124 SIDELINES OCTOBER 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
My Time at the Vermont Summer Festival
By Alexa Cheater
Canadian writer Alexa Cheater headed to East Dorset,
Vermont over the summer to cover the Vermont Summer
Festival – and the show, and Vermont, turned out to be the
experience of a lifetime. Alexa shares her summer in Vermont
with Sidelines.
There are those moments in life that really stick with a person.
Driving into the show grounds that frst morning at the Vermont
Summer Festival in East Dorset, Vermont, will forever be one of
mine.
The view was simply breathtaking. The lush green mountains
overlooking Harold Beebe Farm were decorated with a light fog,
the sun was shinning and the sky was a brilliant shade of blue. The
hustle and bustle of the opening day of the six-week competition
fell away. I felt instantly at peace. The knot that had been building
in my stomach for the entire seven-hour drive the day before, a
mix of anxiousness and excitement, just disappeared. Suddenly,
it didn’t matter that I was hundreds of miles from home, alone, and
in a strange place.
I should have realized that in Vermont, you’re never really
alone. The people, whether they were riders, vendors, show
staff or spectators, instantly became comrades, helping my with
whatever I needed, be it a quote, directions to a great restaurant
(of which there are many in the nearby town of Manchester!) or
even to snap a picture of me with a grand prix rider.
My frst night, I was treated to a Fourth of July party, my frst
ever, since I’m a Canadian, courtesy of show organizers John and
Dotty Ammerman. It was the frst of six exhibitor parties, which
give riders and their families a chance to kick back and enjoy
themselves.
The $10,000 Overland Sheepskin Co. Open Welcome Stake,
Presented by Manchester Designer Outlets, was thrilling, with
victory going to Kaitlin Campbell of Brookeville, Maryland,
riding her Dutch-bred gelding, Rocky W. The 20-year-old would
also take frst and second in the $30,000 Vermont Summer
Special Grand Prix later in the week, again winning on Rocky
W, and placing second aboard Grand Pleasure, an eight-year-
old chestnut Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by her trainer,
Rachel Kennedy, of ESP Farm.
Other winners of the weekly $30,000 Grand Prix events included
Ken Berkley and Waminka, Devin Ryan aboard No Worries, then
again on Roman Saluut, and Paul O’Shea riding Instant Karma.
Tracy Magness and Tarco Van Ter Moude took the win in the
grand fnale, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand
Prix. Ireland’s Darragh Kenny was the winner of the $10,000
Open Jumper High Score Awards, presented by Sir Ruly, Inc. for
the second year in a row.
For those considering coming to the Vermont Summer Festival,
either as an exhibitor or spectator, I would highly recommend
it. Not just for the outstanding level of competition, but for the
hospitality, beauty and fun of it all. For me, it was an experience of
a lifetime, and something I can hardly call work at all.
Photos: Photos by David Mullinix Photography
Writer Alexa Cheater (showing off a Sidelines Magazine) with
grand prix rider Kaitlin Campbell, who dominated competition
during the Vermont Summer Festival, winning both the $10,000
Open Welcome and the $30,000 Grand Prix.
Darragh Kenny of Ireland, riding Tonic, won the $10,000 Open
Jumper High Score Awards, presented by Sir Ruly, Inc.