Foto Friday: Celebrity Mounted Games

Day 5 of my Journey of the Spirit to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

The best show on the grounds is Big Name Riders doing cameos in the Prince Phillip Cup. For the nonhorsefolks among us that means big people on small ponies playing horseback games at top speed. This works because a) so many eventers started in Pony Club & b) all of them are competitive speed freaks. (I mean this in the nicest possible way. I ride way better in jump-offs than in first rounds. Less time to overthink.) [photos from 2008]






These ponies KNOW these games. Since the goal is speed, the ponies u-turn at the far end of the ring and run back to the start, expecting their riders to vault aboard on the fly. Adults who try to mount in the normal fashion end up with one foot in the stirrup, one foot on the ground, and their pony hopping up and down, thinking, ‘C’mon! C’mon! We gotta GO!’

Results
Leader after dressage: Allison Springer & Arthur
Lanterne Rouge: Beth Perkins & Sal Dali

LINKS to get you started: [There’s way more out there]
Rolex K3DE
RLX: real-time scoreboard.
USEA
Eventing Nation
EN: Four-Star Rookies
EN: Random Rolex Thursday Notes, Photos and Videos
The Chronicle of the Horse, Eventing
COH: James C. Wofford Walks The Rolex Kentucky Cross-Country Course (This year, I checked.)
Horse Junkies United
HJU: costume commentary on the jog
[My system doesn’t do videos well, so you’re on your own there. Many available.]

What was your favorite childhood mounted activity?