September 2008 - Joanie's Blog

It all ends so undramatically sometime. Usually I’m the one that leaves, today the whole gang left Fiona and I in the HKG airport to head to Beijing for the closing ceremonies, hugs, well wishes, an excessive amount of baggage all flew round along with one monkeyed up ticket that they finally got sorted (despite a seriously spikey girl behind the counter).

And then there were two.

We went out to meet Fast Eddy, who was sporting his snazzy new Team USA shirt and went back to have some breakfast at the hotel. Eddy promptly put the car in drive in stead of reverse and ran into the hedge, not once – but twice. No harm done… We went to the barn to check in, jam some more stuff into the container and

Breakfast moved us up considerably as we had put in some serious time on the dance floor last night. David Hunter (Team Leader for GBR) had somehow strained a calf muscle in a wheelbarrow race after the medal ceremony but it wasn’t evident when he took to the dance floor. It was like a horse who didn’t realize he had a bowed tendon. I imagine he may be far more broken down as a result.

The band at Insomnia was awesome.

We spent the day doing some seriously heavy lifting as Fiona and I (along with James and the Schenker crew) moved everything out of two containers, sorted it all and repacked the container to go home on the boat.

Seven weeks worth of stuff, plus a variety of things we’d acquired fit in with plenty of room to spare and it was a seriously sweaty episode. I’m not sure that the guys helping James and Richard had ever seen women schlep stuff quite so furiously as Fiona and me. The team went to the Farewell Lunch, and returned with rave reviews.

We had Team dinner last night (pre Insomnia) at the YMCA organized by Team Doctor Michelle Look. This wasn’t your average YMCA, it was rather swanky and we had a good time.

The Brits won and won and won againon the last night. Their program and their horses are to die for and they are a class act in every single way.

They won 10 medals total (five Gold and five Silver) so there was plenty to be happy about for all involved. As fiercely as we compete we also look out for eachother... and we are very happy for them as they do for eachother. Ricky (who came second behind Lee) said to me after he rode(he went into the lead and Lee was next to go):

"Joanie, I want to win, but if I can't I want Lee too."

I met some good people on this trip.

Finally turned on the TV today and didn’t realize quite how bad the hurricane is. Our little HKG typhoons don’t even begin to compare.


No more medals, back to reality...

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Ok, so I was told that my blog yesterday was boring.

Ahem. You shall remain nameless but those with their videos on YouTube really shouldn’t throw stones.

Humor has been returned to full value. Last night at the venue I felt a bit on my own as the US gang was finished and Fiona had taken them to Stanley Market. I was doing my British duties so Will Connell and I found ‘FEI Sarah’ (Hames) and Olivia Robinson. Those Brits won ANOTHER medal (Felicity – Silver) she was a total champ. Becca was in Bronze medal position until the very last minute and it broke my heart to see the German rider go ahead of her with a test that in my opinion wasn’t any better.

Becca and Steffen need to commiserate.

Becca and her sister

Lee Pearson was in high demand and he did a number of interviews, he wears his causes and his dreams so clearly on his sleeve. He talks about riding in London in the able bodied Olympic Games if he could find a sponsor to buy him the right horse.

Imagine that. There is no doubt that determination breeds dreams.

John Ridley told me last night that he is very superstitious, he was finding wood to touch when he was talking about accidents at the race track. I feel like superstition is like luck or karma. Or dreams for that matter. It only is what you make of it. Many of these riders are making more of what they have, and never considering what they don’t have (in some cases that includes limbs or use of them) as being unfair. I can’t actually say that for sure… but if they do, they don’t operate with that chip visible to the rest of the world on their shoulder.

Keith and Pam... they WERE dancing

The final US riders rode this morning and Barb, Lynn and Keith were all philosophical about their performances. There is always room for improvement in everything that we do. Whether you ride the horse, write about it, manage a team, run a venue – hell anything in life, we can always do it better.

But I think it has been a bit hard to swallow for all of us that we are coming home without a medal. We’ve been close on a couple of occasions. But this isn’t horseshoes or hand grenades.

That is also something that has, at times, been so obvious throughout all the Games in Hong Kong (and in the Olympic Games in general)… the line between winning and losing isn’t always very long.

Making history and making a mess sometimes don’t look very different from the outside.

I’ll stop philosophizing.

One of the friendly horses rolled in the main arena today at the end of a test which was quite funny.

I caught up with Martin and Henry last night (and another Fiona, it is weird as I only know two in the whole world and they are both here) at Knutsford Terrace. I hadn’t been there before; it was a cool place, lots of restaurants and shops up a bunch of steps. That isn’t really a worthy explanation… We sat outside and had a good laugh while they finished dinner. It is great to have Martin back. He was appalled that I have 249 unread emails on my Blackberry. He wasn’t getting the fact that I have actually read them on the computer (although at this point, I’d venture to guess that there are a few people that may argue). I was showing him pictures on his computer yesterday, his inbox had about six items in it. The busiest man on the venue only has six items in his inbox. Organization would be his forte – thank God.

Walking Home

My Fiona (sisters from another mother as we have dubbed ourselves) came and found us with USOC Rebecca and Dr. Stacey. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Am currently writing in the car with Fast Eddy, just became Eagle Eyed Eddy as he just spied a cop in the place where we always do a somewhat questionable U turn to get to the hotel in the construction zone. The other driver won’t do the U turn, he has named himself Careful Ken as a result of the hell that we give him about it.

Finishing up in the hotel and just had a call from housekeeping asking me if my TV was broken. I couldn’t figure out why until I looked at the note I had stuck on it that says Reining Preview. I guess I should go write that.

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So, there was no blog yesterday. I had a bit of sense of humor failure for the first time since I’ve been here and wasn’t feeling it. Apologies.

But I can report a great karaoke session starring two of my favorite people…

Those pesky Brits are romping through the medals, they won three Gold and a Silver yesterday. It has been fun to get to know their riders as well. They are becoming celebrities over there (the BBC is here just to cover them) and they are some of the greatest bunch. Lee, Simon, Ricky, Sophie, Anne… the whole group is very professional. Their Para Equestrian program is 20 times the size of ours and I can only hope that because of the WEG we can push our program to new heights. Lee Pearson won his eighth consecutive Paralympic Gold yesterday. Remarkable.

There was no competition yesterday morning and we were civilized, had breakfast and then Fiona and I went to Stanley Market.

Armed with my credit card for the first time in weeks, I was able to demonstrate reasonable restraint. There is nothing you couldn’t buy there. I bought running shoes (as mine have wandered off) some gifts for people and a nice jacket to wear racing.

Speaking of racing, I was extended a very gracious invitation by John and Lydia Ridley to go to Opening Day here at Sha Tin. It means taking a few days off (which would be nice…) and staying until Tuesday but it certainly didn’t take much convincing. When will that ever happen again?

I caught up on a bunch of other stuff in the afternoon and then returned to the evening session. I took the train, which was jammed and got there a bit later than I had anticipated. I missed the first British rider unfortunately but there was plenty of excitement. The Brits were in a class of their own.

Lee Pearson and I head to the Mixed Zone

Our gang gave it there best shot, Keith finally got to have his turn and David O’Connor’s Walk on the Moon (Danny to all his pals) behaved perfectly in the main arena. Their relationship is brand new but Keith was as grateful a person as I have ever met. He then promptly tried to mow me down with his wheel chair as we were having a bit of a race from the mixed zone to the athletes stand.

It is infectious here, my bad mood was dissipating. Between the friends I’ve made and the horses that make it happen. You can’t really stay grumpy here.

Keith and 'Danny' after their ride

USOC Rebecca, Fiona and Will

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We haven’t done twice-daily sessions since the eventers left and the schedule is proving tiring. Our guys haven’t quite hit their stride yet as the arena is proving to be very buzzy (as it was for the other disciplines) and many of these horses haven’t been in this type of atmosphere. Everyone has been trying really hard, we just need a little bit of luck to bump our game up. The Brits just look invincible in the team portion.

After bouncing back to the venue last night after having tea with a good group and having a big laugh we watched the 1a and 1b classes. Lynn was super, she was third. Rhett is a cool dude and despite one very naughty moment in the beginning where he had a massive spook he was able to regroup and Lynn handled it like a pro. She assured me that he wouldn’t be doing that again.

Robin was happy with her horse but disappointed with her score… sometimes luck just doesn’t turn up when you need it.

It took ages to get the final results, so I tried to stay awake… it is always a bit hard to unwind at midnight when you get back from competition. I woke up at 4.30 in the morning half-frantic that I had over slept (I was moments late meeting Will Connell to go to the venue yesterday morning… Will was in the British army for 17 years so he is a stickler for punctuality, I have been known to be late once or twice in my life) relieved o know that I had two more hours of sleep. I don’t think I’ve been jet-lagged, just confused.

Which isn’t new to me.

Speaking of confusing, Fiona and I managed to seriously confuse the German vet at the Welcome Ceremony. He is a dead ringer for Aussie eventing rider Shane Rose and when Fiona and I saw him across the room we ran over to find out what in the world Shane was doing back at the venue.

Fortunately he was awfully good natured about two strange women accosting him.

Fiona: “Shane, what in the world are you doing back here?”
Joanie: “Oh it is great to see you!”
German vet: “I think you must think I’m someone else…”

Damn.

It's not Shane Rose

But we took a poll and no one argued with us about the identicalness. Made us feel a bit less blonde.

They say everyone in the world has a doppelganger, just a bit weird that Shane’s is the German vet (and visa versa).

Becca rode today and was good, a victim of the atmosphere and some erratic judging. She is such a class act. The whole gang has been doing a good job of keeping morale up even though the scores aren’t quite as good as we would like. They are handling the press like total pros which makes my job very easy. I’ve been giving the Brits a hand too, they have some seriously season characters on their team so it has been fun.

It is my first Paralympic experience and I’m nothing short of inspired.

Keith finally gets to ride his individual test tomorrow, and Robin goes tonight… more later… and I took pictures!

Becca, Norteassa and Fiona

Keith Newerla

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Team USA is on a roll all over the world. The show jumpers won the Nations Cup at Spruce Meadows, Chester Weber is leading the way for the four-in-hand drivers at the World Championships, he is currently also second going into the final day. The margin between he and the Dutch driver in the lead is very narrow… come on Chester!!! Our National champ deserves to be world champ too. Phillip Dutton was masterful on Woodburn on the cross country to lie second on Saturday night only to have to withdraw the horse before the trot-up. It just wouldn’t be his autumn.

Here, in Hong Kong the Paralympians finally got their time to shine. Our first two riders went this morning and did a great job in the seemingly electric atmosphere. Barb and Becca didn’t disappoint. Robin and Lynn go this evening. The Brits have won this Gold medal at the past three Games… I think I might make a wager with Will Connell to see how close we can get. They look pretty tough again.

We just flew back to the hotel with the world’s best NPC driver, Fast Eddy, who we have taught to use the phrase HOLY COW all the time much to everyone’s amusement (including his own). We had a bit of a karaoke session in the car with Eddie as Will Connell travels with CDs so we got into a bit of Abba and Tina Turner. I think Eddie might think we are nuts.

The effort that goes into these Games is amazing. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with many people that do an exorbitant amount of work behind the scenes. From the vets, farriers to the venue staff and the logistics crew, they have basically put their lives on hold for these Games. They have done a fantastic job and would what they do could never be fully realized.

What goes into all these horses is just as phenomenal. There may be one horse and one rider in the ring but they are their on the backs and shoulders of a huge support staff.

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There may be hurricanes at home, but I’m happy to report that over here in Hong Kong we are typhoon free (for the moment anyway…).

It is very nice to be back catch up with people and to get to know this Paraequestrian group. They are serious athletes and very inspiring. The whole team (support staff included) is more than remarkable. The buzz at the venue is still great, it is a bit quieter (we only have five horses instead of 12 in our end of the barn) but everyone is happy. These guys have it great, four tack rooms and plenty of space, it was a bit crowded with the other gang here.

Caught up with Fiona Tibone (who is serving as the Chef d’ Mission for this adventure as Jim Wolf has gone back to America), and Will Connell (British Chef d’Mission) for dinner the first night I arrived after I tormented the Kenny (who met me at the airport (he works for BOCOG). It is fantastic to get off the plane, be met by someone right at the gate, get whisked through accreditation, passport control, customs and there you are in Arrival Hall A in no time at all. After such a long flight they make it very easy.

All I wanted was a cup of coffee, Fiona was coming to meet me, I got her one too, spilled mine everywhere, drug my poor sidekick all over the airport while first looking for a Starbucks and then looking for Fiona, whose driver was slightly confused as to which carpark to go to.

We finally connected, I think Kenny was more than happy to see me, my luggage and the coffee off. I wasn’t his problem any more.

Mayhem continued as my ATM card finally turned up in Kentucky (three days later than promised), I had a friend activate it, only it needed a different PIN (which no one informed me of) and the machine ate it (for those who just tuned in, my other card was eaten by a machine in Hong Kong).

I got slightly wound up at dinner on the phone to the bank… I think I’m used to it because it happens to me so much. I’m a bit of mess with stuff like this even though 50% of the time I think I may just be a victim of circumstance… The machine finally gave the card back, it in a FedEx package on the way here, I’ll be impressed if it shows up before I leave.

Got to the venue in plenty of time for the trot-up the following morning, our horses looked awesome. All 71 passed, the Ground Jury took a second look at three of them but everyone passed eventually. Dr. Stacey Kent, all the grooms and the whole support staff (including Missy Ransehousen – coach and Sharon Schneidemann – assistant coach) leave no detail unattended to. It was seriously hot and humid during the trot-up but then we had an awesome rain which broke it up a bit.

All the horses are very cool and seem to have settled in well. It was great to see my buddy Walk On The Moon. He belongs to Karen and David O’Connor and I rode him this winter in Florida. He is a superstar. Keith Newerla does a great job on him, ‘Danny’ is having his first Paralympic experience.

This is also my first Paralympic Games so I have a lot to learn (probably more than Danny as he seems to know his job). I went to the village for lunch with the gang yesterday and was amazed at the vibe there. The excitement was resonating around the place. It was very cool.

Caught up with John and Lydia Ridley from the Jockey Club last night, they have been amazingly gracious and kind to us (and all the teams). We drove about 10 minutes from Sha Tin and all of a sudden it was like being in California. We were in a total beach town. We walked along the pier and had dinner in a great square… dogs running amuck everywhere which we all got a kick out of. Met up with some other friends a bit later, feel like I’m running out of time to see everyone and do everything.

Today, I went out and watched the second group of our guys train. Keith and Lynn looked relaxed and happy despite it being one of the sunniest mornings we've had. Missy and Sharon rode the horses a bit first, it seemed to all go quite well.

I promise pictures tomorrow. Fearing more rain (which was realized) I left my camera at the hotel.

Competition starts, Becca says the butterflies have woken up. I can’t wait either.

But first the welcome ceremony this evening.

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I’m back on the plane to Hong Kong, this 14 hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong is getting somewhat mundane. Being home was a whirlwind. The reiners headed to Italy for their World Championships, the drivers scattered to Poland and Holland for theirs, dressage, eventing and show jumping were all invading the Kentucky Horse Park. The show jumpers were getting set for Barcelona. Will Simpson, Gina Miles and Laura Kraut were headed to Oprah today with more than 100 other medalists. The show airs on Monday… they filmed live in Millennium Park. DON’T MISS IT!

My own life was looking a bit frazzled as well. Oil changes, dry cleaning, battling the mysterious crickets-on-steroids that took up residency in the basement (they are peace loving, just freakishly large), catching up with friends, watching some racing, pulling weeds, planting flowers, trying to explain to the back why I needed a new ATM card rushed – which for those that have been following didn’t make it ‘due to the holiday.’

My first major task (after being relieved to not see a puma or a monkey in the backyard/jungle) was to fetch two perfect canines from North Carolina where they spent August at Murray Family Summer Camp. Both were covered in paint when I picked them up.

They had been ‘helping’ paint Will Faudree’s living room… and they seemed very happy about it.

The 5-month-old Jack Russell – Brighton, from the infamous b line of Irish black and tan Jacks made famous by eventers Julie Richards and the Karen and David O’Connor… only problem is she came out mostly white with big black splotches all over her instead of being black and tan. Aside from that she’s pretty much perfect, she’s also kind of a midget, but her sidekick weighs 86 pounds so maybe it is just perception – anyway she learned how to swim like a demon when I was gone, one of the perks of being raised by a Labrador Retriever I suppose – although I’m not sure conformationally it looks like it should be possible. She also has taken a serious liking to Poly-Track and runs around like a maniac in the arena whenever we go ride. Endless circles as fast as she can.

I’m sure she’d like the footing at Sha Tin too. She’d probably also like this trip. Puppies like adventures and she likes to fly.

Speaking of trips, her big brother (in size and age), Sailor, was more than happy to give this one a miss. Closing in on a decade, Sailor has been to more horse trials and horse shows (and steeplechase meets for that matter) than any horse I know. I think he’s missed Rolex once in the last 10 years (and no… I haven’t always lived in Kentucky so he used to actually make a trek), he’s been to Foxhall, North Georgia, Red Hills, Groton House, any and all events in the Mid Atlantic... he’s also been to Saratoga, Gladstone, Upperville, most of the shows at the Kentucky Horse Park, polo in a variety of places, the Virginia Gold Cup, both Cups in Camden, SC, Middleburg Races…

Needless to say he’s over it.

He would be happy to never leave the back yard again except to maybe walk downtown and chase tennis balls at Woodland Park or swim in the pond at Keeneland.

No cars, no horse vans, no trucks, no trailers… ever again.

So our return from Southern Pines in the Subaru was powered mostly by panting Labrador. That seems to be the only way that he voices his objection but it is tedious for both of us. Contrary to popular belief, he’s not hot. He’s annoyed.

I have some advice for those who make their living in renewable energy: harness the power of the panting Labrador. There is no way in the world that any country, ever, could use it all up.

I miss them already, and ‘my’ horse, who isn’t really mine, he belongs to some friends and I have him to sell him for them. He’s off the track (was trained by the owner… he was a pretty nice racehorse). Now he’s a star, he seriously jumps and because of him I have forged a great friendship with his owners.

Luckily for me: the horse has evolved from rank (armed with a serious buck) to pretty close to perfect over the last six months. Would be one of my biggest off-the-track successes, I think largely because I didn’t have a real plan, I just listened to him instead of trying to get him somewhere. He’s that type of horse, he has a lot to say.

This job is great, I’m really lucky. I get to go to amazing places with amazing people and witness history being made by the best horses in the world.

On a regular basis.

But, there are days, when it is 9.30 at night, I’m still working and I’m frustrated. Without getting to actually be part of a horse’s daily life, it is far easier to forget why it all matters. Some days horses are just as frustrating, but they are always honest about it and it is very rare that it isn’t warranted.

Hell, I spent the first three years of my life furious that no one understood what I was trying to communicate. Imagine being a horse and having some human just not get it for days at a time.

He’s headed to three weekends at the horse show when I go home, I can’t wait. I’m very lucky. I have to get a different helmet though, one with one of those stripes down the front, as I feel as though I have a Scarlet E for Eventer on my cross country helmet when I go to the horse show.

Return to Sha Tin

More from Hong Kong tomorrow, or today, or yesterday. I’m halfway over Hudson Bay (which seems to be completely the wrong direction but I don’t get paid to fly the plane as I’m sure the pilot doesn’t get paid to write press releases) I don’t know which day it is… or will be when I get there but there will be more, from Hong Kong.

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