72 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
ByDarleneRicker
M
ajor equestrian competitions in Europe are about far
more than medals, and nowhere will that be more
evident this summer than in Caen, France — the
epicenter of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in
Normandy. While horses are, of course, the
raison d’etre
for the
Games, a myriad of other
reasons exist to attend the
15-day extravaganza from
August 23 to September
7. High among them is the
opportunity to experience
horses the way Europeans
do: as a form of art.
The nerve center of this
artistic celebration of the
horse will be the Games
Village in downtown Caen,
where 300 exhibitors will
showcase the beauty of the
horse inone formoranother.
From equine-themed art
galleries to demonstrations
to boutiques, restaurants
and entertainment, the
beauty of the horse will be
front and center. Most of the booths will be commercial spaces
featuring horse and rider items. Sprinkled throughout the Village
will be live music and artistic performances, plus a kids’ space
with ponies, carousels andother adventures.
Avenueof itsown justminutes from theaction in themainarenas
at d’OrnanoStadiumand theZenithandPrairieRacecourses, the
Games Village will be a huge draw. Admission is a bargain: free
if you have a ticket to a
Games event that day, or
5 euros (about $7) without
one. A 15-day pass is only
15euros (about $21).
While the official list
of exhibitors won’t be
announced until closer
to the Games, some
applicants have already
gotten the nod. Nobody
is more excited than
American
artist
and
equestrian Kimry Jelen of
Oregon, who was invited
by an elite group of seven
international artists to
share exhibit space in
the La Galerie du Cheval
(“Gallery of the Horse”)
Horses in Normandy:
Art inMotion, Art on the Canvas
e
The artist at work
Photo by LynnWoodward
I.C.U.
All art photos courtesy of Studio 7
