112 SIDELINES JULY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Jan Westmark-Allan
Imagine the excitement of galloping for 11 minutes across
the rolling terrain of the cross-country course at the Kentucky
Horse Park, jumping enormous rock-solid jumps with thousands
of people watching and cheering you on. Riders at the Rolex
Kentucky Three-Day Event, in Lexington, Kentucky, did it not long
ago – but they weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the thrill of the
Rolex cross-country course.
The day before the talented eventers tackled the four-star
course, members of the media had a chance to ride the course
– and I was among them. Yes, I rode at Rolex! Before anyone
gets too impressed, we didn’t actually jump the jumps while taking
part in the “Rolex Ride the Course” and we didn’t have throngs
of people cheering and yelling us on. The good news, however,
is that we didn’t have to worry about the fast cross-country pace
because we rode in western saddles on trusty mounts provided by
The Kentucky Horse Park. (Actually one time we did break into a
trot when a Jack Russell Terrier made a run for our group.)
While we may have only meandered through the heart-pounding
cross-country course, our hearts still pounded thanks to the
commentary from our guides – Gina Miles, an Olympic individual
silver medalist in Beijing in 2008, and Sinead Halpin, the Olympic
team alternate in London in 2012. Our two top American eventer
guides rode with us, also on horses from The Kentucky Horse
Park, and talked us through the course.
It was extremely interesting listening to Gina and Sinead explain
how they would handle the course as we stopped in front of each
jump (and they do think “I made it out alive” when they land off the
last jump). While riding across the rolling green hills we also ran
into the Rolex cross-country course designer, Derek di Grazia,
who gave us the low-down on the jumps he designed.
I evented “back in the day” so it was thrilling to ride the Rolex
course and see all of the jumps in an up-close and personal way.
Of course, when I evented I was young and brave and the jumps
were well under three feet. Derek built a challenging course that
wasn’t for the faint of heart, and while I enjoyed riding past each
jump it was even more exciting the following day to watch the
Rolex eventers in action. I had a great time among the throngs of
people, cheering and yelling as each rider galloped by.
The Bottom Line: I believe eventers are incredibly brave – and
adrenaline junkies as well. I have discovered I am neither. During
the course ride they instructed us to let our horses graze when we
stopped to talk about the jumps. At one point when I pulled on the
reins to get my horse to lift his head, his bridle fell off. I thought
about riding bridleless across Rolex but decided the adrenaline
junkie life is not for me. Just watching the real Rolex riders on the
course was all the excitement I could handle.
I Rode Rolex (Almost)!
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The Bottom Line
Top American eventers Sinead Halpin (left) and Gina Miles
explained the technical aspects of the cross-country course
during the ride for members of the media.
Photo courtesy of Rolex
Sidelines Editor Jan Westmark-Allan heads out on the “Rolex
Ride the Course” media ride.
Photo by Selena Frederick
The horses from The Kentucky Horse Park enjoyed a little snack
during the ride.
Photo courtesy of Rolex