Aftermath

Day 7 of my Journey of the Spirit to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

The importance of a thing can be judged by the effect. Rolex has impacted my life in both the short-term & the long.

Previous Horse hated, in no particular order: mud, uneven terrain, outside courses, & solid fences. Eventing was not his thing. Therefore, he was always deeply perturbed the week after Rolex. I’d come home all wired on eventing and make him do hill-work or gallops, on the theory that they could only help him in the jumper ring, no? He’d project a long-suffering air of ‘I am not an event horse’ & ‘I do this under protest’ or ‘Will you please get over yourself?’ He’d wear me down after a week or so,

Then, in 2000, my Rolex week was particularly arduous. A work-hard, party-on, sleep-when-you’re-dead kind of time. I was so tired on the 8-hour drive that I contemplated getting a hotel room an hour from home. However, I had a rental car to return. I soldiered on. Arrived at the airport. Returned car, located hubby & decanted self into passenger seat. Zoned out. At our driveway, hubby picked up the mail & dropped the pile in my lap. The following thoughts crawled through my brain at seriously sub-light speed. Oh look, a card. From the in-laws. Why did my mother-in-law send hubby a card? Um, it’s addressed to both of us. Why did my mother-in-law send us a card? …two….three …. four. Holy Happy Couple, Batman! It’s our anniversary! Hubby was thrilled. He had forgotten our 6th. Now he was redeemed and inoculated against future occurrences. I will live that down never.

PSA lecture for today
Despite my deep admiration for Kentucky bourbon, I feel compelled to contribute a balancing message on the use and overuse of alcohol. It is a mind- & body-altering drug and should be treated as such. As the years go by, I am seeing

A) the enormous social cost. We were paged out early one morning and arrived to see a van tipped on its side. I asked the officer in charge whether the crash was alcohol-related. “It’s 2 am,” he said. “Of course, alcohol was involved.” The driver had consumed so much, we were amazed she found her car, much less drove it.

B) my own growing disinterest in the hobby, for a variety of dreary personal reasons, starting with a decreasing ability to be amused by a hangover.

Truth-in-advertsing. Once this is posted, I will treat myself to a celebratory shot of Basil Hayden’s in honor of Rolex 2012. Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Results
Winner: PARKLANE HAWK & William Fox-Pitt
US Winner: ARTHUR & Allison Springer
Lanterne Rouge: TULLIBARDS HAWKWIND & Jordan Linstedt

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
EN: The Rolex XC Photos
EN: Sunday Morning at Rolex
EN: Rolex Kentucky Show-Jumping Pics
The Chronicle of the Horse, Eventing
COH: James C. Wofford Walks The Rolex Kentucky Cross-Country Course
Horse Junkies United
HJU: costume commentary on the jog
HJU: Top 10 after Cross-Country at Rolex 2012
HJU: Rolex Kentucky Top Ten: William Wins, Allison 2nd, Boyd 3rd and 8th
&
A shout out to Horse Channel‘s coverage:
William Fox-Pitt wins the 2012 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event
William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk lead after cross-country at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event
Allison Springer and Arthur move into the lead at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event
Boyd Martin and Remington XXV take the early lead at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event
57 Horses to Start in 2012 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event
Horse Illustrated (along with the USDF) has been kind enough to employ me during the downturn, so I’m happy to retaliate with some blog love.