Link to endurance article with photos

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/09/27/1451758/us-eliminated-from-medal-contention.html

Day 3, Dressage Team Event

Volunteer shift schedule 6:30 to 12:30
The alarm rang at 4:45 a.m. We checked in at 6:30 am for volunteer work. It was still dark. The Team Dressage began at 8:30. We could not figure out why we had to report so early. My job was to show ticket holders to their correct grandstand. There were 4 separate stands (the Main Stadium, A, B, and C) surrounding the dressage arena.

The temperature was 55 degrees and it was raining. It soon became evident that our polo shirts and light jackets were not up to the job--even with the clear plastic ponchos and our long johns. Remember that only 3 days ago the temperature was 92 degrees!

After a couple of hours, when I walked a very long distance to Lost and Found to pick up my cell phone, I purchased a couple of sweatshirts for us. Meanwhile, sis hoofed it to the car and brought back coats for our entire volunteer team. They helped a great deal but it took a long time to reduce the shivering.

After the first rush, our gate was not terribly busy so we took turns taking a peek at the dressage. The horses and riders were magnificently turned out and the horses seemed to float between each step. After our shift we stayed and watched the end of the day's dressage tests, and saw the medal ceremony for endurance.

The rain did little to dampen spirits of volunteers, athletes, horses or spectators. What did cause problems was the rule that once the spectators were in they could not go back out and then in again. Of course, they were all freezing too, and wanted to go back to their cars for coats. After turning away a couple of very unhappy people, I would say, "I am memorizing your face. Go get the coats and come back to me and I will let you in." I surmised that no one who paid $125 for the morning ticket and $125 for the afternoon, was trying to pass tickets through the fence or such.

The only thing I lost today was my meal voucher given to each volunteer. However, I found it inside of my phone when I got back to the B&B. Don't ask me how it happened. It is quite difficult to keep all a person's parts together.

Today My Eyes Were On:

A pre-dawn look at the dressage arena

Leaden skies

Visitors from all over the world with tickets to dressage

The gold medal ceremony for the endurance rider Maria Mercedes Alvaraz Ponton from Spain who won the gold medal 7 weeks after having a baby! Silver went to Sh Mohd B. Rashid Al Maktoum and bronze to Sh Hamdan Mohd Al Maktoum. The endurance team medals went to United Arab Emirate (gold), France (silver) and Germany (bronze).

Day 2, A Horsey Day at the WEG

Today we visited the Equine Village where we saw many booths and demonstrations by Clinton Anderson (Downunder Horsemanship), Tommy  Turvey (trick rider and trainer), Lizzy Treband and Stacy Westfall.

    

All had beautifully trained horses. Sis also walked very far to see a bit of the Endurance Competition--in which the horses/riders cover 100 miles in one day! Both of these events were in different parts of the Horse Park than we had seen yesterday. I begin to wonder if we can even see it all in 15 days. The Visitor's Center is the hub of the park.

We do need to sit and rest periodically.

We pass by the Maker's Mart Hospitality Tent where you can enjoy true Southern hospitality for only $630 per day and the James Beard Celebrity Chef tent where you can dine for a couple of hundred dollars!

Yesterday we lost and finally found each other wandering around in the nighttime parking lot. Today I lost my cell phone!  I only found out when first a volunteer called my sister's cell (the last call I had made) to say she had found mine and would put it in the Volunteer Center.


I was surprised when an hour later a policeman called my sis to say he had my phone and it would be waiting in Lost and Found tomorrow. The phone had fallen out of my pocket without me knowing it. Now I have to figure out where the Lost and Found is and wondering how far I have to walk to retrieve my phone. I am taking precautions so it won't happen again. Zipper pockets!

Tomorrow we are working as Volunteer Ushers, Ticket Takers or Crowd Control at the Main Stadium. It is the beginning of the Team Dressage.  I hope we will at least get a peak at it. We report for duty at 6:30  a.m. It takes an hour to get there from our B&B. So we will arise early.

Today My Eyes Were On:

Many different kinds of horses performing many different kinds of activities. How versatile they are!

Many, many cheerful volunteers working hard to do a good job to make the Games a success.

Greater distances than I can walk in a day. Sis went alone to watch the endurance horses coming in for a vet check, getting hosed down and all.  I just saw three endurance riders as they galloped on course through the parking lot.

Day 1,The WEG--Wow! The Opening Ceremony

We made it to the WEG!

I am exploring the Kentucky Horse Park while the Pennsylvania sister serves her first volunteer shift at the Main Stadium where the Opening Ceremony starts at 7 p.m.  Thanks to sis's generosity, I will be enjoying it as a spectator.


There is much to explore. The Kentucky Horse Park is awesome, and humongous--1200 acres! The first necessity is a map, and for some reason they are scarce. I begged one from a fellow volunteer.

I am hearing many foreign languages,seeing cars from many states, and the air is electric with excitement--also quite warm. It was 92 degrees yesterday!

Stacy Westfall just walked by me--she will be in the opening ceremony tonite riding her reining horse without a bridle. I see many people from the choir filing in. I wander around getting a feel for where events and displays are. However, the sheer magnitude and the walking distances required are overwhelming. I find it impossible to focus on any one thing, so what appeals to me is dinner and then a quiet wait for the gates to open for the opening ceremony.


I take my food and drink to join a nice looking woman, older than me, at a table (the tables are all full). She says I can join her and then immediately tells me the diet coke will give me diabetes. By the time I have finished eating, she has explained quite a few other things to me. However, I figure I am sitting in a rare empty chair under a rare umbrella on a very hot day and I am tired, so I choose to take the free education, too.

After dinner I just wait for the gates to open and  then sit in my seat for a hour until the opening ceremony begins. I am pleased to find another lady about my age sitting in the seat next to mine. She had driven 3 hours from southern Kentucky by herself to see the ceremony. She said she couldn't find anyone else to pay the $150, like my sis paid for my ticket. She and I, both life-long horse lovers, had a wonderful visit throughout the evening.  



Wow! The Opening Ceremony! Wow!

After the formal opening by the beautiful and charming Princess Haya, President of the Federation Equestre Internationale, and other dignitaries, such as the Governor and First Lady of Kentucky, the pagentry began.


The three and a half hour Opening Ceremony was a celebration of the history of the horse with 1500 human and 200 equine participants. The history started with the Arabian horse, the Friesian Train from Holland,  Native Americans and then the entire US with many different breeds all in full regalia.

Performing were Wynonna Judd singing "My Old Kentucky Home", Jazz at Lincoln Center, American Spiritual Ensemble and the Kentucky University Symphony and Choir.



William Shatner drove a buggy with a Standardbred horse and Muhammad Ali was present. It was all spectacular. What a thrill to be a part of a crowd thousands of horse passionate lovers celebrating our equine friends!

      

Especially notable were the California Cowgirls, Tommy Turvey (trick rider), and StacyWestfall (riding a reining pattern bareback and bridleless). There was a charming dance between a dressage dancing horse and several young ballet dancers.

Near the end of the ceremony right in front of us a rider fell from his horse. He was flat on the ground and did not move. The staff immediately moved shrubs around him for privacy and medics came. As they carried him out on a stretcher, medics were doing violent chest compressions, and the rider was still not moving. Only our little section of spectators saw all this going on, and we all teared-up and were sure he had died.


Later we found out the rider had a previous heart condition, his heart had stopped but the medics revived him. He spent the 2 weeks of the WEG in the hospital and was ready to go home as the games finished.

Our emotions went from euphoria to shock and mourning during the Opening Ceremony. We had also experienced extreme fright because every time the crowd stood up, the large temporary grandstand beneath us swayed back and forth!


As I mentioned the horse park is huge. What I didn't mention is that the parking lots (the pastures of a couple of adjoining horse farms) are even bigger. Sis and I had agreed to meet at the car after the opening ceremony. That was a big mistake.



It was very hard to find our car and one of us didn't find it! Luckily we had our cell phones but it still took us 30-45 minutes to find each other walking around in the dark. Without any landmarks to go by we finally decided to walk all the way back to the Volunteer Check-in which we could both find. On the way, I mentioned I was approaching the bridge. Sis says "Oh, a bridge? Raise your hand". I did and she said "Oh Oh! Lower your hand." "Oh! Oh! I see you!!!!" From now on we will meet in the park. The lost sister was in an entirely different parking lot! Our step-counter registered 35,000 steps or 11 miles walked by the Pennsylvania sister.  
 

Link to TV coverage of the WEG

 http://www.alltechfeigames.com/uploadedFiles/News/Resources/US%20TV%20Schedule.pdf

We Have Arrived! Millersburg, Kentucky

We arrived at about 1 pm, passing through countryside with many beautiful horse farms. Indeed we passed through extra countryside, as our GPS took us first to Paris, Kentucky instead of Millersburg.


We finally made it to our B & B. It will be fine but has a few funny things.   The handiman, Johnny, greeted us and got us settled into our room. I think we are the first guests. Many parts of the 101-year-old home are not finished, including the kitchen which is an empty room. Johnny is refinishing the back stairs today. The owner, "the colonel", who is out-of-town, bought the house in February, which Johnny said had been mistreated the past quarter century.

The living and dining rooms are finished and furnished. The white settees look untouchable. I barked my shins on the coffee table twice coming into the dark house at night.

    The bath is down the hall, but with no other guests it is fine. However, there are no locks on the bath or our bedroom, and the colonel sleeps across the hall. We mentioned to him that ladies like locks on their doors. We also asked for a microwave to heat my tea water. We have a small fan, but it is so hot (92 and humid) we beg for AC which Johnny puts in the window. I'm still sure this is better than the barracks, but it is not the Ritz.

Notice the interesting wiring from the bathroom below.

   
Millersburg, Kentucky, home to our B & B, makes Waitsburg look like a thriving metropolis. Most of the stores are empty. Johnny invited us to Millersburg's 4th Friday potluck for supper tonite. We were guests of the town, and about 25 people were there in all. The food was great and the townspeople were excited to have out-of-staters, as they are trying to increase tourism.

Lorraine Smoot organizes the potlucks and also makes announcements about upcoming community events. Kentuckians are very hospitable folks and made us feel right at home! We were even interviewed and photographed for an article in the Carlyle newspaper (a small town near Millersburg).

We had lunch at the 50's era Conner's Cafe down the street. It has only been open for 2 months and has limited choices. The waitress and owner are very friendly and accommodating.

The Decorated Town Square and Vet Clinic

Before the B&B, we were actually signed up to stay in army cadet training barracks with 12 bunk beds to a room. A month ago I decided it did not sound promising and the Colonel offered this option. I jumped at it.

One Day to Go!

We are 400 miles closer to the World Equestrian Games and Lexington, with only 175 miles to go. We are staying the night in Mink Shoals, West Virginia. And we are excited!

We hear on the news that the horses and riders are all there, the singers are practicing and the builders are putting the finishing touches on all the additions to the Kentucky Horse Park. You can check out all kinds of info on the following link.

http://www.alltechfeigames.com/

Today My Eyes Were On:

Our car full of all necessary items needed for 2 weeks in the wilds of Kentucky


The first hints of fall color in Pennsylvania

The beautiful tree-covered mountains (hillocks) of West Virginia

The thermometer at 92 degrees and very humid