Carl Bourckaert’s magnificent main barn
One of the hardest things to convey from this weekend is the size and beauty of Chattahoochee Hills. From the premanent stabling to the cross-country course, to the trade fair, to the gigantic main barn under construction, Carl Bouckaert’s farm is second to nothing I have ever seen.
Two years ago our annual Eventing Nation April fools joke featured a new five-star event at Chattahoochee Hills. Like any joke, that post had a hint of truth to it in the sense that it is hard to imagine such an impressive facility being built and not ultimately hosting an event of the highest level. After the second year of hosting the AECs, my feeling is that the Chattahoochee Hills venue is now ready for a four-star. That’s a long way from saying that there will be a four-star at Chattahoochee Hills, but I think the venue is ready.
There is no doubt in my mind that eventing in North America would benefit greatly from an autumn four-star. I could go on for pages about the pros and cons of a second US 4*. One of the areas that would benefit most is horse development. Right now, North American horses only have one chance to move up to the 4* level each year unless they can find a way to afford to travel overseas. This pushes horses whose schedules are not working out perfectly for Rolex to either hurry their 3* careers to get ready in time for Rolex or perhaps delay and run another unnecessary 3* in the fall and wait for Rolex for the move up. As I said, there are countless arguments for adding a second four-star and I’m sure a few arguments against, but that’s just one example.
My point of bringing up the topic is to say that if we want there to be an autumn four-star in North America, Chattahoochee Hills is the perfect venue. I certainly would not have said the same last year with as hard as the footing was, but every element of the event and especially the footing was much improved this year. I can’t think of anything that the venue doesn’t have that couldn’t be added easily for a 4*. Chattahoochee has enough land, it’s close to Atlanta for drawing spectators, the footing issue has been solved, there is enough land for a 4* course, the permanent stabling is exquisite. Perhaps one of the biggest problems is that there would have to be some precise timing in picking the date to avoid bad weather on both extremes of heat and rain. There are a number of important factors to fall into place before a four-star can happen, but my point is just that the venue is ready.
It was impossible to go through yesterday at the AECs without thinking about September 11th. Whether just passing by the flag streaming in the breeze or saying goodbye to people headed to the airport for flights, that terrible day 10 years ago was on everyone’s mind. There’s nothing to be said that hasn’t already been said, but it is a great thing that the Stars and Stripes were being represented so well around the world of eventing this weekend.
I also need to give a huge thanks to everyone who helped put on such a great event at the AECs. The USEA team worked incredibly hard starting last Monday to get the event up and going. The Chattahoochee Hills team was amazing and that includes the organizers and countless people who worked on the event. The competitors were wonderful and looked after their horses all weekend. Last, but of course not least, the volunteers were fabulous. Chattahoochee Hills got all of the big things right, but it’s the little things that make for a great weekend, even down to all the kind folks who offered golf cart rides up and down that sunny hill throughout the weekend.
The trade fair was wonderful and although I didn’t have much time to shop I did stop by and visit with our many great sponsors. The most notable moment is probably when I got blown up in a Point Two for the first time this weekend. The best way to describe it is like a very fast blood pressure pump over your entire torso. From watching people get blown up before I expected it to be almost painful, but it felt fine. Point Two is becoming a big proponent of level 3 body protectors and I think that is going to be a big step forward in US eventing safety.
Last but not least, you have just 24 hours left to enter out favorite AECs moment contest, sponsored by SmartPak. Click here for details on how you can enter and win a Harwich eventing bridle.
Go eventing.
