By Valerie Pride
It doesn’t matter if you’re riding, spectating, volunteering or anything and everything in between—the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is by far the best weekend all year indeed! I look forward to this iconic event annually. Always the last weekend in April, it’s a permanent fixture on my calendar and I know people around the world say the same thing. I’m so very fortunate to have experienced Kentucky in so many ways and I can’t wait to share!
I believe my time at Kentucky has followed a natural progression similar to many other eventing enthusiasts. You start going as a young eventer with your friends and a cool mom for cross-country day. You’re amazed, hooked, get your pictures taken afterward next to the jumps that you can’t even imagine jumping and simultaneously can’t wait for your chance to do so. You probably come home with a new sun shirt and a funky pair of socks, and perhaps a fluorescent colored lunge whip that seemed like a great idea at the time.
Then you grow up a little and you have friends or your boss competing there, and you go as their support crew and groom as a credentialed groupie and start to really experience behind the scenes. That’s really helpful, because fast forward a few years and you finally have a five-star horse and the stars have all aligned that he’s sound, fit and happy at the precise time you need him to be. You actually get to ride in the Rolex Stadium and have photographers take your slightly terrified but extremely focused close-up picture jumping into the Head of the Lake. As an aside, when I was a “Rolex Rookie,” as it was nicknamed back then, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. There weren’t even 10 people around the Head of the Lake! I always wanted to Photoshop thousands of spectators into the shots!
And then I guess my story takes a slightly different turn from there. After the pandemic, Kentucky started offering a four-star short division during the five-star weekend. There’s only one other event in the world that offers this kind of experience: Luhmuhlen in Germany. Kentucky, however, has put its own spin on things and has quickly become arguably the most difficult four-star short in the world. It’s in a league of its own and is now jokingly—but in all seriousness—referred to as the five-star short. There is no such thing. Yet there is at Kentucky! Anyone there this year to watch the coffin question understands why. Very experienced horses and riders can now add this to their calendar to get the atmosphere and challenge. I did this with my five-star horse Favian before heading over to train and compete in England. We finished in the top 10 and felt so prepared to go represent the U.S. overseas after mastering this tough competition!
This year at Kentucky, I got to experience things from a completely different perspective: I was a member of the ground jury, or in other words, I judged the four-star short! This was such an exciting year to get to do so as most of the horses and riders aiming for the Paris Olympics were competing in the four-star division. No pressure! In some ways, being an official was similar to being a rider at the event. You walk the course on Tuesday and memorize all of the multiple ways you can navigate the difficult combinations. Wednesday is the rider briefing and you’re taking notes, just sitting on a different side of the room. Then you get all dressed up for a horse inspection—although at least I didn’t have to practice running in my shoes!
Thursday and Friday require so much concentration to judge the dressage. It’s funny to think about, but when I ride a test, I memorize it from A, so I think about all of the movements and directions from on top of the horse riding down the centerline toward the judge. To judge, you have to think about it almost opposite. For the riders to turn left off of the centerline, they are actually turning right in front of you—#mindblown. And it’s really stressful to think that everyone is there judging your judging!
Saturday as an official is as exhausting and exhilarating as it is to gallop around yourself! You’re holding your breath for every horse and rider to get through the finish flags clean and safe. For some it’s the best day of their life, and for others, the worst, and your heart goes out to them all. We celebrate the first-timers who made it and the seasoned pros who made it look easy.
Sunday morning is here before you know it and you’re on the jog strip at 7:30 a.m. with all of the die-hard fans trying to stand in the best place for the fashion show. Such a relief to see the horses fit and springy and wanting to jump some more! Then you hustle quickly to the Rolex Stadium to walk the show-jumping course and up to the tower to judge it. You wish everyone could win (OK, I didn’t really wish this when I was riding because I wanted to win) and you wish an exciting finish for the sport because that way, everyone does win!
If you haven’t been, mark your calendar now and set aside the last week of April 2025 to immerse yourself in the best weekend all year. Make new friends, eat and drink stuff that’s bad for you and spend way too much money in the trade fair. Learn to improve your own riding by watching the best of the best in all three phases. Go watch them warm up. Get inspired! Also, realize that everyone makes mistakes and even five-star horses and riders aren’t perfect all the time. Learn from their mistakes so you hopefully don’t make them yourself. Eventing is a really challenging sport and it’s just so amazing to be a part of it on any level. Be proud to be an eventer! I’m so thankful I had a front-row seat this year and I can’t wait to experience it again between the ears as well.
Until next time, kick on and keep your heels and hands down like you’re dropping into the Head of the Lake!
Photo:
Valerie, at the jog, competed in the Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo by Chelsea Spears
