William Fox-Pitt Shares Thoughts on Rolex Cross-Country Course

William imparting his wisdom. Photo by Sally Spickard. William imparting his wisdom. Photo by Sally Spickard.

William Fox-Pitt has seen the most imposing cross country fences in the world, and he is no stranger to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Thanks once again to the generosity of Jeep, I was able to walk a portion of the course with William yesterday afternoon, and it was great to hear his comments on what promises to be a challenging di Grazia course.

Photo by Sally Spickard.

Photo by Sally Spickard.

William stressed accuracy at the fences he commented on. This has shaped up to be quite the technically challenging course, and each fence poses a new question to riders. William walked several of the lines for those of us attending the walk to show us exactly how the question should be ridden. Even the single fences are positioned in such a way that the rider must be thinking ahead to the next combination in order to correctly ride the preceding fence. He pointed out that his two rides, Seacookie TSF and Bay My Hero, are different based on their amount of experience, so he would need to adjust his riding for each of them.

Group shot! Photo by Sally Spickard.

Group shot! Photo by Sally Spickard.

I must also say that William’s wife, Alice, is an absolute treat to be around. Not only does she tirelessly support her rockstar status husband but she is quite the consummate horsewoman herself as a former race rider and eventer who has ridden on both the Grand National course at Aintree and the Badminton Horse Trials. This pair is without a doubt a dream team who works together exceptionally well.

William has stated this weekend that he loves being in Kentucky because it provides a different atmosphere than the events back home. As eventing fans, we are definitely privileged to be able to see a rider of his caliber making mincemeat of a monstrosity of a cross country course, so be sure to throw up some big cheers for him today!

Here is some commentary from William on fence 11, the Ditch and Brush:

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