The last cat picture until the next one
–The WEG Plague: When you gather thousands of people together in close quarters, mix in sometimes inclement weather, and then, in my case, sleep for less than 5 hours a night, you can often get a flulike illness that strikes lots of people at said event. At the WEGs, everyone got a cold and we jokingly referred to it as the ‘WEG plague.’ My WEG plague seems to be getting worse, but I like to apply the eventing approach: when in pain, ride until it stops hurting. So here are a few quick news and notes before I head out to the barn.
–Major international events, like the Olympics, usually play out economically like this: economists predict big gains for the host city, host city begs for the event, costs exceed expectations, the event occurs, host city commissions economic impact study following the event, the study shows that the host city lost money, politicians scramble. However, it looks like things will go a little differently in Lexington. The Herald-Leader is reporting that no one has commissioned a study to look at the economic impact of the Games. The World Equestrian Games were beleaguered by a bad economy at the worst possible time so worse than expected economic results are understandable, but I am shocked that WEG organizers and Kentucky politicians seem content to declare victory and move on without figuring out how much money the Games made or lost for Kentucky.
Buzzterbrown sent me an excerpt from a book about the 1978 World Championships in Lexington. In the forward, the book says that there were over 170,000 attendees for the combined training–there’s a phrase you never hear anymore–which absolutely blows my mind. That says a lot about where our sport has gone relative to other entertainment options over the years.
–The Fair Hill ride times will be determined following the first horse inspection on Wednesday. The list of entries is available here. There are some familiar names in the 41 horse CCI3* field, such as Cruise Lion, Hollywood, Cavaldi, Quintus 54, UN, Axel Rose, Wonderful Will, and Gryffindor. If I did not mention your horse do not send me an angry text–I will cough on you and then you will have the WEG plague too.
–I went to see Secretariat last night and I would give the movie 3.5 out of 5 stars as a family movie. It was certainly a feel good movie that will leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling and might even make you cry a little bit–not that I would ever admit to that. One thing that took away from the movie is that Disney’s rendition of the races, complete with helmet cams I might add, can never compete with the real footage.
I can’t watch this video enough.
Go eventing.
