Chattahooche Hills is an unbelievably beautiful setting for eventing with massive permanent barns, a huge main arena, and a beautiful cross-country course built into the side of a hill. Several key improvements have been made this year to make the AECs even better than last year.
As a rider, the most important issue to me at an event is the quality of the cross-country footing and design. Last year a drought in Georgia caused major footing issues for the AECs. This year Carl Bouckaert and his team at Chattahoochee Hills installed a world class irrigation system and started working on the footing well in advance of the competition. Rains earlier this week and work with an aggravator have helped considerably as well and riders are going to be able to attack the cross-country course with confidence.
As for the design, Rich Temple has put together a nice course with some tough technical questions such as a narrow combination following the big drop late on course. A couple of the distances walk a little funny to me, but other than that the course is beautifully built and put together. The venue is perfect for spectating because you can see most of the course from any place on course. The terrain will be a bit of a factor since the horses have to run up and down the hill and several of the jumps are built jumping downhill.
Here’s a jump by jump look at the advanced course:
#19 is a frangible table
You can just see the clips through the brush
Carl Bouckaert’s magnificent main barn looms over the cross-country course at Chattahoochee Hills
Go Packers and go AECs.
