I think that successfully completing a three-day event is one of the hardest things in sports and I would bet that organizing a three-day event is one of the hardest things in sports as well. Putting the right team together is half the battle and Jon Holling and Peter Gray have done a fantastic job of that with the Ocala Three-Day. Jon was kind enough to check in about that process and shamelessly plug the many folks who have helped make that event possible.
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From Jon:
Greetings Eventing Nation, after reading Sunday’s update on Fairhill I decided it was probably time to send in a post. Sorry John, what can I say? I am a procrastinator. I thought I would take this opportunity to send in a recap of our event at the Florida Horse Park last week. Ocala Horse Properties has been our title sponsor for the past three years, and none of this would be possible without Chris and Rob Desino’s help. In addition to this support we were also able to host the second annual “Rebecca Brousard Indefatigable cup” for the CCI** thanks to Jerome Brousard. That meant that the two star riders were competing for a total purse of $10,000. Finally the Maui Jim CCI* was competing for a total purse of $5,000.00 thanks to the best sunglass manufacturer in the world. I have to say that in just our third year running these competitions we are so proud to have this kind of support. It is the support of these main sponsors, and our many jump sponsors, that allows us to put on what we think is a pretty darn good event. Add to that all of the fantastic volunteers who give up their entire lives for the duration of the competition and beyond and it can actually become a bit overwhelming. As for the competition itself, our designer Jay Hambly was able to put together a true championship caliber track for both FEI divisions. I have to give one last shout out to Peter Gray for taking on the organizer role. His years of experience organizing events in Canada have translated to some pretty fabulous weekends down here in the sunshine state. I am including a picture for you and then I am going to pass out due to my 16 hour drive home last night from Fairhill. I need to be up and out the door by 5 am tomorrow so I can get to Rolex. Who knows, I may even take a moment to reflect on that blog about balance in life!
