It’s getting to the time of year when everyone is reflective. How could you not be? It’s a non-championship year (Olympic Games, World Equestrian Games, and Pan Ams all took the year off) but it seems like we have had a remarkable year of achievement anyway. There were plenty of great moments: personal and professional for many of us, but it’s my blog so you get to hear about mine first…
First there were the things that gave me goosebumps.
The Rolex/FEI World Cup Final:
Ravel rewrote history and never, ever blinked his 11-year-old eyes in the face of incredible competition and pressure. Steffen Peters was rewarded for uncanny sportsmanship in the face of disappointment in 2008 – with the year of his life in 2009. Ravel went on to be the first US horse to win the CDIO Aachen (something deemed nearly impossible) and just continued, somehow, to improve. His win, in front of his home crowd at the World Cup Final changed history.
Ravel
Sapphire continued to jump through the pages of the history books, a couple of 1/10ths of seconds kept her from being the champion behind the fleet-footed Shutterfly at the World Cup Final, but she didn’t make one jumping mistake throughout. She is a legend – one that we are getting to witness first hand. She is part of McLain’s family and Lee and Erika McKeevers family. The McKeevers have looked after her since her very first day in the US. She is a pet, the sweetest chestnut mare I have ever met – until she gets into the ring, then the gloves are off and she jumps better than anyone. Her wins at Devon, the Hampton Classic and the Spruce Meadows – which George Morris still touts as one of the best jump-offs he has ever seen – are the things people dream about. She literally out ran Hickstead, the reigning individual Olympic champ to win the $1m class.
Sapphire Flies in Vegas
Rodrigo Pessoa even got to shave McLain’s head as the result of a longstanding bet after the Spruce Meadows win.
The week after the World Cup Final we were back in Kentucky where My Boy Bobby was best for the US with Buck Davidson. He jumped around Mike Etherington-Smith’s course like an open hunter. But it was Headley Britannia and Lucinda Fredericks who took one for the girls (and Australia) at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** - the tiny chestnut mare paved the way for another first for the girls: Rachel Alexandra bringing down the house in Maryland winning the Preakness Stakes. Mine That Bird proved that his longest-shot-on-the-board in the Kentucky Derby was no fluke, he was gamer than game, but found the fastest three-year-old in the country a bit too hard to catch.
Not to be outdone by the four-footed ladies, Ashlee Bond jumped clear rounds for sport over the biggest European courses with Cadett. Ashlee is so lively and enthusiastic, she makes friends everywhere she goes and has certainly lived up to the hype.
Ashlee Bond became a houshold name with Cadett 7
Jersey Fresh provided a highlight, when Titanium jumped up into the top 10 in the CCI*** - again for Buck. Personal for me because I sold him to Buck off the racetrack. I’m demanding owner credentials if he comes to WEG!
NAJYRC never ceases to amaze me, those kids are just awesome. For as maniacal as the weeks surrounding that were, the end result was something to make everyone proud. Vaulting and endurance were well represented – a hint of things to come I hope, their non-championship divisions were well subscribed and competitive. There are too many people to thank, but i will start with these three:
Hugh Kincannon and Robby Murphy Recieve the High Five award from Howard Simpson
Saratoga provided the respite I needed after my first go round as a competition director, I saw some great friends and great horses – it is heaven on earth that place. I saw Rachel in her stall, but it was two weeks later that you could hear them all the way in Ballston Spa cheering her home to beat older horses (colts and geldings) in the Woodward. She was belly to the ground, you’ve never seen a filly try quite like that, she set a ferocious pace and then somehow held on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrTMpHvew0U
RUN LIKE A GIRL was the order of the year.
The Hunter Derby Final was quite the experience for me, I haven’t spent that much time watching hunters in my life but it proves my theory: watching good horses do anything is awesome. These certainly were the best, and the course, at the main arena at the Kentucky Horse Park was to die for. These were real hunters, jumping four foot easily over solid fences.
The fall brought some of the highlights.
First I damn near died at the KY Cup Driving Test Event with an infected root canal. Rescued by the kindness of strangers who have become friends, I missed Chester Weber’s record breaking 7th National title on Sunday. But I can say that the hazard driving on Saturday was phenomenal. Larry Poulin retired from the sport with a classic performance, the gap he left will be very difficult to fill:
Larry Poulin
Personally, my little racetrack project materialized into a real event horse at the Virginia Horse Trials. Polo Grounds (Henry) still has a for sale sticker on his neck, but he proved how hard a horse can try. In work since April – he did little off-the-track horses proud showing up in the ribbons at jumper shows and events with an ever-increasing improving ability to steer.
Henry
Rachel didn’t turn up for the Breeders Cup (through no fault of her own) and Zenyatta (who has always been my personal favorite) ran her unbeaten streak into the record books becoming the first mare to win the Breeders Cup Classic. That stretch run still gives me chills. Her ears pricked the entire way, Santa Anita will never be the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt-88DTxeYs
Last to first with a thundering rush to greatness.
Her trainer, John Sheriffs won the Ladies Classic the day before with Life is Sweet.
No doubt it is.
We took a six of our best athletes to the AQHA World Show where Bobby Murphy, Kathy Meyer and I did our best impressions of cowboys. Phillip Dutton, Will Simpson, Holly Bergay, Valerie Kanavy, Mike McLennan and Pete Kyle brought down the coliseum at the State Fair.
Holly Bergay and Grand Ballerina
Holly Bergay showed the poise of a seasoned veteran in an electric atmosphere, the 17-year-old represented Dressage and ParaEquestrian – putting on a show that brought the crowd to your feet. Everyone delivered – but when Pete and Will switched hats and Will climbed aboard Gimme More Bucks to the tune of Should’ve Been a Cowboy, the crowd at the AQHA was won over.
100%.
Will Simpson Reining Star
The Carolina Horse Park's Celebrity Bareback Puissance provided a fitting end to a Thanksgiving weekend. Six very game riders, from Grand Prix show jumper Jeanne Hobbs to Olympic eventer Bobby Costello, went to task at 3’3” in very good humor. The mood changed to fear/focus when the wall approached five feet and Costello jumped 5’3” before bowing out. Hobbs then cleared 5’6” for the win. 19-year-old Antigua (who represented the US at the 2006 World Equestrian Games) came out for some fun.
Jeanne Hobbs and Night and Day 8
I’m not ready for next year. But for all the hassle, headaches and paperwork, comes moments like those. Thank you to everyone that made it happen.
Bring on 2010, but first: a nap.
Photos courtesy: Shannon Brinkman (3), Flashpoint, Picsofyou, Joanie Morris, the AQHA, USEF Archive, Meri Hyoky