Rolex trivia is a longstanding EN Reader Appreciation Tailgate Party tradition. As usual, this year’s edition was emceed by our good friends Glenn the Geek and Jamie Jennings from Horse Radio Network‘s Horses in the Morning radio show — be sure to listen to their Rolex coverage here!

In addition to glory and bragging rights, there were plenty of prizes at stake: EN sunglasses and swag bags, buckets chock full of product from our friends at Cavalor …

Keeper of the Cavalor. Photo by Leslie Wylie.

.. and, the grand prize, a beautiful figure-8 Amerigo Vespucci bridle …

Much love to EN’s tailgate title sponsor, Amerigo! Photo by Leslie Wylie.

… the winners of which had to be determined by tiebreaker rounds of Simon Says, #ChinchHole and #BowlingForChinches.

Jamie Jennings, master of Simon Says ceremonies. Photo by Leslie Wylie.

For those of you who missed it, we wanted to give you an opportunity to see how you would have stacked up. If you’ve got a long drive home, could be a fun car game!

Here are the 20 questions we asked. Take a stab at it, then scroll down and see you how did.

QUESTIONS

1. Spell the full name of Michael Jung’s ride this weekend. And yes, capitalization counts!
2. The first time she won Rolex, Kim Severson had a different last name. What was it?
3. In what year did Rolex host its first four-star event? Bonus point: Who won?
4. What weird thing happened to Michael Jung on the way from Rolex to Badminton last year?
5. Four-star event pony Theodore O’Connor, named after his rider Karen O’Connor, will always be remembered for his spectacular performances at Rolex: 3rd in 2007 and 6th in 2008. Which part of this statement is false?
6. Who was this year’s cross-country course designer? Bonus point: Who was the designer before that?
7. In 1978 Bruce Davidson won Individual Gold in the World Three-Day Championships, held here at the Kentucky Horse Park. Who was he riding?
8. What is the name of the movie that culminates in a three-day event at the Kentucky Horse Park? Bonus point: What real-life event horse/rider combination performed as doubles in the movie?
9. The top U.S. rider closest to the optimum time wins what? Bonus point: Who won it last year?
10. In addition to Rolex, how many other four-star events take place each year around the world? Bonus point: What are they and in where do they take place?
11. What is the ratio of mares to geldings to stallions in this year’s Rolex field?
12. EN ran an April Fool’s story abou Rolex earlier this year. What was the storyline?
13. What is the shortest horse in this year’s field? What horse is the tallest?
14. All of the following previous Rolex winners have, at one point or another, been photographed holding Chinch except which one rider: Michael Jung, William Fox-Pitt, Phillip Dutton, Boyd Martin, Clayton Fredericks, Kim Severson, David O’Connor, or Karen O’Connor?
15. What is the connection between Lauren Kieffer’s first four-star horse, Snooze Alarm, and her 2017 mount Vermiculus?
16. What is the optimum time on the 2017 Rolex cross-country course? Bonus point: What is the dictated speed?
17. What is the max allowed height of a solid four-star obstacle? Bonus point: What about a four-star brush obstacle?
18. Who is the oldest rider competing at Rolex this year? Who is the youngest? Bonus: What is the average age of this year’s Rolex field?
19. How many jumps are on the 2017 cross-country course? Bonus point: How many of them are combinations?
20. In what year did the Kentucky Horse Park host its very first horse trials?
21. Bonus question! What is the best eventing website in the land? What is the best podcast in the land?

ANSWERS

1. fischerRocana FST’
2. Vinoski. 
3. 1998. Bonus: Nick Larkin and Red.
4. Michael and his parents were bumped off their United (naturally!) flight from Lexington to London Heathrow due to it being oversold. No other flights with open seats were available until Tuesday, which would then get Michael to Badminton on Wednesday with barely enough time to trot up his horse. Asia Vedder, Michelle Emmermann and Max Hoetzel, who traveled from California to spectate at Rolex, gave up their plane seats to get the Jungs to Houston so they could then go on to Heathrow to reunite Michael and Sam much sooner. Read the full story here. 
5. Theodore O’Connor wasn’t named after Karen — that was just coincidence. His sire was a racehorse, a 16.2 hand thoroughbred stallion named Theodore, hence the Theodore. And the Connor part was from the barn manager at the farm where he was born, as the chestnut colt was feisty and reminded him of the equally fiery tennis player Jimmy Connor. His breeder, P. Wynn Norman, connected the two names with an O’.
6. Derek Di Grazia. Bonus point: Michael Etherington-Smith.
7. Might Tango.
8. “Sylvester.” Bonus point: Kim Walnes and The Gray Goose.
9. A 24-month lease of a Land Rover Discovery Sport. Bonus point: Lauren Kieffer and Landmark’s Monte Carlo.
10. Five, not counting Rolex. Bonus point: Pau (France), Adelaide (Australia), Badminton (Great Britain), Luhmuhlen (Germany) and Burghley (Great Britain).
11. 20% mares, 80% geldings, no stallions.
12. That the Park was going to unveil a statue of Michael Jung and  fischerRocana FST, positioned atop an island in the Head of the Lake. From the story: “The statue looks very similar to Bruce’s statue located outside Rolex Stadium but with some modern updates. Interactive fountains strategically placed at fischerRocana’s feet create the illusion of a dramatic splash into water, and a Vegas-style laser light show synced to German techno music will keep crowds entertained in between horses coming through the Head of the Lake at this year’s event.” Read the full (fake!) story here.  
13. Shortest: Irish Rhythm, ridden by Rachel McDonough (15.1 hands); Tallest: Ballylaffin Brackin, ridden by Kristin Schmolze (17.3 hands).
14. Michael Jung. But if he wins, we are definitely going to finally get that photo!
15. They are full brothers! See full story here.
16. Optimum time is 11 min. 17 seconds. Bonus: Speed is 570 mpm.
17. 3’11”. Bonus point: 4’9″
18. Eldest: Bunny Sexton, age 55; Youngest: Madeline Backus, age 20; Average age: 35.
19. 28 jumps, 9 are combinations
20. 1976
21. Bonus question: Eventing Nation!

#RK3DE Links: Website, Schedule, Ride Times, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Ultimate Guide to Rolex, Live Stream, How to Watch Live, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Photo courtesy of Lisa Lach.

When Patrick Grunwald got down on one knee and asked Lisa Lach for her hand in marriage on Rolex cross country day, there was only one correct answer: YES.

Chinch volunteers as ringbearer! Photo by Leslie Wylie.

The couple is visiting from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the event. Lisa is a longtime equestrian who has been chronicling her transition from the hunter ring to the eventing world right here on EN’s Blogger’s Row, and she has her own blog at Centered in the Saddle.

On show jumping morning Patrick and Lisa shared their story with us:

So sweet. Congratulations, Patrick and Lisa! Go Eventing.

#RK3DE Links: Website, Schedule, Ride Times, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Ultimate Guide to Rolex, Live Stream, How to Watch Live, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Rolex week is the most frenzied week on the U.S. eventing calendar, hands down. It’s easy to get caught up in all the bustle and excitement, but it’s also worth taking a moment to step back and reflect on the bigger picture. Originally published in 2012, this essay is one of the most viewed Rolex week posts in EN history — and its relevance remains. As Rolex 2017 begins, we thought it appropriate to re-share it as a reminder that this collective experience we know as Rolex is much bigger, and more complex, than we sometimes give it credit for.

In memory of Avery Klunick’s In It To Win It, whose successful four-star debut at Rolex 2016 would be his final FEI run. Photo by Leslie Wylie.

Some people believe there are spiritual vortexes scattered around the world, energetic super-centers so powerful that you can practically feel the stuff circulating in the air. Mystics and metaphysicists flock to them — Stonehenge, the Giza pyramids, ancient Inca ruins — hoping to catch a whiff of the divine.

I don’t know how much I buy into that crystal visions claptrap, but I do think there’s something to the idea of a place retaining its history in mysterious ways. The Kentucky Horse Park, in particular, is a plot of earth that I’ve always sensed had more going on than meets the eye. There’s a magic to it, and it’s more than just the pastoral combination of majestic oak trees, plush bluegrass and pristine rural air. Rather, it’s layers upon layers of emotion, saturating the soil and rustling through the leaves.

The poetry of a flawlessly executed dressage test, the cheer of a crowd gathered round the Head of the Lake, the thunder of a victory gallop — that energy lingers in the air long after everyone has packed up and gone home. But the source of the Park’s magic is more multidimensional than that.

On Jimmy Wofford’s cross country walk at WEG in 2010, he told the crowd that there was a dandelion on the course for every heart broken at the Park. I remember looking down, seeing a patch of the weed’s sharply scalloped leaves, and wondering in earnest whose tears had fertilized them.

I’m sure I’ve got a few dandelions out there myself, not from Rolex, but from other Horse Park events that felt equivalently serious at the time. When you’re 13 and you’ve saved your $4-an-hour stall mucking wages all summer to compete at some event, only to have your pony jump out of the dressage ring … dandelion. When you’re 17 and your horse hangs a leg in the water complex at Pony Club championships and you feel like you’ve let down your entire team … dandelion. When you’re 29 and you pull up halfway around the course with the sinking realization that you’re simply not prepared … dandelion.

I could go on and on, and I’m sure some of you could, too. Certainly these moments weren’t the end of the world, but perspective is a function of the mind, not the heart.

This weekend at Rolex, there are going to be riders who don’t make it around the course. They’ll make the same long walk back to the barn that so many have before them, replaying a split second over and over again in their minds, trying to figure out what went wrong. Some of them will get a leg up on their next ride or have the opportunity try again next year. Others might not get a second chance.

If you’re at Rolex this weekend, take a quiet moment at some point to look around you. Acknowledge the dandelions and the horses and riders who planted them there. Remember that it’s all connected. Without attempt, and the risk of failure that goes with it, there can be no glory. The hit and the miss both begin with a leap.

Go Eventing.

Rolex isn’t just another event on the calendar — it’s something truly special. This video from USEF Network outlines a brief history of Rolex, and explains why the 2017 competition is a loaded one.

Click here to find out how to watch the Rolex live stream, wherever you are in the world.

Go Eventing!

The feeling you get when you watch your child ride.

It’s why we do what we do.

It is why we search high and low for the perfect childproof horse.  It is why we give up our Saturday afternoons to cheer them on at a horse show. It is why we spend hours getting stains out of their show clothes. It is why we teach them to hang a fan up on the stall in hot weather. It is why we make sure they learn to keep TWO full buckets of water in the stall. Here at Kentucky Performance Products it is why we developed Summer Games® Electrolyte that will keep the horses in your life hydrated and healthy.   It is why the horse that matter to you matters to us. Not sure which horse supplement best meets your horse’s needs? We are here to help. Contact us at 859-873-2974 or visit our website at KPPusa.com.