World Equestrian Games

If you didn't know, Kentucky is horse country. Lexington was chosen to host the World Equestrian Games and the city has been readying for the event for the past year. We can't really appreciate the magnitude of the event--it's like hosting the Olympics in the equestrian world--but after hearing some people talk about their experience, John encouraged me and young John to see an event. Our plan--take the city bus to the horse park, watch the jumping competition, and enjoy lunch before heading back.

The bus ride out to the park--since John has a slight obsession with anything that goes, he was very happy to be on the bus eating his biscuit. Such a big boy!

The stadium in the distance and the bourbon ad before us. If it's not horses, it's whiskey around here!

Finding our seat...sorta. A kind usher encouraged us to sit wherever we wanted and move if the actual possessor of the seats arrived.We chose a great seat with room for John to walk around. With Mom on one side and a fence on the other, he was hemmed in but enjoyed the freedom to move around. Lucky for us, we never had to move.

The course: Thirteen jumps of varying heights and lengths, each representing some aspect of Kentucky living and of course a Rolex finish. (Rolex sponsors lots of events in the equestrian world.) Our seats gave us a great view of the last three jumps, which happen to be the most challenging. To give you an idea of their size, most of these jumps were taller than the men maintaining them and were nearly as tall as the horses. The horses and riders had eighty-four seconds to complete the course without dropping a rail--quite a challenge! As spectators, we had to be quiet as each rider completed the course. This was a total surprise to me, and John was so fascinated he had no trouble following the rules.

Up and over!

After an hour of competition, there was a short break to work on the course. Three bright green tractors moving all over the course turning up the turf made John very happy! We went down to the lower section to get a front row seat of the action.

Another talented rider clearing the jump.

We left before the round concluded, and John was more interested in the people and equipment than lunch. We headed back on the bus and a long afternoon nap. It was a fun and busy morning--I'm so glad we went! It was definitely a world class introduction to the equestrian world.