So I made it home.
Mind you, I’ve been up since 4 am, having finally gotten to my house at 10.30 last night. I had to con a friend into coming to pick me up as I lost my debit card in an ATM machine in Hong Kong and was short on cash for a cab when I got home. The flight was a long one, Hong Kong to Chicago but the Fantastic Dr. Farrell gave me some miles (we were on the same flight) and I got to fly business class! It was such a nice gesture and I slept, really slept, not airplane sleep, for at least eight hours. I’m seriously indebted.
I’ve always said that too often we don’t take advantage of the opportunities horses offer us, I’ve always tried to take advantage of as many as I can. One of those is forging friendships with the people they attract. I’ve built a lifetime of them. I consider myself to be extraordinarily lucky.
The morning before I left, after a much needed super fun night out with a great group of riders and staff, we decided over breakfast (which included the recently arrived Pam Lane, who is the USEF Director of Paraequestrian) that I should stay for the Paralympics. What these riders achieve is extraordinary and needs to be celebrated. It simply wasn’t on the USOC radar screen for me, so we decided I would come home for 10 days and then head back. The decision was made through utilizing some United VIK, a deal with helping the British Chef d’ Mission in his attempt to multi-task as Press Attache during Para, and some rearranging of schedules. We all felt really strongly that is was not only feasible, it is a necessity. Not only are the next few weeks imperative but many of these riders will be aiming for the World Equestrian Games, here, in 2010.
So, I head back on September 3rd. I had to get life in order a bit better here (bills, the jungle that is my yard, my dogs, horse, etc) plus catch up on the hundreds of emails that have been put into the ‘follow-up’ category. The driving World Championships get underway this week, we have reining World Champs soon too – my fantastic intern Gillian went back to school − there is a lot going on.
After these trips, I go into some sort of deep reflection. It may even border on depression or critical evaluation. Once the buzz dies down, it is hard to keep the momentum. As Olympic fever wanes, I spend a lot of time thinking of how I could have done things better. Done things differently. I struggled with this when I was a groom too and would return from a major competition without my horses having won. Sometimes those things were a lot more tangible than this trip.
I feel a huge responsibility to my riders, to get their names out there and their faces seen. It is hard for me to accept the response, that, yes they won a gold medal, but Michael Phelps won eight, Bolt broke three world records, etc. The networks are nuts over those stories… and now if your name isn’t Obama or McCain… well… Our lesser know sports sometimes fade into the shadows. I wish I could change that, and I’m giving a lot of thought as to how.
We have to wade through the weeds and remember what lies at the soul of all this: these horses. Our sports can be complicated to those of us on the inside, on the outside even more so… but we can never lose sight of the most important things in all of this: Brentina, Ravel, Mythilus, Neruda, Connaught, Mandiba, McKinlaigh, Comet, Poggio, Cedric, Carlsson, Sapphire, Champ and Authentic. There are also so many that got so close, just ask Northern Spy or Kingston.
We have some amazing stories, and some amazing athletes. We have some unbelievable support staff. The vets, grooms, farriers, physios, the USEF staff. Sometimes the story, no matter how good, isn’t enough to get past the things that are mainstream sexy. It isn’t an excuse, but it is a reality that I’m not always prepared to contend with.
I went to the barn the afternoon before I left, there was stuff everywhere as Dougie Hannum was breaking down three weeks worth of accumulation. They have to disinfect the barns before the Para horses arrive. There were five horses left in the barn, four of which were our show jumpers (one was an Irish horse). The grooms were having a very well deserved outing to the sights and the horses were unwinding. I walked in and one of them whinnied. Four heads flew to the front of their stalls and I cut up a carrot and dished out the goods. It is the peace and quiet of these animals, and the comfort we find in them, that is sometimes lost in all the chaos at these Games.
I studied our four gold medal winners. There wasn’t one similarity in their faces. Cedric, little and grey, always looks somewhat surprised and expectant. His future is so huge. Sapphire’s big emblazoned (as in: with blaze) chestnut head assesses the surroundings confidently and knowingly, there’s not much this classy veteran hasn’t seen. Carlsson would climb over the stall door if he could to get closer to a human. He doesn’t know he missed the individual party because of a rule, not because of his performance. I’ve told him more than once, I’m sure Will (and Roger his groom) has too. And Bud, well I think Mark Todd once said that that his horse Charisma oozed his name. Bud does too. He studied me harder than I studied him. He couldn’t have been as impressed as I was.
These horses are the soul of what we do. If that ever escapes me, it is time for me to move on.
I hope that day never comes. I’m off to the grocery store, where they better let me write a check. I’m out of coffee and two cups isn’t going to get me through this day.
So… on to Paralympics. I guess this blog will continue, and I promise to ask IT about photos.