April means it’s time for the Rolex Kentucky CCI, and that’s my favorite time of year!

I know that people who live in Kentucky are probably more excited by the college basketball season as anything else in the spring, but for us horse enthusiasts Rolex is the highlight of the year, especially if you’re interested in eventing.

It’s our only true destination event, drawing not only eventing fans but also all kinds of horse fans and even non-horse spectators to our sport. It shows that we all should realize that this type of sporting event is as much entertainment as it is an athletic event. Where else do we get 75,000
people to come to a horse event here in the United States?

For me, the Rolex Kentucky CCI means it’s time to take the ideas and the exercises that you’ve been working on all winter and spring and put them to the test.

Kentucky also falls in the midst of what is for us eventers the climax of the spring season. The other spring three-days–at the three-star, two-star or one-star level–all take place just before it or within a month after it.

Kentucky is a goal that takes years to reach. For many, riding there is the realization of a dream, sometimes one that’s taken decades to achieve. Some may never ride there again, but for some it may be the start of a new level of their career on horseback.

For others, riding at Kentucky is an annual pilgrimage, but having ridden there before doesn’t make it any less special for them. They have this weekend circled on their calendars for years to come.

Kentucky was the first “big” win of my career (in 1990), and I will never forget the feeling of achieving that accomplishment with my great partner Wilton Fair.

Looking back, it almost seems as if it was predetermined with that horse, but I can still remember that nerves were a major part of my everyday life. You start to wake up in the middle of the night wondering if you have thought of everything that you can. Is your horse too fat? Is he fit enough? Is he sound? All of these things run through your mind at 100 miles an hour, looking for a place to rest.

Well, the only thing to make them rest is to get there and compete. What you really want to happen in these last few weeks before the competition is to get the thing started!

Unfortunately, the starting field this year is smaller than last year–about 46 horses, compared to 82 last year. But the field is always smaller the year after the Olympics–there were 52 in 2001.

I think it’s a cyclical occurrence among the U.S. contingent, and the British aren’t sending as many as they have in the past.

I know that Karen and I have usually had four or five horses, and Karen is only riding Upstage this year. And Bruce Davidson almost always has two or three horses, and he won’t be riding at all. That’s at least five or six horses between just the three of us.

Maybe we’re going through a transition phase, some of us scaling back and others still trying to develop a true string of horses that can be regularly competitive in international events throughout the year.

You really have to have a number of horses to practice enough at the four-star level to truly be good at it. Many riders have a super horse that takes them to new heights in their career, but the great riders manage to develop horse after horse for international competition.

I believe that we need to have more riders who can create true strings of horses if they want to be players on the international stage. I know that’s expensive and takes a lot of organization, planning, and more than just riding, but the other countries where eventing is popular seem to get it
done. And Phillip Dutton always seems to have plenty of horse on hand. Some of our riders need to be hungrier to be among the top riders in the world.

The numbers may be down from last year, but the quality of the field is fantastic. You have Leslie Law of Great Britain, the current Olympic gold medalist, and our own Kim Severson and Winsome Adante, the Olympic silver medalists and the Rolex winners in 2002 and 2004. Kim and “Dan” are a fantastic pair, and we’ve all been lucky to watch their career unfold at Kentucky and elsewhere. And we have Andrew Hoy, who won the Burghley CCI**** (England) last September and is trying to win the Rolex Grand Slam.

Perhaps this will be Phillip Dutton’s turn to break his four-star jinx. He’s been second or third three times at Kentucky, including last year.

Whoever wins, I don’t think there are going to be any surprises. It will be someone with a proven record.

Mike Etherington-Smith always builds a course that sorts out the wheat from the chaff. He builds very big and wide jumps, which promote forward riding, as a 6’6″-wide oxer never looks small, no matter how many times you’ve walked the course!

Mike’s courses are very horse-friendly. They make horses that are truly at the level gallop home feeling as if they’ve accomplished something, without destroying their confidence for another day. It’s a fine balance, and Mike seems to get it right almost all of the time.

You never really know what’s going to happen on the day, even if you’re one of the best and your horse has proven himself over many courses. It always seems to be the thing that you didn’t expect that takes your day away. But it’s those ups and downs that make any sport worth watching.

I know I’ll be there in Kentucky, ready to be enthralled by watching some of the best riders in the world take on the challenge that the Rolex three-day can throw at them.