Kissing Camels

The Area VI crew got to enjoy a low stress enviornment today as we prepared for the chaos of cross country that tomorrow will bring. When we got to the barn Natalie, Brynn, and Dayna headed off to take another look at the course, while Kelly did chores around the barn and Ainsleigh watched the two star dressage from the judges' point of view. The team then met up for breakfast and watched a few highly respected two star combonations ride their tests before riding their own ponies, and both horse and rider returned from their hacks with huge smiles on their faces. We Californians are thoroughly enjoying all the open space that Kentucky has to offer! Here we have the Area VI riders' thoughts on their hacks today and tomorrow's course.

Natalie 

I love hacking. It is one of those simple activities that just relaxes you and lets you forget all of the stressful parts of life you have been worrying about. Thank goodness we got to take an hour long hack this morning in the fields. The nice thing about the Kentucky Horse Park is, the hack trail takes you far  away from the barn and the stressful environment, but close enough that you can't get lost. Casey and Michael got to meet some foals around the property and enjoyed a little trot in the grass. After the hacks, I decided it was time for a well deserved nap. We walked the course earlier this morning and want to be alert for the big day tomorrow. The course looks absolutely amazing! I can't wait to go out there and see how it rides tomorrow. I am especially excited for the "Rolex Head of the Lake" and the combinations at the end of the course. David O'Connor definitely designed a course for competitive athletes and I am super stoked for tomorrow! Good luck to everyone!

Brynn 

Early this morning Dayna, Natalie, and I set out on our course walk before it got to warm. When it came to walking our water lines I was the lucky winner and was privilaged enough to take off my shoes and wade on in, woohoo! I then proceeded to walk part of the course barefoot, because there are multiple water complexes that needed to be measured. Overall the course looks amazing! The jumps are all beautifully decorated, and DOC put brush to good use, which we don't see much of in California. I feel really good about the course, there are combinations all throughout. Its quite twisty and turny in parts, which makes my job of getting Michael back much easier. The plan is to go out, ride forward and tough, but most of all smart. I am so excited! I would love to get some sleep tonight but I might be a little too excited for cross country for that to happen. I wish everyone the bestof  tomorrow and here is to a great cross-country day!

The team later went back to the house for some relaxation time, and Ainsleigh went down to the endurance riders' checkpoint with the FEI eventing veternarian Duncan Peters to experience another equestrian discipline, so different, yet so similar to ours. We noticed the comradery between these endurance riders is very similar to the tight knit community that eventing is so proud of. After reporting back her knowledge to the team, it made us realize how important it is to not only support other areas in eventing, but also to support other disciplines as well. We have adopted a new-found respect for the endurance world and their incredible horses and riders, who today alone travelled 75 miles! It makes our mere eight minutes of cross country seem pretty pathetic.

After Ainsleigh went on another tour of Hagyard Equine Medical Institute with the other girls in the mentorship program, and the Area VI crew had refreshed in some air conditioning, we all reunited at the final riders' meeting before cross country. The officials gave us a few helpful reminders about the dos and don'ts of cross country day, it then was off to Breyerfest for us! (Essentially a whole different world). Breyerfest is a celebration of the model Breyer horses, fully equipped with a petting zoo, dog diving tank, golf cart tours of the horse park, and horse demonstrations throughout the day. We saw some pretty interesting animals at the petting zoo and on our walk down there, the favorites being a very kissable baby camel and Lacey-someone's pet pig who was glammed out in pink toenail polish. The pig racing at the petting zoo also got pretty intense, with three teams of "thoroughbred racing pigs".

Post Breyerfest, an overwhelming experience for us all, Natalie and Brynn walked the cross country course once more while the rest of Area VI headed down to the Alltech arena to cheer on the endurance riders and the completion of their journey. We then set up our own vet box for tomorrow, complete with a "poncho tarp" that Brynn and Ainsleigh had some fun with. We went back to the house to eat and plan tomorrow's schedules, and after one last check on the horses we are finally ready for bed!

In addition, last night we had a very special opportunity to hear our country's three olympic equestrian coaches speak to the young rider community. Here is the link to the conference, trust us it is worth your time-enjoy! A huge thanks goes out to these coaches for making United States success possible!

http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/coverage.aspx?urlkey=2013NAJYRC&video=0_oe7mdq10&type=vod&channel=1_d2308brb