does two weeks before the Maydaze Horse Trials at the Park, but spectators were definitely a rare breed today, although we did see lots of umbrellas. And rain gear….

I’m afraid I can’t give you any scores or anything useful, BUT, I did learn all about the latest wet weather riding apparel available, and I was pretty gobsmacked. We’ve come a long way from the crackling, smelly, heavy head to toe Drizabone that I used to sport for about 9 months of the year in England – Thank God! 

This is my friend Kathleen, modeling her waterproof, lightweight, and very good-looking show jacket that she bought last year during the WEG. It’s made by an Italian company called Animo which explains why the cut is so stylish, and the material is very breathable and stretchy –  it feels like something you’d put on to go running in, if that was your wont!

Check out the nice flat pockets, and the zip beneath the buttons. As usual excuse the second rate photos,( where IS Nico Morgan when you really need him, oh yes, he’s at Windsor, hobnobbing with royalty, from his twitter feed: “@nicomorgan Feeling rather self-conscious: being asked questions by The Duke of Edinburgh and being papped. #royalwindsor ) but we took these with my phone in a rather soggy trailer! Of course Kathleen was completely dry! 

But wait, there’s more…..

No point in being dry on top and having wet legs – Kerrits have got you covered. 

Now that I look these up on the Kerrits website, I see that they’re actually called knickers, which means something completely different where I’m from, but anyway, you pull them on over your breeches, you honestly can’t tell they’re there,

 they’re completely waterproof, very lightweight, sticky on the inside so you’re not sliding around on the saddle, or sweating too much, and then when you’re finished….

Ta-da! You just unzip to reveal, well, whatever you like really! Genius! 

Thanks to Kathleen of course for being such a stunning and patient model. We may follow her more closely in future in a diary fashion if she’ll let us, because not only is she a very discerning shopper as you now know, but she is also the consummate horsewoman. Prior to earning a living not on horseback, Kathleen competed at Rolex several times, has finished the Tevis Cup 100 mile ride more than once, arguably the toughest endurance race there is, as well as turning her hand to jumping, and is a hard woman to hounds, having fox-hunted in Ireland and lived to tell some very amusing tales about it.  For now, she has a beautiful chestnut gelding that she competes at training/prelim level, and combines that with a very high-powered job in the financial field, a beautiful but high-maintenance German Shepherd, and a wonderful husband who has taken up foxhunting with her in the winter, I think so that he can spend some time with her!  Thank you for reading as always; stay dry and go riding!

A wonderful day out for the whole family, John Nicholson, Executive Director of the Horse Park admitted it’s his favourite day of the year.  Not only are there some legitimate races, (eg a $25,000 Maiden Hurdle) but so far the HIgh Hope Steeplechase has raised more than $1.5m for good causes, and this year will benefit Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, Secretariat Center, Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital, Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and other local equine charities. 

There are lots of ticket options, from general admission trackside parking at $25, preferred taligating $250, a spot in the members pavilion $75 (includes parking, admission, open bar & gourmet lunch), or a corporate entertainment tent for $2,000 – tent admits 40, says admits, not sleeps (!), includes sign and 8 parking passes. I think this is what EN signed up for!

As well as the hurdle races, I’m really looking forward to watching Hall of Fame, two time Kentucky Derby winner Chris McCarron’s North American Racing Academy jockeys ride in their own designated race, the “Catch a Riding Star”, and of course I’ll be cheering extra loudly for Nick Milford who we spoke to way back in February, and who I caught up with briefly this morning.

NARA graduates have gone on to win over 750 races and have purse earnings of over $10million. The NARA race is the final race after which of course there’ll be a rendition of My Old Kentucky Home, so I’ll have to keep my eyes open for Glennyglenn, my 2010 radio show co-host and Horse Radio Network head honcho to see if he’s tearing up in a corner somewhere, gets him every time! 

The High Hope is much like a day out at an English point-to-point. There’s drinking and picnics involved, lots of dogs, and of course you may see the odd horse race. There’s a parade of the Woodford Hounds, and lest I forget myself and imagine I am back home in Bicester country, ha ha, there will be a singing of  the national anthem, I’m pretty sure that will be the US version after the Presentation of the Colors (note spelling!)  before the first race. There’s plenty to keep the kids happy – Cambo the Clown, Arts and Crafts, Hobby Horse Races and Lurcher and Terrier Races (not strictly for kids). The fourth race will be the popular Timber race, the $15,000 Jay Trump Timber, presented by The Friends Of High Hope, and the course is designed by none other than “Wild” Bill Wofford. 

 

Bill brought one of his horses to school around some of the jumps today, and a very good looking horse it was too. Although it’s only been barely a fortnight since Rolex, and we’ve had plenty of rain in the meantime, I was really surprised at how firm the track is already. When the jockeys galloped past us it sounded pretty hard, and it already feels quite unforgiving to walk on compared to ten days ago.  The hunters and jumpers who are here for the spring shows are supposed to stay in the infield for hacking, and off the track, but they are mainly a law unto themselves, and one jumper inadvertently nearly got caught up in the race whilst walking his horse back to the barns unawares along the steeplechase track! I was very happy to meet Bill briefly while he was waiting for his horse to come back, and I now have an inkling of why they call him “wild” Bill! 

@

Thanks to Wild Bill, and to Nick Milford for talking to me, and thank you as always for reading. I can’t wait for all the fun next sunday; please do come out and enjoy the day if you’re even halfway local, it’s terrific fun, and supports lots of good causes. Go steeplechasing, eventing, and Animal Kingdom! 

A wonderful day out for the whole family, John Nicholson, Executive Director of the Horse Park admitted it’s his favourite day of the year.  Not only are there some legitimate races, (eg a $25,000 Maiden Hurdle) but so far the HIgh Hope Steeplechase has raised more than $1.5m for good causes, and this year will benefit Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, Secretariat Center, Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital, Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and other local equine charities. 

There are lots of ticket options, from general admission trackside parking at $25, preferred taligating $250, a spot in the members pavilion $75 (includes parking, admission, open bar & gourmet lunch), or a corporate entertainment tent for $2,000 – tent admits 40, says admits, not sleeps (!), includes sign and 8 parking passes. I think this is what EN signed up for!

As well as the hurdle races, I’m really looking forward to watching Hall of Fame, two time Kentucky Derby winner Chris McCarron’s North American Racing Academy jockeys ride in their own designated race, the “Catch a Riding Star”, and of course I’ll be cheering extra loudly for Nick Milford who we spoke to way back in February, and who I caught up with briefly this morning.

NARA graduates have gone on to win over 750 races and have purse earnings of over $10million. The NARA race is the final race after which of course there’ll be a rendition of My Old Kentucky Home, so I’ll have to keep my eyes open for Glennyglenn, my 2010 radio show co-host and Horse Radio Network head honcho to see if he’s tearing up in a corner somewhere, gets him every time! 

The High Hope is much like a day out at an English point-to-point. There’s drinking and picnics involved, lots of dogs, and of course you may see the odd horse race. There’s a parade of the Woodford Hounds, and lest I forget myself and imagine I am back home in Bicester country, ha ha, there will be a singing of  the national anthem, I’m pretty sure that will be the US version after the Presentation of the Colors (note spelling!)  before the first race. There’s plenty to keep the kids happy – Cambo the Clown, Arts and Crafts, Hobby Horse Races and Lurcher and Terrier Races (not strictly for kids). The fourth race will be the popular Timber race, the $15,000 Jay Trump Timber, presented by The Friends Of High Hope, and the course is designed by none other than “Wild” Bill Wofford. 

 

Bill brought one of his horses to school around some of the jumps today, and a very good looking horse it was too. Although it’s only been barely a fortnight since Rolex, and we’ve had plenty of rain in the meantime, I was really surprised at how firm the track is already. When the jockeys galloped past us it sounded pretty hard, and it already feels quite unforgiving to walk on compared to ten days ago.  The hunters and jumpers who are here for the spring shows are supposed to stay in the infield for hacking, and off the track, but they are mainly a law unto themselves, and one jumper inadvertently nearly got caught up in the race whilst walking his horse back to the barns unawares along the steeplechase track! I was very happy to meet Bill briefly while he was waiting for his horse to come back, and I now have an inkling of why they call him “wild” Bill! 

@

Thanks to Wild Bill, and to Nick Milford for talking to me, and thank you as always for reading. I can’t wait for all the fun next sunday; please do come out and enjoy the day if you’re even halfway local, it’s terrific fun, and supports lots of good causes. Go steeplechasing, eventing, and Animal Kingdom! 

In March a new rule came into effect in the US that anyone at all USEA recognised events must wear an approved helmet with a safety harness at all times when mounted.  Dressage soon followed suit, and British Dressage is currently debating the issue.

At the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event this year, the USEF started the first phase of a new scheme to improve rider safety; in partnership with the Sports Concussion Center at the University of Vanderbilt the riders were offered free baseline “imPACT” testing, in an effort to start to bring eventing in line with all professional sports that have implemented formal concussion programs to bring standardized managament to brain injuries. 

The goal of the testing is to create a baseline “snapshot” of each athlete, akin to a thumbprint, and consists of a brief questionnaire on their concussion and neurological history, a baseline computerized cognitive test (ImPACT), and a brief balance assessment.  The tests took about half an hour. All this in an effort to provide the best possible care in the event of a fall involving head trauma, and to allow each individual rider to return to competition as safely and quickly as possible. 

Dr. Allen Sills was available all day on the thursday of Rolex to carry out the tests, and gave his own cell phone number to all the riders that participated, fifteen in total. He told me they probably would have tested more riders if he’d had more time, but the USEF is now planning to extend the service at some other events.

“I was very pleased with the level of enthusiasm among the riders, they were extremely pleasant and co-operative; I think all of them were familiar with the testing and were eager to partner with us in helping them with these injuries. I would say that I was somewhat surprised at the number of concussions that most of the riders had suffered. I take care of a lot of professional athletes in a lot of different sports, but as someone fairly new to the discipline of eventing I was fairly surprised at how many concussions a lot of these riders had suffered through their careers and that just re-inforced in my mind the importance of this program and this partnership.”

 Participation in the program is completely voluntary, and not binding for participation in competitions. Rather, it’s an effort to make sure that elite equestrian athletes have access to the same level and type of care that is available to other professional athletes who suffer concussions and related injuries. For example, the ImPACT testing program is currently used by all of the NFL, NHL, and MLB teams, as well as many NBA teams and almost all Division 1 varsity college athletic programs.  Dr Sills was full of praise for everything the USEF is doing in it’s attempts to increase rider safety. 

“We wanted to start out by doing the testing for the elite level athletes who are most likely going to be associated with the US teams, and we’re trying to help the USEF make sure that those athletes have access to concussion care that is equivalent to that which would be received by professional athletes in other sports. Another big part of the efforts of the USEF is getting the word out about safety precaution, concussion diagnosis, and management throughout the eventing world. It’s very similar to bicycling in some ways; helmet use was not mandatory in the Tour de France bike race until just a few years ago after there were some very severe crashes, but as more and more of the professional cyclists began to use helmets, and it began to be mandated by their national governing bodies, then you saw an even greater increase of helmet use among recreational bike riders. That’s where the USEF should be commended because what they’re trying to do is take the professional elite riders, and have them demonstrate leadership in this area.”

Allison Springer, who competed two horses at Rolex this year, and who rather famously now, rode into 2nd place last year after dressage on Arthur, wearing a helmet as one of only 3 riders I believe to do so, and again into 3rd place after dressage this year, was one of the riders who participated. She told me she signed up for the test the day before, and thinks it’s a great idea, as the return to play call is such a hard and personal one to make. This way, the results of her test will be in a database, and should she have a fall and be concussed, or have any kind of head injury, she can have an assessment based on a ‘before and after’ picture. Allison said the testing consisted of a health questionnaire, a balance test, some memory quizzes, speed and summary questions, and some computer tests; she said it would have been impossible to manipulate the outcome, and that she’d had an idea of what to expect having attended the Safety Symposium in January. 

Phase 2 and 3 of the scheme will be to offer the testing to any rider who chooses to have it, for a fee of $75, and the USEF hopes to extend the testing to the other FEI disciplines also.  However you can do portions of the test online, although Dr. Sills warns me, 

“There are a number of providers around the country that offer this testing, and I think it’s terrific for athletes who are involved in sports like eventing to try and get a baseline test through one of these providers because that can only help them if they do suffer an injury. However, it’s not something where an individual rider can do the test online on their own, get feedback and plan their care without the input of a concussion professional.”

The riders tested were provided with an information card containing contact information for the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center elite athlete hotline. Riders may contact one of the experts directly at any time in the future should they suffer a neurologic injury. The VSCC expert will then assist the athlete in management of their concussion with special emphasis on return to competition decisions. It is hoped that this will replace the arbitrary rules that currently exist for return to competition after concussion, where a set number of days or weeks can be meaningless to any individual. 

Dr. Sills stressed why the baseline test will be so enormously helpful,

“Each individual has a performance on certain neuro-psychological tests of visual, verbal and spatial memory and all these different components of memory. Each individual’s performance is their baseline, so what we’re trying to do is establish that baseline in terms of their performance on the testing and also their baseline balance and vestibular function.  The idea then is if they were to suffer an injury, then we could go back and compare brain performance, and that will allow us to help understand when they have fully recovered.

So what we were doing was getting baseline testing of the cognitive measures, as well as balance and co-ordination assessments and baseline history data about neurological conditions and previous concussions because all of those factors have to be taken into consideration to help us understand future injuries, and consequent recovery. 

In almost all concussion injuries, MRI and CT scans are normal, because they are scans of structure and not function. Concussions are usually not injuries that cause structural change in the brain, at least at the level we can see on a scan. Concussions are injuries that cause change in brain function, so in the overwhelming majority of cases a CT scan or MRI will be normal, but that person may still have a very severe brain injury. That’s why we need other ways to assess brain function.”   

I’d like to thank Sara Ike, the Managing Director of Eventing at USEF for all her help with this article, and also Dr. Allen Sills for his time and patience in explaining the basics to me, and Allison Springer for describing the test and talking about it openly.  I especially want to mention Lyndsey White who runs Riders4Helmets in her spare time, and at personal expense, out of the kindness of her heart, and who was instrumental in getting the ball rolling. I do wear a helmet now, thanks to her campaign, as do many others, so thank you, Lyndsey, and thank you for reading. Strap one on, and go eventing!

In March a new rule came into effect in the US that anyone at all USEA recognised events must wear an approved helmet with a safety harness at all times when mounted.  Dressage soon followed suit, and British Dressage is currently debating the issue.

At the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event this year, the USEF started the first phase of a new scheme to improve rider safety; in partnership with the Sports Concussion Center at the University of Vanderbilt the riders were offered free baseline “imPACT” testing, in an effort to start to bring eventing in line with all professional sports that have implemented formal concussion programs to bring standardized managament to brain injuries. 

The goal of the testing is to create a baseline “snapshot” of each athlete, akin to a thumbprint, and consists of a brief questionnaire on their concussion and neurological history, a baseline computerized cognitive test (ImPACT), and a brief balance assessment.  The tests took about half an hour. All this in an effort to provide the best possible care in the event of a fall involving head trauma, and to allow each individual rider to return to competition as safely and quickly as possible. 

Dr. Allen Sills was available all day on the thursday of Rolex to carry out the tests, and gave his own cell phone number to all the riders that participated, fifteen in total. He told me they probably would have tested more riders if he’d had more time, but the USEF is now planning to extend the service at some other events.

“I was very pleased with the level of enthusiasm among the riders, they were extremely pleasant and co-operative; I think all of them were familiar with the testing and were eager to partner with us in helping them with these injuries. I would say that I was somewhat surprised at the number of concussions that most of the riders had suffered. I take care of a lot of professional athletes in a lot of different sports, but as someone fairly new to the discipline of eventing I was fairly surprised at how many concussions a lot of these riders had suffered through their careers and that just re-inforced in my mind the importance of this program and this partnership.”

 Participation in the program is completely voluntary, and not binding for participation in competitions. Rather, it’s an effort to make sure that elite equestrian athletes have access to the same level and type of care that is available to other professional athletes who suffer concussions and related injuries. For example, the ImPACT testing program is currently used by all of the NFL, NHL, and MLB teams, as well as many NBA teams and almost all Division 1 varsity college athletic programs.  Dr Sills was full of praise for everything the USEF is doing in it’s attempts to increase rider safety. 

“We wanted to start out by doing the testing for the elite level athletes who are most likely going to be associated with the US teams, and we’re trying to help the USEF make sure that those athletes have access to concussion care that is equivalent to that which would be received by professional athletes in other sports. Another big part of the efforts of the USEF is getting the word out about safety precaution, concussion diagnosis, and management throughout the eventing world. It’s very similar to bicycling in some ways; helmet use was not mandatory in the Tour de France bike race until just a few years ago after there were some very severe crashes, but as more and more of the professional cyclists began to use helmets, and it began to be mandated by their national governing bodies, then you saw an even greater increase of helmet use among recreational bike riders. That’s where the USEF should be commended because what they’re trying to do is take the professional elite riders, and have them demonstrate leadership in this area.”

Allison Springer, who competed two horses at Rolex this year, and who rather famously now, rode into 2nd place last year after dressage on Arthur, wearing a helmet as one of only 3 riders I believe to do so, and again into 3rd place after dressage this year, was one of the riders who participated. She told me she signed up for the test the day before, and thinks it’s a great idea, as the return to play call is such a hard and personal one to make. This way, the results of her test will be in a database, and should she have a fall and be concussed, or have any kind of head injury, she can have an assessment based on a ‘before and after’ picture. Allison said the testing consisted of a health questionnaire, a balance test, some memory quizzes, speed and summary questions, and some computer tests; she said it would have been impossible to manipulate the outcome, and that she’d had an idea of what to expect having attended the Safety Symposium in January. 

Phase 2 and 3 of the scheme will be to offer the testing to any rider who chooses to have it, for a fee of $75, and the USEF hopes to extend the testing to the other FEI disciplines also.  However you can do portions of the test online, although Dr. Sills warns me, 

“There are a number of providers around the country that offer this testing, and I think it’s terrific for athletes who are involved in sports like eventing to try and get a baseline test through one of these providers because that can only help them if they do suffer an injury. However, it’s not something where an individual rider can do the test online on their own, get feedback and plan their care without the input of a concussion professional.”

The riders tested were provided with an information card containing contact information for the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center elite athlete hotline. Riders may contact one of the experts directly at any time in the future should they suffer a neurologic injury. The VSCC expert will then assist the athlete in management of their concussion with special emphasis on return to competition decisions. It is hoped that this will replace the arbitrary rules that currently exist for return to competition after concussion, where a set number of days or weeks can be meaningless to any individual. 

Dr. Sills stressed why the baseline test will be so enormously helpful,

“Each individual has a performance on certain neuro-psychological tests of visual, verbal and spatial memory and all these different components of memory. Each individual’s performance is their baseline, so what we’re trying to do is establish that baseline in terms of their performance on the testing and also their baseline balance and vestibular function.  The idea then is if they were to suffer an injury, then we could go back and compare brain performance, and that will allow us to help understand when they have fully recovered.

So what we were doing was getting baseline testing of the cognitive measures, as well as balance and co-ordination assessments and baseline history data about neurological conditions and previous concussions because all of those factors have to be taken into consideration to help us understand future injuries, and consequent recovery. 

In almost all concussion injuries, MRI and CT scans are normal, because they are scans of structure and not function. Concussions are usually not injuries that cause structural change in the brain, at least at the level we can see on a scan. Concussions are injuries that cause change in brain function, so in the overwhelming majority of cases a CT scan or MRI will be normal, but that person may still have a very severe brain injury. That’s why we need other ways to assess brain function.”   

I’d like to thank Sara Ike, the Managing Director of Eventing at USEF for all her help with this article, and also Dr. Allen Sills for his time and patience in explaining the basics to me, and Allison Springer for describing the test and talking about it openly.  I especially want to mention Lyndsey White who runs Riders4Helmets in her spare time, and at personal expense, out of the kindness of her heart, and who was instrumental in getting the ball rolling. I do wear a helmet now, thanks to her campaign, as do many others, so thank you, Lyndsey, and thank you for reading. Strap one on, and go eventing!

Leslie initially got the ride on Apollo purely by chance,

“It was a very unusual circumstance; I was working for Revel Guest at Cabalva and she had sent a mare to one of the stallions, I forget which one, but one of the Welton stallions, I think it was probably Apollo. Revel happened to be talking to Sam Barr one afternoon about how the mare was doing, and Sam mentioned that Apollo was entered for the Advanced at Weston Park, but (regular rider, Sam’s wife) Linda had got flu, and wondered if she knew anyone who might be able to ride him, so she put my name forward. And that was it! I went down to Sam’s and rode him on the thursday, had a sit on him and then rode him in the advanced at the weekend at Weston Park.”

I asked Leslie what his first impressions of the stallion were, 

“I have to say that Linda had done a great job producing him. He wasn’t a strong horse at all, he was a horse you had to chivvy along a little bit, but that probably suited me anyway, I’ve ridden plenty of those over the years (Leslie chuckles!).  He wasn’t a very big horse, he was probably 16hh, but he probably galloped a bigger horse than that to be fair to him.  He was always a horse that was very good as far as time goes, because he didn’t pull. He was very easy to set up, and he was a very easy horse to just keep coming to the fences on, and he was a very good jumper in front. At the end of the day he was still a stallion though, they do need coaxing a little bit, just because of what they are. He was a tremendous jumper, he was very careful, and I think he appreciated a really good ride.”

I hadn’t realised that Apollo had been combining his stallion duties with his competing, 

“For sure, yes! His temperament was second to none. There were times when Sam would breed him in the morning, and he’d be on the horsebox with a mare going to a competition a couple of hours later! At competitions, if you didn’t already know he was a stallion you wouldn’t have been aware of it, his temperament and behaviour from that point of view was exceptional.”

From that first advanced Leslie went on to ride Welton Apollo at three consecutive Badmintons, a record for a stallion which I think still stands.

“1988 was the first year, and we just had a 20 (penalties for a refusal) there going into the Lake; it was my first Badminton and the horse’s first Badminton and I probably could have ridden a bit stronger, that Lake tends to back them off a bit than you take into consideration, with the crowds there and everything. Then in 1989 he was clear and finished 8th. I think he may also have been the first stallion to complete Badminton, and of course to then go on and do it three years in a row is quite something, because stallions are a little different to ride, quite honestly, they do have their quirks.”

Maybe because I had just started eventing, but I remarked to Leslie that it seemed to me that the Welton horses were the first time we really recognised a prefix in England with that sort of trademark, and that Sam seemed to be the first person to really take the breeding of event horses seriously. 

“As far as breeding goes, Sam was way ahead of his time. Certainly the only other people in the UK at the time who were even close to him was Diana Scott who was breeding the Ben Faerie horses (of Priceless/Ginny Holgate fame). Sam started off with Welton Gameful which one of his daughters rode, and then from Gameful he bred the three stallions,  Welton Louis, Crackerjack and Apollo, and he was very clever in the way that he did that because all three of those stallions were just a little bit different. So, by having those three stallions he could cater to any kind of event mare that you had, because she was going to suit one of those stallions.  If you had a fine, thoroughbred mare, she was a great cross with Crackerjack, who was more of a three-quarter thoroughbred, quarter draught type; if you had that half/three-quarter bred mare then Apollo was a great cross because I think he was all but thoroughbred. On top of that, you’ve still got Louis who falls somewhere between Crackerjack and Apollo.” 

“He also realised that it’s not enough just to have a good breeding programme; you have to get those horses to the right riders. To make a name for your horses they also have to be produced, and that’s primarily what we did. Sam realised that they had to be produced properly and from there they had to go to the right riders.  I started a lot of the young ones, along with Linda. For example, I rode Welton Greylag in a few events right before Mark Todd bought him and eventually went on to win Burghley. I probably did a season on Welton Romance who ended up with Lucy Thompson and won the European Championships. Houdini went to Ginny (Leng). I actually had a half ownership in Welton Envoy for about 18 months, and produced him, and then he got sold, and Blyth ended up winning Rolex on him.”

“That’s where a lot of it goes wrong because people think they’ll breed horses, but that’s only the first part, it’s just a cog in the wheel, and Sam realised that.”

I had to ask Leslie if he has pangs now when he sees a Welton horse competing, and he laughs, 

“I think there’ll always be memories. The Welton name still crops up. I think a lot of the places in England that are breeding event horses now, have taken a lot of their knowledge from what Sam did, but it will take a lot of repeating at that level to have the same success that he did.” 

I wonder if Leslie will ride stallions again, or would ever try his hand at breeding himself? 

“I’ve ridden stallions since. When I was in England I was involved with Hartpury College and they’ve got a breeding operation there, and they asked me to find a stallion and ride it for them which I did. That was a horse called Take it to the Limit, which we gave to Jeanette Breakwell to ride when I came to the US, and that’s now competing at the 3*/advanced level. I picked him out as a four year old, and that’s been nice for me to see him progress, because it’s not easy to get a stallion up to that level, they are doing two jobs and not just concentrating on the one job, and he’s a lovely, scopey, good-moving horse.  I would imagine he’ll end up going four star as well. I’ve always been interested in that side of it. Unfortunately I haven’t got the facilities or the scope to start up any kind of breeding programme, but it’s not that I wouldn’t like to at all.” 

Leslie has the lovely grey Rehy Lux to focus on for now; like the rest of his horses, he enjoyed a short holiday after the Ocala Horse Park Three Day, and is now being aimed at Bromont in June. I’d like to thank Leslie for taking a trip down memory lane with me, and thank you for reading. Go Welton Horses, and go eventing!

Thanks for talking to us, Emma, and thanks for the wonderful suggestion. Keep them coming, thanks for reading and go eventing!

Typically modest, Alex insists that the book is about Barbaro, and is reluctant to talk about himself, but he’s too interesting a character, and I’m far too nosy to let it go! From England originally, with the slight build of a jockey, but too tall to race, he did point to point, but has since contented himself with galloping flat horses here in the States. A contact initially led him to Michael Dickinson’s barn where he worked for a little while, but has lived permanently five minutes from Fairhill. Until 2007 he combined riding horses and working at universities, lecturing on social media with some consulting on the side, but the experience with Barbaro led to a life change,

Alex galloping racehorses

“When this project began to develop, I basically decided to give everything else up, and only focus on this. After the whole Barbaro saga, I’d become more involved in horse welfare along with horse racing through all the websites, so I just decided to travel around by racetrack to learn a lot more than I could do by just staying in one spot, and I did that for two and a half years. A lot of what I learnt probably wasn’t that unusual, but when you see stuff firsthand, it’s just better than reading about it.” 

There was a year in which Alex returned to Fairhill to write the book, and now he’s back on the road selling it. The day I saw him, he’d done a morning interview on the local TV station, had spent the afternoon at Three Chimneys signing copies, (and giving a healthy portion of the proceeds to a charity of the Farm’s choice) and after our conversation he was headed to Louisville for the Oaks and Derby, but would be in Delaware come sunday. 

Alex’s twin interests in racing and social media were responsible for him running his friends’ website, timwoolleyracing.com, which became the source for all information about Barbaro from the Preakness onwards, and thus would eventually change his life,

“I was running a website for a trainer friend of mine, another English guy, and it was a blog, so he was updating it at my persistence! When Barbaro came back for the Preakness we decided to update the site on Barbaro’s progress leading up to the race, and then afterwards…”, 

Alex doesn’t ever talk to me directly about the injury that ended Barbaro’s career, although of course it’s written about in detail, and with sensitivity in the book, 

“…after the race, we had access to all the information, we just decided to keep it going. It was all very informal, but understood. Dean Richardson (Barbaro’s vet) would call Michael Matz ( Barbaro’s trainer) in the morning, and Michael would just tell me on the horse path. 

There was never a formal agreement or anything like that, we just had a system going and it worked.  I think Barbaro captured the public’s imagination to such a degree due to a combination of a number of facts, which obviously I go into in more detail in my book, but I do think social media had a big role to play. Social media had not been around for previous heroic horses, so I think that definitely amplified it and allowed people to band together.” 

I asked Alex how he got involved in social media in the first place,

“I was a useless student, I had no ambition for anything; I got into graduate school (on scholarship, again with the modesty!)  and was amazed by this fellow Indian student – he’d just go to the computer and look up cricket scores. This was 1990, way before the web browser or anything, and I thought because it was all new, I could learn it and be smart at it. So I just got really into it. I ended up in 1997 being one of only two people teaching internet marketing anywhere in the world.  So now basically I combine my two of my main interests – social media and racing.”

Alex took the brave step to self-publish his book which means that he can choose how to allocate the proceeds, and most of the time he lets the host pick the charity of their choice. However the book is also available at the Keeneland Gift shop, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, the Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop, and if you’re not local, you can buy it at Amazon.com, 

“The nice thing about it, is all the retail sales of the book go to me; obviously there’s costs in there, but to be honest I’m not making any money, but I’m having a lot of fun right now, and wherever I do a book signing, if it’s not a retail transaction, I just ask the venue who they’d like to support. I do some signings for the New Bolton Center and that obviously goes to Laminitis Research, and I recently did a signing at Old Friends where all the money raised that day went to them, and I would say to date, we’ve probably raised maybe $3,000 through book signings and sold about 1,200 copies “

Alex interviewed more than a hundred people for the book, and has garnered glowing reviews from the equine and thoroughbred industry, as well as non-horsey press and public,

“I really believe in the book, and I’ve very excited about it. There’s absolutely nothing more accurate on this horse than this. There’s nothing in here that’s not true. 

Some people are visual learners. I’m big into designer usability from the web, so I applied that kind of thinking to the book design.

I don’t duck any of the issues that are a part of Barbaro’s legacy either, trying to end the practice of horse slaughter is definitely a part of his legacy. I go into this in the book, and whether you endorse slaughter or not on an emotional level, the fact of the matter is that horses that have ever had bute ever in their life cannot be slaughtered, and 99% of our racehorses are pre-raced on bute.  What do we do with all these horses is a problem,  but we need to face up to that and try to figure it out. By allowing it to continue and avoiding the problem is not correct. I don’t know the answer, it’s going to take a lot of work, but it needs to be addressed. I think people are starting to come to terms with it a little bit more now. 

Part of Barbaro’s legacy is looking at appropriate retirement of horses, and Mrs. Jackson made it clear that she was interested in ending horse slaughter.

 We need to be re-habbing horses, like they do at the Secretariat Center; horses want to be useful. Then that goes back to the racing industry, we’ve got to be much more conservative with our use of drugs because by the time they’re done racing on all the medication they’ve been given it really creates a disadvantage for their next career.

However, the book is much more about Barbaro and his impact, than it is about the issues.”

It’s clear that Alex loves Barbaro and talks about him reverently; he doesn’t think we’ve seen anything nearly as good as him since,

“That Derby win of Barbaro’s was incredible, and he was undefeated going into the race. He only ever really had one close race, and even though the Florida Derby was close I don’t know that it really got to the bottom of him. He was a different kind of horse. Ironically, I think Bernadini was probably the second best three-year old of the first ten years of the 2000’s, but I do believe that Barbaro would have beaten him. When Bernadini was eyeballed for the first time in the Breeders Cup Classic, he couldn’t handle it. Barbaro had that mental maturity that if they did run head to head he would have put him away. 

Hopefully one day we’ll see something as good as him again. You could argue that maybe Zenyatta or Rachel might be up there, but I still think Barbaro was a bit better than either of them.”

I wondered if now perhaps Alex had been bitten by the writing bug, or if he was planning on publishing his memoirs?

“No, I don’t think I’ll never write another book, I know I won’t. This is my first book and my last book.”

 

Finally, I asked Alex if there was anything that has surprised him while writing the book,

“I learnt a few things from the book: I do believe that we are now in a position, with the right amount of funding and support, to solve the puzzle of laminitis, and what causes it, which we’ve never understood to date. That’s probably the most positive thing. I think while I had a very strong opinion of Barbaro, it was very good to hear the opinions of our racing journalists; they thought Barbaro’s Derby win was sensational, so that was just good affirmation.  The other thing, which might sound silly, it’s pretty obvious, but that memorial at Churchill Downs, (the bronze by Alexa King), it’s going to secure his name in history for life. In a hundred years time, assuming we still have a Derby and it’s at Churchill Downs, he will be the horse of our generation they remember. For instance,  you can’t really compare him to Man O War (because I did, mentioning his statue at the Horse Park!) because Man O War had a more robust race record because he ran more times, but also Man O War’s legacy is supported by his progeny and Barbaro never had that opportunity either, but this sculpture really does become his tangible legacy.  I got a bit geeky when I was researching how memorials support our history, and I really got into it. “

A clay model of the larger than life bronze sculpture at Churchill Downs

I’d like to thank Alex for taking time out of his incredibly busy schedule, and for all the work he does to support horse welfare. Thank you for reading, and please buy the book, it’s not only beautiful to flick through, professionally designed, superbly illustrated and packed with interesting tidbits (eg. how Barbaro got his name, and a picture & explanation) and never seen before photos that make it easy to dip into, as well as a provocative read, and an engrossing story about an amazing horse. In fact, buy a copy for yourself, and one for your mum, or your best friend, then go racing, and go Eventing! For the record, Alex said he had “no idea” who was going to win the KY Derby this year!

Typically modest, Alex insists that the book is about Barbaro, and is reluctant to talk about himself, but he’s too interesting a character, and I’m far too nosy to let it go! From England originally, with the slight build of a jockey, but too tall to race, he did point to point, but has since contented himself with galloping flat horses here in the States. A contact initially led him to Michael Dickinson’s barn where he worked for a little while, but has lived permanently five minutes from Fairhill. Until 2007 he combined riding horses and working at universities, lecturing on social media with some consulting on the side, but the experience with Barbaro led to a life change,

Alex galloping racehorses

“When this project began to develop, I basically decided to give everything else up, and only focus on this. After the whole Barbaro saga, I’d become more involved in horse welfare along with horse racing through all the websites, so I just decided to travel around by racetrack to learn a lot more than I could do by just staying in one spot, and I did that for two and a half years. A lot of what I learnt probably wasn’t that unusual, but when you see stuff firsthand, it’s just better than reading about it.” 

There was a year in which Alex returned to Fairhill to write the book, and now he’s back on the road selling it. The day I saw him, he’d done a morning interview on the local TV station, had spent the afternoon at Three Chimneys signing copies, (and giving a healthy portion of the proceeds to a charity of the Farm’s choice) and after our conversation he was headed to Louisville for the Oaks and Derby, but would be in Delaware come sunday. 

Alex’s twin interests in racing and social media were responsible for him running his friends’ website, timwoolleyracing.com, which became the source for all information about Barbaro from the Preakness onwards, and thus would eventually change his life,

“I was running a website for a trainer friend of mine, another English guy, and it was a blog, so he was updating it at my persistence! When Barbaro came back for the Preakness we decided to update the site on Barbaro’s progress leading up to the race, and then afterwards…”, 

Alex doesn’t ever talk to me directly about the injury that ended Barbaro’s career, although of course it’s written about in detail, and with sensitivity in the book, 

“…after the race, we had access to all the information, we just decided to keep it going. It was all very informal, but understood. Dean Richardson (Barbaro’s vet) would call Michael Matz ( Barbaro’s trainer) in the morning, and Michael would just tell me on the horse path. 

There was never a formal agreement or anything like that, we just had a system going and it worked.  I think Barbaro captured the public’s imagination to such a degree due to a combination of a number of facts, which obviously I go into in more detail in my book, but I do think social media had a big role to play. Social media had not been around for previous heroic horses, so I think that definitely amplified it and allowed people to band together.” 

I asked Alex how he got involved in social media in the first place,

“I was a useless student, I had no ambition for anything; I got into graduate school (on scholarship, again with the modesty!)  and was amazed by this fellow Indian student – he’d just go to the computer and look up cricket scores. This was 1990, way before the web browser or anything, and I thought because it was all new, I could learn it and be smart at it. So I just got really into it. I ended up in 1997 being one of only two people teaching internet marketing anywhere in the world.  So now basically I combine my two of my main interests – social media and racing.”

Alex took the brave step to self-publish his book which means that he can choose how to allocate the proceeds, and most of the time he lets the host pick the charity of their choice. However the book is also available at the Keeneland Gift shop, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, the Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop, and if you’re not local, you can buy it at Amazon.com, 

“The nice thing about it, is all the retail sales of the book go to me; obviously there’s costs in there, but to be honest I’m not making any money, but I’m having a lot of fun right now, and wherever I do a book signing, if it’s not a retail transaction, I just ask the venue who they’d like to support. I do some signings for the New Bolton Center and that obviously goes to Laminitis Research, and I recently did a signing at Old Friends where all the money raised that day went to them, and I would say to date, we’ve probably raised maybe $3,000 through book signings and sold about 1,200 copies “

Alex interviewed more than a hundred people for the book, and has garnered glowing reviews from the equine and thoroughbred industry, as well as non-horsey press and public,

“I really believe in the book, and I’ve very excited about it. There’s absolutely nothing more accurate on this horse than this. There’s nothing in here that’s not true. 

Some people are visual learners. I’m big into designer usability from the web, so I applied that kind of thinking to the book design.

I don’t duck any of the issues that are a part of Barbaro’s legacy either, trying to end the practice of horse slaughter is definitely a part of his legacy. I go into this in the book, and whether you endorse slaughter or not on an emotional level, the fact of the matter is that horses that have ever had bute ever in their life cannot be slaughtered, and 99% of our racehorses are pre-raced on bute.  What do we do with all these horses is a problem,  but we need to face up to that and try to figure it out. By allowing it to continue and avoiding the problem is not correct. I don’t know the answer, it’s going to take a lot of work, but it needs to be addressed. I think people are starting to come to terms with it a little bit more now. 

Part of Barbaro’s legacy is looking at appropriate retirement of horses, and Mrs Jackson made it clear that she was interested in ending horse slaughter.

 We need to be re-habbing horses, like they do at the Secretariat Center; horses want to be useful. Then that goes back to the racing industry, we’ve got to be much more conservative with our use of drugs because by the time they’re done racing on all the medication they’ve been given it really creates a disadvantage for their next career.

However, the book is much more about Barbaro and his impact, than it is about the issues.”

It’s clear that Alex loves Barbaro and talks about him reverently; he doesn’t think we’ve seen anything nearly as good as him since,

“That Derby win of Barbaro’s was incredible, and he was undefeated going into the race. He only ever really had one close race, and even though the Florida Derby was close I don’t know that it really got to the bottom of him. He was a different kind of horse. Ironically, I think Bernadini was probably the second best three-year old of the first ten years of the 2000’s, but I do believe that Barbaro would have beaten him. When Bernadini was eyeballed for the first time in the Breeders Cup Classic, he couldn’t handle it. Barbaro had that mental maturity that if they did run head to head he would have put him away. 

Hopefully one day we’ll see something as good as him again. You could argue that maybe Zenyatta or Rachel might be up there, but I still think Barbaro was a bit better than either of them.”

I wondered if now perhaps Alex had been bitten by the writing bug, or if he was planning on publishing his memoirs?

“No, I don’t think I’ll never write another book, I know I won’t. This is my first book and my last book.”

 

Finally, I asked Alex if there was anything that has surprised him while writing the book,

“I learnt a few things from the book: I do believe that we are now in a position, with the right amount of funding and support, to solve the puzzle of laminitis, and what causes it, which we’ve never understood to date. That’s probably the most positive thing. I think while I had a very strong opinion of Barbaro, it was very good to hear the opinions of our racing journalists; they thought Barbaro’s Derby win was sensational, so that was just good affirmation.  The other thing, which might sound silly, it’s pretty obvious, but that memorial at Churchill Downs, (the bronze by Alexa King), it’s going to secure his name in history for life. In a hundred years time, assuming we still have a Derby and it’s at Churchill Downs, he will be the horse of our generation they remember. For instance,  you can’t really compare him to Man O War (because I did, mentioning his statue at the Horse Park!) because Man O War had a more robust race record because he ran more times, but also Man O War’s legacy is supported by his progeny and Barbaro never had that opportunity either, but this sculpture really does become his tangible legacy.  I got a bit geeky when I was researching how memorials support our history, and I really got into it. “

A clay model of the larger than life bronze sculpture at Churchill Downs

I’d like to thank Alex for taking time out of his incredibly busy schedule, and for all the work he does to support horse welfare. Thank you for reading, and please buy the book, it’s not only beautiful to flick through, professionally designed, superbly illustrated and packed with interesting tidbits (eg. how Barbaro got his name, and a picture & explanation) and never seen before photos that make it easy to dip into, as well as a provocative read, and an engrossing story about an amazing horse. In fact, buy a copy for yourself, and one for your mum, or your best friend, then go racing, and go Eventing! For the record, Alex said he had “no idea” who was going to win the KY Derby this year! 

The quiz question answer was Sandhills Tiger who had heart bar shoes, just like Gold medal winning WEG super star Moorelands Totilas, and look what was waiting in my email inbox, when I got home from dinner, and rather too many glasses of wine, gulp, gulp, sob, sob, 

Goodbye USA

Dear Eventing Nation,

I’m writing this at 32,000 feet, somewhere above that large expanse of the USA that lies between Lexington and the West Coast. Wherever we are I know that we’re not circling around Kentucky because the sun is shining, the skies are clear and there’s no imminent danger of being swept up by a tornado and dropped in Ohio. I’m almost sad to say it but for the first time in nearly three weeks the weather is not that interesting.

I’ve been in the USA for 21 days. I arrived on a cargo flight in a business class seat with four bags of gear, two saddles, a suitcase and a horse. I’m headed back to Australia with just the suitcase in a cramped economy seat, and instead of a horse I’m sitting next to a guy who’s stolen my armrest and is eating his tuna-salad foot-long with such intensity that he may well be single-handedly responsible for the over-fishing in the world’s oceans. I can only imagine how Mary King is travelling but I strongly doubt whether she is fighting a territorial battle with a fish as she returns to Mother England.

It didn’t seem right to leave the USA without saying a proper goodbye. The three weeks I’ve had in Kentucky have been some of the best of my life. Flying Tiger over to compete at Rolex was a complex, expensive and some might say crazy undertaking. While this whole trip has had its ups and downs, I’ll remember it as a huge and exhilarating adventure. I’ve ridden at one of the biggest and best events in the world, and I’m proud of my horse, my coach-partner-groom Annabel (Bols), and my family. And even though it might not be reflected on the scoreboard, I’m even a little bit proud of the way I rode. The lessons that you learn in a week at an event like Rolex can take years to learn in your own backyard. Unlike Mary I’m not taking home a Rolex watch, an enormous trophy or enough cash to buy a small farm, but I am exporting a wealth of experience and in the end that’s far easier to get through airport security.

I can’t say enough how appreciative we’ve been for the hospitality, support and friendship shown to us by the riders, organisers, equestrian media and the general eventing public while we were in Kentucky. Not once did we feel out of place, unwelcome or foreign. Christina Gray, chief organizer of the Rolex event is a champion who went well out of her way to make us feel at home at a time when she had far bigger fish to fry. The same can be said about Samantha Clark of EN fame who supplied enough groceries when I arrived for me to establish a chain of restaurants catering to even the biggest of American appetites. She’s so cool she didn’t even complain when I returned the bike she lent to me with a cross-country day injury so severe it’s going to need 3 months of intensive rehabilitation before she can even consider putting it back into work.

Before I came over here the best event riders I knew all spoke with the same accent as me. This all changed quickly. I met Mary King at the Sponsors Reception held on the Wednesday of the Rolex event, thrusting out my hand to introduce myself after fate brought us together at the bar. I’m guessing that even after coming first and second in this massive four-star event, this meeting will remain a highlight in her week as it has in mine. 

I met William Fox-Pitt – or ‘Fox’ as I like to call him now – in the rider’s grandstand in the main stadium as he diligently watched dressage. He made the mistake of catching my eye and I went in for the kill, shook his hand, introduced myself and reminded him that for at least five minutes six months ago we had stood within ten metres of each other. I’m sure it was his focus on the dressage that prevented him from remembering this moment but I can tell that our 19 second conversation this is the beginning of a long friendship. 

I walked the cross-country with Phillip Dutton and Clayton Fredericks helped me warm-up for the show jumping. I went reining with David O’Connor and Karen let me hitch a ride on the back of her motorbike. Hell, I competed in the World Cup Freestyle Reining, and while I might have rounded out the bottom of that field too at least I can now show the dressage judges at home my new take on halt and rein-back. While I might have had a heart-breaking two run-outs on the cross-country, some kid still thought it was worth stealing the pinney right off my back in the finish box. And I might have had a few rails on the final day but I jumped in front of a packed house in the Rolex Stadium on the same arena that played host to Totalis only six months earlier. My question is this – how could you not love the USA?  

Sure, it’s a little different but that’s what makes it so fun. Initially it might seem lazy that almost every task in the day can be achieved from the comfort of the driver’s seat in a drive-thru lane, but when you’re out of cash and it’s pouring with rain you quickly appreciate beauty of drive-thru banking. It would be easy to make fun of Wal-Mart, the people who shop there and the fact that you can line up with a shotgun and a quart of milk at the same cash register, but you have to acknowledge the efficiency of being able to buy the weapon to hunt your dinner at the same place as you get the Cheerios you’ll be enjoying for breakfast. And while the food here is a fascinating blend of meat and sugar, because of this you make some of the tastiest burgers known to man. For every atrocity that comes out of a deep-fryer like funnel cake, there’s a triumph like deep-fried Snickers bars. And for every Rolex Stadium concession stand ‘cheese-steak on a hogie roll’ – far and away the culinary low-point of this trip – there’s a Malone’s Prime Rib Eye that must have been cut from a cow raised in heaven.  

So really, what I wanted to say is thanks. Thanks for putting on a spectacular event. Thanks for making the weather a genuinely interesting point of conversation. Thanks for taking an Aussie who you didn’t even know could ride and making him feel part of your event, your sport and your country. We’ve had an absolute ball and you can be sure that we’ll be back

See you somewhere out there,

Hamish

We may see you next at Burghley, or Adelaide, but I hope we see you soon, and with Dave too. Thanks for coming all this way, and for bringing your brave horse, Tiger, your lovely family, and gorgeous girlfriend Bols.  I’m sure we’ll all meet again soon.  Safe journey home, thanks for memories!

Grass Valley, Neuf, Sonas Rovatio and Mary’s two horses go home tomorrow via Atlanta, which means they have a shorter drive either end of the flight. They used to have to drive home all the way from Scotland once they arrived in Great Britain which made for a hell of journey, even by US standards!

Here’s a quiz question especially with hoof expert Fran Jurga in mind. Which horse completed Rolex 2011 with heart bar shoes, a la WEG multi-medalist Totilas? 

Not a great picture, you’ll have to take my word for it, sorry! Also, if anyone read my tweet quiz question last night, about which two riders in the Rolex  2011 top 20 that weren’t thinking about white stock shirts when they put on a leopard-print, and a black bra? I’m sworn to secrecy not to name names, but one has represented the US many times, and is a previous winner of Rolex, and the other will certainly be also before too long.  Answer to the horse shoe question tomorrow night, until then go eventing!

First things first; how does a nice Gloucestershire boy end up in California? 

James:   “Well, I came here to America for my gap year to work for Bruce Davidson, and then I went back to college, but every holiday I kept coming back to Bruce’s.  I’d wanted to travel, I don’t really speak another language very well, so America seemed logical, and Bruce is probably the most well-known American rider there is.  When I graduated I worked there for a couple of years, and now I’m in California, I’ve been there for a year and a bit.  I’m really fortunate, I’d never met the people who own the place where I’m at right now, but they rang me up and flew me out to look at the facility which is pretty unbelievable. They’re very supportive and help me out however they can, they like to come to these big shows, and things like that, so I feel very lucky. In England there’s a hundred, or probably more, people like me trying to make it in the sport, and it’s just very competitive, and tough to make it there because there are so many good people; whereas in California there’s a smaller pool of riders so it probably is easier for me to make a living out of it.  I got a great start with Bruce on the east coast, I got to ride a lot of horses, and compete, and got plenty of mileage under my belt.” 

It’s a big move for a 26 year old to be breaking out on his own halfway across the world, and I asked James if that had made him nervous, to leave Bruce for the West Coast.

James:  “It’s nice, I like it a lot, the people are really friendly. Obviously you have to do a bit of traveling to get to the events, that’s one downside of it, because California’s such a big state, but it’s fun.” 

James had a good spring preparation for Rolex, finishing 3rd at the Galway Downs CIC 3* on Jumbo’s Jake, and winning the Advanced on Parker. Jumbo’s Jake, belongs to James’ girlfriend India McEvoy, and finished 17th. 

James:  “I was a bit gutted that we had a stop going into the water for the last time, I was kicking myself about that, because he was going really well, pretty quick for him, and I think I would have been somewhere near the time.  India is from California originally,but I knew her from the East Coast. She moved to vet school, to Davis, so I guess that was another reason for me to go out there! India still rides Jake, and after Rolex she’ll ride him this summer, and when she goes back to vet school I’ll take over again probably. It will be good for him to do a  few lower level shows because he’s a very careful horse, and those were big jumps for him yesterday, so it will be nice just to get his confidence back a little bit.”  

James’ other horse Parker jumped clear and quite fast cross country (2.8 time faults) but had two rails down on sunday. 

James:  “He’s only 9 years old, so I think the dressage will still improve over time, he’s not a wonderful mover but he’s a great jumping horse.” 

I asked James to describe his base in California, Gracelands Equestrian Centre. 

James:   “It’s set on 90 acres, and there’s a hundred stables; I have 50 of them and a hunter/jumper trainer has the other 50 of them. We have a riding school with ponies, which is the main source of income, but there’s also the breeding programme, and we sell most of our horses – a lot of them I haven’t really wanted to sell but you have to try and make ends meet.  We have a little bit of turnout but the breeding operation takes most of the fields, so we don’t turn them out much, but it’s also a little different from England and the East Coast in that there’s really no grass in the summer and they’re just turned out on dirt, so we don’t really do it that much.  We’re going to get a horse walker, which will help. I have a two minute, pretty steep gallop, so that’s almost perfect. I wish I’d gone up it a few more times with Jake actually! You don’t really know until you come here, I guess…He did his 3* at Galway which was flat ground, and he did it really easily, but I’d never been to Kentucky so I didn’t realise it was up and down as it was, I had no idea. I expected it to be more flat parkland a bit like Badminton, but not at all, it’s quite deceptive, when you ride it you feel like you’re going up hills for a lot of the way. Next time we’ll have him a bit fitter.”

At the completion of Rolex, Chuck Moore, who owns Gracelands Equestrian Centre with his wife, Peggy, saw me talking to James and came over afterwards to chat. He wanted to say how impressed they are with James as a rider, a professional and a young man. He told me they had been looking for some time for someone to fill the position at Gracelands, and that James was a perfect fit; that as much as he enjoys competing successfully himself, he derives equally as much pleasure from seeing his students do well. Chuck said that, of course, James works very hard, usually at least 12 hour days, but probably eats dinner with him and his wife five or six nights a week.  While I had Chuck right there, who has no horsey background, but whose wife has ridden all her life, I had to ask him how on earth he came to name his stables Gracelands? 

Chuck:   “When my wife and I acquired the property, it may sound silly, but we wanted something with a spiritual background. Everyone says, ‘Oh, Gracelands, that’s Elvis’ place!’, but the place was a church at one time, and we support church camps for kids. My brother is the team Chaplain for the Oakland A’s, and we just believed that Gracelands adds a bit of a biblical experience to it.” 

Chuck maintains he will never ride, but loves to support James, and his wife at shows,  and develop the breeding programme.  Rolex was the first big event he and his wife had attended, and of course they came away impressed.

Chuck:  “I loved the atmosphere. So many of the riders embrace the younger competitors coming up the ranks. I didn’t hear a negative comment from one rider who was approached for an autograph, or a picture. I’d never met so many of the riders, like Phillip Dutton for instance, but you hear people talk about him all the time, and so many times I saw young kids and fans go up to him, asking him for autographs, and he was always incredibly gracious. It’s so enlightening to see riders, and the sport get that kind of exposure. Rolex is just amazing.” 

James brother Mike, a shade older, is completely non-horsey like the rest of his family and works for lawyers in London back in England, but was doing a super job grooming at Rolex, despite nursing a broken foot and tubigrip on his elbow.

James:   “He’s been great! Actually one of the first horses I bought, he was a partner in. We both put in five hundred pounds, I bought the horse, and I told him we were going to make some money – we never did! He doesn’t know much about horses, but he likes to come along and enjoy it.” 

Mike, and James’ parents remain in Minchinhampton, Glos, a stone’s throw from Gatcombe, and although James admits he misses them, professionally he’s glad he’s in California, and he tries to visit them once every couple of years or so; he was home for Christmas last year. 

James has some nice young horses coming up the grades; Luke Skywalker who won a prelim just before James left for Rolex, and who James thinks will be really “fancy”,  a horse he hopes to do a 2* on at the end of the year, and a few nice four year olds, and younger horses.

Although they had no firm plans for an autumn campaign as yet, they have a three day, or more truck journey home to California, stopping in Virginia en route to pick up a couple of extra horses, and don’t be surprised next time you hear all about James Alliston cleaning up at one of the major three days, I certainly won’t be. 

I’d like to thank James, his brother Mike, (seemingly tireless and endlessly cheerful!) and their parents for speaking to me, as well as Chuck Moore. Thank you for reading, and go eventing! 

I’m told that Chuck has a soft spot for homeless dogs, and has adopted quite a few strays off the street, and I later saw him “bonding” with Leo who’d crashed out under a table  (too much partying! ). Chuck told me how much Leo reminded him of one of his own dogs at home, so I may have to keep an eye on my labrador when their trailer pulls out of the Horse Park!

 

In all seriousness, they were absolutely delightful, and of course thrilled. It’s very much a family affair, James’ mum and dad were over watching, and James’ brother Mike was grooming despite a broken foot and a limited knowledge of horsemanship, but he did a great job regardless.  James’ mum P.T spoke to me about how friendly everyone at Rolex had been throughout the week.

I’d like to thank P.T, James and Chuck for talking to me, and you for reading. If you want to know more about James, I’ll have that interview up later today hopefully. I hope you’ve enjoyed Rolex as much as we have, and go eventing!

Mark Todd’s horse NZB Grass Valley is fine, albeit a little sore. If Mark had been higher up in the placings, then he said he might have jumped him, but as it was he let him rest, much to ‘Riley’s’ annoyance! He was very grumpy at not getting out to do his job on sunday, but isn’t he beautiful?