Left for KY with a smile - and came back with smile

It seems things are falling into place; my lesson on Remy had me leave for Kentucky with a big smile on my face.  Yes, time again for our annual ‘pilgrimage’ to the Rolex Kentucky 4* CCI event. Remy’s reward was a weekend of play with his buddies at home, so we couldn’t leave fast enough in his mind.

Kentucky greeted us on Friday with rain and blustery winds. We visited the Shaker Village, a very interesting community concept that had seen its heyday in the 1800s. The Shaker communities were very advanced technically for the time, i.e. they had running water around 1830. Their downfall was that their faith allowed men and women to only be ‘brothers and sisters’, no marriage, no hanky-panky. Well, duh, no surprise that that didn’t last!

Weather for X-C on Friday was perfect, sunny, breezy, 80F. Over 35,000 people showed up, luckily there is room at the Kentucky Horse Park. Aside from seeing some really good rides, we enjoyed a demonstration of Mustangs. A women rode two young Mustangs without saddle and bridle, just with a neck rope. The five year old did clean flying changes; jumped a small vertical, etc. It was a demonstration of really good horsemanship. We topped off a great day with an awesome dinner at Le Deauville, our favorite French restaurant this side of the Atlantic.

So we left Kentucky with a sunburned smile and the promise to be back next year for sure, or even earlier should we qualify for the Regional Championships in October. We (ahem, JP) made it through Ohio without a speeding ticket (yay!) to be greeted by a cold and blustery Michigan. Luckily our animal kingdom made up for it with a warm welcome.

It’ll be interesting to see if I can keep that smile (sans sunburn) while trying to squeeze a few rides in before leaving again for Europe on Saturday. Remy, I’m counting on you! As to "Smile -  Plan B": Bring on the wine, JP!